Graced

by Sophia Sharp

  Graced

  (Dream Realms Trilogy – Book 3, Part 1)

  By Sophia Sharp

  Copyright © 2011 by Sophia Sharp

  Cover and art copyright © 2011 by Dream Publishing

  Amazon Kindle Edition

  This entire book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, persons – living, dead, undead, or vampire – are entirely coincidental. All right reserved.

  September 2011

  ~~

  Chapter One

  ~Back to the Beginning~

  “Where do we go now?”

  Laura looked at Logan as if seeing him for the first time. Was he really asking her where she thought they should go? She frowned in thought. Only a few weeks ago, she would be the one asking him the questions, as curious and ingenuous as a newborn babe brought into the world.

  But ever since stumbling across that daemonic creature in the white marble chamber, and surviving, she had taken on a new sense of responsibility. Of destiny, even. After hearing what the angels – Gabrielle, mostly – told her, about the elders and their rise to power, about their unscrupulous greed for absolute control, something shifted inside of her. Something that gave her a sense of purpose, and a knowledge of what she must do. She could not run from the elders forever, and the best way of stopping that was to turn directly against them.

  “Forward, just as planned.”

  They were standing in front of the mill where Laura once woke up after fainting from the shock of what Logan told her. Where, just over six weeks ago, she stood frozen in fright as two vampires entered the building, threatening Logan and demanding he give her up. Where he refused to do so and fought valiantly to keep her safe.

  It was Logan’s turn to frown. From where they stood, hidden at the edge of the trees, there would be no way anybody could see them – if there even was anybody there in the first place. But Logan was convinced that the Vassiz had this entire place guarded, lest he and Laura come back again. Which is exactly what they were doing.

  “We don’t know how safe it is.” He combed a hand haphazardly through his thick, luscious black hair. And his eyes regarded her with an equal amount of concern and questioning. She realized, however selfish it was of her, that she liked it when he worried. But only if he was worrying about her. There was something attractive, sexy even, about the way the corner of his mouth tightened and his eyes narrowed whenever he thought she might be placing herself in a less-than-ideal situation.

  “Gray says there’s nobody there.”

  “Right,” Logan nodded, shooting her a half-smile. “But the thing is, the people Gray might notice are not the people that we are worried about.”

  Laura rolled her eyes. Logan still didn’t really believe that Gray had learned to consciously pick out the Vassiz from whatever else was going on around him. He told her he did, sure, and he said that he trusted her… connection… with the bear, but he was still uneasy about trusting Gray with scoping out the surroundings for signs of other Vassiz.

  “He can pick them out,” Laura said again, glancing quickly to Gray, who was lounging at her side. He had grown immensely in the few weeks that followed after Laura had been rescued by Logan from that nightmarish creature. Now, when Gray stood on all fours, he was nearly up to her shoulders, and the muscles on his body had developed impressively. He was strong – powerful – and the silver coating of fur that marked him as albino made him look all the more majestic. And yet, just as before, whenever Laura looked at him, she saw the same cub that Logan had first brought to her after hunters had killed his mother. A matter of maternal instincts, she guessed.

  Logan exhaled audibly. “As you say.” He still didn’t sound convinced. “Just don’t blame me if we stumble upon a pack situated in there, just waiting for us to come back.”

  Laura smiled slyly at him. While she appreciated his concern, it wasn’t like she was the same helpless girl he had met in that Vancouver high school nearly two months ago. She had changed immensely since then, growing both in mind and in body. She had full control of her vampire powers now, and could wield them just as confidently as Logan could. And more effectively, even. That had turned out to be one of the benefits of taking vampire blood in her first feeding – an enhanced expression of the powers that all other vampires had. And the enhancement, as far as she could figure out, had been permanent.

  Alexander had told her, after it was revealed that she drank vampire blood as her first feeding, that the first time a newborn vampire takes blood it is always the most influential feeding. The one that has the most effect on how strong the vampire grows to be. And the different types of blood in humans? It turned out that each influenced a vampire’s growth differently. The first feeding was critical, then, in determining the limits of a vampire’s future growth and expression of powers.

  “Don’t worry,” she told him, slipping an arm around his waist and pulling him towards her. “I’m confident that we can face whoever we may find in there.” She stood up on her tiptoes, and brushed a kiss again his lips. He smiled mischievously, and Laura was jerked forward unceremoniously as he pulled her in for more. For a brief second, she forgot everything as she was wholly consumed by the brilliance of the feeling of his lips on hers, of his tongue running softly against the front of her teeth, of the teasing way in which he alternated between holding back and moving forward in full force, kissing her as well as she’s ever been kissed.

  When he finally pulled back and let her go, Laura nearly lost her balance completely. It felt like all the blood had rushed to her head, and for a brief moment she wasn’t quite sure where she was or what she was doing there. Nobody ever said in the vampire manual of being that she would still be so vulnerable to the very human emotions that overcame her in times like this.

  When she could finally see again, Logan was already moving confidently towards the mill. Cursing under her breath for his ability to make her feel so entirely woozy, she set out after him.

