The Blood and Light Series (Six Books Boxed Set)

by Rue Volley

  “Sara?” I yelled to her.

  She looked at me and started to step forward. A blur flashed past her and she grabbed her arm as it welled up with blood. I looked at her and stepped forward.

  “Sara? Oh god, stay still!” I yelled to her.

  She had started to cry as she lifted her hand and saw the blood on her fingers.

  “Ruebear?” she called out to me.

  “Yes, Sara…it’s Rue… Stay still!” I said.

  She started to move towards me and the blur crossed her path again, so quickly I could not get a look at who her attacker was. She grabbed her stomach and I saw blood welling up through the material on her dress.

  “Oh god!” she yelled out to me as she looked at her hand.

  “Shit,” I yelled out.

  I looked down at the symbol on the ground, realizing that I was going to have to step out of the safety it provided. I flashed towards her, faster than I remember ever being able to move. I skidded to a stop as Caine flashed to Sara and placed his blade to her throat. I held my blades at my sides, tilted in my hands. I stared at her as she whimpered.

  “Oh God, Rue… please,” she whispered.

  Caine smiled at me and I tilted my head at him.

  “Let her go,” I said. He laughed.

  “Oh, you didn’t expect me to do that did you?” he asked me.

  I looked at Sara and sighed.

  “What the hell do you want then?” I asked him.

  “Oh… everything,” Caine said to me. I grunted.

  “Oh okay… I’ll get right on that,” I said with sarcasm.

  He laughed again. It irritated the crap out of me. I slowed my breathing and looked at the sky.

  “No,” he said to me. I looked at him.

  “No, what?” I said.

  “You draw any color into your blade and she is dead before she hits the ground,” he said to me.

  “Awesome,” I said as I dropped my blades and looked at Sara.

  “You let her go and I will give you what you want,” I said to him.

  He grinned, that stupid wicked grin. I sighed and tried to slow my breathing. Truth was, I was trying to figure out how to kill him and get her freed from him. Big dreams I know.

  He started to lower his blade from her throat and I stepped forward.

  “Ahhh,” he said as he put it back to her throat.

  “Crap,” I muttered.

  “Do you think that I would trust you?” he said. I smiled.

  “Do you think that I care?” I said.

  Sara continued to cry and I looked at her.

  “Calm down, Sara… this is something between me and d-bag here,” I said.

  He tilted his head at me.

  “Are you insulting me?” he asked.

  I placed my hands on my hips and went into Rue mode.

  “What do you think?” I said to him.

  “You need to learn some manners,” he said to me.

  I shook my head and kept my eyes locked on him.

  “Sorry… I can’t seem to resist being a bitch with you,” I said.

  He laughed and spun Sara out from him. He cut her across her throat, barely. She grabbed her throat and fell into the grass. I tried to lunge at her, but he had me before I made it even a step towards her. He placed his blade against my chest and pressed the tip of it into my skin. I hissed.

  “You don’t want to kill me,” I said.

  “No… but I will if I have to,” he said to me.

  We both swayed as we felt a vibration in the earth. His blade cut a little deeper and I sucked air into my lungs. Caine turned as white horses came barreling across the field towards us. I saw Valon guards flashing next the carriage drawn behind the horses.

  “Oh… you are in trouble now,” I whispered.

  Caine tightened his grip on me and stood his ground. The horses came to a stop and a Valon guard stepped up to the side of it and waved her hand. The energy that encased the carriage shifted and Sophia Graph stepped out, looking all pretty and unruffled. I stood there and closed my eyes as I felt the blade moving under my skin.

  “Do you think that you could stop stabbing me… you ass?” I asked Caine.

  He lightened his grip on the blade and it relieved some of the pressure.

  I sighed and looked at Sophia.

  “So… what do we have here?” she asked us.

  I glanced up at Caine and grinned.

  “Your son is a pain in the ass,” I said to her.

  Valon guards surrounded us, with their blades drawn.

  I looked at all of their faces. They looked calm. Wish that I was.

  “Caine,” Sophia said, with a gentle tone.

  “Mother,” Caine said to her. I raised my eyebrows.

  “Well?” I said to her.

  Sophia looked at me and grinned.

  “What child?” she said to me.

  “Here he is, do your thing,” I said as I started to shift my weight.

  Caine had me in a death grip, and my feet barely touched the ground.

  “Yes… my thing,” Sophia said.

  I smiled and looked up at Caine.

  “Oh you are screwed now,” I whispered.

  Caine looked down at me and shook his head.

  “You did not make a deal with the devil, did you, Rue Volley?” he asked me.

  I crinkled my eyebrows and looked at Sophia.

  “What are you waiting for?” I asked her.

  She shook her head and started to pace back and forth in front of us.

  “Caine… you are a Lord. Why would you waste your talent?” she asked him.

  He kept watching her, shifting his weight a little. It caused the blade to cut my skin back and forth.

  “Could you stop moving, you dick?” I yelled at him.

  Sophia stopped and looked at me.

  “And you,” she said.

  I looked at her and waited for the punch line. Why we are just standing around. I did not know.

  “Me… what?” I asked her.

