The Blood and Light Series (Six Books Boxed Set)

by Rue Volley

  “No… no,” I said, as I backed up from him.

  Josh laughed.

  “Oh, come on… let’s do it again,” he said to me.

  I shook my head and looked at my hands, swirling in color.

  “I am so not in the mood right now,” I said, as I bit my lip.

  Josh stared at my hands, and I placed them behind my back.

  “You look like you are,” he said to me.

  “Stop it,” I said to him.

  This whole color thingy is a pain in my ass. It really is!

  I mean whatever happened to guessing?

  Josh stopped and tilted his head.

  “I want to do awful things to you,” he whispered.

  My heart fluttered. I didn’t mean to let it, but yep it did. I mean regardless of what had happened… it didn’t not change the fact that Josh was the hottest boy that I have ever seen in my entire life, and we have already… you know. I raised my head and shook it in defiance anyway. I am not easy by any stretch of the imagination.

  “I am not in the mood,” I repeated to him.

  Josh stopped and looked out across the field. I turned to see what he saw. He lunged on me, and we rolled to the ground together. I huffed and hit him on the back.

  “Nice!” I yelled at him.

  He laughed and rolled on his side, me in front of him.

  I stared into his eyes and then I closed mine, to avoid his irresistible charm.

  “Rue Volley… allow me to make you feel things you can’t imagine,” he whispered.

  I opened one eye and looked at him.

  “Let me up now,” I said to him.

  “You can’t be serious,” Josh said to me.

  I nodded my head “yes”, while my body said “just do it”. He grinned because he could feel me, more than ever before. He leaned in. I put my hand over my mouth, and he bit the outside of my hand. I squealed, and he laughed, as he sunk his teeth into my skin. I closed my eyes and took a breath, careful not to sound too excited. Josh took his teeth out of the side of my hand, and I pushed back from him on my side and rolled onto my back. He slowly crept towards me still grinning.

  “Rue,” he said.

  I stared up at the sky.

  “Rue Volley.”

  I shook my head and refused to look at him.

  Josh reached over and gently touched my neck. I swiped at his hand with mine, and he caught it and placed his lips on my hand, as he slowly breathed on it.

  “I just… I can’t,” I said to him.

  He slowly took his lips from my hand and cleared his throat.

  “Well, that sucks,” Josh said to me.

  I looked over at him and sat up quickly, as I looked past him into the trees and thought I saw… No it cannot be; no freakin’ way. My heart literally stopped in my chest. I pushed myself up, with a look of panic on my face, and Josh looked up at me and shook his head.

  “You look like you saw a ghost,” Josh said to me.

  I stepped forward, and the image glitched against the tree line.

  Josh looked back and then up at me.

  “What the hell are you looking at?” he asked me.

  I stood there, completely frozen… as Johnathan stood at the tree line staring at me. I mean his image or whatever… I don’t know. Maybe I am crazy again.

  I opened my mouth and looked at Josh.

  “I thought I saw something,” I said, as I looked back at the tree line and Johnathan was gone.

  Of course he was. He was never there to begin with… right? I mean no way.

  I turned when I heard Sam’s voice, and Josh pushed himself up from the ground and looked at me. I rubbed my hands and stared at her as she approached us. She half grinned at me; she looked flustered. Her face was pink, and her hair looked like she had run her hands through it. Josh laughed at her, and she cocked her hip and placed her hand on it as she looked at him.

  “Listen to me… the both of you. I am over this crap,” she said.

  I looked at Josh and crinkled my eyebrows at him.

  “It isn’t us,” Josh said.

  “It isn’t us, what?” I asked him.

  Sam muttered something and messed with her hair, as she started to fidget with her fingers.

  “Well, I can see that!” Sam said.

  I stepped towards her.

  “What are we almost in trouble for?” I asked her.

  Sam flashed her look to me, and I saw color swirling in her eyes. I looked at her arm, and she quickly covered up the orange color swirling on it.

