Resurrected: A Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance

by Kim Faulks

  The house was the busiest I’d ever seen it. Shifters milled at the entrance. Xael pointed to my brothers who ran from one group to the other, carrying bags inside the house. I pulled to a stop and climbed out.

  “No. Not there. Wait, what are you doing to the trees? You can’t mark them. This isn’t territory for you to mark.” My sister cried.

  I bit the insides of my cheeks and tried to look anywhere else. Xael spun, her hands flapping in the air. “Really, Marcus? Really?”

  The group of young wolves laughed and danced from tree to tree, peeing on leaves and trunks.

  “Ah, to be young like that again, and have full control of your bladder,” crooned the old man.

  “It’s a sign of happiness.” I croaked as Xael marched toward me with venom in her gaze. “Think of it as them protecting us, warding off the other packs.”

  “They’re children. Aren’t we the ones protecting them?” Xael snapped.

  I nodded as the laughter died away. “But, they don’t know that. You’re the most formidable fighter amongst us. Maybe you could teach them a thing or two.”

  “I doubt the men in this pack would like that very much. I’ve already caught a glimpse of the way they treat their women.”

  And just like that, she gave me something to smile about once more. “Exactly, my beautiful and ferocious sister.”

  She tilted her head. Her dark eyes turned black. Her spliced pupils held me, and in a second, she was her old self once more. I brushed her hair from her shoulders.

  “You don’t like them, do you?” She asked.

  The first impression hadn't gone well. “I don’t know yet. Let’s hope they prove me wrong.”

  “Marcus, we have a problem.” I spun at the sound of panic in Michael’s voice.

  Michael, my Virgo brother raced toward me, his messy hair bouncing with each step. I reached out, gripping his shoulders. “He said we had to let him through. He said he’d bring others.”

  I shook my head as the sound of a car climbed the drive behind me. “Who? Who said that?”

  “Some sheriff. Goulding. He said his name was Goulding.”

  I scanned the wolves. “Where’s Zadoc?”

  “Gone. He said he had to take care of a few things. He said not to worry. Should I be worried?”

  I slapped my brother’s shoulder and laughed. It’s Zadoc. We should all be worried. “No. I’m sure everything’s fine. I’ll take care of it. Just help our sister. Make sure she doesn’t stab anyone, will you?”

  I forced a smile—everything’s going to be fine, everything’s going to be fine—and strode toward the marked vehicle as it pulled up behind me. Officer Goulding shoved open the door and leapt from the car. His boots barely touched the pebbled driveway as he charged toward me and I realized I’d been deluding myself—everything was not going to be fine at all.

  “Where the fuck is she?”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but he was moving too fast. I stepped to the side at the last moment, grabbing him to stop his fall. “Who are you talking about?”

  I punched my hand free and slapped the sunglasses from his eyes. They hit the ground. “My sister! Where the fuck is my sister?”

  “Abrial?”

  “No. Who the fuck is Abrial? Joslyn, my sister, is missing. Where the fuck is she?”

  “How am I supposed to know? She’s human right?”

  “Yes, she’s human. What the fuck did you think she was?”

  I kept my voice as steady as I could. “Take a look around you, deputy. There’s only wolves here—and us.”

  He seemed to deflate, reaching to rub his eyes. I saw then how tired he looked, his uniform wrinkled and filthy. “What made you think she was here?”

  “This.” He reached into his pocket and tore free a folded piece of paper.

  The image of William Ryder stared back at me. The ‘Missing’ poster was the same as the one I recalled seeing in the sheriff’s office.

  “I don’t understand.” I muttered, while inside I was reeling and asking the same damn question. Where is Zadoc? Where is my damn brother?

  “He went missing in this forest. He had a damn map with these co-ordinates all over it. Same with all the others in the Sheriff’s office, most we know for sure, others we only suspect. The sheriff said we couldn’t act on it. Said there wasn’t enough evidence. But, I know he’s lying, just as I know you’re lying. She got hooked up with these damn wolves and now she’s missing.”

  I searched for something to say to prove him wrong. But, I barely knew Abrial, much less her pack.

