Born in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy 1)

“What?” Darius asked.

“Nothing.” I stared at the animal, a larger version of a Brink horse with shining cream…fur, almost. Silky-smooth fur, like velvet. The twinkle of rainbow when the animal moved had diminished, but it still seemed to shine in an ethereal way. On its head, like all the myths throughout time, protruded a vicious-looking horn with a point.

“This isn’t real,” I said, staring up at the clear, golden-orange Realm sky. No sun shone down on us, but the light was bright enough that Darius should be a smoldering wreck. “How are you even alive? This has to be some sort of hallucination.”

Darius bowed to the animal, received a horse nod in return, and waited while the animal regarded me.

“It is not my place to teach you civility, but the mistress saved your life. A thank you wouldn’t go amiss.” Darius waited for me patiently.

I kicked the ground and left a divot. I pinched my skin and felt the pain.

I regarded the animal again, which was looking at me with shining black eyes. It neighed, so much like a horse that the two must be related, the only thing separating them being magic, size, and a horn.

“If it gave me blood, where’s the wound?” I crossed my arms, having made my last effort to prove this was all in my head.

The horse stamped its foot before turning. A small drip of red graced its neck, coming from a tiny wound.

“Lucy, you have some ’splaining to do,” I muttered to Darius before I blew out a breath. I spoke to the horse. “I assume you can understand me, since you just turned, so…thank you. Really. You did save my life. I wouldn’t have been able to come back from that. I’d depleted my power too much.”

The great animal neighed, and small flashes of rainbows surrounded it. It bowed, that fierce point leveled toward me, and suddenly I felt a little faint. Something told me the animal had an extreme vicious side, and that it would use its glorious horn in battle to gouge its opponents. Considering its great size and—I imagined—incredible strength, that would be a mighty war-horse. Not to mention an intelligent one. With delicious and helpful blood.

“Does it let people ride on its back?” I couldn’t help but wonder.

The unicorn puffed out breath and turned, prancing away in all its majestic glory.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Would you ask that of a minotaur?” Darius scoffed.

“Um, yes. Why, do they have a thing against giving people rides?”

Darius stared at me. Clearly that was a yes. Also, probably silent name-calling.

“Can we talk about this for a second?” I sat down and hunched over my knees. “Was that really a unicorn? A unicorn! The fabled animal that has always existed in myth.”

“As you saw, yes, though they call themselves something different. Don’t ask what it is. They alone choose to whom they will reveal their true name. It bestows a sense of power and sight on any graced with the good fortune.”

“Let me guess, you’ve been graced.”

“No. Only Vlad that I know of.”

“Ah. Fine. So why isn’t it common knowledge that they’re real?”

“This is the secret Vlad spoke of. This is the knowledge you must protect with your life, and we will need to change the contract to reflect that. You are now tied to them, and through them, to us. Should you ever attempt to reveal this knowledge—”

“Yes, yes, death by pleasure. I know.” I shook my head, because who could think of contracts at a time like this? “But…how have you possibly kept this secret? Unicorns, man! Unicorns.” I shook my head again. “I’m blown away. I am simply blown away.”

“Given that there are thousands of myths about them, Brink-wide, the secret isn’t wholly kept.”

“But everyone thinks they aren’t real.”

“They also think vampires aren’t real.”

“The Brink does, but the Realm knows better.”

“Yes, true.” Darius gave me a slight bow. “When a vampire vows to protect something, he does it with everything he has. We have made such a vow to these animals. As of right now, our oath is being called into question. Someone has not only broken into this land on multiple occasions, but has imprisoned one of these creatures and bled her dry. That is unacceptable. Vlad has assigned me to find this person, and great honor will come to me if I succeed. Given that the mistress herself just saved your life, hopefully our objective is as important to you as it is to me.”

“Even if it isn’t, very few people could’ve gotten through that spell like I did. Our mark will be coming for me.” I dropped my head to my hands. “Quite the pickle you’ve gotten yourself into, Reagan. Forming a line of people who want to bring you down.”

“Who else wishes you harm?” A strange ruthlessness filled his voice. It almost sounded possessive.

I shrugged it off. “Doesn’t matter. Okay, time for a quick question-and-answer segment. First, why are you still alive in the sunlight? I thought that was a no-no.”

“I am in no danger. It is not real sunlight, merely magic. Unicorns are our exact opposites; they thrive in the glow of sunshine, and their spirit and power diminishes in the dark. We have altered our territory in the Realm to continually stay in darkness, so that they may stay in constant magical light. For that, they have deigned us worthy. Our loyalty to them, and our vigilance to make sure they are kept secret and protected, has created a partnership. They allow us a certain amount of blood to make a special brew. This brew is integral to our future.”

“You’re talking about the turning potion used to create new vampires.” His look turned flat. “Come on. Everyone knows you guys use one. That’s not secret.”

“The ingredients are.”

“Clearly. Fine. But why are they excited about being trapped on this island? Why don’t they want other magical creatures to know they exist?”

“Do you recall how it felt to ingest their blood?”

A surge of joy filled my body. The craving to run after the beast and latch on to the wound in its neck took hold of me. I turned away and shut my eyes, fighting the desire that had come out of nowhere.

“The closest thing to that feeling is the Brink drug heroin,” Darius said in a cool tone, striding toward me. “But that craving doesn’t come close to the residual desire for unicorn blood. Magic has great perks, but with it comes great pitfalls.” His hand landed on my upper back and slowly ran down my spine. Tingles erupted, but I didn’t shrug him off. The craving for unicorn blood slowly subsided. “Our blood counteracts the desire. I thought our blood and theirs would be sold as a pair, but when I apprehended that mage the other night, only unicorn blood was in his possession.”

“You’re saying that vampires have loose lips somewhere, but they might not be in on it.”

“It is too early to tell.”

“But you could be, essentially, hunting one of your own.”

“Yes.”

“Well, if we are, let’s hope they aren’t as old and fast as you, huh?” I stepped away from him. “I don’t want any of your blood.”

Hunger flashed in his eyes. “Let’s wait and see.” The next moment, confusion bled through his expression. He minutely shook his head. “I apologize for how that sounded. I meant, if you need more of their blood, you might need something to reduce the craving.”

“Nice save. How’s the leg?”

“The bullet has worked its way out.”

“Happy, happy.” I redid my ponytail. “So if knowledge of unicorns was widespread, they’d probably be hunted and destroyed in a mad panic to consume them. Do the elves know about them?”

“The royal cabinet do. They are happy with this arrangement.”

“Of course they are. They don’t want a bunch of magical people running amok, trying to get high. That would be the easiest way for them to lose control.” I took a last look around the lovely meadow. “Let’s get to work.”

He nodded and led us to the right.

“Did you leave your trap or whatever you’d planned?” I asked as we stepped into the trees. Another of those majestic animals, though not as big, stood off to the side, watching us. All I could see was that horn, though. It looked gilded and lethal, over a foot long, and with a dullish point that you’d surely feel as it rammed through your middle.