Diadem of Blood and Bones

by Ripley Proserpina

  Briar lifted her head to take in the deceased forms littering the ground. “What do we do?”

  “I’ll let the police know,” Marcus said. “I’ll do it without it being traced to us.”

  It seemed wrong to leave the people here, out in the woods where anything could get them. What if the police didn’t arrive in time to find them? What if—

  “It’s the most we can do,” Hudson said. His gaze was sad when it met hers. “I’m sorry.”

  Of course he would take responsibility for the whole event. But it wasn’t on him. Just like it’s not on you.

  “Let’s go home,” she said to Hudson. Sylvain adjusted his hold on her so she could take Hudson’s hand. She gave one last glance to the people staring sightlessly at the autumn sky before breaking into a jog. Soon, they were racing through the night and Boston’s skyline glittered on the horizon.

  They slowed the closer they came to the Charles River until they were like any group of friends returning home. Hudson squeezed her hand. “There’s a curfew, remember? We can’t be caught out.”

  She began to jog again and sped up until the world was a blur around them. Boston was eerily quiet except for the occasional ambulance and police siren. The stillness was unnatural and kept her on edge even though it took them mere minutes to arrive at home.

  Marcus held the back door open, and she glanced down at the stoop where she’d collapsed. With a hand on her back, Marcus encouraged her to move inside.

  Home.

  The tension drained from her body as she was hit with the familiar scents and sights. She’d told herself earlier that even though she was a vampire, nothing really had changed. Here, in Marcus’s kitchen where her e-reader was still on the kitchen table, she could believe it.

  A wave of exhaustion, both emotional and physical, hit her. “I know I’m not supposed to sleep, but I’m tired,” she said.

  Sylvain caught her eye and winked. She tried not to laugh, but it was impossible with the way he seemed to puff up with pride. Admittedly, she’d exerted herself quite a bit in the last hours.

  “I’ll walk up with you,” Hudson said. “The others have all gotten time, it’s my turn.”

  It wasn’t like Hudson to push aside his brothers for himself. He’d always struck Briar as a person who made sure everyone else’s needs were met. So it surprised her when his voice took on a tone of command, and even more when no one argued with his high-handedness.

  Marcus, Valen, and Sylvain all said goodnight to her, but Sylvain’s lips lingered against hers before he pulled away to give her a meaningful glance. “I love you,” he whispered.

  “I love you.” As she stepped away from Sylvain, she glanced at each of them. “I love you.”

  Hudson took her hand and tugged her out of the kitchen. No one else spoke, but she felt their gazes following her until the door swung shut behind them.

  “Are you okay?” she asked Hudson as they began to climb the stairs.

  He shrugged, and her stomach dropped. What did he have to say to her that couldn’t be said in front of the others? Had she done something wrong? Was this all too much to handle?

  “Hudson?” she asked when her bedroom door shut. But before she could utter another word, he’d rounded on her.

  His arms were hard and tight and his breath ragged against her neck. “I told you to stay here.”

  And she hadn’t listened. Valen had taken off after Sylvain, and then she’d taken off after them. Hudson had called out to her, telling her to come back—it wasn’t safe—but she hadn’t listened.

  “I know,” she said. “But I couldn’t. I can’t be away from you when you need me.”

  “Sylvain was fine. He was burning off energy.”

  Briar drew back. “You didn’t know that for sure. He drank my blood, Hudson, and we don’t know why it’s affecting everyone the way it is. I couldn’t let him run through the night without protection.”

  “You thought you could protect him?” He sounded like the professor he was, prodding her for more information.

  I did. I can. Briar nodded her head. Maybe Hudson could help her understand this new part of her. “There’s a voice inside me that tells me I can help you.”

  “A voice that sounds like you?” he asked.

  Briar tried to recall the tone and impression of the voice. “Like me, but different,” she said. “More confident. Like me, but if I was…” She searched for the right way to explain it, and finally, as she caught Hudson’s raised eyebrows, it came to her. “Like me, if I was a doctor.”

