Dark Hunger

"Did you see that?" asked Elize, as she straightened in his lap. 

"Yes!" 

She appeared flustered and so did he. "I used to think I am having delusions but now that even you've seen it—" she didn't have words. 

"You mean this… stuff came out earlier too?" 

She nodded. "This is not the first time!" she said and settled against his chest feeling scared. 

His urges forgotten, Caleb lifted her hands and traced the outlines of her fingers. He could smell the coppery tinge in the red smoke that wafted in the air. It was magic. It unsettled him… greatly. 

"Do you know what it is?" she asked in a low voice. 

The car came to a stop suddenly, as Auril pulled it over. He turned back to look at them and said, "You have to control your emotions, Elize." His voice dripped with urgency. "This is—" 

"You are scaring her," Caleb growled. 

"Your Highness, the prince is right. It is not to be trifled with," said Laurel. All of them had smelled the coppery scent of her magic. "She needs to be under supervision all the time now." She was in fact, too surprised. Her mind ran into many places. The queen got magic? From where? She was just a fucking vampire who was turned. And the red tendril—that was raw and potent magic. 

"I am there to oversee her actions!" Caleb growled again. He gathered her tightly. "So don't jump!" He had smelled this magic in… Edyrm. His mind was filled with confusion, something which Laurel felt instantly. Her face became grave as she looked at the kind and queen with wide eyes that were filled with a healthy dose of fear. Auril, who was utterly unfazed even by the several battles he had fought, appeared flustered. 

Shackles of panic gripped her. Like a knife, fear slowly twisted in her gut and hammered on her head. 

"Hey!" Caleb said. "There is nothing to fear, okay? This is just a small thing which needs to be honed and controlled." 

"But what is it?" she asked. "Am I possessed?" 

"No," he chuckled. "You are not possessed. But all I can think of at this moment is that because you are drinking from me, my blood is affecting you." 

"You mean because you are a sorcerer, your magic is transfusing in my body too?" she asked with puppy eyes. 

His heart went out for her. He hugged her tightly in his arms and said, "Yes, Lizzy, yes. And that is all you will think of right now. When we stop next, I am going to understand more of that." 

"Okay…" she replied in a low voice. 

Caleb motioned Auril to resume driving. As Auril started driving, everyone fell silent. 

One thing was sure—he had to take her to Ixoviya as soon as possible. This realm was not safe anymore. If that was Edyrm's magic that he smelled in her, then the only plausible explanation was that when he had defeated Edyrm in the battle at Galahar, he had emulated his magic. When he had struck the demon king, somehow all his blood that was spilled must have released magic, which he must have absorbed. It was as if Edyrm's magic was attracted to its own kind. Since the king had flown away, the magic came to Caleb, to the place it felt comfortable. The worst part was that Caleb hadn't even realized it. When Elize drank from him, the magic must have seeped out of the blood and entered her body. It was now manifesting in the form of red tendrils. Now he was too conflicted. If he made her drink from him, she would only get more of Edyrm's magic, and if he didn't, the girl would become sick. He knew she loved his blood only.

"Sometimes I feel that the magic speaks to me," she said in a low voice after a while. 

"Speak to you?" he jerked his head. 

"Like it hisses inside me, as if it is an entity…" 

"Fuck!" Caleb rasped. Did it mean that the magic wanted to take over her? Would it cloud her judgement? It was ancient magic that belonged to a five-thousand-year-old demon. It could break her or make her too powerful. Either way, he had to be very cautious. "Next time when you feel it is talking to you, let me know." 

"I will." 

"Good, now relax and sleep for a while," he said and stroked her back. His gentle strokes lulled her into a sleep. His thoughts went back to the magic in her. It could be possible that now that his magic flowed in her, he was coming after her. Last night the demons didn't kill her. They wanted to take her to Edyrm. Earlier they attacked her only with the intent of killing her. This meant that they had sensed her magic. It was like a call to all of them. She acted like a nectar to the demons. They wanted to take her to their king, slay her and offer her blood to him. Edyrm would drink it to obtain his human form back along with his magic.

Shit only got complicated. Now he had to kill Edyrm at all cost, that is before his men took his mate. And he would fight with his life for his mate. He pulled a blanket from behind and tucked her in it. "Stop at the next gas station," he said to Auril. 

--- 

Magic. Laurel's mind raced. The vampire was infused with the sorcerer king's magic. How was this possible? And if this happened, then she had to do something in which the vampire goes wild. It was easy to handle magic by those who were born with it because they knew how to handle it. It was like a part of their body, their daily life. But those who were not born with it and who acquired it—it was like a drug to them. It could destroy them if not handled well or they were not guided. And she had to make sure that she disrupted whenever Caleb tried to teach her how to handle it. It would be easy, she thought. All she had to do was control the vampire with her sorcery.