Blood Wars by D. Richardson (best affordable ebook reader txt) 📕

“Have a seat Devon, she won’t be long.” Claire said and I nodded as I took a chair in front of her desk.

“Tell me Devon, what was it that caused you to fight with your mate?” I looked up at her in shock.

“Excuse me?”

“She told me that you fought and it caused her to leave. It would take a lot for a vampire to leave her mate.”

“My brother said some things to me, and like an idiot I believed it. I accused her of horrible things, called her a monster among other things. And she left.”

“You rejected her.” I nodded and hung my head.

“I didn’t mean to. It’s just that I had a part in her parent’s death and I couldn’t face the guilt. I thought that if they were the monsters that I had always thought vampires were then I wouldn’t have to feel guilty anymore. I tried to make it right but she had already left.”

“So your world flipped upside down and you tried to right it, without realizing that your world was finally right side up for the first time.” I nodded relieved that she understood.

“Yes.”

“Now your only problem is getting Jaide to see it. Good luck with that, she’s not so easily forgiving. You’re lucky she had anything to do with her after her parent’s deaths.” I sighed in frustration, but didn’t get the chance to answer. Jaide and the others walked in, along with a girl I had never met before. Or at least I didn’t think I had, but she looked at me like she had known me for a while.

“This is Amabel, she helped us get you here. If she hadn’t the change would have killed you.” Jaide said in answer of my silent question. Then she plopped down on the other chair that sat in front of the desk.

Then she turned the chair so that it faced me directly so that she could see everyone at once. I took the hint and turned mine to match, but then everyone went silent. We all looked to Jaide but she seemed deep in thought. Finally, she spoke.

“I think we need to narrow down exactly what’s been going on.”

Jaide

“It’s just that I’ve been thinking.” I said as a way to begin.

“A dangerous thing for you to do.” Jess said with a smirk. It was her way of loosening some of my tension and it worked. I gave her a grateful look and continued.

“It is, but none of this feels like a coincidence. My parents, the hunters, the coven, and now Devon, who actually had vampire ancestors to begin with. I mean, we wouldn’t even be here in this position if it hadn’t been for a little girl and a stray kitten. It just feels like there were too many jumps in the time line for it to add up smoothly.” Jess, Lexi, and Scotty all nodded in understanding. They were the only ones that were there in the very beginning.

“You think the stars aligned this way to make sure you were here at this time?” Claire asked. From anyone else it might have sounded condescending, but this was a way of life for her and the coven. If anyone understood my reasoning it would have been them. I nodded.

“Yes I do. I just don’t know why. If fate brought us all here in this condition then it stands to reason that something big is happening. World changing big.”

“Then I think this is the perfect time to fill you in on what’s been going on.” Nik said sitting forward.

“What do you mean?” I asked uneasily. He gave me a sympathetic smile.

“You’ve been out of the loop for six months. A lot has happened in that time.”

“Okay.” I drew out the word, to be honest I really didn’t want to know. I just wanted to go back to California and bury my head in the sand.

“A few of the guards stayed behind. To keep an eye on things and keep me updated. Looks like your plan to bring us all together worked better than you thought.” he said with a wry smile. “There are three of them, all in different ranks. Apparently, when you took all of their research and samples you left the scientists with nothing left to study. They had been doing it too long to start over. And then Jess leaving that nifty virus on all of their computers left them absolutely nothing to go on.” I looked at Jess, and she just shrugged.

“I had to do something to pass the time while I was stuck in the house. So I taught myself code and came up with a virus that will completely wipe clean a computer and every computer connected to it by a network. The computer I had found their plans on was actually the General‘s personal computer that his secretary used to conduct business.” I nodded, impressed, and turned back to Nikolai.

“So what’s been going on?”

“Well, when they realized that you had wiped them clean they didn’t know what to do. Then a certain vampire showed up and suggested that they get together and dominate the vampires instead of destroying them. A sort of truce between the vampires and humans with the vampires under one ruler.”

“Zeke.” Devon said staring at his folded hands. I felt sorry for him that he had to learn what kind of person his brother was this way. And that only made me more determined to stay mad at him.