  A hard burst of laughter exploded from Hudson, and he wrapped her in his arms. “You are something else, princess.”

  Not a princess. A queen.

  Canting her head, she closed her eyes and waited for the voice to say something else.

  “The voice is your vampire,” he said quietly, causing Briar to snap her eyes open.

  “My vampire?” she repeated dumbly.

  “The voice inside you, the one that sounds like you but different. Mine is a monster, hard to control and always pushing at me.” He didn’t sound fond of himself.

  Briar liked this new side of herself. She liked how it took her doubt and pushed it aside. “It doesn’t help you?” she asked. We’re all different.

  Hudson was quiet. He lifted his hands to his head, threading his fingers through his hair as he paced the room. “I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “It made me attack you.”

  Remembering the event Hudson spoke about, Briar shook her head. “No, you didn’t attack me. The monster wanted you to bite me to change me. To protect me.”

  “Yes, well, my monster’s definition of protect is not always accurate.” Hudson let his hands fall to his sides before lifting his gaze to hers.

  She went to him, and hugging him tightly, leaned back to see his face. “I love your monster. Be kind to him.”

  Hudson jerked back, staring down at her in disbelief. “Kind? I call him monster because that is what I am.”

  My monster. She loved the creature inside him. Swallowing the growing tightness in her throat, she spoke again “Is that how you see me, now?” The voice inside her waited, as if the judgment would affect her as much as Briar.

  “Of course not!” Hudson cupped her face between his hands. “You are beautiful. Strong. Smart.”

  We are. Well, her vampire certainly wasn’t lacking in confidence. But so is his monster.

  “Do all of the guys have vampires who are so vocal?” she asked. How was she to know what was normal and what wasn’t? Perhaps all people who were made vampires housed a second voice inside them. Perhaps they all had conversations with this new being.

  “Sometimes I hear words, but more often I just feel impressions and emotions. Impulses. I believe it is the same for my brothers.”

  “Oh,” she said. “I guess I’m lucky then. I don’t have to decode her, I only have to listen.”

  Hudson smiled. “I like how you speak about her.” Leaning down, he kissed her. His lips were soft against hers. It wasn’t enough. Briar held onto his sleeves, pulling him closer to keep him kissing her. She got no argument from him. He gave into her, cupping her elbows with his palms. Smoothly and with little effort, he lifted her into his arms so her feet didn’t touch the floor.

  His tongue swept across her lips, a request for her to let him in. Briar opened her mouth, touching the tip of her tongue to his. A moan built in her chest as her body flushed with heat. “Hudson,” she groaned.

  An ambulance siren wailed in the distance, and Hudson set her on her feet. Still, he held onto her hand as they went to the window to stare out into the now dark night. “I wish I knew what would happen,” he whispered, nearly too low for her to hear. If it hadn’t been for her new and improved hearing, she’d never have made it out. “I wish I knew how to keep you safe.”

  Before her vampire could cut in with her opinion, Briar answered, “We have to think differently now. I’m not a liability. I’m stronger, remember?”
r />   Staring at his profile, Briar caught the smirk he tried to hide. “I’m sure I’ll need reminding.”

  She stepped closer and leaned her head against his arm. Immediately, he put it around her waist and dragged her closer. “I have your back.”

  He kissed her hair and squeezed her. “I know.”

  They stood there, looking out onto the street, when Briar yawned. Hudson shifted, turning so he could lift her into his arms.

  “Hudson!”

  “Shh.” He placed her on the bed and lay down next to her. Briar rolled onto her side. Hands tucked beneath her head, she yawned again. Hudson kicked off his shoes. “Come here.” Patting his chest with one hand and lifting the other, he encouraged her to snuggle in.

  One scooch was all she needed to get her in the place she never wanted to leave. Hudson’s heart gave one thump and then stilled. Briar closed her eyes, concentrating on the sound of blood in her veins. She knew what it should sound like, the rhythmic whooshing, so it was strange to hear it so slow. Heartbeat. Pulse. Pause. Heartbeat. Pulse. Pause. It lulled her to sleep and into a dream.

