Days of Innocence (The Firsts Book 13)

by C. L. Quinn

  Light lifted from the sea and spread over the villa, most suites now protected from it by thick metal barriers. Resting, the vampires sought their cozy beds, daylight acting almost like a sleep elixir for those with vampire DNA. The tiredness that struck them was bone-deep, and rest an imperative they could not refuse.

  In the early sunlight, ten young people, some wrapped in light sweaters, or with thin blankets over their knees, sat on the benches on the beach in the cool morning air.

  “We’re going,” Eras said, now that they were all assembled. “They don’t understand that we need to do this. If we’re ever to accomplish anything, they need to trust us, and we need to prove that we’re capable. So, who’s with me?”

  “I am. So are Bryson and Caedmon. Those missing kids need help and even though our parents are powerful, they can only search for them after dark. Plus, we can go right away.” Fia smiled, a sly expression in her eyes as she pulled her sweater tighter around her middle to stop a gusty breeze from sliding against bare skin. She wore a bra, but no shirt under the sweater. “Besides, I want to break out of here and go a little ape-shit for a while.”

  “Our parents will be upset.” Cairine paced in front of her seated friends. “I’m in anyway. They’ll forgive us.”

  “We need to steal the jet.” Mac said the one thing that worried everyone. It was one thing to defy a command, it was another to take Koen’s private jet without permission.

  “I know.” Shani pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, taking care with her injured foot.

  Everyone was silent for a few moments. Then Brigitte spoke. “We go anyway.”

  Eras clapped his hands. “Okay, then, pack only what you’re sure you’ll need. Don’t worry about money, my father gave me a credit card with unlimited funds. Of course, he doesn’t expect me to spend anything. He’s really going to be pissed.”

  Brigitte came up behind her brother and slid a hand into his. “We’ll buffer. After all, the four of us outnumber him.”

  Eras snorted. “I wouldn’t take those odds. And yet we’re leaving in twenty. Get your shit together, travelers. We’re flying to South America today!”

  TWO

  IN CALIFORNIA

  “Are we really doing this?” Sally scraped her hair up and slipped an elastic band around it to secure the honey length into a high ponytail. “We’re going to miss the final two weeks of the semester. God, Dr. Meijer is going to be so pissed.”

  “He’ll understand. No one has ever found one of these hybrids. We’ll be the first to do so, and to video and document it. Shit, he’ll freaking knight us if we actually do find them!” Jackson barely looked up from his cell phone as his fingers moved across the screen. “I’m booking a flight for all of us.”

  Jessie grimaced and snapped her fingers at Jackson.

  “They’re not hybrids, Jax. Well, not exactly. They’re supposed to be natural creations, born with both human and animal DNA.”

  “The definition of a hybrid. And the creatures we seek are only hybrids according to legend.” Sally slid down in front of her friends, pulling her legs up beneath her. “But legends are prone to inaccuracies, lies, exaggerations, errors, and, more than anything, manufactured or fear-evolved myth. So we don’t know what to expect. More likely, we’ll find nothing at all. Yet we’d be flying for 8 hours at the end of spring quarter to discover them.”

  “Yes, that is exactly what we’re doing. Because I don’t believe they’re just a myth. My father used to have dreams of them. Of a particular woman he once knew that he said he saw turn into a cat.”

  “Yeah, dreams. And that doesn’t constitute evidence or even a leap of faith.”

  “Still, it’s an adventure. With beer.” Taylor, sitting quietly on the couch, popped the cap off his third bottle of beer since they’d gathered in Sally’s dorm room half an hour ago to discuss this strange trip that Jackson had convinced his three lab partners to take with him.

  Jackson lowered his cell phone and caught Sally’s eyes. “You don’t have to go, Sal. I understand. But I could use you. You’re my xenobiologist.”

  “Not yet, I’m not. And if we get suspended, I never will be.”

  “You’d never get suspended. With your GPA, Meijer would forgive you anything. Come, Sally, please.”

  Sally sighed and looked at the others lounging around her small room, their eyes on hers.

