And What I Found There - Book Two

21. A Little Troubling

I stare at Vyndren blankly for a few moments. "Are you out of your mind?" I finally ask.

"Debatable." Now he growls. "Adara, the Queen of Hearts murdered my sister. And I promised, swore on Kalaclipsa's grave, that I'd have vengeance on that kluppin' Queen. For a long time I've been slowly witling away at her kingdom but imagine the stake to the heart it'd be if I ripped out her little Princess's heart," he sneers. "I can see it now -"

"No, Vyndren! You don't want to kill anybod-"

"QUIT TALKING TO ME AS IF YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT!" He explodes and shoots me a blazing glare. "I don't need your approval." He snarls. "I am doing this, damn it. I'll kill that little princess brat come hell or high kluppin' water if not tonight than by tomorrow."

"No." I say firmly, swallowing my fear. I mean really, what the hell is his problem snapping at me like that? "She saved my life! If you cared anything about me than you'd -"

"You think I don't care about you?" He stares at me.

"I-I-I'd say it's hard to tell right now." He shoots me a glare. I ignore it. "I won't let you hurt anyone. You have a right to feel pain, Vyndren, but you have no right to take that pain out on other people."

There is a heavy silence that hangs in-between us.

"Y'know," Vyndren says calmly a moment later. "You have changed. I'm... impressed."

"You? Impressed? By me?" This takes me by surprise.

"Yeah... I mean, you've always impressed me but now you... you are different. More confident, more self-assured. Obviously bolder. But I like it, it's a good look for you."

I blush. "Thanks."

"Indeed. As it is... I am still going to find the Princess and lop her wretched little head off, as a gift for her mother of course, and then rip her little throbbing heart out and -"

"Vyndren! Can you just stop being a serial killer for like, five seconds! We have bigger problems right now!"

He huffs and crosses his arms. "Name a bigger problem."

"Antivenom," I state. "I'm pretty sure I can make a cure to treat my Blood Dreams."

"Well good for you," he grunts. "So what the klup do you want me for?"

I shoot him a look. "What I need from you is some more venom and then I'll be able to mix your venom's active molecules with good antibodies from clean blood via host animal." I try to keep everything straightforward but the blank look on his face tells me all that went right over his head.

"Molecules. Right." He says simply and shakes his head. "You seem to know what you're talking about."

"I do. Actually. So...um, do you think you'll help? This kinda all hinges on your cooperation."

"Sure..."

I scoff. "Thanks."

"Mm-hmm."

"Well right now I'm kinda out of magic and I doubted that the little shops in town had the kind of stuff I need so I thought I'd just summon the supplies for myself."

"Later then."

"Right." I nod. "Later." I close my eyes and lean back again the wall, relieved to be Healed and to finally have a break from the Thirst. "Oh wait, Cornelius and Quill! The White Knights! They're still out there looking for me, they gotta so worried." I feel so terrible for those poor guys, I can't imagine how crazy they are making themselves looking for me.

Vyndren scoffs and jumps on the ledge of the window, staring out into the beyond. "Please. Those morons can fend for themselves."

I stare up at him. "How can you act like you don't care?"

"I'm not acting."

"I thought Quill was your friend!"

He snorts. "Who told you that?"

"Quill seems to actually care about you."

"Oh, spare me. I didn't have any friends. That kid was just always tagging along after me."

"Hey, he thought you were the coolest." So Quill never actually said that but I bet it's not a far cry from the truth.

Vyndren rolls his eyes. "That's not hard to believe. Anyway. You. Rest. I shall return thusly."

"Wait! No!" Though he hasn't moved I leech onto his arm as if to keep him from leaving. "Don't hunt down my friends!"

"Don't hunt down my friends?" He repeats, sounding revolted. "Klup." He snorts. "Consider them on the back burner," he brushes my hand off. "I'm going hunting, I need to be at my best at all times here, so..."

Here. Oh yeah, that reminds me of something.

"Why did you pick Ghost Hills to lay low? Do you have a sick death wish or something? Other Dark creatures can kill Vampires, Vyndren!"

He snorts. "I like it when they try."

"Well...still. The only predators you have are other Dark creatures. So why would you pick a place that's teeming with them? How is this a place to rest?"

"What conspiracy theories have you been listening to?" He shoots me a look. "First of all, I'm not here to rest. And second, I came here because of the Dark creatures. When you never age, never get weak or tired, you...tend to seek danger," he shrugs a shoulder absently. "Gotta get your thrills where you can." He winks.

"You're insane."

"Certifiable, so I've heard." He smirks faintly.

"Why are you really here, Vyndren?" I search his face as if for answers. "I know you well enough to know that you have a good reason for being here. Nothing you do is random."

He briefly looks away and now sighs. "Ghost Hills is the last place left on Raetri where I can be...free, savage, wild, take your pick."

"Vyndren... you're not some kind of animal -"

"I'm hunted like one," he retorts, his eyes flashing. "These Hills are the only place left no one is foolish enough to wander into. There are no laws up here, no bounty on my head up here, no wanted posters up here. I'm fine up here, not disturbing a damn body so you should be happy about that." He grunts and crosses his arms.

"Okay, I get that, but still. Vampire or not, you have no excuse to be acting like an animal," I insist.

"Yeah well I've been treated like an animal since the day I was born so forgive me if old habits die hard but I -" he abruptly breaks off as I widen my eyes with alarm. "How about you don't question my judgement," he growls under his breath. "I'll see you later," he shakes his head.

"Wait! I've been meaning to ask you...how did you find me?"

He smiles ever so faintly. "I always find you, Adara."

That makes my heart flutter. I smile a moment later. "I'm glad you did. I was..." I look away, feeling my eyes shine with emotion. "I thought I was going to die," I softly confess.

Vyndren briefly steps closer. "No more close calls, okay?" He whispers, glancing at my eyes before stepping away. "Rest easy," he steps off the window ledge right into the thin air.

I gasp and quickly lean out of the massive window to look around, but he's already gone.