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Raz
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Copyright 2018 by J. S. Striker - All rights reserved.
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Raz
The Clan Legacy Series
By: J. S. Striker
Tables of Contents
Keep in touch!
THANK YOU!!
Raz
Teaser of Erik – Band of Bears
Check out my other books!
Spoil the Shifter in you…
Keep in touch!
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Raz
CHAPTER ONE
“Now?”
“Not yet.”
That was the only conversation that happened between Raz and his comrade in the last hour—not that it was much of a conversation to begin with, and not that Vladimir could exactly be considered an equal comrade. More like a higher-up, really. Vladimir was the vampire clan’s first-in-line, aka the one who would take over in case anything happened to their clan leader, Lucinda. Raz was the second-in-line, meaning he was the go-to-guy when both the leader and the first candidate were no longer around or otherwise unavailable.
It was a prospect he didn’t even want to think about. Unlike most vampires, he wasn’t that power-hungry, though there was no denying that Raz liked power. However, he liked the position he was in, following orders when need be, and doing whatever he pleased the rest of the time but had no intentions of moving up in the ranks.
Tonight’s mission was spying, with Vladimir taking the lead. They’d been on enough missions to last a lifetime, from spying on an important figure from the enemy camp or ridding the world of rogues, aka vampires who lost touch with their humanity and control and turned into monsters.
But missions together were rare. Only really important missions warranted the participation of both the first-in-line and the second-in-line, and apparently, this one was considered important.
There were others with them, of course. There was Michael Thomason, who was one of the few vampires who dedicated his life to becoming a soldier for the clan and had been honed throughout the years. There was Wilson Matt, who was a rookie and was tagging along on this mission to experience more. Then there was Finn Jackles, who was flying somewhere in the sky in his dragon form and waiting on standby. Finn was basically the only shifter that their clan trusted to help out on a mission like this, considering the vampire clan leader herself was his mate.
Raz didn’t get that, not really. He never could figure out how any vampire could be attracted to and even love those that weren’t in the same league as them. He himself planned to partner up with a fellow vampire in the future, one who was powerful enough to help him maintain his position.
He glanced to the side, where he found Vladimir kneeling quietly. He supposed the same couldn’t be said about the first-in-line—but then again, nothing was certain with Vladimir. While he tolerated other creatures more than Raz did, he was also the type of vampire who didn’t tolerate much of anything else, wanting swift, harsh punishments for anyone who fell out of line. Raz knew it had to do with Vladimir being a cold-blooded assassin before he’d been bitten, toughening him up.
As for Raz, he’d been a wealthy heir of a business empire before he messed with the wrong vampire businessman and got bitten as revenge. That was years ago, in another life.
Beside them, Wilson visibly perked up, making Raz frown. Sudden movements like these could be costly, and he was going to have to admonish the rookie when this was all done. He turned his gaze to where Wilson was looking and found two men going in the castle they’d been watching for a good two hours now. More men went in, indicating that these people slacked off in their guarding past midnight.
Perfect.
As if on cue, Vladimir raised five fingers. Wilson perked up again, while Raz and Michael merely watched the movements. They’d already discussed how they were going to infiltrate the area earlier and rescue the vampire heads trapped inside by forces that were more demon than anything, and once was enough. They watched as Vladimir’s fingers slowly started disappearing until only one was left behind.
Somewhere, somehow, he knew Finn was watching from the sky, too. The man had the most fantastic eyesight for a non-vampire.
Vladimir’s last finger disappeared. In unison, they all silently filed away from their positions—Michael from behind a tree, Wilson from the tall grassy area. Vladimir nodded once at Raz, his dark features serious and already in the zone before he disappeared. Then it was Raz’s turn, watching as they stayed still in their new positions before he stood up from his and walked straight towards the castle gates.
He thought he would need to make some kind of commotion, but it looked like the men had some kind of detection device as they slowly slipped out once he was within a few meters from the gate. Raz let his lips form into a smile, one that was harmless and friendly.
“Good evening, gentlemen. I come in peace and would like to talk to the one in charge.”
His tone was deliberately pleasant. Meant to give a false sense of security, and he added to that by holding out his hands to show them he had no weapon with him. The men—guards—weren’t fooled, as they looked at his raised hands before looking at each other.
But it didn’t matter.
