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The hours flew by and she slept. She woke up sometime later but stayed in her box, then slept some more when there was nothing to alleviate the pangs of hunger. A rough vibration jerked her awake, her arms snapping out to stop a bottle from crashing into her face just in time. The steady drum of activity outside put her on alert, and it wasn’t long before her box was moved again.
With the ocean waves rougher now and swaying the box aggressively, she was dizzy by the time she was dropped at the port, carried to a vehicle, and driven elsewhere. When it stopped in a busy place to drop some wares, Winter scrambled out, stumbled, and managed to get herself out of the way before the drivers spotted her. She glanced back at the box’s slightly open door and kept going until she was lost in the crowd.
Centro’s main district was large, with stores and buildings lining up the sides and towering to the skies. She exchanged her coins for food and ate along the way until she found a spot to pee. It took her longer to get rid of her dizziness, but the time was much needed as she gathered her bearings and retraced around the island that she had once explored with gusto.
Winter ditched the main district for narrower paths, still filled with more wares and sellers. She ignored restaurants calling her senses, her head mapping the route as she hastened. Her heart pounded in her throat when she spotted the store she had visited before, its signage faded in the sunlight.
“What do you want?” the owner asked as soon as she entered the place, scrutinizing her ordinary dark clothes. Winter smiled pleasantly.
“I’m looking for earth collectibles. Are you selling gadgets by any chance?”
Chapter 12
Blood filled his vision, a dark red liquid that streamed down his throat and circled him until he was drowning in it. Nate fought it, the need to get out alive pounding in his system. He shouldn’t be drowning in blood. He shouldn’t be swimming in it or anything at all, and that was the first clue that kicked his senses in and had him sliding out of the nightmare.
Nate woke up to sunlight burning parts of his finger that had somehow managed to leave the cave he was curled in. He hissed and retracted his hand, then scanned the dark spots that looked charred. Pain fluttered there, but a quick fisting determined that it hadn’t burned through and through and would be okay soon. His whereabouts were another matter.
“Here we go again,” he voiced out, then searched around his cramped space until he found the bag of blood he had collected from the night before. He filled his stomach with small, careful sucks, aware that he couldn’t waste a single drop and already thinking of where he would find his next source. More animals? Humans already dead? Rogues?
Speaking of rogues.
A bunch had retired for the day in one of the caves in front of him, bigger and surrounded by large clumps of trees where he was certain that more of them had retreated. With the sun still shining, he took stock of his items in his corner, then buried two more blood bags and a stack of makeshift wooden weapons in a mound of dried grass and dirt. At the sun’s last stretch, his body braced in wait.
“One more minute. Or two.”
The minute ended, and the sun disappeared. Carefully, he snuck out of his cave and raced to the back, putting enough distance before he spread his wings and heaved himself up. The sky was cloudy and the moon was nowhere in sight, but his razor-sharp vision allowed him to see the dots of life coming out of their hiding places.
He hovered in the clouds, ignoring the cold and trailing after the larger group as they made their way to a pit. Bones and bodies were piled high, but the rogues dove in without hesitation and swam through it until they found bits of flesh and drops of blood they could still take. Another group went for a mutated deer, but the deer was faster and managed to outrun them. A mutated bear wasn’t so lucky, tackled to the ground before he could reach them. Ahead was a tall gate built from wood and made sturdy with bones weaved in between, and beyond that were houses made of the same material where the rejected vampires had made their little community. Some were clumped together, while others had sub-barriers in place, refusing to mingle.
When it looked like the rogues would leave the gate alone again, Nate flew to the other end, where another border was set up. This one hovered up to eternity, a semi-invisible sheen that only vibrated when a great force touched it. His father had kept it sturdy for years, a testament to how well they lived versus how the creatures they had cursed to this place tried to survive.
“How about five loaves of bread in exchange for a day in House Powell’s kitchen? Just a tour, and I will be out of your way the next day.”
“Fall in line, girl, and stop flirting already. We don’t have all day.”
“Thief! Stop him! Hurry!”
The most interesting thing was how he could hear random voices filtering through, especially those coming from the market. While the regular market talk was comforting, it was the snippets of castle talk that provided him with news of the other side of the island. He settled himself in a spot with more clouds, sifting through the conversation like he had the previous nights.
“I will hit you if you disrespect me like that again. Remember how easily the ranks can change, and this house will no longer be disrespected.”
“Did you hear about the queen? She’s in mourning and won’t come out, so her eldest son has been taking the reins.”
“They are vampires. They are evil. Never trust a single one and keep your head down.”
“If they attack us here again, we won’t have a market left. I wish they got it together.”
“The second son is a killer. He’s the one making this happen. We are doomed.”
There was no mention of what he had made happen, but he was pretty sure that either Nicholas or his mother was pulling the strings on that tidbit. Nate gritted his teeth but stayed to listen to more accounts of how he had murdered his father. He switched areas when a couple of rogues ambled below, then looked up to the sky and sniffed the air. One spotted him and snarled, so he ended up flying further than anticipated until he could land in a barren area where the rocks provided no hiding place. It was darker than the rest and would give him some reprieve—until a shadow blurred before him and made him realize the mistake he had made.
Nate booked it away, then slowed down when no figure followed him. He tried to listen to noises other than the random voices, any sign that could help him identify where the creature had gone.
“There’s a room available. How much do you have?”
“I will sell this to you if you give me double the price.”
“I don’t think the prince did it. It has to be a lie. Maybe his lover killed the king. That’s why they killed her.”
