Legacy of Blood

by J. L. McCoy

  On my way to my room, I saw one of Styvi Nix’s tug ropes on the floor and stopped cold, mid flash. Oleif crashed in to me and swore in Gaelic as he bounced roughly off my back. “Where is my dog?” I wondered in a tiny whisper as I stared at her toy. I closed my eyes and focused on every heartbeat in the house. All I heard were the slow, steady rhythms of immortal hearts; Styvi’s was nowhere to be found.

  I turned around and shouldered past Oleif as I flashed into the kitchen to where Trey was unceremoniously dumping out all the human food from the refrigerator and cabinets.

  “Trey, where’s Styvi? Why isn’t she here?” I asked, starting to panic. Styvi was my life and if something had happened to her I didn’t know what I would do.

  Trey set the near full trash bag down on the floor and dusted his hands together. “Miss Styvi is just fine, honey,” he said gently, trying to reassure me. “She freaked out a bit when you die- I mean changed and we thought it best to get her away from the house so we could clean up. Quinn drove her over to Nikki’s and she’s staying there with her for the time being.”

  “Oh,” I sighed half in relief, half in worry. I could only imagine what Styvi must have been feeling, having been forced to watch me throw up blood all over the place. “Okay… I guess that’s good. I don’t want to traumatize her any more than she’s already been. Once I can control my speed better and my emotions, I’ll go get her.”

  “Quinn mentioned how happy she was to see Nikki again,” Trey shrugged one delicate shoulder. “Maybe you should leave her there for a while. She’ll have her back yard and most importantly a stable environment…”

  I wanted to disagree with him; to shake my head and argue, but I knew deep down that he was right. A house full of vampires and an emotional basket case for a ‘mommy’ was no way to live. As much as it killed me and tore at my heart, I had to agree with him. “What did he tell Nikki?”

  “Quinn handed her a fat stack of cash and told her you had to go out of town again. She got pissed off at your work situation and called Archer a ‘slave-driving so-and-so’ for never letting you have a full day off. Quinn said she was still sore about the Krav Maga class you missed when Pádraig took you back home after he realized Amun had been in your house. Nikki worries we make you work too much,” Trey chuckled but it wasn’t a happy one.

  “If she only knew the truth,” I sighed as I rubbed my forehead. My own best friend didn’t know me anymore. The life she thought I lived was a complete and total lie. And now, to top it all off, I was a freakin’ vampire. There was no way in hell I could tell her; no way could I tell my family or friends. I suddenly remembered the story Jameson told me about meeting Archer and how after he was turned he had to move away from the town he lived in and was forbidden to go back.

  Trey’s eyes widened with alarm as he picked up on my emotional anguish. “Honey, what’s wrong? What is it?” he asked as he came over and placed a soothing hand on my back.

  “I’m going to have to leave Austin, aren’t I?” I frowned. “I’ll never be able to see Nikki or Dan again. Jameson told me what he had to do after he was turned. I’m going to have to do the same thing, right?”

  Trey sighed and frowned sympathetically as Archer came into the room. “We’ll try to find a way so that you can stay,” Archer spoke and a few gasps sounded as my housemates in the living room began to whisper to one another.

  “Athair, that’s unheard of,” Trey’s eyes bulged.

  “Aye,” he conceded with a nod, “but I can’t just drop everything and leave. The club just opened and we have to get it established before we can move on. There is also the matter of Amun. We are safest here where An Dilis currently watches. Our best chance to eradicate him is now. If we move, I fear he will only follow. We have something he desperately wants and I’m sure he’ll stop at nothing to get it.”

  All eyes fell on me and I bit my lip as I sighed frustratedly. I was going to kill that asshole the first chance I got. I hated what Amun had done to me and what I was forced to become as an alternative to death. “I’m going to kill that motherfucker, even if it’s the last thing I ever do,” I gritted angrily before turning and flashing down the hall, back to my room.

  Chapter Eight

  As soon as my head hit my pillow, and I fully relaxed, my eyes began to grow heavy. All of the excitement I had been through today had taken its toll on me mentally. I desperately needed to sleep and recharge. Before I knew it, I was out cold.

