The Kingdom of the Nine; The Vampire Legacy IV

by Dawn Gray

“I want the one who killed him. I want to taste the blood of the victor. I want my closure.” Auron demanded. “Now, tell me which one of you did it, or I'll kill this pitiful human right in front of you.”

  “I killed him.” I spoke up, standing up in the spot where I had landed. Auron turned to me and laughed.

  “So, now you have a stray fight your battles for you, son?” He asked.

  “Caitlyn, sit down!” Julian ordered.

  “You're just a human; do you expect me to believe that you defeated my father?” Auron stepped closer to me until he stood only two feet away.

  “With your simple mind, I don't expect you to believe much.” I said, shrugging.

  “Caitlyn, shut up!” I glanced over at Nick, who had finally regained enough consciousness to yell at me and I smiled, I knew what I was doing.

  “I shoved a sword through his heart and watched him crumble into dust.” I answered, and looked straight up at Auron. “He was weak.”

  “How dare you!” He snarled as if he were offended by my insulting his father, then he grabbed me again.

  “What are you going to do, Auron?” I asked, suddenly feeling the fear that I had managed to keep under control. “After all, I'm just a stray.”

  He attacked me, bringing me to the ground with his weight just off to my side. His teeth seemed to be within centimeters of my neck but I held him off just long enough to reach into the pockets of my dress pants, the ones I had worn to the club and pulled out the small stake that I carried every night since Creolas had arrived, when I thought he was a threat.

  It was at that point, while gripping the stake in my fist that I thought about how much I couldn't lose any one of them. They had in that short amount of time, become my life once again and I would do anything, even place my own life on the line, to keep them part of it.

  “Larado should have let me kill you when I first saw you. Stop putting up a fight and die like the stray that you are!” He ordered.

  “My name is Caitlyn!” I screamed and drove the small five inch stake as deep into his heart as I could manage. At first, I didn't think it was deep enough because he just lay there, staring at me, but then I felt his weight change and his body began to crumble.

  I put my head back on the ground and watched as he disappeared into ashes that seemed to be carried away with the wind. When I felt it was safe to breathe a sigh of relief, I turned over and looked at Julian, who had managed to get untied as he released Nick and the two of them came over.

  “That was, by far, the stupidest, most self-destructive thing I've ever seen.” Julian said, scolding me as he wrapped his arms tightly around me. Nick smiled, and then winked.

  “Are you two okay?” I asked, watching them nod. “Then, maybe we should check on Creolas.”

  * * * * *

  “He had regained enough of himself to stand when we untied him, but it took until the next morning for him to get completely back to normal.” I sighed and looked at the people who surrounded me. “So, now you know everything, are there any questions?”

  “Where are Creolas and Nick, now?” Lauren asked.

  “Right here.” Nick volunteered as he stepped out of the darkness to my right and came up to the patio. He looked down at me and winked. “Creolas is still unsure of coming out. It seems that he feels an unsettling around that bothers him.”

  “What I said was it bothers me that so many people are uneasy sitting here listening to one woman tell a story.” Creolas said, correcting him. I watched the expression on Ashley's face and smiled at the fact that she was stunned to see that I hadn't made it all up. Creolas kissed my cheek and looked at Julian, who nodded.

  “Well, now that this is all over,” I said and looked at all of them, “may I go home now?”

  “Are you or are you not in love with Julian?” Ashley asked, standing up. I sighed and turned back from Creolas, to look at her one last time. He took my hand to try and stop me but I moved out of his reach and stood in front of her.

  “Let me inform you of something. I love him, I always have and I always will. He is my friend, a very, very good friend, one who comes if I need him and one that I go to if he needs me. If this arrangement that we have is going to interfere with your relationship with him, I suggest that you drop it now, or give it up.” I paused, waiting for her to respond but she didn't even move. “One last thing, you will hurt him, in the future. This isn't something I can change, but when you do, you better think about leaving the state, because if I catch you, vampire or not, I'll kick your ass.”

  “Caitlyn,” Creolas whispered in my ear, “come on, we're going home.”

  I backed away from her, a look of total disbelief on her face and went inside to collect my son and my belongings. Creolas had been standing in the doorway as I dressed Damien to go home but I watched his shadow move and looked up to see Julian coming in. He sat on the bed across from me as I slipped shoes on my sleeping boy.

  “I'm sorry if I upset you.” I told him, as I looked away. “I've wanted to say that to her since we met.”

  “Don't apologize.” He smiled. “I don't think she's ever had anyone put her in her place like that, not totally anyway.” He handed me one of Damien's toys. “So, ah, Creolas is taking you home?”

  “Yeah, he's been staying the nights that I'm not over here working, during the time that Robert's gone.” I answered and looked at him.

  “You're relationship with Nick; I'm okay with, but this thing with Creolas might take me a while.” He said, shaking his head.

  “I know.” I answered, picking up Damien and I smiled down at him, before walking out the door. “Good night, Julian.”

  “Good night, Cait.” He replied and smiled as I turned and left the house.

  Prologue

  Angel stared at me, as she sat forward on the chair directly across the room. I smiled at the awe written there on her face, and then I turned to Jason, who had quietly slipped into the room not long ago. She licked her lips, as if to say something, but then shook her head and smiled.

  “Wow.” She whispered, which made me laugh quietly. “That was amazing.”

  “No, what is amazing is that in all this time I’ve known Julian and Quinn, they’ve never told me about you.” I replied. “One of these days, you’ll have to come back and let me know just how you came about.”

  “Well, you know about Jacob and Louis, right?” She asked.

  “Vaguely.” I replied. She nodded.

  “Old family secret, huh?” Angel asked. I smiled and glanced over at Jason.

  “And, how is Cleo?” I inquired. Jason smiled, and shrugged.

  “It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, but she keeps in touch.” He replied, touching his forehead. “As far as I know, she’s anticipating some company.”

  “We all need to anticipate a change in the way we see things.” I sighed, standing up, which made Angel move from her seat. “Listen to me, both of you; you need to be aware of your surroundings. There are things about to happen that all vampires, and their associates, need to pay close attention too.”

  “What kind of thing?” Angel questioned.

  “You’ll know when it happens.” I smiled, and slowly escorted them to the door, but as they stepped out into the darkness, Angel turned and looked at me.

  “I’m sorry if being here has put you in any danger.” She whispered, and glanced down at her hands. “Julian had asked me not to come and see you, because of your family.”

  “My children and I are safe, don’t worry about that, and besides, I knew you were coming. Julian told me about your interest in me.” I reached out and took her cold hand in mine. “Angel, your family means the world to me, and now that I know of you, and Jason, I hope that you will trust me enough to come to me if you have any need. My home is a safe one.”

  “Thank you.” She whispered, and then turned, disappearing into the night.

  As I closed the door, I felt the strong presence behind me, and I smiled as I turned to face it. Creola
s stood, leaning against the wall, with his hands in his pants pockets, staring at me for a short while before he smiled.

  “It seems that you have cousins.” I smiled at him, walking closer.

  “What did you mean when you told them to be aware?” Creolas asked.

  “Things are going to change, for the better I hope, but a powerful struggle is about to begin. I just hope he has the strength to hold out and finish what was started centuries ago.” I sighed, as he reached out and touched my cheek.

  “You always speak in riddles.” He laughed. “I hope I figure out this one sooner than I did when you told me you were pregnant with Emily.”

  “Oh, I think this one will come about sooner than we think.” I tried to smile, but the overwhelming feeling in my heart suppressed it. Things were about to get a little confusing in this family, but fate and recent events proved that they were strong enough to deal with it.

  I just prayed that their luck held out.