Dark War Chronicles Box Set One (97 page)

Lucius laid her on the bed and tucked the blanket around her. “He’s right, she’s very weak. I had assumed it was from the blood loss, but she may need to eat. We have no idea if the Father fed her or not.”

I had never asked after her care, but knowing that she was nothing but food for him, I doubted that she was fed on any consistent basis. “We’ll contact a Hunter to bring her food. Daylight is almost here, you will need to sleep and I cannot go out during the day.” I would stay awake for when she woke. “There is one thing I want to do before she wakes.”

“Which is?” Lucius ask, but he didn’t look up from her. His concern for her was already growing. I knew it meant that they would make a good bound pair once she grew accustomed to her new life.

“I want to take some of her memories. The ones of her meeting Kaden. We have no idea what he did to her while she was unconscious, or when he met her. I don’t want her to remember him. You made a deal with the demon and I do not intend to let her go back to him.”

Lucius’ gaze shot to me. “You mean you don’t want her to remember that she has a fated mate.”

“Yes. Do not fight me on this. Consider: she has just been freed from the monster who has used her for centuries. She’s now bound to another vampire and will find out that she must hide for her life. The last thing she needs is a mate. She needs to heal and adjust.” I kept my voice even. I would do it without his permission because I knew he could not undo it without my help, but it would be easier if he understood why.

He looked back to my sister. “A mate could help her through that.”

“Think about all the problems mates cause, Lucius. Having someone else to protect, to worry about, to be distracted by. Another person to trust with everything, and she cannot trust her secret to anyone.” I stated. “She will have to hide from him as well.”

Lucius bowed his head and I knew I had won. “Do what you must, it’s for the best.”

I stepped up to my sister and took her wrist. I found myself glad that she was unconscious for this. I bit into her skin and closed my eyes. Instead of blocking her memories, I willed them to be shown to me. The most violent ones crashed into me first. The fighting against the father as he tried to take her blood, her body, and break her mind. I felt the panic and the pain from it all. I shouldn’t have, but after centuries she didn’t need those. I used my abilities to rip them away from her. The first hundred years or so with the father were gone. They couldn’t haunt her anymore.

I called up the memories of Kaden. They were brief; she was running away from us, trying to escape her life. I felt the sorrow that had filled her and the fear in her when she realized she had no idea where she was or where to go. Her intention when approaching Kaden was to get help and she’d collapsed. She’d woken briefly at his home and asked about the mark. I snarled when he told her what it meant.

Using my abilities, I took those memories and molded them into her collapsing in the street and waking up briefly to see Lucius and I instead of Kaden. That demon would have no hold on her.

My sister moaned a little when I pulled back from her wrist. I didn’t want her to suffer. If I could have, I would have taken all her memories of the Father, but there was no promise that it wouldn’t have hurt her. I kissed her head. “Rest up, sister of mine.”

Lucius had hired many humans to help with my sister over a hundred years. At some point they all moved on with their lives without questioning what we were or why Tegan was blinded. Occasionally a Hunter helped out, but it wasn’t until an immortal werewolf and his love came to live with us that we were all comfortable with it.

My sister had grown bolder. On more than one occasion I had found her out in the fields near our home without her eyes covered. Watching the butterflies. Lucius attempted to keep her behavior in line with silly trinkets every year of butterflies. She’d never discussed why she loved them so much or why she risked it. Tonight, yet again, I could not find her in the house. I cursed and went to her room to see if perhaps she was sleeping. I found her crawling back through the window with her eyes not covered and her dress torn.

“Sister of mine.” My anger sounded through her voice.

She met my gaze. “Tegan.” She corrected. It was something she had just started doing. I was the only one who did not call her by that name and it bothered her.

“You have been told about the dangers of going out.”

“It is day time.” She shot back and went to take her dress off to change, but hesitated. Most situations I would walk out and let her be, but my anger would not allow that.