  Images flashed behind my eyes, interrupting hours of deep, sound sleep as I softly heard someone whispering my name. Something was pulling at my psyche, demanding entrance, and I finally gave in to the request.

  Amun was standing by a large body of water with his back to me. As soon as I took a step toward him, he whirled around looking surprised but relieved.

  “Why have you not come sooner?” he demanded, his black eyes furious. “I have been summoning you all day. I could sense you but I did not have access to you… I could not access your mind. HOW are you preventing me?”

  “Ha!” I laughed and sneered at the small victory. “You mean to tell me you can’t just come into my dreams whenever you want to?”

  He flashed to me and grabbed me by the throat. “You consumed their blood?!” he raged in my face as he glared back and forth between my now colorless eyes. “But you are mine!”

  “I am no one’s!” I yelled back as I ripped his hand from my neck and pushed him away from me; the action utterly shocking Amun. “No one owns me! No one will EVER own me!”

  “A piece of my very soul is within you,” he growled, quickly recovering. “You are mine and you will obey. You will come to me this night! I DEMAND IT!”

  I put my hands on my hips and smirked at him. “Demand away, Amun. I don’t know what you’re expecting, but I’m not going to just come crawling to whatever hole you’re off hiding in. You have no control over me. Get used to it!”

  “Oh, I have plenty of control over you,” he sneered evilly as he took another step toward me. “All those disgusting feelings of affection and desire you felt for that Day Walker… Archer? I created them. I made you dream of him, want him, make love to him… I compelled you remain with him when you were so determined to leave. I could not allow you to depart and ruin all my plans! But in the end, you betrayed me, Damu. There will be a heavy price to pay for that. You were supposed to stay, complete your change and then destroy him and all his descendants. Instead you drink his blood and pollute yourself?! You could have been something magnificent, something beautifully fierce and exquisitely savage, but now you are just another common, pathetic Day Walker!”

  I felt my eyes flicker black as anger consumed me. “I’m not your fucking toy, Amun! If you think you can force me to feel things and do things for you, you have another thing coming. I’m going to kill you for what you’ve done to me! As God is my witness, you will DIE by MY hand!”

  Amun chuckled as he looked me up and down and then tsked. “Oh, my sweet Nisiqtu… you are still so headstrong. I believe I was mistaken about you. You carry my mark in your eyes. We are not so different after all, you and I. You may be a Day Walker now, but the potential for greatness is still there. The possibilities are endless now. There is so much we can do to them now that you are one of them. They will never suspect-”

  “Fuck you!” I spat as I turned and walked away. I didn’t have to listen to his bullshit. He may have pulled me into this dream but, come hell or high water, I was going to walk out of it.

  “You have one week to come to me, Skye,” Amun yelled at my back. “If you do not obey me, I will begin killing everyone you hold dear, one by one, and I will start with that fiery girl who shares your home. I believe I will sew her colorful skin into a new hat.”

  I whirled around, my eyes wide and fearful. “You lay one finger on her and I’ll-”

  “Silence!” Amun roared angrily, his voice echoing loudly all around me. “Seven days, Skye. And you had better be wearing the presents I left for you when you
come to me.”

  Chapter Nine

  I bolted upright in bed, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath. Oleif flashed from his spot on the chaise lounge to stand beside my bed.

  “What is it?” he demanded, his aqua eyes wide and alert.

  “I need to see Archer,” I breathed as I scrambled up out of bed.

  Oleif flashed to the door, blocking my exit. “It is the middle of the night. Everyone is sleeping, as you should be. Tell me, what did you see?”

  “Get out of my way, Oleif!” I said through gritted teeth. I was in no mood for controlling men at the moment.

  “No,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood up straighter.

  “I don’t have time for this shit,” I spat as I shoved him to the side with everything I had in me. His body flew to the right, crashing heavily into the dresser, as I flashed out my door and threw open Archer’s.

  The sound of Oleif’s body breaking the wood dresser had awoken him and he was just starting to flash out of bed when I roughly pushed him back down on it.

