Secret Worlds (420 page)

When I finished eating, I headed straight for the back door, but took one step outside and then turned back to retrieve a coat. Dark-edged clouds had congregated as if to discuss their desire to snow.

With my long wool coat wrapped tightly around me, I roamed the gardens, taking in the smell of roses that stubbornly clung to the air. A light mist blanketed the ground; it seemed to be halting nature’s natural death process. Plants were still green and flowers in bloom. I regretted leaving my hair down as the wind whipped it back and forth, and I constantly had to wipe the blowing strands away from my face. But when I reached the edge of the forest, the wind died down, and my hair returned to its rightful place.

The forest, not far from the home, had also been meticulously maintained. There were no fallen branches or overgrown bushes, allowing me to move in and out of the trees with ease, but after a short time, the temperature dropped even further, forcing me to turn back. I was about to cross to the paved path leading to the house when I noticed Boaz riding on a huge black stallion with Hunwald trailing behind. My heart quickened.

Boaz attempted to stop the horse directly in front of me, but with little success. The animal stomped and snorted as if it had never been ridden before. Boaz was struggling to keep it still.

“Come with me. I want to show you something,” he said.

“Good morning to you, too.”

Boaz grinned and pulled on the reigns, forcing the horse to face me. The black stallion reared up. “A little help here?”

I laughed. “What do you expect me to do?”

“Surely your parents taught you a calming spell of some kind. It should be an easy task for you to perform on an animal.” The horse reared up again, nearly throwing him off.

I did remember Sable saying something about how to calm an angry animal—or had it been a person? Regardless, I didn’t want to start using magic so soon.

“Please, love. I’m dying here,” Boaz said while the horse repeatedly turned its head to nip at his thigh.

Boaz looked so helpless I just couldn’t say no. One little spell wouldn’t hurt, right?

“Very well, but I’m doing it for the horse’s sake,” I said. “He looks extremely uncomfortable.”

“
He
looks uncomfortable?”

My smile widened, and I closed my eyes. After a deep breath, I tried to think of something I hated as that was the only way I knew to call upon my abilities. Immediately, an image of a black widow spider appeared. Erik had once used the spiders on me when I was twelve. I’d remained as still as possible while they climbed up my legs, but one of them still bit me. Erik finally removed them when I’d passed out from the poison, making me incapable of using magic even if I’d wanted to. That’s when my hatred for spiders had first begun. I used that hate now to do as Boaz asked.

Like always, the negative emotion made using my abilities possible. My feet tingled as if they were asleep and, slowly, I let the energy crawl up my legs, careful to keep it under control. I approached the excited horse and placed my hand upon its neck. In my mind, over the image of crawling black spiders, I pictured an open pasture full of white daisies. At the far end of the field, a herd of wild horses ran free.
Peace
, I thought, and transferred the calming image to the horse. Beneath my hand, the bulging neck muscles of the stallion relaxed. The horse stomped a few times before it finally lowered its head. Its eyes glazed over, and it stilled.

Once again, the use of magic gave me an incredible feeling of power. It made me lightheaded but in an enjoyable way. I almost didn’t want to let go of the hate that allowed the power to remain, but the horrible smell it produced forced me to push away the images of the black widows. I didn’t think I would ever get used to the smell.

“Thank you, love, much better,” Boaz said. “Now that I don’t have a horse trying to kill me, I can be more polite. Have you enjoyed your morning?”

“It’s been wonderful. You have an amazing home and grounds to match. I could spend days exploring.”

“I’m glad you find it satisfactory. If you didn’t, I would have to change it all.”

I laughed. “You would do that for me?”

“In a heartbeat.”

When I realized he was serious, I said, “Boaz, this is all fabulous”—I gestured around with my hand—“and so much like a beautiful fairytale, but I must confess, it’s not what I want.”

“And what do you want?”

I glanced past him. In the distance, the morning sun crested the tops of the trees, bathing them in a warm glow. “To be free from our world. To live among the humans as one of them.” I paused. “And I want answers. I have so many questions about myself, my parents, and even you.”

