Rising Son (The Juliana Lucio Series)

by L. C. DeCarlo

  “What’s the problem?” I asked her trying to sort out whose emotion was whose.

  “The problem is that you don’t seem to realize how incredibly dangerous that is. It’s one thing to teach Christian to fight like a hunter; it’s another thing to literally turn him into a walking weapon. If someone were to taste his blood we would all be found out, we would all be forfeiting our lives.”

  “You just said it yourself, that someone might try to taste his blood, and who is going to get that chance if not for the Coven? I won’t risk him. I would rather expose myself to my entire family, and force them all to flee, than risk having Christian walk into that hellhole unprotected. I won’t do it!”

  “You would wouldn’t you. Expose yourself to them, leave William, and forget me. Force us to hunt you down,” she said it as an almost hushed whisper, and I knew she wanted the truth from me.

  “You deserve the truth Ana. I did think about doing just that when you had first turned me, a lot actually. But as selfish as you may think I am I wouldn’t force my family to spend the rest of their lives on the run as modern day gypsies. I do want what’s best for them, and for now that’s for me to remain dead. But the day will come when Sebastian is going to want Christian to go into the Coven undercover, and we can hold him off for a little while, but not forever. The truth is I didn’t think I would ever feel at home here with you and William, but that’s what this place is to me now. I don’t want to leave you, but I can’t honestly say what I’ll do if I feel desperate enough.”

  We had pulled into the driveway the headlights of the car sweeping over the house as its own sort of sentry. Once Ana pulled into the detached garage out back we just sat in silence.

  “I told him I loved him.”

  I spoke it into the darkness afraid if I didn’t speak up now I never would. Even though I had never been in a relationship with Ana that didn’t do anything to belay the fact that some small part of me still felt like I was betraying her.

  “I know, he already told me. He was practically giddy when he did it. I have never seen him like that before, you may want to keep an eye on him; I have a feeling that love is going to make him stupid,” she told me with a smirk.

  “So, you aren’t . . . I don’t know—mad?”

  She looked a little taken aback at that, but just looked me full-on as she forced me to look back at her, “I am not upset at your happiness, I don’t blame you for loving him. Sure, I wish things were a little different, but you and I will always have a bond that no one can take away, one that even William can’t have with you. My first priority will always be to protect you, and now that you’ve found a piece of happiness in this world, perhaps, it will be easier for you to step away from your old one.”

  I was grateful that she wasn’t angry with me, but the thought that I might truly walk away from my old life—completely—just because I was in love with William was ludicrous. The mere thought of it was starting to make me feel panicky inside, I could never give them up, and I wouldn’t. I had to continue watching over my family, I had to keep them safe!

  “Juliana, relax, it isn’t something that you have to do today. I was simply saying that when the time comes William’s presence will make the transition easier for you, that’s all,” she told me with sympathetic eyes.

  “Right, yeah, okay,” I was nodding that I understood, that I agreed with her, but I had no idea what she really meant. Could I ever really leave them? Would I if forced to make a choice?

  “Are you okay to go inside?”

  “Huh? Oh, yeah, of course.”

  We left the garage and made our way into the house to find William and Victoria sitting in the library on opposite sides of the couch from each other. They had both changed clothes and were dressed up looking like they were ready for a night out. William had on a pair of dark fitted jeans that fit him well enough to be drool worthy; he had forgone the usual black tee shirt, and instead had gone for a black muscle shirt that was living up to its name in every sense of the word. He had a black button up shirt with an intricate silver design on it; he had left it unbuttoned, of course to show off what was underneath.

  I was instantly ready to go back to my room and finish what we never really got started on when Christian showed. It must have been pretty obvious in the way I was looking at him because my thoughts were interrupted by an annoying voice I didn’t think I’d ever get used to hearing.

  “Get a room would you.”

  “Gladly,” William replied as he made his way quickly to me and pulled me in for a deep hard kiss, “I love it when you look at me like that.”

  “Like what?” I asked him trying to dodge his fangs that were starting to reveal themselves.

  “Like there’s no one else around, like there never has been, like there never will be again,” he told me as he started to kiss me along my neck.

  “Yeah, well, there are other people around so knock it off. You need to change, Juliana we have a meeting with the Coven.”

  This did pull me away from William, and I really looked at Victoria for the first time since walking in the door. She no longer looked sweet or innocent, and she certainly didn’t look 17. She had her light brown hair down in long loose curls along her back, and was wearing pants so tight I wondered if they were a new type of latex paint or really jeans. She had a blood red silk blouse on that matched her lipstick perfectly. She looked like she was out to catch prey of more than one variety. My gaze drifted down her intentionally seductive attire to her stiletto heels that looked suspiciously like the ones Ana would turn into silver spiked weapons.

  Great, just what I needed; Victoria armed.

  “Now?”

  “Yes, now, do you have a problem with that?” Victoria chimed in.

  “Oh, this is going to be a joy having her here, let me go change.”

  I left Ana who was always impeccably dressed with Victoria while I ran upstairs to change with William following close behind me.

