Rising Son (The Juliana Lucio Series) (16 page)

What in the world were we going to do?

And was the traitor someone we already knew?

I had so many questions running through my mind that I couldn’t concentrate on the rest of the night; luckily, it seemed to be pretty non-eventful compared to the first half. William didn’t say much either and just sat by my side nodding at the right time, and saying the obligatory, “yes, sure, no problem.” The four of us eventually began to leave with plans to meet up again in the next few nights. I couldn’t help but feel a huge amount of relief as we neared the door upon our exit. Ana and Victoria had just walked out leaving William and I inside.

“Gloria?” Michael called after me halting my escape.

“Yes?” I tu
r
ned halfway around to face him, not really sure what I would find.

I was partially expecting to see the monster with his face twisted in a maniacal rage, blood still spattered across his cheeks. Instead I saw the deceiving brown eyes of a man who looked ready to feed the homeless, a man whose full soft lips looked like they could send you to oblivion and beyond. This was the seductive face of an angel that had undoubtedly caused countless women to fall
,
at least the women who hadn’t seen the demon inside. Michael took several long strides over to me, and gently ran his fingertips along the side on my face. He had a lot of nerve to be doing this with William standing by my side.

“I’m sorry you had to see that tonight, that isn’t how I normally behave, but she must understand that I protect those I trust. And I trust you.” He lifted my hand an
d kissed my knuckles once again.
“Have a good night; I’ll see you again soon.”

I didn’t say anything in return and William nudged me out the door and to his bike wh
ere we quickly jumped on and sp
ed down the interstate. He was quickly and easily topping speeds over 120 mph and taking corners sharply. I could feel the anger radiating off him like it was heat from a stove. I didn’t know what to say to get him to slow down, to have him stop so we could talk. I just held onto him tighter and pressed my cheek into his back knowing that he would eventually take us home.

We got there a little over an hour later, but William’s anger hadn’t abated any
,
if anything it seemed to be worse. We pulled into the drive of the house and Ana and Victoria were standing outside apparently waiting for us. William skidded to a
stop and I jumped off the bike
and came around to look at William. His eyes were completely blackened over, his fangs were fully revealed at length and he had a feral look to him. He was gripping the throttle of the bike so firmly I could hear it bending. His eyes didn’t seem to be focused on anything.

“William? Are you okay?”

He still wouldn’t look at me; he tightened his grip at the sound of my voice snapping the throttle completely off the bike, and tossing it on the ground.

“You are not going back there. You will not be going near
him
again.” His voice was so guttural that it sounded nothing like him, he sounded like an animal that had suddenly found its voice.

“William, look at me. What’s going on?”

Ana started walking slowly towards us and came to stand next to me. She shot her eyes to Victoria who did the same. They were each standing on either side of me and slowly began lowering their fangs, who did they think they needed to protect me from? William?

“What’s going on? Someone talk to me!”

“In William’s mind you belong to him, you’re his. Another vampire challenged that tonight and you didn’t do anything to say otherwise. It would appear that he’s a little upset about it at the moment. We should just let him kill you and make all our lives a little easier,” Victoria answered me in that snotty way of hers.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything tonight.”

William jumped off the bike and stormed into the garage leaving me standing outside with Ana and Victoria. He wouldn’t even look at me. I could hear things bei
ng thrown around and metal scra
ping across metal from inside the garage.

“Really? Then how come you smell like another vampire,” she said leaning in and smelling my cheek where Michael brushed his fingers along it, “and you taste like one,” she said running her tongue along my knuckles where he kissed me, “and you committed the greatest sin a vampire can commit . . .” she started saying, but was interrupted as the Range Rover went flying through the roof of the garage landing just feet away from us in the grass. William came out of the garage not bothering
to open
the door, but knocking it down as he came through it.

“You let another taste your blood!” William finished for Victoria screaming it into the night air. He looked half-mad
;
his hands were in angry fists, he was breathing in heavy pants, his eyes were wide open and in a blackened rage, his fangs long and sharp. His anger and hurt didn’t detract from his beauty, however, and I saw the full extent of how much he loved me coming through. If I could only keep him from killing me first.

