Pure: A Paranormal Romance

by D. L. McKinsey

  I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand.

  “You are now.” I snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me Ana had some type of fucking power?!”

  “I take it you couldn’t kill her.” He stated, sitting up to take a drag of his cigarette.

  “No! The bitch almost killed me!” I yelled.

  Talon’s laid-back attitude about the situation wasn’t helping me. I couldn’t even get my fangs to retreat. I was so mad.

  “Hm-mmm, she’s a fighter, isn’t she?” Talon said to himself more than me. “We’ll have to come up with a better plan next time.”

  “Fuck you! I’m over this!” I turned to storm out of the room, but Talon was in my face in seconds. He no longer looked calm and relaxed. He looked angry.

  “You will never walk away until I give you permission. I made you. Therefore, I own you,” he said menacingly.

  I hissed in response. A bad move on my part. Talon’s big hand wrapped around my throat so tightly, I could feel my windpipe crushing. His black eyes peered down at me as I struggled to break free from his hold.

  “Are we clear?” He asked.

  I did my best to eagerly nod, and Talon finally let me go.

  “Now that we’re on the same page, it’s time to come up with plan B,” Talon said, walking away from my still gasping self.

  Once the bruises started to heal on my neck, I stood and faced the still nude man. Even though he nearly broke my neck, I still couldn’t help desiring him. I was an addict, and Talon was the worst drug I could be on.

  “Sorry for trying to leave you, babe,” I said, stepping over the dead girl’s body and closing the space between me and Talon. He watched me with mild interest. “I’ll do anything you want. Just tell me. How do we kill my sister?” I purred, running my fingers down his bare chest.

  Talon opened his mouth to reply but stopped. His face suddenly had that faraway look, and a fearful expression covered his face.

  “Talon? What’s wrong?”

  “We have to go. NOW!” He demanded.

  Before I could respond, Talon zipped through the room quickly, getting dressed and gathering his things. If I weren’t a vampire, I wouldn’t have been able to follow his speedy movements.

  “Kim! Bring your ass here now!” Talon screamed at me from the entrance. I had no idea what was happening, but now wasn’t the time to question him. I quickly took his hand, and he practically dragged me from the motel room. Whatever was going on was serious because I could sense Talon’s fear.

  By the time we reached the parking lot of the motel, I didn’t have to ask what he was afraid of. In seconds, we were surrounded by large men covered in chainmail. The soldiers descended on us so fast, it was as if they appeared out of thin air. They circled us, not utterring a word.

  “Fuck!” Talon cursed, dropping his packed bag to the ground.

  “What’s going on?! Who are these people?!” I asked in a panic.

  The soldiers had deadly looks on their faces, and not one heart beat could be heard. I wasn’t the smartest girl, but I knew these vampires were professional and not to be messed with.

  The men in front of us parted slightly to make room for another as he walked through. The vampire that came to the center must be the leader of the group. He walked with authority and had a dark sexiness about him. I cursed myself for even thinking it, but it couldn’t be helped. Whoever this man was, he was hot. Even if he did end up killing us.

  “Nice to see you again so soon.” The dark-haired man said, looking directly at Talon. From the evil glint in Talon’s eyes, I understood the men knew each other and weren’t on friendly terms.

  “Maximus! I’m not surprised to see you behind this ambush. Still a traitor against your brother, I hear,” Talon said in his usual cocky tone.

  The man, Maximus, didn’t seemed amused.

  “My brother made his own foolish choices that he will pay for. I will no longer take the fall for his arrogance.” Maximus snapped back.

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Max! By the way, I hear Cassandra is still running from you. It’s a shame your own mate hates you because she is a nice piece of ass if I do say so myself.” Talon taunted with a smirk.

  Maximus lost his cool and flew into a rage. His eyes bled black and his fangs exploded. The vampire gracefully pulled a sword strapped to his back and dove it into Talon’s midsection. It happened so fast, I couldn’t have stopped it had I tried. Talon grunted in pain but wouldn’t show any more emotion as he held on to the sword, preventing it from going in any further.

