The Complete Vampire Project Series: (Books 1 - 5)

by Jonathan Yanez

  “What if it’s not Marcus?” Sloan leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms. “I know Leah has the ability to raise the dead; she proved that with Aareth’s wife. I can follow your logic that the Burrow Den beast biting your father would then turn him into a werewolf like Aareth, but you have to admit, this is a stretch.”

  “Elizabeth told me he was alive.” Jack picked up a large canteen from a shelf in the supply room, then his eyes searched the unfamiliar Azra larder before finding a giant, wooden barrel with a spout. “I didn’t know if I could believe her at first, but after the fight, after I saw him … it’s him Sloan, I know it is. He looked right at me and didn’t attack me, even before those yellow mage collars they wore were deactivated.”

  “And what about Abigail?” Sloan was doing her best to keep the parenting tone out of her voice. She didn’t have kids of her own or a younger brother, but if she did, she imagined this is how an older sister or a mother would feel. “How are you even going to track him? He scattered with the rest of the werewolves when Elizabeth was defeated.”

  Jack turned the spout on the barrel, testing it to see if it was indeed water before he filled up his canteen. He was silent for a moment. Sloan already knew nothing she could say would make him stay. She was only trying to have him reason out his plan. In all honesty, hearing that Jack even had a plan at this point would make her feel better.

  “Abigail will understand.” Jack closed the tap and screwed the lid onto his canteen. “She and her mother have a lot of work to do on the path to Elizabeth’s recovery. She’ll understand. I won’t be gone long.”

  “You didn’t answer my second question.”

  “What’s that?”

  “How are you going to track him? He could be halfway back to New Hope, or terrorizing Term right now.”

  “I’ll find a way.” Jack draped the canteen strap around his shoulder. He grabbed the sack of food, then thought twice about his rations and crammed in a few more packages of dried meat and fruit. “I’ll find a spell; I’ll ask people. You forget, my father and I are the very best trackers in the Outland. I’ll find him.”

  “I’d go with you if I could.” But Sloan pushed the idea from her mind. There was no way she could leave Azra now. The entire city was looking at her for help in the face of the coming war. “Maybe I can get away just for a few days.”

  Jack stopped in front of her. He looked exhausted, but he still managed a smile on his tired face. “I know you’d come if you could, but that’s not what’s going to happen. I’m going to be gone for a few days, and I’ll be back with my father.”

  “All right.” Sloan stepped to the side, admitting defeat. “Be careful. If you don’t come back in one piece, I’ll kill you.”

  “He’ll be fine.” Aareth’s strong voice interrupted the two. “I’m going with him.”

  Sloan and Jack directed their attention to the road, where a setting sun silhouetted Aareth’s large shoulders. The once-city inspector now turned werewolf wore his usual black coat, boots, and a rueful grin.

  “I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse,” Sloan lied. A sense of gratefulness was already filling her. Jack and Aareth travelling together would tenfold lessen the burden of worry she felt.

  “You don’t have to come.” Jack shouldered his pack. “I can do this myself.”

  “Oh, I know.” Aareth shrugged. “I don’t have to do anything. I want to do this. Partly for you, partly because if it is Marcus out there, I owe him.”

  “What about training your pack of werewolves here?” Jack asked, turning to Sloan for permission. “Is he allowed to come?”

  “What? I don’t need her permission to go with you on a play date.” Aareth scowled at Jack. “I turned an Azra soldier named Jaxon before we left to fight the New Hope mage engine. Edison is helping with his transition, and Croft has to do some weird moon thing to turn him anyway.”

  “He should probably stay here.” Sloan raised her right eyebrow at her werewolf friend. “But he’s a grown man. He’ll have to make his own decisions.”

  Sloan saw Jack’s tense shoulders lower. He even gave a brief smile. As much as Jack would go alone if he had to, it was clear now that he hadn’t wanted to make the journey by himself.

  “I would tell you two to be careful,” Sloan said to Jack and Aareth, “but I know those words would be a waste of my time.”

