Legacy of Blood

by J. L. McCoy

  I nodded my head and slipped the ring off, placing it on the bedside table. “Okay.”

  “Get some sleep, baby,” Archer said, standing up to take off my boots. “I need to call Ruarc and see where we stand. We need another plan because I refuse to let you put yourself in danger again by wearing that ring. It’s not happening.”

  I wanted to argue with him, but I simply did not have the energy any longer. It was taking everything I had just to keep my eyes open. Archer kissed my forehead one last time before cutting out the overhead lights and shutting his apartment door.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Sugar? Sugar, can you hear me?” a voice whispered softly in the distance.

  I vaguely felt someone shaking my shoulder and I fought against the heavy blackness of sleep.

  “Honey, I need you to wake up now.”

  I groaned and finally managed to open my eyes. It took me a few blinks to see clearly, but when I could, I saw Trey sitting on Archer’s bed beside me.

  “There she is,” Trey smiled down at me. “How are you?”

  I blinked a few more times and squinted against the bright light. “Mmm… tired,” I assessed slowly. “How long have I been asleep?”

  “Almost eight hours now,” he said gently, starting to pull the covers off me. “Can you sit up for me?”

  I nodded and, with surprising difficulty, sat up in bed. My head swam a bit and I felt like I hadn’t slept much at all. I was still tired but it wasn’t quite as bad as it had been before I took my nap. “What’s up?” I asked, rubbing my face.

  “Can you tell me how you feel?” he asked, gently rubbing my arm.

  “Groggy,” I sighed, before adding, “and kind of punchy. What’s with all the babying, Trey?” He was talking to me like I was a delicate little five year old.

  “I’m not babying you,” he smiled sweetly, but then his brow creased. “I’m concerned, that’s all. I don’t want to alarm you, but I’ve been trying to wake you up for almost an hour.”

  “What?” I asked, totally confused. I slept hard sometimes, but only once had someone had trouble waking me up and that was when I was dreaming about Amun.

  “Yeah,” he sighed and cocked his head. “Were you dreaming?”

  I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. “No… not at all, not that I can remember at least.”

  As I brought my hands down from my eyes, something red flashed on my hand and drew my attention. Sitting on my right ring finger was Amun’s ring. “What the hell?” I whispered, my face scrunched up in confusion. “What… did you put this on me?”

  Trey glanced down at my hand and shook his head. “No. You had it on when I came in.”

  “I took it off,” I shook my head and sat up straighter. “Before I went to sleep, Archer asked me to take it off and I did.” I looked over at the nightstand and stared at the spot where I had left the ring. “I set it right there, on the night stand.”

  “I take it that’s Amun’s ring then?” he asked and I nodded. Trey sighed and stood up. “Archer told me about what happened to you today before he left. That’s a mighty dangerous piece of jewelry you have on there, sugar.”

  “I think it’s broken,” I mumbled, looking down at it before my head snapped up. “Wait. Archer left? Where did he go?”

  “To meet with An Dilis,” Trey said, walking over to Archer’s closet and getting out my suitcase. “He left a little over an hour ago. It seems they need to come up with another plan to catch Amun that doesn’t involve you. Archer put his foot down; caused quite the argument, I must say. That man is fiercely protective of you,” he smirked before smiling widely. “Isn’t it romantic?”

  “Damn him,” I growled, flashing out of bed and immediately stumbling. Trey dropped my suitcase on the bed and helped me get my bearings. “I’m fine,” I frowned, taking my arm back from him and crossing them over my chest. “Thank you, but I’m fine. What the hell does Archer think he’s doing? I have six days to find Amun before he starts killing my family and friends. This stupid ring,” I yelled, flinging my arm up, “is our best shot at finding him.”

  “You said it doesn’t work,” Trey needlessly pointed out.

  “I know that,” I snapped at him and then took a deep breath when I saw the hurt on Trey’s face. “Fuck, Trey,” I sighed and rubbed my head, feeling instantly guilty. “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just cranky and tired and frustrated and… pissed off. I don’t mean to take it out on you… honestly.”

  “I think you should take the ring off,” Trey said quietly, eyeing the red stone warily.