  “All right,” she barked. “I’m in. Even though you don’t have any credible evidence, I trust you Jackson. You have almost preternatural instincts, and you are right about the local legend. It’s pretty compelling. The stories date back centuries about people who can change into animals, and they’re startlingly detailed.”

  A loud knock on her door made her jump. Her eyes shot to the others. “You guys expecting anyone else?”

  Jackson, back on the cell, didn’t look up. “Yeah. Dean O’Connor. We need some muscle. Backup if we get in trouble. We are going to be in a pretty inhospitable place.”

  Dean? Ah, fuck you, Jax, Sally thought. The one man she’d had a crush on for her entire college career. The unattainable hottie that she steered clear of, not that it mattered since he’d never noticed her anyway. Shit!

  Jessie twisted around to look at the door after two more knocks became hard and insistent. “Aren’t you going to let him in? ‘Cause he isn’t going to dematerialize and reintegrate on this side of it.”

  “Jax, why would Dean O’Connor go along with us? He’s a pragmatist. He won’t believe in your mission.”

  “Sal, just let him in.”

  After another few seconds of hesitation, Sally surged up and flipped the lock as soon as she hit the door to swing it wide.

  He took her breath away, just like he did every time she saw him. Sally had decided a long time ago that the gods in all the heavens had made him to her own silent specs for a perfect man. And right now, with him standing at her door, all she wanted to do was claim him and lick him from top to bottom.

  “Um, Dean, hi, come on in.” Articulate, she thought. Great way to impress him. Standing back, she made way for her dream man as he walked into her room, shoving pitch-black hair back. Her eyes went to her bed just ten feet away, the covers still pulled back as they would have been when she rolled out of them this morning. Just one push, she thought, and I could have him in my bed. Good God, I’m pitiful!

  When he spoke, Sally closed her eyes and tried to calm her speeding respiration.

  “Hey, everyone. Jax, got your note. What’s the deal?”

  “Dean-o, step into my lair. I need your help with a little project, and if it goes well, we all stand to blow this university onto the map.”

  Crossing his arms, Dean looked from one earnest face to the next, confused. The faces were all familiar, he’d seen them around, but he didn’t actually know any of them except Jackson.

  The guy with dark spiked hair and a beer bottle in his hand, a Johnny Depp look-a-like, had been in one of his classes last year, and had missed half of them. His professor had told him that the guy had a high I.Q. and would write his own ticket in the world of genetics if he could stop drinking. He knew that the slim girl with carrot red hair and freckles was a protégée in computer science and analytical studies. The blonde with the rack had caught his eye a few times, just in passing on the Quad.

  “All…right. Sounds intriguing. Go on.”

  “We’re heading to an isolated area of South America to find out if legend from the area is true. Word of mouth and some written records claim that there are people who can change from their human forms into animals. Between the four of us in this room, we have all the credentials we need to do this. But we need some protection, and I want to hire you. Look, I know you need money, and it’s a good payday. If nothing else, it’s an all-expense paid adventure in South America.”

  Jackson paused, and slid a hand through his short afro. He could see that Dean was anything but impressed with the job, but he still had one more offer. “Dean, you know th
at if you ever need me, I’ll be there to help you. That alone is worth one week’s commitment. Your security job here at the university will be waiting for you, but what you really need is a computer god who can hack into anything or do whatever you might ever need. I would owe you one. What do you say?”

  Dean knew what Jackson was capable of. In a world where exceptional computer skills could accomplish untold things, having a marker with someone like Jackson might indeed be priceless. The security business he planned was only in the formative stage. Jackson was someone he wanted in his corner. The answer to this cockamamie quest had to be yes.

  “All right. I’ll do it.”

  Jackson shoved his right fist into the air. “Whoop! Whoop! And just like that, Team Legendbusters is born!”

  Sally was shocked that Dean actually agreed. She rolled her eyes. “Legendbusters? I think I just threw up in my mouth.”

