Book of Curses (The Renning Chronicles) (14 page)

“Excuse me, but is practicing with Vampire’s safe for them?” Eyloff shifted his body, looking up to the King and Queen as he asked. He looked seriously
worried;
it was a strange look on someone who always seemed annoyed and angry with everything. 

“No safer than if you threw them out there alone.” Valdis said to him, raising an eyebrow. “Nixon is one of our best fighters, as are Talon and Fang despite his attitude, would you rather practice with them when you shift?" He stared at him for a long moment. All Eyloff did was stiffen and stand still without answering him.

“They will be safe; I give you my word.” Vespera said, looking from Eyloff, to me and Tom.

“Fine.” Eyloff hissed between his teeth. I could see his muscles bunching up underneath his skin.

“That is all for now then. You may leave.” Vespera chirped and lifted her hand in the air as if to shoo u
s away. It almost made me laugh
seeing someone do that to Tom and me.

“This way.” A girl, Layre I was guessing, said as she left the room. We all turned and followed her out into the hallway. 

In the dead of night,

Dreams without light.

I slumber deep within the nightmare,

I wonder among the dead, screams blare.

Will I wake, will I be whole?

The answer deep within my soul.

-Will I Wake by Kristi Worrel

Chapter 6

_______________________

“We’ll show you to your room; Layre and Nickel have them.” One of the boys said to me, offering me a soft smile. I smiled back, nodding my head and started to follow the two of them.

We ended up walking for a while before I got bored with gazing at the various paintings upon the walls. I took a deep breath
, and
looked at the two of them for a long drawn-
out moment
before I spoke.

“So, um, who’s who?” I asked, tiling my head slowly as I spoke. I gazed between the two of them for a long moment, trying to see if I could figure it out on my own, but I failed.

“I’m General Talon Wolff,” He began, looking at me for a moment, frowning. “General of area
fifteen
and Nixon here’s tutor.”

“I’m Nixon like he said, Dhampire, first one ever assigned to the King and Queens home ever. Also the youngest, I’m only seventeen years.”

I nodded, looking over at Nixon, and then back at Talon. So I could finally tell them apart. “That’s awesome.” My eyes slid back to Nixon as I looked him over.

He was shorter than Talon by quite a bit, though he had to be somewhere around six feet, maybe a little taller than that. He had black hair that was a complete mess around his head, with bright hazel colored eyes. His skin was pale looking, but not nearly as pale as the others were, there was a strange-
looking tattoo
that sat at the base of his throat. It looked like a circle with a star coming out of it, and random markings surrounded part of it.

He tugged on his shirt, pulling it so that it was covering his throat. His hands then sliding down into the pockets of his jeans, his boots clicked on the floor as he walked beside me.

Talon's hair was a dark-
brown color
. It seemed to hang in his eyes when he made certain movements and was shaggy around his neck. It looked like it hadn't been cut in a long time, and he was badly in need of a
haircut
. I noticed when he moved there was another tattoo that was below his right eye, it looked like a half moon with some strange design in it.

His skin was paler than Nixon's was, and he was at least a head taller than Nixon, if not more. His shirt fit snug against his body, outlining the muscles in his upper body. His pants were tight looking as well, but he was barefoot for some strange reason.

“Here we are.” Talon spoke, in a clearly amused voice. His face never once showed any signs of emotion, it was like looking at a blank canvas. “This is your room. We'll be out here.”

I watched as Talon slowly opened my door. I nodded my head slightly, and muttered a thank you to him as I stepped into my room. Looking around slowly, I took in my new room. It was big, with a wooden floor and stone walls,
a
single grey rug was under the bed on the floor, and on the far wall was a lone window looking out into the dark night.

An oak dresser sat against the wall next to it; it was detailed with roses and vines of the most realistic carvings I had ever seen. On the right wall sat two doors with a fireplace smack dab between them, a picture of a house surrounded by wildflowers and sunlight hung over it. It was an odd picture to be in a place like this, I guess it was their only way of having sunlight anymore.

In the very center of the room was a queen-sized bed, complete with silk sheets and dozens of pillows. I gazed at the bed longingly, nearly falling into a trance. I wanted to curl up on it so badly, it looked amazing right now. I shook my head though, and looked around the rest of the room smiling to myself. A girl could get used to living in a place like this.

“Queen Valdis is having clothing sent to each room, though if you want, we could get you something else to wear in the meantime.” Nixon spoke from the doorway. I turned around and looked back at him blinking a few times, just now realizing that they were both there still.

“No! I’m alright, really!” I protested as quickly as I could. They were already doing too much for me as it was. They didn't need to go to
any more
trouble just to get me clothes.

