Book of Souls (Supernatural War Book 1)

by Steven L Smithen

  “Dorian Callahan, I do not intend to do you and yours any harm. I think we can help each other.” The voice from beyond the door said.

  I looked over to Khloe, she nodded. Then, I glanced over to Talia and Joseph they too nodded.

  I opened the door saying “You have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am but I don’t know very many vampires. Definitely not any old enough to be out during the day.” The man in front of me was six foot, had slicked back dark brown hair, amber colored eyes, and a goatee. He was dressed in charcoal slacks with a blue business shirt, no tie, cuffs opened and rolled up slightly to about his forearms. The beginning of a tattoo on his right forearm showed.

  “I beg your pardon. I am Esteban.” He said his Spanish accent evident now with the door open. He extended his hand to me.

  “Dorian pleased to meet you,” I replied taking his hand. His grip was firm but not overbearing. “Please, come in. I would like to know how you knew we were here.” I pulled the door open to allow Esteban inside. I notice that Khloe, Talia, and Joseph were now in the living room.

  I escorted him to the living room. “Esteban, let me introduce you to Talia, my sister, Joseph her mate, and Khloe my mate.” He shook each of their hands before looking at me. “We were just sitting down for breakfast can I get you anything?” I asked.

  “Coffee please.” He answered. I noticed his eyebrows lift slightly in surprise. Probably wasn’t expecting such hospitality after what we had all endured.

  Leading him into the kitchen I offered him a seat at the table. I went over to the cabinet pulled out a coffee mug pouring him a cup. Holding up the cup. “How do you take it?”

  “Black, thank you.”

  I handed him the coffee cup. “What brings you to us? I figured all the vampires would be flocking to Kirin, now that he has returned. His priests have taken care of the Elders that would have opposed him.” At the mention of what happened to his Elders, there was flash of emotion across his face just for a second before he schooled his features. Was that anger? No. Fury? That’s what it was. He’s pissed about the mention of Kirin and his priests.

  Before I could say something, Khloe interrupted my train of thought. “You were there, weren’t you? When Kirin was overthrown and ‘killed’?” She asked, that last part with air quotes.

  He looked down at his cup with both hands wrapped around it. Thinking? No, remembering. He appeared to have that faraway look in his eyes. I knew that look all too well. Many combat veterans get it when remembering what they went through.

  He looked up meeting Khloe’s eyes. “Si, I was there along with my dear friend, Gustavo. We were dispatched by the Elders in Europe. It was but a handful of years earlier that a Spanish expedition got shipwrecked along the Yucatan coast. There was one who survived and returned to Spain some five years later with strange tales about savages who made sacrifices to a living god. You must understand that this was during the time of the Inquisition. The Catholic Church was very interested in whoever this upstart heretic was. What you may or may not know is that the Vampires have had their own spies among the clergy. Especially in those days when anything out of the ordinary would see you tied to a pole and burned at the stake.

  “When the Elders heard of this, they believed that he was a vampire long thought to be dead. Even in those days, Kirin was over two thousand years old. From what I was permitted to read in those days, the falling out between Kirin and the Elders was akin to a World War in these times. I can assure you that Kirin is long dead. For I was the one who took his head and burned his body. I do not know who this new pretender is. It could be one of his High Priests. That would explain why the other Blood Priests have reappeared after all these years.”

  “Blood Priests?” I asked Esteban curious about this title.

  “Si, the Blood Priests were the ones who oversaw all of the human sacrifices that were carried out in Kirin’s name. They would collect all the blood from the body so that they could use it to dye their clothes and armor as well as bathe in it. They were also known for eating the hearts of their victim’s moments after the kill.” Both Talia and Khloe looked at me with astonishment on their faces. Esteban noticed this exchange. “You have seen one of these Blood Priests?”

  “Twice. The first time was right after a group of rogue shifters, from our pack, attacked a Vampire apartment building killing your Elders. Then, last night when we were taking care of those rogue shifters. He showed up once the witch who had accompanied us proceeded to betray us using her magic to prevent us from stopping her and this Blood Priest from retrieving the Book of Souls. Then they teleported right in front of us.”

