The Surien Series Blood Guardian

The Surien Series

Blood Guardian

By

Mindy Majors

This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The Surien Series

Blood Guardian

Copyright 2015

Mindy Stock

All rights reserved.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my friends and family for putting up with me through all of this. I could not have accomplished any of it without their love and support.  I would like to thank Teresa for inspiring me to chase my dream. I want to thank Marlene (aka BBE), Kay (aka Mom), and Jennifer (aka my “seestor”), because without their editing skills this entire book would be one giant run-on sentence. Thank you Robert for listening to me vent, and always believing in me, even when I didn’t. And last, but definitely not least, I dedicate this book to my amazing sons Jaysin and Sean. My life would have no meaning without you. You are my heart, my soul, my reason for being. My love for you knows no bounds.

HOW DOES ONE BECOME A VAMPIRE GOD?

After overthrowing their father Cronus, the gods divided the world among themselves, each receiving a portion to rule. Hades drew the underworld, Zeus received the skies, and Poseidon became ruler of the sea, and with it Atlantis and its people. When Poseidon arrived to evacuate the city, however, he became quite taken with the king’s daughter. He took the princess as his wife. She bore him five sets of twin boys. Each of them was given their own section to rule. The Atlanteans lived peacefully for generations, but over time things began to change. The rulers of Atlantis had become corrupt, its people divided. While some of the people of Atlantis were enticed by power and greed, others were dissatisfied with the way things were changing. They longed for the days when Atlantis was a simple and peace-loving place. Some blamed the humans, stating that marriage between a god and a mortal was an abomination. Others knew that the gods were to blame for allowing themselves to become drunk with power. Unfortunately, they could do nothing to change their situation, as the Atlantean rulers were too powerful and corrupt to be reasoned with. When Zeus saw the immorality of the Atlantean people, he called on the other gods to determine what should be done. It was agreed upon that Atlantis would sink to the bottom of the sea. Poseidon knew that the Atlantean gods and half-gods would be safe, but their human loved ones would not. Poseidon blamed the humans, he felt that it was their flawed thinking and irrational human emotion that had corrupted the Atlantean gods, and therefore refused to spare them. When the island sank, the humans drowned. Some of the gods and goddesses left Atlantis but most were too devastated by the loss of their human friends and family so they remained on the island, mourning their loss. They blamed Poseidon for the loss of their human loved ones, and their hatred for him grew more intense with the passing of each day. Poseidon could not understand why they blamed him for something that was clearly their own fault, and the fault of the humans. Although he was perfectly capable of raising Atlantis from the bottom of the sea, he was not willing to incur the wrath of his brother Zeus; instead, he placed a protective barrier around the entire city and restored it to its former beauty. The barrier served two purposes; to keep the water out, and to make the city invisible so that it could never be found. As a means of cheering his people up, Poseidon also sent them his finest horse, a stunningly beautiful creature, white in color with mane of pure gold, and silver hooves. The Atlantean people were offended by his gift, thinking him insensitive for assuming that a horse could make up for the deaths of all of their loved ones. The knowledge that he could have saved their humans by putting up the barrier sooner only made them hate Poseidon more.  Angered by his actions, they drained the blood of the horse and put it in a wine bottle. They then made a beautiful chalice of pure gold from its mane and sent these gifts to Poseidon and waited, giving him time to drink the “wine.” Three days passed and they sent a parchment with lettering of pure silver made from the horse's hooves, assuring Poseidon that he was not now, nor would he ever be, forgiven. When Poseidon read the letter he was so enraged that he placed a curse on his people. For draining the blood of his horse and tricking him into drinking it, they were cursed to lose their blood within three days, and would be forced to drink the blood of another to stay alive. For cutting the golden mane, they could never again feel the warmth of the golden sun on their skin. And for grinding the hooves to make the letter, the touch of silver would burn their flesh from the bone. Some of the Atlanteans refused to drink blood and they died within three days, the others drank from each other and only took what they needed. As time went by, the people of Atlantis began to leave their underwater home, traveling under cover of darkness. While most of the Atlantean people remained peaceful and only took enough blood to survive, a small group of others surrendered to their bloodlust, brazenly feeding off the innocent, draining every last drop of their blood and killing them. The stories began to spread and these ruthless Atlantean gods were called devils, demons or witches, and eventually the more widely known term vampire. When Zeus found out what some of the Atlanteans were up to, he warned Poseidon that he would turn them all to dust if it did not stop. Poseidon told Zeus to do as he wished. Athena, appalled by Poseidon’s cold indifference toward his own people, offered to take care of the situation. Zeus agreed to his daughter’s request. Athena then formed a group of Atlantean gods to hunt down and eliminate the fallen members of their race. She named them suriens, the Atlantean term for protector/defender.

