Once Upon a Bite: 15 Incisive Faerie Tales by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fiddlehead Press

I laid my cheek against Asher’s chest, the coolness of his body seeping through his shirt. If he had fed recently, he would have been warmer. His heart was beating, though it didn’t always. He could survive without air or a heartbeat for a frustratingly long time.

One of his arms curled around my back, holding me close.

I wasn’t sure which one of us was more uncomfortable. I wondered if shared in my feeling of torture. If my nearness was as delectable, but at the same time intolerable. I had sworn an oath to kill vampires, and to never cavort with them. Did he feel just as conflicted being close to someone who had slain so many of his kind?

I doubted it. He was, after all, the one who had suggested we cuddle up, keeping up the ruse of a young married couple.

The fire had died down to embers, leaving us in near darkness save the moonlight shining through the curtained windows. Fortunately, as a human servant, I had excellent night vision, and Asher’s was even better. He was a nighttime predator, after all.

I tensed at the sound of a door creaking open, then forced myself to relax. The old woman’s light dragging footsteps came near.

“Are you awake?” she asked from just above us, her voice taking on a calculating tone.

If the tea had been a sedative, she wouldn’t expect us to reply, so I kept silent.

She stood watching us for a while, then eventually walked back toward her room. I waited as her door shut behind her, then I heaved a frustrated sigh. Perhaps we were wrong. Maybe she really was just a harmless old woman.

I was about to sit up when Asher’s arm clamped around me, keeping me still. I froze, listening for whatever had alarmed him. Then I heard it. Footsteps outside approaching the front door.

A knock sounded a moment later, but the old woman did not stir from within her room.

I pushed away from Asher, reaching for the sword beside me, but before I could rise he was already out of the blankets we had laid upon the floor. I could make out little more than his white hair as he went for the door and opened it. Moonlight flooded into the room.

I stood, catching a glimpse of the man standing outside. He wore a long tan coat over a white shirt and dark colored pants. His hair was cropped close to his scalp. It appeared pale in color, but it was difficult to tell. Beyond that, I paid more attention to the scars.

The moon was bright enough for me to see all of the scars cutting across his scalp and face. I was betting beneath the coat there would be more of them. He wore a sword at his back and rested a small crossbow across one shoulder.

He looked Asher up and down. “I have no quarrel with you, vampire. Step aside.” His voice was deeper than I had expected, but weak, like he had sustained injury to his vocal cords.

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