Awaken

Chapter Seven

Liam led me through the crowd of vampires that were gathering. Russia had yet to move to the level of freedom that the states had, so there were still slaves and at this moment the vampires were watching one of the notorious games, where slaves are forced to fight against each other in a battle to the death. I could hear the vampires screaming in support and the humans screaming as they died.

I clenched my fist, this wasn't ok. These were human beings being forced to fight against each other. It was barbaric.

"Keep those thoughts to yourself, Krista." Liam warned and I knew that I couldn't say anything, I knew that if I did I would be in big trouble.

"Why are we here?" I asked, wondering why we couldn't have stuck to the forest and avoided the town all together. Although I was grateful to the fact that I was now wearing much warmer clothes and didn't have to worry about using my power to warm myself.

"Because, it's faster this was and besides it's easier to hide your scent in a field of people rather than in a forest." Liam said, taking a sharp right and finally breaking from the crowd. "Besides, we can get some blood here so that we aren't leaving dead animal trails behind us." He said, taking us down a small alley way. There were small shops everywhere, and a lot of them only catered to the needs of vampires.

"Where are we going?" I asked, keeping as close to Liam as possible. The Russian vampires seemed to watch every move that we made, or more specifically my moves.

"To a friend's shop." He said vaguely as we maneuvered down another set of alley ways. I honestly felt as if I were in a maze and I knew that I wouldn't be able to find my way out by myself. But, I trusted Liam to led me to wherever he thought best. The sun was close to setting, so we would have to find a place to stay for the night, and seeing as it took nearly a day to get to this village I knew that we would be staying here and not out in the forest.

Liam stopped outside a shop that seemed to blend in with the other shops along the street. Nothing about it stood out, and I couldn't read the sign since it was in Russian. Liam knocked a couple of times and the door opened for us to walk in. When I first stepped in I was hit with many different scents. I could smell blood, vampires, humans, and something else that I wasn't used to smelling.

A woman came to greet us at the door, and she began to talk in very fast Russian that I didn't understand but Liam seemed to easily follow along with her. SHe was older, and she had to be near the same height as me. She couldn't be a vampire, as she had aged so much but at the same time she didn't smell human. Once Liam finished talking the women nodded and then lead us deeper into the store. Surprisingly it was much larger on the inside than it had appeared to be on the outside. I didn't dare speak as the women led us deeper into the store, there was something about the atmosphere that made me very uncomfortable and I could feel the beast stirring inside me, feeding off something. Liam reached his hand back and took hold of my hand. I instantly began to calm down.

She stopped outside a door, and rambled out something in Russian again before she left us. I turned to ask Liam what was going on but he placed a finger over his lips, telling me to stay silent. He pushed open the door and we entered to see a small room, with a man standing in the corner.

"Liam!" He exclaimed with a heavy Russian accent. "How are you my dear friend?" Sniffing the air I could smell that he was a vampire, but there was something else about him that smelled off.

"I am fine, Viktor, well as fine as I can be in my situation." Liam said, his eyes sliding to me.

"Ah, yes, who is this lovely creature?" Viktor smiled at me and something about his smile made me want to shrink into Liam's side. This man was very sinister.

"I'm Krista." I said, knowing that I was going to have to speak eventually. I watched Viktor's eyes widen for a fraction of a second before his smile grew even wider.

"Tsk tsk, Liam, you have been very naughty. You do know that she has a very large bounty on her head, don't you?" He asked, walking towards me. We knew that I had to stay hidden, which was why my hair was hidden underneath a beanie and a hood, but I had no idea that there was a bounty out for me. Who wanted me that much, Charles or the Elves?

"Yes, which is why I came to you, Viktor. I knew that you would be gracious enough to host us for the night before we went on our way. I also knew that you would be willing to send us off with some blood." Liam said, and I could feel his hand tighten around him.

"I will, as long as you do a few things for me." Viktor stopped in front of him and they way he looked at me made my skin crawl. I could tell that he wanted me, and not just in a lusty way, he wanted to devour me.

"And what would that be?" Liam asked, stepping between Viktor and I. Viktor finally got the idea that I was not a plaything and he stepped back.

"First, I would like to know why you are with this fugitive and why you are sp protective of her." He said, turning his back to us, and taking a seat at the desk that seemed to appear from nowhere. The room had been empty when we entered it, but suddenly it was filled with books and a desk with chairs. What was going on?

Viktor waved his hand to have us sit at the seats across the desk from him. Liam did as instructed and I had no choice but to follow suit.

"She found me, to be honest." Liam started and I decided that I was going to talk as little as possible. Viktor made my skin crawl, and the less he paid attention to me, the better. "She was on the run because of what had happened in Terra Dryadales, and incident that she could have not prevented. Something about her called out to me, and I wasn't sure why I was drawn to her until I realized the relationship to her. She is one of my distant descendents, who happens to share a very strange bond with me. I keep her inner beast calm and prevent what happened at Terra Dryadales, as long as we are together. But currently, we are trying to figure out how she is able to survive with both the vampire and werewolf genes within her body." Liam concluded.

"And why has this led you to Northern Russia?" Viktor asked.

"We need access to the ancient libraries, and since Terra Dryadales is not longer an option, that leaves the Russian libraries and the only person with access to those records is-"

"Prisca." Viktor interrupted. "I will grant you a safe haven for the night and enough blood to last you the rest of the trip, but first I wish to speak to the lovely Krista, alone." I looked at Liam in panic. I felt uncomfortable being in the the same room with Viktor with Liam by my side, I couldn't imagine how bad it would be without Liam by my side. There was something about Viktor that was calling to the beast inside, something about him that made the creature want to surface.

"Ten minutes, that's it." Liam responded. He would really leave alone with this man? I knew that he could feel my discomfort, hell I was sure that the whole shop felt my discomfort.

I opened my mouth to respond but Liam was already leaving before I could even get a word out. I turned back to see Viktor looking at me as if he had won first place in a puppy eating contest.

"Now, Miss Calvin, how about we talk some business."