“William,” I held up my hands in front of me in a placating gesture and slowly started to walk toward him. Ana put her hand on my shoulder and slowly shook her head no, but I went anyways.

“I didn’t know. I was trying not to blow our cover. I’m sorry, I didn’t know! After what he did to Monica I was scared to death. I couldn’t have said or done anything after that. I love you William, what would you have had me say to him? Anything I could have said would have pissed him off and instead of him going after Monica it would have been me, is that worth the price of your pride?”

This seemed to wake him up and he slowly pulled in his fangs as he looked me over. I was scared I was a mess, but he certainly looked worse off than I did. His eyes shifted back to their gorgeous deep brown and he looked at me with the full depth of his love.

“You could have stopped him.”

“Yes, and I could have ruined everything. I thought you were more secure than that.”

I cocked a seductive smile at him, “You know, I can think of one way to get his scent off of me.”  I turned and started to make my way into the house without waiting for a reply. It didn’t take long for him to catch up to me, and we both made a run for my over-sized shower.

As the water for the shower was running, William and I were shedding our clothes, he pulled me into him for a long sensuous kiss. I didn’t want it to end; it felt so right being in his arms. I didn’t want him to feel challenged by Michael.

“William, about tonight . . .”

“Let’s forget about it, I’m sorry for reacting the way I did.”

“No, it’s just that he took that drop of blood from me. I didn’t give it to him. Ana also
took
my blood from me. You are the only one I have ever freely given my blood to; I want you to realize that means something to me. I love you, and that isn’t going to change.”

“I love you too,” he said leaning down to plant kisses down the column of my neck.

He ran his tongue back up it eliciting shivers from me that I felt all the way to
the center of my being
. I turned my head granting him better access, and whispered into the steamy air from the shower, “Do it, I give it to you.”

He placed one last gentle kiss on my neck before sinking in his fangs, and drinking of my blood freely given.

I woke to the smell of a campfire, which didn’t make sense because I was in my bed wrapped in my blanket. William was gone from my side, which didn’t make sense either considering we had gone to bed together last night. I was really hoping he wasn’t off being jealous again
. I
f he was it was so getting old. I headed downstairs, not bothering to change out of my pajamas to find out what was going
on
.

I found William, Ana and Victoria in the kitchen all standing around looking tense. The smell of burning embers was even stronger the further into the house I got. As I rounded the corner and was able to see the entire kitchen I found Christian sitting at the table leaning over with his head in his hands. I was suddenly filled with alarm at the sight of him looking so distraught.

“What is it? What’s happened?”

My eyes began a roving inspection of him to see if he was injured.

“Are you hurt?” I began patting him down looking for any injuries I couldn’t see.

“Stop it! I’m fine,” he yelled at me pushing my hands off him stopping my futile attempt to figure out what was going on.

“It’s you that
I
should be inspecting for injuries not the other way around,” Christian hastily stood and began pacing the kitchen as he seemed to just be gearing up for his tirade. “Do you have any clue what was going on down here while you slept? Why didn’t you tell me the truth about what I’m really protecting you from? And if Victoria is one of the good guys why did you
attack her last night?
--you could have killed her!”

Christian stopped abruptly and touched the small barely
discernible
scar on Victoria’s breast bone; it wouldn’t even be visible in the next hour. He obviously felt very comfortable touching her and it had my mother’s instincts on full alert.

“How do you know she didn’t already have that scar Christian?” I asked him cocking my head to the side. “And for a 16-year-old kid that’s an awfully intimate place for you to be touching, don’t you think?”

“I am not a kid
,
I turn 17 next week. If I can save your life
, all
of your lives
,
then you should at least be willing to admit that I am no longer your little boy. And I know she doesn’t have a scar there because I have
seen
it before—all of it.”

William, Ana and Victoria all took a small step backward
.
I was sure I heard an ‘oh shit’ come from one of them, but right then I couldn’t say from who. Christian, however, held true to form and was not going to back down.

