Blood Burdens (The Shadow World) Read online

  Coy’s eyes flash with anger again. “So you still enslave them.”

  Natahala jerks back, I can’t see her face but her tone suggests she’s confused. “How so?”

  Coy gives her a cold smirk, satisfied that he found a hole in her ‘I’m a perfect Vampire’ armor. “If they’re not allowed to leave their community then they are technically enslaved just on a longer leash compared to where I was kept.”

  Natahala’s shoulders relax. “The wonders of the world are too important to miss,” she says. “I do know this. I have arranged many trips for my feeder family. We have traveled to many places together over the decades and have really enjoyed the time I spent with them.”

  Coy sits there dumbstruck, probably by Natahala’s obvious sincerity. I’m guessing he wasn’t expecting that. I wasn’t. It’s so odd to be talking with a Vampire who cares. Especially one who plans on overthrowing the blood-lusting monster the rest of the Vampires currently call Sire. Natahala turns around with a pleased smile.

  “Are there other Vampires that treat feeders this way?” I ask, unable to hide the admiration in my voice.

  “Yes.” Natahala tilts her head to the side, giving me a calculating look. “Did you know there are roughly four thousand Vampires in the world? I know that doesn’t mean a whole lot when compared to the human world but it is a big number compared to the hundred we had at the dawn of our creation. The Vampires who settle down with one another and begin their families are usually the more peaceful ones. It’s the ones who live like Aldrick and think that the world is for their taking that you need to worry about. I have around eight hundred followers around the world right now. After I overthrow Aldrick and give the Sire leadership to Lynna then all Vampires will live this way, or we will rid ourselves of them.”

  Wow. Talk about a government change. I wonder what Felton and Alton will think of this. When we visited them at the lair they were disgusting. The whole Coven was, except Lynna. I had felt their disturbing thoughts and hatred without even speaking to them.

  “Back to you becoming a Sire. How did you complete the ritual?” Danika asks.

  Natahala beams at Danika’s eagerness. “After mixing Aldrick’s blood with some other key ingredients from the earth, I had to kill one of his loyal followers. I did not take this lightly. Like I have said, I do not like taking life. Neither do I like Vampires who take life for sport. That is why I chose one of his followers that was a notorious killer. I then mixed his blood with Aldricks and drank it. The sundering was a painful feat. I suffered in agony while I fought against the bond for two days. Loyal aides stayed with me and devoted themselves solely to me during the transformation. It took a lot of my power but I finally severed it completely. I will admit that it took me a lot longer to recover than I’d expected but once I did, I felt stronger, healthier, and my mind wasn’t cloudy as it was under Aldrick’s rule.

  “Lynna contacted me during my recovery to relay Aldrick’s response to the break. At first he didn’t know what was going on. He felt the pain but it was more like a dull ache for him. Then when the ache was gone, he was relieved. He was still concerned as to what happened but Lynna gave him an explanation he could come to terms with. She convinced him that a Vampire must have been captured, tortured, and eventually killed. Aldrick accepted her explanation and said he was relieved that the poor sap had died because it was inconvenient for him.”

  Disgust seeps from Natahala as she mentions Aldrick’s lack of care for a fallen Vampire, even though said Vampire wasn’t real. She really does hate that bastard.

  “How do you and Lynna communicate if she’s still under Aldrick’s rule?” I ask. Aldrick may be a self-absorbed prick but he wouldn’t let something like that slip by him.

  “We did a blood ceremony so we could communicate with one another.” Natahala says this like it’s a common ritual, but it’s not.

  What she was saying means the sisters had performed the most intimate ceremony the Vampires had, one that was always a bond between lovers. The ceremony enabled them to bite one another, which apparently brought them intense pleasure, and also allowed them to communicate with one another. The thing was the Vampires could only communicate with one another if they bit each other. “How can you communicate that way without biting one another?” I ask.

  “Blood ceremonies are intended for Vampire lovers to express mutual commitment. While I do love my sister, I do not love her in that way. We kept our exchange secret and only had an Elder present. During the exchange, the Elder enchanted our bond so we could dream walk with one another, no bite needed.”