“I will answer what I can. But first, come with me. I want to show you something.” He offered his hand.

I glanced at his open palm, wondering if the creased lines could tell me something about his past.

“Don’t you trust me?” he asked.

I met his gaze high up on the horse. “No, I don’t.”

“If I wanted to hurt you, than I wouldn’t have saved you. Now please, let’s go before it begins to snow.”

He had a point. Despite my conflicting feelings toward him, he had been nothing but kind to me. I lifted my hand. Boaz took hold of it and effortlessly lifted me onto the back of the horse. I wrapped my arms around his solid torso and hung on tightly. A growing buzzing sensation vibrated my skin in a pleasurable way, much to my dismay. I wondered if Boaz felt it, too, but wasn’t about to ask.

Alternating between a fast gallop and a slow walk, we rode the horse for what seemed like a long time over rough terrain through the dark forest. The area was hilly here, and in some spots the horse struggled to maintain its footing on the rocky path. Boaz only stopped when we approached a fast-moving river.

“This place is amazing,” I said, slipping off the stallion. Enormous, moss-covered boulders held the river in its place, and in between their deep crevices, colorful flowers grew. The sharp contrast of greens against reds, yellows, and blues was breathtaking. I walked around in awe, careful to avoid the slippery moss.

“I thought you would like it,” Boaz said. “I imagined this place to be right out of one of your books.”

“Oh no, it’s so much better. How do the flowers stay in bloom with such cold weather?”

“It’s the mystery of the river.”

“It’s beautiful.”

I moved up the river toward the roaring of a waterfall. The clouds above had dissipated, deciding against snowfall. Their lack of commitment gave the sunlight a chance to dance upon the waters. It was almost hypnotizing the way the light fractured and twinkled, sparking like lit matches.

“Are you coming?” I asked Boaz over my shoulder, unable to contain my excitement.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He smiled warmly and climbed after me. He didn’t struggle along the boulders as I did. It was as if his feet only skimmed their slippery surface.

When I slipped, Boaz caught me. “Careful, love.”

He took my hand and guided me the rest of the way. Once again, my skin tingled at his touch. The sensation spread to the rest of my body, and my smile grew.

After several minutes of walking upriver, we finally reached the waterfall. It must’ve been at least thirty feet high, and its mist filled the air, dampening my face.

“Do you mind getting wet?” Boaz shouted over the loud downpour.

I glanced down at the swirling, turbulent water below us. “You can’t possibly mean—”

“Follow me,” he said and half-carried me toward the side of the waterfall.

As we drew closer, I noticed the rock face disappear behind the falls. Boaz walked into the opening, dipping under a spray of water. I stumbled behind him and yelped when the cold water poured onto my head. With my free hand, I smoothed my wet hair away from my face.

Boaz said nothing but continued to pull me forward into what looked like a never-ending cave. The roaring of the water grew more distant the farther we walked. He stopped only when it became too dark to navigate.

“Would you mind providing some light?” he asked. “I forgot how dark it was in here.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And how would you suggest I do that?”

“Use your imagination.”

“No more magic. I need a break.”

“You’ll be fine. Using your abilities is like using a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger you become.”

“I said no.”

“I’m only asking you to use a little—just enough to see in front of us.”

“I already helped you out once today, remember?”

“I remember.” He cupped my hand with both of his. The power between us jumped, and I sucked in air. “You’ve been so good to me. If you really don’t want to, then I’ll understand.”

He moved to take his hand away, but I gripped it tight, unable to let go of the high. “I’ll do it, but only because you asked nicely.” With my free hand, I felt the damp walls around us.

“What are you doing?” Boaz asked.

“We’re surrounded by rock.”

“Nothing gets by you,” he said with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

“What do you have on you?”

Boaz squeezed my hand. “Mmm, I like this game. I’m wearing a rugged brown coat, tight fitting riding pants, and snake-skin boots. Your turn. What are you wearing?”

