Tipping the pouch upside-down, Ayden dumped the marbles onto the ground just as Sabina's teeth touched his flesh. The vampiress froze instantly at the sound of the marbles striking the stony ground. Please let this work! Ayden pleaded, shivering again as her cold breath brushed against his skin.
Sabina moved away from Ayden's neck and stared at the marbles. Then, she turned back to Ayden for a moment, and he thought his plan had failed. Sabina seemed frozen in indecision, her body shaking as she struggled against her instincts. Then, thankfully, she dropped to her knees and picked up the marbles, counting them one by one. All that could be heard in the stillness of the night was her shaking voice, "One, two, three?"
Ayden's knees buckled and he was about to let his body fall to the ground with relief when another movement caught his attention. With great effort, he forced himself to stay upright and fumbled with Phantom and Whisper. His shaking hands lost their hold on the weapons and they fell useless to the ground. Cursing, he clumsily grabbed his sword from its sheath and then held it shakily in front of him.
Nya was crouching as if ready to pounce, her eyes flaming white. Will this night ever end? Ayden could barely hold his sword with all his trembling, but he was determined to hold his ground.
Slowly, Nya stood and Ayden watched as her eyes returned to their normal state. In her language she asked, "Son vule sen? Are you well?"
Ayden realized that Nya wasn't intending to attack him, but to protect him. Finally, he gave in to his weakened body and dropped his sword. Nya rushed toward him as he fell to his knees. "Let me help you," she said, still speaking her own language.
Without realizing what he was doing, Ayden answered in her tongue, "E' vule sen. I'm okay." She took his arm and gently helped him to one of the fallen boulders. He sat and placed his head in his hands and attempted to gain control of his shivering body. The rush of intense emotion and the coldness of Sabina's spell had left him weak.
Nya wrapped her arm around his shoulders and gently rubbed his skin with her hands. She didn't speak, but simply messaged until Ayden felt a magical warmth flow from her fingertips and seep through his body. Slowly, his shivering subsided and he felt more in control. He looked into Nya's lavender eyes and, still unaware that he was speaking a different language, told her, "Manta. Thank you."
"You are welcome. I knew you were quick to learn my words--I could see you watching Sabina and me when we talked. You had understanding in your eyes."
Ayden's heart jumped as he finally realized what had happened. He looked at Nya for the longest time, not knowing what else to say. Sabina's voice droned on in the background, "Fourteen, fifteen?"
"You knew all along about her. Why didn't you try to tell us?" Ayden questioned.
"I gave her my word not to speak of it, especially to you. She is very insecure of herself since this happened," Nya explained, her eyes sad.
"How did this happen? How long has she been this way?" Ayden asked.
"That is her story, and it would be best for her to tell it. Go back to camp now. Try to rest. I will finish your watch," Nya said.
"What about Sabina?" Ayden asked as he looked at Sabina's form crouched over the scattered marbles.
"As soon as the moon sets, she will be free of her present state," Nya said, looking to the sky where the moon was still far above the horizon. "I will give her more to count until then. I will look after her, as I have done before. She will be sleeping at camp before the others wake."
Ayden was uncertain at first. But upon looking into Nya's gentle eyes, he decided that everything would be as she said. There was a comforting familiarity about her, and Ayden was thankful for her presence. He still had a million questions to ask, but his experience with Sabina had drained his energy. He nodded and gratefully went back to camp and fell immediately to sleep.
The next morning came all too quickly and all too bright. Ayden blinked back the intense rays of the sun and slowly sat up. He stretched his stiff muscles and yawned as he turned his head to where Sabina slept. His thoughts reflected in his mind like the sun off of the surface of the water in the stream on the edge of camp. How could this have happened to his friend--someone from his other world?
Nya approached Ayden, drawing his mind away from his thoughts. Without a word, she handed Ayden the pouch full of marbles. Their hands brushed against each other. Ayden couldn't resist looking into her eyes. He felt a great amount of gratitude toward her, but wasn't sure what to say. It was then that he noticed the necklace she wore. The morning sunlight flashed off of a figure of a woman carved out of pure crystal; her long hair was waving in the wind as she pulled a black cloak away from her shoulders. The design and detail were breathtaking.
"That necklace is beautiful," Ayden said in Nya's tongue.
"Manta. It was given to me by my grandmother when I was very small. But that is a story I will tell you another time. Now, there is someone who needs your attention more than I," she said and nodded her head in Sabina's direction.
Ayden had been so involved with Nya and her necklace that he hadn't noticed Sabina awaken. She lay on her back with her arms stretched above her head as she gazed thoughtfully up at the ocean of sky.
Feeling a little uncomfortable with having to face Sabina in the light of day, Ayden rose and walked over to her. She rolled her head over, looking up at him as he approached. She sat up abruptly, attempting to straighten her hair. Ayden asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Okay, considering," she replied, attempting to smile. Her teeth were thankfully back to their normal state; and her eyes, though they carried heavy, dark bags, were no longer red but their usual brilliant green.
"Can I sit?" Ayden asked, gesturing with his hand toward the ground. She nodded and they sat next to one another in awkward silence. When they finally did speak, they both began at the same time. Laughing, Ayden said, "Go ahead, you first."
"Um, I just wanted to thank you for helping me last night. I wasn't exactly myself," Sabina said, her voice shaking slightly.
"I don't know how much help I was but, you're welcome."
