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

The most memorable time was my sixteenth birthday. When a member of the coven reaches their sixteenth birthday, they come into their full power. It’s a big deal for the coven and theirs a huge celebration. The birthday girl or boy is expected to show off their new power. It’s this huge bonfire party, including drinks and being primarily herbalists, smoking a few natural plants. They consumed or inhaled only what they cultivated from the earth, and herbs that would otherwise be used for medicinal purposes, nothing harmful. With the exception of over use of course.

That night I was treated like a daughter of the coven. It was a bit nerve wracking at first. I was expected to show off my power, but not being born with magical energy I didn’t know what to do. But it turned out that they didn’t expect much from me. They don’t necessarily consider their magic to be the only form of power.

There are a few human families that live with them. When one of them turn sixteen they receive the same treatment. Some of them whittle, or paint something extraordinary. Others do blacksmithing or just tell stories. That night I was taught that you don’t have to have magic to have power. Your character is your true power.

So I spent the night jumping at long distances, or breaking something hard. It is the one time a year that they consider it okay to show off. It is dishonorable to show your skill for no other reason than to appease your self. It is seen as if you are intentionally trying to make others around you feel bad about themselves. But on a sixteenth birthday they consider it such a time of celebration that everyone joins in. It is amazing to watch. But it’s truly amazing to join in the festivities. It’s a time for everyone to appreciate everyone else.

“Umm, Jaide, what are we doing here?” Matt asked about a mile in. I turned to him.

“We’re here to see the coven.”

“Yes, but why?”

“They’re the only ones that can help Devon. He’s in a prolonged change. They’re the only ones with the knowledge and resources to make sure he makes it through it alive.”

“So you’re not just using this as an excuse to run again?”

I stopped and faced him fully. The moon was full, but the trees cast his face in shadow. I could see just fine in the dark and could see his face. He couldn’t see mine though and he was nervous.

“No, I’m not using this as an excuse to run. You know why I left before, I had every right.”

“I know I’m not saying that you didn’t.” We continued walking and I had hoped he would let it drop. “But, if you had just waited a few more minutes he was…” I cut him off by stopping and turning to face him.

“He was what? Going to apologize? Tell me that he had been wrong and that he was sorry? And then what? I wait until he does it again? I’m not a masochist, Matt. I don’t enjoy pain. And I have no intention of giving him the opportunity. I’m doing this now to save his life, nothing else. And you don’t have to advocate for him.” I turned to keep walking but he grabbed my arm to keep me in place. He removed it immediately after he knew I wouldn’t walk away.

“I’m not advocating for him. He screwed up and you have every right to be pissed. Every right to shut him out. To be honest it’s your business, he’s on his own when it comes to you. It’s not him I’m worried about. You didn’t see Jess after you left. She was heart broken, and now that we’ve found you, I don’t think she could take it if you left again. She cried for weeks. I don’t want to see her like that again.”

“Do you think I wanted to? I knew how upset she would be, and it tore me apart. I missed her, all of you, everyday. But I couldn’t be around him, anywhere near him, in fact. It’s like if Jess had completely rejected you in the worse way possible. And then you had to wake up everyday, and see her, talk to her, knowing that she thought so badly of you. Knowing that even if you managed to patch things up this time, there would still be another, and another. It would be torture, just breathing the same air as her. Would you stay for that?” He stood completely still for a few seconds, before he finally let out a deep breath and his entire body relaxed.

“No, no I wouldn’t.”

“I’m sorry that I hurt all of you, but I did what I had to do.”

“I know you did. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to attack you like that. It’s just that I can’t stand to see her like that.” I put a hand on his shoulder.

“I know, you’re only trying to protect her. But I won’t be leaving, not now anyway. With Devon changing he’s going to need someone around to guide him, and he’s already too strong for the others.”

“So your torture is beginning all over?” I sighed.

“Pretty much.” We turned as one this time.

Two more miles in and I felt the air change. It was like it had become super charged. I could almost see the electricity in the air. I knew we had reached the inner perimeter spell. A few more steps and we reached the visitor’s clearing.

I held out my arm to stop Matt, and took a few steps forward. I told him to keep quiet, no matter what was said, and he gave a nervous nod to show that he understood. I waited for five minutes. It was irritating, I knew they were out there, I could smell their scents. They were intentionally keeping us waiting.

