Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles

by Paul A. Cagle

She had regained at least part of her composure and smiled sweetly. "No Silas but you do answer to the council, even if you are on it."

  "I'm well aware," he said. "It's highly…unusual for you to concern yourself with such weighty issues."

  At this she frowned. Something behind her eyes hardened. "This is going to become a council matter, soon, and Laramie wants to be prepared."

  Silas chuckled quietly. "That's as may be. I have called a council, yes. But until I bring it before them and formally state the issues at hand, this is still in my district and I will explore it as I see fit, without Laramie's permission or knowledge." There was steel in his words when he spoke them. "You may run back to Laramie and tell him that things are well in hand and that your…assistance, wasn't needed. Or wanted." He looked her directly in the eye.

  For a moment she looked as if she was going to make a very negative retort. Alec almost wished she would so that Silas would bitch slap her all the way back to Laramie. Instead she lowered her eyes and nodded once. "I'm sorry, it's been a long trip and I haven't fed. Please forgive?" She looked up at Silas and fluttered her lashes a bit. His face softened and he nodded. "I'll have rooms prepared for you and make sure there is sustenance made available." He stood then and walked to the intercom behind his desk to make the arrangements.

  As soon as he turned his back, Cassandra's demeanor changed and she glared at both Marcus and Alec. Her look was downright hateful. Marcus merely smiled that cocky smile of his and winked. Alec couldn't meet her eyes but did his best to hide his unease. He was quite certain she could hear the pounding of his heart.

  After a moment, the double doors opened and several wait staff members entered. Silas came back around the couches. "If you will please follow my staff they will take you to your rooms and see to your comfort."

  Cassandra had changed her demeanor before Silas could see her glaring. "Of course, Silas. Thank you for your hospitality... and your understanding." With that she and her retinue of hangers-on exited the room, closing the doors.

  As soon as the doors closed Marcus said, "I hate that bitch." Alec merely nodded whole-heartedly.

  Silas sighed. "Gentlemen if you don't mind, I have some work to do. I'll call on you later."

  And with that, Alec and Marcus were dismissed. He and Marcus exited the sitting room. They stood outside the double doors, the guards paying them little attention.

  The night was young and Alec wasn't sure what to do with himself. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Marcus said, "Follow me," and walked off down the hallway. Alec shrugged his shoulders and followed his friend to see what he had in mind. This was only his second day here and he already had enemies.

  This is great. Just keeps getting better and better.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Attack

  Marcus led Alec back to the gym and told him to wait while he set up some sort of an experiment. While he waited, Alec pulled out his cell and checked his email. He was surprised to see that Jake, his friend from the orphanage, had emailed to check up on him. He had seen on the news what had happened to Alec and was upset that Alec hadn't called him. According to this, Jake had been waiting on a phone call from his friend but now was on his way to visit him and make sure he was okay.

  Shit, what am I going to do? Alec wondered. If he didn't show up in person and talk to Jake he would suspect something. And once Jake got something in his head, he didn't let it go. He was going to have to talk to Silas and let him know he'd have to meet Jake somewhere. Not at his apartment in case it was being watched. But out in public and during the day should be okay shouldn't it?

  Marcus got Alec's attention and called him over. He had set up a small obstacle course of hurdles, chairs and floor mats.

  "Okay Alec. Here's what we are going to do. You obviously are able to tap your vampiric abilities, but only subconsciously. We are going to work on that." He stopped and thought about how best to explain what Alec needed to do. "When a vampire moves fast, jumps far or we use our strength, we… for lack of a better term we burn blood."

  "Burn blood?" Alec asked confused.

  Marcus shook his head quickly. "That's not actually what happens but think of it like burning calories."

  Alec nodded once, thinking.

  "Okay. When a vampire needs to use abilities his body absorbs blood and breaks it down into pure energy. It fuels his muscles, eye sight, whatever he needs." He looked at Alec to make sure he was following.

  "A normal vampire does it without thinking. It’s also how we stay alive. You are only able to do it when you are in danger. But you need to be able to do it anytime you want and we are going to work on that.