CHAPTER 1

She could feel his breath on her face. He was so close their lips almost touched. 

“Why are you doing this?” Her voice sounded strange even to her.

“Because you are weak,” he snarled in disgust.

“It's not difficult to kill someone who's half your size and completely defenseless,” she snarled back. “Sounds to me like you're the one who's weak.”

She knew he would make her regret those words.

His eyes turned black, as an evil grin spread across his face. She felt his fingers tighten around her throat. She fought the urge to panic as she struggled to take a breath.

“I can feel the blood coursing through your veins.” His voice had changed; it was much softer now, the hatred replaced by what sounded like longing and envy, but the hunger never left his eyes. He leaned in closer, his lips brushing against her ear. “The beating of your heart gives you away,” he whispered, “you fear me, you despise me, yet you cannot hide your desire.”

As if against her will, she leaned her head to the side, exposing her neck. He pressed hard against her as he slid his tongue across her supple skin. She felt the heat rush through her body. She wanted him, wanted to touch him, taste him, feel him. She cursed herself for being aroused by a soulless monster whose only pleasure lay in taking her life. What is wrong with me, she thought; how could I be attracted to such a cold-blooded murderer? Panic rose in her throat, she could barely breathe. A million thoughts and images rushed through her brain as she fought to find a way out of this horrific nightmare, and then her thoughts were ripped away at the piercing of her skin. She could hear the sickening sound of cartilage popping as he sank his fangs into her throat.

The sound of her own screams woke her from this nightmare, the sheets twisted around her legs, her body dripping with sweat. It was not uncommon for Symarah to dream of vampires, she had in fact been dreaming of them since her vacation to Cadiz. She had always been inexplicably drawn to Spain and to Cadiz and its surrounding areas in particular, so when she finally had the chance to go on a real vacation she grabbed her bags and her best friend and headed off to Spain for two whole weeks. It was the most amazing time of her life. The beaches were beautiful, the scenery was breathtaking, and the shops were a delight. One shop in particular stood out, and although neither Symarah nor her best friend Kassaundra cared much for shopping, they both fell in love with it and spent more of their hard-earned money there than they cared to admit. It was a quaint little shop on Plaza Candelaria, called Noumeina. It was there that she found the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. It was a silver chain with the most hauntingly beautiful pendant, in the shape of a four-point star. She had no idea what the gem was made of but it was the most gorgeous shade of blue imaginable. The shop owner had retrieved it from the back room especially for her, saying “It was made for you dear, it matches your eyes.”  She gave Symarah the necklace, refusing to take any money for it. Symarah didn't feel right taking the necklace without paying, but the shop owner insisted. She put the necklace on immediately and that very night she had the first of many strange dreams that all centered around one vampire in particular, a very mysterious man with a very intriguing life, so intriguing in fact that she decided to write a book, which quickly turned into a movie deal. She still could not believe how much her life had changed because of those dreams. This dream was different though; it was not about the same man. This was a different vampire, an evil man who took great
pleasure in causing others pain. None of her other dreams had frightened her, they were good dreams, kind of like watching an action film or TV series, but not this one. This dream quite frankly scared the hell out of her. It seemed so real. She remembered every detail vividly. He was tall with stringy blonde hair. His skin was very pale and he was painfully thin. His eyes were dark gray but they turned jet black when he was angry, which she imagined was most of the time. She even remembered his name, Vaiden. “Why can’t I remember the good guy and forget the bad one?” she scolded herself. God knows she had tried to remember him. Dane; that was the name she had given him in her book. She knew it wasn’t quite right but it was the best she could do. The only description she could come up with was that he was tall with dark skin, thin but muscular, with long black hair, and the most amazing eyes. She remembered being mesmerized by those eyes in her dreams. Some nights she couldn’t wait to fall asleep so that she could see him again. In her dreams she could see him clearly but upon waking, his image immediately became hazy and unclear. She wished she could say the same for this new dream. She would prefer not to remember all the frightening details of the nightmare. She was still shaken by how real everything felt. She could still feel his breath on her face, his long fingers digging into her throat, his fangs piercing
her skin.

BEEP!!! BEEP!!! BEEP!!!

Symarah nearly jumped out of her skin when the alarm clock went off. Pull yourself together girl, it was just a dream, she thought, and laughed at herself as she hit the alarm and headed for the shower.

