Blizzard Read online

“Stay here with me.” He clasped my hand as I pulled the blankets back up to his chest.

  Part of me was prepared to collapse there on the spot, fall across him and the bed and not wake for days, but I needed time alone, too. “Not tonight, Thedryk.” Clasping my fingers around his hand, I guided both to my cheek, feeling the warmth of his skin connect with mine. “I’ll be back, I swear it.”

  I leaned down, kissing his cheek before departing. The distance from the small infirmary to my secured bedchamber was as great as a voyage across the vast oceans I had heard stories about as a child. There seemed no end in sight, though I knew the room waited, and when I finally reached it I could barely crawl onto the bed and slide under the covers before exhaustion defeated me.

  “Good evening, Kareese.” A deep, familiar voice resonated in the room, forcing me upright, alarmed at the presence. “Now do not panic, my daughter.” The voice laughed heartily. “I am visiting in good faith.”

  My eyes were wide open but saw only darkness until a dim light grew in the corner of the room, but it wasn’t my room. It was the room from before, the room I had seen when I was Kareese. “My name is Neva,” I corrected my uninvited guest.

  “Of course, forgive me, but from where I view things, you are still Kareese. Whatever name the next family gave you means nothing to me; your soul is bound to mine. You are marked and will only ever be Kareese to me.” I could hear a curling smile in his voice, teasing me in the dim lighting. A figure took shape, sitting in the chair as before, and a fireplace constructed itself around the light.

  “What do you want, Reegan?” I was beyond tired. I was the living dead at this point and done with the games.

  “To thank you, my daughter. You have released me from my bonds.” He lifted his arms above his head. Heavy shackles fell off and imprinted the ground below with a thud.

  “I don’t understand what you mean. How did I release you? We’re all vampires, isn’t that how you’re—” The terrible truth boiled up.

  The figure of Reegan stood, stretching out. “And there it is. She understands now, just what she’s done.” Reegan clapped his hands together firmly at his chest, turning to look at me with his brilliant amber eyes glowing in through the gloom.

  “What did you do to her?” My hands trembled. I tried telling myself it was all a nightmare, just a representation of my guilt and fears piled up and regurgitated in my dreams.

  “She was so desperate to be noticed, so afraid as she watched the other vampire children destroy everything around them and no answers from her mother and father. I gave her the answers; I gave her solace and freedom from judgment. Through me, I gave her the chance to try things she never could have done. She met her full potential, and I was proud. Yet she was the key to unlocking my cage.”

  I sat, considering the nightmare’s words. “So why wait so long to have her killed? You obviously forced her to do those terrible things. You could have ended this so long ago. I cannot imagine you would want revenge to last as long as it has.”

  Reegan took a few steps closer to me, his frame an imposing figure as the light grew and cast his ominous shadow across my bed with definition. “Oh, no! Being here, in this hell, locked away gave me time to discover the answers I needed. I wanted to be free far sooner, but as it turns out, she couldn’t be killed by just anyone, Kareese. You had to kill her, to break the bonds of the spell you cast.” I could see his teeth gleaming in his shadowed features.

  “But…” I felt my head shaking from side to side, unable to believe his claim. “But then why are we still vampires? Wouldn’t that have ended the vampires, too?”

  Reegan sighed, almost apathetically. “It is astonishing how little you know of your own abilities, the magic of your priestess blood. Here, I will explain.” I could tell he was taking pleasure in the moment, his superiority outweighing logic. “Your spell was layered. One was to keep my demons from entering this world, so long as vampires exist. That is still in effect.” His voice raised after the pause. “However, the key to keeping me locked out was only one being. Felicity. A magicked little being to keep me sealed away, and all I had to do was bide my time and find my answers through her. You see, it appears there was a catch; she could communicate with me. No one else knew. It was perfect, a loophole that gave me a chance. So very kind of your spell to have that feature.”

  “I appreciate the lesson, but why tell me all this?”

