For now, Uthe let him rest. It was not unpleasant, to be walking through this endless collage of bright colors, Kel's arms wrapped around him, his body pressed to Uthe's. It was almost peaceful. In a misleading way, no doubt, but Uthe had learned not to waste the pleasure of small moments. He'd put his hand over Kel's clasped at his waist and held them firmly, stroking the long, elegant fingers. Sometimes the Fae Lord came to Council meetings wearing several heavy rings on them, the intricate settings sparkling with faceted gems. The Fae craftsmanship was remarkable enough to have Helga, typically standoffish when it came to Keldwyn, remarking on them. Once she'd even requested a closer look. Kel had indulged her, a flash of amusement on his face as she became enthusiastic enough in her perusal to unconsciously clasp his wrist. A blink later, she'd snatched her hand back as if ashamed at showing such a bald interest.
Uthe remembered Gideon joking to Jacob that the Fae Lord had the best fashion sense of anyone at the Council meetings. He was always superbly dressed and adorned. Uthe assumed it was something he could conjure, like the tattoos. No matter his lofty words about not using magic for mere convenience, the Fae didn't seem the type willing to spend time fussing over the lay of a ruffled collar, the shine of buttons on a long coat, or the suppleness of his boots. What Kel wore now looked distinctly battle worn.
Uthe remembered he'd once attended Council with a full complement of small rings lining the shell of one ear. The clasps looked like tiny bird claws. They'd distracted Uthe. He kept catching himself looking at them, wanting to reach out and trace their hold on Keldwyn's ear.
"I noticed," Kel mumbled against his back. "You observed what I wear in a different way from Helga and the others. You were always very thorough in your perusal, even though you took pains to be sure no one noticed. You never remarked on any of it, yet when I wore something unexpected, like the earrings, you gave it special attention. I expect that's why I started doing more of that."
"You are a tease, my lord. I have always known it. And your ears are quite intriguing even without adornment."
Kel snorted. "Everyone always wants to touch the ears. Kane demanded it the first time he saw me."
"Did you permit it?"
"Not that time. I made it clear it was a highly impertinent thing to ask a Fae and cowed him into an apology."
"Miracles do happen."
"I threatened to tell his mother of his rudeness. He fears her, as does any vampire male with sense. But eventually, when he asked the right way, I allowed it. I expected to be merely tolerant when you wanted to do it, but I found your desire welcome, and your touch distinctly pleasurable."
Uthe tapped Kel's knuckles. "You need food, my friend. Don't you? Is there any to be had here?"
"No. Very little. Elemental sustenance is meager at best, though I did find some. Is it possible for the demon to interfere in that way?"
"Possibly. But though I don't detect magic the way you do, I think the magic here is like a capricious child. Cruel and random. Wanting to see how things play out if certain obstacles are put in our way. That would mesh with the demon's purpose, so either one could be at fault. Or both. How long can you go without?"
"For some time." Keldwyn shifted against him. "A nap will hold me for the time being."
"What about if you need to fight again?"
"I have you for that."
"A Fae deferring to a vampire for a fight. Now I'm certain your mind has been affected by your weakened condition." Uthe tilted his head back, brushing his jaw against Kel's, then straightened. "You can take some of my blood, my lord," he said with forced casualness. "That will help restore your strength. If we get out of this place, you can claim it was all illusion and I will not deny it."
Keldwyn's response was a long time in coming. Nexus maintained a comfortable walk, his normal prance toned down to a rocking gait, as if he knew one of his riders was resting. "It will deplete your strength," the Fae Lord said.
"No. Our blood regenerates at a rapid rate. It is part of why we heal so quickly." Uthe paused. "I would rather you be prepared for what we face, my lord."
"Afraid I will not have your back?"
"You are against it now," he responded mildly. "But yes, as a matter of fact. I do not wish you to suffer the ignominy of returning to the Fae world and admitting a vampire had to cover your ass because you were too weak to do it yourself."
"You have been spending far too much time around the Green brothers," Keldwyn said, referring to Jacob and Gideon. "Your usual diplomacy is absent. A blatant goad to make me act for my own benefit."