In a split second, the first man’s head was suddenly dislocated from his shoulders, a sharp move that removed it clean and made the head roll to the grass quietly. Blood bloomed on the second man’s chest, and he was dropping to the ground with barely a grunt.
Raz looked at the mess, wrinkling his nose at Vladimir’s work. More men came out, but they were suddenly being plucked into the air and dropped from a rather high height. Right. The dragon shifter was at work. Raz didn’t waste any time, slipping into the castle and facing more men as they came, shouting now, with weapons in hand—swords. Raz graced them all with a nod before doing what he did best—killing without making too much of a mess.
He had some vampires to save.
*****
It wasn’t until they were already inside and taking the last va
mpire prisoners out that something went horribly, crazily wrong.
It started with Wilson dying—something that Raz could have prevented, except he was too busy staring at the murderer and trying to figure what on earth made said murderer do it.
Michael stared back, his usually calm demeanor holding one of determination now. He shook his head, holding out his fisted hand in the air as he did so.
“I’ve got a secret, and Lucinda wants it,” he said. “She can’t have it.”
Raz tilted his head, not daring to ask what it was. He kept staring at Michael, who was backing against one of the cells where some vampire council members were still held captive by some sort of demon magic. In a blur, Michael opened his hand, and it was only then that Raz realized what was in it.
The bomb exploded just as Raz made his move to attack. It rang in his ears and had him flying through the air, inwardly cursing when he landed on his back. He felt his skin burning and the excruciating pain that followed, then watched as Vladimir’s face hovered above him and asked what the hell was going on.
“Michael,” Raz grunted shortly before he felt his eyes closing.
When Raz woke up, he was already at vampire headquarters, and they’d lost a total of five council members, plus Wilson and Michael. All the men in the castle were dead, hired helpers trained to kill by a demon that wasn’t present itself. Some demons were too thirsty for power without bounds, and he knew this wouldn’t be the last kidnapping to happen.
Raz looked at the burn marks on his skin, now faint, figuring he’d slept for only a good few hours as they hadn’t fully healed yet. He let himself rest, waiting for the call from his master.
It arrived nearly two hours later, and by that time he barely had any marks on him. Raz faced his master and Vladimir calmly, the latter looking at him with an unreadable gaze. But he didn’t speak, and it was Lucinda who leaned forward, golden blonde hair flowing forward as she did.
“Can you please in detail explain to me everything that happened?”
Raz nodded. Then Raz began to explain what he witnessed and when things had taken a turn for the worst, keeping his eyes on her especially when he got to the part of Michael mentioning about Lucinda wanting his secret. The vampire leader didn’t flinch, merely nodding her head until Raz got to the end.
“You and Michael have been on missions together before,” Vladimir intoned, no hint of malice in it. “Has he shown this side of him in the past?”
That was the puzzling thing. Raz knew Michael—enough to know the guy, despite being a tad bit too serious, was generally a good guy, or so he thought. He also knew as much as anyone who’d been in the vampire clan for long that Lucinda wasn’t merciless.
What kind of secret warranted him to take his own life like that?
Raz shook his head. “He hasn’t. And I apologize, Lucinda, for not stopping him sooner. His stunt shouldn’t have cost us so many lives.”
His hesitation did that, too—something he was well aware Lucinda knew. But instead of admonishing him directly, the vampire leader leaned forward again.
“I want you to find out what Michael’s secret is. If he was that desperate to hide it, it must be something bad for the clan. Can you do that for me?”
It was a clean break. It was basically an out, and if he did a really good job, Raz’s place as second-in-line would be cemented with no question.
But if he failed…the consequences were high.
He looked at Vladimir once more, who had the faint markings of a frown on his mouth. Obviously, the man disapproved. But Lucinda had the only say in the matter, and Raz turned his full attention to the female leader now.
He bowed.
“Of course. Consider it done.”
He was going to find out that secret even if it was the last thing he did.
CHAPTER TWO
“Congratulations, Miss Thomason. You can start working with us tomorrow. We are happy to make you part of our team.”
It was the best news she’d received all day, and Eva Thomason did her best to smile at her new boss and appear the happiest hired person on the planet. It wasn’t that hard to do, but she wasn’t exactly in the best of moods right now.
A month ago came the news of her brother dying on a mission, and she’d been grieving since then. The letter was a smack to the face about how they had drifted apart, considering how different they were from each other—he being the vampire he was, bitten so young and dedicating his life to the clan since, and she…well, she was born a fox shifter but hadn’t really developed the ability to shift, so to speak.