  I heard Sara whimper and watched her stand up; she staggered as she held her hand to her throat. Her eyes got big as she stared at all of us. She stepped towards us and a guard stepped in front. Sophia held her hand up and looked at me.

  “You wish for her to live?” she asked me.

  I nodded and Sophia looked at her.

  “I would suggest that you run or die where you stand, little girl.”

  Sara stared at me and started to cry.

  “Run, Sara,” I yelled at her.

  She started to stumble across the field and I looked back at Sophia.

  “So… here he is. Do your flashy thing and we are even right?” I asked her.

  Caine loosened his grip on me and I took a nice full breath into my lungs.

  Sophia grinned and looked at both of us.

  “I cannot honor our agreement,” Sophia said to me. I shook my head.

  “You mean you lied,” I said to her.

  “Oh there was a moment in time that I thought that you could be tamed, Rue Valon, but the thought of your true nature has never been far from my mind,” she said.

  Caine lowered his blade. I stood there in front of him, realizing that she was the devil.

  “What the hell,” I said to her.

  She smiled at me. Bad idea.

  I grabbed Caine’s blade from his hand and swung around; I stabbed him in the heart with all the anger that I had in my body and soul for him. He stood there staring at me, at first I thought that it didn’t matter, but then he fell to his knees and I let the blade go. He swayed on his knees and looked at the sky. Sophia flashed towards us and knocked me out of the way. She slammed her hand against his chest and he cried out as a bright flash of light sparked like the sun in front of us. I covered my eyes from the glare. Caine fell to his side and Sophia leaned down and touched his face as he tried to mouth words to her.

  “It is time for you to rest, my son,” she said

  She waved her hand over
his mouth and pulled the breath from him. She stood up and clinched her fist to her chest as she closed her eyes. I rolled over and watched a Mother kill her son. I guess I was in shock. Sophia turned to me and pointed her finger at me.

  “You are a curse to our race,” she said.

  I pushed myself back from her as she walked towards me. I thought that she was going to kill me.

  Suddenly a flash came from behind me and Josh jumped over me swinging his blades through the air so quickly, I almost lost track of him. He flashed in a circle and three guards fell immediately. He stopped, his chest heaving up and down.

  Sophia raised her hands to him and a flash of light came from her like a crack of lightening. I flashed in front of him and took the hit. I rolled across the field, about thirty yards from where they stood. I looked at my hands as long black streaks started to crack my skin. I moaned and threw my head back. The pain was unbearable. I heard Josh scream out and I watched Sam, Theodore, Kai, and Johnathan flash to us. Theodore dropped to my side and touched my face. I was shaking and my vision was blurry.

  Guards flashed from everywhere. Obviously, Sophia had come prepared. I watched them all flash around us in a thick circle. Josh stood there gripping his blades. He looked back at me and Theodore shook his head at him. Sophia stood there, completely calm. I hated her so much. What a treacherous thing to do. She tricked me, but I don’t know why.

  “Joshua Barrington,” Sophia said as she raised her hand.

  Sam and Kai stood there with their blades drawn, looking at the many guards surrounding us. Johnathan looked at me and I shook my head at him. If he is thinking about going all bad ass, he needs to stop it now.

  “Sophia,” Josh said as he tilted his blades in his hands.

  “You are now the last remaining Lord amongst our race,” she said to him.

  “I can see that,” Josh said as he glanced at Caine’s body on the ground.

  “I take it that you killed him,” Josh said to her.

  “No… I finished it. Only Rue could give him a fatal blow,” Sophia said as she looked at me.

  I pushed myself up on my elbows and Theodore was busy touching me with his glowing hand.

  I felt a little better. He was obviously warding off the death that she tried to deal to me.

  “What is it that you want?” Josh asked her.

  Her glare flashed to him.

  “You know that she must be destroyed, Joshua,” she said to him.

  “No,” he said.

  Sophia laughed and looked at him.

  “You think not?” she asked him.

  “I think that we could come up with a better plan than that,” he said to her.

  She tilted her head at him.

  “What do you offer?” she asked him.

  “I can strip her of her memory and power,” Josh said.

  I blinked and looked at Sophia. I shook my head no and tried to say something but my throat burned. Theodore touched my face and shook his head at me.

  “You cannot possibly be able to do that,” Sophia said.

  Josh tilted his head and grinned.

  “Oh, but I can,” he said.

  He pulled the black book and dropped it on the ground in front of him.

  Sophia looked down at it and back up at him.

  “Well, it seems that you have stumbled onto some old magic,” Sophia said.

  “I have,” he said to her.

  I started to push myself up from the ground and Theodore held onto my arms.

  “What the hell is he doing?” I said to him.

  “The only thing that he can,” Theodore said to me.

  I looked back at Josh and then shook my head.

  Sophia stepped towards him and leaned in.

  “You can assure me that she will be stripped of all she has been given?” she asked him.

  “Yes… you will no longer need to worry about your status of power,” he said.

  “Well, if I allow this, we will need to disband this rogue party you have here,” she said.

  Sophia looked up as Jonah and Lily flashed up and stood there with their blades drawn to.

  A guard flashed to Lily and she stabbed him and he dropped.