“So the hunters decided to join forces with him and bring all of the other vampires under Zeke’s rule.”

“How has he been doing that? I mean the vampires have been more or less free for centuries.” I asked, it didn’t make much sense to me. “And why would they want to follow someone that wasn’t in the royal line?” It may be modern times, but modern had a whole other meaning to vampires depending on how old they were. As tradition stood they only followed the royal family. And tradition was very important to my kind.

“So far he’s rounded up any vampire he could find in New York, and convincing them to join his side. Those he doesn’t convince are slaughtered.”

“He’s using fear. Join him or die.” It was easy for me to simplify.

“Basically yeah.”

“If I may.” Edmund said before stepping forward. He held a piece of paper in his hands.

“What is it Edmund?” Claire asked.

“I received this letter yesterday before you arrived.” He said looking at me. “It’s from a very old friend of mine. One you know well I think. He spoke of the turmoil in our world. He said that an old enemy had been reborn and explained what this young man just spoke about. He’s doing what he can to rally all of the true followers of the royal family. He asked me to find the rightful queen, that her subjects would need her guidance.” His news stunned me for a minute. Then it occurred to me that only one person ever spoke that way about my family.

“Edward? He’s alive!?” I couldn’t help my enthusiasm. Edward had been a part of the family long before I existed. In fact, the last time I saw him he told me that he knew my first vampire ancestor. The first true vampire Queen, Emma Rose. Edmund gave me a wry look.

“Over the centuries that I’ve known him, I’ve seen him ‘die’ many times. But he is in fact alive and well. And building your resistance, and getting ready to bring them here. I am sorry I did not speak with you about this last night, Mature. It all happened too quickly for me to get a breath in.” She nodded in understanding.

“It’s quite alright. I would have insisted on it anyway.” Devon turned to her in surprise, and she gave him a pitying look. He was so new to all of this, it could be a lot to digest. “I have long been an ally of the born vampires. If there will be conflict I will do what I can to help.”

“How long exactly?” He asked.

“Edmund is a vampire.” I told him and he spun to stare at me for a second. “That’s what you felt when you first saw him. He’s rare though because he allowed himself to age.” Devon turned to stare at Edmund who nodded in to show that I was telling the truth.

“And I am much older than Edmund.” Claire said only to earn shocked looks from my friends.

“Claire is one of the few witches who gained immortality through her magic. It’s what makes her so powerful actually.”

“When I gained my immortality the average human life span was not much longer than how I look now. It was luck that I managed it in time.” Claire said with a wry smile. She looked to me and I knew that she wanted me to tell her story.

“I’ve known Claire all my life. Actually every member of my family had known her their entire lives. I call her Aunt because she has always been family. Played a big part in my upbringing really. She’s been around since the very beginning of the vampires.” I looked to her and she gave a nod for me to continue. “She actually created the first vampire.”

“Wait, so she turned Vlad the Impaler into Dracula?” Jess asked and I nodded.

“But you said he made a deal with the devil.” Devon stated and I turned to him.

“I said that was the official version of the story, not the truth. The coven, all true witches, are a closely kept secret.”

“Why?” Nikolai asked.

“The answer to that question is written in history. And a lot of the history textbooks.” Claire stated.

“The Salem Witch Trials.” Lexi answered and received an affirming nod from Claire.

“Exactly child. Humans have tried to wipe out witches long before they thought to do the same to vampires.”

“So what happened?” Scotty asked leaning in in anticipation of a good story.

“Vlad captured me not long after I gained my immortality. I had been ousted as a witch in my village. He kept me in his dungeon for several years, demanding I give him the same gift. I couldn’t just give him immortality. I gained it through study and work, but you can’t just turn a human into an immortal without a price. That’s why it had never been done. Often times it required a trade, my immortality in exchange for his mortality. There was no way in hell I was going to do that. Mostly because I knew he desired it for ill intentions. So I agreed in exchange for my freedom. I concocted a potion. Not to turn him into an immortal, but into an entirely different creature. I warned him that for every positive aspect he gained, he would lose one. A spell is a contract between the recipient and the fates. Everything has a price. He didn’t care. He only wanted to be indestructible. So I added a few clauses to the spells contract. A loop hole