  “This whole humping thing. You…Josh, Theo. I am so done!” she yelled out.

  Josh started to laugh again, and Sam lunged at him and hit him square in the jaw.

  I ‘omg’d’” and flashed to them, as I spotted movement in the tree line again.

  “How many times have I said, ‘DO NOT HIT ME IN THE FACE’?’’ Josh yelled at her.

  Sam grinned.

  “I will hit you every time you get me all messed up… You and Theo… you guys are dicks!” Sam yelled at him.

  “I have tolerated you with Kai this whole freakin’ time...! I have never hit you or…”

  Sam cut him off by slapping him in the back of the head.

  “I have been careful, casting a spell to dull it!” Sam said, through gritted teeth.

  I would have stayed and joined the ridiculous argument, but my eyes were glued to the forest line. I stepped towards it and watched the figure emerge. I sucked in my breath and reached behind me, waving my hand at both of them.

  “Well, it is still annoying as hell...! I know every single time you and Kai do the nasty,” Josh said.

  “Guys?” I said, as I stared at the figure coming our way.

  “The nasty...? Please. Don’t call it that,” Sam said.

  “Ummm, guys?” I said again, as I continued to walk towards the forest.

  “Well, that is what it is!” Josh yelled.

  Sam pulled her blade.

  “Take it back,” she said.

  Josh grinned big and pulled his blade too. They stood there smiling at each other, like the fact that they were about to fight was the coolest thing ever.

  “I won’t… you are a whore,” he said to her.

  Sam snorted and gripped the blade in her hand. She pulled her second blade and shook her head.

  “Me...? You have done everything, everyone, for decades,” she said.

  Josh cracked his neck again and pulled his second blade.

  “So,” Josh said to her.

  “So...? It is disgusting,” she said.

  “Oh...! You want to talk about disgusting?” Josh said, as he smiled

  Sam tilted her head at him.

  “Don’t,” she said.

  Josh shook his head yes.

  “Guys… I think you should look at this…” I said, but they were deep in their crap of an argument.

  I continued towards the figure walking out from the forest line, and Josh and Sam held their ground on who was the bigger whore.

  “You did the Russian army,” he said to her.

  Sam raised her head and stared him down.

  “The Russians were helping kill the Nazis,” she said to him.

  “That is so not a reason to go on a sex rampage, Sam,” Josh said to her.

  Sam laughed and flipped the blade in her hand.

  “I didn’t do all of them,” she muttered.

  “Damn near!” Josh said.

  “I couldn’t get sleep for a month,” he said.

  “Oh… oh, okay well… What about 1805?” she said.

  Josh tilted his head and squinted his eyes, like he was trying to remember.

  “Don’t tell me that you don’t remember that year,” Sam said.

  I stumbled on a rock protruding from the ground and looked up at the girl coming from the forest. She held her stomach, and the closer I got, the more I could smell her blood. She was injured, and she also had something strange about her. Her energy was that of a blend. It wa
s human… but something else, something that I couldn’t place.

  She continued to walk towards me, and I hurried up. Sam and Josh’s voice faded as I made my way closer until I could hear her heart beat… it sounded weaker with each step she took. The sun was pretty much down at this point, and I couldn’t make out her face. Her hair had fallen in her face and blocked my view.

  ***

  “Oh yea...! Well listen, I really don’t have a reason for that,” Josh said.

  Sam crouched down and tilted both blades in her hands.

  “My point exactly. At least I was on a mission thanking those Russian boys for helping kill an evil force… but you, you just suddenly liked British girls,” Sam said.

  “It was the accent; I had a thing for it that year,” Josh said, as he smiled at her.

  “The whole freakin’ year… I know. That was the least amount of sleep that I ever had,” she said.

  “Oh come on. It wasn’t that bad.”

  Sam shook her head and lunged at him, as he leaned back and watched the blade swipe over his body, inches from his chest.

