New Blood (The Blood Saga Book 2) (18 page)

“You want the marble back?” I asked
as he shut the door behind us.

Shaking his head he walked past me.
Naturally I followed. “Oh yay, a souvenir,” I grumbled softly. I hadn’t
intended to be rude, but I was grumpy.

We were just past the tree line
when he abruptly stopped and turned, directly facing me. Stupidly I hadn’t
watched where I was going so like a complete buffoon I crashed into him. My
eyes widened as I steadied myself.

“Give it back then.” His brow lift
as I struggled to get back into my comfort zone without falling on my butt. His
lip twitched as he watched me. His way of laughing without really laughing I
had learned.

“What?” My brow furrowed as my hand
wrapped around the marble snugly, and childishly held it behind my back.

“Hm. Later then.” He said nothing
else before doing a complete about face and moved so fast I struggled to keep
up.

We hunted for a few hours. Neither
of us said a word. It was sort of awkward. Phoenix fed a little but it didn’t
take much to satisfy him so he let me finish off his cougar.

Once again I was a complete mess
and Phoenix showed his amusement with a smug smirk as he had stayed perfectly
clean. Sighing, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “This is getting
really embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said
with a grin as he came to sit on the rock next to me. His grin faded as he
looked at me for a long quiet moment.

I sat playing with the large marble.
“What is this thing? Where did you get it?”

“Ah, I found that in a Thracian
village… The day before I was turned. It wasn’t always round. It’s a form of
stroniumtitanate. Those stones don’t break easily so over time I have turned it
into a nearly perfect sphere.” A subtle smile tugged at his mouth.

All I could do was stare at the
stone in shock. I nearly dropped it. Now in the Romanian area, Thracians came
from ancient Carpathian tribes. Quickly I did the math. Between thirty-five-hundred
B.C and sixty-five-hundred B.C. He found this then, the day before he was
turned. I looked to him with wide eyes.

“Yes, you’re correct on the math.”
He smirked at watching my facial expressions change through shock, disbelief
and finally to awe.

“I thought Lara was older than
everyone here?” I finally asked, not sure what else to say.

He snickered lightly and shook his
head. “No, that would be me. I make everyone else here look like pups.”

“And I thought Damien was old when
I first found out. That’s- wow…” Phoenix laughed again. “So that means there
are Vampires even older than that?” I shuddered to think of how old the first
Vampire must be and wondered if they were even still around.

“Yes, there are.” His eyes narrowed
slightly as he looked away from me. Again a cutoff point. People hated sharing
secrets with me no matter how much they had all learned about me. Especially
Damien and Phoenix. It was so frustrating!

“Don’t worry. When the time comes,
I’ll tell you more.” He looked at me for a long quiet moment. “Right now there’s
something else I want to teach you. It’s incredibly important, but I don’t know
how difficult it will be to learn. I’ve never taught anyone before.”

“What is it?” I sat playing with
the marble as I watched him.

“You need to learn to shield
yourself mentally.” His eyes watched me closely as I sat toying with the large
sparkling sphere.

“This is about what Damien did, isn’t
it?” Phoenix nodded solemnly. Of course he knew. I wondered how much he knew.

“I know how you feel about Damien,
but you need to know how to stop it, and keep it from happening in the first
place.” My brow lifted as I stopped playing with the marble and stared at
Phoenix who boldly stared back.

“You know how to do what he did,
don’t you?” Phoenix seemed surprised but he nodded after a moment. “But no one
else knows what you’re capable of to the full extent do they?” He shook his
head. “It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone.”

“I know you won’t.”

We sat there quietly for a minute
while I stared down at the sphere. “It felt like someone was tearing me apart
physically from the inside out.” He sighed, looking down finally. “It’s okay. I
can do stuff like that too now. Well sort of.”

His brow lifted as he looked back
at me. “Explain.”

“I don’t mean like you guys. I’m
different,” my voice had turned mocking and bitter. Freak amongst freaks.

Phoenix gave a stern glare. I shook
my head and continued. First reminding him about the strange event with the mountain
lion. “I did it with Damien, too. He seemed pretty upset at the end though. I
mean I didn’t just read his mind it was different. With Damien it was like I
was a part of him. I could control him.”

“You controlled a Vampire?” Phoenix
whispered. I nodded, still ignorant to the meaning of that. “How? What did you
make him do?”

“Well I wasn’t really sure if I
could. But when I controlled his memories I got a little carried away.” I
chewed idly on my lower lip remembering it.

“What did you make him do?” The
memory of Damien’s hands wrapped around my own. The last memory of him fighting
with someone. Then all of the bones in my hands breaking. Each bone had nearly
exploded from the pressure.

“So that’s how your hands got
broken so badly.” Phoenix shuddered visibly as he stared down at my hands. “But
you can’t hear all thoughts.” He stated it not as a question so I just shook my
head. He looked at me. “You can’t hear me now, can you?” Another head shake no.
“Are you even trying?” he mocked.

Shooting a glare at him, I shoved
him back with my hand. “Don’t be mean! I do try.”

Laughing it off he steered us back
to the conversation. “What was it like?”

“It was like I almost became a part
of them. I took a hold of their will completely. But it’s not the same thing
Damien did.”

“That’s very impressive.” He seemed
thoughtful but he wasn’t about to share. “Why didn’t you try it with Paul?”

My brows lift in confusion. “It is?
Didn’t seem like I did very well to me. And I just didn’t have the energy left
after Damien.”

“Practice makes perfect.” He smiled
slightly, eyeing my hands as his brow pinched together. “Things have been hard
on you it seems. Today more than most. How do they feel now? They seem better.”

