Chapter 14

The forest seemed unnaturally bright as residual light from Padu streamed through the trees. Selene walked quickly, with Sam close behind. She would have sprinted if her legs didn't feel so unsteady.

Keeping her voice low she said, "Margery is a vampire, isn't she?"

"Yes," Sam said.

"She was terrifying!"

"But harmless."

"I felt like she wanted to bite me or something," she said, shuddering.

"Perhaps, but I wouldn't have let her. No vampire will bother us as long we stay in the forest at night. They keep close to towns and villages to feed."

"Wait, that's why we always stop at sunset? I thought it was a camping thing."

"Traveling by daylight is preferred for visibility, yes."

"Well, obviously," Selene said, feeling stupid. "But you told me vampires were all old and harmless. She was old, but definitely did not seem harmless. How do you know her?"

"From long ago," he said evasively.

"When?"

"A time in my life before I came to Queen Thema's."

"What were you doing?"

His steps slowed. "I don"t wish to say any more on the matter. Let's stop here and make camp."

Although Selene had known Sam for about a week, she had learned it was pointless to push when he didn't want to talk. She let the subject drop, vowing to grill him further another day. Selene shrugged off her backpack and sat on the ground. "Can we just rest for a minute? I'm a bit rattled."

"Certainly. Stay there and relax. I'll set up camp."

"I can help, I just need—"

"Rest," Sam said sternly. "Hand me your pack."

Selene complied. Sam pulled out her tent and set it to inflate, then he gathered firewood. He refilled their water jugs then set a pot to boil for tea. When the switch pouch expanded with a fish pie, Selene tried to set out their dishes, but Sam wouldn't hear of it. Instead, he made her a cup of mint tea, handed her one of his blankets, and told her not to get up again.

Normally, she felt guilty if she wasn't pitching in, but it was actually nice to just surrender. It wasn't as if he thought she was being lazy or selfish, he was simply giving her a break. She pulled off her boots and stretched her toes. The stress of meeting Margery dissolved as she watched the muscles of Sam's back shift while he strung up his hammock.

His size had been intimidating at first, but now she marveled at the way he carried himself. It was like he knew exactly what his strengths and weaknesses were and had trained his body to perform.

When he tied the hammock strap into knots, his face clouded with concentration. She sipped her tea, studying him. Although he wasn't traditionally handsome—wide jaw, deep-set eyes, and cheekbones too sharp to be human—she found his features appealing. Oh, and those horns. Yum.

Yet it wasn't only his looks she liked. He was so damn capable. There wasn't anything he didn't seem to know how to do. Not only could he tell time by the sun and make fire without a match, he could catch a fish, cook it, and do the dishes. All without complaining, needing help, or expecting showers of praise from her. Unlike someone else she knew…

She wasn"t being unfair to Kevin, she told her herself. She was just noticing differences. Before the whole "let's press pause" thing happened, one of the things she liked about Kevin was there was no ambiguity with him. Unlike her parents' evolving expectations, she knew exactly what Kevin needed from her. The best way to show her love was by supporting what he loved—his music. It was exciting to date a musician, but before he went on tour, her to-do list for Kevin's career often felt like a part-time job. She was the brains of the Kevin P. Norton singer/songwriter brand, while he was the heart and soul. Yet now that she was in Aurelia, Selene found she quite liked spending time with a completely self-sufficient man—one who really didn't need her at all.

She wrapped Sam's blanket around her shoulders while he dished up their dinner. She studied his beefy forearms and wondered why she had never seen him without the leather bracers covering his wrists or asked him how he received the large scar that ran down his right eyebrow. Actually, she knew very little about him. After he passed her a full plate, Selene said, "May I ask you a personal question?"

Sam narrowed his eyes, suddenly feeling guarded. "You may."

"Why did you come to Aurelia from the Underworld?"

He blinked. "Queen Thema didn't tell you?"

"Was it to be special bodyguard for her?"

"No."

"Then why?"

Sam ran his palm over his face. Normally he hated talking about himself, especially details about his past. Years ago, one of the Queen's guards had tried to engage him by asking this same question and Sam had tossed him through a window. But unexpectedly, the question didn't bother him when it came from her.

"I was abducted from the Underworld," he said.

"Abducted!" she gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "Why?"

"I don't know. I was only a boy."

"What happened?"

Sam met her eyes. "You wish to know?"

"Yes, I mean, if you'd like to tell me."

Slowly, Sam began, "I had only seen eight winters—years, in human terms. I was sleeping in my bedroom, then woke abruptly. A creature had entered my room. I thought perhaps it was an imp come to play a trick, or one of my father"s servants. But it was not."