  First, we are going to focus on your hearing, something simple. I'm going to stand across the gym and speak to you quietly. I want you to hear what I'm saying to you. I want you to concentrate on your hearing, focus on hearing me and relax and let your body take over. Okay?"

  Alec nodded reluctantly.

  Marcus walked to the far side of the gym and stopped. Alec could see that his lips were moving but he couldn't hear a thing. He squinted his eyes and concentrated. Nothing. Marcus pulled out his phone and sent Alec a text. Close your eyes. Pretend you are listening to my voice and I am right beside you.

  Alec nodded that he understood and closed his eyes. He still couldn't hear anything. He was getting frustrated. This was ridiculous. But, Marcus was trying to help him so the least he could do was try.

  Alec took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He did this a couple of more times. Then he listened for Marcus's voice. Right at the very edge of his hearing, he could hear…something. He focused on it. He could tell it was there but couldn't make it out. He took a deep breath. And another. He focused on what he thought was the sound of Marcus’s voice. He tried reaching for that feeling of time slowing down, the feeling of being more than just simple Alec Carson but he just couldn’t do it. Several times he thought he was close but the feeling slipped elusively from him.

  Alec was trying to stay calm but he felt himself tensing up, clenching his fists and teeth. He relaxed again and shook his arms to get blood flowing to his hands again. It was so frustrating. He had extraordinary powers that as far as he knew no one else possessed and he couldn’t access them. Alec sighed angrily.

  Without warning Marcus frantically yelled, “ALEC!”

  Alec sensed more than saw movement as he snapped his eyes open. Something that Alec couldn’t make out was hurtling towards his face. Suddenly time slowed and he could see a 25-pound dumbbell flipping end over end gracefully through the air, aimed at his head. He felt like he had all the time in the world to react. He waited until the dumbbell was within inches of his face before he snapped his hand up and halted its progress instantly. From where Marcus was standing Alec heard, “Can you hear me now?”

  "I can hear you," Alec said dryly.

  "Good. You're doing it. How do you feel?"

  Alec shook his head and could hear his shirt rustle against his neck. "I feel like I did before. I feel like time has slowed down and there is just us here."

  “Sorry, I could see you struggling so I decided to help.” Marcus grinned as Alec walked towards him and replaced the weight where it belonged.

  “Thanks,” Alec said glaring at his friend.

  "What does it feel like when you burn blood? Can you feel a difference? Other than time slowing?" Marcus asked looking at Alec.

  Alec frowned in concentration. He did feel a little different. He couldn't explain it but inside he felt…there were no words to explain it. He felt like something inside him was flexing, moving, shifting, flowing…all those things and yet none of them were right.

  "Feel it?” Marcus asked. Alec nodded his head. "Okay, now I want you to run to the far side of the gym and back. But I want you to do it as quickly as possible. Okay?"

  Alec nodded. He held onto that feeling of more and zipped to the far side of the gym and back to stand on the opposite side of
Marcus. Marcus jumped. He hadn't even seen Alec move. He thought it would take him a moment to do it so he hadn't been prepared.

  "Damn," he said quietly. "That was fast."

  Alec shrugged.

  "Okay. Let that feeling go." Alec thought about it for a second and he was back to normal. It was weird but he felt…less, suddenly, less aware, less alive and well, just less. He told Marcus that.

  He and Marcus walked back over to the obstacle course that Marcus had set up. He stood at the beginning and Marcus explained what he wanted. Alec was to jump the hurdles, jump over the mats and step on the seat of each chair before jumping the hurdle at the end. Alec nodded his understanding and Marcus yelled, "GO!"

  Alec slipped as he started at a run towards the first hurdle. He couldn't grab the feeling he had before, it kept slipping away like when he was trying to hear Marcus earlier. Everything was moving at regular speed. As he approached the first hurdle, Marcus grabbed a hand full of stones that where sitting in a bucket beside him and in quick succession hurled them at Alec's head and midsection. Alec panicked, and then without warning all the stones slammed painfully into Alec’s body.