  “It sucked ass… you are the whore,” Sam said, as she landed behind him.

  Josh stood up and looked around as Sam came at him, swinging her blades upward. Josh stopped her easily, and Sam grunted as he tilted his head.

  “Where is Rue?” he asked her.

  Sam grinned.

  “She is big girl. Maybe she didn’t want to listen to you and your whoreness,” she said.

  Josh laughed.

  “That isn’t a word,” he said.

  Sam yelled out and pushed him back.

  “457,” she said.

  Josh tilted his head at her.

  “457 what?” he asked her.

  “457 times that year… that is more than twice a day some days,” Sam said to him.

  “Oh… you counted...? That is just weird, Sam,” Josh said.

  “Shut up...! I only started counting 3 months in… it was more than that!” Sam said to him.

  “Are you jealous?” Josh asked her.

  Sam laughed and glanced out across the field, sitting between them and the forest line.

  “What the hell is Rue doing?” she asked.

  Josh looked out and spotted me.

  ***

  I’d stopped and looked at the girl. I tilted my head at her, and she didn’t look up at me. I could see a dark red running over her hand, and she mumbled something. I leaned in and tried to hear her.

  “I can’t hear you,” I said to her.

  “You killed me,” the girl said.

  I sucked in my breath, and she looked up at me through her hair. It was Sara. I opened my mouth and nothing came out. She reached out to me, and I watched her hand start to fade. I stood my ground in shock, as she faded right in front of me, and I felt a hand on my waist. I looked out at the forest and nothing… it was dark and silent. Josh leaned around me and looked too.

  “What is it?” he asked me.

  I took a breath, it sounded shallow.

  “I uh… I don’t know; I thought I saw something. I was wrong,” I said to him.

  “Okay… well, don’t wander around in the dark… please,” Josh said to me.

  I looked at him and saw blood on his lip.

  “What happened to you?” I asked him.

  Sam laughed, and Josh shot her a look.

  “Sam was grumpy; she wanted to take her crap out on me,” Josh said.

  “No… no… 457,” Sam said to him.

  I looked at her and bit my lip.

  “What does that mean?” I asked her.

  “In 1805…” Josh swiped his hand at her, and I pushed on him.

  “Go on,” I said to her.

  Sam looked at him and grinned.

  “Well… in 1805 Josh decided that he was going to do everyone in Europe,” she said.

  Josh shook his head and glanced at me.

  “Oh really?” I asked her, as I turned to him.

  Josh shifted his weight and stared past me to Sam.

  “It wasn’t like that,” he said.

  Sam leaned up into my ear.

  “It so was,” she said. Sam stepped back and pointed at him.

  “Josh knows that both Theo and I can feel it every time he ahh… you know, and he torments me with it,” she said.

  I looked at her and bit my lip.

  “Well, I am sorry then,” I said.

  “Thank you Rue…” Sam said, as she looked at Josh like he was a tool, the biggest tool ever.

  Josh touched my waist, and I looked at him.

  “I used to ahh, have these things,” he said.

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “Like ‘you’re a whore’ things?” I asked him.

  Sam laughed and slapped her leg.

  “See...? What did I say?” she said, as she looked at me and then to him.

  Josh shook his head and looked at me.

  “I am so past that… you know that,” he said to me.

  “Uh huh… like the nymph… and oh, Elin,” I said.

  Josh stepped back from me.

  “Oh come on! You said that Elin wasn’t something that we would talk about again.”

  “That was before 457,” I said.

  Sam leaned up in my ear.

  “I didn’t count the whole year,” she said.

  “Sam...! For Christ sake!” Josh said.

  “Five, Josh,” I said.

  He looked at me and waited. He didn’t understand, and then it hit him.

  “Oh… yea,” he said to me.

  “What you didn’t count...? I did.” I said to him.

  Sam laughed.

  “Oh, I did too. You see Josh doesn’t keep track.”