Sam remembered the confusion he felt at the odor filling his room when Zaybris appeared. It wasn"t a demonic scent. Nor was it the earthy aroma emitted by the dead when entering the Underworld. It was something else.

He continued, "Then I saw a man, a handsome human male with pale skin and long blonde hair standing over my bed. He wore a fine velvet jacket. I didn't understand how a human got past the royal guards. I-I sat up to cry out for my father but the man clamped a hand over my mouth. His face was anguished, his mouth… his mouth was red and pinched."

Sam's throat tightened as he remembered how he had also seen two yellow fangs within that red mouth. It was then that he understood the reason why the human smelled neither dead nor alive—he was a vampire. They couldn't enter the Underworld until fully dead, nor exist peacefully among the living.

"The human clamped a hand over my mouth then roughly pulled me onto his lap."

"You must have been so scared," she said softly.

Sam swallowed at the wave of emotion her words brought. It suddenly became difficult for him to speak as he thought back to the vampire's tone, his inflection. He remembered how his kidnapper's voice dripped with spite, Well, well. Look at you, son of the great, captivating King Asmodeus. A little abomination. I am Zaybris. Have you heard my name before? I am loyal. Devoted. Steadfast. Each word was bit out with malice.

Sam had struggled, but Zaybris only tightened his grip and said, I have spent years searching for a way to enter the Underworld and now that I'm here, I find you! The hatred and utter disgust that the stranger had for him was terrifying. Then Zaybris had twisted Sam's arm painfully before crying out, Let her know the agony of loss as I have! while pressing his thumb into the wire-wrapped stone hanging from a cord around his neck, lurching Sam into his new life.

Sam played those words over and over in his head thousands of times, desperate to make sense of them. Let her know the agony of loss as I have. Let who know? And why?

He met Selene's eyes over the fire. "Yes. I was scared," he admitted. "Then everything went dark. I was in great pain, and woke up in Aurelia."

"Do you know who it was that kidnapped you?"

"No," he lied. "He left me in this realm and I never saw him again."

"I'm very sorry. Who eventually found you?"

"A kindly couple who took care of me until I was grown," he said, only providing her with half of the story.

"And the queens can't take you back home?"

"No. It is a realm for the dead." He began removing his boots and set them near the fire. "What was it like for you when you came to Aurelia?"

Selene shuddered. "Very unpleasant. Queen Thema told me when she passes through her portals it feels as natural as blinking. But that is not how I felt. First, there was an odd smell. I remember that came first. Then it was as if the ground… it shook under me. Seemed to swallow me whole until I felt like I was falling. Or I had been pushed from a great height. But there was no relief of hitting the ground, I just kept dropping down further and further."

"I felt that too," Sam said. "Falling, but there was more to it. I was also being crushed. As though two great boulders were squeezing—"

"The squeezing!" Selene echoed emphatically. "As if all my bones were breaking."

"Yes." Sam picked up a nearby stick and poked it into the dirt. "For me, the squeezing and falling continued until all at once it stopped. Like a candle being blown out. Then I was thrown on my back against muddy ground. Blinded by a horrible yellow light and wheezing for breath."

Selene's eyebrows drew together. "A yellow light? I don't remember that."

"No, a human wouldn't have noticed it as remarkable," he said. "It was months before someone finally told me that harsh light was called the sun."

"Oh." She looked surprised then apologetic. "I guess coming to Aurelia was more of a shock for you than it was for me."

Sam didn't know how to respond so he just shrugged. They held each other's gaze for a beat until Sam looked away. A strange feeling welled up in his chest. Almost as if something had opened and shifted inside. He wanted more.

"Thank you for telling me your story." Selene yawned and handed the blanket back to Sam. "My feet are killing me so I'm going to turn in early tonight. Goodnight, Sam."

"Sleep well, Selene" he replied.

He watched Selene enter her tent then poured a jug of water over their fire. A nagging feeling that he was playing a dangerous game tugged at his gut. He was growing too fond of his beautiful human companion. Sharing parts of his life he hadn't told anyone ever, asking more than he should about hers. Queen Thema had assured him Selene would be better off in Aurelia, he knew that. And he had vowed to get Thema the information about her lost sister that she needed. He was doing the best thing for both of them; for all of Aurelia, really. The realm would lose a violent demon, but gain a peace-loving human. Perhaps even a lost queen.

But under the night sky with Selene's scent on his blanket and her boots sitting next to his, he wished things could be different.