Blood & Amber Eyes: A Craving Crimson World Story

by Kate Bonham

  Blood

  &

  Amber Eyes

  A CRAVING CRIMSON WORLD NOVEL

  Kate Bonham

  Copyright 2020 © Midnight Dreary Publishing

  Blood & Amber Eyes

  By Kate Bonham

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, real people, and real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, organisation’s or places is entirely coincidental.

  This book is intended for the purchaser of the copy only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author.

  Edited by Robyn Corcoran

  Cover design by Lou Gray of Gray Creations

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to those who don’t fit in, who feel different to everyone else.

  You are unique, and you matter. Never forget that.

  One

  Bram

  Modern Day

  Romania

  The smell of those filthy, repugnant dogs permeated the air throughout the castle which is exactly why I hated thunderstorms during a full moon. The lycanthropes had taken up residence in the mountains and forests surrounding my castle almost a century ago, and although I’d allowed it, wet dog was not a pleasant smell.

  Especially for one with advanced smell.

  I moved throughout the castle, away from the windows as much as I could, but I could smell them everywhere, no matter where I went. Agitated, I tried to block the windows with curtains. As I was putting up the final curtain, I stopped, smelling something new through the air.

  Something intense…something delicious.

  Fear.

  More importantly, human fear.

  I pulled the curtain down and listened for the heartbeat to confirm my suspicions. There it was, a hammering heartbeat, followed by the sound of someone running.

  Lots of running, and falling, and running again.

  And then, a howl.

  These damned dogs would be the last of me, I swear it. Full moons were the only phase where the new lycans couldn’t control their transformations, nor their hunger. Of course, I’d have to save some irresponsible human from a bunch of pups out without their parents under a full moon. Perhaps I could allow them to devour the human, make them accountable to the council of Lycans who swore never to harm a human again after the 1854 Massacres, but could I have the pups being destroyed on my conscience?

  Damn it, when I told the council leader for Eastern Europe I would keep an eye on the forest pack, I never thought I’d need to play protector for a century. When would these wild things learn?

  We should have been mortal enemies, and yet, I found myself protecting them against outside forces and even, on occasion, my own kind.

  A terrified scream erupted throughout the forest, echoing throughout the mountains, and into the castle. Bats flew from their trees, and small animals fled into their hidden homes, frightened by the unnatural scream.

  Before I knew it, I was moving down the staircase and into the forest, toward the sound of the heartbeat, and the sense of the fear. When I got close enough, I could see the human was backed up against a large rock, with nowhere to go. Lycans surrounded her, descending upon her with their teeth bared, growls low in their throat. I moved fast, standing before her. The lycans knew of me, they knew not to cross me, and yet they continued forward for their meal.

  Damn you, full moon.

  The heartbeat slowed behind me, and I turned to see she had fallen, passing out. The smell of her blood was thick in the air. I had to bite back my hunger, the hunger of not having fresh blood for decades, burning the back of my throat.

  It was sickly sweet.

  So sweet I could feel my fangs slide out of my gums.

  “Leave here,” I commanded of the lycans. The alpha of the pups, stepped forward, his teeth bared at me. I stepped forward as well and showed him I was in command here. This was my forest, and he knew better than to oppose me.

  After a stare off for several moments, I could feel the shift in the air. These damned pups were too young, they didn’t know of the old ways, or of the council laws. To them, I was just a Nosferatu standing in the damned way of their meal.

  Someone to cut down and possibly maul as well.

  Just…perfect.

  And in that moment, a distant howl, saved me. It was a howl I recognized, that of the alpha of the pack. The pups ran off, leaving me with the human who was injured but I couldn’t see where in the darkness. I picked her up and ran back to my castle and away from the damage of the full moon.

  Those pups would be in trouble, and in the morning, I could expect a call from the alpha. I didn’t want this human to be the cause of any trouble, so I knew I needed to hide her away.

  Mae

  I shot up from the bed I was on and looked around at my surroundings. The walls were stone, and the room was heated by a fire burning away in an old-fashioned fireplace, complete with iron stokes and a mesh grid around it. A fur lay beneath my feet as I pushed myself off the bed and padded over to the fire. It was so warm and exactly what I needed. Large curtains were drawn, from ceiling to floor, deep red in color and thick.

  Where the hell was I?

  “You’re awake.”

  I spun around quickly, taking in the man in the doorway. He held a cup in one hand, and two pills in his other hand. He put them down on the bedside table.

  “Aspirin and water,” he said. “For your pain.”

  Pain?

  I looked down at my arm to see pink skin around what appeared to be a scratch.

  “You heal quickly,” he said, his voice gravelly and dark. “What are you?”

  My eyes shot up at him again. “What do you mean?”

  “You are human, to a degree, but I can sense something else. Your blood pumps too quickly through your veins.”