  “Amun,” I breathed quickly as Oleif’s fierce growl sounded at Archer’s doorway. The next thing I felt was Oleif’s hands in my hair, jerking me back and away from Archer. I screamed out in pain as hair began to rip from my scalp.

  “Stop!” Archer yelled as he flashed to Oleif and tried to pry his thick hand from my arm. “Get your hands off her!”

  Oleif let go of my hair, put his forearm around my throat, and squeezed hard as he growled out something in Gaelic.

  “Let go of me. I have to talk to Archer!” I choked and coughed out as I clawed at Oleif’s massive arm.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Hagan growled from the doorway, a bag of blood in his hand and a shocked look on his face.

  “The girl attacked me,” Oleif snarled as he straightened his body, my feet leaving the floor, and squeezed harder.

  “Let her go!”

  “Gah wa le mah fahk aaah shii-!”

  “Are you idiots done yet?” Hagan sighed as he leaned against the doorframe, his face taking on a look of boredom, as he slowly took another sip from his blood bag.

  Oleif snarled frustratedly and instantly let go of me. I fell to the floor and grabbed my throat. He had crushed my windpipe. “She attacked me!”

  “I’m sure she had good reason,” Archer growled protectively as he crouched down on the floor in front of me, tilting my head up so he could get a good look at me. My throat began to tingle and itch as it healed.

  “Why did she attack you?” Hagan asked, walking into the room.

  “She was sleeping, and then she jumped out of bed and tried to leave her room. I told her everyone was asleep and she couldn’t leave. She threw me out of the way and left anyway.”

  “Is that what that crashing sound was?” Hagan chuckled.

  “You think the assault of one of your brethren a joke?” Oleif asked very quietly and his sudden change in temperament made me scared. His voice promised death; a long, slow, and very painful death.

  “Calm yourself, brother,” Hagan placated. “I apologize. An assault on you is no laughing matter. I was merely surprised that she was able to.”

  “She caught me off-guard,” he straightened his back indignantly, “otherwise it would not have happened.”

  “You didn’t have to crush my windpipe,” I huffed as I stood up off the floor, my throat completely healed but still a bit sore.

  “And you did not have to shove me across the room!” Oleif yelled, his aqua eyes pissed.

  “I’m sorry, okay?” I held my hands out to my sides. “I tried telling you that I had to talk to Archer but you wouldn’t let me out. I didn’t want to stand there and argue with you.”

  “What was so important that you would risk your very life to disobey me?” Oleif demanded.

  “Amun came to me in my sleep again,” I answered fearfully, turning to Archer, as I remembered his threat. “It’s bad, Archer… really, really bad.”

  Oleif immediately took his cell phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial as Archer led me to his couch. Oleif and Hagan stood in front of me as Archer sat next to me.

  “Tell me,” Archer commanded, his eyes worried.

  “Wait,” Oleif said and we all looked up at him. A silent second passed before he spoke into the phone. “She dreams of him,” he said and activated the speakerphone feature after a brief pause.

  “What did you see?” Ruarc’s disembodied voice demanded.

  “How do I know you won’t kill me after I tell you?” I asked fearfully. I wasn’t stupid. Ruarc saw me as an abomination and did not see me fit to live unless I passed whatever tests he chose to give me. What if he decided that Amun’s influence over me was too great and killed me anyway, before I got a chance to prove myself to him?

  “Would you like me to torture it out of her, sir?” Oleif asked as he sneered at me. “It would be my pleasure.”

  “Jesus, Oleif!” Hagan rolled his eyes in exasperation.

  “I made a promise to my son that I would give you a fair trial,” Ruarc said impatiently. “I am a man of my word, Miss Morrison. No harm will come to you if you pass my tests. Now tell me everything; leave no detail out, no matter how small or insignificant you think it may be.”

  I took a deep breath and looked up at Hagan for guidance. I trusted him to tell me if I was indeed safe. He nodded his head encouragingly and I did as Ruarc asked. I told him everything; from me feeling a pulling on my consciousness as I slept and me choosing to let it in to Amun telling me to wear the presents he left me when I came to him. Oleif’s growl prompted me to inform Ruarc of our scuffle and I made sure to tell Ruarc, and Oleif again, how sorry I was for the slight.

