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Chapter 19
They hurry down the same deserted street where she had been two nights ago trailing Haydn. This time she was wearing skinny jeans and a light blue shirt.
"I can't believe you talked me into this." Calvin mutters.
"Well we're not going back so don't even think of it."
"Do you even remember where this place is?"
"Yes." Though she's not quite sure.
"And how do you know they're going to let us in?"
"I don't."
"Great and if they decide to kill us?"
"Run." She had brought her special stake with three lethal tips, wood for vampires, silver for wares and shifters and iron for fairies.
"Wonderful." Calvin says grimly. They had arrived at the building she was pretty sure was it. Calvin's wide eyed look confirms it.
"What do you see?"
"I-you can't see this?" His voice is amazed.
"Nope, just a regular old human seeing a regular old broken down building."
"That's definitely not what I see." He continues staring.
"Well go ahead, knock." She hisses at him. He reaches a hand out and tentatively taps the door. She rolls her eyes and pounds on it with her fist, making him jump before shooting her a glare. The door opens a crack as before and the same hoarse wary voice croaks.
"Who is it?"
"I'm a friend of Haydn's." She says smoothly and the door hastily opens.
"Right this way Miss." He says ushering us through the hall and down the stairs again.
"Don't freak Calvin." She says under her breath. She can picture his quizzical look, even if she can't see it in the pitch black darkness down here. They reach the bottom and the door opens.
Once again all heads in the room turn towards them flashing fangs, eyes and other oddities in the light. Calvin flinches and she puts a hand on his arm to steady him.
"Calvin!" A happy voice cries from across the room. A tall redheaded girl is suddenly in front of them not bothering to hide her fangs as she breaks into a wide grin.
"Hey Alison." He says awkwardly.
"And who is this?" She asks finally noticing Marisia and staring down at her with sharp gray eyes.
"Marisia." She replies voice just as cool.
"Oh how unique." She makes the word an insult.
"Uh Mar Alison is from my uh group you know the one I told you about."
"Yeah, I remember. Come on Calvin we have work to do." She yanks him away.
"What a bitch!" Marisia hears Alison's outraged shout from behind.
"What was that?" Calvin demands pulling away from her.
"We have things to do. Plus I didn't like her." He appears shocked.
"What Alison? Why?" She stares at him in disbelief.
"Seriously? Where you not there five seconds ago? She hates me."
"No not Alison, you just don't know her well enough." He was so blind.
"Yeah, says the guy who told me not to trust Evan because I don't know him?"
"I—well."
"Exactly you don't know her either. Let's just get this over with." She spots Eric in the same place again drinking a coke. She walks over with Calvin drifting behind. Eric's gloomy expression brightens slightly when he sees her.
"Well I didn't expect to see you here after last time." She sits on the stool beside him.
"I didn't think I'd be back either."
"Who's he?" Eric asks turning to Calvin standing stiff behind her. She kicks him with her foot when he says nothing.
"Calvin." He blurts out.
"Eric." He says with a nod.
"I was wondering if you'd heard anything about what Haydn asked. I know it's only been two days but. . ." She trails off.
"You're running out of time." He says softly icy eyes appearing to melt slightly.
"Yeah, times almost out it's my last chance apparently."
"Chance?" He raises an eyebrow. She hesitates but decides to tell him.
"I keep getting reincarnated and apparently this is my last time. Someone's been killing me before I'm seventeen every time which is in less than three weeks." She doesn't know what else to say. Eric swears softly.
"That idiot. If he had just told me when this all began he could have avoided this." He stares at her with his unnerving pale eyes.
"Can you remember anything about your killer?"
"It seems to be blocked, but I had a dream. . ." She tells him about her dream/memory and he listens frowning and occasionally nodding or stopping her to ask questions, the whole time Calvin just sits there motionless, he hadn't heard this yet she recalls.
"That idiot," He repeats. "And at first he said it was Annabelle?"
"Yeah, but then he dismissed it saying she was dead."
"I wouldn't put it past her to fake her own death."
"Do you have any ideas? It would really help."
"I don't know I'll check okay?" He says with a small smile.
"Thanks, do you want my number?"
"Sure. Call me if you need anything alright?"
"Thanks Eric I will." She gives him her cell number and he gives his. She says goodbye and Calvin does so too mechanically.
"Who's he?" Calvin demands once they have left Eric.
"Someone I met when I was here with Haydn. What's the matter? You sat there like a statue the whole time."
"Doesn't he give you the creeps?"
"Looks can be deceiving Calvin, he seems really nice."
"What is he?"
"Haydn said a bit of everything, supposedly the king of winter." Calvin's eyes widen.
"That's him? You don't know how dangerous that guy is supposed to be Mar."
"Since when do you believe rumors?" She snaps. "He agreed to help. And you sat there like a freaking jerk the whole time."
"I did not!"
"Yeah you did Calvin. Let's go, unless you have any other friends you'd like to talk to." He scowls down at her.
"No."
"Great, let's go." They head towards the exit but some guy with bright purple eyes and spiked brown hair whisks her away in his arms.
"Dance with me." He says smiling down at her with white all pointed teeth.
