Shadow Realms

by Kelly Carrero

  “Sure thing.” Kade swiveled around to face me. “So, what’s on our agenda this morning?”

  Infuriated that I couldn’t go with Finn, my gaze landed on Lana. “How do I get access to the control room? Is it something you can give me?”

  “Only after you’ve passed your initiation.”

  “Then give me my initiation.”

  She frowned. “Patience isn’t one of your strong points, is it?”

  “Not when my family is concerned.”

  Leaning his elbows on the table, Kade folded his hands together. “You need to go through basic training and then pass medical before they’ll give you the keys to the kingdom.”

  “Kade’s right,” Lana said. “It’ll take weeks before we can assess your desirability, and then you’d need to go through the initiation ceremony.”

  I slammed my fists onto the table. “I don’t have weeks!”

  Lana and Kade stared at me—as did every single person in my vicinity including Max, who’d just walked in. I chastised myself. Way to prove him right.

  “Normally it takes at least a month,” Lana said. “Unless you find someone willing to put in the work with you.”

  I had. And she was staring right at me, thinking I was ungrateful for her help. “I’m sorry. I just…”

  Kade wrapped his hands around his green smoothie. “We get it. You’re worried—and rightfully so. If it were my sister…” He paused, a faraway, haunting look in his eyes. He shook his head, coming back to the present. “You have to understand the Order has been built on hundreds of years worth of rules that we must abide by.”

  I buried my face in my hands as I tried to calm down and get my shit together. I may have thought their rules were ridiculous, but I needed these people. I needed to stay in control of myself. They already had so many doubts about me, and I couldn’t afford to lose Lana’s respect or willingness to help. If it weren’t for her, I’d probably have had to break free from Finn’s room, which would’ve been under lock and key, and go back to square one.

  Feeling my nerves slowly release, I raised my head. “I really do appreciate everything you’re doing for me, Lana. And I guess patience is one lesson I’m going to have a hard time putting into practice, but I will.” The last part was a total lie. If it came down to it, I would do anything to save Mason.

  Anything.

  “Are you going to finish your breakfast?” Lana asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

  I peered down at the disgusting spread before me, making me want to puke even more than it had before.

  Kade chuckled and nudged his arm against mine. “Lana tried to get me into that shit when I first started, but we ended up negotiating on these smoothies instead.”

  I scratched the side of my head. “Is this crap mandatory hunter breakfast?” I asked, quickly adding, “No offense, Lana.”

  “None taken,” she replied. “Not everyone has the taste buds for all this goodness.”

  Kade gestured to his smoothie. “Trust me. This is a million times better than anything else on the list of Lana approved foods.”

  I raised a brow. “There’s seriously a list?”

  “You want to be at your peak, don’t you?” Lana asked. “We can’t afford to be anything but our best. Sluggishness or even feeling bloated could mean the difference between life and death for one of the team or a human we’re trying to save.”

  Wow. These guys took things a little too seriously. Or maybe it was only when Lana was around, because when I’d been here last night with Finn and Kade, I was pretty sure what we’d eaten would’ve been considered off-limits in Lana’s book.

  Kade gave me a knowing look.

  Pushing back her chair, Lana stood. “I’ll make you a smoothie to go.”

  Kade practically jumped to his feet. “I’ll get it for her.” He was off before Lana had a chance to respond.

  Trying to ignore the little flutter in my heart at the thought of Kade wanting to get me the smoothie, I asked, “Where are we going?”

  “To get you a room.”

  My eyes shot open with a mixture of excitement and relief. “As in my own bedroom?”

  She nodded.

  “As in, mine that I can lock my overbearing brother out of whenever I want.”

  Nodding again, Lana chuckled.

  I stood. “Let’s go.”

  “Where are we heading?” Kade asked, returning with my smoothie.

  “I’m getting my own room,” I said, barely able to contain my excitement as I bounced from one foot to the other. Having an overprotective douchebag of a brother did that to a girl.