"Did it work?"
In answer, Keldwyn shifted. Uthe stilled as those long, elegant fingers wrapped around his throat from behind, nudging his chin up. He tilted his head back, resting it on Keldwyn's shoulder as he stared up at the orange sky. There were swirls of pink and red in it. He knew Keldwyn had canines sharper than a human's. He'd noticed them before, intrigued by that physical similarity to vampires. Though Keldwyn's didn't elongate like Uthe's did, the points would make the puncturing much easier. Kel wasn't asking for any guidance, which intrigued Uthe, but the Fae had seen vampires feed on their servants at the Savannah headquarters.
"You'll tell me when enough is taken," Kel said, his breath caressing Uthe's throat in a way that had his heart thudding. "Or I will be annoyed at you for allowing me to take too much."
Keldwyn slid a hand over his thigh and found his interested cock under the mail skirt of the hauberk. "This arouses you greatly, does it not?"
"Yes."
"Involuntary? Instinct? Or me drinking from you specifically?"
"Yes to all of it." Uthe closed his hand over Kel's, pressing the heel of his hand harder against his erection. Keldwyn overlapped their knuckles, forming a puzzle lock between their hands. Then he bit.
Uthe let out a primal groan of pleasure, buttocks clenching as Kel ground against him, responding to his own arousal. Mariela had fed upon him, but giving the Fae Lord sustenance was a different level of satisfaction. He wished he could feed him always, that Kel would need to look no further than Uthe's throat to sustain him. With a ripple of shock, he realized that was probably how a servant thought of his vampire. Mariela had certainly had such thoughts before. Uthe was no servant--the very thought only met puzzlement in his mind. But put it in the context of caring for Kel? It elicited a far different reaction.
Kel's touch left his cock, tunneling beneath his undershirt to stroke the muscles of Uthe's abdomen. The belt at his waist was loose enough he could trace Uthe's navel, sending a wave of response above and below it. He dipped under the waistband of the leggings, reached in to close his grip around Uthe's heated and stiff cock, flesh to flesh. Keldwyn's thumb rubbed over the damp tip, then probed the slit. His other fingers strummed the pulsing artery in the shaft. Uthe scented his blood filling Keldwyn's mouth, felt him swallow.
A second mark would need more to replenish strength, so Uthe gave him that. He would have given him as much as he wanted but, knowing Kel didn't know when he'd taken enough, Uthe turned his head toward him, a nudge. "That should do it. If you don't mind, just keep your mouth pressed over it a few more seconds so I don't bleed on my tunic. My self-healing properties will close the puncture wounds in a matter of seconds."
Very well. Your blood tasted unexpectedly... pleasant. Keldwyn sounded surprised. He raised his head. "Bitter and rich at once, flavored by your personality. Well-seasoned oak sprinkled with spices and infused with the thick vitality of blood itself."
"I'm pleased to hear it," Uthe said. "Bottled for over a thousand years, it could have easily gone rancid, turned to piss and vinegar."
"There is some of that in there. I did say it reflects your personality." Keldwyn rested his chin on Uthe's shoulder. Uthe twisted around so he could see the Fae Lord in the corner of his eye.
"You honor me by taking my blood for your nourishment, my lord. I know it was necessity, and it's not considered an honor by your kind, but for me, it was."
"Hmm.
" Keldwyn put his temple against the side of Uthe's neck and jaw, then positioned his head on Uthe's shoulder in a resting position again. "I'll sleep now to complete the rejuvenation process. Perhaps your horse can keep to this pace to aid my repose until we come up against something that requires us both to be awake. Like an army of dragons. Any single beasts I'm sure you can handle yourself."
"Your confidence is fortifying, my lord."
Chapter Fifteen
Endless red trees. In time, they became purple like velvety pansies, then green, but not the green seen on trees in Uthe's world. This was the neon glow of the lime-flavored drinks Carola favored from the local Taco Bell in Savannah. Her servant brought one to her almost daily when she was there for meetings.
