The Arcadia Falls Chronicles: Omnibus (Books 1-6)

by Jennifer Malone Wright

  “The newborns, they became a problem. We found that they could not be controlled, and were even worse than we were when we were created. Our offspring were born with a lust far worse than our own. Few of those that were created stayed with us and eventually, the warrior woman and the warrior angel appeared to kill off our rapidly growing kind. We lost Elena, Mihalis, and Vlasis to the warriors during that sad time, it was then that we discovered the secret of killing head of the line. When each of them died, their entire line fell to their death within a few hours. Korina, Pavlos, and I went into hiding, hoping to avoid the wrath of the warriors. We knew that we were evil and that we should not exist, but even as demons, the human will to survive ran strong in our veins.

  “The three of us stayed hidden for a long time, coming out into the villages and cities to feed. We were very careful not to create anymore vampires. Well ... Pavlos and I were, Korina was another story. Our beautiful handmaiden, our sister, she had another evil that lived inside of her. As the years passed by, she began to resent humans all together, she felt them beneath us ... she began creating vampires unbeknownst to us.

  “By then, the warriors had created their own offspring.” He waved his hand toward us. “The Hunters. Your race was born to kill ours.”

  Damn straight! And if he didn’t get to the point of this story that was exactly what I was going to do to him.

  “We discovered what Korina had done when the Hunters waged war on the vampires. Pavlos and I did not want any more of our kind tainting the earth, for we still had some humanity left in us and knew without a doubt that those evil offspring should not be allowed to survive. So we fought with the Hunters, tracking the demons and killing them.”

  Drew shifted in his chair. “Why didn’t you just kill Korina?”

  Anthony shrugged. “She is my family. That long with someone builds a bond, whether you actually like that person or not is a different story than if you love them. I loved her, we were as brother and sister in a world where all odds were against us.”

  “Would have solved a lot of problems,” I mumbled under my breath.

  Anthony’s head snapped in my direction. “Little Hunter, do not speak of things you know nothing about. Spend a hundred years with him,” he waved his hand at Drew, “and then kill him because he made a few mistakes in that century.”

  I kept silent. I wouldn’t do it; that was all there was to it. I would like to say that I could kill someone I love for the greater good, but even after only knowing Drew a few years, I would never be able to do that.

  I didn’t apologize or elaborate on my thoughts to him, though. “Keep going.” I knew the important parts of the story were coming soon.

  “We were almost killed by Hunters many times. That was one secret we kept, the secret of the bloodline. The Hunters did not know and we kept it that way in order to keep the three of us safe.

  “Eventually, most of the stray vampires were killed, but not all. A few lived and moved on to create more and more. With the Hunters now in existence, it became their problem to deal with. Until we went our separate ways.”

  “So Korina and Pavlos still live? That makes the three of you?”

  Anthony nodded. “Yes, I have not created an offspring since the times of the warrior woman and the warrior angel. It is safe to assume that Korina and Pavlos are the remaining bloodlines of the vampires.”

  I returned to my pacing. “Do you know where they are?” Man, why couldn’t he just tell us this before. I loved my history, but that was a long story that could have been summed up with the part at the end.

  “I know where Korina is, and I’m assuming that the problem here is associated with her. I don’t think that Pavlos is in this country.”

  Drew stood up, clutching his gun so tightly his knuckles were turning white. “Tell us,” he demanded of Anthony.

  “New Orleans.” He tapped his fingers on the table.. “Korina resides in New Orleans.”

  I threw my hands in the air. “Of course she does,” I said sarcastically, and looked to Drew. “You up for a road trip?”

  He nodded. “We have to.”

  Anthony stood, but neither Drew nor I moved to shoot him or anything like that. He seemed all right for now. Then he gave us the final bit of information. “Like I said, you can kill me if you want to afterward, however ... there is one thing that I think you’re forgetting.”

  Here it comes. I should have known there would be an ultimatum. The situation thus far just seemed too easy. “What?”

  “You, young Chloe, are half vampire, also descended from one of our three lines.”

  Oh.My.God. How could I have forgotten something like that?

  He smiled. “Do not worry, after a bit of researching I have discovered it is my own line that you are born of ... So, as long as I live, then so do you.”