  “We’ll back before New Hope gets here.” Aareth turned to leave, yet hesitated for a moment. “You know that has to be their next play, right? They’re coming.”

  “Yes, yes, I know that.” Sloan waved away Aareth’s words. “Get going. I’m a big girl. I can take care of my own wars.”

  Sloan stood in the road watching Jack and Aareth talking to one another as they traveled down Azra’s sloping path that led to the city gates. It seemed an eternity ago that she had met the boy and his father, and the then-shady former inspector. In reality, it hadn’t been that long at all. Sloan owned underwear she’d had longer. It was the events surrounding them that made the two men like family.

  “You look like you’re going to drill holes in their backs,” Cherub’s voice boomed behind Sloan. “Is there something wrong? Should I bar them from leaving the city?”

  “No, no.” Sloan turned to the gargoyle leader of the Azra army. “They’re going to find Jack’s father. How are preparations for the city’s defense coming?”

  “We’ll be ready.” Cherub shrugged into her long, white cloak that protected her skin from the sun’s rays. “I still hate the idea of not being in the first engagement. Theo is recovering from his wounds, but I fear Croft has lost sight of the real goal.”

  “Elizabeth.” Sloan already knew what the female gargoyle was talking about. In a way, she couldn’t blame the witch. Croft finally had her daughters with her, and they needed her, both in their own ways. “You and I are more than capable of preparing the city until Theo is healed and Croft has her head on straight again. Her entire family has been through so much.”

  “Your assistance would be helpful; however, I feel like you have your own issues to deal with at the moment.” Cherub looked behind her, back up the main road of Azra and to the capitol building. “The woman you turned before you left is a handful. You should really spend some time with her, and the other humans you plan on forming into your vampire squad.”

  “Why?” A sense of dread inked through Sloan’s veins. She was already responsible for turning an Azra guard. If anything happened to Babs, or as a result of her actions, it was on Sloan. “What’s wrong with Babs?”

  “You should really go see for yourself.” Cherub’s hard, grey eyes were too cold to read.

  Sloan took off up the hill, the worst scenario playing through her mind.

  Chapter Three

  Sloan

  “I feel like a million dollars!” Babs squealed. As soon as she walked outside into the courtyard, she ran and embraced Sloan. “Thank you! I feel like I can lift a unicorn and out-race any winged creature.”

  Sloan stood rigid under the woman’s embrace. Not only was Babs invading her personal space, but sweat laced the woman’s skin in a thin layer of stickiness.

  “Okay, there’s not going to be anymore hugging while we train.” Sloan gently un-clamped herself from the woman and patted her on the arm. “How are you feeling, hunger-wise? How’s your temper?”

  “I feel great.” Babs shrugged, looking down at her toned arms and legs. “Hey, does being a vampire mean you’re all of a sudden in great shape? Because I was in decent shape before, but now, I really fill out my pants with muscle, if you know what I mean.”

  “Babs.” Sloan fought back the urge to smile. The woman was so optimistic, it was practically contagious. “Have you felt the need for blood yet?”

  “Nope, not the slightest urge.” Babs rocked back and forth on her heels and toes. “I didn’t feel the need to sleep last night, either, and I haven’t had a bite to eat today. And you know, that’s a first for me. I just love b
reakfast.”

  “When you do feel the thirst come on, you know what to do, right?”

  “Yes.” Babs nodded, jogging over to a bench in the outside courtyard. She picked up a brown flask with a silver cap on top. “Edison gave me this. He said Elwood named it Vampire Coffee. It’s supposed to take the edge off needing blood.”

  “That’s right.” Sloan felt for her own flask she now kept on her belt opposite her mage sword. “It’s untested. As soon as you start feeling anything, you come to me. And we’ll get you to drink your Vampire Coffee, together. I know exactly what you’re going through, and I’m here for you.”

  “Understood.” Babs licked her dry lips. For the first time in their conversation, her smile had disappeared from her face. “What … what does it feel like?”