  “This proves he cannot control her,” Archer said, deep in thought. “She also said he called her a Day Walker. She is indeed one of us if he was angered by it.”

  “Not so fast,” Oleif spoke up. “He said his soul was inside of her which means she is partly whatever… thing he is. That proves she is not one of us.”

  “That proves nothing,” Hagan countered.

  “I am inclined to agree with Hagan,” Ruarc sighed, sounding none too happy about it. “We can’t know the extent of his infection until Skye is tested.”

  “Hello! You guys are missing the big picture here. He expects me to come to him before seven days are up or he starts killing my friends and family!”

  “This may be the opportunity we have been waiting for,” Oleif smiled as he looked down at me. “She can lead us to him.”

  “You want to use me as bait?!”

  “Sounds good to me,” Oleif grinned wolfishly.

  “Silence, the both of you,” Ruarc growled and then sighed heavily into the phone. “This is the chance we have been waiting for. It’s the best position we have been in thus far. Amun is here in the city and not going anywhere until he gets what he wants, and that’s the girl. I intend to give him what he wants.”

  “What the hell, Ruarc?!” I flashed upright as I ran my hands through my unruly hair in frustration. “You’re just going to let that sick bastard have me?”

  “Sit, Morrison,” Hagan growled as he pushed me back down on the sofa. “Hear him out.”

  “Do you still have the ring, Fearchar?” Ruarc asked, completely ignoring my previous question. “We left the dress in her closet.”

  “What dress?” I asked confused, my brow furrowing deeply. “And what ring? What are you talking about?”

  Archer sighed and looked up at me as he answered Ruarc. “The ring is in my office at the club. I didn’t think it safe to bring into our home until we knew more about it.”

  “Good thinking, dheartháir,” Ruarc sighed as well. “Leave the ring there for the time being.”

  “Isn’t anyone going to answer me?” I asked with a frown as I crossed my arms unhappily across my chest.

  “Hagan, I will arrive in a few hours,” Ruarc continued. “Prepare the basement for her testing. I’m afraid we�
�ve run out of time, my son. We need to know if we can trust her to help us catch Amun and the only way is to do it now. Fearchar, I hope you will not mind accommodating us sooner than expected.”

  “As always, Ruarc, my home is open to you and An Dilis at any time,” Archer said softly as he looked over at me with sympathetic eyes. “I’ll be sure Skye is ready for you when you arrive.”

  “Thank you, Archer. Oleif and I have much to discuss. If you don’t mind I’m going to have him leave the room so we can talk. Oleif?”

  “Yes, sir,” Oleif smiled crookedly at me as he turned to walk toward Archer’s bedroom door. “I’m leaving the room now.”

  After the door closed, I stood in a flash and started pacing the room. To say I was upset was an understatement. I was angry that everyone had ignored my questions and treated me as if I wasn’t even in the room.

  “What the hell is going on Archer?” I huffed as I turned. “What ring is he talking about? And what dress?”

  Archer tiredly rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath. “When An Dilis searched your house after Amun was there, they found a wedding dress had been laid out on your bed along with a box containing a ring. They appeared to be gifts from him.”

  I stopped pacing and looked over at him with hurt eyes. “What? Why didn’t anyone tell me this sooner?”

  “Because, Skye, you were already so upset with the dreams you had been having and your temperament was so strange and unlike you… I didn’t know how you’d take it. I didn’t want to alarm you either.”

  “You should have told me, Archer,” I whispered, feeling betrayed. “I need to know things like this. This asshole is haunting me, stalking me, torturing me… I need to know everything he does that involves me. You can’t protect me from him, Archer. Not anymore. Things have gone too far. A part of him is inside me now, for fuck’s sake!”

  “You’ve got bigger things to worry about right now, Morrison,” Hagan said, crossing his corded arms over his chest. “Ruarc and his team will be here in a few hours and you need to be prepared for what is about to happen.”