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

“It’s no picnic for me either, you know. Traveling all this way surrounded by humans and vampires. There’s a reason wolves are considered antisocial with other species.” Sam replied heatedly.

“Well, then would you mind riding with the wolves? We can give the human’s their own vehicles and then the rest of us can ride together. Belle, Matt, and I have to be with Devon at all times. I need to be there to control him, in case bloodlust sets in, Matt is the only one with medical training, and Belle, well she’s just essential.”

“And there’s no way I’m spending three days with strangers.” She added.

“Excuse me but, and I’m not trying to be rude, but why is she essential exactly?” Nik asked.

“Because, Mr. Hulk, my blood is the only thing that can keep him sated.”

“Why?” Lexi asked. Though she was a distant cousin of mine, she didn’t have any relationship with witches. I didn’t even know if she knew they existed. It wasn’t exactly something I spread around.

“My blood holds power.” Was the only answer she gave, and the only answer she would give. Witches kept to themselves, simply out of the need to survive. Though they had a shit load of power, and could hold their own, they still didn’t have the physical advantages that the other species had. Not to mention that the humans had proven more than once that they wouldn’t tolerate them.

About an hour later we had come up with a solution for the vehicles. I was still hesitant. Even with all of the money I had saved, it would take all of it to cover the gas. But Sam said that it wasn’t really a problem since he had someone running the club, he was still making a good income available to him.

They left to stay with all of the other people that they had brought. Jess, Lexi, and Devon were staying at the apartment. Lexi was sharing Belle’s room, Jess was sharing mine, and Devon was sleeping on the couch. He had passed out after his first few gulps of Belle’s blood, and I wasn’t worried about him throughout the night.

Kathy left to go get her things ready to move in the next day. I had no idea where she was staying, and I knew better than to ask. The less people knew the less they could say. I respected her wishes for secrecy just as she respected mine.

I woke up to someone pounding on my front door. Jess was sleeping peacefully next to me, so I did my best to get up without disturbing her. Not like that was a problem, all bitten vampires slept like the dead during the day. No pun intended.

I moved through the apartment as quietly as I could. Amabel was not the most pleasant person early in the morning, and it was only five thirty in the morning. Whoever it was started pounding on the door again, until I yanked it open.

There stood Drake with a struggling, cussing Kathy. He had a good grip on her arm, but her gun was in his other hand. He had been using the butt of it to knock on the door. I rubbed a hand over my face, hoping it was only a dream. When I blinked and looked back up they were still there, and I sighed.

“What is going on? And why did it have to happen so damn early in the morning?”

“This brute sent one of his men to where I was staying. He wouldn’t give me his name, and then he dragged me here, like some rag doll he could throw around!” Kathy snapped, then she stomped on his foot, earning a rather girlish yelp from him.

When he let her arm go, to hop up and down while holding his foot, she rushed into the apartment, and hid behind me. I rolled my eyes at the both of them, and then turned to the still cursing Drake.

“You wouldn’t even introduce yourself?” I asked. He stopped his babying and looked at me.

“She shot one of my men! He found her sleeping under the bridge at the outskirts of town. He just wanted to make sure she was okay. He tried to bring her to me so she could at least get out of the open night, but she pulled a gun on him. He tried to take it from her and she shot him in the leg. He finally disarmed her and brought her to me, kicking and screaming. I caught your scent on her, so I figured you’d know what to do with her, or at least be able to calm her down. She almost brought my roof down with her screaming.”

I sighed and ran my hand down my face again. I turned to Kathy only to catch her sticking her tongue out at him. I raised a brow and she put her tongue back in her mouth, before looking at the floor sheepishly.

“Okay first, this is the friend I told you about, that I had looking out for you. Although in retrospect I probably should have told you his name. I don’t know all of them. Second, if you have been sleeping under a bridge, you could have stayed here. And third, I told you to aim for the head, chest, or neck. If you shoot them in the leg all you’re going to do is piss them off.” She nodded and I turned on Drake. “And you need to make sure that all of your men know to introduce themselves first, before they try to take her somewhere. Make sure they drop both mine and your name, before they reach for her. Now if all of this is cleared up, I’m going back to bed. Do me a favor and take her back to the bridge to get her things. She’s going to be staying here from now on. And give her back her gun.” I turned to go back to my room, but a load groan stopped me in my tracks.

