Birthrights

by Butler, Christine M.

  "It's never a waste, Marco. You see, we have him now and whoever else wanted him doesn't. Well, except for his legs, of course, but I have a good feeling those legs became a meal for the hounds, so we have all that's left." Ve looked up from the bloody stumps to Marco, "we are a leg up on our opponents." Ve, having amused himself again, simply giggled as he continued cauterizing the stumps. "Get it," he said to Marco, "a leg up!" Ve laughed while Marco just continued to look sick.

  "I'm going to go help Jacob clean up the mess upstairs bad in the elevator, boss." He turned, but couldn't help looking back as Ve laughed and mumbled to himself about missing legs. 'What the hell was I thinking ever going to work for a demon?' Marco asked himself as he walked to the elevator.

  It took nearly two hours of what would have been sweat inducing work for a human, but Ve still looked as nonchalant as possible as he began administering the drug that would allow him to wake Tobias. The drug was not like anything humans had at their disposal. Ve liked to call it the Ve cocktail. It had the potential to wake a person from the deepest coma, but Ve didn't plan on letting it out of his hands. He had, after all, killed its inventor when he accomplished the desired results. A little magic mixed with a splash of demon blood, and he had his perfect drug for torturing those who double crossed him. Being the only one to possess this drug gave him power and that was all that Ve cared about in the end.

  ****

  Tobias began to stir and as he came around he saw Ve's eyes and shuddered. The longer he looked, the redder those demon eyes got. Ve was sucking in his fear, he knew, but it didn't make it any less disturbing. Nor did it allay any of his fears. Ve had that sort of amused half smile on his face as he looked at Tobias, which made the man even more nervous.

  "Finally," Ve said impatiently. "I've been talking to myself for the better part of two hours, I really would like to hear someone else speak."

  "Two hours?" Tobias was shaking off the groggy feeling that had him in a haze still. Then he realized he felt a sharp pain in his right thigh. When he looked down he saw that there was a sheet covering both of his legs. That was when he decided he needed to look around at his surroundings because until now he had only noticed that Ve was in his field of vision. As Tobias looked around a sense of knowing dawned on him. "Damn, you took me ot the doctor?" He looked again at the amused grin parting the demon's lips. "The dogs, I remember the hounds nearly got me when we were running for the door." Tobias moved his hand to his knee unconsciously to scratch an itch and realized that his knee was ot there to scratch. "What the..." panic overtook Tobias as he scrambled to remove the sheets that were hiding the stumps of his legs. As his mind focused on what his eyes were seeing Ve began chuckling.

  "Well, I was going to break it to you gently, but I guess you had your own plan."

  "My legs!" Tobias yelled. "What happened to my legs? What have you done to me? You sick son of..."

  "Watch it, Tobias! Let's not forget who are dealing with here." Ve stood from the rolling stool and looked down over his work from his full height. "I did nothing to your legs. You left those as treats for the hounds on my doorstep." Ve turned and paced towards the door. "Which begs the question, whose dogs were they?"

  "My legs!" Tobias whimpered again.

  "Yes, they are gone. Moving on now," Ve was loosing what little remained of his patience and he was not fond of picking up on the whining, whimpering emotions that Tobias was now giving off instead of fear. If a person had a favorite flavor of ice cream, Ve could say he had a favorite flavor of emotion. It was definitely fear, followed closely by the release of emotions felt during sex. Self pity was an emotion that was his least favorite. It was more like eating mud pies for dinner. The might not kill you necessarily, but you definitely didn't want to do it if you could help it.

  "Moving on?" Tobias questioned hysterically. "Moving on? My legs are gone, and you act as if that shouldn't be on my mind at all."

  Ve moved in an instant and was standing so close to Tobias that all the man could see was the red of Ve's eyes. "Do not get me wrong, Tobias. I give two shits about your legs!" Ve grabbed hold of one of the stumps and squeezed until Tobias was screaming. "You sit painless on my whim, but mark my words, that does not have to be the case."

  Tobias leaned over the side of the exam table and began to vomit. Ve, having already sensed what was about happen kicked the trash can under the man before the contents of his stomach was erupted. Handing Tobias a paper towel, Ve continued, "now, I want to know who would be sending the hounds after you, Tobias!"

  Tobias wiped his mouth and looked back at Ve. "I don't know."

  "Oh, you really do not want to play this game today, Tobias, it's been a rough day." He squeezed the other stump until the screams were peeling from Tobias's lips. Again, the man leaned over and threw up into the trash can at the side of the exam table. "Who would be sending hounds after you? And why?"