  “What the hell?” Alec asked frustrated. “Why didn’t that work?” He kicked one of the chairs and sent it tumbling once or twice backwards.

  “Maybe because the stones were more annoying than threatening?” Marcus asked confused. “Somehow you knew they weren’t really a threat.”

  Alec lifted his shirt to show his bruised torso. There were several welts on his chest and stomach from where the rocks had hit. They hurt like hell. As Alec watched, all of the bruises and marks on his body began to fade and return to normal.

  “At least you are healing quickly,” Marcus said trying to sound cheery. Alec just grunted and threw himself into one of the seats to think. So far every time his abilities had worked was because he’d been in danger or seriously threatened. Did that mean that he would be a normal human until something sharp and pointy was aimed at his head? Ridiculous. He wanted to access his abilities just like ever other vampire did.

  Finally Marcus said, "Time out," and led him to the bleachers on one side of the gym and sat down. Alec made up his mind and broached the subject of Jake's visit with Marcus. "So, I got an email from my friend Jake, the one I told you about from the orphanage." Marcus nodded that he remembered. "He's coming for a visit tomorrow to check up on me."

  Marcus just shook his head. "Alec, Silas won't like this. I don't think he will let you go."

  "That's what I was afraid of. The problem is, once Jake gets something in his head he can be stubborn. If I don't meet him he will get suspicious and start asking questions. He might even call the cops to have them check on me. It would just be better if I met him for a few hours and he could see for himself that I'm okay. He's always been protective of me. Like a big brother. He's the closest thing to family that I have."

  Marcus shrugged. "I understand that Alec, but if you go out in public, someone could try to hurt you or capture you. It's too risky. You don't want to put Jake's life in danger either."

  "But it would be during the day," Alec said quickly. "No vampire could grab me or get anywhere near me."

  "Alec," Marcus said doubtfully, "there are other ways."

  Alec frowned and thought about it. "Maybe you're right but I don't know what to tell Jake that would convince him not to visit. He's already on his way."

  "Silas could find a way."

  "No," Alec said quickly. I don't want vampires anywhere near Jake. Nothing personal. But I'd rather keep him out of all this."

  Marcus nodded, understanding. "I don't blame you there. When I was turned I thought the same thing about my family. I thought I could still be a part of their lives and be a vampire. I was wrong."

  "What do you mean?" Alec asked, frowning.

  "I told you I was abducted and kept against my will."

  Alec had forgotten that conversation. It felt like they had discussed it a long time ago. He nodded. It made even more sense now that Alec understood that it was when Marcus was turned.

  "After I stabbed and killed Antonius, I thought I was free. I didn't know how this world worked or that he had friends. Until they came looking for me." His eyes took on a pained look.

  "They found my family and threatened them. I had tried to go back home and be a part of their lives. I told them that I had a job and a place of my own, but during the day I hid in a series of caves. At night I came out to feed and visited with my mother and father." He sighed heavily.

  "What happened?" Alec asked quietly. “I came home one evening to find Antonius's friends posing as merchants, sitting at my family's table. They were toying with me. Showing me they could hurt my family if I didn't do what they wanted."

  "What did you do?"

  "There was a lot of sickness and death back then. Young men died all the time of disease or in battle. I faked my own death. My family was devastated of course. They thought bandits had attacked me. Antonius's friends were furious that they wouldn't get to punish me. Thankfully they were stupid enough to fall for it.” Marcus shrugged. “Once I saw that they were going to leave my family alone, I packed up what little I had, moved to Greece and started a new life."

  "Wow," was all Alec could say. "That must have been horrible." He reached out his hand and put it on Marcus's shoulder. Marcus smiled sadly, and placed his hand on top of Alec's squeezing it. Alec felt a shock go through him at the touch.

  "Anyway, that was a long time ago. Now I work for Silas, as his second."

