Blood Torn

by Karice Bolton

  I pulled my brows together. “You’ve been having many somebodies trying to kill you, from the sounds of it.”

  “Psh. Whatever.”

  “Violet, I saw all the scars on you. A lot of them were old. You’ve been getting bitten . . . a lot.” I pressed my lips together and looked at the row of fae sitting at the bar. “And I don’t think it’s the first time you’ve almost died.”

  She shrugged. “It’s only happened twice. I’ve learned my lesson.”

  “Have you, though?”

  “Totally. It’s not worth it.”

  “What’s not worth it? Trying to turn? Trying to die?”

  “Ivy, I’m not trying to die. I’m trying to live. I want to be a vampire. I feel like a vampire. I certainly don’t feel like a witch.”

  I sat stunned at hearing her admission.

  She narrowed her eyes on me. “Well, do you feel like a witch?”

  “No, I never really have . . .” I drew a breath. “Until recently.”

  Silence sat between us for a few minutes.

  “Actually, that’s not true. Even with what’s been happening, I don’t feel like a sorceress at all. I don’t feel like I belong anywhere.”

  My confession seemed to leave Violet speechless.

  “What you’ve always told me about my skills . . .” My voice trailed off.

  “Yeah?” she prompted.

  “You were right. I just didn’t know how to use them or what they meant.”

  Violet nodded sympathetically.

  “But we’re twins. If I have them, you probably do too.”

  Violet shook her head. “I heard from a friend today that there was a crazy intense storm in Raven Ward, which is unusual because the sky usually just stays a nice shade of gloomy all day, every day.”

  I squirmed in the booth. “You don’t say.”

  “Kind of like that night at the bar.” Violet’s eyes stayed on mine. “Don’t run from this gift.”

  “It’s not a gift. Everyone keeps saying it’s a gift.” I shuddered. “It’s a curse.”

  “It’s only a curse if that’s how you use it.” She sucked on her bottom lip and looked up to the ceiling. “Why did our parents have to die? We really got the short end of the stick being raised by Grandma.”

  “She did her best.” I suddenly felt very protective about her. “She didn’t have to raise us, but she did.”

  Until she was almost ninety, she was by our side.

  “Her best wasn’t good enough. Look at us. I’m trying to get chewed on by random vampires, and you’re busy running away from vampires and your calling.”

  “I wouldn’t say it’s a calling.”

  Violet looked directly at me. “You made the earth shake, Ivy.”

  “Who said that was me?”

  She flashed a wicked grin. “If I had even half of your strength, I’d scare a vampire into turning me in a heartbeat.”

  “But what if . . .” I thought best how to say it. “What if you hate being a vampire and then you’re stuck being one forever?”

  She shook her head. “I won’t hate it.”

  “I’m not sure I’d love it.” I shivered, thinking back to the photos. “I mean, do you really want to drain someone?”

  “Of course not. But that’s part of it. And now with transfusions . . .” She shrugged. “If I can just get over the initial craving, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  Violet always oversimplified life, but I suppose that was easier. There were days when I’d give anything not to overthink even the simplest of chores or life’s decisions.

  “And if you can’t? How would you justify killing an innocent person?”

  “I guess I’d just have to find some not-so-innocent people.”

  She had a point, and I had to laugh. “I guess our thirties might really be quite the decade.”

  Violet laughed, and I saw a genuine smile that I hadn’t seen in years. It felt amazing to have this light moment between us, even if it only lasted a minute.

  “You done with your pasta?” I asked, looking at her half-eaten plate of noodles.

  “All done.”

  “Let’s go spend some quality time touring the Dove Ward.” I grinned, leaving some cash on the table. “Have you been here before?”

  She sighed as I pulled her from the booth. “No, and it looks like a snooze fest.”

  I would be the first to admit the ward had a very calming atmosphere.

  Rolling fog canvassed the low hills, and cobblestone paths wound through the small streets where little houses with thatched roofs peeked in between bustling storefronts and market stands.

  We stepped out of the pub onto the sidewalk, and my sister turned to me.

  She wiggled her brows. “If nothing else, I bet you can get a good massage here. Get some stones placed on your back.”

  I laughed. “It does seem like one big spa, doesn’t it?”

  My sister snickered. “We just need some new-age music to start drifting down the streets, and I’m game.”

  I looked at my sister, thinking back to all the amazing times we’d shared when we were younger. When things weren’t so complicated and misguided desires weren’t calling to us from all directions.

  Glancing over my sister’s shoulder, I smiled, unable to believe what I was seeing.

  “What?” My sister’s hands flew to her waist.

  She was still in Christy’s too-small clothes, and the look made me grin with her capri pants and belly shirt. Thankfully, my sister had a good figure, and it almost looked like she did it on purpose. Not that I should judge much. I was still dressed in one of Fuchsia’s cloaks.

  Violet turned around to see several white peacocks walking toward us, all with their tail feathers fanned wide open.

  “You don’t see that every day.” I stood next to my sister and reached for her hand. “I think it’s a sign.”

  “A sign of what?” My sister glanced at me.

  “Unity. That we’re going to make it, together.”

