The Ravana Clan Vampires: a Young Adult Paranormal Romance (Complete Series)

by E. M. Moore

  How did this happen? Not that I didn’t understand that something like this could happen, but in this world, the good men lived and the bad ones died. In the real world, good people died all the time, but not in this one. Not in the one I fought for. What was this world coming to when things like this happened?

  Stephan said something else to me, but I only saw his lips move. I couldn’t concentrate enough to actually hear what he said. It was too tough to latch onto the present, mainly because I didn’t want to.

  Samuel was dead. And we now had two more fights—at the very least.

  A shroud of reality pressed down on the shields I didn’t even know existed. It cracked my armor. It shook my core.

  “That wasn’t supposed to happen,” I said.

  Soren blinked at me. “No, it wasn’t.”

  14

  Flashbacks.

  Even though I was young, I still remember my mother’s funeral. The somber church music, an organ’s loud notes of impending doom. The way the church looked like a vast, empty wasteland, too big for my little self.

  A representative of the state brought me. There were exactly five people in the church. Me, my escort, the priest, and two people who sat in the back who I’d never seen before. Even at that age, I kind of just thought they’d wandered in by accident and stayed because they felt bad someone had died and no one cared enough to show up.

  The truth was, there was no one to care. No father. No other family. No best friends. And so I wept silently, hot tears tracking down my pink cheeks while the woman from the state with the black stockings sat like a rigid dummy next to me. She wasn’t unpleasant, but she wasn’t the warm and cozy type either. She was there to do her job, which she did, and straight to the letter.

  That was nothing like what was happening now.

  Samuel Rajyvik, respected head of the Ravana Clan’s guard training facility, was mourned by many. I didn’t know many of these people, but at least there were people to commiserate with. The ones they couldn’t fit inside the Council room stood outside, hands joined as if the whole clan was in unity tonight. Not even the fights had brought us together as much as this sad event had. In our sadness, we connected. In our shared grief, we came together as one unit.

  Even though I stood staring at the Rajyvik coat of arms draped over Samuel’s casket, the events of the last few hours still didn’t seem real. Samuel had won. He’d beat his opponent. The Dumont Clan cheated. They took more than just a win away from us, they took a good soul. They took a man with a family, a man who had an integral position within the clan, and the way this world ran. A man who was respected and looked up to by many—especially me.

  I swallowed the sudden onslaught of feelings as they threatened to take me away. I’d been so selfish lately. Pissed off at not just Zeke, but those who’d made the decision to not let me fight. It wasn’t just the last words I’d said to Samuel that bothered me, it was my last thoughts, too. They proved just how selfish I was. Me, me, me. Why Zeke over me? Why wouldn’t they send me in? I recognized I wanted all those things for good reason, but Samuel was absolutely right when he said the decision had been made and I should’ve made the best of it. I should’ve taken on the duties of helping the others without another damn thought about myself. But I didn’t.

  My gut twisted. And to think that was Samuel’s last impression of me. Not the strong warrior he’d intended to nurture, but a selfish, spoiled brat who, amongst everything else going on, including her instructor’s own training for his upcoming fight, demanded to know why she hadn’t been sent in. But no, not only that. I’d also had the gall to tell him he was wrong. Because that’s what everyone wanted to hear right before they were about to fight for their lives.

  Connor put his arm around me and pulled me close until we were hip to hip. He was like my shadow these past few hours. I swear he had a sixth sense about the emotions my body had. Every time my thoughts started to swirl, he’d give me a gentle touch, a warm smile, something to pull me back in. He was like a beacon of light. One I didn’t deserve.

  How was I going to make this up to everyone?

  Even Zeke. He was right to call me out yesterday. I should’ve jumped at the chance to help him. Other thoughts aside, he was the one who was putting his life on the line. In a couple days, even as early as tomorrow, I could be standing in this exact same spot at his funeral. They were giving the ultimate sacrifice, not me. I needed to wrangle my pride in, stuff it in a box, and only reopen it when this awful mess was over. I’d have to make an attempt tomorrow to help him. No matter what. Even if he called me a blood whore again, I’d have to grin and bear it. Just because he didn’t like me didn’t mean he deserved to die.