  Reegan laughed aloud, deafening me in the roar of volume. “Because, my darling daughter.” Reegan appeared at my side, leering over me with a grin that covered nearly his entire face. “There is nothing you can do about this anymore, and I enjoy seeing you suffer, knowing you have ruined the only method you had of keeping me locked away. I will see you soon, and then the real festivities will begin.” He curled his fingers beneath my skin, pulling his thumb across my chin and reopening the wound from Felicity’s blade. “Sleep well, Kareese.”

  Standing in the middle of the room, I felt like a pariah as the group stared at me after recounting the details of the vision.

  Zachariah spoke first. “I feared that was the case. It’s too late now, anyway. What’s been done cannot be undone, so we have to prepare ourselves for whatever he has planned.”

  “What can he do without his demons?” Duval was leaning against the wall next to Merrick’s bed, Helsing standing just beside him.

  “Plenty, I imagine,” Zachariah responded. “He will most likely be returning not as a man, but as a demon himself dressed as a man.”

  “How, though? If we still exist as vampires, shouldn’t that keep him from crossing the boundary?” Although Merrick and Thedryk had recovered nearly entirely over the course of their sleep, Merrick had nearly lost his entire right arm and left leg below the knee.

  “His only binding was Felicity,” Eliza clarified. “Any demons below him are not powerful enough to break our barrier, but Reegan is unlike any demon within their dimension.”

  “We will need every vampire brought back here, every able-bodied vampire to prepare for Reegan’s return,” Thedryk surmised.

  “Agreed,” Helsing responded. “But who will fetch our two expectant parents?”

  I volunteered without hesitation. “I will. Knowing what I know now, and my relationship with Piper, I think they would better receive me than any of you.” Looking around, I saw most eyes downcast.

  Eliza cocked her head my way, her eyes narrowed. “Neva, you would have to bring them back, without the vampire baby. You do realize that, don’t you?”

  “Perfectly.” My gaze remained steady, and truth was within my words.

  Eliza only nodded her approval before the rest determined their stations and duties.

  Thedryk had stood and made his way towards me, and our eyes locked. “Wherever you go, I follow, remember?”

  I smiled gratefully at his words. “Yes, I remember,” I responded, placing my hand upon his chest, feeling his heartbeat through his shirt. “But will you trust me?” I whispered as he leaned close, pressing his forehead to mine, our noses touching at their tips.

  “Implicitly.”

  Finding Jonah and Piper took months. It was more time than anticipated, but it turned out to be plenty as by then Reegan still had not surfaced. Jonah and Piper had returned to lands closer to the capital of our country, a small farm not fifty miles from the bustling commerce. Without Helsing and his men’s assistance in tracking, we would have taken months longer to find the couple.

  “Are you prepared for this?” Thedryk stood at my side, my companion and protector.

  “I have had months to prepare,” I responded solemnly.

  “You feel certain this plan will work?” Duval asked. He had joined us at the last moment before our departure, with Helsing’s blessings of course.

  “It has to. We need every vampire possible.” The night held a full moon, and we had found out just how dangerous Helsing was on the full moon. We properly secured him, as he had advised and suggested.

  “I woul
d still feel better if we waited. Even one more weekend surely would be acceptable,” Thedryk spoke as we advanced upon the small farm.

  “No, I think we are at the end of our grace period with Reegan.” My words silenced both men as we reached the door.

  The spring breeze that was welcoming summer lifted the edges of our cloaks. Scents of honeysuckle and night blooming jasmine grew stronger the moment we reached the door. For a moment, I hesitated to knock, considering how they might react.

  “Come inside, Neva.” Piper’s voice called to me before my knuckles rapped the tightly sealed wooden door.

  I opened it, hesitantly, expecting Jonah to try to kill me and the others. Instead, the two sat together in a wide seat, a baby swaddled and held in Piper’s arms. Tears brimmed in her eyes in the candlelight that flickered from the gust of wind that rushed in with our entrance.