"Get off me." She shouts annoyed and somewhat alarmed. His eyes are red now as he looms over her.
"Just once."
"No. Calvin!" She cries desperately while attempting to push the guy, who seems to be a fairy, away but his hold is unbreakable. They seem to be spinning farther and farther away from the crowd and either they don't see or don't care.
"Marisia?" She hears Calvin say faintly.
"Let me go! Who the heck are you?" He laughs down at her with liquid gold eyes.
"I'm one of the good guys." They weren't even in the club anymore they appeared to be in a dense gloomy forest where no light seemed to penetrate.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Somewhere safe." He replies with eyes a bright lime green.
"Can you at least tell me who told you to take me?" He contemplates a minute then says,
"The Winter King."
"What why?" She asks bewildered and still not quite believing.
"He likes you. He wants to keep you safe till he can get to the bottom of this."
"Well at least he could have told me," She says huffily. "And could you maybe put me down?" Startled he places her on the ground but keeps her hand in a firm grasp.
"There wasn't much time," He says amusement in his brown eyes. "And don't run off, only a fairy or someone traveling with one cannot become lost here."
"And who are you?" The fairy frowns.
"I don't know if I should tell you that."
"And why not?"
"I don't know, I…" He sighs. "Fine it's Ryan."
"What was so hard about that?"
"Nothing, it's just, I don't know, not many people call me it."
"Why? You're a fairy aren't you?" He winces.
"Yes, but I haven't always been."
"Oh my gosh, you were kidnapped by them?" She had of course heard of the children that were taken by the fairies and once they began eating the food in their kingdom they started becoming one and were theirs forever but it was just so unbelievable.
"Yes when I was eight." His voice is wistful.
"And how long have you…?" Fairies lived forever our at least a very long time. He appeared to be her age maybe nineteen at the most.
"Been like this? It seems like days, but I know it's been decades." His voice is bitter.
"I-I'm sorry that must be so awful." She says awkwardly.
"It's fine I'm used to it by now."
"Can you at least tell everyone where I've gone so they know I'm not dead?" He looks surprised.
"I'll see."
"Where are we going?"
"His palace." They continue along silently and then the trees slowly start to lose their leaves, turning gold and red and finally falling off altogether. A wind comes along and the temperature drops, snow appears beneath their feet and she begins to shiver as her fingers and toes go numb as her teeth begin to chatter.
Ryan glances down at her and swears, "I'm an idiot, you must be freezing. Sorry I don't get cold anymore sometimes I forget." He snaps his fingers and a cocoon of warmth encircles her.
"Thanks," Being unable to think of anything else to say she asks, "So where did you live before?"
"Iowa," His silver eyes are distant. "And you?"
"I lived in Minnesota with my parents for a while."
"And then?"
"Minneapolis at vampire hunter training school." His eyes widen.
"You're a vampire hunter?" His voice is full of fear and awe.
"Yep, they didn't give you any info? Just said 'here take this girl to my palace because I say so'?" He grins pointed teeth gleaming and she forces herself not to flinch.
"Pretty much. Why are you in danger anyway if you don't mind me asking?"
"To make a long story short, I keep being reincarnated and someone always kills me before I'm seventeen which is in about two weeks and it's my last time around."
"Wow." Ryan says clearly impressed.
"Yeah." She says with a sigh. His eyes are a warm brown again and they soften.
"Not the greatest job in the world huh?" He asks softly.
"Nope, and if you can believe it I thought my life was normal up until a week ago." He gives a short laugh.
"It was like that for me too. Though I guess your life has never been exactly normal."
"Not really, but normal for a vampire hunter."
"And your parents?"
"Dead." He looks horrified that he asked. She gives a small smile.
"It's alright really, it happened when I was five. Always happens when I'm five."
"God I really am an idiot I shouldn't have asked."
"No really it's fine." Marisia says somewhat awkwardly. They both shut up and she soon sees a sparkling palace carved entirely out of bricks of solid non translucent ice, with turrets and towers and all sorts of castle like things. It was magnificent. Marisia gasps and he smiles down at her.
"Pretty amazing huh?"
"It's spectacular." She whispers amazed.
"Yeah, well you'll be here for a while."
"How long is awhile?" He shrugs.
"I don't know, I suppose till this all blows over."
"Great." She says glumly.
"Hey, it won't be that bad there's all sorts of things to do there."
"I don't want to be doing anything here. I want to be helping out there. I should be fighting, figuring this out."
"No you shouldn't. I know you're a professional at this and all, but it seems to me like this person or whatever it may be, keeps killing you. The people the king has will have probably hundreds of years of experience in this sort of thing."
"I don't care; I don't want people risking their lives for me. I'm certainly not worth it."
"The King doesn't seem to think so." Ryan says firmly as if that closes the subject.
"Just because Eric is a king of something or other doesn't mean he has better judgment then the rest of us, it just means he was lucky enough to become a king it doesn't make him more special than you or I." Ryan looks taken aback.
"I don't think anyone else would dare say that to him or call him by name. I can see why he likes you he hates getting special treatment."
"He's a king, right, why can't he just order them to treat him like a normal guy?" He chuckles quietly.
"If only it could be so simple."