Forsaking God to kiss someone you hate might not be a smart decision, but damn does it hurt good.
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Judith was never supposed to fall in love- but she was never supposed to become a vampire either. It's her duty as a nu...
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We were dressed and out in the frigid snow before I knew it. Greta was pissed, and she didn't even try to hide her sour mood or the scowl on her face. I couldn't say anything to her. I was angry as well.
Imanthi and Ayla were chatting in hushed tones with Katarina when we approached. She was in human form, but three wolves, each nearly as tall as Ayla, surrounded her. Each of them seemed to be keeping a watchful eye on our surroundings, ears pointed forward and eyes darting from side to side.
There was a Mer woman I didn't recognize there as well, clad only in a colorful skirt and a necklace of shells that dangled against her chest. Despite the water that quickly froze into ice against her skin, she seemed altogether unbothered by the cold. Quen stood to the left of her, close by her side, and seeing them together like that, I could see the resemblance between them. I assumed it was his sister, Seyla.
When Imanthi caught sight of us, she waved us over to her side.
"This better be an emergency." Greta said. "I was in the middle of something very important."
Imanthi pointed to the water.
"See for yourself."
Where we stood, out at the water's edge, the approaching ships looked like little more than small dots on the horizon. Daybreak hadn't come, so it was still dark, but I imagined that even in the light I wouldn't have been able to tell where the ships were from at this distance.
"How do you know they are Vlansovian?" I asked Katarina. "Isn't it possible they are friendly?"
"We have scouts." Katarina said. "The mer patrol the perimeter of the island. They are not friendly."
"How many ships?" Ayal asked.
"Only two." Seyla said. "No matter how far we scouted, we didn't locate any others."
Katarina's brow furrowed and she shook her head.
"We could easily overpower that. We would take some losses, but I have no doubt that my men alone could massacre only two ships."
"Why send so few?" I asked.
"Probably to assess our strength. I'm sure there are more on the way. They may even want to negotiate something before resorting to blatant violence."
"I am not above resorting to blatant violence." Seyla hissed. "I'll have all of my women swim out to sea, board the ships, and light them on fire. We shall see how well they can invade when they are reduced to a pile of ash, cremated at sea."
"If it comes to that, I'll be more than happy to let you tear them to shreds." Katarina said. "But as it stands now, I would like to avoid violence if at all possible."
"My people are past the point of avoiding violence. We are owed more blood than they could ever repay."