  “Hello, Piper, Jonah.” I greeted them warmly, as though I weren’t there to ruin their quiet, peaceful lives.

  The sound of sheep behind the house gave the home a cozy feeling, and it almost felt normal, except for the child. Even from where we stood, I could feel the wrong that was within the wrapped bundle.

  “Neva, Thedryk.” Jonah nodded. “Duval, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “It’s been a long time, Jonah.” The two men exchanged sorrowful glances masked by pleasant expressions.

  “I couldn’t do it, Neva.” Piper’s voice cracked with the tears that trickled down. “We had wanted a child for so long before everything…before becoming vampires, and I felt the baby move, and I couldn’t do it. I just had to hold little Liam.” I watched Piper look down with unequivocal love for her baby boy.

  “I know.” The words were a vice upon my heart. “But you both have to return, and the baby is a vampire, pure. Against the laws.”

  “It’s not fair!” Piper sobbed. “We had no idea in the beginning, no way to know this would be the result. I never would have agreed to become this had I known!”

  Jonah wrapped his arm around Piper’s shoulders, trying to comfort her.

  “Me too, Piper, but Reegan is returning, and we need everyone to fight what’s about to come. I hate to ask you to come back, tell you to come back, but we need you. Both,” I emphasized to Jonah, seeing his underlying confliction.

  Piper gasped at the mention of Reegan’s return. “Reegan is returning? How?”

  That was the moment. I snapped my fingers, and Thedryk and Duval subdued Jonah, the sudden shock leaving him unable to stop the two men. I went directly to Piper but did not take the child. Instead, I knelt before her as she sat, knowingly awaiting the actions that would forever sever our friendship and end any meaning to her life.

  “May I see him, Piper?” I wanted to reach out and hold Piper, tell her of the sorrow I understood, that I was going to save them all, but I could see she had already accepted this fate. “Please, trust me.”

  Piper trembled with Liam in her arms as Jonah began yelling, cursing at me and telling Piper to run. Instead, she handed me her child and doubled over herself. She began rocking back and forth as I stood and turned away, pulling back the cotton blanket to find his eyes were red. The baby could only have been two, maybe three months old at most.

  “It will all be over soon, sweet pea,” I cooed.

  A wailing rose from Piper as Jonah screamed, causing the baby to begin crying. His crying stopped within mere moments, and Jonah’s screaming followed suit. Piper’s wailing calmed, and I turned to find Jonah holding her, comforting her, as I extended the bundle of blanket, a small frame still secured within its bindings.

  Jonah looked to the small body, then to me, hatred, loathing of incomparable measure directed at me. Piper raised her head, revealing her tortured face, red and wet from the tears suddenly clear as the blanketed body twitched and a cry called out. A sigh of relief escaped me as the baby’s cry rose and fell, the little lungs pumping in and out with the rounded belly.

  “I hope you have actual milk available,” I said.

  Piper eagerly took Liam from my hands, moving the blanket away from his body and inspecting him, finding a singular puncture wound at the base of his neck and shoulder. “You…you made him human.” Piper stroked his soft, supple cheek with her finger.

  “Yes, another ability I learned I have,” I answered shyly. “I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t entirely certain it would work on one so young.”

  Piper turned and shook Jonah from his shocked state.

  “He’s human?” Jonah repeated, sounding as if the words were a foreign language. “Full-fledged human? Only human food and life?”

  “Well, he was born vampire, so I cannot say what his lifespan will be, whether he is entirely human now or something in between. The good news is he can come home with you both, back to the castle.”

  “Jonah.” Piper prodded him. “Jonah, go get some drinks for our guests. Liam’s hungry, and I can finally feed him.” Jonah was up and out of the house in a blur of motion. “Stay with us. Please, daylight is coming, and we cannot travel in such conditions. Is he safe in the sunlight? Have you changed others?”