  He looked thoughtful after my description of the events. “The priests have an ability to teleport wherever they need to. The only requirement is that it requires them to feed on the hearts of their victims. Something about the energy in the heartblood together with their brand of sorcery allows them to do this.” We all looked at him for an explanation.

  “Maybe, I should tell you what happened to me and Gustavo. Like I was saying the Elders found out about Kirin. They wanted him destroyed and his cursed book returned to them. We were sent to the New World along with one of the Conquistador expeditions sent by the church. They were charged to find gold for the crown. While the church sent priests to convert the heathen savages. Neither Gustavo or I cared for the gold. We had been vampires for about two hundred years at that point and had both amassed a sizeable fortune. It was the easiest way for us to travel across the Atlantic. Once we made landfall it was nothing for us to separate ourselves from the normal humans making our way inland to search for Kirin.

  “After about two weeks of travelling we came across a local whose size and appearance dismayed us. For he was enormous for a man from the region. He had to be well over six feet. His name was Omek. We later learned that he was the leader of the Eagle Warriors. I believe that he was one of your ancestors Khloe.”

  “Yes, he was. He was the one responsible all those years ago, for hiding the book.” She answered softly.

  “Omek along with the cat shifters, Jaguar Warriors, knew where this Kirin lived. They knew Kirin was a vampire but had no way to counter him and his priests. At this point, Kirin had ruled these people for over fifteen hundred years. To them, he was a god eternal.”

  “How did you defeat him then? He’s not only an extremely old vampire but he was also a sorcerer.” I asked curious as to how two groups of shifters and a couple of vampires managed to do what no one else had been able to at that point.

  Esteban looked down at his cup and took a deep breath slowly exhaling before he continued with his story. “Gustavo was the reason we were able to defeat him. Somewhere in his past, he must have had a witch in the family. He wasn’t as talented as you, Khloe, or your father. What he lacked in strength he made up for in cunning. The shifter clans were to take out the priests, freeing the people. Gustavo and I were to take out Kirin. We had hoped that the distraction the clans created would give us the opportunity to get close. We circled around to approach the temple from the rear near the edge of the jungle. Our signal to go would be when the clans struck. Strike they did coming from all sides in both their animal and human forms. Before the priests could even register what was going on, I would say that close to half of the priests were down.

  “This was our sign. Gustavo cloaked us in a kind of invisibility that allowed us to pass unnoticed. Having discarded most of our metal armor for stealth and speed we made good time reaching the top of the temple. There was a large stone table or sacrificial alter behind an immense fire that was burning. It looked like there were drains set into the stone for the blood to collected from each offering. Kirin stood shirtless at the head of the alter arms raised to the heavens holding one of those cursed blades that all his priests seem to have. His skin had a reddish hue to it, but the longer I studied him I realized that it was blood that covered his naked torso, arms, and head.

  “A rustling noise drew my attention away from Kiri
n, over to where two of his priests were leading a villager to the stone alter. There was little struggle from the sacrifice almost like she was drugged, or bewitched by the priests. That was when Gustavo and I heard a cry from above as a giant golden eagle dove for the priests. Kirin lowered his arms, looked around the immediate area and said something in the native’s tongue. I learned later that it meant ‘kill them all’.

  “That was when Gustavo and I struck. Gustavo reached Kirin a half step before I did. As he struck with his sword, the blade was stopped by that massive obsidian blade of Kirin’s breaking Gustavo’s sword. He raised his hand to cast, what I would think was a shield of some kind, but he was too slow. With a blinding fast backslash, Kirin removed Gustavo’s head from his shoulders. This happened as I plunged my sword through Kirin’s back. He screamed in outrage, ‘The Elders have finally sent their assassins after me.’ As I pulled my sword out of his back, he spun to meet me head-on. I swung my sword in reflex, feeling resistance at first but my enhanced vampire strength cut through Kirin’s spine severing his head.

