But something else usurped the majority of Elia’s attention, and that was the power she could sense rolling off the new oracle. It was stronger than anything Elia had felt from another creature, and the aroma of her blood was intoxicating. Elia’s mouth watered as her heart pounded in her chest with the desire to drink that powerful blood. She opened her mouth and bared her fangs.
Jasper’s hand on her shoulder pulled her back. “Not yet,” he whispered almost inaudibly. “She is but a child. We must wait until she’s had her first blood, or you know what would happen to you.”
His warning was sound. Elia knew the code of honor that even vampires must live by. One of the most basic of regulations was that they were not to feed from children. If Elia took the oracle now, she would be at the mercy of the council, despite her status as a ruler.
Even queens had something to fear, but as the oracle looked toward the shadows where they hovered, the scent was too enticing, and Elia watched painfully as the girl stepped from the pond slowly, tilting her head as if trying to get a better look.
Elia knew the oracle shouldn’t be able to see her, but she smiled seductively, the possibility that she was wrong arousing her.
“We should go back, wait for the moon after her first blood,” Jasper said and pulled her against his side.
Elia kept watching as the oracle squinted, looking deeper into the tree line. A glint of moonlight fell across the spot where Elia and Jasper stood, and the child’s eyes widened with fear. They were spotted.
“I want her now,” Elia spat, jumping from the woods before Jasper could pull her back. Her fangs bared, she moved to sink them deep into the flawless skin of the oracle’s neck.
******
Sarah had no time to react. She raised her arms over her head, and the hissing of the strange attacker disappeared. There was nothing but silence. The world darkened as she slipped into a dream state. She could see her tribe and a swirling of storm clouds above them. Something was coming, the order of things unraveling.
A light cut through the darkness, and she saw herself with a child whose eyes resembled her own and they stowed away to the holy grounds. Years moved in fast forward, and she watched the child grow into a woman, her blood growing stronger. And then the mark appeared.
The child contained the cure.
One ounce of her blood would return the werewolves to their humanity.
She saw the war, the clashing of the powers between the werewolf clans and the king of vampires. The child restored the order.
She remembered nothing further until she awakened days later in the village to the realization of her encounter. The elders knew she’d been attacked by the bite on her arm. They asked what else had occurred, why she was spared. She told them she didn’t know, keeping in mind that the oracle had great responsibilities. She would not let their fears of upsetting the careful balance of the universe prevent her from fulfilling her destiny.
******
Jasper whisked Elia back to their home, laid her on their bed, and called for the only doctor of their courts. Elia was still convulsing uncontrollably, and Jasper experienced true fear for the first time in his long life. The doctor glanced at Elia and then at Jasper, and he shook his head. “There is nothing I can do.”
Jasper fell to his knees. The blood of the oracle had poisoned her, causing an effect more potent than silver. Elia was doomed to a long, slow, torturous death.
As Jasper leaned over the body of his beloved, she reached for him, a single tear slipping from her eyes, and she tried in vain to speak. He held her hand, pressing it to his lips, and he pulled her body to him, sobbing against her hair. She couldn’t leave him. He would never be able to replace her, would do anything to save her.
But the days passed, Elia ravaged with pain. She writhed and wailed, moments of lucidity coming shorter and less frequently with time. But she told Jasper of the prophecy, of the child to be born, and how he must avenge her. “The shifters will search for her as well. This will be our chance to take them all,” she whispered in a harsh, choked voice. But her resolve for vengeance was certain, and Jasper hardened his heart with it.
“You must find the girl,” she insisted. “You must take her blood and heal the land, rid it of those filthy werewolves. Then, you must destroy those who try to tame us. The shape shifters must die.”
Jasper vowed to her that he would follow the path she laid out, and that he would avenge her death. As she slipped away, he watched the light in her eyes fade, and he was grateful as her body went slack, just for a moment, because her pain had ended. But then he stood, and Jasper’s scream rang for hundreds of miles, the depth of his loss clear in the mournful tone. Yes, he would right this wrong and destroy everything that had contributed to the death of the only being he had ever truly loved.