  “So you want to be queen?”

  Briar opened her eyes to see white daisies blowing in the breeze against a bright blue sky. She sat up, looking around to find the source of the voice. Nearby, a woman sat, knees pulled to her chest.

  Briar’s stomach clenched. She’d been here before; this was Asher’s in-between place. If he wanted the sky to darken with storm clouds it would.

  As the thought passed through her mind, the sky darkened ominously. She narrowed her eyes at the woman watching her.

  “Don’t look at me!” She lifted her head, tossing her shoulder length curls over one shoulder. “This weather is all you.”

  “But you brought me here. This is Asher’s world.” Briar crossed her legs. Part of her wanted to stand and loom over the woman, but she hadn’t shown any aggression.

  So she waited.

  “I didn’t bring you here. You called me.” She lifted her head, and the woman’s green eyes flashed. Studying her gave Briar time to formulate her response. Except, she didn’t know what to say. Had she really pulled someone into the in-between?

  “Are you human?” Briar asked. As soon as the words left her mouth, she recognized what a stupid question it was. The woman’s eyes flashed. A human’s eyes didn’t do that.

  “No,” she answered. “I’m Theia. I’m vampire. Like you.” She rose from the ground like fog. To be less at a disadvantage, Briar stood. They were almost the same height. In fact, Theia was slightly shorter than she was. That small detail made her feel a little more confident. She wasn’t human Briar any longer; she was a vampire in her own right.

  “I apologize if I brought you here unwillingly, Theia. It wasn’t my intention.” Don’t apologize, the voice warned her too late.

  “I’ve been curious about you, I’ll admit.” Theia began to circle Briar. She raised an eyebrow and stopped. “Do you want to know why?”

  We know why. “The crawlers and soldiers. And my vampires.”

  “Yes.” Theia snapped graceful fingers. “Your vampires. Your vampires who killed my maker.”

  “Asher was your maker?” Briar’s stomach clenched. “You know my vampires?”

  “No…” Drawing the sound out, the woman began her slow circle again. “Though I did choose Hudson for Asher—as my replacement.”

  Asher let this woman go? Briar couldn’t imagine such a thing. He’d held on so tightly to his sons.

  “In the early days of Asher’s life, I was his general. But he was happy to let me go once Hudson turned.”

  Briar wrinkled her nose as if she could smell the untruth, and Theia giggled. It was a disarmingly girlish sound from the curvy, beautiful woman.

  “I know. Asher was very clingy, but when the future stretched before him, when he made and discarded children, it was nothing to let me, a female, go. And as long as I was far, far away from him…” Hands on her hips, Theia squared her body to Briar. “Now Asher’s death has created a void. He’s left soldiers and crawlers and his sons. Brilliant sons who can walk in daylight.”

  “I still don't get how I called you here,” Briar said, hoping to get her off the topic of Hudson, Valen, Marcus, and Sylvain. Her eyes were a little too starry for Briar’s comfort.

  “We both have a little of Asher’s blood in us.” Theia lifted her arm to her mouth and bit her wrist. The blood welled from the cut then dropped like rubies onto the ground. “Me, more than you, but enough that we can come here… Your curiosity shone like a beacon, and I thought, why not?”

  “So now that you’ve met me, you’ll be on your way.” Doubtful.

  “Oh no.” When Theia shook her head, her curls bounced around. The sky above Briar shifted, clouds darkened and thunder rumbled. Theia jerked her head to the sky, eyeing it with interest. “Calm yourself. I only want what you don’t.”

  Briar was silent. There were only four people she really cared about. Theia could have everything in this world as long as she didn’t touch them.

  “I want everything that was Asher’s,” Theia announced and a bolt of lightning shot across the sky.

  “You can’t have them,” Briar replied. Never. Her vampire was ready to fight.

  Theia lowered her chin, narrowing her eyes. The lightning reflected in her gaze and she smiled. “There can only be one queen, Briar. And it won’t be you.”

  Briar shot up in bed, wide-awake.