  Sloan didn’t have to ask what Babs was talking about; she already understood. “Think of the strongest urge you’ve ever felt, then think of dying of thirst. It’s more than a craving; its an inevitability. Hopefully Edison’s concoction works. Even if it does, we’ll still need to go out and hunt. That’s something I haven’t even done yet. We’ll figure this out together.”

  “Right.”

  Sloan looked past Babs and out into the dying light of the day. The courtyard provided for the Azra guards to train in was located in the rear of the capitol building. The low walls allowed the guards a view of the massive ocean that spanned as far as the eye could see.

  “We’re stronger at night, aren’t we?” Babs sidled up next to Sloan, also staring out over the ocean to the orange orb disappearing below the sea-line. “I mean, that’s what Edison said about the vampires in New Hope, at least.”

  “No, I don’t think the darkness aids or weakens us.” Sloan turned to her trainee. “We’re a different breed from what Leah has made in New Hope.”

  “Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

  “We should turn the others.” Sloan took in a deep breath of the salty ocean air. She could see the dots of tiny boats below on the dock coming into berth for the night. There was something peaceful about the scene, despite her next words. “They need to begin their transitions. As soon as we navigate all of your first cravings, the better.”

  “I can show you to their barracks,” Babs offered. She was already walking through the courtyard and to the opposite side that led down the back half of Azra. “They’re stationed together.”

  Sloan followed behind Babs. They passed through the massive training courtyard set aside for the Azra militia. There were crates of wooden practice weapons, padded equipment for sparring, and lockers for changing, all found outside.

  Babs caught Sloan’s eye. “I know it’s not much. Probably nothing like what you were used to at New Hope. Guards would be here training now, but most everyone is shoring up supplies and defenses for the attack.”

  “I’m not judging.” Sloan shook her head. “I’m just thinking of how different, in a good way, Azra is from New Hope.”

  Babs nodded.

  The Azra guard, recently turned vampire, unlocked a black iron gate that led them from the training courtyard to a row of large, square buildings that followed in line with Azra’s architecture: clean, white structures with high roofs and simple but thought-out landscaping.

  “Pia, Harrison, and Doyle were given an officer’s quarters. I moved in, too, and I thought we should get to know one another better, since we’ll be Azra’s crack squad and all,” Babs said in a gush of words. “Oh look, here they are!”

  Sloan and Babs rounded a corner of one of the larger buildings to find themselves in front of a line of smaller structures that looked like actual homes instead of military barracks. The three New Hope escapees were outside on a porch.

  As soon as they caught sight of Sloan, all three of her former soldiers snapped to attention.

  “Do we still need to salute you?” Pia grinned at her former captain. “I mean, I gave you a hug the other night when I saw you.”

  “You can all rest easy. And no more hugging,” Sloan said as she came to a stop in front of her three friends. “It’s just Sloan now, no more captain. How are you three doing? Rested?”

  “Rested and ready to go.” Harrison stretched his large arms. “It’s starting to get boring around here.”

  “We’re good. Glad to see you back safe.” Doyle walked down the few steps from the porch to close the distance with Sloan. “And we’re ready.”

  “You all understand what this means?” Sloan already new the answer, but she had to give them every chance to back out. This was a lifelong choice they would never be able to take back. “It’s not only the thirst, it’s the prolonged life, the responsibility you will have to others. It’s the self-restraint it’ll take to know when you should use your abilities and when not to.”

  “We’re ready.” Doyle looked Sloan straight in the eyes, his gaze unflinching. “We’re ready to do this.”

  As she looked all three of her friends in the eyes, Sloan made herself a promise there and then: She would never let them down. No matter what, she would be there for them, through thick and thin. They were bonded to her now in a way that Aareth’s werewolves would be part of his pack.

  “All right.” Sloan pointed to the house. “Let’s go inside. We can’t have people gawking at us while I turn you into supernatural predators.”

  Chapter Four

  Croft

  “I’ll be right back. I just want to say goodbye to him.”