  Alec removed his hand and sat thinking for a moment. Here he was offering comfort to an immortal being that was probably thousands of years old. Yep, his life had gotten strange.

  A thought occurred to Alec. “What does that mean, being Silas’s second?”

  Marcus smiled. “I am his second in command. I take care of the things that Silas is to busy to handle.”

  “Like me?” Alec asked smiling to show he wasn’t completely serious.

  Marcus laughed. “Among other tedious details,” he said winking at Alec.

  "Listen," Marcus said, turning serious, "Let's keep this little exercise to ourselves. I don't really want Silas to know that I've been trying to train you."

  Alec looked confused. "Why?"

  Marcus shrugged. "I'm only teaching you this because you're my friend and I want you to see that you can trust me. And, I think you should be able to defend yourself should the need arise." He looked at Alec to make sure he understood. "I don't think Silas would have a problem with this per se, but he might see this as me aggravating an already tense situation."

  Alec nodded that he understood.

  "I will teach you anything that I can. I'd just prefer that we kept it between us. If Doctor Schubert should question you, just say that you've been figuring things out and practicing on your own."

  "Got it," Alec said nodding.

  "You like to swim?" Marcus said sitting up.

  "Sure," Alec said confused.

  "Follow me."

  Marcus led Alec to the far side end of the gym, directly across from where they had entered earlier and through a door. Alec could smell chlorine as soon as the door opened. It burned his eyes slightly but they adjusted quickly. The room that Marcus took him to was huge and humid. In the center of the floor was the biggest heated pool Alec had ever seen. It was massive, with steam gently wafting in the artificial air current created by the fans in the ceiling.

  Marcus held his arms out. "We have our own private pool."

  Alec frowned. "Why do vampires need a heated pool?" he asked.

  Marcus chuckled. "It's not just for us. It's for visiting guests and dignitaries."

  This took Alec aback. What sort of dignitaries did Silas entertain that he felt the need for such a luxury? He didn't ask, and even if he had, he felt that Marcus wouldn't have answered him.

  "You want to swim?" Marcus asked, breaking into his train of thought.
>
  "I don't have a suit," Alec said trying to remember if Marcus had included one in the clothes that he had given him.

  Marcus laughed and shook his head. "Dude, it's just us," he said sounding like a typical 20-something year old man. With that he took off his shirt and kicked off his shoes.

  "I think you're just trying to get me naked,” Alec said jokingly and then blushed.

  "What if I am?" Marcus asked raising one eyebrow and dropped his pants, daring him with a look to get undressed.

  Damn! Marcus looked like a Greek god standing there naked. Roman god, Alec quietly corrected himself. The man standing before him was in amazing shape. There wasn't an ounce of fat on his body. Everything about him was just...perfect. He was the epitome of what every man wanted to be. He stood there with that cocky half smile on his lips and his hands resting on his hips, letting Alec look at him.

  Alec laughed suddenly dispelling his own embarrassment and pulled his shirt over his head. He kicked off his shoes and took his socks off and then dropped his pants. Damn, this was unlike Alec to just strip and go skinny-dipping, especially in a place where anyone could just walk in on them.

  Marcus nodded appreciatively. "We will make a decent vampire of you yet," he said and both men, laughing, plunged into the water.

  They swam and splashed water at each other, threw each other up out of the water only to splash back in again further down the pool, and generally just had a good time. After about an hour of this Marcus pulled himself up and sat on the edge of the pool, and was joined by Alec. They sat so close that their legs were touching, but Marcus didn't seem to mind so Alec didn't make a big deal about it.

  What was crazy was that Alec had done some amazing things today, like lifting weights that shouldn't have been possible. He had tried to run an obstacle course and failed but he’d learned that his abilities kicked in anytime he was in immediate danger. And he had no doubt that with Marcus’s help, he’d figure out the rest. He still had a lot to learn, but he was one step closer. The great thing about it was he wasn't even remotely tired. He didn't even feel winded. What he did feel was amazing. He looked back on his life and realized how limited he had been by his weight and his human body. It was insane.