Daire stared absently into the fire, lost in his own thoughts. He read the e-mail for the third time since he received it five days previous:

“Hello old friend, I pray this message finds you in good health. I apologize for my lack of manners but there is little time for pleasantries. It is urgent that I discuss this matter with you in person right away. You can expect my arrival within the week.

Jareth.”

It had been a very long time since Daire had heard from Jareth. He couldn’t imagine what could be so urgent that his oldest friend would travel all the way from England. Jareth was a creature of habit and didn’t exactly keep up with the times so he didn’t have a cell phone, and Daire was forced to wait and worry.

“Never let a vampire sneak up on you, have I taught you nothing?”

Daire turned to face his friend. “You look well Jareth.”

“And you look confused, am I not supposed to be well?” Jareth grinned.

“Your e-mail suggested otherwise, I was concerned.”

“Ah, my cryptic e-mail. I apologize for all the secrecy but I have a new housemaid and I’m not yet certain she can be trusted. I have something I think you should see.”

Jareth handed Daire a book. On the cover was a full moon over a black sea and the title read “Blood Guardian,” by Symarah Stratford.

“A vampire book?” Daire shook his head. “No thanks, I don’t believe in vampires,” he grinned, “besides, these things are so unrealistic.” 

“How so?” Jareth asked, amused by the look of distaste on his friend’s face. “I mean we can’t walk in sunlight without turning to dust, we do have to drink blood to stay alive, and we are damn near impossible to kill. Sounds pretty accurate to me.”

“What about that turning into a bat bullshit?” Daire argued.

“Well, we can turn into anything or anyone we want so technically...”

“Why the hell would anyone want to turn into a freaking bat, and what about this garlic thing; why would an immortal being be afraid of garlic?”

“You’ve obviously never experienced garlic breath, it’s enough to scare anyone away man or beast,” Jareth joked. Daire hadn’t realized how much he had missed Jareth’s sense of humor. “Besides, I think you’ll find this book to be quite accurate, it’s about you.”

Daire touched the book's cover and instantly knew its contents, one of the many perks of being an Atlantean god.  A look of utter disbelief spread across his handsome face. The book was indeed about him, about his life, a small part of it anyway, and it was completely accurate right down to the last detail, except for his name.

“Dane,” Daire said in disgust, “what kind of name is that; why would she choose to change my name and not change anything else?” Daire stared at the book in shock. Who was this woman and how did she know so much about him? “Do you think she’s eindao?” Daire asked, using the Atlantean term for half-human, half-god.

“None that I’ve ever seen,” Jareth replied.

Daire was confused. “How can someone I’ve never met know so much about me, about my life?”

“I don’t know, but unless you’d like to see your whole life story up on the silver screen for the whole world to see, I suggest you go to her and find out what she knows and why.”

“Silver screen? This is a book not a movie,” Daire reminded his friend.

“Yes, but this is a movie,” Jareth said, handing him a DVD with the same cover as the book.

Daire could not believe his eyes. This situation was getting worse by the minute.

“I did an internet search and found out that she lives in Sarasota, Florida.”

“Since when do you do internet searches, or send e-mails for that matter,” Daire questioned, “you don’t even have a cell phone.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures my friend. I have a home in Sarasota, we can use that if you’d like.”

Daire didn’t want to drag Jareth into this, especially when he had no idea what he was dealing with. “I’ll be traveling alone Jareth.”

 “Like hell you will!” Jareth snapped, “I’m going with you.”

“I’ll not lead you into danger,” Daire argued.

“And I’ll not let you face that danger alone; besides, there’s nothing you can do to stop me so why are we even having this discussion?”

“You’re too damn stubborn for your own good old man.” Daire knew there was no point in arguing with him once Jareth made up his mind. “Fine, but once we get there let me handle this on my own and if I get into trouble I’ll call for you, agreed?”

“Agreed, but just know that if you’re in any trouble I will know whether you call to me or not, Dane.” Jareth used the name from the book, knowing that his friend didn’t like it. Daire scowled at him. “What’s wrong, don’t you
like your new name?” Jareth teased.

“No, it sounds like something you’d name your dog. Do I look like a fucking dog?” Daire asked.

Jareth smirked at Daire, but before he could open his mouth Daire stopped him. “Don’t answer that,” he warned.

“Well, we best get going if we intend to be there by sunrise. We need to deal with this now before Athena gets wind of it or we’ll both be in the dog house.” Jareth patted his leg, whistled and said “C’mon Dane, here boy.” Daire suppressed the urge to laugh as he strode past his smart-ass friend.