Betrayal Bites (Tales of Sydney Sedrick Book 2) (3 page)

Chapter 3

Cian leaned over the human woman as she struggled against the ropes binding her to the cold, cement floor in the basement of the compound. “Your blood smells delicious,” he said in a low growl. “Your fear seasons it perfectly to my tastes, my dear.”

Kieran’s servant sniveled while making eye contact with him. Cian could see it in Kim’s eyes that she knew death was not far. Kieran and his people still argued that humans had rights, that they should be treated better than just being the blood sources they were. Kieran wanted his donors willing, but why? Vampires should not have to beg for their food; they should just take it! That is the way. Vampires are predators, superior beings to mere mortals.

The Elders didn’t agree with Kieran, either. They, too, treated humans like cattle. They were just more discreet in their actions.

Kieran’s servant cringed in fear when she heard him laugh. He couldn’t wait for the time to come when his dear brother found out the truth about the Elders. It made no sense why they kept him as coven leader. Cian felt that they should put him in charge of the Kenosha coven, and the Selected.

The thought of once again walking in the sun, taking the werewolf pack unaware, now that was a future Cian couldn’t wait to see come to fruition.

The woman cowered the closer his fangs got to the bare flesh of her neck, sending his salivary glands into overdrive. “If you don’t tell me what I want to know, you’ll die a long and painful death, down here where no one will ever know what happened to you. Now tell me, where is the Blood Rites Ball being held, and what type of security does my brother plan on having?”

The servant gasped for air in between sobs. Humans. They were all alike. None of them could ever keep control of their emotions. They leaked fluid and snot all over their faces. They were disgusting. It didn’t make sense; their driveling didn’t serve a purpose. Everything Cian did furthered a purpose, mostly his.

Kim looked at Cian with terror in her eyes as she struggled to breathe, exciting his bloodlust. “Kieran hasn’t told anyone where the ball is to be held, I swear it!” The spasms wracking her body would only accentuate the fear seasoning her blood. Yes, he would enjoy draining every drop from her.

Tapping his finger on her wet forehead while thinking how to get the information he wanted, she continued to shake her head in denial. There had to be a way to show the Elders that Kieran was no longer fit to lead his coven, and he should no longer be in charge of the Selected.

Kieran was too softhearted toward humans. It probably had something to do with Maria Sky, the previous Selected, but the why of it didn’t matter. Kieran needed to be taken down, and Cian would be the perfect and obvious candidate to replace him when the time came. Cian would just have to convince the Elders, and be there when his brother fell from their grace.

Taking his finger, Cian traced a bloodied nail along Kim’s jaw line, pressing the jagged edge into her flesh. “Surely you’ve overheard some details. You are Kieran’s personal aide, assigned to his every physical need.” He smiled, letting his fangs spring forth for effect.

“No, Master Cian, I promise! Kieran has not told me anything. He’s only told his Knights what’s going to happen. I swear it. Please, please don’t hurt me. I don’t know anything.” The woman continued to sob annoyingly. Her blubbering was making this take longer than was necessary. He’d be done with this if she’d only been able to keep herself together.

“Well, if you don’t know anything of import, then you are useless to me. Tell me, fragile Kim, what do you have for me that could possibly persuade me not to kill you?” No matter what, she was going to die. Silly humans. They always believed there was hope they would survive if they gave him what he wanted. They foolishly believed he was capable of mercy. Little did they know, he’d get what he wanted, one way or another.

Kim sniveled, trying to regain an ounce of strength when she replied, “I do have something that may help you. Kieran plans to behold a gift to the Elders, something special. And the Judges will be at the ball, too. That is all I know.” Kim dared to stare him straight in the eyes and begged, “Please, let me go. I’ve told you everything. There is nothing more.”

“That is a pity you weren’t more informed. Now the only use you have to me is being a tasty snack. I do love how your blood is so freshly laced with fear. Maybe it would be worth keeping you around just for that.”

Cian grabbed her jaw and forced it to the side to bare the precious skin of her neck. The pulse beating back at him taunted his taste buds, making his fangs ache at the gums. How could his brother not love to have his donors experience a little fear before the meal? The taste was unbeatable, the power, the rush that filled him was beyond addicting.

He wanted more.