  I had never been caught out before. No one had ever known something was off with me, and truthfully, I hadn’t until I was sixteen when things started happening to me. Only then had my mother, Amabelle, admitted she had known who my father was all along, despite giving me the ‘it was a one-night thing’ line for years.

  “What are you?” I countered.

  “Touché,” he said. “It matters not, but you must have upset the pack outside because they were hunting you. I’d take care when leaving again, they would have your scent on their noses by now.”

  He turned to leave, and I chased after him, only to find him gone, and I stood in the middle of a long corridor. The same stone walls as the room I had woken up in, with tapestries hanging over them. I headed down in one direction, which led to a stone staircase. I went downstairs until I came to a landing. It was a foyer type of room, with doorways leading off to the sides. There was a large painting hanging over a wooden chest. It was beautiful and majestic. It almost looked as if it were a royal portrait of a family. I zeroed in on one person in the portrait. The man I had just seen, only a little younger. There was a small golden plaque at the bottom of the portrait, drilled into the frame. I read the words there.

  Norwood Family

  Lord and Lady of Oxfordshire

  Richard II, Rebecca, Abram, Rose and Amelia

  “It was the last time we sat together for a portrait before the disappearance.”

  The man stood in the room with me, look
ing up at the portrait as well.

  “How old were you here?”

  “Twenty.”

  “I’ve heard of the Norwood family, their son disappeared without a trace. It’s one of the biggest mysteries from that time.”

  He looked to me, a wistful expression on his face. “And what do they say of the son who disappeared?”

  “I know it killed his father,” I replied. “Richard senior died just weeks later. You’re Abram, aren’t you?”

  He nodded. “I am Bram, yes.”

  “And you look as if you haven’t aged much since this portrait, so I’m guessing you’re immortal.”

  He smirked at me. “Not immortal.”

  “Nosferatu, then.”

  “You know of the supernatural world, I take it.”

  “I do,” I replied. “Because I am part of it.”

  “And will you tell me what you are now?”

  I didn’t want to give it up so easily, because I knew the Nosferatu were not friends to my kind. He could easily hunt me in this very castle and I’d never have time to do what I set out to do.

  “Still no trust,” he said. “Well then, keep your secrets, but you should know secrets do not remain for very long in our world.”

  “Why did you never tell your family about yourself and what happened to you? Why did you make them think you were just missing, probably dead?”

  He thought about it for a while. “Because I was dead, I died, and I became a monster. The day I met my creator, I stopped being Abram, loving and dutiful son of Lord and Lady Norwood, and I became Bram.”

  “Your sister didn’t stop either.”

  “My mother and sister were driven mad with needing to know what happened to me, but they wouldn’t ever believe I was dead,” he said. “Perhaps that is the purpose of a wake. For closure.”

  “Why didn’t you go to them?”

  “Because if I had, they would have known the deep, dark world of supernatural was real. They would have known I was a monster, and who knows, perhaps I would have killed them.”

  “Why?”

  “They say you can have control, but when you are around family, your strong feelings toward them can allow you to lose control. Many Nosferatu destroy their families.”

  I nodded, understanding wanting to protect them. It was just such a shame that his mother and sister were committed because of it.

  “What’s your name?” he asked me.

  “Mae Nichols.”

  “Why were you in the forests at the edge of the Transylvanian Hills?” he continued. “Not many people come to this place.”

  “I was searching for my stepfather.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s missing,” I replied, holding back the tears. “No one is looking for him, but he would never have abandoned us, so I’m looking because no one else cares enough to.”

  “Why wouldn’t your mother look for him?”

  “Because she says he has upset someone powerful and he is being punished,” I told him. “But he would never have left without a word to us, he would never have gotten into something that would make a punishment viable.”

  “What is he?”

  “He’s a Watcher.”

  Bram scoffed. “Damned gargoyles.”

  “You know of them?”

  “Yeah, I’ve dealt with them before. They are not fans of ours, that’s for sure. If he has upset an Alchemist, he could be sitting in stone.”

  “A witch?”

  “They are known as Alchemists in our world,” he said. “And they have been turning Watchers to stone for centuries.”

  “You mean the gargoyle statues on the Notre Dame are actual Watchers?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “Punished for a crime by an Alchemist, until that time is done, or the Alchemist expires, they remain stone, watching over mankind, unable to do a thing about it.”

  “They crack all the time, what happens if they crack or fall off?”

  Bram looked away, possibly thinking of how to respond. “They die.”

  “How can I find him then?”

  “Tell me a little more about him,” he said. “I might know someone who can help.”

  “Thank you.”

  This was the first time anyone had offered me help in the past four months of me traveling and it turned out he was a damn vampire.

  “Come,” he said, leading me down a corridor. “You need to eat.”

