by Tamara White
Contents
Taken by Blood
Acknowledgments
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Epilogue
Afternote
Stalk me!
Books By Tamara White
Taken by Blood
Blood Series Book 3
© 2019 Tamara White
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Cover Design done by Manuela Serra
Editing done by Jess Rousseau @ Elemental Editing
Editing done by Rachel Mowry
Created with Vellum
Acknowledgments
This book is dedicated to my husband. I’ve had many bad days on the journey to finishing this book, but with his ongoing support, I finally finished. Thanks for all the love and support babe. xx
I’d also like to thank my wonderful readers for their love while I worked through multiple books. You guys are what makes these books awesome! Thank you for every book you read.
One
Emptiness
Emerald
My gaunt reflection mocks me and I debate whether I should just stay in here. As if hearing my internal thought, Britt yells from the bedroom, “Mer, you get your moping ass out here now! I’ll use my magic to break down the door. Don’t think I won’t do it!” I know she means it too.
I sigh, looking down at my pale pink dress and feel nothing but emptiness inside me. I’m not happy, not sad, just... empty. That’s just how it’s been for the past two weeks.
After Britt found the guys and me at the safe house with our soul-ties destroyed, it wasn’t long before her husbands arrived, with my parents coming shortly after. When my mother saw me, I couldn’t stop my tears from flowing freely. It was like a dam broke and all my feelings overwhelmed me.
My guys were filled with the same soul-crushing pain, so they could do nothing to help me, even if they wanted to. I went back to the coven with everyone, but had no clue what to do next. I withdrew into myself, unable to face the reality that without the soul-ties, the guys would eventually leave me. After all, what reason did they have to stay?
I remained in our quarters for a full day before my mother intervened, taking me from the guys and explaining that I needed time away from them to come to terms with everything. Neither the guys nor I argued, but during our time apart, the doubt became suffocating. I stayed with my mother and father for only a few nights. They tried to talk to me, to tell me things would be okay, but the loss of my soul-ties was just so crushing I couldn’t see past all the negatives to a hopeful future.
The only saving grace was seeing my markings in the mirror. Granted, they were so pale that you couldn’t see them unless you were up close, but having them still on my skin it made it easier to entertain the thought that I might be able to somehow get those ties back.
After days of listening to my mother trying, and failing, to put a positive spin on my lack of soul-ties, I finally snapped. And by snap, I mean caused rage-induced mayhem. I shifted into my beast, who led me out of the coven, breaking down all doors or obstacles in our path until we finally made it out and into the bright light of day.
Talon heard the commotion and followed. He called after me, trying to entice me to return, but I just couldn’t be in there any longer. I had to escape, so I ran.
It wasn’t until I found myself running to Lincoln that I realized what I needed. I needed to feel a connection with someone, something, to help me reaffirm there was a reason to exist.
He didn’t say anything when I arrived, just stripped down and shifted into his beautiful white wolf. We spent the day running around, and it was exactly what I needed. Being my beast gave me a sense of freedom and let me hide from the pain that was destroying me.
After a few hours with Linc’s wolf, I went back to the coven and went straight to our room. I shifted back to my human form, but felt all the negativity immediately start seeping back in.
Britt came looking for me shortly after I returned. She stormed her way through the room until she found me in a ball on one of the guys’ beds, with tears streaming down my face. At the look on my face, she cracked and a sob broke free. Then she climbed up on the mattress with me, clinging to me for dear life.
She cried her heart out, apologizing over and over that she hadn’t been able to protect me from being hurt so badly.
We wept together for a long time, until we had no more tears to shed. Then, I reminded Britt that she couldn’t protect me from everything. What happened was already done and I just had to learn how to cope with it.
When she left that day, it was only because Blaine insisted that she leave me be. After they left, I went and took a shower by myself, the guys having not returned from whatever it was they were doing. They still had patrol shifts, despite what had happened, but the difference was I no longer wanted to leave with them. I had no desire to tag along and be treated like an invalid again because of our lack of soul-ties.
A sudden banging on the bathroom door startles me and I jump, clutching a hand to my chest as my heart races. I got so absorbed in thoughts from the past couple of weeks and everything that has happened, I forgot where I was and what was happening tonight.
The knocking reminds me that Britt is outside the door, waiting for me to step out and show her the gown I’m wearing. Nik, Talon, and Dev are also on the other side of that door, which brings my anxiety rushing forth, all my worries rising to the surface.
