Fangs of Fate (Untish #1)

Chapter 48

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

TATE

We made it to the settlement, an Oak Shire, just as it got dark. Thankfully, the trip was uneventful. I didn’t speak to any of the dirty trio, my new nickname for them, the rest of the day. Since I’d gotten here, I’d managed to hide away and remain blissfully unnoticed by most. This was a retirement plant. They manufactured glass bottles and managed a small, but stable farm. No human vessels. The thought had upset most of the dokimoses and caused a near riot. To make things worse, the settlement was not prepared to host a group of soldiers. Even with our platoon being cut down to less than half our original size after the last attack, we were too much for them to handle. We’d be sleeping outside.

Additionally, the blood supply was low which meant we were being rationed. I was given one small blood bag, a small meal and not nearly enough after the long trek.

My hands were shaking, they had been for the past two hours. Too much exertion. I took a deep breath and tried to steady them. My vision began to double. I felt sick.

Pulling up a blanket, I buried my hands in it and closed my eyes. I needed the dizziness to subside before we left again tomorrow morning. I tried to relax on the small bedroll I had found, but it proved nearly impossible with my new nausea and pounding headache. Sitting was the best option.

I tried to think about the scenery, focus on nature like Fletch had once taught me after a particular grueling training session. I was tucked in the corner of a building that overlooked the valley below. It was peaceful here. Unprotected, but peaceful. The settlement had only one hundred-fifteen vampires staffing it. I couldn’t help but notice that most of these vampires were maimed. Several were missing limbs and had prosthetics in their place. The one who handed me the blood bag didn’t speak and another was missing an eye. So, this is where they sent the injured or those who couldn’t serve the guara’s military might.

It felt wrong to see them here, wasting away. They were all very thin and their skin held a sickly pallor. Given how I felt, I wondered how far off my complexion was.

Footsteps approached but I was too tired to look up. Hopefully whoever it was would just keep going.

“You look like shit.”

Apparently, I wasn’t that lucky. I looked up and met Aether’s eyes, trying to focus on him but failing epically with my new double vision.

“Just keeping pace with you,” I tried to add swagger to my tone, but it fell flat.

“Here. Drink this, it will help.” He extended a pint glass full of scarlet liquid. It was darker than bloodwine usually was and had a strange golden glow to it. That is, assuming it wasn’t my vision acting up on me more.

“No thanks.” I turned my head and closed my eyes. I didn’t have verbal sparring in my arsenal at the moment.

“One truth. I’ll give you one truth if you take this and drink it.”

Was he really trying to bribe me into drinking the bloodwine? I mean, I sure as hell wanted it, but I didn’t need charity or to be more vulnerable to him. Still…I could get some answers this way, if I could focus long enough to ask a question.

“One truth.”

I looked at him. His leathers were clean; apparently, he’d brought a change with him—where the hell he kept it, I’ll never know. They fit him perfectly. Highlighted each curve and muscle. His black shirt was unbuttoned and the leather vest he wore held daggers in it. He was ever the dark angel.

“How do you manipulate the air?” It had been bothering me since I first witnessed it. Since I’d felt it and had reached out to the power. I’d never known such magical giftings existed. “What type of magic wielding is it?”

The right side of his lips tipped up in a smile.

Pride.

“Magic, my dear.” He winked at me.

“No shit, what type of magic? I never knew that air manipulation was possible.”

“It’s hard to explain but think of it like a charge. Lightening responds when negative ions build up and are met by positive ones. It’s a striking force of power. Like responding to like.” He sat down, back resting on the wall behind us.

Close, he was so close. I could sense him from here. Ash and salt.

“Honestly, it’s shocking how little the Glenn focuses on magic education. They’d have you believe it’s rare, that aside from normal giftings, magic doesn’t exist. They lie. To you and to every citizen. Your very being is composed of magic, the ground we sit on is rich with it.”

I could feel the air around me tightening to a pleasant pressure. Comforting my aching body, almost to the point of massaging it. Delightful.