Kieran had to be removed from his post. He was too close to changing the Elder’s edicts about how vampires were allowed to treat their humans. Vampires were predators, meant to enjoy the hunt and the kill. It didn’t make sense why anyone would want to tamp down their true nature. Co-existing with the wolves was just another step in the further censoring of their true selves. Vampires shouldn’t have to worry about offending the local werewolf packs. Having to watch where he got blood because the wolves may not like it wasn’t his idea of living.

Cian would just have to kill Kieran if the Elders didn’t see things his way.

Chapter 4

Nothing life-altering happened while I passed the time stocking the shelves, taking care of customers, and dusting the eclectic pieces, used for Wiccan ceremonies, that my aunt had scattered throughout the store. Shortly after sunset, the door chimes jingled in the front of the store. Even from back in the storeroom, I knew it was a vampire that had crossed the threshold. The temperature had dropped a good ten degrees.

That was one of the gifts that came with being the Selected. It allowed me to easily detect vampire and werewolf presence by temperature change.

Unfortunately, the only one who could feel the change was me. That made me very important to the vampires and werewolves who wanted to use my ability against each other. Because of my ability to feel their presence, the vampires and werewolves want me to find each other’s secret locations, so they could kill one another. That wasn’t something on my to-do-list, nor would it ever be.

The trouble with this kind of ability is it made me not only important to them, it made me a target. The rogues on both sides weren’t big fans of the Selected. They didn’t want to be found by the local vampire coven or werewolf pack. The rogues wanted to run amok all over town, doing whatever they felt like, and they wanted to do it right under the noses of their kind’s local governing bodies. Except, they didn’t want to get caught. The rogues wanted to get rid of me, thereby eliminating my abilities that could detect them.

When I passed through the door of the storeroom into the store proper, Liam gave me a toothy grin while waving a black clothing bag up in the air to show me he had come bearing a gift.

“Hey, pretty lady. Are you all ready for the ball?”

Liam was the easiest going vampire I’d ever met. He wasn’t stuck up, nor was he overly focused on protocol like Aaron, Kieran’s second-in-command. Liam was part of Kieran’s Knights, an elite group of vampires that helped maintain balance in the world of vampires. The Knights were technically under Kieran’s direct command, unless the Elders stepped in and took over. The Elders had the ultimate say over all of the vampires. Now that I knew there was also vampire royalty, I wasn’t sure how they decided who was above the other, nor did I care to find out.

Liam made me laugh. He was such a joy to be around. He was like a funny kid brother who always had a twinkle of trouble in his eye. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. That wouldn’t be a new dress for me to wear to the ball, would it?”

No one could ever call me materialistic, but the dresses Kieran sent me for the vampire gatherings he made me go to were always sexy, fun to wear, and way out of my price range. Think red carpet, if everyone was wearing black. Plus, he never expected me to return them. I had to start investing in some serious footwear, though. I could only wear my black-suede boots or black, strappy high-heeled sandals so many times before someone started to notice, not that I’d care. Okay, maybe I’d care, just a little.

Liam went behind the cash register with the garment bag so he could hang it over the back of the door. It practically draped to the floor.

“Liam, what kind of dress is it?”

He’d piqued my curiosity. The bag was overly long, like there was excess material held within. The bag was unlike the ones he usually sent that held slinky, floor-length cocktail dresses. This one was a lot wider and a good two feet longer.

With one eyebrow raised, he said, “Sydney, don’t tell me you didn’t know the Blood Rites Ball is a masquerade ball? You’re going to love what Kim and Sara picked out for you. They really outdid themselves this time.” He grinned. One of his fangs charmingly caught on his lower lip, making us both laugh.

A daunting feeling smacked me cold in the face. Masquerade ball? Why would Kieran set something up like that? The attendants would be able to hide their identities behind masks. Kieran had a lot of enemies. Putting together a large number of people, where no one knew who was really there, sounded like a very bad idea to me.

My confusion must have been clearly written in my expression, because Liam said, “Kieran wants to honor the Elder, Raum. The seventeen hundreds is the Elder’s favorite time period. Kieran believes that by providing such an event, it will make the Elder happy, thus, he may be easier to persuade into making Kieran remain as your assigned protector, and leader of his coven.”

Kieran’s efforts to go above and beyond to make the Elder happy to ensure that my life remained as un-interfered with as it was now shot an icy cold chill down my entire body. If Kieran were willing to go to such lengths for me and my well-being, it must mean there was more to worry about than I’d thought.