  The corner of his lips tipped up as he handed me my drink. “Can’t wait to see the look on Finn’s face when he finds out.”

  “Me neither.”

  “It’s Finn’s problem,” Lana said. “He needs to realize you’re almost eighteen and are capable of making your own decisions and fixing your own mistakes.”

  Only part of that was true. I’d gotten myself in way over my head with the fledglings, and I was lucky he’d him come to my rescue. If he hadn’t been there, I would’ve ended up dead. Hell, if it had been Max fighting me instead of Kade, I would’ve been dead.

  Still, I wasn’t the same person I’d been less than forty-eight hours ago when hunters didn’t exist and my only option was to try to infiltrate the vampire world the only way I knew how.

  Making our way through the institute, I hoped I would be as far away from Finn as possible until I realized he, Kade, and Lana were the only ones keeping Max from killing me.

  I sighed and unconsciously took a sip of the green smoothie. I sucked in a sharp breath as it hit my mouth, knowing it was too late to let it slip back into the straw and hoping I didn’t spit it out, unable to swallow. Surprisingly, it didn’t taste half bad. Nice even.

  Noticing my surprise, Kade winked, making me think the smoothie wouldn’t have tasted the same if Lana had gotten it for me.

  “Thank you,” I mouthed.

  Lana stopped by a door on the right. “This is far enough away from Finn to get your privacy, yet close enough for him not to request a room transfer.”

  “Perfect,” I said.

  Lana opened the door, revealing a room almost identical to Finn’s and Kade’s. I guess that was the standard. “You’re welcome to move things around and decorate as you please.”

  The room sure needed decorating, but that was the last thing I had time for. It had a bed, small lounge area, and a bathroom. What more could I want?

  Kade slouched onto the sofa, bounced, stopped, and bounced again. “Don’t suppose you want to swap sofas, do you?”

  “No, she doesn’t,” Lana said. “You broke yours. You fix it, and leave the poor girl alone.”

  Really, I couldn’t care less, but I appreciated her sticking up for me for nothing other than friendship—or so I hoped.

  “If you change your mind…” Kade gave me a hopeful smile.

  “I’ll let you know.” Once I had Mason back, I wasn’t sure what I would do. It was a lot to ask someone to give up everyone and everything they ever cared about to go into hiding, fight demons and vampires, and save humans that had no idea you existed.

  It was a selfless life. And I was selfish.

  That was what had gotten us into this mess. If I had bothered to think about someone beside myself, I would’ve looked out for Mason. He wouldn’t have been taken, and I wouldn’t be surrounded by a bunch of hunters.

  Looking around the room and at the people within, I sighed. These two were inspiring, but I wasn’t sure I could live in their shadows.

  I wanted more.

  No matter how much I tried to convince myself this life was for me, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was still missing something that couldn’t be filled with drugs or family.

  Only once had I felt fulfilled, and it was the darkest moment in my life. But no matter how much I tried to deny it, there had been something liberating, fulfilling, and beyond shameful when I committed
the ultimate sin.

  I could understand why there were those who were attracted to becoming a vampire. But I knew it wouldn’t have lasted long. It was the way the demons penetrated their unholy claws into a person, making them their slave for eternity.

  Again, I was too selfish for that.

  Lana grabbed Kade’s wrist, pulled him to his feet, and shoved him toward the door. “Time for you to go so we can do girl things.”

  Kade stopped by the door. “No can do. I promised Finn I’d stay with her.”

  “And I’m telling you to leave us alone.” She opened the door. “All we’re going to do is get Kali some clean clothes, fill out paperwork, and organize medical to look over her. She’ll be safe with me.” When he didn’t budge, she said, “Or are you suggesting that I, an Osmond, am not capable of taking care of her?”

  He shook his head. “I would never make such a suggestion.”

  “Right.” She cocked her head toward the hall. “We’ll come find you when we’re finished.”