  My sister’s gaze steadied on mine, and she nodded. “I like that. To unity. To us.”

  I grinned. “We’ll figure everything out.”

  “We just have to not get killed by your boyfriend’s boss first.”

  I shivered at the reference. “He’s not my boyfriend. I’d never be with a vampire.”

  “Don’t be so quick to judge.”

  I dropped my gaze to the peacocks as they strutted around us on their way to I don’t know where.

  “Violet, you didn’t see the photos I saw of Carter. They were . . .” I swallowed down my disgust. “They were gruesome and unlike the Carter I’ve grown to—” I stopped myself.

  “You’ve grown to what?” Carter’s voice wrapped around me, and my breath hitched as Violet let go of my hand and stepped away.

  “Violet, you’re not going anywhere,” I snapped, ignoring Carter.

  “I’ll just be over there with Christy on the sidewalk.”

  I scowled at my sister and refused to turn toward Carter.

  “Ivy, I know what you saw in the album, and I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. It’s obviously who you are as a vampire.” I shrugged. “It’s why I don’t like them.”

  “It’s not who I am, Ivy. It’s why I left Raven Ward. I wasn’t that person.”

  “Vampire,” I corrected, and Carter let out a low laugh.

  “Right, vampire.” His hand settled on my shoulder, and I froze.

  His pull wound around me, but I fought it with every ounce of my being.

  I refused to be tricked.

  “I had a low point in my life.” He sighed. “Well, I’ve had many. It’s been a long life, but I’m ashamed of what you saw. I’m ashamed of who I was.”

  I let out a slow breath and turned. “How do you know you won’t become that again?”

  The images of Carter draining his victims plagued me as I struggled to look into his eyes. Fuchsia was right there next to him, curling her
arms around him as he completed the acts. The thought sickened me. It was as if he were showing off for the camera.

  “I am a vampire,” Carter said softly. “I drink blood to survive.”

  My gaze flashed to his and all the disgust slowly trickled away.

  “But how I behaved, how I flaunted it . . .” He shook his head. “I’m not proud of it.”

  “You shouldn’t be.”

  “The bright side is that as a vampire ages, the hunger subsides. We need less blood to survive.”

  I laughed. “Always a silver lining.”

  Carter smiled. “Hey, I’ve got to grab onto something here.”

  “I’ve been able to compartmentalize so much. I’ve been able to work you into my framework—”

  He interrupted. “Maybe as something I’m not. I am a vampire. I might not fit cleanly into your world.”

  “You haven’t made sense since the first night I saw you,” I whispered. “You calmed the storm I’d called that night. I just didn’t want to admit it.”

  “That you called a storm or that I calmed it?” he asked, touching my chin.

  “Probably both,” I confessed.

  He nodded, his brilliant lavender eyes staying on mine. “But today, I caused you to call the storm.”

  “And calmed it.” I looked into his eyes, noticing his gaze falling to my lips.

  The closer he moved to me, the harder it was to breathe.

  I’d wanted to stay mad at him, pretend he wasn’t everything I’d thought about since I’d met him.

  But I couldn’t. Not when I looked into his eyes—his kind eyes.

  I believed he was a different man now. He was a changed man

  “Ivy, what are we going to do?” he whispered.

  “I don’t know, but whatever it is, I don’t feel like it’s going to be easy.”

  He nodded and glanced over my shoulder, pulling me into his arms. “We seem to have an audience.”

  “Should we give them a show?” I whispered, leaning into him.

  “It would be my pleasure.”

  Carter Voss bent down and touched his lips to mine, the feeling sending me out of this world.

  And I realized that was what Carter Voss did for me.

  He allowed me to dream of another way of existing.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Carter

  I watched Ivy as she and her sister marched into another boutique on the main street of the Dove Ward. They’d found some new clothes that fit them better and were truly enjoying themselves. It was nice to see them as sisters.

  Christy leaned her head against my shoulder as we waited on the sidewalk.

  “I told you Ivy would forgive you.” Christy patted my back. “It just took confessing the truth.”

  “That I’m an ass?”

  Christy chuckled. “No. That you’re a vampire. Deep down, that’s what you are, and she has to remember that if this thing between you two is going to work out.”

  “It’s not like that’s all I am,” I teased. “I have feelings, emotions.”

  Christy nodded and sat up. “Sure you do.”

  “Are you going to tell her who you are?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “You mean that I was assigned to her? No.”

  “I meant that you’re not just half pixie.”

  She turned her gaze to the store. “Half pixie is true.”

  “It’s a bit misleading. I mean, saying ‘I’m half pixie’ implies that you’re half pixie and half mortal.”

  Christy scowled. “It shouldn’t matter.”

  “No, but secrets get dirty.”

  She spun around, tapping her foot. “Well, I bet we could open up your secret chest and make things dirty real quick.”

  “Geez.” I laughed. “I’m just saying you’re already hiding some pretty big news from her. The other is bound to come out, especially when we confront Lux.”

  “I don’t plan on her being around for that.”

  “We can’t keep her in the dark. Not to mention her skills could be really helpful.”

  Christy shook her head. “Not on my watch.”