  I was wondering what kind of food he would offer me considering he didn’t eat food, but when we reached a dining area, with a long table as you would expect to be in a castle, it had plates of food on silver platters.

  Fruits and cheeses, bottles of wine by the end and goblets.

  “You can eat?”

  “We can, but we can’t sustain ourselves off it. It doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the tastes.”

  I took a seat, and he sat opposite. For the first time in months, I devoured food put in front of me, and indulged in alcohol.

  Tomorrow, I could focus on my stepfather again, but for now, I was going to fill myself up and find out more about this mysterious savior of mine.

  Two

  Bram

  The beauty slept, full of wine and food, on the bed. I stoked the fire to keep her warm, knowing from previous human guests that the cold winter nights of Romania could be icy. Once I was confident the fire would sustain the room’s warmth, I left, closing the door and heading down to the entertaining room.

  Ferenc was standing there, looking down at the fire I had started when I heard word he was coming. The alpha of the pack of lycanthropes living in the Transylvanian Hills was tall, taller than I had seen before, and built. His shoulders were wide and muscular, but I knew he was no danger to me. In fact, he owed me a favor or two.

  “Ferenc,” I said as I entered the room. He turned around, a smile on his face.

  “You knew I was coming,” he said, pointing to the fire. “I appreciate it.”

  “Of course,” I told him. “Come, sit down.”

  “How are you, Bram?” he asked, sitting down in one of the large chairs I had bought on a whim when I started my friendship with him.

  “I’m well,” I said. “Wondering why the pups were out and about last night.”

  He grunted. “I am sorry, Bram, if they hurt you, I do apologize, they have been punished for their childish behavior.”

  “They were hunting a woman,” I said. “That is the only reason I left the castle on a full moon.”

  “A woman? Is she okay?”

  “Yes, no major wounds on her,” I told him. “Luckily.”

  “These pups are young, but they are not reckless. Do you know why this woman was in the hills?”

  I sighed, knowing I would need to tell him something to appease his fear. “She may be half supernatural, but of what, I am still unsure.”

  “You do not feel she is a threat?” Ferenc asked. “It is not like you to be so carefree with trust.”

  “I have always trusted my gut,” I told him. “There is something about her that I feel I need to protect.”

  “Perhaps you’ve found your mate,” Ferenc smirked over at me.

  “I am not a lycanthrope.”

  “But Nosferatu can bond, can they not?”

  “Yes, of course, but this is different. I can’t tell you what it is, but it’s different.”

  “Okay, friend,” he said. “I trust you. Just be careful, you cannot know that much about her yet.”

  I gave him a look of derision before he chuckled and went to get a drink by the side of the room. I always kept whiskey on hand for his visits. Since we’d come to an accord, about ten years ago, I watched over his pack from afar and he kept idiots out of the hills and away from my castle. We’d also been good friends, and I enjoyed his visits. Until Mae, he’d been the only one I let inside this castle.

  As Mae slept, Ferenc and I took our minds off the responsibilities on our backs. It was the perfect night before the shitstorm I was heading into.


  Because I’d finally realized what Mae was half of, and I knew it was going to start something that would divide my friendship with Ferenc.

  Mae

  When I woke up, I headed down to the foyer only it was dark and cold. A warmth could be felt coming from somewhere off to the side. I moved closer to it, hoping my feet would defrost if I went to a warmer room.

  I turned the corner to see a room with a large fireplace which was burning wood, and two large chairs pointing directly to the flames for maximum heat.

  Bram was sitting in front of the fire, a book in his hands, and a glass of what I could only presume was blood.

  “I was wondering when you’d wake up,” he said, without looking at me.

  “How did you know I was there?”

  He finally put the book down and turned his head. “I can smell your blood.”

  “That’s a little gross,” I told him, which caused me to chuckle.

  “Imagine what I felt the first time I heard it,” he said. “Come, sit down, you’ll need to keep warm.”

  “I’m usually always warmer than others, but my feet are very cold.”

  I sat down on the other chair, and instantly felt the warmth of the fire on my skin. It was amazing, much better than a heater.

  “That makes sense,” he said. “Although I’ve never heard of a lycanthrope having cold feet.”

  My head shot to the side, and my heart began to hammer in my chest. “You know?”

  “I figured it out,” he said. “You don’t need to worry; I won’t ever betray your trust but you should know how dangerous it is for you to be so near the pack out in the hills.”

  “I don’t know much about what I am,” I admitted. “My father didn’t even know my mother was pregnant, from what she told me. I don’t know. The story changed a lot over the years.”

  “What did your mother tell you?” he asked me.

  I sighed, hating to bring up my mother, but it was necessary. Maybe, he could actually help me. Surely, Bram had supernatural friends who could find out who I really was.