  He looked at her and then at me.

  “You can’t be serious, I mean… We ah, well… I didn’t count, Rue…! It is totally different with us.”

  “Uh huh,” I said, as I crossed my arms on my chest.

  “It was 1805! Come on! I didn’t even know you yet,” Josh said, as his voice pitched.

  I looked back at the forest.

  “Does the carnival have palm readers?” I asked her.

  She tilted her head at me and looked at Josh.

  “I think there is one.”

  I turned and started to walk towards our new home.

  “Rue...? It was so not 457,” Josh called out behind me.

  I held up my hand.

  “I gotta get this read,” I said, as I wiggled my fingers.

  Josh looked at Sam, and she smiled.

  “Nice, Sam… I appreciate that.”

  “You deserve it you ass… Looks like she may be getting back to her normal,” she said to him.

  Josh looked at me and shook his head.

  “Normal?” he said.

  Sam laughed.

  “Yea… she does what she wants and you have that dumb look on your face because you can’t figure her out,” she said.

  Sam started to walk, and Josh hurried up behind the both of us.

  “I understand her,” he said.

  Sam shook her head and caught up to me, putting her arm around me.

  “You wanna tell me why you need a palm reading?” she asked me.

  I looked at her and glanced at the forest.

  “I just saw two ghosts… back to back,” I said.

  “What?” Josh yelled out, as he ran behind us.

  Sam looked back at him and smiled.

  “Just because,” she said to him.

  He placed his blades on his back, and she whispered in my ear.

  “Do me a favor and don’t tell him why… it drives him crazy.”

  I smiled, although I was more interested in finding out the reason why I had seen what I did… more the Johnathan part, oddly enough. Oh, and WTF? 457?

  Josh caught up to us and looked at me.

  I smiled and looked past Sam and at him.

  “457,” I said, as I shrugged my shoulders at him.

  Sam squeez
ed my side with her hand and I giggled.

  “Good girl,” she said under her breath to me.

  Josh sighed.

  “Why do I feel like there’s a mutiny going on?” he said out loud.

  I started to flash on my own, and they followed me back to the carnival.

  Chapter 3

  New Alliances

  Caine stood in the council room and turned when a guard entered. He stood there waiting for him to speak. Finally the guard stepped towards him and straightened up.

  “You mate has not returned, my Lord,” he said.

  Caine tilted his head.

  “That I am aware of already.”

  The guard cleared his throat.

  “Well. We have no way to track her, my Lord,” he added.

  Caine stepped down from the platform and stared at him.

  “I am aware that she is invisible to you, I sent her out that way,” he said.

  “I am sorry, my Lord. I just thought that you would like to be updated,” the guard said, as he took a step back as Caine approached him quickly.

  “What is it that you seek...? Are you spying for the council...? Perhaps they wish to know how I am,” Caine said to him.

  The guard glanced behind him and then looked down.

  “Yes my Lord, they ask of you,” he said in a low voice.

  “Ahhh,” Caine said, as he looked at the doors.

  “Well, tell the council this: I am doing well; my genetic code is becoming aligned with my new title.”

  The guard looked at him and leaned forward.

  “They do not ask of your wellbeing, my Lord. They ask of your mother and her untimely demise,” he said.

  Caine grinned, as he covered his mouth to hide it.

  “Oh, I see. Well, I am distraught over her passing. She was not well,” Caine said.

  “There are rumors, my Lord,” the guard said.

  Caine flashed to him and stared into his face.

  “What rumors do you speak of?” he asked.

  The guard’s heartbeat started to thud in his chest.

  Caine grinned at him and stared at his chest.

  “You seem to be quite nervous,” Caine said.

  The guard took a breath and looked at Caine’s face.

  “Some on the council believe that Sophia’s death was more an accident then planned,” he said.

  “Oh, do they now...? And what is the consensus? That I had a hand in her departure?” Caine asked him.