The wind, the birds, the breathing and rustlings of the earth so ever present that it was only by their absence that they could be noticed, didn't exist in the Shattered World. However, the hum of the blood link connection had strengthened, stabilized. In time, the demon decided it was in the mood for conversation. Because he thought it would aid in locating the head, Uthe did not mute or block the creature now, though he shortly debated the wisdom of that.
"You think using the sorceress's magic will resolve things," he spoke in Uthe's head. "Why do you care about the Baptist getting to Heaven? They could have helped him at any time and they didn't. They waited on a vampire and generations of sorceresses to find a way they already knew to attempt to send me to back. How would you know the difference between me being loosed on the world and the way the world is now?"
Blood flashed in Uthe's mind, the scream of a child. Uthe blocked it, but that snapshot had provoked the response the demon wanted, a wave of guilt and sorrow. "See? How could things be worse than that?"
That question is an invitation to discord and chaos, Uthe responded. This world, for all the evil it has, also nurtures good, compassion and love. He drew a deep breath, enjoying how it enhanced the weight and impression of Keldwyn sleeping against his back. Was there anything as humbling as a lover trusting him enough to sleep in his presence? In your world, none of that would exist.
"If you succeed in returning to your world, what you express for one another here will not exist." The demon scoffed, an ugly sound like a phlegm-filled cough. "Reghan paid for that transgression with his life. You truly think your pretty fairy would face those consequences for you? You are a curiosity to him. You have the intelligence to match a Fae, so his lust has confused you with one. But in the end, you are his inferior, and he knows it. His world would never tolerate your pairing. They have laws forbidding it. So there goes another thing that makes your life worth living. Except you're not going to remember your life for much longer, are you?"
No, I am not. Uthe made himself say it firmly, without trepidation. It was what it was, right? So there is no harm in enjoying my time with him, no matter what he has to do to protect himself later. Why do you reject being sent back to your home, demon? If it is such a boon to serve the purposes of evil, why would you not want to be back at the source of all that vileness? We all gravitate toward home, if it's a home worth having.
"Our mission is to spread chaos. My part of Hell is already chaos. I am redundant there. Who desires to be redundant?"
His cleverness was capable of making Uthe smile, as much as his crueler words could be painful to the heart and soul. As he tilted his head to brush it against Kel's in affection, he put a temporary mute on the demon's dialogue so it was a malevolent mumble. He had no choice but to enjoy each moment fully. Agonizing over the sands falling through that hourglass, not knowing when he'd lose awareness of the passage of time, let alone anything else, was pointless. Worlds like this, where time had such little meaning, made that even clearer.
He'd not yet experienced the surges of uncontrolled bloodlust and loss of impulse control that he'd seen in other Ennui victims, as if they'd been transformed into a different, more sociopathic version of their fledgling selves. However, in this world, channeling such violence might prove to be useful. Like perhaps now.
The world of crayons had come to an end. Ahead there was only billowing gray fog. Nexus shifted uneasily. "Kel," Uthe said, a warning. The Fae's head was already lifting.
"I see it."
"Anything?"
A pause, then Kel shook his head. "Forward or not?"
Uthe patted Nexus's muscled neck. "That's the direction I sense we need to go. So unless my mind is playing tricks on me or the Shattered World is, I think we must go through."
"Very well." Keldwyn drew his sword and slid to the ground, taking a firm hold of Uthe's boot. "You prepare to defend high, I will defend low, and Nexus will choose the elevation that best suits him."
"Agreed." Uthe pulled out his sword and held it at the ready against his thigh. Nexus snorted at the cue. His forward gait became more deliberate, his ears swept back, listening for Uthe's commands, the horse prepared for attack.
Immediately, the fog closed in. It was wet on the face, and blinded the eyes, so Uthe closed his, using the blood link and his awareness of Kel's hand on his foot to guide him. In this environment, a foe was better detected by hearing, scent and intuition. There was something in the fog. He could feel it pressing in on them. Sibilant whispers began like fitful breezes, becoming more noticeable, rising in volume. His skin crawled beneath the mail.