  Dean looked at the full-figured girl perched on the back of the couch, his eyes drawn to her mouth as she spoke. Plump lips covered with pale pink gloss and straight white teeth looked too enticing. It was a beautiful mouth.

  He’d noticed her around campus, but never paid a lot of attention. For the past few years, he hadn’t taken time to notice women, his head wrapped around other things. He certainly hadn’t noticed that brilliant smile. And how her pale blue eyes sparkled.

  Stop it, he told himself, you still have no time for distractions. If he was going to get this business up and running in time, there could be nothing or no one that fractured his attention. His eyes continued down her body to assess curves that would definitely fracture his attention.

  Moving his gaze back to Jackson, a much safer choice, he pulled out his cell phone. “Give me your number, the mission and location, the goal, the specs, how many in your group, potential threats, and anything else that may be relevant. I’ll need to prepare. When are we leaving?”

  “The flight leaves LAX at six o’clock tonight.”

  “Tonight? That doesn’t leave much time to prepare.”

  “But you’ll make it, right?”

  His forehead wrinkled, Dean read his number to Jackson, who gave him his own. “Just send me the details. I’ll be there.”

  Nodding, he left the room silently, the door closed behind him before anyone moved.

  “He is like a ghost,” Jessie commented.

  Jackson searched the table in front of his buddy where three empty beer bottles sat, soon to be joined by the one he lifted to his lips. “Taylor, put the beer down. At least until we’re airborne. Go to your room and pack. Remember, just one carry-on. We want to get there without delay. My uncle’s private jet will take us from the airport at El Calafate.”

  Jackson stood and tracked Dean’s path to the door.

  “I’ve texted the flight number, gate, and time of departure to each of you. Remember your I.D. and passport. I’ll pick you up at four. If you miss the van, just get there. I need all of you in Patagonia.”

  Jessie stood and pulled on the tail of her tee shirt, always sensitive about her whiter than white skin. “Guess I’d better go pack. Come on Juicy Fruit.” She grabbed Taylor’s arm and pulled him behind her. “See you in a few hours, Sal.”

  As Sally closed the door, she dropped back against it.

  “For better or worse.” Now she needed to figure out what would fit in a small backpack that would give her what she needed for at least a week. Sighing, she reached for her pack. “What the hell is the temperature in southern South America this time of year?”

  IN SOUTHERN FRANCE

  Cairine watched Caedmon make his way down the final two steps of the stairwell. Marc had installed an elevator for him years ago, but he refused to use it. Each slow step broke her heart, even though she was used to his slow pace. It worried her to take him so far from his comfort zone.

  “Caed…”

  Caedmon cut her off. “No, Cari. Don’t.” He started to wheeze, but when she stepped forward, he put up a hand to stop her in her tracks. When the wheezing subsided, he looked into her eyes. “I’m going. Period. I may be slow, but I’m fine. You think I’m going to miss out on this just because I have a few problems?”

  “No, of course not. I apologize. You know I worry about you.”

  “Well stop it.”

  “Okay. Just…Caed, you’ll let me help you if you need it, all right?”

  “I already promised Eras I would. I’ll make the same promise to you. But you must wait for me to ask. Let’s go, they’re waiting.” He realized how cross he sounded, and stopped her by grabbing her hand when she turned toward the entrance. “I love you, you know that.”

  Her eyes misted, and Cairine threw her arms around him. She was older than him, and yet he already topped her height by six inches. “I do know that. And you know I would never judge you inferior or incapable. But I’ll never stop protecting you.”

  “Never. And neither will I. Now get your ass moving, lady, we’ve a plane to catch. We’re already running late. I wish Henri could have had the plane ready before six this evening. Our parents will be up in just three hours and we need to be long gone by then.”

  “We’re ready to fly. Everyone buckled in? Everything secured?” Henri, Koen’s pilot of 18 years, asked the passengers from the cockpit for their status.

  Eras pushed the intercom. “We’re set. Go for take-off.”

  After he released the button, Cairine puffed up her cheeks. “I hope Henri doesn’t get in trouble with my grandfather. He trusts me, so it’s awful that I lied to him.”

