Page 5 of Wicked Curses
A reddish hue bathed everything. The sun in the sky was redder, and the clouds were also a deep red as the sun touched the horizon. The dirt beneath her feet and the rocks and mountains stretching beyond the town were also various shades of red.
Even the lake, with the sun reflecting across its serene surface, appeared red—something that was confirmed when a mermaid’s red tail flicked out of the water. A mermaid’s tail changed color based on its surroundings.
The sun had sunk low enough that the vampires moved freely through its fading rays. As a half vampire, the sun didn’t affect her like pure-blooded vamps. Sometimes, if the sun was too bright and she was in it for too long, it bothered her, but it couldn’t kill her like it did other vamps. It was one of the few blessings of her rare birth.
She could teleport like vampires, too, but not as well. Many of them could cover vast distances; she could only go fifty or so feet at a time. However, she did possess the enhanced strength, speed, and senses of vamps.
Besides the immortals and the different-colored clothing they wore, the buildings and black rocks jutting up from the mountains and countryside were the only colors that broke the drab monotone.
They moved through alleys running between the buildings and onto more streets. The streets all ran parallel and curved around to the other streets like a big, expanding city block.
At the end of each street, the dirt roads stopped at the edge of a red, sandy desert that stretched onward before rising into mountains. Jagged rocks poked up from the sand that blew when a small breeze stirred the air.
The mermaid’s tail flicked out of the water before it dove again.
“Did the witches create the lake?” she asked.
“No,” Orin said. “It was always here.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’ve been here long enough to learn about this place.”
“And there was natural water in an outer realm?”
Orin shrugged, but when his black eyes met hers, they didn’t gleam with amusement. Instead, they held a calculating light. The tips of his pointed ears poked out from hair as black as the crows the dark fae used to communicate.
His clothes hid most of his black ciphers, but the tips of the flame-like markings darkened the bottom of his neck. He had the slender build of all the pure dark fae, but one would be an idiot to think that made him weaker. Power and strength flowed through the chiseled muscles of the arm holding hers.
His narrow face, high cheekbones, and the slight point of his chin all combined for a lethal-looking appearance that matched his personality. His hawkish nose only added to his intimidating aura and handsomeness.
“It does look like an outer realm, doesn’t it?” he asked.
“Isn’t it?”
“I’m not sure what it is. I was picturing outer realms and portal hopping when I ended up here, but it’s not the same as the others.”
“No shit,” she muttered.
Zeth had been here forthirtyyears, and she had no idea how much time any of the others had spent here. It could be centuries.
She gulped at the possibility as sweat beaded on her nape. In Dragonia and the human realm, fall had settled in and turned toward winter, but the temperature was warmer here.
The sunbaked land and sand gave this realm the air of a desert, but it wasn’t hot. Instead, she felt like Goldilocks, who had found her perfect bowl of porridge.It’s just right.
The temperature might be the only right thing about this place. She was in deep trouble here, but she would keep it together and get out of this realm if it was the last thing she did.
Orin led her past a golden building that was more like a mini palace with its pointed turrets, domed archway, and drawbridge lowered over the pit dug around the structure. The makeshift moat was a sandy ditch with nothing at the bottom, but the place looked built for royalty.
No one exited the golden home, but apparently the walk to the pit was a big thing, as more and more immortals filtered out of their homes and businesses to join the crowd. They made their way through another small alley, boxed in by two simple wooden buildings.
The scent of cooking meat wafted from one while the aromas of lavender, sage, and countless other herbs drifted from the other. One must be someone’s home; she’d bet the other was either a witch’s shop or home.
Usually, witches preferred to live closer to the earth than in a building, but this realm was far from the norm. The building intrigued her, but she had no idea how the witches in this realm would react to her.
Her friendship with Kaylia, and the battle against the Lord, had changed some of the witches’ opinions about her. But this realm was locked away and the residents isolated; the witches here probably still harbored the same extreme dislike of her as many others over the years.
Which meant the fun times were going to keep on coming.
