Bed and Breakfast [Bloodkin 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (18 page)

Vane pushed his brother aside. Clearly, the man had lost his mind at one point. Of course, fifty years was a long time to be away, but the punishment had been justified. No way would Vane betray Kier’s trust. He’d just have to have faith that his friend would take care of Moss and secure a safe way out for the brownies.

As much as he feared for Moss and Kier, the Covenant also remained a priority. In fact, the two couldn’t even be separated. The humans would suffer most if the bloodkin breached the Covenant. Vane wouldn’t have particularly minded before. He cared about the humans only because of his position as a Kin Lord. Now, however, he had Moss to worry about, and through extension, Moss’s family and friends. Kier’s people would also be in danger if the dark elves decided to wage war against the raging bloodkin.

So Vane ended up stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place. “Cole, reconsider. How many will you kill for the sake of a lost love?”

“As many as I have to,” Cole replied coolly. “And you can’t do anything to stop it.”

Before Vane could make any further protest, Cole turned his back on him and left the room. A dozen or so guards entered in his stead. Vane allowed them to secure him. Resisting now would only get him hurt and knocked out. If he saved his strength, he might be able to escape later on.

His rank hadn’t been disregarded, and his bloodline remained a respected one. The guards didn’t take him to the lower-level dungeons, reserved for the most dangerous prisoners. Instead, they led him to a spacious room, high up into one of the towers of the castle. It even held some small commodities, a bed, and a washing area. Bars blocked the tiny window, and Vane knew on sight he’d have to find some other way out. But first, he needed to notify Kier of Cole’s arrival. He couldn’t afford the delay of the normal messenger he’d hired. He’d just have to try it the one way he could, and hope for the best.

* * * *

“Moss…Wake up, Moss.”

Moss’s eyes shot open when he heard Vane’s voice. His heart began to beat faster. Where was his master now? Had he left? Could there really be no chance for them? Lord, he hoped not.

Flashes of Vane hurting him swept through his mind. He still couldn’t process exactly what happened between them. For some reason, Vane had snapped and whipped him, punished him. It made no sense, and it didn’t fit with his knowledge and idea of Vane.

He recalled Benson coming into the dungeon and putting him in a soft, warm bed. Then, the butler and Pena had taken care of his injured back. Moss had fallen asleep and dreamt of Vane. At least if the other man had come to see him, they could clarify things.

Moss looked around the room, only to realize no one was there. Sure, he didn’t doubt Vane could hide his presence if he so desired, but it made no sense he’d choose to do so. Moss had clearly heard Vane tell him to awaken, right?

“Moss,”
the voice said again.

Moss yelped in surprise at the disembodied sound. “What? Where? Where are you?”

“Shh, calm down. I’m speaking to you in your mind.”

“In my mind?”
Moss repeated, shocked. What other powers did bloodkin have, exactly?

“It is because of me repeatedly feeding from you,”
Vane replied.
“We have a bond of blood. I will explain another time. Now, I need you to go call K…Benson.”

Moss caught the hesitation, but he felt too tired and dizzy to identify what it meant. “Call Benson. Okay. What for?”

“Just go on and do it. He shouldn’t be too far. I’ll tell you what to say.”

Moss felt odd to just shout Benson’s name to an empty room. With his age, the butler might not even hear. So he decided to go look for him instead.

As he climbed out of the bed, the room swirled. He heard Vane’s panicked voice in his mind.
“Moss, I told you to call out his name.”

Moss nodded, even if Vane couldn’t see him. He leaned against the bed and struggled to clear his head. As he did so, he realized his back didn’t hurt any longer, and fatigue remained the one evidence of what had happened.

“Moss, what are you doing out of bed?” Benson fussed. “Lie back at once.”

Moss shook his head. “It’s Vane.”

“Vane isn’t here, Moss,” Benson replied. “I know you want to see him, but…”

“No, you don’t understand.” Moss shook his head. “I can hear him in my head. He wants me to tell you something.”

Benson paled, something so unlike the butler it startled Moss. “What is it?”