  “I thought you already did?” Croft caught herself too late. Being a mother was harder than she remembered. “I mean, of course, go say goodbye to Jack. I’ll be here when you get back.”

  Abigail blinked at her mother a few times as if she were going to say something, then she thought better of it and left the room.

  Croft watched her daughter go. She had handled herself like a true warrior on the battlefield. As a mother, she couldn’t have been prouder. In a strange way, the same also went for Elizabeth. Her youngest was misguided, but she was strong and determined.

  Croft turned back to Elizabeth, and the simple motion of twisting in her seat brought a wave of sharp pain in her shoulder. The wound Elizabeth had dealt her in their battle was agonizing but not life-threatening. She would heal in a few weeks. Any injury was worth having her daughters back together again.

  “Off to say goodbye to her little Jack,” Elizabeth’s voice drifted through her cell bars. “How sweet. I hope his werewolf father eats him alive.”

  Croft realized Elizabeth was trying to start an argument between them, and she refused the bait. Instead, she stood and reexamined the magic-laced cell and wards that hampered her youngest daughter’s powers, along with keeping her contained.

  Croft had ordered a cell constructed in her own room as soon as they returned from the battle with New Hope. Normal steel, when laced with the right layers of magic, could hold a witch just as well as any normal human being.

  Elizabeth sat in her cell, staring at the floor. Her wild red hair hung down, hiding her face. She wore the same black cloak she had during the battle, the same New Hope uniform on underneath.

  “You know you won’t be able to hold me here,” Elizabeth continued when Croft didn’t return her words. “You know it’s just a matter of time before I get out, or she comes for me.”

  Croft hid her emotions, although Elizabeth’s last words sent a pang of regret down her spine. Leah had been there for her. She had filled the motherly role for a short time, but in that time, she had wreaked havoc on Elizabeth’s mind.

  “Why aren’t you talking to me?” Elizabeth finally looked up through her curtain of hair. “Are you just going to sit there and silence me to death?”

  “You’re not going to die.” Croft crossed her arms, looking through the steel bars at her younger daughter. “Neither are you going to be rescued in the way you think.”

  “Oh, really? Please, enlighten me, oh, cryptic one.”

  “You’re going to save yourself.”

  Elizabeth rocked back
and forth in mirth, a light chuckle escaping her lips. “Oh, really? And I’m going to do that for you? For the mother who abandoned us so many years before?”

  “I had a choice to make.” Croft pursed her lips, reliving the day she’d left her family in Burrow Den. “I had to leave you to save you. I had to leave you to prepare for this very moment, when you, your sister, the entire Outland, would be on the brink of destruction.”

  “Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night.” Elizabeth rose and walked to the bars, gripping a steel rod in each hand. “Whatever you say. I’m not going to save myself for you. Now that mommy dearest has chosen to make her presence known, all will suddenly not be right with the world.”

  “I didn’t say you were going to save yourself for me.” Croft hid her discomfort this time as she crossed the white floor in her room to the cell where Elizabeth stood. “You’re going to save yourself for your sister.”

  For the briefest moment, a look of confusion crossed Elizabeth’s face. A second later she lifted her head to the ceiling, laughing in hysteria.

  “Wait, wait—” Elizabeth lifted her hand to her mouth, trying to compose herself. “You’re telling me I’m going to save myself for the person who left me locked in the dungeon? Oh, this is getting better and better. What happens next? Do we all live happily ever after?”

  “You’re laughing now, but what do you think Leah is going to do once she arrives in Azra? She’s going to kill most of us and enslave the rest. Now, I know you couldn’t care less about me, and maybe I deserve that, but you do care about your sister as much as you’ll deny it.”

  “Oh, because you know me so well?”

  “Because she took care of you while I couldn’t be there. Because she loves you. Because when your parents made mistakes and fell apart, she never left your side.”

  “She left me in the dungeon in New Hope!” Elizabeth screamed, so loudly it filled the room. Spittle came down the right side of her lip and her hands quivered as she gripped the steel bars of her cage.