“The Circle has expanded their territory and now control this village, they have day time eyes watching. If you are caught without your eyes covered or without Lucius they are within their rights to punish you.” I growled. “We have worked too hard for them to find out what you are.”

“A blood whore,” she gave a sad laugh. “I’m nothing special to them without the soul of the father and the blood to open the tomb. They cannot keep me from Lucius for an extended amount of time. They fear the rumors anyways.”

“It does not matter if they believe the rumors or not. You are putting yourself and everyone else in danger.” I snarled. “You need to learn that. You cannot parade yourself out in the village.”

“I don’t go near the village. I go to the fields, no one is out there at dusk.” She shook her head. “I don’t expect you to understand, but—“

“No, you are forbidden from leaving the house without your master or I. End of discussion.” I spun and let the room. Calling Lucius her master would sting and I knew that. They had been working on their bond, he didn’t want her calling him master knowing it reminded her of the Father, but that’s what he was.

Lucius stepped up to the door. “Did you still want to go to the village tonight?”

We needed things from the market. If we left now some of the venders would still be open. “Yes. My sister should be ready soon.”

“She was out again.” Lucius stated. “She’s upset with you.”

“Yes, but I am upset with her as well.” I walked away without saying anything else. Lucius would go in there and soothe her; he was good at that with her. I needed to feed tonight, my body was demanding more blood than normal. Coran and Trisha had both been feeding Lucius and I to help limit the suspicion of people in the village being fed from. Where centuries before I could go more than two weeks without feeding, I was starting to require it every other night. Markus’ words echoed in my mind. If he was right then all of the Originals were feeling drained and we would have no choice but to go into a hibernating sleep to regain our strength.

I went and found Coran and Trisha wrapped in each other’s arms. Mates for life, at least until Trisha died. Lucius had offered several times to change her, but neither one of them wanted that, at least not yet.

“I need to feed.”

Trisha smiled and got out of Coran’s lap. “I’ll be happy to offer tonight.”

I bowed my head. “Thank you. Coran, we need to talk about my sister sneaking out during the day again.”

Coran shrugged. “I thought she was sleeping.”

“I’m going to start making you sleep on her floor if it continues to happen. You know the risks.”

He raised a brow. “You also know that I can leave at any time that I want. Trisha and Tegan have become friends, that is the only reason we are still here. We could have moved on and started our own family at this point.” His accent told me he came from Ireland.

“Of course, but the agreement is that you protect my sister while you are here. You are doing a poor job at that.”

Coran opened his mouth to say something, but Trisha touched my cheek. “You need to feed, your temper always rises when you’re hungry. Take blood and then discuss this as rational men, not beasts. It is too close to the full moon to pick a fight with him.”

She was right. The wolf in Coran would rise to my temper and my anger. “Fine.”

I took what I needed from her and then we all walked to the market. My sister refused to even say a word to me. She stayed by Lucius’ side, just close enough to follow his movements and footsteps. She had adapted to not being able to see in her own ways. I never asked how, the only thing that mattered was she was adjusting to it with Lucius.  I continued ahead and looked over my shoulder. Lucius and she had stopped at a booth. She had a smile on her face as her fingers danced across a figurine in Lucius’ hand. A butterfly. I stormed over to them and took it from them and put it back on the table.

“You spoil her enough. You indulge her in those and then she leaves the house to see the real ones. You encourage her behavior.” I snarled.

The woman behind the booth chuckled. “Zaaren, she’s not a child. Blind or not, she should be allowed her guilty pleasures.”

I smiled at her. Isadora had been one of my donors in the village. She was a skilled hunter, a Master in the ranks of this branch. Over the last few years her and I had grown close. We’d kept it a secret from the others, but we often thought that maybe we should have been mates. It was a shame we both knew that couldn’t happen.

“Sadly, you cannot speak to this situation.” I moved the figure further on the table as my sister’s hand brushed the edge of table. “Lucius, take her to get the garments she needs.”