  “Please don’t hurt him!” I shouted to Maximus. He ignored me as he pushed the blade further inside of Talon. I was so afraid that any moment this man would finish Talon off.

  “Your cockiness will be the death of you. If you want to live, tell me where the girl is?” Maximus said. Talon was still holding on to the blade, but he was shaking. He managed, however, to flash an arrogant smile, and I knew he wasn’t going to cooperate with Maximus. I had to do something. I loved Talon, and wouldn’t let him die.

  Maximus forced the sword in a little further.

  “Wait! Wait! What girl? May-maybe I can help.” I pleaded.

  Maximus turned his head to look at me for the first time. He glanced up and down my body but didn’t look impressed at all.

  “The one my brother claims to be a blue eyed vampire, where can I find her?” Maximus asked.

  Kim huffed, annoyed. There was no way in hell he could be talking about my sister. Could he?

  “Ana? Are you looking for Ana?” I asked, unbelieving.

  It was not like I knew any other blue-eyed vampires running around.

  Maximus perked up and swiftly withdrew the sword from Talon’s abdomen. Talon dropped to his knees, gripping the wound.

  “Kim! Keep your mouth shut!” Talon ordered.

  Maximus kicked him the face to silence him and then made his way over to me.

  “Tell me where she is, and I will spare his life and yours.” Maximus’ deep voice penetrated her fear. There was no way I would risk my life for my sisters.

  With a shaky hand, I pointed in the direction of the woods.

  “Last time we saw her she was with her friends in the woods. We shot her, so her blood is still there if you need a scent.” I told him.

  Talon taught me a little about tracking, so I knew if these vamps couldn’t find her, it was because they didn’t know her scent.

  “NO!” Talon grunted, rolling over on the ground.

  I didn’t understand why he wanted to protect Ana since he was the main one trying to kill her.

  “Thank you.” Maximus replied before gesturing to his men. The soldiers gathered up the wounded Talon and disappeared.

  “NO! You said you would let us go!” I screamed.

  I looked in all directions but couldn’t find any clue on where the men took off with Talon.

  “I said I would spare your lives. I did. Talon is being taken to our King for punishment.” Maximus stated.

  Without a second glance, he and the rest of his army ran off towards the woods.

  I was left standing alone in an empty parking lot. I couldn’t believe the events that took place in the last few minutes. Talon was gone. I was all alone. This was all somehow Ana’s fault like everything else. I wasn’t going to give up so easily. I promised Talon I wouldn’t leave him again. And I was going to find him.

  No matter what.

  ***

  Ana

  “Hello, Analise, daughter of Queen Celeste, and future destroyer of us all.” Cora greeted like her words didn’t send an unpleasant chill down my spine.

  “Wh-what?” I choked out.

  “Please, come inside. You must all be tired.” Cora ignored my question and stepped aside to let us in her home. We all entered the living room, noticing all the floral-coated furniture covered in plastic. From around the corner, a pre-teen brunette girl came into view.

  “This is my granddaughter, Zara. She will t
ake you into the kitchen for food and water,” Cora said from behind us.

  The short chubby girl smiled, revealing her silver braces with blue rubber bands.

  “Oh, thank god! I’m starving! These people never eat!” Lily piped up, pushing her way through us to get to Zara. Everyone began to follow Zara, but Cora’s hand on my shoulder stopped me.

  “Not you, Analise. We need to talk. Come.” She gestured to an open door that had steps leading down to a basement. I glanced at Seb and then Jace before following her.

  As soon as I took one step inside, the door closed on its own behind me. That can’t be a good sign. I hope she didn’t try to kill me. I’d had enough of that lately. Even so, I slowly walked down each creaking step, praying this wasn’t a trap. When I reached the end and caught sight of what was in front of me, I knew my prayers were denied. Standing next to each other were three people I was sure I didn’t trust yet. All three of the women regarded me coolly, and I had to force myself not to snarl. To the left was Cora, on the right was Verna and in the center was Helia.

  “Hello, Analise.” Helia greeted.