I stayed where I was unmoving turning only my head to look at Victoria. I don’t know what all she and Christian had done together, and I didn’t want to, but it was apparently more than a goodnight kiss. I still hadn’t uttered a sound, just stared into her eyes as I struggled inwardly not
to
tear her to shreds for corrupting my son. Tie into that the vampire drive to protect and kill—I was honestly amazed she was still standing. I’m pretty sure she realized it along with everyone else in the room because no one moved or said another word. The only thing I could hear as I tried to calm my overreacting instincts was Christian’s heartbeat increasing the longer I stood there staring at Victoria.

“Mom?” Christian whispered. “I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry.
Victoria told me what happened,
that—that’s how I knew about the scar.”

I ignored him. Still looking at Victoria and not trusting myself to move
,
yet I did finally spe
ak
, “Do you remember what I said about staying away from him?”

Victoria for once just nodded instead of coming back with a smart reply.

“I meant it.”

I looked back at Christian, “What’s this about saving our lives?”

“Um, your eyes look really scary like that.” I was assuming he meant they had turned black.

“Just be glad your girlfriend is still standing, now talk.”

“Okay, okay try to chill a little will you?”

I closed my eyes and took a few relaxing breaths trying to calm myself down. I had a feeling he didn’t have good news to share with us and I was too excited already. I felt William come stand behind me and I began to feel better just having him near.

“Start talking Christian.”

“Well, we had all planned on meeting tonight for some more training right and William had given me a key to the place, and Dad was on my case all day so I told him I got called into work early; I came here to hang until you guys were up. I didn’t do anything I swear! I didn’t know where you guys slept and if it involves coffins it kinda freaks me out a little. I really didn’t want to find out, so I was mostly chillin’ in the library and kitchen, which why don’t you have any food—that really sucks.”

“Christian, get to the point,” Ana spit out at him.

“Alright, so I hear a noise that sounded like it was coming from outside, but I couldn’t figure out how to get the door to open up again once I came in, all the windows have shutters on them so I couldn’t see outside. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I tried the underground passage. Sorry about all the books, I had to pull on a few until I got the right one; but I started to smell smoke.”

“Christian, you refused to tell us what was going on until you saw your mother, now tell us what it was.”

I think William was at the end of his rope.

“Some guy had started the garage on fire. He was trying to get the house to light, but it wouldn’t catch. Hey did you know there’s a Range Rover in the yard?”

“A fi
re, are you okay? I knew I smelled
something as soon as I woke up.”

“I’m fine, the guy saw me coming for him and ran off. I didn’t catch him. It was either chase him or try to put out the fire. Someone must have called the fire department because they showed up just as my fire extinguisher ran out. The fire didn’t spread past the side of the garage. I told the fire fighters I was house sitting and I’d let the owners know what happened. They pretty much soaked everything with foam and water to keep it from spreading. It’s a mess in there.”

None of us really knew what to say or think for that matter; someone had just tried to kill us while we slept. William was the first to break the silence as he held out his hand to Christian.

“Thanks m
an, you really did save our lives tonight.”

“Nah, it’s cool.”

Ana and Victoria each gave their own pats on the back and Christian pulled me to him for a hug. “I love you, babe are you sure you’re okay?”

“Aw, Ma, I told you I was
. W
ould you leave it alone already?
”

Ana was smiling to herself as I mauled Christian.

“Who do you guys think it was?” Christian asked us.

“The Council.”

“The Coven.”

“Monica.”

We all answered at the same time.

“Well doesn’t that suck.”

“What?”

“That they all have a reason to want you dead.”

None of us had a response for that, but my money was riding on Monica. After what Michael had done to her because of me I was sure we’d find singe marks on at least one human working for her. Ana and
Victoria
began having their own debate on who they thought it was and I started feeling the whispering of spider’s legs brushing on the back of my neck. I was intimately familiar with this sensation; it meant another vampire was near. I looked around to see if the others had noticed but they didn’t seem to react, yet. Except I had to stop and give Christian a closer look, he was brushing his hand across his neck trying unsuccessfully to brush something away. He’s sensing vampires without realizing it.

Just as I was about to mention the approaching vampire signature Ana lifted her head, “Martin’s here already?”