  “Once Kirin’s head left his body it was like a spell was broken. The villagers snapped out of whatever was keeping them in place. They began helping the clans by fighting back. Once the surviving priests saw that they were outnumbered, and Kirin was dead, they began teleporting away. The head priest went after the book but was attacked by that eagle again. The eagle’s cry snapped me out of my reverie. I rushed over to the priest knocking him into the blazing fire.

  “I walked over to where Gustavo had fallen. I knelt to say a prayer for his soul. As I stood up I took everything in. I observed Omek standing next to the young woman, who was supposed to be Kirin’s sacrifice. He was holding the grimoire talking quietly with her. I picked up Kirin’s head and tossed it into the fire then, bent down to grab ahold of his body and dragged it over to the fire.” Once finished he stood up from the kitchen table and looked at us.

  “What happened after the battle?” I asked.

  “Omek took the book with him. The other shifters who lived in the area helped relocated the surviving villagers. I buried Gustavo and helped the remaining shifters with burning all the buildings leaving just the temple behind. I stayed in the region for about a hundred years making sure that the blood priests didn’t return.” He answered.

  “Why here? Why us?” Talia asked skeptical of his intentions.

  He sighed before he answered. “Because unlike my fellow vampires, I do not think I am superior to the other supernatural races.” He paused. Looked at Khloe before continuing, “I owe Omek a debt for what your people did to help me. I am also intrigued about Kirin’s supposed appearance since I know he is truly dead.”

  Talia nodded her understanding.

  “I have more questions but they are going to have to wait. Talia and I have a lot of things we need to discuss. Would it be possible for us to get together this evening or possibly tomorrow night, which might be better?” I asked as I stood up.

  “Si, tomorrow evening would be fine. I will bid you all good day until tomorrow evening.” Esteban said.

  “Great, let’s exchange numbers. I’ll text you later with a time.” I offered as I escorted Esteban to the door.

  I walked back into the living room to find Talia sitting in Joseph’s lap on the sofa with Khloe patting the spot next to her on the love seat. Sitting down, I grabbed Khloe’s hand in mine raising it to my lips to kiss. I then looked over to Talia and filled her in on what our parents had told me in regards to the Fallen and our new position of leadership in the pack.

  We spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls to Craig, Lela, and the other pack Alpha’s around the country. We needed to get the word out about these Blood Priests, as Esteban had called them explaining that allegiances with the Vampires was in question since we expected most of the younger ones began to flock to this new Kirin.

  Arraignments were made for the pack to meet at our place in New Hampshire. Talia and I needed our pack members to meet the two of us. Most knew who we were but with any leadership change we needed to let them know that our mother’s policies would be staying in place. We would also be asking for volunteers to come with us when we went to rescue Khloe’s parents.

  Chapter 29

  I awoke the next morning to a quiet house. Hmmmm, I wonder where everyone is? I thought as I reached out to find Khloe also missing. I sat up and spotted a note sitting on her pillow. ‘Dorian, T and I are going shopping up in Portsmouth. Meet us at The Coat of Arms for a late lunch. Call or text when you get there. All my love, Khloe’. Ok, one problem solved then the smell of coffee made its way to my room. Alright, that must mean that Joseph was still here.

  I went downstairs dressed in tee and sweatpants, I found Joseph sitting at the kitchen table with Craig and Thomas, deep in conversation. All three looked up at my arrival. “Good morning, gentlemen,” I said as I made my way towards the coffee. After I poured myself a cup, I took a seat. “What’s the word?”

  Craig spoke first “most of the pack will be here tomorrow night for the meeting along with most the Alpha’s for North America. We are also expecting Donovan and some of the Master Vampires from some of the smaller covens in the region. The vamps are scared, and unsure of what is to come.”

  I nodded at that thought. Looked like we might be getting some vampire help after all. I wonder how many witches will join us? I turned to Thomas, “What about the bears? I know you guys tend to be loners or gather in families. Any chance any of them will come?”