“But to answer your question,” he cleared his throat—his voice suddenly deeper and breathy. “Consider it a manipulation of air pressure. I can feel the weak spots and feed it, making it stronger, or yank it away altogether.” He moved his hand, and the air in front of my face swirled and danced, blowing wisps of my hair around in its breeze.

“And that’s not accounting for the moisture in the air or the electrical charge it holds. They are all elements that respond to me—to my power. Energy manipulation.” He flexed his fist and a small burst of light appeared in front of me along with a sizzling. The charge in the air strengthened, making the hair on my arms stand and my blood tingle. Then he relaxed, dropped his hand back to the glass he still held in the other. The charge dissipated, but the welcoming comfort from the air pressure did not. “Power you too hold, Tate.”

His eyes locked with mine. I hadn’t noticed before, but he had flecks of gold in them that circled his iris. The scar that jutted from his forehead was jagged and about a quarter inch thick.

“What caused that?” I reached out and touched the scar with my fingers. It was soft and tight. Old then. The air around me sparked and a gentle wind began to caress my face.

“I said one truth.” He grabbed my hand with his, stopping me from caressing his face.

What was wrong with me? I yanked my hand away, red creeping up my cheeks.

“I don’t have magic.” Lie. I knew it and from his look, so did he. They may think they need me, and they may be open about their use of magic, but shifting was punishable by death in the guara. Who knew what kind of stand Arithi has on shifting? Perhaps, she and Aether would also consider it a violation of natural law and be disgusted by me.

No more rejection.

“You have so much more raw magic than you know.”

“I know myself. I know what I’m capable of, and what I’m not. And right now, it’s about to all come flying out of my mouth in the form of stomach bile.” I pulled the blanket up higher willing my stomach to calm.

“It’s normal you know.” He gestured to my hands. “It’s called Starving Nervous Breakdown Syndrome. Many of us experience it when going through the Changing.”

There was that word again. Changing .

“Are you seriously diagnosing me? I’m just tired and hungry. That’s it.”

“We both know there is more to it than just that. You’ve probably never felt like this before, and believe it or not, I can relate to how you feel.”

I leveled a look at him, grateful that even though I couldn’t focus, I could still glare at both of his outlines.

“Don’t believe me? Let me guess then,” he relaxed his shoulders as he spoke. “You are seeing double, have a splitting headache, and are nauseous. You’re starving and exhausted and I’ve already seen your hands shake. This blood will help.” He swirled it in the glass, the gold mixing with the red. “You’re end of the deal.” He winked at me as he set the glass down and stood up, the warmth from his body fleeing with him.

I stared at the liquid. I must be really sick because the gold in it was now swirling into a patterned shape. Part of me knew that shape. Impossible.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” He walked away, each footstep carrying the sharp air with him until the comforting pressure ceased and I was left to the cold, dull air.

The wine beckoned me. I want to drink it, my body is craving it, and yet I didn’t fully trust Aether. Logically, I know he saved my ass back in the tunnels and that Arithi wants me, though I wasn’t sure why. Could my sickness be brought on by his magic? Could this all be an elaborate game to gain my trust?

I grabbed the cup and sniffed it lightly. It smelled divine, better than any bloodwine I’d ever smelt. The glass was warm, which was odd considering this settlement’s lack of vessels. Perhaps he heated it up? Or maybe I’m just that cold and hallucinating.

Rustling in the valley below drew my attention. Panic seized me as I saw two figures emerge. Just the scouts. Or scout, with my double vision I really wasn’t sure. If that had been a seething, would I have survived? No, not with how I’m feeling now. Like it or not, I needed food and for whatever reason, Aether brought me some. I lifted it to my lips, spilling a little because my hands wouldn’t stop shaking, and drank.

The moment the liquid hit my tongue sparks fired throughout my whole system. I felt amazing. The wine slid down my throat and my very being responded to it, welcoming the thick iron like it was an old friend I’d missed and never even knew. I became hyperaware as I took another sip.

My vision cleared up, almost instantaneously. What type of blood was this? The flavor had berry notes to it that were covered with something heavier, something ashy, and almost molten tasting. It was divine.