Kieran had mentioned they were going to discuss his position and the possibility of his roles being given to someone else. But he didn’t say he truly believed the Elders would really do it. As far as I was concerned, I assumed the ball was to honor the Elders and show them that Kieran was heeding their every command since they threatened that if he didn’t, they would take everything away from him. The coven leader was putting forth such an extensive effort that he was putting everyone in danger. Was I the only who could see that?

It was possible Kieran’s enemies were going to walk right into his house of their own freewill because the Elder liked the time period where people partied with masks on. The whole thing seemed ludicrous to me. The reality of the situation, it seemed, was that the potential of Kieran losing his position was quite real, and Kieran was genuinely worried that it could happen.

“Have you ever heard of the Elders taking away that duty from a coven leader before?”

Liam took a seat on the stool in front of the counter holding the cash register. “There was only one other time it’s been in question. That had to do with how close Kieran and your grandmother were getting to each other. Other than that, no, I’ve never heard of it before.”

“What would make the Elders even think of taking his position away from him now? We aren’t close like they were. As far as I’m concerned, everything is going as it should be.” Why now? Was something going on within the coven I didn’t understand? I knew the vampires kept things from me, but I figured it was probably vampire social issues I had nothing to do with. I thought Kieran was quite open in communicating to me what he felt I needed to know. Well, obviously that didn’t seem so true anymore.

Nothing was making sense to me.

“This isn’t common knowledge, so no sharing this with your fuzzy friends what I’m about to tell you. Kieran mentioned that his brother, Cian, might be trying to take over his coven. If that’s true, Cian would likely be given the Selected duty from the Elders as part of the job.”

“But, Cian already leads the coven in Chicago. Why would he want Kenosha, too?” Grandma had written in her journal that Cian wasn’t as dedicated to the Elders as Kieran was. She also said the Elders were well aware of that fact. So what did Cian have on Kieran that he would use against his own brother to de-seat him from his position of power?

Liam ran his fingers through his thick, unruly reddish-brown hair. “It’s hard to understand the ways of vampires if you don’t live with them day in and day out. Cian is like a dictator who wants to rule. Kieran’s brother has a very small piece of the pie. Not many vampires live in Chicago, so he has less than half the number of vampires in his coven than Kieran does in his. It doesn’t matter that the city is physically bigger. He sees his brother with a large coven, power, land, and the Selected. Cian is a jealous man. He always has been. He’s never been content with what he’s been given. He only looks at what others have, and then he wants it for himself. Cian is a very dangerous vampire. He’s ruthless in his pursuit of what he wants. He’ll do whatever it takes to have his way. He doesn’t care who he hurts in the process. Even his own brother, Kieran, is disposable to Cian.”

“But I thought the Elders held Kieran in their favor. Cian is the one who doesn’t always follow the rules.” Why would the Elders even consider Cian as a possible replacement to Kieran? I didn’t understand why they would think to remove Kieran from his post. Every vampire that belonged to his coven held nothing but respect for him. Kieran followed the Elders’ laws to the letter. What more would a governing body want of their servants than complete obedience and faithfulness?

Liam shook his head and averted his eyes. He knew something, but he hesitated in spilling the beans. What were the vampires hiding from me? Kieran had to be involved in deciding what Liam shared with me, and what he didn’t.

“Sydney, the Elders are the oldest vampires alive, besides the vampire king. They don’t harbor such distaste toward Cian’s ways as much as Kieran would like. Kieran is trying to change how vampires treat humans. That’s a tenuous path to take since he’s dealing with vampires used to getting what they want, when they want it, without having to deal with repercussions. Kieran has a lot to lose. Cian has everything to gain, including you.”

The room started to feel warmer than it should for having a vampire in the store. Looking down toward my arm, I noticed beads of sweat starting to form along my skin.

A rogue was nearby.

“Liam, lock the door.” Before I was able to say anything else, pain gripped my insides like a vise and brought me to the floor on my hands and knees.

The pain was excruciating and began to travel along my midsection into my chest. Nausea started to set in while my vision clouded.

The typical head pounding began its familiar cadence along my temples. It was like my head was full of miniature Selecteds, waiting for their chance to perform in a percussion contest, and they really wanted to win.

Liam used his super vampire speed to lock the front door. Within moments, he was back at my side behind the store counter.