  My gun hand dropped to my side. “Oh, crap.”

  ~~~***~~~

  Drew and I abandoned hunting for the night and went back to the house. We left Anthony at the apartment; he had told us that he would stay there for now and if we wanted to find him that he’d be there. As uncomfortable as it made me to just leave a vampire out there, we couldn’t really take him with us. Although, I was pretty sure he already knew where we lived.

  We had to talk to the rest of the group and the other Hunters back at Arcadia Falls about the situation as soon as possible. So, continuing to hunt for the night wasn’t an option. It wasn’t like we really wanted to go out after learning all that we had, anyway.

  Back at the house, we found everyone asleep. With the exception of Gavin, who was running the security system, and Christina, who was on patrolling the grounds outside.

  Christina met us in the driveway as soon as Drew parked the truck. I caught sight of her jogging toward us as she appeared out of the darkness. The breeze caused strands of her dark hair to fly up behind her as she made her way in our direction. As always, she wore something fashionable, even if it was only to guard the inner grounds of our home. This particular night she had chosen a pair of black jeans and a black tank top. This outfit was accentuated by a lot of silver. Her boots were combat style, reached her knees, and had all kinds of buckles on them. She didn’t wear any bracelets because they usually made too much noise, but she made up for that with a pile of silver chains of all different sizes looped around her neck. Her gun belt rested on her hips and held a gun on each side. I preferred the shoulder holster myself. Of course, Christina wouldn’t be Christina without her knives, which could be seen strapped onto her thighs. There were most likely more knives on her body that we couldn’t see; she always had several knives of different shapes and sizes on her.

  “Hey,” she greeted us as we hopped down from the truck.

  I waved. “Hey. How is everything here?”

  She shrugged. “It’s pretty quiet tonight. Nothing so far.”

  Drew came around the front of the truck and we all walked in together.

  “What about you guys, how was your night?” she asked. The front door clicked several times as Gavin unlocked them for us. Once the door was open, we all filed into the house and headed for the kitchen. I immediately went for the fridge and got out a couple of water bottles.

  “It was eventful, actually.” I tossed one of the waters to Drew and uncapped the remaining one. “We have some very, very interesting information that everyone needs to know about, even The Board.”

  Christina’s eyebrows shot up. “That important, huh?”

  The Board consisted of some of the older Hunters. Once they didn’t go out on missions anymore, they were made part of The Board. All decisions regarding the community of Arcadia Falls or the vampire hunting missions were approved or disapproved by The Board beforehand. I wasn’t a favorite of the The Board at the moment. They were pissed at me because we went behind their back and took down the Talon Building, a building made up entirely of vampire run businesses. It was what started this whole vampire apocalypse to begin with.

  Drew pulled
out a chair and sat down at the table. “Yeah, it’s something we all have to talk about and soon. I’d rather not have to repeat the story to everyone individually. After we, as a group, decide what to do, then we can take it to The Board.”

  Christina and I had both joined him by sitting down at the table. I eyed Drew; he looked really tired. This whole situation was stressing everyone out. Hopefully, with Anthony’s help, we could end it and some of us could actually get a decent night’s rest.

  I began the process of taking my weapons off and setting them on the table. “Do you think we should talk to Luke about it before we tell The Board?”

  He nodded and I noticed Christina nodding as well. “Yeah, we should definitely bring him over here first thing in the morning and let him know what’s going on when we tell everyone else.”

  Christina leaned back in her chair and pouted. “You guys suck, now I really want to know what’s going on.”

  “I’m with her,” Gavin’s voice stated over the intercom.

  Drew shook his head. “It’s only a few hours, you guys. I have to get back to Arcadia Falls, and then I will be back here first thing in the morning with Luke.”

  Christina stood first. “I should ride back with you, I don’t want you going by yourself.”

  With a quick glance at me, Drew shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine. Besides, you were watching the grounds here.”

  “I’ll do it.” I returned one of my guns to its holster. Both of their heads swiveled in my direction. “What? She’s right,” I insisted. “I don’t want you going all the way back to Arcadia Falls by yourself, either. So, Christina can go with you. I can watch the grounds until the sun comes up, and then I’ll grab a couple of hours sleep before you guys get back here with Luke. It’s the easiest way to do this right now without waking someone up.”

  Christina flipped her hair. “See.”

  “Don’t let that go to your head.” I rose from the table, went to the pantry door, and opened it. I was met with two floor to ceiling shelves full of food and another floor to ceiling shelf that housed ammo. I grabbed a box of 45 rounds from the stack and brought it back to the table where I began filling one of my empty clips.

  Drew scooted his chair back and stood. “I guess if you’re all right with it, then Christina should come, just in case.”

  I finished loading the clip and slid it up into my un-holstered gun. “Why wouldn’t I be all right with it?” This time both Drew and Christina rolled their eyes. It was common knowledge with everyone we knew that Christina and I hadn’t always gotten along. She and Drew were lifelong friends who had occasionally dated ... and other things. She and I still had a rocky relationship, but at least we didn’t hate each other. It was also easier to make these decisions about her being around Drew because I knew that she was dating my brother, Zander, and the two of them were a pretty hot item. Well ... as hot as an item could really be in the middle of an apocalypse.

  I shrugged. “What? I’m totally okay with all that now.”

  Christina shook her head. “I’m going out to the truck. See ya, Gavin,” she called out.

  “Later,” his tired voice said over the intercom.

  After we heard the door unlatch and then close again, Drew reached out and pulled me close to him. “We are going to take care of this. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. All right?”

  I laid my head on his chest and wrapped my arms around him. He knew I was worried about what Anthony had told us, but I wasn’t ready to be worried about myself yet. Not yet ... there were more important things to worry about, like saving the world. “I know,” I whispered.

  He reached up and lifted my chin a little bit so that I would look at him. I always enjoyed gazing into his eyes because they told so much about him that he never voiced. At that second, when I looked deep into the green of his eyes, I saw that he was scared. To make it even more interesting, I knew it was me he was scared of losing.

  My fingers found their way up and into his hair. “I am going to be just fine. We have other things to take care of before we can worry about me.”

  He shook his head. “That is not even an option. We will not sacrifice you.” His voice had lowered to a whisper because Gavin was listening on the intercom.

  “That really isn’t up to you,” I whispered back, and pulled him down for a kiss. Aware that Gavin was most likely watching us, I had totally intended for it to be a gentle peck of a kiss. However, Drew was also aware of Gavin’s presence and completely went the other way. He crushed his lips against mine and moved forward; I was forced to back up until I felt the wall press against me.

  I wanted to tell him he was mean for intentionally flaunting our relationship in front of Gavin. At the same instant, heat flared within me, sizzling through my veins. I wished desperately that we weren’t being watched. I wanted to wrap my legs around him and let him carry me to bed so we could make out for a while before sleep finally claimed us. “I wish you were staying,” I mumbled against his lips.

  Reluctantly, he tore his lips away from mine. “Next time,” he whispered. His breathing was heavy and his voice was husky; this kind of behavior was dangerous for us. I knew how hard it was for him to wait for me, but I didn’t really want him to wait. I was totally all right with sex, even though I’d never had it before. Drew, on the other hand, felt that we must wait until I turned eighteen.

  I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal one way or the other.

  Standing there—wrapped up in his arms, knowing he wanted me so badly—I realized something. If what Anthony said about the killing the bloodlines was true, I could possibly die a virgin. Yeah ... that was so not going to happen.

  “I have to go.” Drew pulled himself back, putting some space between us. “Christina’s waiting.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, you should go.”