I did my best to calm my temper. Their actions were considered rude, and I knew that none of the Family were with them. This was just a regular patrol group. Finally, a large male stepped out of the tree line opposite us. He had at least five others still behind the trees, and only one of them were female. I racked my memory for the proper phrases, they were in Latin, and if I messed them up, there’s no telling what would happen.

“Ego oro ad ostium coetu eo confluxissent.” ‘I beg entrance to the coven.’ The male raised his head a fraction. He had obviously expected a regular trespasser.

“Et locutus est nomen tuum negotium.” ‘Speak your name and business.’ He answered with the traditional response. His voice was deep, and he held an arrogance that grated on my nerves.

“Jaide est nomen meum, dicendum est enim mater et.” ‘My name is Jaide, I must speak with Old Mother.’

“Jaide? I thought that was your voice.” Me and the man looked to his left. A young woman had stepped out. She looked vaguely familiar.

“Elizabeth? What are you doing out here?” I asked in mild, but pleasant shock. She was just a few months younger than me, but she was my closest friend in the coven.

“I petitioned to advance my studies. As penance for such knowledge, I must serve time on patrol.”

“That’s great, I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you. But what are you doing here so early. We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow. They had planned this big welcome for you.”

“We traveled faster than expected. It’s better that we don’t have a big welcome. Things are getting bad faster than I had anticipated. And I didn’t know at the time that I would be traveling with so many. There are a lot of us here.”

“How many?”

“Forty two I think.” her shocked expression made me hasten to explain. “Things are not well in the vampire world. There is a large threat to our kind, and we’ve gained some allies in the mean time.” Elisabeth was a distant cousin to the coven leader. They were several generations apart, but her word held a lot of weight. If the coven mother or any of her direct descendants weren’t there then the others differed to her once she came of age. She immediately turned to the others.

“Brian, take the group and go get her companions. I must get her to the Mother as soon as possible.” The large man drew his shoulders back and his face reddened slightly.

“This is a direct violation of protocol.” His voice boomed, but Elisabeth drew her shoulders back and lifted her head.

“This is the next in line to the vampire throne. Her family has been our ally for the length of coven memory. Will you jeopardize that relationship to appease your pride?” Her voice was magnified as she issued the challenge to his honor. It was a direct blow, but probably saved a good hour of argument. He placed his right fist over his heart and bowed. It was a show of humility and his face was blank.

“Of course, we will fetch the new comers.” With that he took long strides across the clearing, and into the trees the way we had come. I wasn’t too worried. Belle was with the group and would know what was going on. Elisabeth turned to me.

“Come, we must hurry.” I gestured for Matt to follow, and I felt a little guilty at his confused expression. I couldn’t imagine what all of this would look like from his point of view. I made a mental note to explain it all to him later.

It took another half hour to reach the village that was completely surrounded by forest. They were almost completely self sufficient. But when they had to go into town, they had their own parking lot on the opposite side of the forest. And it was only a ten minute drive to civilization from there.

We broke out of the trees abruptly, and no matter how many times I visited, I never got used to the sight. There were well built, fabulous houses built on opposite sides of a dirt road. There was a school and market place set up. And basically a person for everything. Whether it be live stock, or vegetable gardens someone was working on it. It truly was amazing to witness.

Elisabeth took us to the largest house in the very center of the village, where a courthouse might be. And sometimes it served as such. It was where the coven leader lived. And although they had a fully functioning hospital, this was where they took people with supernatural illnesses. There was a court room in the basement, just a few doors down from the infirmary, but to walk through the front door, it looked like a semi modest house. The access to the underground floors was an elaborate door on the back of the house that led to some stairs.

Once when I was about five, I had forgotten to feed for too long. We had been on vacation and here for a couple of weeks. But there was just so much to do and so many people to play with that I had simply forgotten. I had passed out on the play ground and the other children had grouped together to carry me. They carried me for about a mile to get me down to the infirmary where a really nice nurse forced a bag of blood down my unconscious throat.

My mom had thrown a fit. Since then she had been paranoid about how much I fed. Every day she laid out my rations and watched me closely to make sure that I drank every last drop. I remembered complaining about it hundreds of times over the years.

Beth didn’t bother to knock when we reached the house. Instead she just walked in with me at her heels, and Matt at mine. An elderly man rushed into the foyer. I remembered him. He was Aunt Clair’s butler, but no matter how