I stifled a laugh. “Be serious. Do you have anything small I can use, something with glass?”

He let go of my hand and patted his clothing until he found something in his right jacket pocket. “I have a pocket watch. Will it work?”

I took it in my hand and rubbed it. “I think so.”

I closed my eyes and began the process all over again, using my animosity for the black widows again. The smell was just as bad, but I ignored it and focused on lighting up the face of the watch. It took only a moment before a brilliant light burst forth, filling the area around us.

“Excellent,” he said.

I glanced around. The cavern we stood in was smaller than I expected. Other than a gaping hole in the floor just to my right, the place was bare.

“Is this it?” I asked, slightly let down.

Boaz looked insulted. “I would never waste your time on this. Hold on.”

He wrapped his arms around me tightly and, before I could protest, he jumped down the dark hole.

I cried out, but my scream was cut short when we landed on a hard surface. “Where are we?”

“It’s the only way to get there,” he said.

I followed his gaze. Up ahead, light poured into the cave, filling a narrow crevice. I walked toward it, occasionally having to turn my body sideways to fit through the tight gap between the rock walls. I stepped out of the cave and into the light.

At first, I couldn’t tell where I was as the sun was directly above me, but when my eyes adjusted, I discovered we were surrounded by rock again, almost as if we were in a wide lava tube, but with the top open. Grass covered the floor, and the same brilliant flowers that were by the river grew in colorful patches. Occasionally, the wall jutted out, giving enough room for more flowers and grass to grow.

“How far down are we?” I wondered aloud.

Boaz took no more than ten steps to the other side to sit in a small sliver of shade. “At least twenty meters,” he said and removed his jacket. A tattoo of a snake curled around his forearm.

“How did you find this place?” I asked.

“I accidentally fell in.”

“You fell? How did you survive?”

Boaz looked at me, raising one eyebrow.

“Right. Vampire. Sorry. It’s easy to forget when I’m with you. Why is that?”

“I want you to think of me as a man.”

“But I want to know the real you.”

He leaned against the rock wall and lowered into a sitting position. “What exactly would you like to know?”

I sat down opposite of him, remaining in the light. “First, where do you get your blood?”

“I take it from willing participants.”

“Willing?”

“Willing enough. What else?”

I hesitated briefly, wondering if I should press the issue but thought better of it. No matter how Boaz explained it, I would never understand how someone could willingly give blood to a vampire. Instead, I asked another question. “How often do you eat?”

“As often as I’d like, but I could go months without eating if necessary.”

“When do you sleep?”

“For the most part, my body no longer requires sleep. It did in the beginning, but for the last several hundred years, I’ve been able to go without it. Anything else?”

“Yes.” I chose my next words carefully. “What do you want with me?”

Boaz tilted his head. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Enlighten me.”

“We belong together.”

This was not the response I’d been expecting, and I grimaced. I thought only my parents wanted us paired together, and Boaz merely wanted to use me for…what? A temporary girlfriend? Clearly I hadn’t thought through his motives, but I would never have expected anything long term.

“Tell me you don’t feel it, love,” he said. “We were meant for each other. The power between us will not be denied.”

“I don’t deny there’s something between us, but that doesn’t make it right.”

“I’m not talking about right and wrong,” Boaz said coolly. “I’m talking about power.”

“Well, I’m talking about right and wrong. And it’s wrong.”

“Because I am a vampire?”

“Partly, but mostly because you’re evil.”

He scoffed. “Evil is an opinion. Have I done anything to make you think I’m this way?”

“You kissed me without permission.”

“Out of necessity to save
your
life. What else makes us wrong together?”

“Well, there’s the fact that you are a vampire, and I am human,” I said, not really answering his question.

“That can be fixed.”

“For you or for me?”

“For you, of course.”

“I have no desire to become a vampire.”

“Yet,” he added.

“Ever.”

Boaz smiled. “How about you just agree to let me show you the world and all it has to offer you. Your parents neglected this great teaching, and maybe if you understand how the world really works, you might come to appreciate the power between us.”