Made By Design (Blood Bound Series Book 2) (11 page)

“What incident?” Dorian shrugged.

Kendrick nodded. “Forgotten.” He led me into the center of the lawn, bordered by hedges that rustled with the dying wind. “I want to try something different. I think it’ll help with the bond issue.”

I searched Kendrick’s mind. I know—counterintuitive, seeing as the point was to put a block between our minds. What I found almost floored me. “You want me to try to bring on a vision? Are you freaking insane?”

Each vision was shocking and debilitating, haunting my dreams and remaining after my eyelids snapped open. There had even been one, back at the Armaya, where I’d been mentally torn from Caius’s office to find myself standing in the library, as a kind of astral projection that couldn’t speak or be seen, but was forced to watch Marcus’s plans going into action.

“Your power is so much stronger than anything I’ve read about. Is uncontrollable,” Kendrick rushed, knowing I was on the verge of losing it. “But it shouldn’t have to be. Dorian’s learned to control his, and I think you can too.”

“How will controlling Amelia’s visions affect her ability to block you?” Dorian questioned, seeming genuinely interested.

Kendrick walked past the line of trimmed hedges and dropped back onto the stone bench. “Your visions are part of your connection to spirit, which also created our bond. Everything is interlinked. So I’m hoping if you can learn to control one ability, then the other will become less of a stretch.”

“So why not practice bringing up the wall to block you?” I said, seeing much more relevance in continuing that than his crazy idea.

“Because we’ve tried that.” Kendrick ran a hand through his hair. “Plus we can practice that any time. This idea is something we haven’t tried. Imagine what could happen if you can learn to do this.”

“It’s worth a try,” Dorian voiced, moving to take the spot beside Kendrick. “Besides, what harm could it do?”

A lot, but I was starting to see their point. The visions were uncontrollable in every way. I had never even considered that they didn’t have to be. If I could hold them back, or will them on when I was prepared, then why wouldn’t I be able to control the bond? I’d already had small successes in that department, which would have to be a walk in the park
if
I could master control of my visions.

“Fine.” I hugged my arms around my body, not from cold, but in anticipation of the unknown. “So where do I start?”

“Focus,” Dorian said, surprising me. “That’s what I do. Concentrate on what you want to happen until your eyes and fingers tingle. Imagine the power is a part of you that you can control.”

Feeling the overwhelming instinct to do so, I lifted my face to the sky, extending my hands towards the clouds. I imagined there was power out there, raw and tangible. Power that I could somehow beckon to me. After a few long moments, tingles cascaded across my arms and my eyes stung from not blinking. But nothing happened. I tried again, eyes watering and tears rolling down my face. Still nothing happened. Frustrated, I went to drop my arms when something made me freeze.

I could hear pattering rain racing our way as the wind picked up. All of a sudden the clouds brewed above, coiling around each other like violent waves. They became darker and wilder until any remaining blue and white was swallowed up. The feuding waves collided with force, looking like a stampede of rivaling armies meeting in the middle.

Lightning split from above and shot at the ground, and me!

I dove, barely managing to escape its path before it viciously struck the exact spot I’d been standing. Glorious blue-white light blinded me while the impact boomed through my ears. I curled over, hands covering my ears too late and eyelids pinned shut over starbursts.

“Amelia!” Dorian’s voice echoed as his hand touched my arm. It sounded as if he were speaking through water. “Shit. Are you okay?”

Kendrick appeared at my other side and lifted me into his arms. Through the bond he could tell I wasn’t injured in any life-threatening way. “She’s just startled.”

Blinking away the starbursts, I watched the clouds disperse to a light gray calm. There was no sign of any lingering electrical strikes.

“Yeah, I think I’m fine.” I wriggled free from Kendrick’s supporting arms and stood on wobbly legs. “Well, this was a complete bust.” I brushed the wet grass from my butt. “Apart from attracting bad weather, I didn’t even feel like a vision was coming on.”

“This was your first attempt.” Dorian released his hold on my arm, satisfied that I was okay. “You just need more practice.”

“Yeah.” Kendrick walked over to the terrace doors. “And maybe next time, try it inside.”