  I looked down at it and shook my head. “No… no, I need to keep it on. What if it starts working again? If it does, I need to know as soon as possible. That’s the only way An Dilis will be able to catch Amun.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Skye,” Trey said, a little more sternly.

  “I love you, Trey, but it’s not your decision,” I sighed again and met his gaze with determination. “He said he’d kill Nikki first. He said he wanted to skin her and sew it into a hat. I won’t let that happen. I’m going to find him somehow.”

  “Fine,” Trey fisted his hands on his hips, his anger hitting me full force. “You are so damn hard headed, Skye Morrison.”

  “You sound like my mama,” I smirked.

  “Then she is a wise woman,” he huffed, but lost some of his fight. “God bless her soul for putting up with a handful like you. I don’t see how that woman isn’t covered in gray hair by now.”

  “Summer Wheat #104,” I winked. “Her colorist Pascal is a miracle worker, she says.”

  “Oh, gabh mo leisguel!” he exclaimed, rolling his eyes and throwing his hands up. “Must you always-,”

  The bedroom door opened, drawing our attention, and a head popped in. “Line’s getting long outside,” Quinn said, nodding his head toward the club. “Seamus said to get your ass down there and give him a hand.”

  Trey sighed and looked back at me. “We’ll finish this later. All I’m trying to say is be careful, okay?”

  “Aren’t I always?” I smiled.

  Trey rolled his eyes and walked out shaking his head.

  “You too,” Quinn said. “Lochlan’s going to need a hand tonight. We’re expecting a full house again, VIP and PVIP especially.”

  “Okay,” I sighed, not really feeling up to working tonight but knowing my brothers and sisters needed me. “Let me get changed and I’ll be down there in twenty minutes.”

  “Better make it ten,” he cocked his eyebrow and smirked before shutting the door again.

  I groaned and flashed into action, putting my makeup on and dressing for the night in record time. I went simple with tonight’s attire, wearing a low cut, long sleeve vinyl bodysuit that laced up the front and red patent leather pumps. After taking my hair down from its bun and fixing the waves with my fingers, I headed down to the second floor.

  Lochlan was behind the bar restocking bottles. He looked up and me with a smirk and chuckled. “Trey tells me you’re inna mood. Says don’ be surprised if ya take ma’ head off.”

  “Trey said that, did he?” I raised an eyebrow as I got to work.

  “Aye,” Lochlan smiled deviously as he fully faced me. “I bet ol’ Lochlan knows ‘ow ta put a smile back on tha’ gorgeous face o’ yours.”

  “Is that right?” I smiled at him.

  “Aye,” he wagged his eyebrows and I laughed. He grabbed me by my waist, spun me around and dipped me, causing me to squeal in surprise. “Care ta take a wee spin up in Archer’s office?”

  “You cad,” I laughed as I playfully smacked his arm. “With an offer like that, how’s a girl to refuse?”

  We laughed and cut up as we finished our prepping duties, my bad mood semi-improved. I wanted to call Archer and find out what was going on, but I decided it would be better to talk to him in person. Quinn had been right, tonight was a full house. The club quickly filled up to capacity and we were slammed in VIP.

 
“Do we have any more Macallan 30?” I called out to Lochlan as I dug around under the bar looking to see if a bottle was hidden in the back. “I need it for bottle service.”

  “Aye. I’ll go grab it from tha stockroom,” Lochlan said, wiping his hands on a towel. “Be back inna jiff.”

  I took the next order and before I could fill it, Lochlan had returned. “That was fast.”

  “Ran in ta Trey at tha foot of tha stairs,” Lochlan smiled, jumping back behind the bar. “He’s gonna go fetch it for ya.”

  I nodded and continued serving as I waited for Trey to arrive. Fifteen minutes had passed and still no Trey. “Dammit,” I mumbled, reading the clock behind the bar. “Trey’s not back yet. I can’t wait any longer. Table six is going to have my ass if they don’t get their bottle. Cover for me, will you? I’ll be right back.”

  “Mind your fangs, feek,” Lochlan smiled, touching the side of his nose. “An’ no bittin’.”