  “I’m just saying that it might be a good idea to mention it to her. She didn’t care much for vampires. My guess is that demons could be in the same realm of—”

  “She’s coming around, though, isn’t she?”

  I laughed. “So, you’re waiting for her to fall in love with a vampire so a demon best friend doesn’t sound so bad?”

  “I’m half pixie.”

  “You’re very complicated.”

  Christy flashed a wicked grin. “I think we all are.”

  I nodded. “I think you’re right about that.”

  Ivy and Violet came tumbling out of the store carrying more bags and laughing like their lives depended on it.

  And maybe they did. Maybe that was precisely what we needed to carry us the rest of the way.

  To confront Lux and his legion of followers.

  All I knew was that when I looked at Ivy, I felt in my bones that all was right with the world, my world.

  I no longer felt like a lost soul.

  She gave me purpose.

  “I’m starving,” Violet announced, leaning into her sister.

  “Me too,” Ivy agreed.

  “I’m always down for some chow.” Christy rubbed her belly and shot me an evil eye simultaneously. “There’s a burger spot across the way.”

  “Sounds perfect.” Ivy nodded, letting go of her sister.

  “So, you’re down for eating a slaughtered cow, but—”

  Ivy’s hand flew to my face. “I’d stop right there. I wouldn’t go that route.”

  I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, probably not a great comparison.”

  We walked into the restaurant and found a table near the window looking onto a garden. The Dove Ward was nice, a little dull for the most part, which after this morning worked for me.

  Ivy and Violet sat across from Christy and me. A hostess brought us our menus and the quiet of the moment was wonderful.

  It was like we had this little reprieve before our world changed. It would take some time before the messenger got to Lux. We had a little time to prepare for what was to come.

  But now?

  Now, we could enjoy just existing.

  “I’m having the blue cheese burger,” Christy announced, sliding her menu to the end of the table.

  “I’m having the mushroom burger,” Violet informed us.

  “Western burger for me.”

  Everyone turned their attention to me. “Should I pretend?”

  Ivy smiled. “Actually, yeah. If you had to eat three meals a day, what burger would you choose?”

  I glanced at the menu. “I don’t know. Maybe the breakfast burger.”

  Violet cringed, and Ivy grinned, slapping the table.

  Christy jumped, and I chuckled.

  “I almost got that one.”

  “Not too late to change,” I joked.

  The server took everyone’s orders, and I couldn’t help but absorb how normal this moment was. It had been so long since I’d experienced normalcy.

  When running with a crew of vampires, going from hive to hive, gathering a legion, and running missions, life was anything but normal.

  Life gets skewed.

  Priorities get distorted.

  “I’m not trying to be the downer of the group, but I think we should talk about our situation.” Christy glanced at each of us. “There isn’t really anyone around. Seems like it might be a good time?”

  Ivy and Violet traded a secret glance, and I stiffened, wondering what they’d already devised before we’d arrived.

  “I’m sorry for the upheaval I caused back in Raven,” Ivy started. “I’m sure it brought more attention to our being in the realm.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for.” Christy smiled. “It helped us, actually.”

  Ivy shook her head. “Helped you?”

  That was when I realized she had abs
olutely no idea what had transpired while she was in her trance. She was worried she’d drawn them to us, not realizing Lux’s crew had already found us.

  I nodded. “Yeah. Lux sent a more seasoned crew than last time. They arrived about the same time as the storm. It definitely worked in our favor. Gave me more time to dispose of them.”

  Christy cleared her throat.

  “And Christy too.”

  “Thank you for that, Carter.” Christy rolled her eyes.

  “Well, come on. I’ll admit that at the house you scared them all away, but here, I really did take care of most of them.”

  Christy cocked her head slightly. “You’re telling me you didn’t need my help with the last two? It looked like a pretty dicey situation to me.”

  I laughed. “I was only getting started, by the way.”

  Christy smiled and playfully punched my arm.

  “But I’m grateful for your appearance. It made the afternoon easier.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, Carter.”

  I laughed, knowing full well that Christy helped get me out alive.

  “In all seriousness, he did send some good ones, and by the time I’d gotten to the last two, it was rough. Christy certainly sent a message to Lux, loud and clear.”

  Christy grinned. “I think you did too. We only left one alive to be the messenger.”

  “Were they looking for all of us?” Ivy asked.

  I nodded. “Without a doubt. They knew Christy was a pixie, so that message had been relayed since their last adventure.”

  “Are vampires afraid of pixies?” Violet asked.

  “Cautious,” I corrected. “We respect their magic. The smart ones are afraid.”

  Ivy snickered, and I brought my gaze to hers.

  “Are there that many smart ones, though?” Ivy’s eyes connected with mine.

  Christy chuckled, and I knew I’d found my match.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Ivy continued. “If they know we’re in the realm, then it’s not safe to be here for long.”

  I nodded in agreement. “I’d say we have another day at the most before we need to leave.”

  “But where are we going to go?” Violet asked. “We can’t stay on the run forever.”

  “No. We need to take care of the problem.”

  “Lux,” Violet corrected. “Lux seems to be the main problem.”