"Kel..."
With you still, my lord. And yes, I feel it all.
Kel had understood he needed the reinforcement, to know which was the illusion of this world and that of his own mind. Though illusion might be a misnomer, because an illusion in this world could become quite real and deadly. Like...
"Gauche," he bellowed. Nexus jerked them left, Keldwyn moving with them. A serpent's head as large as Nexus's shot past on the right, its rotting stench a powerful rolling force that accompanied it on a hot wind. Water sprayed them, salty and rank. Keldwyn's blade flashed down, cutting into brown, spotted flesh. The being shrieked, whipping away into the fog. Nexus snorted, throwing up his head as his front legs plunged down and forward. Uthe kept his seat, but he reached down and caught Keldwyn's collar to hold onto him as the horse floundered. They were in water, water quickly drawing them into its current and spinning them. There was no backing out of it, because it was impossible to tell from which way they'd come. Nexus began to swim, legs powerfully pumping. Uthe gave the horse his head, because he would smell land faster than Uthe could find it.
"Damnation, it's coming back. Hold on." Keldwyn wrested free and dove, despite Uthe's sharp protest. He couldn't see through the Fae's eyes, but he could hear the thoughts whipping through Kel's mind.
Sea serpent. He's coming this way, beneath you. Get Nexus to swim faster.
He gave Nexus the command and the horse plunged forward, thrashing. The water around them illuminated and the charge of the magic electrified his own blood as Keldwyn unleashed it. The serpent reared out of the water over Uthe, raining water down on him. The fanged mouth gaped, eyes alight with crimson fire. Uthe made himself wait for the right moment, and he didn't have long to do so. The head shot down, teeth gleaming. He swung, his reflexes and timing sure.
No matter what else he forgot, this he would never forget how to do.
He sliced off a portion of the snout and knocked out a tooth as long as his forearm. The serpent screeched and splashed back into the water. Uthe threw himself off the horse's back and onto the serpent's neck, right behind the head. Clamping his thighs around the massive column, he spun the blade and drove it through the brain, skewering the creature before it could dive.
A shriek told him the serpent wasn't alone. He shoved backwards in the water, the ripples before him exploding into froth as another monster broke the surface. He saw the green scales and golden eyes, then crackling energy shot through its throat and body, x-raying the skeleton inside. It illuminated objects he didn't want to think looked like human remains. Kel was crouched on top of the waves, his sword thrust through the thing's body, the energy in the blade
illuminating the serpent and holding him above the water in a shimmering field of fire.
"Another, Uthe. On your left." Keldwyn shouted it. Uthe yelled a warning in return, sending Keldwyn spinning around as a three-headed serpent exploded out of the water right behind the Fae Lord. The force of his appearance shot a wave over both of them. It tumbled Uthe through the churning liquid. Damn it. Vampires had no buoyancy. While he had the strength to keep himself aloft, even with the mail, it made more sense to let himself drop to the bottom and fight there. Except he had no idea how far the bottom was.
Before he could sink to any distance, a large body thudded against him, and it wasn't the serpent. Thanking God for Nexus, he grabbed the stallion's mane and pulled himself back upon him. Bless his indomitable soul, the horse was still swimming just as strongly, whinnying out a challenge.
The serpent broke the water to their left. The churning had apparently obscured its vision beneath and it was trying to locate them. It was as large as the first, with gnashing teeth and six sets of swirling eyes, venom dripping from a double row of fangs.
Being on Nexus's back gave Uthe a way to stay above water and strike at the creature. But his maneuvering ability was severely hampered in water, and the serpent knew it. He couldn't see any sign of Keldwyn or the other beast. Now his own enemy dove, and Uthe knew what was coming. He didn't take the time to imagine those gaping jaws coming up toward Nexus's vulnerable underside. Shoving off the horse's back once more, he let the mail take him down. He thudded to solid ground in a matter of several seconds. Seeing the serpent's body coiling around him, he'd never been more pleased to have his feet firmly on the bottom of an ocean floor, if that was what this was.