  My throat started to close and my eyes watered. Not because I was going to cry. Oddly enough, I couldn’t. My eyes were just dry and tired from not blinking as I stared at the Rajyvik coat of arms, that fierce dragon. That was Samuel. He’d fought that way too. He’d been amazing. He’d done everything right, and he certainly didn’t deserve to just be gone. He’d won.

  A figure stepped into my line of sight, taking away the view of the dragon. I worked my way up to the face and swallowed when I saw Samuel’s sister standing there. She held her hands clasped in front of her and before she could even ask for quiet, the room silenced anyway. “Thank you,” she said.

  Connor reached for my hand and entwined our fingers. I squeezed him back.

  Up at the front of the room, Natalie stood stoically. She rose just a little above us all on the raised dais in the Council room. They’d been able to rearrange the room for the viewing until Samuel’s family could take him home again. She glanced back at the casket which was flanked on either side by flickering candles. “I just wanted to say that Samuel loved what he did. He was honored to have been chosen to fight for this clan, and if he had to cease this life, he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He enjoyed training the new guards, but more than that, he enjoyed the fight. He wasn’t done with this life, but he would be proud that he left it as a winner, and with honor.”

  Her voice started to crack as she struggled for words. Alex, her newly-turned husband, reached for her hand. She took it and he helped her down the step to return to her family.

  I didn’t know why I’d found it so odd Samuel was chosen to fight to begin with. He obviously knew what he was doing. He’d been training the new guards for years and stayed in good shape throughout. He wasn’t just good at teaching guardianship, he was good at it as well. Maybe he was like Nicolai. Destined to stay on the sidelines with the current rules when all he really wanted to do was get out there and do it himself. If that was the case, I felt sorry for him.

  Connor tightened his grip around my hand. “Samuel was a boxer, you know.”

  I blinked. “A boxer?”

  He nodded, a smile growing on his face. “His parents—human parents—started him when he was young. He grew up in a rough neighborhood and they thought it would be good for him to learn how to protect himself. It turns out they were right. His parents were murdered and that’s when the Rajyvik’s found him. He was an orphan so they took him in. When you think about it, it was kind of meant to be. Rajyvik needed someone to take over the training facility and here was this kid who needed a home who already had the drive to fight and the skills to back it up.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to process everything. Samuel had been an orphan—like me. To Connor, I said, “That’s why he was using his fists a lot during the fight. It felt like a brawl out there.” I looked up at him and half-smiled. “Now I know why.”

  Squeezing my shoulder, Connor said, “He was a good guy.”

  Nodding, I looked ahead again. Through the gaggle of people, I saw Christian lean down and give Samuel’s sister a hug before spotting Connor and I. He moved toward us afterward, his face somber. When he reached us, he brushed a thumb down my cheek. “How are you holding up?”

  I shrugged. It didn’t matter how I felt. “How’s Natalie?”

&nb
sp; “As good as can be expected, I think.”

  Naturally. Funerals were awkward. There were no right things to say. “Will she take over guard training now that…?” I didn’t want to even finish the question considering what it meant. Beyond that, it hardly seemed likely because she’d given up her class to Christian just this year.

  Christian looked back over his shoulder. “She’ll have to. The duty falls on her now.”

  I looked past Christian to Natalie’s slight, yet strong frame. I hadn’t met her very many times, but the times I had, I didn’t get the same impression of her that Samuel gave off. She didn’t seem like the type that would like to run The Fort. What she really wanted was a family and to be a mom. It was odd to see her so pale and drawn like she was now. She’d looked so happy during the party to celebrate her bringing her child into the vampire world. “I hope if she doesn’t want to take it over that your father won’t make her. She should be able to do whatever she wants.”