******
With a gasp, Sarah awoke, her eyes searching to determine where she was, looking for anything familiar. As she shivered from the cold sweat coating her body, her gaze landed on a photograph in a frame on the bedside table. Ava’s graduation. Her arm around her daughter’s shoulders as they both smiled brightly for the camera.
She gulped for air as she realized she was home. The dream had been so real, the memories so potent, that her heart pounded even now, and goose bumps raised from her skin. The reminder was evident, and she could waste no more time. Now, she knew what was going to happen and why she had felt such fear.
When the mark appeared, the vampires would come. She would have to prepare Ava, for that mark was due any time. She couldn’t let the war begin and surprise her daughter. If Sarah didn’t take control of the situation, she might lose her daughter, the only thing she had ever truly loved.
Chapter 18
Ava carried a tray up to her mother’s room that contained freshly brewed coffee, a croissant, and some fruit. She pushed open the door and smiled at Sarah, who was now perched against the headboard. It had been a long week, and Ava felt like she’d been walking on eggshells, trying to make sense of the events in her life while also catering to her mother, who was not recovering.
She hadn’t heard from Caleb during the week, either, and that irritated her. After everything he’d told her, she would have thought he would be in much closer contact.
But as she sat on the end of her mother’s bed, Ava knew there had to be more to the story. She wanted to know the whole truth. She could see in her mother’s eyes as they bored holes in her that Sarah was aware of Ava’s many questions. But Ava was tired of waiting. Her mother wasn’t getting well, and she’d decided that today would be the day she got her answers.
“Thank you for breakfast, honey,” Sarah said with a weak smile.
Ava nodded. “Are you feeling any better today?” She knew the answer, but she still asked.
“A little,” her mother said, taking in the spread on the tray as if trying to decide where to start. Ava knew she was lying. Her mother’s appetite had faded with her health, and she’d already shrunken. Ava watched as her mother reached for a strawberry, then took a small bite of the croissant and a tiny sip of coffee. Her hands still trembled, and Ava’s chest ached at her mother’s attempt to alleviate the worry she felt. But the frailty her mother showed in every movement only drove the fear home. Ava was going to lose her.
Determined to call the family doctor, even with her mother adamantly refusing to see him, Ava had scheduled a house call. But the doctor had found nothing of concern and simply suggested bed rest for several days until her energy was restored. Ava knew there had to be an underlying cause and had a sneaky suspicion that Sarah knew exactly what that was.
“You know, Ava, you took an entire week off work, and you’ve been waiting on me hand and foot. It’s time you got back to the grind,” Sarah said, sipping at the coffee.
Ava clenched her jaw at her mother’s stubbornness. “I go back tomorrow. Lil’s fine. Rhonda’s been filling in.” She fidgeted with her hands in her lap, nerves creeping into her spine as she prepared to pose the que
stions that had nagged at her all week. She was worried about her mother’s response, since Ava felt her mother was going to fight to protect her secrets.
After a few moments, she blurted out, “Mom, what is it that you’re not telling me? Are you sick with something the doctors don’t know about? Why are you hiding things from me? I don’t think anything could frighten me as much as just being clueless.” She stared at her mother apprehensively.
Her mother drew in a long breath and laid a hand on Ava’s lap. “Believe me when I say I’m not sick, just growing weaker.” Ava drew back, confused. If she wasn’t sick and was resting, how could she be getting weaker? Ava leveled her gaze even with her mother’s, and the older woman said, “I think it’s time you learned the truth, Ava. I’ve waited as long as I could and probably shouldn’t have kept it from you this long, but it certainly can’t wait any longer.”
Ava waited with bated breath. Her mother continued, “Do you remember any of the old stories your father and I used to tell you about Willow Falls? About things that supposedly happened in the folk tales about this area?”