  “Yes, a few that I have contacted said they would come and listen to what you have to say. They said that’s all they could promise. You know how Bears are they don’t like to get involved unless they absolutely have to.” Thomas replied.

  I finished my cup of coffee and stood. “Ok, good. I’m going to go the gym, Thomas, could you help me with something that I need to get the handle on?”

  “Sure, what is it?” He asked.

  “I need to spare with something big since Talia isn’t here you’re the next best option. Your bear form would be about the same size as I am in beast form. I need practice fighting in that form. I haven’t needed it in the past. The last time I let my temper get the best of me it almost cost me everything.”

  “Dorian, we were outnumbered. You can’t blame yourself for what happened.” Joseph offered as he rose from the table. “I’ll help too. I could use the workout. Besides, we could team up on you too.”

  I grinned at him then looked over to Craig “You want to join us?” I asked.

  “No, I need to get back to Boston. I’ve got to keep running Fenris Security while you handle this situation. We still have paying customers to protect.” Craig answered.

  “Do you need anyone to help?” I asked him.

  “I’ve got Lela, and her mate, Danny, doing most of it. Call me when you know who is going to Central America with you. I’ve got a buddy who runs charter flights into Mexico and Central America. I’ll reach out to him to see if he has an opening in his schedule. We’ll also need to get everyone going outfitted with the proper gear.” He replied as he excused himself and headed to the front door.

  We exited the kitchen and walked over to the large pole barn, that my parents had built when Talia and I turned twelve. It was a gift of a sort. Both Talia and I had tons of energy while growing up. They had this built to serve two purposes. First, was to give us both an outlet so we could vent our frustration. Second, was to start us on the path of learning martial arts. That’s when we first met Kenji.

  Opening the door, I flicked on the lights to reveal a sixteen hundred square foot room with a twenty-foot ceiling. In one corner, there was a stack of those blue mats that every high school gym seems to have. The walls were adorned with various types of hand to hand weapons. Our father had been adamant about learning many if not all the known hand to hand weapons.

  “What’s upstairs?” Joseph asked seeing the staircase over near where the mats were stacked.

  “Tha
t’s where the weightlifting and exercise equipment is,” I answered as I took off my t-shirt. “How do you guys what to do this?” I questioned as I walked out to the center of the room. Just before I turned around I heard a bellowing roar that shook my bones. Opening my senses, I dodged to the left as a swift moving grey wolf flew past me and skidded to a stop, and growled as he turned to face me. I kept my eyes on Joseph and chanced a glance over to where Thomas had been standing. In his place and on its hind legs, and what had to be over nine feet was the biggest brown bear I had ever seen. Thomas issued forth another challenge before he dropped down on all fours, and ran towards me. So, this is how it’s going be then. I thought I let the change take me. Even in my beast form, Thomas’ bear form still beat me in height and weight. I was only a little over eight foot and weighed about 500 lbs., of muscle, claws, and fangs. He had to be pushing over 1000 lbs.

  Joseph took that opportunity to strike. Smart of him too since most of my attention was on the massive bear headed my way. He struck at my calves making me jump out of his reach right into the bear’s platter sized right paw that caught me full on in the shoulder which knocked me into the wall about fifteen feet away. I think Joseph laughed at me while in wolf form. Thomas stood up in the center of the room and roared in triumph. I shook my head while getting up. I roared my response to his challenge. This time I was more reluctant to charge headfirst into the fight, instead, I circled the bear while I tried to keep the wolf from coming at me from behind.

  A few minutes of us circling each other, I made my move. I feinted to my left expecting Joseph to bite. He did not disappoint. When he moved left, I caught him midair, shook him, and then tossed him towards the wall. After I tossed Joseph, I moved in on Thomas. He attempted to swipe at me with his paw again, I ducked and spun underneath his swipe which brought me up behind him. He was too big for a grapple. I punched him in the back of the head instead. He roared as he turned and I kept on the move, as I ducked and dodged his swipes. While he was bigger than me, I was quicker. We exchanged blows with each other for another ten minutes both of us getting in some good shots. I changed and held up my hands signaling an end to this sparring session.