  I was not amused at his lack of trust in my control and told him so with a look as I stepped out from behind the bar and quickly walked down the stairs.

  “Have you seen Trey?” I asked Quinn, stepping to the side to allow two vampires to go up the stairs.

  “Last I saw he told Lochlan he was going to go grab a bottle for you guys.”

  “He hasn’t come back, has he?” I asked a bit frustrated. “I’ve got a table waiting.”

  He frowned and shook his head. “Maybe Seamus needed him back outside. He was in here doing headcount to see if they could let a few more customers in. He said the line was crazy outside.”

  “Shit,” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “That’s probably what had happened. I’ll be right back.”

  I fought my way through the sweaty, dancing mass of patrons and tried to hold my breath. Being smack in the middle of so many humans was a bit overwhelming. I hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast and I was suddenly dying for a bite.

  A hand clamped down on my arm and I whirled around in surprise. I was expecting a drunken customer but instead saw Seamus standing in front of me. “Hav’ ya seen Trey?” he frowned, obviously pissed.

  I shook my head and felt my brow furrow in confusion. “No. Trey was supposed to be bringing us a bottle from the stockroom but he never showed up. We figured he went back outside.”

  “Nay,” Seamus shook his head. “He’s no’ with me. I need ‘em though. Ya see ‘em, tell ‘em he’s fired, the slackin’ git.”

  “I’ll be sure to pass that on,” I smirked and watched him head back to the door. I managed to walk to the hallway in back without feeding from one of the hundreds of tasty customers we had and gave myself a little pat on the back. The stockroom door was open but there was no sign of Trey. I grabbed the bottle I needed and headed back onto the main floor.

  “You find Trey?” Quinn asked when I reached the stairs.

  “No,” I shook my head. “He wasn’t in the stockroom. I ran into Seamus and he said Trey wasn’t outside with him. He was looking for him too.”

  A sudden sharp pain behind my eyes had me whimpering and grabbing my head.

  Quinn frowned deeply and stared at me for a moment. “You okay?”

  The pain went away almost as quickly as it had come and I blinked my eyes a few times and shook my head, trying to clear some of the left over pressure. “Uh… yeah… I’m fine. Headache I guess.”

  “Run upstairs and get Hagan,” Quinn said, his frown still in place. “I need him down here.”

  I nodded and took the stairs two at a time. I quickly dropped off the bottle of Macallan to the table that had been waiting, apologized profusely for the delay, and then went to find Hagan. He was sitting at a table with three other vampires and I leaned over and whispered in his ear that Quinn needed him downstairs.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked, worriedly.

  “I don’t know,” I shook my head and shrugged one shoulder.

  Hagan excused himself from the table and headed downstairs while I headed back to the bar.

  I was in the middle of taking an order when the pain behind my eyes returned, tenfold. I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to take deep breaths until the pain went away.

  “What is it, Skye?” Lochlan asked, putting one arm around me.

  “I-I don’t know,” I whispered as I grabbed onto the counter to steady myself. “My head hurts.”

  The pressure in my head was overwhelming and like nothing I had ever experienced before. This was no ordinary headache, that much I could tell. “I think I need to… to-”

  “Ta what?” Lochlan asked. “Do ya need ta take a break? Do ya need ta sit down a bit?”

  The pain in my head suddenly ratcheted up another degree and I was involuntarily whimpering in pain. It felt like something was pushing up against the back of my eyes and when I opened them, I saw black spots dancing in my vision. I knew from past experience that this meant a blackout was near. I opened my mouth to ask Lochlan to take me upstairs, but I never got a word out before I hit the ground and fainted.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I opened my eyes and saw that I was standing in a dark, dank, disgustingly dirty back alley. Trash littered the ground and water dripped off the tall buildings around me.

  “How the hell did I get here?” I whispered to myself as I turned in a circle, taking in my shocking surroundings.

  “You are here because I command it!” Amun seethed and I spun around to see him standing in the middle of the alley, his hand tightly wrapped around a terrified Trey’s throat.

