Kissed by Darkness(68)

I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes. I willed the Darkness to leave. For a moment I didn’t think it would, but then it slowly withdrew like a wave pulling back from the sand, rejoining the night and the shadows all around me. When it left me, it left behind a wave of exhaustion so deep, for a minute I thought I’d pass out. I sank down into a heap unable to so much as lift my head.

Inigo scooped me up off the grimy floor and held me against his oh so solid chest. Man, did he have some serious muscles going on under there. I let my head fall against him, my nose pressed into that sweet spot where shoulder met throat. He smelled of sweat and man and, oddly enough, smoke. Wood smoke. Like from a campfire.

He was warm, too, far warmer than even someone who’d just fought a bunch of vampires should be. It struck me as odd, but I was too tired to try and figure it out. All I wanted was to go to bed and sleep for a hundred years, preferably curled up against all that heat. Yeah, that sounded good.

“Morgan.” Kabita’s face swam into view. She looked worried. More worried than I’d seen her in a long time. “Are you … are you OK?”

“M’fine. Jus’ need sleep.” Great, I sounded like a drunk.

“OK, we’ll get you home. Don’t worry.”

Just before I passed out, a single thought flashed through my overworked brain. Darroch. Brent Darroch was the freaking leader of the vampires. He was no vampire himself, so I didn’t know how or why he was doing it, but he was. I knew it sure as I was still breathing.

I started to struggle in Inigo’s arms. I had to get to Darroch. I had to stop him. I had to…

Inigo whispered a single word in my ear: “Sleep.”

I did.







The cold night air made my cheeks sting and my eyes water. I wanted to be home in my soft bed with the plump pillows and silken coverlets, but the big warrior had made me promise not to speak. Not to make a sound. A princess keeps her promises.

The warrior held me tightly, almost too tightly, curled up against his warm chest. Usually a member of the Warrior Line would never have been allowed to touch me, but this warrior was also descended from a priest. That made him very special and Nana had promised me I would be safe with him. Nana always kept her promises, too.

He’d come in the dead of night, whispering to Nana in that tone grownups use when something terrible has happened. I know that tone of voice. The High Priest himself once visited Nana and whispered in that same voice. That was the night my father died. The night the High Priest moved Nana and me into a secret part of the palace. Before he left, he’d leaned down and said, “You will be safe here. Just remember: never leave this part of the palace until I send for you.” He’d turned away, then hesitated and leaned back down. “It’s a secret.”

Then he was gone. From that day on, I never left the three rooms or the tiny garden that became my world. Until tonight.

“There it is.” It was the first time the warrior had spoken in what felt to my child’s mind like days and days, though it was still the same night. “The Temple of the Moon Goddess.” The temple glowed softly in the moonlight like something out of one of Nana’s magic stories. I could feel its soft light pulsing inside my own soul, whispering to me of adventures yet to come.

He set me on my feet before the great doors of the temple and raised his fist. The door swung open before he could knock and a woman nearly as tall as he stood before us. She was scary in a way even the warrior couldn’t dare to be. The warrior was strong and brave and noble, like all Warriors of the Priest Line. But this woman was something else. She wore the robes of a Priestess, but her eyes were fierce beyond belief and her entire bearing spoke of power and magic. I tried not to quiver. A princess is always brave.

“Thank you, Warrior,” she spoke softly, but there was power in her voice that made even my brave warrior stiffen. “You may return to your duty. You must protect the Key at all costs. She will find you when the time is right.”

The warrior clasped his right hand over his heart in salute and bowed his head. “Yes, my lady.” He turned and bowed to me. “Your highness, it has been my great honor to protect and serve you, but now I must go. I bid you farewell.”

Then he was gone into the night, blending into the darkness until he was one with the shadows. I knew I would dream of him for many nights to come. I felt a tear slip down my cheek and roughly brushed it away. A princess never cries.

I turned back to the Priestess, feeling scared for the first time that night. I missed Nana. I missed my home. I even missed my warrior, though I’d only known him a short time. The Priestess bent down and brushed her finger across my cheek. It was rough, like a warrior’s hands, yet gentle like Nana’s. When she smiled, there was kindness and love in her eyes and I could see the light glowing brightly in her soul.