  “Briar!” Hudson sat next to her and gripped her arms, dragging her over his body so she straddled him. “What happened?” Icy blue eyes wide with concern, Hudson stared at her.

  Would he know her when Briar said her name? “Theia.”

  Hudson

  “Theia?” It had been hundreds of years since Hudson had heard her name. “Asher’s daughter.” Adjusting his position, Hudson slid to brace his back against the headboard while keeping Briar on his lap. Her weight was insubstantial so he held her even tighter. No one would take her from him. No one.

  “I went back to the in-between place,” Briar said, her voice quiet. She rested her head on his chest, tracing patterns on his skin. “And she was there.”

  Anger surged inside him, and he had to check himself not to jerk away from her and study her from head to toe. “Did she hurt you?”

  Briar shook her head and kissed him above his heart. “No. She said I called to her.” Drawing back, she peered at him from under her lashes and gnawed at her lower lip. “I don’t know how I did that—I certainly didn’t mean to.”

  “I’ve never been to this place,” Hudson said, and then corrected himself. “That I remember. But if she’s Asher’s offspring, you can’t trust her. She could be leading you on.”

  “Messing with my head.”

  “Yes.” He played with Briar’s hair, sweeping it away from her face with his fingers. The strands were silky, slipping over the back of his hand. “What happened?”

  “She wants you. Wants the crawlers and the soldiers.”

  Not sure if he heard her correctly, he held her chin between his thumb and index finger. “Us?”

  “Vampires who walk in daylight.” Briar’s eyes narrowed and the black pupil expanded to chase away the soft blue. Her voice changed when she went on, the tone harsher and huskier. “I won’t let her have you.”

  Hudson’s lips twitched, but he kept from smiling. That voice was her vampire’s, and apparently, she had staked her claim on him and his brothers. If he hadn’t dealt with his own monster, hadn’t felt that being’s desires and impulses, Briar’s sudden change in demeanor may have caused him concern. But because he had, it didn’t. Her claim warmed him and soothed the monster who had claimed her just as completely.

  “She won’t.” Hudson kissed her, a pluck of lips against lips. “I promise you. There is nothing she could offer that we want.”

  “Not a kingdom?” Briar asked.

  “A kingdom?” The word made his stomach clench. Kingdoms were for the power hung
ry. “Why would you say that?”

  “She said there would only be one queen.” Briar tilted her head to the side as she studied him. “She wants to step into Asher’s shoes, doesn’t she?”

  It would make sense. Not all of Asher’s children were as benign as Hudson and his brothers eventually became. A thought occurred to him. He remembered those long ago brothers by birth who’d left Asher not long after Marcus was turned. All these years, Hudson had been under the false assumption that Asher’s children stayed far away from their maker.

  Like he had.

  He wanted nothing to do with Asher. Sylvain, Valen, and Marcus wanted nothing to do with Asher. They’d wanted to carve out a piece of existence far away from war, assassinations, and plots.

  Clearly that wasn’t true of Asher’s other children—which begged the question—who else could they expect to crawl out of the woodwork?

  “What is it?”

  He’d been silent too long and now Briar watched him with worry. Pale eyebrows drawn together, she shifted in his arms to lift onto her knees. “Hudson, what are you thinking?”

  Was it time to leave Boston? The crawlers and soldiers were bound to attract power-hungry vampires like Theia. If they stayed here, they ran the risk of being drawn into a war.

  “I think we need to go.” He ran a hand down his face and let out a sigh. “I think we need to leave Boston.”

  “Leave?” Briar shivered on his lap. “But Hudson, our lives are here.”

  It was the truth. Everything she’d worked for was here, and she’d be giving it all up. Unless he explained to her what happened when vampires went to war, she’d never understand. And he’d need his brothers for that.

  “Let’s get dressed and go downstairs,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. He breathed her in, loving the scent of heat and sunshine that poured off her skin.

  “I’m not going to like what comes next, am I?” She twisted away from him and slid off the bed. It was then he realized that sometime during the night she’d kicked off her pants and now stood in her underwear.