  Kade nodded and disappeared into the hall, closing the door behind him.

  With a grin on her face, she said, “I love playing the legacy card. It’s amazing how quickly it shuts them up. They don’t even realize I don’t have as much authority as they tend to believe.”

  I laughed. “Don’t suppose you want to adopt a sister. I could sure use some authority when it comes to Finn.”

  “Wish I could help.”

  “Believe me, you’ve helped more than I could’ve hoped for.”

  Hooking her arm with mine, she led me out of my room. “Let’s go have some fun.”

  Two minutes later, I was standing in an underground car park filled with numerous vans, cars, and even a few motorbikes. And to the side was a wall stockpiled with an arsenal of weapons I so badly wanted to get my hands on. “What are we doing?”

  She grinned. “Time for you to learn a thing or two on the outside.”

  Knowing that could only mean one thing, I smiled, holding back the fist bump I so wanted to give her. We were going to find us some vampires.

  20

  I don’t know what I expected, but as we drove around the streets, I imagined we’d come across a vampire or two and I’d get to see some action. The truth was much lamer. Everything was normal. The sun was still up, people were out, going about their normal daily lives, and we… Well, we were in a minivan and looked as if we were delivery drivers.

  We weren’t even in vampire territory.

  Resting my elbow against the side door, I leaned my head in my hand, trying to stop myself from falling asleep. I was dead tired after all the training, and I hadn’t noticed until I was sitting on my ass, doing nothing.

  A yawn escaped my mouth, which didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Having fun?” Lana asked, raising a brow.

  “Yeah, this is awesome,” I said sarcastically.

  Ignoring my snide remark, she said, “I wanted to bring you here so you can remember what we’re fighting for. These are the people we’ve sworn to protect. And they’re also the ones that—given the right circumstances—can fall under the demons’ clutches and become one of the ones we’ve sworn to kill.”

  “Yeah, I get that.”

  “Do you?” She glanced at me momentarily before returning her gaze to the road. “Because you might need to kill someone you’ve known your whole life, and you can’t hesitate. The person you loved is gone, and now they’re nothing but a demonic servant, lost in the hunger for blood. If you were to become a hunter, you would need to be able to kill someone you loved.”

  The truth was I wasn’t sure if I could follow through. Finn hadn’t, and neither had Kade—and he didn’t even really know me. And if I found Mason in anyway but his human form, I wasn’t sure I would have the mindset to end his life. But there was no way I was going to tell her that.

  After a few moments of silence passed, I said, “I understand the stakes and what would be necessary. I would do what was necessary.”

  “Good.” She sped up and turned onto the main road leading into the city. “Because now I’m going to show you the monsters they could turn into.”

  A few minutes later, she slowed down and pointed to a group of people loitering near some bins in an alleyway at the back of a seedy club, which was labeled a brothel but was probably one of the blood rooms where freaks went to get themselves off with the vampires.

  She pulled the van over to the curb and put it in park. “What do you think is going on there?”

  I stared at the group, trying to figure out if she were testing me to see if I could see more than what appeared at face value, or if it was just a bunch of vamps hanging out.

  Before I could come up with an answer, she said, “They’re most likely disposing of a body or two after one of them got carried away with the blood whores.”

  Okay, I did not get that from the scene. “How can you tell?”

  “The smell of blood is pretty potent—even for this area, and the lust in their eyes as they look at the area behind the bins tells me they’re having a hard time giving up the victims they’ve been ordered to clean up.”

  I whipped my head around to face her. “You can smell blood?”

  She studied me for a moment then said, “All hunters can. It’s one of the abilities we receive during the initiation ceremony. It helps us track them.”

  “Seriously?” I raised a brow.

  Lana nodded. “You’ve seen us fight, so you know we gain superior speed, strength, and stamina as well. Which is why I say you’re showing potential. Because honestly, you’re doing better than expected.”

  “Must be all the years I put into the track.”