Inside Moss’s mind, Vane spoke again.
“Excellent, my beauty. Tell him Cole is back. The Covenant will soon be breached. Proceed with the established plan.”

Moss repeated the words and watched as Benson processed them. “Very well. I will do my utmost to fulfill your command.” His tone changed, and he pushed Moss back on the bed, covering him with the quilt. “Moss, stay here and wait for me. Get some rest.”

As Benson rushed off without any further explanation, Moss turned to his mental conversation with his master. “Where are you? What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you that,”
Vane replied.
“Go with Benson. He’ll keep you safe.”

“But, Vane…”

“Farewell, my beauty,”
Vane cut him off.

The finality and regret in those words drove a dagger into Moss’s heart. Vane’s presence disappeared from his mind, and Moss felt it like a physical blow. What was going on? Why were they being so secretive?

Perhaps it would’ve been better if he obeyed Benson and stayed in bed, but Moss couldn’t bring himself to do so.
The Covenant will be breached
, Vane had said. Moss recalled reading a small mentioning of it, and he wondered what it was about. It sounded important, and he needed to know. He slipped from under the covers and followed Benson outside.

He considered going downstairs, but decided to stop by his room first. He needed a change of clothes since he was basically walking around in a shirt that must’ve belonged to Benson once. Socks and shoes would help as well. It didn’t take him long to reach his destination. Even if he hadn’t explored the house much, the corridors seemed to guide him, as if he’d absorbed some sort of knowledge from someone else.

He noticed the door was cracked open. Through the tiny gap, Moss noticed a tall, slender man rummaging through the drawers. Long silver hair flowed over light-blue skin, curling around one pointed ear. An elf, then?

The man turned around and blinked at him in surprise. “Moss? What are you doing out of bed?”

Moss knew that voice. He knew it well. The tonality was a bit different, more melodious and soft, but other than those differences, it sounded exactly the same. “Benson? What in the world? Why are you an elf?”

He’d known Benson was hiding something, but he hadn’t expected such a surprise. Benson gave him a serious look. “I truly regret lying, but it can’t be helped.”

“Is your name even Benson?” Moss hated the hurt in his voice. What would he find out next?

The elf shook his head. “No, my name is Kier. Pleased to meet you.”

When Moss just stared blankly at him, the elf breathed a sigh of irritation. His form blurred, turning into Benson’s butler looks once again. “There. Better now?”

Moss gaped at Kier. “But how?”

“I use a glamour to disguise my appearance,” the elf replied as he once again changed into his true form. Moss felt thankful for that since he didn’t want to perpetuate a useless lie. “I’ll explain more later. Do you feel up to helping me with the preparations?”

Moss remembered Vane’s words and didn’t insist further on the issue of Kier’s identity. He’d be on his guard, just in case, but for now, he had to focus on finding out what happened to Vane. “Preparations for what?” he asked instead. “Where’s Vane? And who is Cole?”

“Cole is someone you really don’t want to meet.” His eyes misted over as if he were remembering something. Shaking his head, he finished, “And Vane is trying to save the Covenant. Judging by what you told me, I’d say he has failed.”

Moss had so many questions, but a serious look from Kier—he had to remember to call the man by his real name from now on—stopped him. “Okay. What do I have to do?”

“Finish packing your things. I’ll release the staff and take care of the rest. Hurry.”

When Moss nodded, Kier rushed out of the room, his silver hair swishing around him surreally. In a daze, Moss put some clothes on, then resumed Kier’s previous task of wrapping up his bags. From what he gathered, they wouldn’t be able to take too many things along, so he kept them light, the bare necessities he couldn’t do without.

He finished far sooner than he’d have liked. With nothing to do, he was left to muse and worry about Vane and what the current situation would cause. He still didn’t know what the Covenant meant, but judging by the current commotion, breaking it could only bring trouble. Otherwise, Kier would have never acted this way.

Anguish swept through Moss. His family, his friends…Would they even survive this? Jo and Lam were so very young. Would his parents be able to protect them?