What if the ties were the only thing that had kept them around? What if they didn’t want to stay with me anymore? Then came the worst of my thoughts. What if they got hurt trying to protect me? If what Britt’s mother told me is true, then I can be killed, which means they can too. Yes, they’ve survived this long without getting hurt, but even so, my overwhelming fear of it happening consumes me.
Britt bangs on the door again and I think back to our talk a few days ago, although the term talk is a bit generous, considering it was just her ranting at me to stop cutting everyone out of my life. She said it’s important to feel something, even if it hurts, but that’s not true. I need to feel nothing. It’s the only way I can cope, because to feel the pain of the guys’ loss is too much to bear.
That night, after my breakdown, I built a wall around my heart. I had to keep the guys at arms length so they wouldn’t be hurt when the next attack happened. Because anot
her attack would happen, of that I was sure. After all, they got what they wanted—me vulnerable. Now it was a matter of figuring out just who it was on my own. It’s better this way. No one can get hurt but me.
I take in a shaky breath, stuffing my anxiety down deep, knowing I don’t have time for it tonight. I open the bathroom door, meeting my best friend’s worried gaze with nothing but a dead stare. She should be used to my sadness by now, but tears still well in her eyes when she takes in my blank expression. As much as I want to let the wall around my heart down, I just can’t. I have to be strong or I’ll never make it through tonight.
Britt grasps my shoulders, squeezing until it’s just on the edge of pain. “Honey, you need to snap out of this. Your soul-ties are out there, waiting for you. They’re still here! You keep acting like they’re dead and gone, but they fucking aren’t! They are on the other side of this door, holding it together the best they can. But if you keep doing this shit, pushing them away like this, then you really will be alone.” Her words make sense, but I keep my walls up, afraid of letting that pain in. “Fine! You want to keep pretending none of this is killing you, then be my guest, but don’t come crying to me when those three leave because you treated them, the people who love you, like absolute shit.”
I stay silent, unable to muster the energy to reply. I know she’s right and I want nothing more than to go out there and just collapse into my guys’ arms, but it feels like the wrong thing to do. Like they would reject me if I did.
After glaring at me for a moment, she sighs in defeat and loops her arm through mine. She drags me out of the bedroom and into the outer room, where I see my guys are waiting, dressed in stylish tuxes.
Tonight is the meeting my parents called to bring my former pack up on charges for their attack on me. After everything that happened with Jeremy, they couldn’t let the issue lie anymore. It’s not just my pack that’s going to be there. There will be other packs, vamp covens, and witch covens from all around the world. Or at the very least, representatives from each.
All I know is we’re going to some property on the outskirts of St. Louis, which a human blood donor happens to rent out. The coven has paid him a handsome fee, and in exchange we are allowed to use his land to hold the meeting. Apparently, the witches will use their magic to seal the area from view of any humans passing by.
According to my mother, they started planning this meeting after my father called my dad and told him of Jeremy’s betrayal. My dad thought it would be good to make it clear to everyone who I am and my position, so as to hopefully limit future attacks. But I have this feeling in my gut that it won’t turn out that way.
Still, I knew my mother wanted to warn the supernatural world what the consequences would be for anyone messing with her daughter, but I just didn’t care. So when she told me about the meeting, I nodded and went along with the whole plan, which is how I came to be standing here in this dress. Apparently pale pink makes me seem like less of a threat than the vibrant red dress I had been eyeing, but I didn’t have it in me to fight for it. This dress, however, just makes me feel delicate and meek. I look like a human teenager going to prom, not like I’m going to some meeting where supernaturals are supposed to respect me.
I shake my head, clearing it of the thoughts that are drowning me. Talon takes a step away from Nik and Dev to come closer, but I instinctively take a few steps back, dragging Britt with me.
Anytime they touch me, it almost shatters my resolve to keep myself closed off. But I need to. I can’t risk them being hurt. I still sleep in their beds, which is hard enough, but we no longer snuggle in a big puppy pile. No, now I just crawl into a bed, alternating between them each night. We huddle together, if you could even call it that. In reality, I just lay on my side with one of their arms wrapped around my middle and stare blankly at the wall or at the others in their beds until sleep finally takes me.
I know the guys are struggling with my behavior, but I have no idea how else to protect them. The only thing I can think of is to push them away. They may hurt for a while, but then they could find a vampire girl of their own to settle down and have children with. I come with too much drama and pain.