With the fear of not knowing what to do, Liam said, “Sydney, what’s wrong, are you sick?” It wasn’t everyday that I got to see a vampire confused and feeling helpless.

It was hard to sound out words using the muscles of my mouth without triggering my gag reflex. It would be humiliating if Liam saw me puke all over the new rug Aunt Judith had bought for the store. “Liam, there’s a rogue somewhere outside. They’re somewhere close.”

My mouth began to water. I licked my lips to feel the drool that started to collect at the corners of my lips as the pounding in my head began to beat louder and more painful as my Selected senses reacted. Whoever the rogue was, their intentions were full of hate and ill intent. It was polar opposite of how my senses reacted to a vampire or werewolf who belonged to a coven or pack. The worse the rogue had a grudge against me, the more they planned on causing me harm, the stronger the impact they had on my body and senses. The rogue near Morning Sun threw off vibes that they wanted me dead. The effect had me quite incapacitated.

Helplessness laced Liam’s voice as he said, “Just tell me what to do, Sydney. Should I go after them?” He paused when I didn’t, couldn’t, respond. “If you don’t tell me what to do, I can’t help you!”

I could tell by Liam’s tone he was losing his composure. From the tales I’ve heard of Liam’s encounters with rogues and enemies of the coven, I knew Liam was more than capable of handling dangerous situations with ease. Right now, he wasn’t showing me that side of him. He sounded worried and stressed, almost as if he was about to panic. That made me more worried and stressed.

A wavering noise sounded in my ears as white flashes of light shined in my eyes. With Liam bending over me on the carpet, my visual field continued to close in on itself. Finally my sight went dark as my insides lurched, trying to purge the lunch I’d eaten, and then mercifully I lost consciousness.

A little while later, Liam’s voice started coming through the haziness that was clouding my brain. The words he spoke were starting to make sense.

He was gently wiping a cool washcloth across my forehead as he spoke. “And then Kieran found me with my leg almost completely gnawed off by the rogue werewolf. There was so much blood everywhere. You would have gagged at the sight, Sydney, I’m sure of it.”

My eyes fluttered open. I realized Liam was sitting on the store’s couch. He had positioned me so that my head was lying in his lap. Looking up into his eyes, it was clear he only had concern for my well-being in mind. There were no nefarious intentions in Liam’s expression while he had me in such a vulnerable position. I’ve met many men in my life that would have taken advantage of having me out cold, all to themselves.

Liam was a true friend.

When he looked down at my face and realized I was awake, he jumped in his seat, and then laughed at his own reaction. The jerky movements made my head bobble. The pounding in my head began to beat harder than before. Unfortunately, the headache would last for most of the day. It was the usual side effect from sensing a rogue, much like how a hangover felt.

I was positive someday my Selected senses would work to my advantage. Right now, they made me completely vulnerable if a rogue were to attack. I’d have to read more of Grandma’s journal and see if she mentions if there is any way of speeding up the development of my abilities. I was sick of being a weak target, ripe for my enemies to come attack. I’m not sure what I would have done if Liam wasn’t in the store.

I looked around. From my viewpoint, with my head on Liam’s knee, I didn’t see that there had been a struggle. The rogue must not have come into the store. The good thing about being the Selected was that the rogues couldn’t tell who I was, besides being just another ordinary human they’d like to snack on. They couldn’t tell I was the Selected because I didn’t give off any kind of identifying scent to clue them in on. They only knew my identity when someone told them.

After Liam helped me sit upright on the couch, he took his own position on the other cushion. I would have laughed when he gave me a stare that said,
Go on, explain what the heck that was all about,
but bile threatened to rise up my throat.

“Sorry about that. A rogue must have been pretty close for me to pass out. The closer they are to me, the stronger my Selected senses react. Thanks for staying to make sure the rogue didn’t try getting in the store.” I felt sick, but the rogue must have left the area because my body was already slowly feeling better. If the rogue were still around, I’d probably still be unconscious.

Liam fidgeted a little, clearly not used to being thanked for his service. He waved a dismissive hand in the air. “It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.” He laughed when I lifted one of my eyebrows in disbelief. “Besides, if anything happened to you, my boss would have my butt in a sling.”

Liam tried to make a joke of it, but I could tell he meant what he said. Kieran would not be pleased if one of his vampires was with me, and they let something happen.