Kai Drakon's Arc

Chapter 21 of 30

The deal was struck, but Kai had not agreed to stay with a starving vampire near his son. He said as much to Azure the next evening, standing in the cavern mouth. "She kills livestock when she's hungry," he said. "Ren sleeps twenty steps from where she'll dig." Azure adjusted the sling on her chest and said nothing. She had decided. Kai had not. Scarlett came at full dark. She stopped at the edge of the pasture, thin arms crossed, red eyes flicking to the cavern. "I'll work the far end," she said quietly. "You won't see me." She would not step past the fence line without a word. Kai watched her lift stones one-handed and stack them clear of the soil. She worked fast. She did not look at the house. Kai stayed out with her. He kept his silver dagger in his belt. He told himself it was for the his wife, for his son, for anything. Once he had drawn that blade against her kind in his own doorway, and his hand remembered the weight of it. An hour in, Azure went inside to nurse Ren. She left the door open a hand's width for air. The lamp inside dimmed. Kai heard the baby fuss, then quiet. He turned to check a stump Scarlett had loosened. When he turned back, Scarlett stood frozen at the fence. Her nostrils flared. Ren had a scratch on his cheek from his own nails; the smell of blood carried on the wind. Her red eyes fixed on the open door. Her mouth parted. One hand gripped the fence rail so hard the wood split. Kai's dagger cleared his belt. "Scarlett." She did not move toward the house. She turned her whole body away, faced the trees, and dropped to her knees in the dirt. Her shoulders shook. "Salt," she said through her teeth. "In my pocket. Throw it at me if I stand." She dug her fingers into the cold soil and held on. Long seconds passed. She breathed slow. Then she pressed her forehead to the ground and stayed there until the wind shifted and the smell was gone. Kai lowered the dagger. He did not sheath it. "You could have crossed the fence," he said. "I could," Scarlett said. She sat back on her heels, drained and pale. "I promised her hands, not her son." She would not meet his eyes. "Two hundred years I've told myself no. I'm not stopping tonight." Kai put the blade away. He walked to the door, closed it, and came back. Then he handed her the water skin from his belt. She stared at it, then drank. They cleared stone until dawn threatened. When Scarlett left, Kai did not walk her to the fence to make sure she went. He trusted the field to her now. But trust cost him sleep, and the larder was still nearly empty, but the crops started to miraculously grow as a sparkling green light caught Kai’s eyes.