Talon’s eyes harden in anger at my retreat and he turns his determined gaze on Britt. “Leave us alone for a minute.”
She nods, extracting herself from me while I try to cling to her arm. If I’m alone with them while I’m in this state, I’m worried I won’t be strong enough to keep them out.
Once Britt has left, leaving me in the room with Talon, Nik, and Dev, I begin to fidget uncomfortably, feeling awkward. With the soul-tie in place, it felt natural to be with them, but now it feels forced. I’m not sure if they feel the same way, but I can’t help but think that. I want to be with them so fucking bad, but I’m terrified because of all the doubt suffocating me.
In three quick strides, Talon is looming over me. I flinch, unable to stop myself. I know he’d never hurt me, but after everything lately, I wouldn’t blame him for lashing out. His eyes widen as he looks down at me. “Emerald, I would never hurt you,” he murmurs sadly, lifting my chin to meet his gaze.
I look into those green orbs filled with heartbreak and see the truth of his words. But how do I tell him that I worry he blames me for the soul-tie being gone?
In the first few days of being back, the guys, my parents, my grandparents, and the coven leaders each took their turns asking me if I had ever spilled blood near a witch. It felt like an interrogation each time I was asked, but then the council leaders explained that a spell using my blood was the only true way our soul-ties could have been severed.
The only person who had my blood was Britt, but I wasn’t going to tell anyone that. So I admitted to the coven leaders I had left the coven to kill the wolf that hurt Blaine. I explained that he got a few snaps in, which made me bleed for a moment. However, when they talked to Linc about it, he explained that he had the scene of my kill magically cleaned to prevent anyone from using my blood. That left them at a loss, which is when they started suspecting Britt.
My guys were already suspicious of her for arriving not long after the soul-ties were broken. According to them, she should have already been at the safe house before we got there. When they asked where she was, she gave some flimsy excuse about traffic. That didn’t sit well with them, so Talon went and asked her guys, who told him they took separate cars to the safe house. Talon told Nik, Dev, and me that the guys didn’t understand why they split up, which was something that seemed to bother Blaine the last time I spoke to him. He was very frustrated that he couldn’t think of a valid reason why they split up, especially when he knew he wouldn’t have left her side without a fight.
From the moment that Talon learned there was no concrete alibi for her, he became convinced she had something to do with the destruction of our soul-ties. Not long after, he managed to convince Nik and Dev of the same thing.
I remained convinced it was just a misunderstanding, until they began reiterating that a soul-tie couldn’t be broken without the blood of the central tie, aka me. And after Blaine told Talon that Britt had my blood, well, it became even more convincing that she had something to do with everything that had happened.
I tried to convince my guys that another witch could have acquired my blood from the scene of one of the attacks, but they explained that the magic cleanup crews used fire to remove all traces of blood because of its importance in spells.
Not long after, my mother explained that something like this happened before to my grandmother. Her blood was used in a spell because they didn’t have those safety procedures in place back when she ruled. She almost ended up dying because of such a foolish oversight, so it became required from that point on that the scene be magically cleaned before anything else.
While I trust Britt with my life, I can’t help the small worm of doubt that burrows its way into my mind, especially with how everything was starting to point toward her over anyone else. Still, I refused to believe she w
as the person responsible. I plan to talk to her privately, but the guys have refused to leave me alone with her until they have irrefutable proof she’s not behind the attacks.
The sad thing is that Talon, Nik, and Dev all still seem to trust Britt’s husbands enough to leave me with them while they’re out on patrol, but not Britt. If she was really behind this whole thing in some way, wouldn’t her husbands be in on it too? I have no idea what my guys are thinking, but I just don’t have it in me to fight them on her innocence when their minds are already made up.
And with each day that passes without answers, I feel even more guilty for what has been done, because without my blood, the spell wouldn’t have worked. I lost blood somewhere and that’s all on me.
As I stand here looking up at Talon, I start to feel a little stronger, but still hate myself for getting us into this mess in the first place. “I know you’d never hurt me,” I tell him honestly, before shifting my gaze to Nik and Dev. “Any of you. But I’m just waiting for the day you kick me out of here so you can find someone who wouldn’t cause you so much drama. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t slipped up, and I wouldn’t blame you for wanting me gone because of that.” I try not to let my voice crack with the heartbreak I feel from knowing at any moment they’ll boot me from their lives.