  “Is everything okay, Marcus?”

  I turned at the sound of Maddy’s voice. The new mother strolled toward me, with her baby snuggled in her arms. I forced a smile. “Sure, the deputy here’s looking for his sister.”

  “When did you last see her?”

  “Two days ago.” The deputy croaked, but it was the baby he was staring at, making the hair on the nape of my neck rise. “She went out with one of you people, but she didn’t come home. My mom’s beside herself. Joslyn’s a good girl. She doesn’t do drugs. She doesn’t go out drinking.”

  “And you think she’s here with us?”

  The baby in her arms let out a cry and the deputy sucked in a breath. “I thought maybe… I hoped….”

  “We’re only a small pack, mostly women and old folks. You’d have better luck with the Echo pack, they tend to… accumulate women.” She followed his gaze, glancing down at the baby. “She likes you.”

  He licked his lips. I heard the hard swallow. “She’s beautiful. What’s her name?”

  “Storm. I had her last night in the middle of the lightning and the thunder, it seemed the perfect name for her. I almost lost her. Without Abrial and Odessa, she would’ve died. I think I would’ve died too.”

  “You’re lucky they were there.”

  I rocked back on my feet.

  “We just found out last week she was with a shifter. She said he’s the daddy and I believe her. She’s a good girl. She don’t do no drugs.”

  “You’ll find her.” Maddy placed her hand on his arm. “By the Goddess, you’ll find her.”

  He handed the bundle back, lingering for a second until she was in her mother’s arms. “I hope you’re right. It’s only the three of us now, after Daddy passed away. You got a beautiful girl there.”

  He turned, leaving the paper on the ground. William Ryder’s face stared at me while the deputy strode back to his car. “There’s something going on with you, Marcus Kane, and I intend to find out what that is.”

  “Good morning to you too, deputy. Good luck in finding your sister.”

  I heard the gear clunk into place before the car backed up, then slowly disappeared down the drive. I turned toward the sound of boots. Victor moved in beside me. “I’ll go and get the rest of the pack.”

  “Thank you.” I clenched my fists, feeling the fury burn in my gut. Calm ocean stared at me, but the water was no use against the bull—not this time. “Now, can someone tell me, where’s Zadoc? Where the hell is our brother!”

  The rocks scattered under my shoes as I climbed the steep mountain face. Downwind, the stench rolled my gut and sent a shiver along my spine. I turned, glancing down the mountain. The stark white walls around the family compound waved a friendly flag. Abrial would be down there by now, waiting for me. But I had to fight the ram.

  Bodies were piling up. I could taste the fetid air and knew, the missing wouldn’t be silent much longer. I caught the faint whiff of gasoline a second before I reached the rocky rise. I stumbled at the sight of arms and legs all rolled into one huge mass. The dead stared at me with bloated expressions, leering with protruding tongues.

  The body on top beckoned with broken fingers. Bone poked from the dangling shreds of skin, flipping me the bird. I climbed closer and stared into his face. The human was barely recognizable. William Ryder lay bloodied and broken. His skin had split under his eye, opening up his cheek and exposing his teeth.
<
br />   “He cried for his mother. Can you believe that? I broke every finger and shattered every bone in his leg and he screamed for her. He pissed his pants and screamed.”

  I spun at the sound and stared at my brother. In this light, and accompanied with this stench, I would swear Zadoc had become a demon. He shoved off the trunk of a tree and strolled toward me. I dared not flinch. “This can’t happen again, Zadoc.”

  He strode past, pulling a lighter from his pocket. Fuel painted the air with a rainbow haze. I forced myself to look at him, to see him for what he truly was… a murderer.

  “Did you hear me? This can’t happen again.”

  His thumb rolled across the flint. A flame burst to life before he cast the lighter though the air. “It’ll happen as many times as it takes, Marcus.”

  I closed the distance between us. He reeled to meet me head on. “You brought the sheriff’s department to our door, Zadoc. Do you hear me? You exposed us.”

  “Really? You want to throw that card in my face when we have a house full of wolves?”

