Chapter 71: Kjarni

Derrick

When I next wake, I find myself in a soft, padded room with bright lighting and a large glass door. Through the glass, I see another male in the room across the hall from me. He’s pacing back and forth restlessly.

We lock gazes for a split second. His blue eyes are clouded and unfocused, covered in a milky shadow. He growls loudly and begins to ram his head against the thick glass of his cell.

Dark, almost black blood streams from his forehead, but he refuses to stop.

“Enough, 89!” a voice exclaims over an intercom system I hadn’t noticed until now. A blue light shines in the male’s cell as he’s electrocuted, and he falls to the ground, unconscious.

I swallow hard. The electric collar I was wearing in the basement is still around my neck. I have no desire to let these assholes use it on me again.

“247, please step back to the wall furthest from the glass,” the intercom voice orders. “Dinner will be placed where you are standing now once you do so. If compliance is not given, you will receive a shock, just as 89 has.”

I put my hands up and do as I’m told. A hole appears in the glass door, and a small female slides a tray through it. She’s frail-looking, with the same milky eyes as the male.

“Thank you for your cooperation, 247. Enjoy your meal.”

I hesitantly walk over to the tray. There’s a large raw steak and steaming hot mashed potatoes. A small bottle of a dark liquid sits beside it.

I eat my food, but pay no mind to the bottle of liquid. The mashed potatoes remind me so much of the ones my mother used to make that it’s ridiculous.

“Drink the bottle in your cell, 247,” the voice orders as I move away from my now-empty tray. “If compliance is not given, a shock will be administered.”

“Go to hell,” I growl.

“Very well.”

I groan in pain as my collar tightens, sending a shock of electricity through my throat and chest. Way less than what the other guy got, but still excruciating.

“Drink, 247.”

Another shock.

“Drink.”

Shock.

And another, and another...

My muscles are limp at the end of my struggle. They’ve spasmed so much that I’m too exhausted to do anything but lay there. I lift my eyes to the glass door that is now fully open.

Two bulky men walk in with heavy guns pointed at me. The small, frail young woman who delivered my food trails behind them, picking up the bottle I abandoned. My warning growl seems to make her shake a bit.

Then I realize—she looks familiar. Her green eyes and brown hair are disheveled, but that striking face...where have I seen her before?

“Firefly?” I ask incredulously.

The woman flinches when I reach out to stroke her hair. My eyes dart between her and my outstretched hand. Her fear rips my heart in pieces—the pain is almost unbearable.

“Firefly, it’s Derrick,” I plead. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

She avoids eye contact and hands me the bottle. My muscles ache as I understand what she’s asking. She wants me to drink this.

“Firefly, no—”

“Drink,” she says. “Please?”

I blink, but I can’t deny the intense desire—no, ~need~—to do whatever this woman asks of me.

With a trembling hand, I take the bottle and down the contents in one gulp.

***

Sylas

“Goodnight, Sylas.” Lake smiles shyly before turning over on the forest floor. Her form soon relaxes, and her slight breathing turns deeper.

Unlike her, I don’t need to sleep as often. Maybe once or twice a month at most. Anything more is just for recreational purposes.

The fire between Lake and me is a small one that pops every few seconds. I said I would keep an eye on it while I stood watch, but I can’t tear my eyes away from her.

My Kjarni—my ~Essence~—is finally here. After almost three hundred years on this miserable planet, she’s finally here. My reason to keep living this eternal life.

Part of me had feared the day I finally found my Essence, since many of my kind accidentally slaughtered theirs upon first meeting them. But with Lake...yes, her scent was enough to make me thirst for nothing more than her.

But I could never drink to kill. Especially not my Kjarni.

Lake shifts in her sleep, turning to face me again. The fire makes her perfect skin glow even more than usual. Her hair is frizzy, and leaves cling to the strands, but the dark color suits her so well.

I move quietly and quickly remove the leaves from my Kjarni’s hair. She groans slightly and reaches for my hand. I willingly give it to her as she squeezes it into her chest.

I could easily ravish this woman right here on this forest floor in the middle of nowhere, but I restrain myself. Lake twists onto her stomach with my hand still in hers, tugging me closer until I’m pressed against her back.

~Dear Serene in the sky, please help me preserve my strength.~

Lake’s scent, like fresh rainwater, fills my lungs as I try my best to untangle myself. It’s to no avail—this woman has the grip of an otter on their favorite rock.

“Sylas. Derrick.”

I stop struggling as my Kjarni mumbles incomplete sentences. The sound of her voice is enough to make me do anything she would ever need me to. I would throw myself off of a bridge if it meant she would be safe.

“Kjarni,” I whisper against Lake’s hair. She groans again and turns toward, burying her face in my chest. Our hands are still laced together.

Her breath sends chills down my spine. The world seems to stop. This moment is just the two of us, and I wish it could be like this for the rest of time.

But it can’t.

As a vampyre, my natural instinct is to put my partner’s needs before mine. That means allowing her to make her own decisions about us. I’m nothing like those barbarian wolves that force their females to be marked and mated.

The sight of Lake’s mating mark is enough to rouse my jealousy and rage. I want to tear her wolf mate apart for doing that to her beautiful body.

I would never place something so scarring on her, just so others know she’s mine. My partner is her own person, not my possession. The Moon Goddess and her Fates are sadistic monsters.

My Goddess wants her children to be their own people with the choice of having a partner, so the Essence thirst is manageable for a mature vampire.

Younger, more fragile vampires, particularly new bloods, are usually too consumed by their thirst to be anywhere near ready to have this kind of commitment.

My Kjarni is just getting to the point where her new blood tendencies are slowing down. Such is to be expected with how long she’s been like this. Her wolf helped her manage the bloodlust all these years without even knowing it.

My mind flashes to the person I used to be. That dark being left nothing but blood and agony wherever he walked. The memories of the mortals’ screaming and begging for mercy have haunted me ever since.

Once I entered the ranks of vampire nobility, I swore to never be that type of vampire again. I would be our ruler’s right hand and keep the peace between our worlds.

But in doing so, I became a shell of myself and just followed orders blindly.

Lake has changed that and so much more. Never will she know of my dark past—only of our prosperous future together.

“Thank you for existing, Kjarni.” I smile against Lake’s forehead. “You’ve given me a new reason to live.”