I continued to drink and my whole body warmed, my hands stopped shaking, and my mind became clear. I could hear the crackling of pine needles and cones falling in the forest far below; the swaying of the grass was a melody riding the notes on the slight breeze that wove through the aspens and pines, into the valley where it seemed to twirl and dance. I could hear conversations from several different people all at once; I could see the details on the scout, singular, below and noted it was one of the newer dokimoses. He was aboard the circuit with us, his name was Louie, I think. I took one last deep drag and to my utter disappointment, the glass was drained. My arm was tingling, and I looked down to see it glowing slightly under the wrap.

I pulled at the fabric and saw my skin mending itself in real-time from the bite I’d sustained. My flesh was glowing as it melted over the exposed, blistered parts and began to fuse. Small scales lit up in a pink hue over the wound and then disappeared, like they were never there. The pain I’d felt since the bite was gone and the skin looked completely healed, unbroken.

My head no longer hurt. I ran my fingers through my hair and noticed the ends looked different. They were tinted rose pink. What the hell? I stood and the amount of energy I felt was amazing. I bounced from one foot to the other, unable to stop moving. It was like I’d just downed three energy drinks, fed from a live vessel, and had a full night’s sleep. I was amped.

I began walking, but it felt too slow. I needed to run, I needed to move. Each step was sure, confident. My left leg no longer throbbed, instead I felt glaringly nothing from it. A smile tugged at my lips. I could get used to this.

I was warm. Really, really warm. There was a stream not too far back, just a short walk down the path from the village. The water was cool when I’d crossed it earlier. It was miserable then, but now? Now, it sounded like heaven. I began to walk that way without hesitating. Seethings? If they came, I was confident I could fight them or at the very least, outrun them. Is this what drugs felt like? The thought of Aether drugging me didn’t bother me nearly as much as it should.

I weaved past several couples making out, some getting intimate, and some fighting. It sounded like they were arguing over food, big surprise there. But I didn’t care. I continued until I reached the edge of the village and then down the path. I was drunk on power. The raw feeling in my nerves was something I’d never experienced at this level before. It was as if my entire being was composed of energy, raw power waiting to be tapped. When I’d shifted before I’d feel some energy, but nothing compared to this.

Perhaps this is what I’ve been missing all along. The missing notes to my unfinished soul’s song.

My temperature continued to spike, sweat dribbled at the side of my forehead, my arms, my chest. I breathed heavily and the airway to my lungs was scalding, each breath began to burn. I needed water and I needed it now.

I could hear the stream up ahead and began to unbutton my jacket. I tossed it off, careless to where it landed. Too hot, I was too hot. Inhaling again, I could feel the air heating up as it entered my lungs. It seared upon exhale and the air around me fogged up like it does in the middle of winter. But it wasn’t winter, it was fall. And much too warm for night.

I pulled my tank off next and abandoned it too. The ground was getting moist, the reeds and grass thicker. I was on the riverbank a moment later. I unzipped my pants and stepped out of them, letting them fall to the shore. Stepping into the water, steam rose. The water sizzled. I stepped further in and was engulfed in a cloud of steam. The clear night became foggy, and the further in I walked, the denser the air became. I could see only a foot in any direction, nestled in a blanket of privacy of my own creation.

I took a deep breath, still far too hot, and dunked myself under water. The current gently pulled at me, beckoning me to follow its flow. I rooted my right foot against a few loose rocks on the bottom and stopped myself. My left foot couldn’t quite reach, but what did it matter?

The current was a blessing. The water surrounding me began to boil but was soon washed away and replaced with refreshing new, cool water. I sprung up from the bottom and breached the surface, wet hair blocking my vision.

I swam a few feet to the left until both feet could touch and find purchase to hold me still. I closed my eyes and focused on one sense at a time. The sizzle of the air, like that when water is poured onto flame. The sound of rushing water, beginning to boil. The reeds swaying in the distance.

The cool liquid coated my skin up to just below my armpits. It felt absolutely amazing. I opened my eyes, the mist thicker now. Steam. I gulped oxygen greedily, but even the air here was no longer cool. While the air that rushed into my lungs didn’t scald, it felt warm and mucky like a hot humid night in July.