  When she caught up, they were a scant twenty feet from the entrance door. The sound of the roaring river beneath them covered up any noise – however miniscule – their footsteps may have made.

  When they got to the front door, Logan shot her a look, as if to say, are you ready for this? Laura gave him one curt nod, and he pushed the door open.

  Inside the mill, it looked… exactly the same as Laura last remembered. The same old, rusted mechanisms slowly turned in place, propelled by the power of the river below. And the same layer of dirt covered the floor. She could see now, with her augmented sight, some signs of the fight that had gone on in here between Logan and the bounty hunter who had once chased after them. But, strangely, the body of the hunter was gone.

  “As I thought,” Logan said warily, “they have been here already.”

  “Why’d they take his body, though?” Laura asked without thinking.

  Logan looked at her in surprise. “Why, to keep it a secret, of course. If word spread through the packs that a vampire had been killed in pursuit of us – and on orders of the elders, mind you – well, that would not bode well for their confidence in the leaders.”

  “Hmm,” Laura said, momentarily ashamed by her lapse in thinking. But it was Logan’s fault, dammit, pulling her in and kissing her like that! She still didn’t have her wits about her.

  “We shouldn’t linger here,” Logan continued. “Stay close.”

  Laura nodded, and took a step towards Logan. Despite knowing full well that she was now more than capable of defending herself – perhaps more so than Logan, even – it felt good to know that she was being protected. And that it was not out of a sense of obligation, either.

  Laura followed
Logan as he made his way towards a small back room. Initially, Laura thought it was the same room she had woke up in, the first time she had been in the mill, but on a second glance around she realized it was not. The window, for one, was in the wrong place, and the glass panels in it were still whole. And there was a small opening in the ceiling, a square hole that looked like it was the entrance to the attic.

  Without a word, Logan came up to it, and jumped. His hands gripped the sides sturdily, and he pulled himself up without a sound. He moved around to change position, and then stuck his arm out towards her as if to pull her up.

  Hmph! He thought he would help her up, did he? She knew she could do it just as well herself, and, ignoring his hand, she jumped up. Her hands found the grip on the inside edge of the opening, and just as she started pulling herself up, the plank she was holding creaked loudly and gave in. It broke, sending Laura back down to the floor, where she landed with a thud.

  She sat there for a second, momentarily stunned, when she heard laughter. It sounded subdued, at first, as if someone was trying to hold it in, but then broke out into full force. She glared up at Logan, who looked entirely too delighted with her stumble.

  “I told you to take my hand,” he said in between chuckles. “Maybe next time you’ll listen.”

  Grumbling, Laura pushed herself up. Again, Logan put his arm out, and this time Laura took it. No point in embarrassing herself twice. And besides, she could swallow her pride, if it meant the stupid man would just stop laughing at her.

  As always, it took a brief moment for Laura’s eyes to adjust to the dark of the attic. But, as always, she could see just as well – perhaps even better – than in the light.

  The attic stretched out over the entire structure of the mill. Far away, above the area Laura approximated all the levers and gears and rotating metal poles stood on the first floor, were some extra gears and other mechanisms that groaned with age as they spun round and round. And closer to her, a series of feeble-looking pieces of plywood lay on the floor, covering the distance between each wooden plank to provide a walkway leading over to the gears and mechanisms that were further away. Laura guessed the plywood had been placed there generations ago, when the mill was still operational, as a way for the workers to get to the gears on the other side for repairs and things like that.

  Logan, however, was staring off into another direction. Laura followed his gaze, surprising herself when she first noticed the chest on the far wall. It was what Logan was looking at, and it was what they came back for.

  That chest, Logan told her, was where he hid away all of Maria’s most precious belongings before she had been taken and… interrogated… by the elders. Maria, who was Logan’s first love, nearly two centuries ago, and who had been killed by the overzealous elders in order to become a symbol of the weakness of the vampire race. And it was when they began the “purification,” a type of genocide against members of their own race.

  That chest had also been where he got the black dress for her. Laura didn’t know how she felt about that, at first, when she realized that the dress she had worn for so long had once belonged to Logan’s first love. But it had been done out of necessity, Logan explained to her, and she knew it was true. But it was a little unnerving nonetheless.

  Seeing the chest for the first time, Laura felt a series of shivers run down her spine. To her, that chest was a symbol of Logan’s old life, and for him, it was a burial of things long forgotten. But there was one item in there important enough for them to come back and retrieve.

  It was a catalogue of letters that Maria had accumulated while she was still alive. Logan hoped that they would give some clues to the elders’ whereabouts. While Maria had been politically involved, Logan had remained somewhat apathetic – until she was taken from him. All her belongings were burned, but he salvaged what he could. And the catalogue of letters that she so treasured was one such item. He had never read it, never opened it, even, out of respect for her, but now it had come time to see what it contained.

  Laura looked to Logan as he began picking his way across the floor. There wasn’t enough room for either of them to stand, with the short ceiling, but Logan still managed to traverse the distance to the chest quickly, hopping from plank to plank. Laura started after him.