"How did you know? I mean, about the counting thing? I didn't even know about that until last night."
Ayden didn't tell her he'd made a desperate guess. "Pax told me a lot about vampires. He reads a lot." When Sabina raised an eyebrow at him, he knew what she was thinking. "I suspected things about you before last night, but I didn't tell anyone, not even Pax," he said, quickly looking around to make sure none of the others were within earshot. Pax was conjuring a fire to cook breakfast, and Volos and Da'ewyn had gone off on patrol.
"Well, I guess we should be thankful for Pax, then. If it hadn't been for those marbles?"
Sabina was right. The very thing that had caused him so much aggravation had saved his, and Sabina's, life. He'd have to make sure to thank Pax later.
"So, how did this all happen, Sabina? Just two years ago, you were cheering along the sidelines at our old high school basketball games."
"Yeah, and you were telling fantastic stories in English class," Sabina retorted. Then she sighed heavily and rolled her head around as if to loosen tightened muscles. "I told you how I went looking for a gateway after we moved. From there on, I wasn't exactly honest. I wanted nothing more than to get away from home--Mom and Dad were beginning to argue more and more. Dad was drinking again. I don't even think they knew I existed anymore.
"Anyway, I never could find what I was looking for. After searching for a month, I became frustrated and decided to blow off steam at a party. I met this guy there." She smiled and shook her head slightly, momentarily lost in memory. "There was just something about him; I guess I had a few too many and started running my mouth off about Shae Vale and how I wanted to find a gateway and go back there. I totally expected him to laugh at me, but he didn't. As it turned out, he knew exactly where to find a gateway.
"I came back to Shae Vale with him and never looked back. I
thought I was in love," she said as her eyes moistened and her brows furrowed. "Turns out he's a sorcerer--and an elf, which was just fine by me at the time. I found it all so exciting and adventurous. He treated me like a queen and showed me all sorts of magical things. He had several projects he was doing and, somehow or other, he got me excited about them all--even the bad ones. I don't know, maybe he placed a spell on me. Maybe I was just stupid."
Sabina paused for a long while, scowling and breathing deeply. Ayden began to understand the dangers of mixing his two worlds, and the importance of the balance Freya was so keen on maintaining.
"He was working on an especially dangerous project--one that involved mixing the vampire virus with different species. He had everything from elves to trolls to fairies--even humans. I can't believe I got caught up in that madness!" she said as the tears spilled over the rims of her eyes. "I was helping him move some of the virus to a new storage compartment he had invented to make it last longer. I don't know exactly what happened. He moved wrong or stopped suddenly--I don't know. The next thing I remember was waking up in his arms. He was screaming, and that's when everything began to change.
"To make a long story short, I was infected with the virus; the glass vials cut me, and the tainted blood got mixed up with mine. I panicked and ran away. The cravings started not long after that." At this point, Sabina couldn't hold back her sobbing, but bravely continued her story between ragged, tear-filled breaths.
"I've felt so guilty, so dirty, so disgusting since then! I have to feed on animals' blood so that I won't attack people. I crave real food, but it makes me sick. That deer the other day--it really was injured. But I didn't get its blood on me just from slitting its throat!" she said and buried her face in her hands.
Ayden had to swallow hard as stomach fluids involuntarily erupted up the back of his throat at the thought of Sabina gorging herself on the blood of innocent animals. He let her cry into his shoulder until she was spent. When they parted, he asked, "So now what? Where are you traveling?"
Wiping the tears from her face, she answered, "I've been looking for Jared--the sorcerer. When I finally got the courage to go back to his place, I found that he'd left. I need to find him. I heard he's searching for a powerful, magical tool. If he gets it, he may become powerful enough to heal me."
"What about Nya? How does she fit into all of this?"
"Well, heh, I attacked her one night. Turns out siren blood doesn't agree with vampires. Anyway, she saved my life that night. She sent her bird to find some small game and, well, you get the picture. She's been traveling with me ever since."
A siren? Nya was a siren! Weren't sirens ones who Freya's books told of "eating of the flesh of men"? Weren't they supposed to be seductive, vicious beings? Ayden jerked his head and gazed at Nya. She was crouched and gently stroking her bird's chest. The bird's eyes were squinted with pure pleasure. Funny, she didn't look like a seductive man-eater.
Ayden turned back to Sabina to find her staring at Pax. "He has the same mark on his hand as Jared. He's a sorcerer, just like Jared," she said, scowling.
"Whoa! Let's get one thing straight. Pax is NOT that kind of sorcerer! He's a good friend and he uses his powers for good," Ayden said, quickly defending his friend.
"For now, maybe. But the stronger he becomes, the more the power will go to his head," answered Sabina.
"He's not like that, Sabina," Ayden said softly but firmly.
"If you say so."
Trying to ignore the involuntary pang of worry in the pit of his stomach, Ayden turned again to Sabina and said, "We'll have to tell the others, you know. They won't trust you if you keep hiding things from them."
"And you think they'll trust me if I tell them?" she answered, releasing a dark laugh.
"I guess we'll find out," Ayden said and he stood and extended his hand to help Sabina. Volos and Da'ewyn were just returning from their rounds and Pax was busily putting food over a crackling blue fire. Nya quietly came and walked beside Sabina as they approached the rest of the group.
Ayden purposefully cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. When all eyes were focused on them, he spoke, "There's something we need to tell you."
Chapter Twenty-Two
Devel