  “Living in a forest and running from a rival pack isn’t against the law. Murder is.”

  “No one touches a woman, or a child, and lives. Not while I breathe fire and walk this earth.” Zadoc snarled.

  I shifted my stance as the stench of burning flesh filled the air. White smoke billowed, stinging my eyes. There was no changing his mind. The man was as stubborn as his sign. “You’ll have to find somewhere else to hide the bodies for a while.”

  “The wolves know the bodies are here. I saw it in their eyes the moment they climbed out of the car. The men walked away disgusted, but the women….” He turned. “The women understood. They smiled at me, Marcus. They smiled at me. I’ve never had a woman smile at me.”

  The deputy would be back. I was certain of that and he’d bring more men. I placed my hand on Zadoc’s arm. We were up against a lot more than a few dead bodies. Humans would come and like the war a thousand years before, that would spell disaster, for us.

  Abrial

  “I can’t leave you.”

  My throat thickened. I nodded.

  “You don’t understand. I don’t know… I can’t see.”

  My shirt pulled taut under Odessa’s grip.

  I gripped her hand and stared into her tormented gaze. “I have to do this. There’s no other way.”

  Thick tears slid down her cheeks. I combed my fingers through her scraggly hair, then yanked her hard against my chest.

  She clutched my shirt and trembled. “I saw you kiss the dragon. You were swallowed by the fire. But you weren’t burned. You weren’t burned. The flames wrapped around you, comforting you.”

  I dropped my hands from her shoulders. Marcus.

  Odessa’s eyes glistened as she shook her head, tearing me away from his memory. “I see only darkness now. But it’s not the darkness that’s terrifying, Abrial. It’s the screaming. I can’t stop them. No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop the sounds.”

  I clenched my fist to still the shake and ran my knuckles along her hair. “I hear her too. But she isn’t just screaming, Odessa. She’s calling my name.”

  My heart was as heavy as boots as I swiped my tears. “Did I ever tell you my mother was a witch?”

  A spark lit up the night in her eyes. She answered with a rush. “No.”

  I nodded, soothing myself with the motion of my hand, fighting, just to get the words out. “My sister too.”

  “I… I didn’t know that.”

  The silence gripped my heart. “I want you to do something for me. Tell Marcus, I’m sorry. Tell him… even with the crash I had a nice time… with him.”

  The ground blurred as I stumbled and heaved my pack from the ground, swinging the weight up and over my shoulder. The straps bit into the muscle. I gripped the webbing and kept on moving, leaning into each stride, leaving what remained of my Bloodstone pack behind.

  The crystal at my neck smacked against my chest with each stride, reminding me what was important—reminding me what was really a home—and that was family.

  I yanked the stone from my shirt and traced the surface. My thumb stilled on the sharp ridge. I pressed my chin to my chest, yanking the leather strap free and stared at the shattered crystal.

  Broken stone.

  A broken pack.

  A broken heart.

  Because I’m cursed. Because we were cursed.

  What are you doing back here? I don’t know you. Wait….

  The memory resurfaced with a rush. I shook my head, desperate to get away, but the vision was relentless. I was in the shadows of the Echo pack. I’m sorry. Those words resounded inside my head. They were empty words that dragged me down.

  I reached for my throat. I could still feel his hands, clawing. The panic rose with the memory. I clutched the crystal against my chest feeling every tremor.

  I murdered him. Murdered him in cold blood. I closed my eyes. Go away… just go away. Yet, the dead never stay dead. Unseen fingers fumbled with my necklace.

  His grasp had slipped, then found a hold in my shirt. The collar pulled taught, choking me as he wrenched me from my feet. No. Stop. My hold on the knife slipped. I slashed the air blindly then slammed into a wall.

  The wood shuddered. Splinters gouged my cheek, stinging my face as he forced my head against the wood.

  Who are you?

  My ear burned, stinging with the force of his hand on my head as he ground my face into the wall. I’m going to die here. His cruel grip faded with the thought. I’m going to die here and no one will ever know.

  My knees trembled. His hold slipped. I slid down the wall until the leather strap around my neck pulled taut.