Lucius sighed and put a hand on the small of my sister’s back. I didn’t miss the flinch. She still hated to be touched even now after all this time. I sighed and looked at the figure. “She has been causing trouble that would bring great problems to this village.”

“I know you worry about her, but that woman is wounded, her soul is hurting.” Isadora sighed. “A butterfly trinket isn’t going to heal that, but she needs to feel loved and wanted. That is what Lucius is trying to portray to her.”

Isadora always made sense. She had a way of reading people. I leaned over the booth and pecked her on the cheek. “I will come to you tonight.”

“And will you stay the day? I have news for you.” There was a glint in her eye that I did not miss.

Her smile and look warmed my soul. “I will stay as long as I can. Lucius should have my sister taken care of and Coran and Trisha will be tangled in each other’s arms as usual.”

“Always worried about those around you.” She placed a gentle hand on my cheek. “One day, you’re going to have to worry about yourself.”

That day would never come. I would always have to watch out for my people, my territory, to keep them all safe. “One day. I will see you later this evening, my dear.”

She blushed and turned to the next person at her booth.

Lucius and my sister were standing at a merchant with jewelry. She stepped closer to Lucius when I approached, as was her nature when anyone came to close to her. “Did we get what we needed?”

Trisha held up a bag full of produce. “I think so.”

“Tegan’s garments will be delivered tomorrow evening. They needed to be tailored to her height.” Lucius stated simply. He gave no hint as to if he was upset with me intervening in getting the butterfly for my sister or not.

“Where is Coran?” I asked, my gaze searching the crowd.

“He was called off to help with a pup.” Trisha shrugged. “He said he’d be back later tonight.”

At least Lucius would be there during the evening. “I have business I have to attend to tonight as well. Sister of mine?”

She turned towards me, her head tilted down. “What?”

“I expect you to behave while I am gone.”

She tensed. “Lucius and I plan on working together.”

Lucius had been working on teaching her how to control her emotions and not exposing her thoughts to others. Because of the Father’s powers she’d never had full control over the emotions and it was causing us problems now.

I nodded. “I think that’s a great idea.”

“And where are you going tonight?” Lucius asked. “It’s not like you to make plans.”

“It’s nothing you should concern yourself with. I will see you before dawn.” Though I knew I was planning on staying with Isadora for the day. It was a simple request, one that I couldn’t deny her.

My sister made a rude noise and Lucius put his hand on her shoulder. It was a sign for her to control her attitude.

“Then we shall head home.” Lucius nudged my sister a bit and she started forward. She knew the way well enough, even blind. Her adaption always amazed me. The only thing that threw her off was when something new was built. I watched them walk out of the marketplace with Trisha. Once they were out of sight I used my abilities and took myself to Isadora’s.

Her weapons were laid out on a desk, cleaned and well taken care of. She would have been hunting tonight had I not come. I wondered who her target was. A member in support of the Circle no doubt. They had gotten out of hand, the rules were starting to be bent, but the Circle was always careful. Using minions to do the rule bending and breaking so that they couldn’t be punished for it. It was the Hunters that did this for us, so that the Originals could not be blamed for the deaths.

Isadora was a Master in rank, strong, powerful, and focused. Until it came to me, just like I to her. We clouded each other’s judgment.

The door opened and she walked in. “I thought you’d be later.” She said gently and walked up to me.

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her. “My sister will be working with Lucius tonight and me being there will only ruin her concentration. The two must learn to work together.”

“Ah, so I am your distraction tonight.” She chuckled and started to close the shades and buckle them down so that when the sun came up it would not penetrate the house. “I would much rather spend the night wrapped in your embrace than hunting anyways.”

I chuckled and grabbed her by the ties of her apron, pulling her to me. “I would not wish to be anywhere else.”

We spent the night in the throes of pleasure and the day wrapped in each other’s arms. Dusk was starting to settle and I kissed her head, listened to her deep breathing and heartbeat, but something was different. A second tiny beat echoed hers. Had I not been a vampire I wouldn’t have heard it. At the market she had told me see needed to tell me something.