In short, she was nobody.
They used to be really close when they were kids, and even as teenagers. It was those memories that triggered her usually emotionless defense to crumble, and Eva found herself crying into her pillow on the second day of finding out the news. Then she picked herself up and didn’t let herself cry for the rest of the days, keeping it bottled up inside her and doing her best to be strong regarding the matter. She needed to earn money, and she needed to build her defenses back up.
She needed to protect the kids Michael left behind.
Eva shook hands with her new boss, paying attention as the middle-aged woman named Sara Jones gave her a general tour of the bakery she was going to be working in. It wasn’t a big-time bakery, but it was one of those in their town that was picking up in popularity, particularly because of the creative way they presented their stuff—rose-shaped breads, pumpkin-chocolate pies served with edible glitter, and the like. When the baker had moved to another state after getting married, Eva had seen it as an opportunity to apply, and the results pleased her.
When the tour was done, Sara gave her a list of the menu they usually put out, something that Eva was already familiar with. She then told Eva to take hold of her own creativity and incorporate it into their delicacies, as the owner was planning to announce a new line and setup, anyway. Eva took that as her chance to shine, and for the first time in a long while, she found herself getting excited at the prospect of finally working at something she loved. She used to write freelance, but that hadn’t panned out well, considering her heart was into baking and cooking more than anything else.
“Is there anyone who will be babysitting your niece and nephew when you go to work? I’m sorry to hear about your brother, by the way.”
Eva shook her head. “Thank you. Peter and Ana are capable of taking care of themselves. Plus it’s summer, so they’ll just be playing around in the house. They’re well-behaved children.”
Actually, they were too well-behaved—something that puzzled Eva at first until she realized that it was how they were raised. Michael had done his best to be there for them, but the life of a vampire had consumed his every waking moment. It left the kids alone to fend for themselves or be taken care of by nannies, which Michael seemed to have a lot of money to pay for. The irresponsibility and organization of it all angered Eva, helping in cutting off the grief for a little bit.
But it didn’t cut it off completely, especially when she learned that her brother had left his inheritance to the three of them upon his death—a pretty huge amount that would set the kids for life and give them the education and free will to do what they wanted.
After finalizing everything with Sara, Eva went somewhere for a little bit before heading home immediately, where she called out for the kids. Her house was an old home that she used to rent until she had enough money to buy it, which she did six months ago and has started renovating since. The paint was brand new, and she’d just had the floor refinished and polished. She still had a long way to go, but she liked how the Victorian-style two-story house was faring up.
Her nephew, Peter, came almost instantly to the foyer at her calling, a smile pasted on his face. Eva softened, giving him a smile in return. He’d always been the cheerful one, taking positivity to the next level even at the tender age of ten.
“Hi!” he exclaimed. “How was your day?”
“It was fantastic,�
� Eva said. “Where’s your sister?”
“Here,” a female voice called out.
Ana appeared immediately, as quiet as a mouse. She was the older of the two at twelve, and generally the broodier. The girl almost never smiled, and even after one month of living with them, Eva wasn’t quite sure if it was because of her father’s death or just her personality in general.
They both looked at her expectantly. Without further ado, Eva held out the package she had in her hand, one she acquired from the hospital—an illegal acquiring, not that it mattered. Her friend there could be trusted to keep her secret.
“I got you guys some blood for dinner. Shall we eat together?” she asked. Normally, Eva didn’t really like the sight and smell of blood, but she wanted to show a kinship and make them feel that they were welcome, no matter what.
Dinner was a quiet affair, with Peter doing most of the talking and Eva responding as best as she could. They all had steak while the kids had their blood in huge mugs, and the way they sipped almost daintily told Eva that this had been instilled in them, too. She watched the two blond heads, amazed that within those bright, pretty looks were the instincts of a vampire—half-vampires, yes, but vampires all the same. They didn’t act like those bloodthirsty creatures she often heard about in their supernatural world, and she supposed she had to give credit to Michael for that, too. When dinner was done, the kids quietly filed away from the dining room, with Ana asking permission for the two of them to go out and explore the forest in the back. Eva hesitated at first, but reluctantly nodded, knowing she couldn’t stop them if they wanted to get a suck on some rabbit’s blood.
It was always about the hunt with predators, and it looked like mug blood just wouldn’t be enough. Maybe she just had to learn how to deal with it.
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