I sensed the worry behind Kendrick’s words, which matched my own. These freaky occurrences with bad weather and lightning had increased. And the common denominator? Me.

I headed in the opposite direction and Kendrick stalled. “Where’re you going?

“For a run,” I called back without turning. “I need to clear my head.”

I plugged my earbuds in and blasted Offspring’s
Rise and Fall
album on my iPod. If only the noise could drown out my thoughts of the bond with Kendrick, the weather attraction, Caius wanting my blood, and the identity of E.B. But nothing could.

Hoping the exercise would help clear my mind, I tore through the suburbs. After clearing countless roads, a familiar rise in elevation announced the entry to Mt Major. I took off up the mountain, hoping the blaring music, cold air, and open space would distract me from everything. My muscles lengthened and tingled as I surged through the unending thicket of trees. Waiting to dodge each fallen tree, boulder, and stream until I almost hit it felt exhilarating and distracting. But too soon I reached the peak of Mt Major.

With winter in full swing, the surrounding mountains were blanketed by glacial-white snow. I squinted as the sun peeked through fading clouds above. Light rays spilled onto the snow-covered peaks and glistened so bright the glare burned my eyes.

Appreciating the fact that I could endure direct light when other turned vamps couldn’t, I lowered myself into the snow, crossing my legs in a clear patch of sunlight. Even Pure Bloods, although immune, would feel uncomfortable if exposed. It was another trait that made me different.

As the mounting issues crept back to mind, I made a decision. I was sick of letting my abilities and everything Caius had done to me interfere with my life. Right now it was time to take control.

Unlike earlier, I kept my hands down and closed my eyes. On top of all the poisoning and experiments, Caius had erased my memories. Important memories to cover his malicious tracks. But I wasn’t oblivious or weak anymore. I had been given a gift. When Kendrick had compelled me under Marcus’s control, the blocks had begun to crumble. Traveling to the cabin, a memory had resurfaced with my vision into the past. But it wasn’t enough. I needed more.

With a deep breath, I relaxed. Wind whistled through the trees. Soft consistent rain fell, hissing as it melted the snow around me. Non-hibernating creatures foraged down the hill. Some birds chirped while others cut the air with strong wings. I remained still and silent for a long while, willing all the worry away as the sunlight faded.

When I began to nod off, a rush of images flooded my mind, a dam wall breaking its banks. There were so many faces, voices, and places that my brain began to throb. With a few deep breaths I willed the rush aside, grasping the edge of a single memory, somehow knowing this was the one I needed.

As the confusion cleared I found myself sitting on a round rug. Wooden planks and stone surrounded me, while an open fireplace warmed my back. My mom sat in her green armchair with Dorian curled up on her lap. The sight would have been totally weird, except he wasn’t the size he was now. He was small. Just a boy. They were both sound asleep.

A deep voice drew my eye to a slightly younger version of a man I knew. The same man I wished I never had to see again. Caius. He sat in a mirroring armchair, his hands clasped in his lap. His dull, silvery eyes stared through a six-paned window to his left. Outside the air was calm, the lush forest green rather than snow-sheeted.

My instincts told me to scream. To get up and run as fast as… I peered down. My legs were small, my hands child-sized. The solidity of everything had confused me, making me forget. But I knew now. This was a memory. And the child who was me sitting before Caius wasn’t scared. She was curious and excited. She
loved
this story.

“Erzsebet was close to a breakthrough when the monsters stormed the castle.” Caius slid his gaze onto the child version of me. His expression was kind, nothing like the last time when he’d tried to kill me. “But did they kill her?” He shook his head. “No. What they did to her was much worse. She was forced into darkness, left to roam alone and starving. She longed for the light, for a way to escape. But there was no one brave enough to continue her perilous work.”

“W-what happened, Unky Caius?” my childlike voice quavered, despite having heard this story countless times before.

“The insanity crept closer and closer. She could not escape it.” Caius sighed, deep-set eyes lost in thought. “Though by that point, she no longer wanted to. She was lost to the dark, sentenced to an eternity as one of the monsters she had worked to save.”

“And then the prince came and he saved her!” the little girl exclaimed, bouncing on her bottom.

Caius stroked his chin. “Would that make you happy, Amelia?”