My entire body was reacting in a way that was foreign to me. For my internal temperature to be this warm, I should be dead. I was a vampire and fire could kill. And yet, I was alive and felt gloriously deadly.

The air shifted, filled with a charge, a tell-tale sign. He was near.

“I wondered if I’d find you down here,” Aether’s voice cut through my stupor.

I turned around, the steam so thick that it took a moment to realize he was only a few feet away to my left. He was bare-chested, his tattoos crawling up both shoulders and peaking at his neck. They scrolled in an elegant design away from his collarbone, dipping slightly onto the right pec, before pulling back and disappearing behind his neck. The tattoo on his left arm scrolled further down in an intricate pattern I couldn’t quite make out.

I suddenly became very aware of my light pink thong and matching bra.

“It’s dangerous to experience the first heat alone. I needed to make sure you didn’t overheat.”

His words weren’t registering. All I could see were his lips moving, beckoning me forward.

“Dangerous, how?” I took a step closer, slipping slightly until my foot found a new stone to anchor on.

I could make out a vague raising of his chest, the way the water lowered with his inhale, getting gloriously close to his hip bones…revealing the V that started to form just above the surface of the water. His exhale had the water rising, just enough to cover the teasing curves.

The sizzling sound coming from the water near me continued and more steam rose from all around me.

“Tate?” His eyes deepened in question. “How do you feel?” He stepped closer to me.

“Did you drug me?” I wasn’t about to confide in him that I felt fucking amazing.

He reached out his hand to touch me and I leaned back, just enough to cause my right foot to lose purchase. I was slipping, being pulled by the current.

His hands reached out and gripped my waist, holding me still in the water. “I won’t hurt you.” The sincerity in his brown eyes caught me off guard. “I just want to make sure you’re OK. This is,” he cleared his throat as his gaze dipped to my breasts just hovering above the water in the pink lace bra, “a very delicate time for a Untishee.”

Did he just say what I thought he did?

Words completely escaped me as I tried to conceive what he was telling me. He lifted one hand out of the water and touched my forehead.

Searing heat pulsed through me at his touch. The steam in the air hissed as the water around me began to boil on the surface. And yet, he didn’t remove his hand. His eyes locked on mine and for the first time, I could see the gold rings circling the black. Not just gold flecks, but golden rings. He was absolutely gorgeous. My breath caught.

“Breathe, just breathe.” His other hand pulled me closer to him, my waist barely grazing his chest, the water a barrier growing thinner by the moment.

I could feel my core heating up, aching. I wanted him. Logic seemed to be failing me because all I could think of was how badly I wanted to reach out and caress his skin. Trace his tattoo with my fingers, pull at the hair tie holding his hair in a bun.

I reached up and grabbed his hair tie with one hand. Here in the water, we didn’t have a foot height difference. Here, with him holding me out slightly and his standing in a lower space, we were practically equals. I tugged on the leather strap, releasing it from its hold.

I hadn’t noticed before now, but the ends of his hair were, in fact, black fading to brown at his roots.His eyes hooded and deepened as his jaw ticked back.

Desire. Beauty. Wrong.

I was acutely aware of his touch at my forehead as his other hand tightened on my waist, closing the distance between us so that my chest now pressed against his own. I wanted more. I looped my hands around his neck and played with his hair at the back of his skull.

So right. My body acted on its own accord, with little to no thought from me. I could feel a pull within me, a tug like that of my shifting string, but this one didn’t hide in murkiness. No, this one pulled outward, toward him.

I followed that string and allowed my left hand to search his tattoo. To trace it idly with my finger.

A moan escaped his lips as my chest pressed tighter against his. My skin was hyperaware. I could feel every nerve ending, every atom that pressed against his chest. He was delightfully warm, even in my current heated state, his warmth was welcome. His ash scent? Intoxicating.

“You smell like...” Home. He smelt like home. It was one thing to think it, another to say it aloud. That was a whole new level of vulnerability.

“It’s just the transformation. You’ll feel like this until its complete.” His lips were so close to my head. I angled up to look him in the eye and felt frighteningly small. Even so much closer to his height, I was still small. I could see him gulp and the look in his eyes was that of lust.