  Seeing the white-haired woman instantly had my mind flashing back to the last time I saw her; when she nearly killed Seb. He hadn’t been the same since he drank her potion. My anger at Helia took over, and I charged her, fangs out. Before I could even touch her, she waved the back of her hand and sent me flying back into the brick wall. My body slammed against it hard, knocking the wind from my lungs.

  “We are not your enemies, Analise. It’s time you understand that,” Helia said calmly.

  “I can’t tell.” I snapped, getting to my feet. “What did you do to Seb?” I demanded

  “Like I said before, I didn’t harm him. It was just a test, but that is not your concern.” Helia replied.

  Was she kidding? Not my concern? Of course it was. I let my ability bubble in my core. If I couldn’t get an easy response from her, I would force one from her. I channeled the tingling energy to the palm of my right hand. Once I felt it was strong enough, I held it out and watched the blue bolt shoot out from the center. Right before it reached them, all three witches held up a hand and froze my bolt midair.

  “We are linked, Analise. You can’t over power us.” Verna said.

  I kept my palm up, trying to push the bolt to them, but it barely moved an inch. It was costing me a lot of energy to hold it. Eventually, my hand dropped and it disappeared.

  “What do you want from me?!” I questioned. I was beyond irritated.

  “We only want to help you. We are good witches,” Cora said gently.

  “Ha! Verna sent me to my death. And Helia almost killed my friend.” I accused.

  Helia shook her head as if she was disappointed in me.

  “Seb only reacted badly to the wolfsbane because of who he truly is. And Verna is a seer. It is her duty to follow her visions, which is why we are here today,” the crone said. She pointed to the ceiling, and a huge crystal ball floated down. It was bigger than any crystal ball I’d ever seen, and it stayed suspended in the air in the center of the room.

  “Cora has the gift of foresight. When she opens her third eye, she can see the mostly likely future of anyone in the world. It is rare to be as gifted and accurate as her. So when she called and told me she had looked into the future and saw the death of my grandson, how do you think I reacted?” Helia looked at me with disappointment and sadness. Had I been human, my heart would have dropped to my stomach words

  “What?! Jace dies? Ho-how, why?” I fired the questions with a shaky voice.

  “Because of you. And not just him but everyone upstairs. All of your friends,” Cora said with pity.

  I fell to my knees. She couldn’t be right. I would never hurt any of them. Never! I love all my friends! How was this possible? I could feel my eyes well up with tears. A warm hand lifted my chin. My eyes met the cool grays of Helia.

  “There, there child. It hasn’t happened. That’s why we are here; to warn you.”

  “I would never hurt them.” I cried.

  “Not intentionally, no, but your choices have and will put them in danger. Look into the ball,” Helia said, motioning to the huge round sphere in front us. Inside, I could see a bunch of men with swords. They were moving at an inhuman speed; attacking. I stood up and walked closer. Standing in front of it, I realized it was a battle. It was me and my friends against the guard-like men.

  “What is this?” I questioned, still staring into the crystal.

  “My vision showed the King’s men coming here for you. Only, your friends tried to protect you from being taken, and, well, see for yourself.” Cora urged.

  I tuned my eyes back to the screen in time to see Jace being stabbed through the back and into his heart. Simon already lay lifeless on the ground. Lily’s neck was snapped. Marie was fighting one man, but another attacked and killed her from behind. I was throwing bolts everywhere, but there were too many for me, and I was taken down. Seb was running to me when a blade swiped through his face.

  I couldn’t watch anymore. It was all too much. It looked so real. My emotions took control, and a surge from my core shattered the crystal ball into a million pieces.

  I closed my eyes to regain control of myself.

  “How do I stop it?” I asked, looking at each witch.

  “The King is aware of your existence, and he is after you. I know you can defeat him, but you’re not at your full power yet. His men will be here in a few hours. You have to be taken alone and without a fight.” Helia explained.

  “If I couldn’t beat his men in your vision, how could I possibly defeat the king?!” I threw my hands up in frustration. This wasn’t my fight yet I was in the center of it. I never wanted to take down the kingdom, and now, it was like I didn’t have a choice. Everything that was happening felt like it was out of my hands.