  Why are you here?

  My neck crunched as he yanked my head backwards. His breath hot against my skin. My hair pulled taught. Fresh tears blurred his white teeth. Why are you here? Who sent you?

  The corded muscles of my neck strained, until my tendons burned. He twisted my head, spittle splattered across my face as he snarled. Who sent you!

  I wrenched my head until my scalp tore. Pain lashed my head. I stabbed the air behind my back, hitting something hard. My heart burned as he grunted against my ear. I swung again, twisting my hair in his grasp until I couldn’t see—I could only feel.

  The crystal wedged tight between the slates. I smashed my head into the wall, then jerked. Something snapped. I stumbled free, cleaving the air with the blade as I swung. The tip stopped with the impact. I charged, driving him backwards, one foot after another. Those heavy thuds now a patter, racing to catch up. He hit the wall, momentum took over. Cold steel sliced through muscle and flesh to the hilt. His inky blood coated my hands

  It was all for nothing. I killed the man for nothing.

  I’d turned my back on my Bloodstone pack. Those thoughts weighed me down. They turned me into an animal. But it was the dragon who haunted every damn step. It was the dragon who gripped my heart and squeezed.

  All because he almost hit me with his car.

  And with the thought the memory continued. The sound of an engine had stilled my steps as I raced for the road. I was high on adrenaline and blood-sickened. A flash of silver sparkled like the morning sun on a lake and for a moment I didn’t understand what it was. I forced my steps faster at the sound, until the growl died in the distance.

  A car. The damn sound was a car.

  The trees hid me well. I crouched in the grassy shoulder, waiting for the cars to pass before I clambered over the rise. My feet hit familiar ground. Brakes squealed in my mind. Headlights blinded me. My heart hammered as I tried to get over the rise. Too fast. Too fast!

  Our gazes collided. Dark eyes widened, before the car swerved. Air buffeted my body as a black blur raced past, missing me by inches. I glanced over my shoulder as I stepped through the grass. Broken branches waved at me from the other side.

  The water in my container sloshed at my hip wrenching me from the memory and I glanced up at the harsh sun.

&n
bsp; I grabbed the bottle, taking enough to wet my mouth and kept on moving. The knee-high grass gave way to a rocky mound. My boots slipped on the loose gravel as I started the climb. I slapped my palm against the hard ridge, finding a foothold and scurried over. Voices echoed to me, turning to howls of pain.

  I scanned the trees and the bushes as a blanket of ice wrapped around me. The cold stole my thoughts moving in like a predator and I was its prey. I tried not to fight the energy—I’d felt its poisoned effects before. Dark magic hid the Echo pack well. No mortals would come here, not alone anyway.

  I held out my hands, waiting for the magic to recognize me. “Sol is waiting for me. Let me through.”

  But it wasn’t just the power I felt this time, there was something else there, waiting. I stood, bathed in the harsh sun, yet I felt no warmth. I felt only the darkness. My lips trembled. I’ve waited so long, Rowen… you’ve waited so long, and now I’m here.

  Shadows welled from the belly of my soul and trickled over the edges. I tried to ready myself for the impact, but there wasn’t enough steel, there wasn’t enough stone. The tremor in her words sliced deep.

  You left me, Abrial. Why… why? Daddy, please don’t make me go.

  Momma?

  Momma….

  Where are you Abrial?

  I hate you.

  I hate you!

  Please don’t leave me here.

  Don’t leave me here with him.

  I love you.

  I love you Abrial.

  Why haven’t you come for me?

  Don’t you love me anymore? Don’t you love me Abrial?

  My knees buckled. I hit the ground. Agony rammed like wooden spikes through my knees. I dragged my feet along the dirt, curling my knees against my chest. Thick tears blurred the sun, and yet I couldn’t feel the glow. I couldn’t feel the warmth.

  All I felt was her. Her pain. Her loneliness and I was a five-year old girl all over again. I lifted my hands. In my mind I saw my tiny fingers. The beds of my nails bleeding and torn. The sting was instant, even after all these years. A dull ache ate at the muscles of my arms.