He wanted me. Just as I did him.

The air charged further; I could hear it sizzle. The mist thickening. I could feel the energy.

Want. Wrong. Control.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared now. You can feel it. I know you can. I can…sense you.” It was the most truthful I’d ever been with him and myself.

I could deny it further, pretend that I wasn’t sensing him and his emotions, but I was tired of being afraid. Perhaps, I really was drugged, but regardless, right now this felt right.

He moved his hand, now cupping the side of my head to the back of my skull before he leaned down and was just a mere breath away.

Slipping. Mistake. Need.

“You need me. I need you.” It was so simple. Why was he resisting?

He pulled back, just enough so I could see his whole face.

“Tate, you hate me remember?” He swallowed again as his eyes lowered to my heaving chest then back to my lips which were now wet and ready. “Trust me, you’ll hate me for this.”

“I decide what I want, who I want, and when. But you? I never pegged you for a coward.”

His eyes flared. I got him. I slowly slid a hand down his abs, touching each muscle’s outline until I reached the glorious ‘V’ leading to just beneath his boxers that he was wearing. Disappointment filled me, I’d hoped he’d be unencumbered.

My heat was building and the water around me boiled even further. I remembered the way he tasted, the ancient flavor of him was fresh in my memory. I wanted more. I placed one hand flat on his chest and moved my other one lower, barely grazing the tip of his manhood. He wanted me. Of that I was certain.

I smiled.

He shuttered as I palmed the outline of him. He was ready and firm. “Your flagpole tells all. It’s like that with all you males, no use denying attraction when it’s physically evident.” I smirked. I felt like I was in control again.

His hand on my back tightened and then moved lower to the dip in my back. His grip tightened, crushing me against him. I could see the warring in his eyes.

“You don’t understand. This,” he whispered as he tipped my chin up and looked me fully in the eyes. “This is a gift. One I…I don’t deserve. You’re too young to get it, but trust me, when this heat is over, you will hate me. If not then, when you complete your changing.”

“I am not a child.” I tightened my grip on his cock, eliciting a moan.

“This is a mistake,” he whispered, even as I could feel him thrust against my now pinned hand.

“Only your brain thinks so, your body has other ideas.” With that, I squeezed him firmly as I sealed my lips with his.Gently.

I pulled back. “Tell me again. Tell me to stop,” I whispered, challenging.

He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. He just breathed, the air around me tightening. I could feel the air’s current, its energy in my core. The string I felt was wrapped in its power. I pulled on it further and the air around me began to spin, lifting my wet hair from my chest and water drops with it. We were now encased in a water cyclone, beauty and mist all around.

Incredible. Powerful.

“You’re too much,” his voice was barely audible before he leaned down and took my lips in his.

The kiss was consuming. Unlike the first time where it was full of ire and anger, a resentful capture of my lips; this was hot, wild, and desperate. I parted my lips further and made room for his tongue to slip in.

He explored my mouth as I tasted him slowly. My temperature was heating up even more and I became aware of the air around me hissing wildly. The wind increasing as water drops now began to pelt us both, slicking the movement of our unsubmerged bodies.

I never wanted anything so much. Anyone so much. Every stroke of his tongue, his hands, felt right . I began to contract at my center and slipped my legs around his waist. Removing my hand from his length, I dug both of them into his hair as he adjusted his grip on my lower back to now cup my butt. His hands were so large that an entire cheek was swallowed by his grip.

He tilted me back further. The kiss was claiming. Engrossing. It was everything that mattered.

I moaned as his hand stroked my inner thigh. Electricity filled me, my entire body hummed as he began to thrust, rocking us back and forth. He was hard and ready. Even in the water, I could feel my own wetness spreading and begging for more.

“I want you,” I whispered as he pulled back and began to kiss my jawline, making his way down my neck to my collarbone.

Over the scar—the lover’s mark—he hesitated.

I could feel a shift in the air as it began to screech like a teapot left on the stove too long. Pressure from all angles began to consume all of me. He claimed that spot on my neck with his mouth and began to suck and then lick and then kiss until the skin felt raw. I arched into him as he made his way past that spot further down my neck to the top of my chest. He slipped his free hand to my shoulder, moved the bra strap down, and then continued the journey with his mouth. Nothing had ever felt so right, so perfect, so intended. I felt like I’d found my missing piece.