I shrugged carelessly. My hands
flexed and clinched carefully. The blood had done the job. They were fully
healed. “Thanks for taking me out. I know it’s a pain how much I have to feed.”

“Not at all.” He looked back up to
me with that small smile. He meant it. “Thought it might be time I switch over
to rabbits, so you don’t run out of game,” he teased. Smiling almost shyly, I
looked away.

I wondered what had changed to make
him hate me so much that first day to being such a close friend to me now. I
really couldn’t imagine being here without him. “I
never
hated you,
Anna.”
Damned mind readers!
He chuckled.

“Well anyway. I want to show you a
few techniques that should help you learn how to block people out. Then you don’t
have to worry so much about us damned mind readers.” The comment was meant to
be casual and joking but somehow it didn’t seem that way. “Come on, let’s
begin. When we’re done, there’s something more I think you need to know about.”

Phoenix finally returned with
Lianna nearly a day later. No one had said a word to either of them as they arrived
back to the house.

Jezabell had spent probably an hour
herself pacing outside of Phoenix’s bedroom waiting to get the gumption to go
in. Eventually the door swung open. He glared down at her knowingly. “Well are
you going to come in or not?”

Certainly there was no reason to
hide why she was there. He knew. Maybe not in detail though. It was hard to say
with Phoenix. Not even Jezabell knew what all he was capable of despite how
long she had known him.

So why was she stalling? Because
she loved him and when you love someone so dearly it’s hard to ask them to risk
their life for your own convenience. Which is what this was really, and they
both knew it.

Walking into the room slowly behind
him, she looked around curiously. “You should really let Lara and I redecorate
this room.” Idle chit chat seemed to make this much worse.

Phoenix’s brow rose as he eyed her
with a look of un-amused contempt.
Okay fine. Get on with it,
Jezabell
thought to herself.
“So you know why I’m here then... Of course you do
why do I bother asking anymore?”

She sighed, looking to the floor
for a time as she gathered her strength to continue. He had hardly spoken two
words since she had come to his room to speak with him.

“I’ve kept your secrets, Phoenix.
You know this, surely.” He said nothing. They both knew she was lying.

“You’re the only one who even has a
chance at speaking with her about this. I don’t want a war. I just want to be
left in peace with my family. Certainly you understand that?” Again nothing.
She was beginning to get frustrated with the silence and it showed in her tone.

“Besides what else could she want
aside from you? You’re the only one that has a real history with her!” Jezabell
folded her arms tightly. She was pouting now which she hated doing, but she
just couldn’t help it.

“All the more reason for me to
avoid her.” He stared at her intensely. Phoenix was well known for how vicious,
uncaring and cold he could be. Though tonight it was an act. He cared. He was
furious. She could feel it in the atmosphere his anger was so strong, and his
eyes were so bright.

“I know you don’t like this. But
this is about our family, Phoenix, or you know I would protect you with all
that I have!” Jezabell pleaded but before she could continue he gave her a
proverbial slap in the face.

“I have never needed nor have I
ever asked for your protection,” his voice grew harder, cutting her to the bone
with his words. “In fact I believe many a time over it has been the other way
around. Hasn’t it, Jezabell? You think you control everything about this House,
but you will do well to realize that you do not control me.”

“I don’t know what she wants with
Damien and the girl. She’s just a New Blood. She’s worthless to one as ancient
as Nekayla. Phoenix, you’re the only one who could possibly learn what this is
about!”

Something pushed him to near
breaking point. She couldn’t be sure of what had done it. “Never presume
anything, Jezabell,” his tone grew sharper as his eyes narrowed.

Of course she couldn’t help but
wonder what he had meant by that. What all did her brother know about this that
he was refusing to tell her? “
Please,
Phoenix, I am only asking for your
help. Consider this for me, Phoenix, please. I don’t want to lose my family.”

“Ahh. Sacrifice one to save the
herd as they say.” That was painful to hear. Jezabell’s mouth dropped, but his
hand came up to silence her. “Don’t, Jezabell.” He kept his hand up as he
thought to himself. “Maya would be wiser to reach out to than Nekayla.” He sighed,
turning his back to her and running his hand through his hair.

He was beginning to give in. The
sisters were closely knit. What belonged to one on some scale belonged to them
all. Maya was his maker, and strangely he was her only blood child. She would
heed him well. She always had. Jezabell moved towards him but he quickly
stepped back from her. “I said don’t. I’ll do it. Just leave me be.”

Turning his back on her, he stepped
over to his stereo and turned up the music until she could only be heard in
thought.

Phoenix was done with her. She had
won, truly she had. But what had she lost in the battle, she wondered.

Swift and silent Jezabell left
Phoenix to his own. Her mind wondered cautiously over the severity of their
conversation as she hurried to return to Lara.

Lara was waiting of course. She
always knew when anyone came looking for her, but their connection was well
beyond simple precognition.

They were soul mates. Fated to one
another.

“Hello, my love.” Lara smiled
softly as she laid a book in her lap looking up to greet Jezabell. She felt
blessed every time she looked upon Lara’s smile.

“Hello, my sweet. Is the book good?”
Jezabell slid onto the large cherry blossom pink love seat curling up close to
Lara automatically.

“It is. Dark Wood, it’s about a
girl and her dragon. I’ll read it to you later.” She laid the book on the table
next to the couch before turning back to Jezabell to wrap her slender arms
around her warmly. “I take it she’s been sent your message?”

“Yes.” Jezabell sighed, laying her
head on Lara’s shoulder. Laura leaned her head against Jezabell’s. An arm
wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close. “Tell me he’ll be all right.”

“I can’t see. He doesn’t want me to
anymore.”