  When they reached the chest on the other side, Logan paused and turned to her.

  “Are you sure…” Laura began, “…are you sure it won’t be painful for you to look through the letters? To relive your life with… Maria… again?”

  He smiled at her. “No,” he said with genuine eyes. “Not with you around.”

  Laura sighed to herself. Even now, he had a way of making her feel absolutely smitten with him.

  Logan turned back to the chest, and traced his hands over the top. Then he lowered them to the sides, where the opening mechanism could be reached. Laura heard a click, and then another one, and the top of the chest popped up.

  Logan glanced at her over his shoulder, then very slowly and very deliberately pulled the top of the chest up.

  And he stumbled back into Laura.

  Chapter Two

  ~A Rash Decision~

  “What is it?” Laura asked cautiously. She couldn’t see over his shoulder to the chest.

  “The chest, it’s empty,” Logan said breathlessly, sounding shocked. “Everything’s been taken. There’s nothing left!”

  A sinking feeling spread through Laura’s gut. That could only mean that someone had been there before them. And there was only one option to who it would be.

  “The Vassiz,” Laura gasped.

  Logan nodded. “It looks like they strip-searched the mill after they found one of their comrades down.”

  “When?” Laura asked. She remembered being taken by one of the bounty hunters here, and having Logan chase him down and rescue her afterwards. But not before his own fight with the second bounty hunter – the one who he killed.

  “I don’t know,” Logan said. “It could have been recent, or it could have been as long as weeks ago, just after we left. But we lost a critical advantage as soon as they found those letters.”

  “But there are other ways we can find the elders, right?” Laura asked worriedly. He was the one who was the expert on these things.

  “It’ll be more difficult,” Logan replied slowly, “but yes, we’ll still be able to do it. But that’s not my biggest worry.”

  “Then what is?”

  “If they have the letters, it’ll put them on their guard. More so than before, definitely. Especially when they realize my connection to Maria…” he took a deep breath in. “But that’s not the worst part.”

  “What is?”

  “They kept the chest closed.”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “I mean,” he said seriously, “that they anticipated us coming back. Or planned for it, at least. If they hadn’t, they would have just taken the chest, or kept it open once they got everything inside. But they didn’t. They closed it and kept it there, perhaps as a way to lure us in. And once they had us here—”

  He cut off at exactly the same time Laura’s ears picked up noise outside. Footsteps. Coming towards them, into the mill.

  “A trap!” Laura whispered, looking around her desperately. “They have us trapped!”

  “Dammit!” Logan cursed so quietly Laura barely heard him. “Keep your voice down! If we’re lucky, whoever it is might not realize we’re here right away.”

  Beneath them, Laura heard the door to the mill creak open. And then she heard more footsteps, clearer to her ears this time. She realized with a start that the footsteps were being echoed – which meant that there was more than one person down there.

  “Keep absolutely still,” Logan whispered to her, again so quietly Laura could barely hear him. She didn’t need him to warn her, though. She had absolutely no inclination to being discovered.

  For a long, anxious moment, all that Laura could hear was the sound of her own heart beating. The
footsteps had stopped. Who was down there? And what were they doing to have stopped making any noise?

  Suddenly someone coughed, right below her, and she heard the voices.

  “How long have we been here already, eh?” a gruff voice said. “Nobody’s coming. I don’t see why we’re stuck guarding this stupid mill.”

  “Shut up.” Another voice, equally gruff but harder. “When the elders give you orders, Algar, you do not question them. You simply obey.”

  “Well, we’ve been obeying their orders for the better part of a month!” Algar, whoever he was, sounded angry. “I’m telling you, no one in their right mind would come back here. They’d have to be absolutely witless to do it. They left the body here – why would they possibly backtrack?”

  The other one – his companion – growled deeply. It was a frighteningly guttural sound. “We are forbidden to speak of it,” he said menacingly.

  “To the others, maybe,” Algar replied. “But both of us know what happened here. Do you so simply follow orders, Kalvarin, that you will act clueless to the murder?”

  “It is not our place to question what the elders tell us, Algar.” There was a dangerous emphasis to the name. “We obey, and they keep their attention away from us. They keep us – all of us – safe.”

  “They keep us safe?” Algar sneered. “And do tell, what happened to the bounty hunter who was found here? And to his friend?”

  “That was the work of a rogue,” Kalvarin emphasized. “Nobody belonging to a pack would do such a thing.”

  “I heard,” Algar started slowly, “that the hunters got arrogant. Cocky, even. And it was the elders who put them down like the rabid dogs they were.”

  “That’s blasphemy,” Kalvarin said dangerously. “You overstep your boundaries, Algar.”

  “Do not forget, dear brother,” Algar replied with just the hint of ease, “which of us has been left in charge here.”

  “That does not matter,” Kalvarin replied. “Blasphemy is blasphemy. And what you are suggesting supersedes the governing rules that keep us here.”