  ~~~***~~~

  I woke the next morning feeling the aches and pains I felt every single day. Hunting vampires was really tough on the body. Even though we trained all the freaking time, when I fought with vampires I always ended up with a ton of bumps and bruises. Even with my superior healing I was always sore the next morning.

  By the time I managed to drag myself out of bed, shower, and throw some clothes on, Drew and Luke had already arrived and were sitting in the living room chatting. Actually, the entire group was in there lounging on the couches and eating some kind of yummy looking pastries that Alice had made.

  Luke, Drew, Alice, Zander, Christina, Oscar, and Gavin all looked up when I hurried into the room. “Why didn’t anyone wake me?” I demanded. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep so long.”

  Luke stood as I hurried into the room and opened his arms for a hug. I rushed over and wrapped my arms around my grandfather. I missed him so much. There were a lot of downsides to living in his little house, especially when Alice and Oscar were crowded into the small space with us, but I often wished I was able to get back onto the community and go home.

  “Ah, Chloe! I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I’ve missed you, too,” I told him honestly. “I wish we could come back home.”

  He nodded. “As do I.” He looked to Alice. “Has there been any progress with finding a way to break the shield?”

  Alice had had a smile on her face, but it fell as soon as Luke brought up Arcadia Falls and the shield. “No,” she shook her head and her blonde ponytail bobbed all over the place, “I’ve been searching all of the spell books trying to find the right one. Nothing has worked so far. I’m trying, though.”

  He smiled with understanding. However, the reality of it was that she wasn’t trying all that hard. The group had had numerous discussions about the subject and we all decided that it was actually better if we left the barrier up. Leaving it up would protect the Hunters within from being attacked, and that was one less thing we had to worry about. Zander and I being unable to get through was a small worry at this point.

  Luke released me and rubbed his hands together
. “So, I hear that you have some news. Let’s hear it.”

  He returned to the recliner he had been sitting in and I found a spot between Drew and Alice on the couch. As I squeezed myself into the tiny space, I caught Gavin staring at me. Our eyes locked and he gave me a small smile, but I saw hurt swimming in the depths of his pretty green irises.

  He still insisted that he would fight for me, but since the vampires had taken over everyone sort of had bigger priorities than our love lives. Gavin and Drew still had a lot of issues to sort out and it wasn’t going to be something that happened overnight. Drew harbored so much jealously and anger toward Gavin because of their mother. She had abandoned Drew and his father so that she could be with Gavin and his father. She was not a nice lady, and I would never say it to his face, but I knew without a doubt that Drew was a lot better off without her in his life. Gavin turned out all right, but she loved him, and from what I could see, she didn’t really care that much about Drew at all.

  Everyone was waiting for one of us to tell them what was going on, so Drew took the initiative and recapped Anthony’s story about how the first vampires were made and the remaining bloodlines, leaving out the last part about Zander and I being part of Anthony’s own line. His gaze flicked over to Luke, since Luke was his mentor and one of the elder Hunters.

  It wasn’t often that I saw Luke surprised, but his jaw was slack and his eyes wide. “An end to the vampires. It ... could it really be possible?”

  I nodded. “If what Anthony says is true, then yes, it’s totally possible.”

  “There are a few things we need to discuss before we get too excited, though.” Drew rubbed his forehead like he always did when he was stressed out. “First of all, he only knows where Korina is. That is only one bloodline, but it can still take out a huge majority of them.”