  "I don't..." Tobias's answer was cut off by his own screaming as Ve grabbed both stumps at the same time and squeezed.

  "Again," Ve reminded Tobias as he sat trying to catch his breath on the exam table.

  "I was running for this chick already." Tobias said between breaths. "She was looking for the same package you were and so..." Tobias trailed off, fully aware of what his next statement would mean for him.

  "And so..." Ve encouraged the man to continue on, knowing the war of emotions that was being battled inside him.

  "And so..."

  "Tobias, spit it out. I haven't got all day." Ve rolled his eyes as he rested his hands upon Tobias's wounded legs. "Let me guess, you thought a bidding war would be in order. You felt, suddenly that you were being underpaid for such a hot commodity?"

  "It's not like that," Tobias began. "Well, it is, but it isn't." Tobias was stumbling over himself trying to find the right words. "She's hot man! Melina's the shit and she was offering herself up to me along with payment." Tobias's eyes suddenly glazed over in a dreamy state. "She was impressed with my business prowess and she wanted to be with me. It wasn't just a bidding war."

  "So, you sold our deal out for a higher bid and a piece of ass?" Ve laughed for a moment. "I never would have thought you had it in you. Who is this Melina you speak of?"

  "No!" Tobias shouted. "You can't go after her." Tobias's fear spiked to new heights as Ve looked on. "She's..." He never got to finish his statement because before he even got a single sound of the next word past his vocal chords Ve was on him in a demon fury. He ripped the man to pieces as a rabid animal would. Piece by piece he would tear at the man until the screams died away to the animalistic grunts that were coming from Ve himself. What Ve didn't realize in his frenzy was that Tobias wasn't trying to save or protect Melina, he was trying to warn Ve to drop it. She ran with a dangerous crowd. Dangerous even to a ravenous demon.

  ***

  About the Authors

  Christine M. Butler was born into the life of a military brat in Dec. 1975. She has been a soldier, a prison guard, wife, mother, adult store manager, and an editorial assistant for a local newspaper. All of it has been fodder for her creative mind.

  She has lived all over the United States and South Korea, but currently resides in South Carolina with her four children and a very wild lion-head rabbit named Mr. Fuzzy Bumpkins.

  You can find out more about Christine, her works in progress, and read some of her book reviews at her website, Facebook fan page, and Twitter:

  http://www.moonlitdreams.org/

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moonlit-Dreams/128458870521953

  http://twitter.com/#!/M00nlitdreams

  Birthrights was co-written with Jennifer L. Oliver. She chose not to continue on with the rest of The Awakening Trilogy due to other obligations, but you can find out all about her at her website or her Twitter page:

  http://www.small-escapes.com/

  http://twitter.com/#!/Jenn_L_oliver

  Birthrights was the first book in The Awakening Trilogy. The second book in the trilogy, Revelations, is s
cheduled for release in Sept. 2011, and the third book, Incarnations is scheduled for release in February 2012.

  ***

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank my children: Bella, Devlin, Alex, and Lexy for all the times they had to do without me while I was locked away writing.

  I would like to thank my mother, Linda, for reading every version of Birthrights that was produced until we got it right!

  I would also like to thank my daughter's friend, Ryan Brown, for being a fan long before the book was done!

  Samantha Ross and Jessica Lewis Williams for the time spent at my house while their mother and I worked together and thank you Jessica for also reading several revisions and letting us know what you thought!

  Thanks to Tony for all the yum-i-licious Sangria while we wrote!

  Thanks to Carolyn Cohee for creating the first print version of the book ever! She now has a one of kind book, because it was an earlier version.

  To the wonderful authors and friends I have made via Twitter and Facebook, a huge thank you for all the pointers, encouragement, and opportunities that you passed along. It made this experience truly worth it, just to meet you guys!

  And finally a very special thank you to my grandmother, Emma Josephine Hickman, who unfortunately passed before I could finished this book. She was always so very proud of the things I wrote. I love you and miss you!

  Book Cover Acknowledgements

  Thanks to Patria Dunn-Rowe, J.A. Paul, and the authors/illustrators of The Literary Underground for all their help and support in re-making the cover. Also, thanks to both my parents, my daughter Bella and her boyfriend Matthew Sawyer for their constant opinions, ideas, and encouragement throughout the process!

  http://litunderground.com/

  ***