  My amazement grows. I’m astonished at what I’m hearing. “A what?”

  “A dream walk. It’s a way to communicate with another person.” Natahala says.

  Is that how Micah was able to communicate with me? I can’t ask without giving away my vision.

  Natahala continues. “The only way a dream walk can be performed is if one is sleeping and the other is awake. The person who is awake walks into the sleeping mind. When the dream walker makes the connection, the sleeper is linked with the dream walker until the dream walker severs the link.”

  “Can anyone do this?” I don’t want to draw attention to my sudden interest in the dream walks but I want to know how Micah can reach out to me.

  “No. You have to be bonded.” Natahala flicks her gaze at the guard on her right. He meets her gaze for a moment and I see an underlying spark of desire between them.

  Meanwhile, up here in the front seat, I find my flame of hope at an answer dimming. We aren’t bonded so Micah couldn’t have done a dream walk. Micah must have reached out to me in another way. I wonder how he did it.

  “Cerelia hasn’t been visiting you again, has she?” Danika asks, concerned.

  I guess I didn’t do a good job masking my interest. I cringe at the memory of the horrible nightmares Cerelia brought on. She crept into my mind several times before we fought her in Greenland, always trying to persuade me to stay away. Each dream became more vivid and real, even the pain became real. It was a horrible experience, one that I’m glad hasn’t happened again.

  I intend to talk to Danika about my dream, but not right now. I especially don’t want Coy overhearing. So I use Danika’s suggestion as a cover. “No. It just reminded me of what Cerelia did and I was curious if that was how she reached into my mind.”

  “The magic Cerelia used was darker. She controlled you, she didn’t communicate with you. Dream walks are a way to communicate with someone else. What she did was torture you. You don’t and can’t do that in a dream walk.”

  I nod and turn back to Natahala. I don’t like thinking or talking about those dreams, and want to get back to the subject at hand. “These stories have been great and all but you still never answered my original question. Why did you seek me out?”

  Natahala’s face tightens as she explains. “I’m afraid Aldrick has betrayed the Shadow World by promises of power from Cerelia. He’s ordered two hundred of his men to aid her. He also sent the human subjects that live at the lair to her.”

  Coy jerks upright. “What?”

  Natahala glances back at Coy, “I’m afraid that Aldrick is aiding Cerelia and by doing that, he has betrayed us all, including his feeders. The creatures Cerelia created—the Chimeras—were lost to Cerelia in Greenland. Aldrick gave his human servants to Cerelia so she could replenish.”

  The hits keep coming. So much new, disturbing and confusing information. So many things aren’t making sense. I glance over at Danika, who seems just as confused. “Why is she still creating Chimeras? She knows how to complete the binding now.”

  “I don’t know. Didn’t you say that in your vision Shadows and Chimeras were fighting against us?” Danika asks.

  “Yeah, there were Chimeras there. I just figured they were leftovers from Greenland.”

  Danika glares at the road intently as she nods her head a few times, working out some problem. “Maybe she can’t do the binding yet after all, so she�
�s creating more Chimeras in the meantime.”

  “Why can’t she do the binding?” I ask.

  “I don’t know. Maybe she needs something to complete the binding that she doesn’t have,” Danika suggests.

  “Like what?” I’m pretty sure that whatever Cerelia needed, she wouldn’t stop until she had it.

  “You,” whispers a voice just behind me. I nearly jump out of the van as Addie’s warm breath tickles my neck. She giggles softly as she scoots me over so she can sit on the edge of my seat. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

  “How did you get up here?” I ask, nudging my elbow into her back.

  “I couldn’t hear anything you guys were saying. I asked Ethan to relay for me and he did for a little while but grew tired of doing it. So here I am.”

  Danika grins over at Addie. The small glance in the back doesn’t go unnoticed either. “So you think Cerelia needs Racquel?”