  “Trey!” I screamed as I stared helplessly at him. Trey’s eyes were wide, he was crying, and there was blood on his shirt. “What did you do to him?! If you hurt him, so help me God I’ll-,”

  “SILENCE!” Amun screamed and the buildings all around us shook with his fury. His eyes were black as night and his rage was profound. I had never seen him this angry before. Trey started making a choking sound and I immediately dropped to my knees.

  “Please,” I whispered, trying to stay calm but inside I was a blubbering, crying mess. “Please don’t hurt him. You have me. I’m here. Please just let him go, Amun.”

  Amun looked down at me with a mixture of hatred, longing, and sadness. “You betrayed me, Damu. I provide you a way to locate me, to come to me, and you try and lead their Army against me? Me, your own father, the very other half of your soul! How could you? How could you betray me?”

  I bowed my head in submission and did the one thing I could think of to try and calm his rage; I apologized. “I’m sorry, father. Please forgive me for what I have done. I’ll come with you, right now… but please let Trey go first. He has nothing to do with this.”

  “Why?” he whispered, causing me to look up in surprise. “Why did you betray me?”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered back. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I swear it will never happen again. Please, take me and let’s just go.”

  “I offered you the world, Damu, and you spit in my face!” he roared. “I bestowed upon you a gift in which no other being on the entire planet possesses other than myself. I have granted you immortality. I have given you TRUE life. You should be worshiping at my feet, but instead you recruit my sworn enemies and try to direct them into battle against me? We should be celebrating their deaths right now in our marriage bed, but instead I am here arguing with you. In my time, women submitted to men in all matters and did so immediately. Are you finally ready to submit to me now, or shall I have to teach you a lesson? I wonder how good your friend tastes,” he said as he licked his lips and brought Trey’s neck closer to him.

  “NO!” I screamed as I flashed to my feet, my arms extended in Trey’s direction. “Please, no. I’m ready to submit to you. Tell me what you want me to do and I will do it. I swear to you. But please, please don’t kill him.”

  Amun smiled and pulled his lips away from Trey. “If I had known it would be this simple, I would have used the boy sooner,” Amun smiled in satisfaction. “I guess you just re
quired the right motivation.”

  “Don’t do this, Skye,” Trey whispered, his eyes pleading. “I’d rather die than allow you to give yourself to-.” Trey started choking again as Amun lifted him off the ground by his neck.

  “Let him go, dammit!” I begged helplessly. “I’m right here. You have me. Take me and be done!”

  “Oh, I intend to,” Amun smiled sinisterly. “But you must actually be here for me to take you.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked in confusion, looking around at the dark alley around us. “I’m standing twenty feet from you.”

  “Not yet,” Amun cocked his eyebrow and then closed his eyes and tilted his head back. “Your body is currently lying on the floor of the nightclub they keep.” He opened his eyes and looked at me again, this time slowly taking me in from head to toe and back. “Your conscience is with me, that much is true; but I also require your body.”

  “Fine,” I said quickly. “You’ll have it. Just return me to my body and I’ll come to you.”

  “You betrayed me before,” Amun tsked as he slowly shook his head. “Why should I believe you will come to me now without alerting the others for help?”

  “Because you have my friend,” I explained, holding my arms out helplessly.

  “I should explain something to you before you even think about trying to deceive me again,” Amun said, cocking his head to the side as his black eyes bored into me. “The ring you wear that allows you to see and feel me also works the same way for me; I can sense you in return.” He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a more masculine version of my ring. The blood red stone was the same size and color but the gold band was thicker on his.

  “This ring, when worn by me, allows me to see your every move; hear your every thought,” he explained, slipping it on his finger.

  The dual vision of me looking at him and him looking at me was almost too much for my brain to handle. The pull to him was also strong, but not near as strong as it had been at the lake.

  Amun took the ring off and my knees wobbled with the relief I felt. “I will see everything you see, hear everything you say, and everything you think. There is no way you can hide ill intentions from me, child. Do you understand?” I nodded my head and he continued. “When you return to your body, you will immediately leave and come to me. If you even consider telling anyone I have taken this Day Walker, or if you fail to comply in a timely manner, I will kill your friend… immediately.”