  “Enough!” Josh yelled out to her.

  Lily looked at Jonah and he got a confused look on his face.

  “Sophia… let me strip her and allow her to live, please,” Josh said.

  “I will need more than that,” she said to him.

  Sophia spun the light orb she had in her hand.

  Josh looked at me and closed his eyes; he looked at the sky and dropped his blades.

  “What else?” he asked her.

  “I would only find it fitting that you return to Valon and take your place as its Lord. Valon is in need of protection, and you are the only Lord left, Joshua. Of course I can make it easy on you; I can strip the memory of Rue from you so that your heart will not be heavy with the loss of your mate,”’ Sophia said.

  Josh took a breath and looked back at me, then he turned to Sophia.

  “If it means that she will live,” he muttered.

  “You can be assured that she will live and die as a human, Lord Barrington,” she said.

  Josh turned to me and started to walk towards me. Theodore tried to say something, but Josh raised his hand up to him and he stopped. He stepped away from me and Josh stopped right in front of me. I looked at his face, but he did not look in my eyes.

  “What is going on?” I asked him.

  “Come with me,” Josh said to me.

  He held his hand out to me and I took it. He pulled me along; I watched everyone start to move away from us. He stopped and held both of my hands to his chest.

  “I have to do this,” he said to me. I crinkled my eyebrows.

  “Do what?” I asked him.

  “I love you, Rue. I always will,” Josh said to me.

  I looked into his eyes and shook my head slowly.

  “You give me a blade and we can kill them all,” I whispered.

  He smiled at me and touched my face. He pushed my hair behind my ear.

  “No, we cannot, Rue… there are more guards waiting all around us. We will die,” he said.

  “You cannot die right? You a Lord or whatever,” I said.

  “I would probably survive it, but you and our family will not,” he said.

  Josh looked over at Sophia and then at me.

  “Do you see the glowing light in her hand?” he asked me.

  I looked at her; it looked like a ball of swirling light.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “That is your light, Rue. Sophia took it when she struck you with hers,” he said.

  “Well, let’s go get it,” I said as I started to move past him.

  He grabbed my arms and stopped me.

  “She will absorb it before I can get to her,” he said.

  “So what are you doing?” I asked him.

  He hugged me tightly and I buried my face in his chest. I felt him humming against me.

  He pulled me back from him and started to speak to me in Latin. I tilted my head at him.

  “What?” I asked him.

  His hands started to glow and he kissed me hard on the mouth.

  He grabbed both sides of my head and a white flash went through my mind.

  Him touching me for the first time.

  Our first kiss.

  His heartbeat welling up in my ears.

  His smile, his mouth… his eyes.

  The lingering words…”I love you.” Coming from his mouth.

  I cried out as it all swirled in my mind. I felt a black veil starting to cover all of it, all of me, it felt like someone was tearing my soul from my body. I cried out as I felt the earth tilt under my feet. Light was leaving me… Josh was leaving me. The blue color swirled on my skin in a chaotic pattern… it started to glitch. I cried out again.

  Josh held onto me tightly as I felt his body trembling. He was taking my heart, my mind… my power. I fel
l backward and Josh lay me on the ground in front of him. He touched my face and stood up then he walked away from me…

  ***

  Josh stepped up to Theodore; Sam flashed to his side. Josh looked at her and grinned.

  “You must find a way to kill me; if Rue starts to change I will come like a hurricane to kill her. You must not let that happen; I will not know her or any of you. Do you understand?” he asked her.

  She touched his face and looked at Theodore.

  “Just like Germany,” she muttered to him.

  Theodore shook his head and touched Josh’s face.

  “Let us fall together,” Theodore whispered.

  “No… I cannot allow that. I must do this,” Josh muttered.

  He walked towards the carriage. Josh turned back to them.

  “Keep her safe; give her a good life,” he said as he stared at them for a moment.

  Theodore placed his hand around Sam and watched him. They both held onto each other as they watched all the guards disappear alongside the carriage as it barreled out of site.

  ***

  I blinked my eyes as I heard music. It was some old forties song. I started to focus and saw the radio sitting on a stand next to me. I heard footsteps and rolled over as a young girl grabbed my wrist and looked at her watch. I cleared my throat and focused in on her face. She was very pretty, blonde hair, pale eyes. Her skin looked like a doll. She scribbled something down on her clipboard and I pushed myself up. I looked at the band on my wrist and turned it.

  It read, “Volley, Rue.”

  I looked up at her.

  “Where am I?” I asked her.

  She smiled and looked up from her clipboard.

  “You ask the same thing every day, Rue,” she said.

  I looked around the room and it was white. All white.

  “Well, I am asking again, I guess,” I said as I shifted my weight in the bed.

  “Rolling River,” she said.

  “What is that?” I asked her.

  She sat the clipboard down on the stand and tilted her head at me.

  “’It is an Asylum, Rue… a place to heal,” she said to me.

  “Am I insane?” I asked her.

  “No… I don’t think so. You have been here for a while though,” she added.

  I shook my head.

  “How long?” I asked her.

  “Now? Let’s see.” She picked up the clipboard and looked at it.