  “We will most graciously stay, and yes. There were vampires who returned who wanted to be human again, regardless of learning about Reegan, so I changed them. They are perfectly fine in sunlight, but it did take some time for other things to take full effect. I believe, though, that Liam will not experience any complications because of his age and diet thus far.” I felt pure joy at the comfort Piper took in the facts.

  “Neva, thank you.” Piper hugged me with the baby carefully between us. “I have missed you.”

  The rest of our time awake was spent exchanging the stories of what had happened over the past several months.

  “We buried Lucy two days after Felicity’s death.” Sorrow would not be abated, but I was able to move on. “Xavier should be awake by now, fully recovered.”

  “I’m still blown away that Zachariah is back and was here during all that time. He did nothing to change anything? Not even save your family?” Jonah handed Piper another goblet.

  Thedryk was closing the shutters and curtains as the sky had started to lighten at the horizon. “You both know there are limitations to what we may do, and truthfully I am thankful he’s returned. He seems to be back to the man we knew before he…changed.”

  “Does anyone know what Reegan has planned?” Piper had been feeding Liam again. To my surprise, her body had been producing milk, but Liam had wanted only blood. Now her relief was apparent, and Liam was happy to relieve her overabundant milk supply. She had been acting as a wet nurse for women in the capital, but suspicion over her only nighttime availability had required her and Jonah to reconsider their options. That had been only two days prior, but with no relief, she had found herself suffering terribly.

  “Not precisely,” I responded. “But he makes regular visits to me in my visions.” My confession garnered Piper’s and Jonah’s surprised attention, but a knock came at the door, and Helsing’s voice called from the other side.

  “I really hope you are all alive and well in there. I would really appreciate being let in now.” His voice was strained and tired, but human.

  Duval stood and opened the door, keeping himself securely tucked behind its unyielding protection and opening it only enough for Helsing to slip inside.

  “Helsing,” I greeted him warmly, though I was worried once I saw the shape he was in.

  He stood staring, providing his usual smile but looking like he had been lost without provisions for days. “No need to trouble yourselves.” He stumbled forward, catching himself on a chair that Duval helped him settle within. “This is all temporary. I see the baby is well and no longer full-vampire. Good work, my dear!”

  “Thank you.” I beamed at the praise, seeing a strange expression cross Thedryk’s face at my side.

  “A rest I take it, then back to the castle?” Helsing surveyed the room as he asked.

  “Yes, we’ve all already caught up,�
�� Thedryk responded. “We should all rest.”

  “I fear this is all the space we—” Piper began to explain their lack of accommodation but a portal opened where the fireplace sat, and Eliza stepped through with Zachariah.

  Everyone was silenced by her presence, her expression quirking as she recognized the baby in Piper’s arms. “I see you did not follow my instructions,” Eliza stated coolly.

  Piper’s mouth dropped open slightly, but Jonah responded, “No, we did not and are thankful we didn’t. Neva was able to change the baby. Liam is no longer full-vampire, so he should not have to die.”

  Eliza allowed a few minutes to pass, regarding the couple and the baby before responding. “Yes, I would agree. It was the right choice.” Piper’s worried expression broke into blissful joy. “It’s time to head home. It seems Reegan has finally made his move.”

  Mikayla Elliot is an avid reader and writer of fantasy novels. She is a single parent to two beautiful children and their rambunctious corgi, Sheila, living in Atasocita, Texas. When Mikayla isn’t creating new worlds and adventures she spends her time working as a Planner in the energy industry, which has unveiled various landscapes in multiple states for site visits. Mikayla holds a Bachelor’s in Business Management from the University of Phoenix, and feels the debt deep in her soul and pockets.

  If you enjoyed reading Blizzard please consider leaving a review at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and Goodreads!

  You can keep up with the Black Ice Series, upcoming plans for other trilogies and series, and all things Mikayla Elliot on her website: www.MikaylaElliot.com

  Or by following her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @MikaylaElliot, and on Goodreads.