With a snap, my bra came undone, and I shrugged it off before tossing it into the river. A glow enveloped us, it was hazy and black—but also tinted pink. Like a sunset in the aftermath of a fire.

“Yes,” I could barely moan as his mouth found my peaked nipple. He claimed it like he had my mouth and teased the peak with his tongue. He sucked deeply and my entire body exploded. I’d never felt this way without my clit being heavily stimulated, and hell, he hadn’t even ventured down there. But as my body spasmed against him I saw stars.

I could feel each gentle pass of his tongue, the graze of his fangs against my breast, and the way my body responded as he pulled me deeper into him with his mouth. Pressure was building within my core, demanding I release. The air around us began to twirl faster, hazy and pink; mysterious and beautiful. I threw my head back, letting the water tug at my hair while his grip tightened on my waist, as he licked and teased with his mouth.

More.

He adjusted his grip, freeing one hand that then began to graze the inside of my thigh. He worked his way up with his hand as he released my nipple from his mouth and licked the column of skin up to those old fang marks. He reached for my center with his hand and circled around the sensitive bud with his thumb, teasing even through my thong. I moaned as I rocked against him. He sucked on the old fang mark as his fingers teased me. The tension was nearly too much.

With a single stroke, he flicked my clit and I climaxed. My body seized as he shuttered against me, pleasure erupting and the pressure dismantling. The air began to still, the charge reduced to a comforting caress, cradling my body. My hair dropped back to my back, the only cover I had for my upper body. He released me from his mouth, and I sagged against him. The water quieted and was no longer boiling. I could feel his breaths, mimicking mine in perfect time as we both held one another and simply breathed. I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes.

The heady feeling I’d felt a moment ago was beginning to clear. I could still feel every nerve and fiber of my body firing, but my breaths no longer burned. I no longer was causing steam to form or the water to boil. This may not be right, perhaps it was in the heat of the moment like he’d said, but I didn’t care. A content sigh escaped my lips.

“This was?—”

“A mistake,” he finished for me, releasing me from his grasp and letting my body fall into the water. I slipped, but the air around me held me steady until my foot touched the ground.

Hurt flooded my system. Rejection.

“I see you’re feeling better. Your temperature is back to normal. I need to get back.” He began to turn and leave.

How dare he. How dare he make me feel this way.

“No.” Power surged from me and stopped him in his tracks, the air crackling as it constricted around him. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to make me a regret.” I gritted my teeth, willing the air to turn him so I could see his face.

His eyes locked on to mine. Wide. Surprised.

Good, the jackass didn’t deserve to think he knew it all. He knew nothing.

“What happened here? You wanted it just as much as I did. I could sense it.”

He said nothing, just stared at me. He didn’t fight as I tightened the air around him. I didn’t understand how I controlled it as instinct took over.

“Fine. Reshape these events in your own mind. But be honest with me about this; you said something earlier that struck me as odd...” I needed to voice the question I’d avoided. The one word I tried to tune out whenever I heard it uttered. “Untishee,” I whispered the name.

“And?” He began to pull from the air’s grip on him, easily slicing through the hold. Like it was nothing. Like my power was that of a child’s. “You have much to learn, Tate.”

I could feel the air around me respond to his call, his command. It left me, fleeing, and I could do nothing to stop it. Nothing to stop the comforting pressure from evaporating.

I felt naked without his body pressed against mine, without the air pressure cradling me. Suddenly vulnerable. I crossed my arms across my chest and leveled a look at him.

I tried to mask the hurt, how small I felt. Logically, I knew it shouldn’t feel this way. I didn’t like him, remember? Didn’t know him or trust him. And yet, I felt drawn to him, as though there was an inexplicable electricity between us; a bond like I’ve never felt before. It was more than just chemistry, far more. It was as if we shared the very same energy. As if he somehow was an extension of myself.

“I said Untishee earlier, because no they’re not mythical, and we both should know that because we both are Untish.”