  “I would say it’s in your blood as well, but we all know you somehow skipped the gene that both your brothers have.” When I frowned, she added, “The one they test all fifteen-year-olds for.”

  “Oh,” I mouthed then snapped my lips shut. Lana had no idea how wrong her statement was. I hadn’t failed the test. I hadn’t taken it. For all I knew I also carried the gene and could’ve wound up just like my brothers, being used as a blood bag until they deemed me the one or just another reject. Either way, I was pretty sure a prospect wouldn’t see the light of day again.

  First time I’d ever been relieved to have had a mild drug problem. Lucky me.

  I snapped back to the moment as Lana pulled out onto the street again. “Aren’t you going to kill them?”

  “No. If we go after every vampire we see, the demons will just make more vamps, turning those we protect into those we will hunt. We only kill to protect an innocent.”

  “I’m pretty sure whoever was behind the dumpster hadn’t given the okay to be sucked dry.”

  “They were no longer innocent once they willingly gave themselves up like a juice box.”

  I stared at the reflection of the entrance to the alleyway through the side mirror, half expecting the vampires to come after us as we headed down the road. Alas, they did not.

  I settled back in my seat and, once again, got lost in my thoughts on how close I’d come to becoming one of them. There was still a monumental struggle going on inside of me, knowing what I’d done was considered wrong even though it had felt so right.

  I guessed that was most likely the lure. The thing that dragged us mere humans into the demons’ clutches.

  “Are you coming?” Lana asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

  Glancing around, I realized the van was parked on the side of the road and she was already halfway out the door.

  I climbed out of the van and stood on the sidewalk, taking in my surroundings. Something about this place was vaguely familiar. My gaze locked on the plaza still coated in the stench of blood.

  Shaking my thoughts away I caught up to Lana as she crossed the road, heading back to where it all started—or ended. It was purely one’s prospective on how they wanted to look at it.

  I liked to think of it as both my beginning and end.

  Goose bumps spread ov
er my skin as we made our way forward, the vivid memory of that night looping in my mind. The sea of the fledglings surrounding me. The vampires, both hideous and beautiful, offering a human sacrifice so we could be given immortality and unfathomable strength and speed. “Why are we here?”

  Lana kneeled and stared at the blood-soaked pavement. “I wanted to show you the aftermath of what you did.”

  “I didn’t do that.” I pointed to the dried-up blood in front of her. “That was the vampire who ripped her apart, not me.”

  She tilted her head back to look at me. “It doesn’t matter if you were the one who tore the human apart or if you only watched. You were a part of this; therefore, their deaths are on you.”

  My mind exploded with guilt, and I was once again trapped with the inconsistencies going to war inside of me.

  Not being able to bear looking at her judgmental eyes any longer, I wandered further into the alleyway, remembering the faces of those who had surrounded me. The fear on the offering’s face and the thrill and carnivorous stares of the fledglings.

  A barely audible whisper caught my attention, freezing my feet to the ground and lighting that unexplainable fire simmering inside of me.

  I took two steady breaths, listening, waiting for more. I’d only heard those voices once before, and it had taken more than a drop of someone else’s blood to make it possible. Now… I hadn’t consumed any blood since that night. Yet I could hear…

  Whipping my head around, I locked eyes with Lana. “Did you hear something?”

  She pinched her brows together. A moment later, she shook her head. “I don’t hear anything.”

  I frowned. “I swear I heard…”

  She stood, a concerned look on her face. “Heard what?”

  Shit.

  Lana was watching me with intense curiosity I didn’t like. It was almost as if she were watching me for any sign I had gone through some transformation that night, or maybe that I was crazy, hearing voices in my head that surely weren’t there.

  Either way, admitting to the voices was a bad idea.

  I shook my head. “Nothing. I thought I heard someone coming.” I crossed my arms over my chest and ran my hands up and down my biceps. “This place is giving me the heebie-jeebies.”