  “I’m not a hundred percent sure, but it’s my theory. Why else would she insist on Racquel joining them? Grandpa just wanted Racquel to join them so she could be happy. Cerelia only cares about power and what can aid her to get it, and she used Edwin to bring her to him.” Addie has a point. Cerelia never does anything that doesn’t benefit her in some way.

  Then a thought strikes me. “That can’t be right. In my vision, along with the Chimeras, she had turned several Shadows to her side.”

  Danika and Addie both cut their eyes at me. I glare at them in disbelief. “Really? Y’all honestly still think I would join her?”

  Addie bites down on her lip, ashamed, and mutters, “No.” Danika just shakes her head.

  “Good because I wouldn’t.” End of story. “So how is she going to change the Shadows?” I ask, still dumbfounded.

  Natahala speaks up. “Maybe she has just enough of whatever she needs to do the binding and change a small number of Shadows. She’s probably going to create the Chimeras just to build her army.”

  So Cerelia is planning on turning humans to boost her army numbers. This just keeps getting better and better. I look back over at Natahala. “How many humans lived at the lair?”

  Before she can answer, Coy speaks up. “It varied between eighty and a hundred.”

  When I glance back at Coy, I’m gripped with sadness. He’s sitting up and leaning toward the front so he could hear the conversation. His face shows no emotion but his eyes do. He knows the humans that were now being subjected to Cerelia’s experiments. He also has seen first-hand how those experiments turned out. Horrible. The Chimeras were mixed creatures of all different kinds of Shadows. They were meant to be a perfect blending—like me—but somewhere during the binding, something goes wrong. Not all those experimented on survive. Those that do, get an extreme makeover. Now, Coy would have to face friends that he had lived with his whole life and see them suffer in those conditions before killing them or being killed by them.

  My anger swells and I have to ball my hands up to hide the angry trembling. Natahala has more disturbing news. “I have found out that Aldrick is planning on joining her this weekend. Lynna is keeping herself in check right now but she almost lost it when the humans were taken away. I fear for what might happen to her.”

  “Is that why you came to us, to share this information?” I ask, hoping there’s not more.

  “I came to offer my assistance. My followers are awaiting my orders. If Cerelia has so many on her side, you will need to add numbers on yours.”

  Well there it is. Two armies, getting ready for an all-out war. Silence descends in the vehicle as everyone thinks about the days to come. I stare out the window and try to distract myself from thoughts of battle. So of course, Micah’s words echo through my mind next. “She’s going to-.” She’s going to what? Oh, how I wish I could communicate with Micah the way he does with me. That would solve a lot.

  I narrow my eyes against the glare of the rising sun. I have traveled from the Covenant to home and back again within twenty four hours. My eyes burn from the lack of sleep and the light is making them water. This is why I prefer traveling under the moon rather than the sun. The moon was gentle on the eyes but still provided enough light to see. The sun was intrusive, and brought too much light on the things you didn’t want to see.

  The moon represented so much to the world, especially our part of it. That was evident from the festivities coming up with the Perigee Moon. That moon was something special. It seemed that all Shadows had plans to celebrate and bask in its power.

  Then it hits me. I gasp so loudly I scare Danika and she slams on the brakes. Luckily everyone braces themselves. Danika and Addie both regard me with panic.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Danika asks.

  I point at the sky. “She’s going to do it this weekend. She’ll use the Perigee Moon phase.”

  Danika’s eyes go wide, as does Addie’s. Then Danika closes them as her hands drop from the steering wheel. “Of course! Why didn’t we think about that before? She’s going to use her own power combined with that of the Moon’s power to create her army.” Danika puts the car in gear and slams her foot down on the gas. “We have to talk to the Elders right away.”

  The revelations of this drive have left everyone speechless and filled with gloom. Coy was worried about his brother but now he also had to think about his fellow living companions. I don’t know what Addie was thinking about but glancing at her worried face, I knew it was nothing good. From the expressions on everyone’s face I knew there were no good thoughts to be found in this car.

