AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You don’t think that they will cause trouble, do you? Vampires hunting in our wintering spot is a bad sign when there are so many vulnerable humans here.” He glanced around. “Speaking of delicate humans, where is your female?”
Raskyuil immediately bristled, his eyes snapping to the male. “What interest do you have in my mate?” he growled.
“None at all,” the dryad laughed in a rush to assure him. “I was just concerned that she might look like a tempting nibble for one of the vampires if she happened to run into them.”
Tension eased from Raskyuil, and he grunted in acknowledgment of the concern. “That will not happen. She’s with Nivira. I’m returning to get her now. Regardless, I don’t think the vampires will be sticking around. They did not seem to care for this place,” he admitted, if only to reassure the dryad enough to send him on his way.
“Ah.” The male scratched his jaw contemplatively. “Do you suppose that they are leaving the area altogether then?”
“From what I understand, yes.”
He nodded. “Good. We don’t need them settling here. Especially since it’s my hope to not return to the road with the carnival come spring.”
Raskyuil glanced back at him, confused. “You are not?”
The dryad suddenly grinned. “No. I’ve found a nice little wooded hill on the island in the bay—at the far side of the island from the village the humans inhabit on it. It rises just enough to get out of the worst of the fog. The trees are nearly bare of leaves now, but in the spring they will awaken. I intend to be here to see it this time and pass the subsequent seasons in my new home.”
That was… surprising. “Did you find an agreeable female dryad?”
Nathiel laughed bitterly. “Hardly. I swear that there is no such thing, not unless I want to be under the whim of a whole group of them. My kind are not so fortunate as yours.”
“Then how? You cannot bond to the grove without a female, whether by your mother or by your mates, as far as I understood from those dryads who dwelled near the lucumo’s palace.”
“I think I’ve figured out a way… maybe. In any case, I look forward to the peace, far from the noise and unpleasantness of the carnival. I’ve even struck a nice accord with some of the humans of the village.”
Raskyuil didn’t have the heart to hit the male with reality when he wore a look of hopeful excitement on his face. Then again, everything was changing now that the boundaries between the worlds were gone. For all he knew, it was possible some new magic was happened upon in this new land. He didn’t understand the appeal, however, when this place made him want to crawl out of his own skin and strike off in the forests far from it, but he nodded gravely to Nathiel.
“I wish you luck then. As for the vampires, I don’t think you have anything to be concerned with. They were very insistent that this place made them uneasy.” He paused, uncertain if he should say more but why not if Nathiel was likewise troubled by the carnival. “You’ve been with the carnival for some time, correct? And have wintered here with them before?”
The male grimaced. “Don’t remind me. I’ve traveled with them quite a few seasons, which is why I’m glad this will be my last among the parasitic pleasures of Elwyn’s carnival.” He shuddered, and Raskyuil understood entirely.
“The vampires did note that there was something odd here—the lack of younglings. You’ve been with the carnival for some time. Have you noticed anything of the sort before?”
A look of surprise filled the dryad’s face, and he peered around among the humans moving along the path past them. “You’re… right. How odd. I never even noticed.” A shudder noticeably shook him. “I don’t understand why I never noticed. I don’t think I’ve noticed it anywhere else, but if I’ve been blinded to what is going on here… who knows what dark things Elwyn’s magic is concealing from us? I don’t like this,” he muttered warily as he drew back. “I don’t like it at all. I… I need to go speak to someone who might have some insight.”
Raskyuil inclined his head, watching the male as he jogged into the fog and disappeared within the gloom outside of the torchlight. He’d had enough for one night. Time to go get MaryAnne. The sooner the orb darkened, bringing their night to an end, the better. But first he needed to catch up with a certain goblin. There was a thing or two he needed to know if he was going to keep his mate safe so that no male could touch her, nor keep him from her.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Even though Raskyuil knew that MaryAnne was perfectly safe under the watchful care of the drya, it didn’t stop the flood of relief that rushed through him when he laid eyes upon his mate. Her look of surprise when he charged into the tent, as well as the shock of a faun who suddenly surged to his feet, almost made Raskyuil forget his anxiousness as he felt a rumble of laughter stir within his chest. He kept it trapped within him, however, as he skewered the male with a sharp look and made his way to his mate’s side.
The faun eyed him nervously, the male practically trembling in his seat like a kid goat separated from its dam. He was young too, with barely a downy tuft of hair on his chin, much less along the his cheeks and jawbones. Eyes round, the faun swallowed, and Nivira made a small sound of disgust from where she remained sitting in her seat.
“Stop frightening my client, troll, or I will expect you to compensate for the lost time on his read,” she snapped before focusing her bright gaze on the faun. A smile stretched across her face, and Raskyuil imagined that it was meant in a way that was supposed to be reassuring. Unfortunately, with the severity of the drya’s features and her pronounced fangs, it wasn’t anything but predatory. The faun trembled even harder. “Now, shall we begin again?”
The male blanched but nodded, shifting in his chair so that he was able to lean into the table more, and consequently a bit further away from Raskyuil in the process.
“I… I was just wondering what the fates have weaved for me in regard to... to… to love,” he stammered, his face reddening with embarrassment.
The drya squinted at the male but nodded before leaning over a flat disk of obsidian at the center of the table. Her fingertips danced over it in a weaving pattern, and a dark mist began to spin and rise from the mirror. From the shadows gathered behind her, long clawed limbs unfurled and swept inward. The faun jumped and clutched his chair as the claws slashed through the air, but they stopped short, snaring at the mist, drawing it up higher as Nivira began to weave it with a soft, humming chant.
Raskyuil’s skin prickled at the droning sound, and he glanced down at his mate beside him. MaryAnne remained motionless, watching expectantly as the drya continued to spin her magic. Only the tiniest shiver ran through her, betraying a certain level of comfort with the drya that he found surprising.
Although he had been assured that MaryAnne would be safe with the sisters, he had expected it to take more time given her fear and the fact that dryas put even many fae species ill at ease. Even he found the sisters unnerving and their tent to be practically claustrophobic with the hint of their webs everywhere. Perhaps his mate would do better there than he expected.
MaryAnne’s head turned in his direction, and she glanced up at him curiously when she caught him staring. He arched a brow in a silent question, and she smiled in reply with a faint shrug. He tipped his head toward the door, suggesting that they leave the drya to her work, but she unexpectedly drifted from his side as Nivira’s claws stretched wide as if drawing out a tapestry between them. MaryAnne went immediately to her left, stepping into the heavier shadows, and removed the lid from a black pot perched on a pedestal. His body stiffened, caught by surprise as he hadn’t even seen the pedestal there, and a strange smell filled the tent.
Her small hand disappeared inside the pot for only a moment before drawing up what looked to be a fine black powder. Holding her hand out flat, she leaned over Nivira’s work and blew the powder out across the mist before returning to his side. She didn’t look back at the drya or the faun but looped her arm with his and tugged him gently in the direction of the entrance, indicating that she was ready to leave.