“What’s going on Ana? Why is Martin here at all?”

They all started flashing around the room in a blur making it orderly for their boss, putting the books back, straightening the chairs. I didn’t move an inch from where I st
ood
in front of Christian.

“Christian,” I hissed grabbing his attention
,
“if something happens you can trust William and Ana. If you must run, grab your Dad and brother and hide. Run during the day and hide at night.”

“Mom, nothing is going to happen. Trust me.”

“Trust you? You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, I have to disagree with that. This must be Christian Lucio
.
I’ve anxiously wait
ed
to meet the young Day Guardian.”

We turned to see Martin Harris standing before us. He was wearing a dark grey pristine suit and his small stature did nothing to diminish his intimidating presence. The darkness of his skin made the effects of the vampire paleness less noticeable, making him look exceptionally human.

Christian stood up and walked around me toward Martin. I shot my arm out taking hold of Christian’s preventing him from going any further and stepped in front of him blocking Martin’s access to him.

“What’s this Juliana?” Martin said tilting his head to the side, “don’t you trust me?”

I didn’t respond.

A brief spark of anger showed across his face, but just as quickly as it showed it disappeared.

“Why are you hiding behind your mother, young Christian? I thought the duty we ass
igned you was as your mother’s G
uardian
. Y
ou can’t do that if you are hiding behind her like a
little
whelp.”

“I’m not cowering behind anyone,” Christian stepped out from behind me and I again moved in front of him.

“What brings you Mr. Harris?”

“You seem to have f
orgotten your place, Mrs. Lucio.
I am the one who will be asking questions.”

I looked at Christian, “It’s time to go.”

“He stays. This was an all or nothing deal or do you wish us to revoke our protection?”

“You know I don’t.”

“Then stop acting as if everyone is your enemy and start treating him like a member of your team, and that
is
an order.”

This time Martin was the one throwing daggers with his eyes
,
he wasn’t going to budge on Christian
stay
ing.

“Jules, back down
. W
e can trust him and Christian just proved that we need him.”

“You heard what Michael said about a traitor
. T
hen just before he shows we almost burn to death? You expect me to believe that’s a coincidence?”

“Yes, I do,” William snapped at me, “unless you’d like to believe that murdering, human- trafficking bastard over me.”

“Trouble in paradise,” Martin mocked.

I was so tense and on edge I felt like I was about to snap, I could feel my fangs starting to descend.

“Ah, yes, this entire operation is depending on the control of one unstable newborn whose desire to protect puts everyone around her in danger.”

This sobered me up making me realize how my behavior must have looked to everyone else in the room. Victoria walked past me to sit on the couch, curling her feet underneath her once again fitting her dual image of the 17-year-old girl. I turned to face the rest of the room to see Christian moving to sit on the couch casting considering looks Victoria’s way. William and Ana hadn’t strayed from my side, my ever-present guard, except after Martin’s remark I began to wonder if it was me they were protecting or everyone else.

“We received your report about the spy within the Council. If information is being leaked we need to know who is doing it. Juliana, you need to start compelling them for information it’s the only way we can be sure of the truth.”

“I can’t compel--”

“Enough! We know you can compel other vampires and it’s about time you put it to use.”

“Michael said he was the only one who knew the identity,” Ana started.

“Then that narrows down who she needs to talk to doesn’t it. You will get that info any way you can I don’t care what you have to do. There is another reason I came tonight, but first why does your house smell like a bloody campfire?”

“Someone tried to burn it down today while we slept, Christian was here and got it put out.”

“Then I suggest you learn to trust him, Mrs. Lucio, because he is going to be going undercover with you.”

I couldn’t speak. I was trying to fight back acting like an unstable newborn and embarrassing myself again.

“He isn’t ready,” William told him for me. If I hadn’t love
d
him before I would now.

“Then as
h
is trainer you need to make him ready because he will be going with you.” Martin looked over at Christian, “Sebastian wants you to gather as much intel as you can. We agree that you can be most helpful in this. Humans are always overlooked and merely brushed aside
. T
hey won’t think twice about talking in front of you as you won’t be worthy of their notice.”