He sat on the bed and buried his face in his hands. What could he do? He was powerless in front of the forces haunting his life. Vane had told him he’d looked into his family’s safety, but Moss never got the chance to find out what Vane dug up. Horrifying images popped up in his mind, pictures of Vane, Jo, Lam, and his parents, all dead, all rotting, together, haunting him for eternity. He could only hope the Sky Lord would protect them.

Kier reappeared soon, interrupting his daytime nightmare. “Are you done?” the elf inquired as he came in. Moss almost yelped in surprise at the sudden voice. “Take everything you can’t be separated from,” Kier advised. “You won’t get anything back if you leave it behind.”

When Moss didn’t reply, Kier asked, “Are you okay?”

Moss couldn’t quite keep his voice from trembling. “It’s just…My family, Vane…I’m scared.”

“I know.” Kier sighed. “If it helps, Vane found out hostilities haven’t yet started in your area. At this point, there’s nothing left to do but hope.”

“Are we really that helpless?” Moss cried.

“Moss, if we try to go there, we’ll just bring trouble upon them. Cole, the person Vane mentioned, will do anything to get us.”

“But why? Who is he?”

“I’ll explain more later,” Kier replied. “Now come. Are you ready?”

Moss just nodded. Kier shouldered Moss’s pack and pulled him out of the room. There were some more bags in the foyer. The house seemed empty now, each and every servant gone or, at least, out of sight. “Where is everyone?” Moss asked.

“Back to their kin. Don’t worry about them. Brownies are resilient.”

Brownies?
Moss would’ve gaped at Kier, but at this point, he didn’t think he had it in him to be shocked. Even the folk in Elmya knew about them, but most thought they were just legends. Then again, he lived in a bloodkin’s house, where an elf worked as a butler. It made sense the servants would be brownies.

They left the mansion through the side exit leading into the garden. Outside, night had fallen over Clavar. It was so quiet Moss felt reluctant to speak again. He just followed Kier, confused as to where they were actually headed.

They reached the very end of the garden when suddenly, a loud explosion sounded. Moss turned, only to see the mansion go up in flames.

“Don’t look back, Moss,” Kier said. “It will only hurt that way.”

“But the house…”

“It’s just a house. The important thing is for us to be safe.” Kier gestured to a small gazebo Moss hadn’t originally seen. “Go on.”

Moss gave Kier a confused look. How would a gazebo help them? Nevertheless, he followed the elf’s advice. He felt so out of depth, not knowing if he should trust Kier, but not having much choice, either. He headed toward the gazebo and stepped inside. Kier went inside behind him, and suddenly, the world began to swirl. The gazebo vanished, replace by a bright, wide void. Moss screamed, certain now he’d been deceived.

And then, the light dimmed, and the confusing motion turned into a light swaying. A light, woodsy breeze caressed his face. The next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes in something that looked like a grove of sorts.

Above him, a tall elf loomed. “Welcome, Marlais Hayden, to
Manturanael
.”

The elven lands turned out to be like nothing Moss had expected, beautiful and green, but also dark and dangerous. The elf who’d met them upon their arrival identified himself as Eli Starburst. Unlike Kier, he belonged to the light elves, and his blond hair complimented an almost marble-white skin perfectly. He gave Kier an ugly look Moss didn’t know how to interpret, but didn’t seem hostile toward Moss.
Odd
.

Eli took them out of the grove and into a busy, yet silent city, presenting it as Hashiraden, the capital city of the elves.
Hashiraden was unlike anything Moss had ever seen.
The architecture represented a combination between swirling, sinuous curves and sharp lines. Moss glanced at the buildings in awe. Built around thick waves of greenery, they went up on various levels. Beyond the actual city, a lone temple lay, dedicated to the deity elves worshipped, the Mother Earth. To his surprise, Moss also noticed a smaller temple, dedicated to the Sky Lord. Typically, humans and some avian races followed the cult of the Sky Lord. Moss wondered why He would have a temple here.