  I glance back up at the sky, cursing the timing. That’s probably been Cerelia’s plan all along. She knew from the start when the Perigee Moon would happen. Maybe that’s why she set everything into motion. Our encounter with her in Greenland didn’t even faze her. She was still set for her war.

  Why? Why did the Perigee Moon have to happen now? Damn it and its unique power.

  Chapter Eight

  We arrive at the Elders’ House and find the Elders already gathered and waiting for us.

  “I’m glad you were able to return on short notice.” Witten is looking at me but is clearly addressing everyone accompanying. I become a little unnerved at the way Witten is regarding me. The look in his eyes holds wonder and a bit of skepticism. What’s up with him?

  I turn away from his heavy gaze and acknowledge the others. “What happened?”

  Dagna tenses her jaw, “We received a call late last night from another Coven.” Dagna pauses as she glances at the others. She purses her lips before she continues. “There were attacks in various locations around the world, a lot like last time. More than one hundred Shadows were captured. The big difference is, they planned it so the kidnappings all happened at the same time.”

  Disbelief fills the room, and everyone looks around at one another. I have no more doubt that Aldrick’s men and some newly-created Chimeras were to blame. With all these numbers added together, Cerelia already has around four hundred on her side. I know half of them are against her but it doesn’t matter. Once she turns them, their beliefs and stability go right out the front door as Cerelia comes strolling in the back door, taking complete control.

  Anger flares through my body and I have to ball my hands into fists to hold it back. “We need to figure out where they are, now.” I know it’s obvious, but I have to voice my frustration. Walking back and forth between these confining walls was killing me.

  Meira pierces me with a cold piercing stare. “We know that. What do you think we are doing?”

  Hearing that tone in her voice, something snaps alive inside me. I turn to face her, boiling, and as my eyes meet Meira’s, everything becomes sharper in the room. The faces before me become more distinct, ultra-sharp. Addie gasps, as does Danika. Everyone else in the room looks at me with surprise, some hold fear. “Racquel, your eyes are glowing.” Addie says in a whisper.

  Addie’s words barely register in my mind. All I see is a white-hot fire that’s ready to consume everything in its path. The smart p
art of my brain starts fighting back for control and slowly the fire dies down as I take slow, deep breaths. My eyes start to sting, so I close them. When I open my eyes again, the room is still vibrant, but much duller.

  Witten has stepped forward, placing himself between me and the others. Ethan and Natahala’s guards flank him at each side. “Are you finished?” Witten asks stiffly.

  I nod my head in acknowledgment, though his tone threatens to put fuel on the fire inside me again. Addie starts to step toward me but Meira holds her back. What’s that about? I don’t know what the woman’s problem is but I’m about to fix it for her. I zip across the room and get right in Meira’s face. “Got something to say?”

  Before Meira can respond, Witten wedges his way between us and backs me up. “I will never understand what Hecate sees in such an ill-tempered girl like you.”

  I jerk away from Witten and continue to back up on my own. “Excuse me?”

  “I said-”

  “I heard what you said.” I roll my eyes, irritated at the way Witten regards me as a child. “What do you mean, Hecate sees something in me?”

  “You are naïve aren’t you? Do you honestly believe we continued to involve you with this world-changing battle because you are such an asset? You are nothing but a lost little girl that doesn’t know right from left. Look at how you just lost control of your anger because of a few snide gestures.” Witten gives me a mocking smirk as he starts to turn away. Is he trying to provoke me?

  “Well if I’m such a loose cannon, then why does Hecate want me here?” My grandmother is the one who told Dagna I would find the first group who went missing. I know now it was because she knew my grandfather was behind all of it. Now that I understand that, there really is no reason for me to continue fighting. Not that I will tuck my tail and run. I will just go solo if I’m not welcome here. Nothing is going to stop me from bringing my grandfather to justice and finding Micah.

  Witten turns to face me once again. “Why she wants you is something I may never understand. Nonetheless, she did come to us, telling us that you were an important key in bringing down Cerelia.” Witten closes the gap between us. “I guess that’s something you will have to prove.”