  Eras waved a hand and reached for a bottle of rum he’d already snagged. “Don’t worry about it. He wouldn’t take us to South America if you hadn’t told him that Koen approved it. We’re adults now, everyone, and we’re going to have to convince our parents that we’re ready to begin our lives.”

  “Not with betrayal.”

  “Cari, you’re right, of course,” commented Brigitte. “But there are times you have to take a leap and go outside your own preset limits. On that thought, you know that one of us is missing, right?”

  She held up her cell phone. “We need to call Crezia in Boston. Even though she never came to our get-togethers, she’s a part of this. Part of us. Chione says that she’s kind of like the glue. I don’t know what that means, but I think it’s time we all met, and time we see what she can do. I’m going to call her.”

  “I think you need to,” Shani agreed. “I’ve felt an absence for a long time, and I think she’s why. She’s a critical piece of our group.”

  “Plus, we’re all curious about her. I mean, she’s the daughter of a dead six-thousand year old vampire. Holy shit, she puts the awe in awesome.” Mac snatched the bottle of rum from Eras and killed a long swig. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and handed it back to Eras. “Nope. Not as good as Scotch.”

  Talib sat quietly in the back row, his eyes locked out the wide crystal-clear window. Koen owned the newest in personal jets, the windows enormous, the view almost surreal. He’d never ventured beyond his home in Zambia or the path from there to southern France. An excitement built inside him that finally they were on their path. He’d known for some time that they were not destined to begin their lives when they became vampire.

  “It’s so exciting!” Fia barked out loud, leaning over his shoulder. She punched him lightly on the back. “Isn’t it?”

  “It is.” He paused before he continued, not certain if this was the right time to reveal his vision. Turning to face his companions, he raised his voice. “We have much to learn as humans, long before we change to meet our final destiny. Everyone, the path we are meant to travel, the destiny we were born to live…it begins here. Now, on this unsanctioned flight across the world. We are doing exactly what we were meant to do.”

  “What makes you say that?” Shani asked.

  “In dreams that were not dreams. Images, events, emotions, all brought by the universe, all vivid in my mind and spirit…this day would come and we would travel to the
jungles of Patagonia because we are not the only warriors.”

  Mac sat up. “What do you mean?”

  Talib had everyone’s attention now. “We are not the only earth warriors. There are others. Many others, who are part of this destiny with us.”

  “Fuck me…” Bryson whispered.

  “All of us,” Eras elaborated. “You mean to tell us that there are more of us? More first blood children destined to battle in the future?”

  “Yes. And no.” Talib glanced back out the window at the landscape so far below and sighed, then turned back to his audience who watched him with rapt attention. “Yes, there are other warriors, but no, they aren’t first bloods. They aren’t vampires or going to be vampires.”

  After a few moments followed by silence, Brigitte slid forward in her seat. “Talib, stop being so cryptic. What are they? And where are they?”

  “The place we go, to Patagonia, I think that they are there. It is not clear in the visions, but I think that the supernaturals we seek…I think they are meant to be there with us. And humans too.”

  “Humans? With their tiny lifespans? How? And for God’s sake, why?” Mac’s comment brought a few harsh glances. “What? Humans aren’t up to a fight like this, we all know that.”

  “It’s the design of the universe. It will be.”

  Everyone stayed quiet as the relevance of what Talib had revealed sunk in. This fight, which they had always known would happen someday, seemed even more real than ever. No one had any idea when it would happen or how it would happen, but there could be no dispute…this battle would become the biggest this world had ever seen.

  Fia sat balled up quietly in her seat near the back of the plane against the window, her eyes on all of her friends and family. “No,” she whispered. This journey to South America was the adventure she had been looking for since last summer when her mother and father had refused her request to travel. Now, it seemed that destiny had once again shoved its nose into her plans. She wanted to see the world, breathe its air, touch its ground and people, even climb a fucking mountain if she wanted to. She did not want to be hit in the face again with this damned prophecy that they were all born for.