Of course she remembered. They had been her favorite bedtime tales, and since discovering the existence of werewolves, followed by her mother’s show of some sort of supernatural gift, Ava had begun to question the fairytales and how much truth they hid. “I remember you telling me about a supernatural force, and about many creatures that lived here in the past.”
Sarah nodded. “Right. Well, I’d love to say that some of them were stories, and more of them were embellished, but every word of them was true. Ava, Willow Falls has hidden a great many secrets for a very long time. This town holds more history in supernatural lore than anywhere else in the country. Not bad for a little place with two stoplights, huh?” she chuckled.
Ava appreciated the attempt at comic relief, but while she’d been suspect of something like this since her return to the small town, Ava felt like the weight of a thousand suns had just been rested on her shoulders. While it all left her feeling unsettled, she didn’t particularly fear these truths. Maybe it was because, though she’d never admitted to believing in the stories, she’d always had a sense that something was different about her home town, and this confirmation served as a relief.
She listened closely as her mother told her, “Ava, we come from a tribe of shape shifters, and Willow Falls is a holy ground, designated by our ancient ancestors, more centuries than I know.” She paused, and Ava nodded eagerly for her to continue.
“Our purpose has always been to maintain peace and alliances among all the inhabitants of the world, at any cost, save for the secrecy of our intentions. Every thousand years, an oracle is born to our tribe, holding great power, and the sole purpose of the oracle is to maintain a balance between the supernatural and keep the order of things. If means that the oracle is unable to marry or produce children.”
It sounded important, and while Ava couldn’t fathom the idea of being without a family to carry on her legacy, she could understand why an oracle would be required to abstain from those distractions.
Her mother went on, “If an oracle disobeys this command, the balance is thrown, and it risks the collapse of the entire supernatural world. I had a vision as a youth, the first prophecy of my time. I was to be the oracle, you see. But that vision haunted me, and when I was sixteen, it came to light. I fell in love and conceived a daughter, you. But there was more to the vision, things that I couldn’t explain to the tribe which held more importance than my own responsibility as an oracle.
“My prophecy showed that my child would be sacred, would hold the sole responsibility of the continuation of our kind and the maintaining of the balance of the orders. I saw that, on her twenty-first birthday, my daughter would reveal the mark, and her powers would mature beyond compare.”
The implication was beyond comprehension, and Ava couldn’t even blink as she watched her mother sip her coffee to moisten her lips. She held her breath as Sarah opened her mouth to speak again. “That prophecy was revealed to me in the wake of an attack by a queen vampire. Elia tried to drain my blood in hopes of turning me so that I couldn’t possibly take on my destiny. But my blood poisoned her, and she died a slow and heinous death. Because she did bite me, Elia was able to see parts of my prophecy, and she divulged what she knew to her king. I couldn’t tell my tribe about the prophecy, you see, because they would never have let me out of their sight, knowing that I felt I had to disobey their creeds and bear a child.”
Ava reeled. Her mother had vowed never to have children and yet, she had born Ava, risking the wrath of her tribe. She had no idea what they would have done to her mother for that had she not come to the holy grounds, and she feared their punishment.
Sarah’s voice drew her back in. “They would have gone to the extent of killing me to prevent your birth, Ava. I couldn’t allow that, and I gave up my life with them to assure that you, as the glue that would hold the world together, were safe.”
Sarah paused, her face serene as she told the tale. “I’ve used my powers, stronger than the rest of my tribe because I was intended as the oracle, to place enchantments over Willow Falls, not trying to keep the supernatural out but to keep us hidden within its borders. It makes it much more difficult for anyone on the outside to find us here.”
Ava stared at her mother, stunned into silence. There were no words for the emotions the information evoked in her. All of this seemed so surreal, and she had trouble equating her mother, who had lived such an average life from Ava’s perspective coming from an ancient tribe. She couldn’t reconcile the idea of her own destiny being so vastly important, either. Her chest grew tight, with panic and she took several deep breaths to calm herself as she conceptualized the gravity of it all.