  “What is her problem?” I hissed as soon as I shut the door behind me, “Is she always going to be like this?”

  “As long as she knows it’s going to bother you, yeah. She doesn’t have to impress the mother of her boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, she’s centuries older than you, don’t let her looks deceive you.”

  “Okay, okay, but she can lose some of the attitude don’t you think. After all, she is the one that kidnapped my son, not the other way around.”

  “Yes, well that is also debatable as she says that she was working undercover trying to stay close to Nathaniel. No one in the Council knows when or where the Coven plans on outing vampirekind. We need her, don’t forget what our mission. We need to stop the Coven.”

  I was trading my workout pants for a pair of jeans; there was no way I was dressing up tonight.

  “I still don’t trust her.”

  I looked up from my search of my shoes to see William standing by the bed holding my heels in his hand, “She tried to get Christian out of that building before anything could happen to him she didn’t want to see him hurt or used either. I know he’s your son, but you need to be reasonable about this.”

  “I am being reasonable, I’m agreeing to work with her aren’t I? I trust your judgment on that matter. I’m just refusing to let her around my son again. Why are you holding my heels? I’m not wearing those, I need my running shoes. I hate heels.”

  “They’ll look great with those jeans,” he said eyeing me up and down, “and that sweater.”

  I had put on a deep purple V-neck sweater that hugged my curves.

  “Besides, these have silver spiked heels in them, you’re running shoes don’t. You are wearing these, love, whether you like heels or not,” he said still holding them out to me.

  “You’ve gotten awfully bossy recently.”

  William came over and knelt in front of me lifting my right foot onto his bent leg. He pulled off my sock and kissed my ankle then slid the shoe onto my foot before putting it back onto the floor, and doing the
same with the other. When he had finished he stood up and took my face into his hands and kissed me gently, I felt the fire of it all the way down to my core.

  “It’s because I love you. I will go to the ends of the earth to keep you safe, and even keep you from wearing those disgusting running shoes if I have to.”

  “Oh they aren’t that disgusting,” I said laughing, grabbing his hand in mine.

  We made our way downstairs to find Ana and Victoria waiting for us impatiently, they looked like they had just been arguing about something; stopping at our arrival.

  “It’s about time. We can take my car,” Victoria said turning on her heel scratching out part of the floor as she went.

  “Hey watch the floor!”

  “No, Jules and I are taking my bike. Ana?”

  “I’ll follow too; I have to make a stop on the way back.”

  “This is isn’t how it’s supposed to go?”

  “How what’s supposed to go? You aren’t in charge here.”

  Victoria flashed over to me almost as quickly as her sire Nathaniel had been. I couldn’t see her move, even with my vampire sight, but I could sense her. She was before me with her hand on my throat before I could move. I didn’t need to breathe so it was more a threat of how quick she was, how easily she could get to me than anything.

  “And neither are you, newborn.”

  “Get your hands off me.”

  I felt my compulsion snap to attention in an instant. It was coming to me quicker and more easily than ever. I hadn’t used it on her, but I didn’t have any qualms about doing so.

  “Look you two, we need to leave. Save the fighting for the real enemy. Juliana, drop it.”

  Ana was referring to the compulsion; she didn’t say it out right in case Victoria couldn’t sense it. Ana was very sensitive to my using it because she was my sire. Victoria wasn’t letting go of me.

  “The only reason you were able to kill Nathaniel was because William did it for you don’t think you’ll get that chance with me.”

  “I said let go of me,” I moved to grab her hand from around my throat, but she blocked it hitting my arm with a strength that was flooring.

  William stepped forward clearly ready to separate us. I didn’t need him thinking I couldn’t handle myself though. Ana didn’t seem concerned, she knew what was coming. I had done this to her before. I let my compulsion go looking Victoria in the eye.

  “Victoria, let go of me now,” there was fierceness in my voice that had more anger to it than I realized I held.

  She dropped her hand and looked at me with an almost blank look on her face. I threw out my leg, catching her ankle and dropping her to the floor. She landed flat on her back and still looked at me blankly.

  “Jules, you made your point. Let’s go.”

  “I haven’t made my point. She needs to understand that I won’t allow her to bully me simply because she thinks she can.”

  I glanced up at Ana who was looking at me, not giving away her opinion on what I should do. I knew that if I could have fought back against Ana while I was still a human I would have. I couldn’t fight then, but I certainly could now. I stood over Victoria putting the heel of my stiletto over her heart; if I chose too I could stake her here and now. Everyone knew it but Victoria, and it was time she found that out.

  “Victoria, I release you, but I’d move carefully.”

  She blinked her eyes seeing me standing over her, her fangs instantly dropped, and her eyes turned black. Before she could attempt to move me, I slid the tip of my heel between the button of her shirt placing the silver tip directly on her skin. She let out a vicious hiss as her skin started to sizzle, stinging my nostrils. I looked down at her not moving.

  “Now that I have your attention I want to make something very clear. You will not ever attack me again. As you can see I am perfectly capable of defending myself without Ana or William’s assistance, and I have no apprehension about doing so.”