Nixon exchanged an odd glance with Talon, who had waited until then to speak. “Just come on.”

“Really, I’m fine; I can easily sleep in these, honest!” I said, trying to protest again as Talon started to urge me out the door.

“You’ll like Mrs. Lane.” Talon said smiling a bit, or trying to before he let out a sigh.

“Yeah, mom’s great, besides I won't take no for an answer,” Nixon looked at me, slowly scanning me over and shaking his head at me. “You’re filthy.”

I looked down at myself, I guess between the
horseback
riding and sleeping on the bale of hay last night, he was right. Besides, I didn't even get a real bath yesterday, I just washed myself off, so I was sure I smelled awful at this point.

I looked down at my clothes, and saw that they were covered in dirt. Lord only knew what my hair and face looked like. I shuddered at the thought of it, as I gave into them finally.

“Fine!” I said sighing out loud and shaking my head in defeat as I looked at the two of them frowning.

I followed after them as we made our way down a series of halls, again. It was starting to make my head spin. We made a few new turns, and after a while ended up at a door. Nixon and Talon pushed it open and walked out into a courtyard that was lit by hundreds upon hundreds of lights along a pathway.

Soon it twisted into a street full of houses. As we walked down I noticed each house was scattered at random, and people milled about everywhere. Vampires and humans alike chatted and joked around. I bit my lip to hold back the questions that formed. I smiled at the children who were running around and laughing as we passed.

We went further and further, and the longer we walked the more children we saw. We finally stopped outside a two-story house, there were lights on behind a few windows, and I could see shadows moving around as people walked past them.

“Home sweet home.” Nixon said smiling brightly as he walked closer to the house. He pushed the door open and walking inside. “Mom! I’m home, brought some people over.”

I followed him in. As soon as I was inside, I felt the warmth of the house, and it made me think of home. Not my home, I meant a home like most children usually had, with the caring and loving parent.

It made me think of what I missed out on, and I frowned for a moment. It was weird how motherly it felt in here already, and I was only in the doorway. I was overwhelmed by how clean it was, how warm and welcoming it felt, and how peaceful it was. Then I smelled the faint scent of cookies, I didn't understand that, but I didn't complain either.

“Nixon Lyle!”
A woman practically screamed
, though it sounded more like a yell of happiness than anything else. I was startled out of my own thoughts and jumped a bit, looking around to see where it'd come from.

I noticed Nixon's wince, before he started forward into the house. He followed the voice, and I saw a short slim woman come around the corner and hug him tightly before pulling him down enough that she could kiss his cheek.

She seemed too young to be his mother. She looked like she was maybe in her late twenties, but the way she acted was a different story. She acted like a mother
would;
she was caring and kind and had a way about her that just screamed mom.

“Bliss, Pandora, Nixon’s here!” She called out as she turned to look back toward where she was yelling. Right after she offered us all a warm smile, before looking at her son again. “I heard you found the chosen today.”

“Yeah, it’s why we’re here.” Nixon stepped to the side to show me to his mother better; I noticed her sizing me up fast and felt confused. “She needs something to use for tonight, so she can clean herself up.”

“Oh my, aren’t you pretty.” She smiled brightly as she waked towards me, two little girls ran over and began pulling on Talon's arms with no mercy.

He gave in and sighed as they dragged him away from us, though I swore, I saw him smiling at them. Nixon covered his mouth to try to keep from laughing, as he looked to his mom then me, watching us for a moment. I was scared to move, so I just stood there watching his mom and looking at the pictures on the wall.

“Come on dear, I've got something for you.” His mom said as she grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me with her towards a bedroom, I didn't even get a chance to look around.

“These are Amie’s old things. She left to work with the guardians. I left her things here, she’s my oldest son’s twin sister.” She explained to me, as she started to open a dresser and fish through it. She pulled out a pair of shorts and a shirt before turning around and handing them to me.

“These should work, there’s a bathroom down the hall. Go take a shower and change, and then you can stay for dinner.”

“Oh but I don’t want to intrude or anything…” I said to her, holding onto the clothes and yanking my hands up.

“Nonsense, the girls will enjoy seeing their brother for once, and when Raven and Heath get home you can meet the whole family -” She smiled brightly towards me, setting a hand on my shoulder. “You can tell us about yourself and your brother, it’ll be fun, besides. I made too much food for just five of us.”

I nodded hesitantly, before I let a smile slide over my face in a slow manner. I wasn't sure what to make of this, but I couldn't deny Nixon time with his family. “Thank you, Mrs. Lane.”