I turned to the couch, expecting to see Devon groaning in his sleep. Instead he was halfway off the couch, with one hand and one leg on the floor. He was looking at Kathy, well he was looking at her like he wanted to eat her. His eyes had turned an icy shade of green, and he was barring fangs he didn’t have. So much for going back to bed.

“Shit! Belle! Lex!” I yelled for the only other girls that could help me restrain him. I turned to Kathy who had gone pale and frozen. “Outside NOW!” I yelled at her as I made my way to Devon, his eyes never left her. Drake stepped in and looked at Devon.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“None of your damn business, now get her outside!” I snapped before yelling for the girls again.

I stepped in Devon’s line of sight. Even if Kathy ran for the door, he would be up and chasing her before I could blink. His gaze settled on me just as Lexi and Belle came stumbling into the room. They paused when they saw my awkward stand off.

“What’s going on?” Belle asked. Devon turned on her and gave a rather impressive feral hiss.

“Blood lust.” Was my simple answer, and I threw myself at him just as he tried to throw himself at Belle.

I hit him with a painful thud and pinned him the couch. I couldn’t hold him long though. He had a height advantage on me, and there was only so much I could do. If we had been on a flat area I would have had a better chance at maneuvering myself and by extension him. But the couch limited me and his strength was increased. From the change or bloodlust, I didn’t know.

“Lexi, now would be a good time to help.” I snapped and she shook herself out of her stupor and grabbed one of his arms.

Together we managed to pin him down and Belle approached cautiously with a bottle of her own blood. It occurred to me then that thinking about it that way made it kind of creepy. But I shook the thought as she knelt in front of him. He snapped at her a few times but when she opened the bottle and the scent hit him, he froze.

She carefully put the bottle to his lip and tipped it up. He guzzled half the bottle before he finally relaxed. By the time he had finished it he was ready to pass out again, so me and Lexi positioned him back on the couch before we collapsed.

“Well, that was one hell of a wake up call.” Lexi said with a whoosh of breath. “Do you think there’s any chance we could get a couple hours of sleep before the others get here?” She asked just as there was a knock on the door.

“You just had to jinx it.” I answered, before getting up to answer it.

Sam, Nikolai, and Matt stood there grinning. The only thing that saved their lives was the large box of donuts they held. I stepped back and let them in. They each surveyed the room. With all three of us still in our night clothes, Devon half-hazard laying on the couch and all of us still slightly out of breath.

“What happened here?” Sam asked.

“Oh just a small episode of blood lust. Nothing big.” I shrugged it off and snatched the box of donuts from Matt’s hands.

I sat down on the floor between Belle and Lexi. As we stuffed our faces the guys made themselves comfortable. I stared at Devon as I sank into deep thought. If he was having bloodlust already then we didn’t have as much time as I had originally thought. It meant he was more vampire than human now. Plus, since he wasn’t actually bitten I didn’t know if he would be a bitten vampire or still have the advantages that born vampires do. Such as going out in the sunlight.

His body was changing out of order. He should have had his fangs before blood lust set in. I had expected him to need blood but not be so aggressive about it. That’s why I had asked Belle to donate last night. But he’s already gone through an entire bottle. That left us with only one to get us where he needed to go to get help. I sighed and everyone turned to me at once.

“We need to leave as soon as possible.” I stated and Belle snorted.

“Yeah, no shit. If he keeps trying to take love bites out of me, I can’t guarantee I won’t draw blood instead of giving it.”

“What’s going on?” Matt asked around his donut.

“He shouldn’t be having blood lust yet. He’s progressed further than I thought. If we don’t get there soon, he won’t survive. The change will tear him apart. His body still thinks it’s human, but it’s more vampire now, and it doesn’t know how to work anymore. That’s why human’s who have been bitten, sleep