  Christian’s lips tilted up as he stared at me. He cocked his head and then shook it. “I agree,” he said, even though he sounded surprised. “It’s always been that the Rajyvik’s handle the guard training, but I suppose after all this, if Natalie doesn’t want to, why should we make her?”

  I nodded my head once. It only seemed appropriate to me that someone who actually wanted to train the guards should do it. Otherwise, the training would be sub-par. We needed someone with heart, someone who lived and breathed it. Someone just like Samuel Rajyvik. “What happens now?” I asked, looking up at Christian and Connor. “I mean, about the next fights…”

  Christian rubbed his cheek. “This doesn’t change anything. We didn’t give them any time to mourn their fallen warrior so tomorrow will happen just like today. The Rajyvik’s have said they’ll wait to return Samuel home until after this is all done. Lex is already in the training rooms. She only stopped by for a little while to pay her respects. Rajyvik has even said that the best way to honor Samuel is to defeat the Dumont Clan.”

  A hot flash shook my body quickly followed by a cold burst. They were absolutely right. The fights hadn’t changed. The goal certainly hadn’t either. If anything, it only secured the outcome we needed in my mind. Someone who trained his fighter to cheat and to win at any costs, even when they had lost, definitely did not deserve to be in power. They needed to be stopped.

  Connor placed my hair behind my ear. “You want to go to the training rooms now, don’t you?”

  My hands turned to fists. “If I can help in any way...”

  “You are a marvel, Princess. I know you’re thinking Samuel must have been disappointed in you, but that’s just not possible. No one could be.” I started to shake my head, but he grabbed hold of my wrist and squeezed. “I’m not fooling around. Months ago, you didn’t even know this world existed, so whatever you give us is an added bonus. Not many people would’ve been able to do what you’ve already done, and continue to do.”

  I heard what he said, but to me, it didn’t matter. I could’ve done more. I knew it. We all knew it. Because of that, I felt like a failure. It was all about the clan, not the individual people within the clan.

  I nodded as if I agreed with him and then all three of us made our way out of the large room. Once in the empty hallway, we turned toward the training wing. That’s where I could make the most difference. It didn’t do good to dwell on what happened to Samuel right now. Mourning him wouldn’t bring him back, but we could let his death stand for something. We could win the rest of the fights, and give him back the world he loved.

  15

  Hours later, I left the training room in a sweaty mess. Out of all the hours I’d spent in a room like that, those were the most intense. No one spoke. There didn’t seem to be any real training plan, just guards wailing on focus mitts and heavy bags, and throwing weapons as hard and as fast as they could.

  Believe it or not, it helped. Focusing on technique and training was like a balm to the soul after Samuel’s death. We sweat out the feelings. We trained in the way he showed us. The whole time, his words played in the back of my head, reminding me how to hold the focus mitts while Lex punched and kicked them. He told me how to help her just like he’d helped me through the transition into this life from my old one. I felt closer to him in training than I ever did in that Council room with his coat of arms draped over the casket. That wasn’t to say others wouldn’t have appreciated that way more. Training was just how I knew Samuel, and to be doing what he taught me to do, felt like he was still here. It felt like he was still rooting us on. All of us.

  Just before midnight, Lex told me she needed to get some sleep, but wanted my help tomorrow as well. We said goodbye to one another in the hallway as I crept up the stairs and she lingered down a side tunnel. Christian and Connor had left a long time ago, but to be honest, I wasn’t even sure when. I barely even looked up the whole evening. I just remembered seeing them and then not seeing them. It was one of those instances where time was infinite and impossible to pin down. For all I knew, they could be asleep up here.

  But no. I walked in and my vampire princes looked up as if I’d startled them. It was virtually impossible for a human to surprise a vampire because even when we were trying to be stealthy, we were basically clumsy messes. On top of that, I could say with one-hundred percent certainty that I wasn’t even trying to control my tired body as I brought it up the stairs and to my room where I knew my princes would be waiting. Something else was going on.