The way he said my name made the real me cringe, while the little girl basked in its love. “Yes, yes!” the little girl cried. “Can he? Can the prince save her?”

Caius smiled genuinely, lips parting to reveal harmless, human-straight teeth. “Then that is exactly what will happen. The prince will break the spell and he will not fail. He will find princess Erzsebet, and he will save her.”

I gasped for air as the memory dissolved into nothing. Caius’s story spun through my mind. “Oh. My. God. Kendrick, did you see that?” I jumped up, my heart racing.

What? Is everything okay?
A few seconds of prodding ran over my brain. Apparently Kendrick had been practicing blocking me out again.
Wow, that’s huge. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

I bolted down the mountain at breakneck speed. “The person Caius continued his experiments after was Erzsebet. E.B. What if B stands for Bathory? She could have been his relative.”

A twinge of excitement streamed from Kendrick.
I’ll see if I can log into the council server from your mom’s computer.

“Oh crap,” I said, not slowing.

What? What’s wrong?

I dodged around a thick growth of trees and jumped a boulder.
I think I know why Caius needed to kill me. Shit! He said it in the vision… “The prince will break the spell and he will not fail. He will find princess Erzsebet and he will save her.”
I struggled to control my breathing as I pushed on faster.
Don’t you get it? I’m the link, his experiment from the start.
I cleared a wide frozen stream in one bound and my feet sunk into dirty, melting snow. Irritated, I kicked my drenched Vans free, and kept running.
We thought Caius wanted to secure his position on The Council, to have immortality so he could rule forever.

We were wrong,
Kendrick said.
He needed your blood to save Erzsebet.

~

Soggy and chilled to the bone, I shot into my mom’s office, shutting the door behind me. Being comfortable and dry didn’t even make the list of things to do now that we had this new lead. Kendrick was behind the desk in Mom’s padded chair, tapping his chin in frustration.

I went to stand beside him. “Did you get in?”

Kendrick shook his head. “Your mom’s computer is locked up like Fort Knox. I tried everything: your last name, hers, birth dates. Nothing worked.” He pushed the button on his iPhone and the screen lit up with a snowboarding shot.

“So we’ve got nothing?” I leaned against the desk’s glass edge.

“Not exactly,” Kendrick said. “I checked the net and found this.” He clicked the mouse and the screen came to life.

Countess Erzsebet (Elizabeth) Bathory was born on the 7th of August 1560, into a renowned Noble family in Hungary. As a child, she experienced seizures and uncontrollable fits of rage. Later in life she was branded the most prolific female serial killer in history and was later remembered as the “Blood Countess.” Following her husband Ferenc Nadasdy’s death, Erzsebet was reported to have begun aging prematurely. Her four children, three daughters Anastasia, Anna, Katalin and son Paul, were sent to relatives. In 1604 she and four servants educated in witchcraft performed dark spells to combat her premature aging. Virgins were strung above a bathtub and cut open so that she could bathe in their blood. Erzsebet and her servants were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls, amounting to more than 650 victims, though her servants were only convicted of 80. Erzsebet was never tried or convicted, but in 1610 was imprisoned in the Cachtice Castle in Slovakia, where she remained bricked in a group of rooms until her death on the 21st of August 1614.

“How could she murder so many people?” I slumped back against the desk. The visual of all those defenseless girls strung up to bleed out over a tub was horrifically disturbing. It would forever be imprinted on my mind. “Who was she, and how was she related to Caius? Why would she kill all those virgins? Was it part of her experiments?”

“Well, she’s not his mother,” Kendrick said frowning. “Her only born son was named Paul. Maybe his aunt, or a sister. Do you remember what Caius said in his story?”

I couldn’t forget a single word. “He said she was close to a breakthrough. But I have no idea what that means. He also said that monsters forced her into darkness. Could he mean the people who bricked her in until her death?”

“Maybe,” Kendrick said. “But what if the darkness wasn’t literal, like a place? What if the darkness was in her mind?”

At that second Kendrick’s iPhone sung out a Tony Hawk game tune and he picked it up. “About time.”

“What’s going on?” I slid a patterned seat around the desk as Kendrick read the screen.