  The stench of her burning skin was starting to permeate the room, and I moved my heel just enough to keep it off her skin, but left it over her heart.

  “I will work with you. I don’t trust you, but I trust Ana and William. So, I will work with you. You will, however, stay the hell away from Christian or I don’t honestly know that I can control myself next time.”

  As I started to remove my foot, I looked down at her and saw the anger and resentment she had in the depths of her eyes. I stopped my leave and instead leaned down to look her in the eye one final time. I didn’t need compulsion this time.

  “If you attempt to betray us, if I think you are going to do something to jeopardize the existence of Ana or William, I will kill you.”

  I stepped off her then reached my hand out to help her off the floor.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I found myself walking into a house of Coven members. Instead of the overwhelming midnight rave we were at in New York, this time we met at an ordinary house, in an ordinary neighborhood; the company, however, was everything but. There were only a handful of vampires this time instead of the thronging crowd like before, but they weren’t any less intimidating. The only one I recognized was Michael, their leader. He was lounging on the couch as though he were a carefree man who had never once had the thought of world domination on his mind. He was just as striking as he was the last time I had met him, his light brown eyes twinkling as he laughed at a joke. It was so hard to believe this man was the monster I saw that first night I met him.

  “Gloria! How good of you to make it and I see your friends have found their way back to us. I wasn’t sure where they had gone.”

  Michael stood from the couch with a feline grace as he came over and took my hand in his, kissing my knuckles. His eyes didn’t stray from mine as he brushed his lips across the top of my hand. I could feel William tensing up next to me the longer Michael stood there.

  “Michael, it’s good to see you again,” William said holding out his hand to shake Michael’s, clearly trying to break him away from me.

  As Michael turned to look at William his fang scraped along my skin drawing the smallest amount of blood. It wouldn’t have even been noticeable to a human, but every vampire in the room stopped what they were doing to look over at us. Michael’s eyes were no longer on my own, but on William’s whose eyes had instantly turned black. I tried to pull my hand away, but he held it firmly to his lips not letting go. He turned his eyes back to me and licked the small amount of blood from my hand before returning it to me.

  “My apologies, a complete accident.”

  “Of course.”

  I took a quick look at William who still seemed as though he was ready to attack Michael if he so much as glanced my way again. Talk about the vampire version of a male pissing contest.

  “William, it’s fine,” I said tugging on his arm, bringing his attention back to me. He retracted his fangs, but his eyes stayed their stormy black. They would probably be like that for a while; he was definitely the jealous type.

  Ana hadn’t reacted more than stiffening slighting at the smell of my blood. She was standing on the other side me. The two always seemed to flank me like my own personal guard.

  “Hello, Michael I missed you,” Victoria said pushing her way through us.

  She pressed herself onto Michael pulling his mouth to hers and gave him a kiss that left little to the imagination. Once they had pulled themselves apart, and we were all still standing there unsure what we should be doing with ourselves. Michael looked at Victoria and saw the small round burn mark on her chest. It was inflicted from silver so it was still healing.

  “What is this?” He brushed apart the folds of her shirt with the gentlest of touches.

  “Oh, someone just has a hard time sharing. There was a fight over a pair of shoes. You know how it goes with girls, especially with newborns.”

  “Over a pair of shoes?” he asked a little bit incredulously, “I don’t think I’ll ever understand the female gender.”

 
Victoria shot me a murderous look as she spoke to Michael.

  “Don’t worry, you know how getting back at someone is what I’m best at.”

  “Oh dear, Gloria, you had better find somewhere else to sleep tonight. There is always room in my bed you know,” Michael offered me as his full lips turned up into a seductive smile.

  “Thanks for the offer, but I’m more than happy right where I am.” I told him, pulling William closer to my side, “Besides I think we all know I’m perfectly capable of defending myself, right Victoria?” I told them all with my most sickly sweet voice.

  “Oh, whatever.”

  Victoria pushed past Michael and went into the next room with a trail of laughter following after her.

  “Come sit down, it’s good to see you. After our visit in New York, I wasn’t sure when I would have the chance again.”

  The three of us started following him into the living room of the house. There were four other vampires in the room having a conversation on their own. The house was a small suburban mid-sized home. It looked to be about three bedrooms, two bathrooms. It had mismatched furniture, but was clean and obviously cared for. There were pictures on the walls of children playing various sports and standing in front of Christmas trees.

  “I have to say this isn’t exactly the kind of place I expected you to live in.”

  The homely atmosphere did have its own way of putting me at ease though. A woman walking into the room started laughing a high shrill laugh that sucked away all of my momentary calm.

  “Oh, please, like we would ever be caught living or dead in a place like this.”

  The woman moved with a feral like grace. It was easy to tell you wouldn’t be able to catch her off her guard. She glided over to us with her shoulders back and not a single black hair on her head out of place. She licked her lips as a drop of blood started to escape from her perfect pout.

  “This shack belongs to a cute little human family; they’re letting us borrow it for the time being.”