  Nicolai stood over Stephan. In the split second before they noticed I was there, I saw them scowling at one another. I narrowed my eyes, and Nicolai quickly stepped back. Too late. “What’s going on?” I asked them both. Peering over at Stephan, I frowned, worried for him.

  He shook his head and forced a smile to his face. “Nothing. We were just waiting for you to get back from training. How did it go?”

  I shrugged, still wary of his too bright voice. “Fine.” Though training had been more than fine, and I was still filled with adrenaline and on a workout high, he wouldn’t understand so I didn’t bother to go into detail about how laser focused we all were tonight. Besides, I knew they were keeping something from me. Gazing at them all and feeling the heavy cloud in the room, I walked further in. “What’s going on here? You guys seem tense.” Connor stood and tried to make his way over to me. I dodged him, and held my hand out. “Oh no, pretty boy. There will be no distracting right now.”

  He smirked. “I just wanted to give you a hello hug.”

  “A hello hug?” I pulled my drenched black t-shirt away from my body and let it go. It went straight back to being suctioned to my skin. “I don’t believe you.”

  “I think he was actually going to push you in the shower,” Nic said, the corner of his mouth tilting up.

  “Believe me, I’m heading that way, but only after you all tell me what’s going on.”

  Christian stepped forward. He took my arms and then turned me around toward the bathroom door. He placed a soft kiss on the top of my head as he steered me away. “We just have a few more things to discuss. We’ll be done by the time you get out. I promise we’ll talk then.”

  He led me into the middle of the bathroom and then I felt the press of his body heat leave. When I turned, the bathroom door was closing, and I watched as it clicked home. I blinked, staring at the door as if I could see my four princes on the other side. It was quiet, at least from what my human ears could hear. I really hoped they weren’t fighting. Right now, we needed one another and the support of each and every one of us.

  The door cracked open and Connor’s honey-colored head appeared. I took a step forward and he smiled. “It’s okay, Princess. Really. Take your shower.”

  He disappeared and shut the door again while I was still in mid-stride. Realizing there was no way they were going to let me hear whatever was happening right now, I resigned myself to just running through different thoughts in my head while under the hot spray of the shower. My muscles were tired, over
used. I hoped Lex and Zeke would be fine tomorrow and the intense training stint we had wouldn’t have any negative effects on whichever one of them fought. I looked down and watched as the discarded bubbles of soap swirled around the drain and retreated. Even though I wanted to hear what they were discussing/arguing, it felt good to be under the firm pressure of the shower head. It was like a massage into my skin, working out all the day’s troubles.

  However, curiosity got the better of me before too long. I squeezed out the excess water from my hair and stepped down onto the bath rug after turning the water off. Still no sounds came from the other side of the door, so I toweled off and put a brush through my hair. Miraculously, a pair of sweats and a t-shirt had shown up on the closed toilet lid so I put them on before opening the door to the bathroom and walking back into the room.

  The princes’ lengthy bodies were strewn all over my bed in our usual fashion. All that waited for them was me. I picked up the pace and crawled into the opening Nicolai left me with by raising his feet. I settled into place and immediately, four hands touched me. One on my calf. One on my hip. One on my shoulder. And one prince entwined their fingers with mine. I looked over to find Stephan staring at me. “Are you okay, Ariana?”

  I nodded into the pillow, digging myself down deeper. I mouthed, Are you?, and he nodded once too. To all of them, I asked, “So, what did I walk in on earlier? You’d think you guys would be stealthier if you didn’t want me finding out. You are vampires, you know.”

  Connor chuckled, but it was Christian who answered in that same serious, deep voice I remembered from the first time I met him. “We weren’t going to keep it from you, Ariana. Some of us were…passionate in discussing some things so we didn’t hear you come in.”

  “By some of us, he means all of us,” Connor said.

  I patted the hand that squeezed my hip and smiled.

  “The thing is, Ri,” Nic started. “After what happened today, we’ve decided to make plans about how best to go about this if we should lose. Soren has already told you to get out as soon as possible, and we’re all in favor of that advice.”