My scent? I was ninety-nine percent sure he was a vampire after that.Had I known my being here would cause so many problems, I’d have gone to my room and went to sleep. But since I was here, I’d had enough of this prick’s disrespect and pulled my sword, the ring of it leaving the scabbard drew the attention of some around us. I pointed the tip of it at him. “Don’t talk about me like I’m some whore. You want a game? Pull that weapon and let’s see what you’re made of.”
“Oooooh,” a group of spectators jeered.
“Or.” I jumped at the male voice behind me. “Fight me. I was just getting warmed up in the tournament.”
I turned to find Zyacus and Aric both simmering with wrath. Aric slowly stepped toward Legacy and she didn’t move away when he slipped his hand into hers. Leaning down, he whispered something in her ear and whatever he said made her back away with him. Zyacus stepped up beside me, and Kyan didn’t break eye contact with Senica.
“You won’t always be so protected, Princess,” he said, his eyes flashing red. “Once I want something, I get it.” Then he was gone. He’d literally moved so fast he’d become a blur.
I’d suspected before but those eyes proved it. I felt the color drain from my face.
With a scowl, Zyacus asked, “Who was that?”
I wasn’t sure if he was asking Kyan or me. “I don’t know.”
Kyan looked Zyacus up and down. “He’s a bastard that needs to be taught a lesson in manners. I’m Kyan.” He stuck out his hand.
“I know. Aric told me.” Zyacus didn’t accept his offer. Then he turned to me. “Will you come have a walk with me?” When I didn’t immediately answer, he added, “Please.”
“It’s getting late anyway.” I tried to muster a smile at Kyan but I wasn’t sure about him. He did protect me. I didn’t feel that evil blackness from him like I did with Senica so maybe my worries were unwarranted. “It’s been... mostly fun, Kyan. Thank you.”
Kyan took hold of my fingers and kissed the top of my knuckles. When his lips touched my skin I felt a pulse shoot up my arm and go through my body. It felt like magic but I didn’t know for sure. What was that?
He stood erect. “I can walk you back if you’re not comfortable—”
“She’s plenty comfortable with me, don’t worry,” Zyacus cooed and took my hand from Kyan.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, still wondering what happened when he kissed my hand, and allowed Zyacus to lead me toward Legacy and Aric, who were pushing through the tall grass that surrounded this spot.
Once we were out of earshot of anyone at the party, Zyacus peeked over at me, “You should stay away from him.”
“Why?”
Aric and Legacy, still holding hands I noted, stopped and we circled up. Zyacus nodded at his cousin who answered me. “Look, I don’t know for sure about Kyan but I’m certain that Senica is what we in the North call a ‘vampire’ or ‘blood drinker’.”
I about fell over in shock. Not from the news of what I already suspected Senica was but that Aric just came out and said it. When I asked before he hadn’t given me that information, even seemed afraid to tell me.
“We know what it is,” Legacy said, looking at me then to the boys. “Visteal and I found it in a book at the library.” She paused. “We—I suspected that’s what you were Aric and why I broke up with you. The book said that blood drinkers who can go in the sun are marked on their skin by magic.”
Zyacus laughed and I didn’t think this was something to laugh about, Aric sure as hell looked melancholy. “He’s not one of those things.”
“No, I’m not.” Looking at Legacy, he tried to smile, but it was half-hearted. “I wish you would have told me. It’s the mark of a curse I suspect but not the mark of a blood drinker.”
“So you don’t know what it is?” she asked.
Feeling ill, I looked at Zyacus. If Aric was not a vampire then the vision I saw was for sure a premonition of his death. It could be any day—it could have been tonight at the party. It still could be tonight. I peeked around, the scenery certainly matched. “We should get inside,” I croaked.
All three of them seemed suspicious of my abrupt outburst.
“If Senica is a blood drinker then it’s not wise to linger in the dark.”
“That bastard comes at any one of us and I’ll cut his head off,” Zyacus growled. “Even if he’s harder to kill than a human that will do the job.” Then his gaze searched my face and his voice softened, “But since he has a particular interest in you, we should get inside.”
We started back to the academy, walking faster than usual. “What do you know about them, Aric?” I asked.
Aric shook his head. “I know that many of them have integrated with our society in Collweya, and they know how to blend in. My father and uncles do hunting parties for them but that is only for the ones who hunker in the shadows and come out at night and are savages. The daywalkers… seem to have become civilized. Enough that someone or a group of people has given them the magic to become daywalkers. Some of them might even have magic stones from their families. I don’t know.”
“So this dark magic that created them years ago, do they use it to create more?” Legacy asked.
Solemn and worried, Aric fidgeted with his hands. “I once snuck out after dark, in the North it’s not something most of us risk, but I wanted to see. While out on the deserted streets, I heard something and being on edge, I hid behind a building. I peeked around the corner and saw a blood drinker