She fought the concern with anger, and she jumped up, pacing. “Jesus Christ, Mom, why would you risk having me? You would have been so much better off if I hadn’t been born.”
“Ava Lindsey Bertrand, do not speak to your mother in that tone.” Sarah’s voice was harsh, and it had the necessary effect, dissipating the rage that had begun to build in Ava. “If you hadn’t come to be, all that currently exists would fade into chaos, replaced with a world of savagery. I made the decision to follow my destiny, and I stand by my decision with every ounce of my being. It was the right thing to do.” Her breath came in heavy gasps, and Ava realized Sarah was wearing herself out again.
As she stared at her exhausted mother, Ava saw regret in her eyes. “I’m sorry I waited so long to tell you, that I kept so much from you. I had your best interests at heart, but that was the one misguided decision I made.” She heaved a deep breath. “With the werewolves in town, and you returning from college, I’m certain the prophecy’s fulfillment is imminent. You need to understand now what’s expected of you.”
Ava shook her head. “This is all too much, Mom. I’m sorry; I don’t think I can hear it.” She immediately regretted the error of her words. She didn’t want to upset her mother, but her world was turning upside down. Five months ago, she’d had nothing more to worry about than her final exams, graduating college, and finding her way through a normal life. Now, she was supposed to use some power she knew zilch about to balance the order of the entire world. Werewolves, vampires, and god knew what else all relied on what she did going forward. The questions in her mind made her dizzy, and she didn’t know where to begin asking them.
But she had to start somewhere. As she dropped back onto the bed, she asked meekly, “What kinds of creatures and other worlds are we dealing with here?”
Her mother cocked her head to the side, considering the question. “All myths and fantasy come from somewhere. The best answer I can give is that, if you’ve read about it, it probably exists. Vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, and a few others from the underworld make up the majority of the supernatural.”
Ava could definitely think of a few monsters she’d read about, and she didn’t like the idea of them being real. She returned to the reality she
faced right here at home. “Why are you getting so weak?”
“I’ve been using my energy to keep the enchantment spell strong for decades now. That spent a lot of my life force. And with your twenty-first birthday only days away, you’re growing exponentially stronger, making it harder and more of a drain to keep us hidden.”
Ava watched her mother drain the cup of coffee and place the empty tray to the side. She could tell Sarah was growing tired, but she seemed determined to stay alert enough to answer all of Ava’s questions. Trying to form her questions in a way that made sense, Ava asked, “What happens when we’re exposed?”
“They’ll come for us. They’ll come seeking to destroy you and me and take the book you found, the ‘Conjuring of the Dead’.” She saw her mother’s hesitation and raised an eyebrow in expectation as her heart threatened to pound right through her rib cage. “There’s more, Ava. Your blood holds the cure for lycanthropy, the condition that creates werewolves. But at the same time, you can be their undoing. If the vampires manage to take you and the book, they can perform a ritual that will allow Queen Elia to rise again.”
Chapter 19
Ava felt weak, overcome with anxiety. Her head throbbed, and though she needed more answers, she didn’t think she could handle much more right now. She stared unseeing out her mother’s bedroom window, silenced with awe and terror. This wasn’t possible, was it?
She was a normal girl, and she didn’t feel any of this power Sarah claimed she had. She’d had trouble with her first introduction to the supernatural, Caleb being a werewolf. She didn’t know if she’d ever fully comprehend all of this.
And that brought her to another question of her own. Did Caleb know what she was? Was he aware that she carried the cure for his kind? Maybe she was the reason they’d been drawn back to Willow Falls. In fact, it would make sense as to why he wanted to protect her, and telling her about this imprinting business was a great way to explain away his attentions.
Imprinted By The Alpha (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (The Marked One - Book 1) Page 9