  “Trust me, when you’re at full strength, you will know.” Helia informed me.

  “So this was some witch intervention to make sure I get kidnapped alone?” I assumed that was the point of all this.

  “Yes. And it was to show you that we are on your side even though it may not seem so to you.” Verna said, finally speaking for the first time.

  “Is that why you called me future destroyer?” I asked Cora.

  “No, I called you that because, based on your current path, you will not fulfill your destiny as the savior and will, instead, destroy us all.” Cora answered simply.

  My jaw dropped. What was she talking about? I opened my mouth to ask her, but Helia cut me off.

  “Don’t listen to Cora. She sees a lot, and the future is always changing. Just find a way to keep the others from interfering in your capture.” Helia told me.

  I glanced at Cora, and she had both her normal eyes closed and the third one open. It looked so weird, but I wasn’t ready to drop her cryptic future-destroyer-and savior babble. I wanted to know what she meant.

  “Please, Analise, just focus on the task at hand. Don’t let all your friends die. My grandson has the potential to be a very powerful witch, but he is still afraid of his gift. None of you are ready to battle yet, and it’s up to you to make sure it doesn’t happen tonight.” Helia almost sounded like she was pleading with me. She was. I saw it.

  There was no way I would be selfish and let the people I care about risk their lives to protect me. I didn’t have time to dwell on Cora’s words. Instead, I came up with a plan to keep them out of harm’s way.

  “Okay. So what if I just leave now?” I said, thinking out loud.

  “No, they will follow.” Cora answered with her third eye still the only one open. I think she was looking into the future right now.

  “What if I just tell them the truth?” I thought that sounded reasonable. If they knew they would die, that would make them stay behind.

  “No, it won’t work either. They care too much about you to leave you defenseless.” Cora responded.

  That was just great. I started pacing the room to think, but
I couldn’t come up with anything. Seb was the biggest problem that I was sure of. He never leaves me alone to battle.

  “Is there anything you guys can do? I mean, Helia you’re the most powerful witch, right?”

  They brought me down her to warn me. I don’t understand why they couldn’t help.

  “We aren’t meant to interfere. This is your path, and I can’t walk it for you. We shouldn’t have warned you, but something had to be done. Now, it’s up to you,” Helia said.

  Suddenly, Helia’s body began to cloud with white smoke and then poof! She was gone; just disappeared, only leaving a cloud of smoke in her wake.

  “I came here to tell you I’m sorry you lost your human life, but what happened was meant to be,” Verna said before vanishing herself in the same way Helia just did.

  What the heck?

  “Uh, what happened to them?” I asked Cora, the last witch standing.

  “Their message was delivered. They had no business left here. You still need a plan,” Cora said, pushing me back on track.

  Okay, what could I do to convince my friends not to fight for me? Or maybe, it was not all of them I needed to convince but just one. An idea began to form in my head.

  “Yes! That will work if you succeed.” Cora exclaimed before I even told her my idea. That was all the encouragement I needed.

  I practically flew up to the basement stairs to begin my plan. The witches said the King’s men will come for me in a few hours, and it may take that long to convince this one person to just listen to me and follow my plan.

  Once upstairs, I trailed the noise to the kitchen where everyone was eating and talking. Seb and Jace both stood as soon as I entered. Oh boy, here was the hard part.

  “Uh, Jace, can I speak to you outside for minute?” I asked shyly.

  I could feel Seb’s eyes trying to search me for a clue to what was going on, but I couldn’t look at him. Never in a million years would I be able to keep him from trying to protect me. But Jace was more reasonable, and if this plan had to work, he was the one I needed on my side.

  Jace eagerly nodded and walked behind me as I exited the kitchen. Just to be at a safe distance, I exited the front door too. I didn’t want anyone overhearing our talk. The sky was reddish in color due to the setting sun. On a normal day, it would be beautiful to just stare at. But today, it only reminded me of blood spilled if I didn’t execute the plan successfully. I stopped walking and faced Jace once were out of sight behind the ugly van.