Blood of the Sea Omnibus

by Heather Renee

  My eyes softened, and I offered him a smile. “Thank you.”

  The passion emanating from him told me his words were true, and I wouldn’t question him again.

  “Where are all of the hunters?” Solomon asked, easing some of the tension in the room.

  “A new ship arrived with an additional twenty-two of them from various islands,” Ruth answered. “A few of our hunters are giving them a tour of this island. When they return, I plan to show them their quarters and give them the training schedule.”

  “How many fighters do we have now?” I asked.

  “Almost two-hundred,” she replied.

  Evander shook his head, catching Jameson’s attention.

  “Is that not enough?” he asked.

  “With the laced blades, it will help, but if we have to face Prime on the island where he keeps most of them, then the odds will still be stacked against us. Though, if we wait much longer, he will gather them all and return here. There is no doubt about that. Prime’s plan before I left had been to kill Solomon, keep Jameson as his new pet since he believed Lavinia to be dead, and take the islands one-by-one with his army, until he amassed enough power to move inland.”

  “He already has control of some of the smaller islands,” I confirmed. “Why don’t we do as Prime has planned, but before he can? We can take our islands back. Fight his smaller groups one at a time. Yes, we risk losing some of our own along the way, but we could gain more people as well. We have no idea how many humans and hunters might be trapped on those islands we haven’t been able to get to yet.”

  The stretch of islands we lived on spanned many miles, although there were only five main ones: Baldaire, Langford, Valor, Victory, and Defiance. Those key ports were all surrounded by smaller ones, like the one Jameson swam us to after we had escaped Prime’s ship, but many of them still had inhabitants—people who might need saving, or who might be able to help us. It was our best shot at growing our numbers and lessening Prime’s at the same time.

  Solomon nodded. “It’s not a bad idea, but we need to ready the new arrivals, and you need to produce the venom before we leave. Three days should be enough time if everyone agrees.”

  Sounds of approval came from everyone in the room, and then we finished catching up on all that we had missed while at sea. The most exciting thing had been Maggie’s visit from the Sea Witch, and I had felt relieved nothing extreme had happened in our absence.

  After we left the room, we had a plan and a date to execute it. I just needed to figure out how to produce enough venom to give our warriors the best chance at survival, and I only had a few days to master something I had never done.

  No pressure at all.

  Chapter 10

  My head bobbed, bringing with it a sharp pain to my neck. Jerking, I blinked my eyes open and tried to make sense of where I was. I was on a ship, and it was vaguely familiar. With stunted movements, I turned my head, trying to remember how I had gotten there. A stiff sea breeze tossed my hair about my shoulders, and I tried to lift my arm to tame the wayward strands, but my arms wouldn’t move. Looking down, I discovered a rope was tied around my upper body, holding me against something hard and unyielding.

  Straining, I finally recognized that I was somehow tied to the mast. My attention shifted upward to find giant white sails above my head. They were fully extended and filled with the breeze I had felt previously. I shook my head, trying to get a clear mind and drive away the fog that was making my thoughts sluggish.

  How did I get here?

  Attempting to lift my arms, I tested the tightness of the rope and found it to be absolute, making sure I couldn’t move at all.

  Once again, I looked down and was relieved to find that I had a purple dress on instead of the nightgown I remembered wearing before I had gone to bed.

  Jameson.

  I called on his image and it helped to clear the fog from my mind, but not by much. I still couldn’t recall how I had gotten on the ship, or why it looked so familiar.

  The sky above me was dark, and clouds blotted out the stars and moon. I didn’t need the light they provided to see, but I missed their presence. I felt lost at the moment. My eyes wandered around again, yet still couldn’t find anything that would help me figure out where I was or why I was tied against the mast all alone.

  The sails flapped above, startling me. Sluggishly, I glanced toward the sound, and then continued my perusal of the ship to discover I was no longer isolated.

  A seemingly familiar man stood several feet away from me, but I couldn’t recall his name. He looked disheveled and tired, which gave a deeper part of me some amusement, though the foggy part of me was appalled for thinking that way about a stranger. His red eyes gleamed in the darkness, contrasting with his pale skin that seemed to glow in the absence of light. His once pristine clothing was rumpled and stained, and I swallowed hard, trying not to think of what the blemishes actually were.

  As I took him in, he studied me, too, not moving or saying a word. A distant part of me was horrified that I had somehow found my way back into his presence, though I didn’t understand why or when I had ever been around him. There had to be some explanation, but thinking was proving to be increasingly difficult and I couldn’t seem to muster the effort to care, which made the distant part of me fight harder against the oppressive fog.

  “You came back to me, my Lavinia. You were always meant to be by my side, and deep down you know it to be true,” the man announced.

  The corner of my lips pulled down into a frown. I had no idea what he was talking about. I still had no recollection of meeting him before.

  “You need to stop fighting. I thought you dead once, but by some miracle you are still alive, and becoming more and more like me as the days pass. We should stand together, rewriting the world. You have felt the oppression from others. You’ve felt the same despair of knowing that there is nothing you can do to change your path. But we can. With you by my side, we can rise above the way things are. Don’t you want to see your mother again?”

  My mother… my mother’s name was Susanna and she was dead. Long dead if my limited memories could be trusted. Tears pricked at my eyes as I saw her face in my mind. Her smile was full of warmth and love. I missed it so much that my chest ached.

  “Who are you?” I asked as tears ran in rivulets down my cheeks.

  “I’m your father.” The man took measured steps toward me.

  “My father is dead, along with my mother,” I sniffled.

  “I am your father, Lavinia, and I’m very much alive. I need your help, so we can bring your mother back.”

  “We… we can?” I whimpered, not daring to hope, or even believe, that it was possible to bring someone back once they were so permanently gone.

  “There’s a way, but I can’t do it on my own,” he confessed, drawing nearer. “Your mother is the only woman I have ever loved. She’s worth more to me than all the gold and jewels I have ever pillaged. I should have stayed with her when I was younger, and then we would have been a family, but I let greed lead me astray. I need you to help me bring her back to me. I need Susanna back in my life.” He was begging, almost hysterical, and my heart held sympathy for him until he took several steps forward. The closer he got, the more of his face I could see, and another feeling awoke.

  Warning bells had been ringing in my mind since he first spoke, and now they were getting louder. My fists clenched as I tried to make sense of the strange feeling that told me I shouldn’t be on this ship. I was in danger.

  “Why am I tied up?” I managed to ask, while the bells grew louder inside my head.

  “This worked better than I planned.”

  His words seemed muffled, so I wasn’t sure I had heard him right. I was even more confused than when I awoke.

  “My name is Prime. You really don’t remember me?”

  Recognition flooded through me at the mention of his name. I did know him. The part of me that was growing stronger by the moment knew him eve
n better—I didn’t just know him, I hated him.

  My arms trembled as a memory surfaced. It was of me, holding a glowing dagger and plunging it into the chest of the man who stood across from me now. I sucked in a sharp breath as I remembered withdrawing the dagger and thrusting it into his chest once more.

  With a sudden pop that felt like a bubble bursting, the fog cleared from my mind, and all of my memories returned. I had no idea how I had ended up face-to-face with Prime, but the setting around me was as real as could be, and I needed to be careful with my next moves until I figured out how to get away.

  My lips pulled up into a sneer, and a sound I had only ever heard from Jameson emanated from my chest. I jerked my arms, and the ropes broke away from my body. My hands curled into claws as I stared at the man who haunted my nightmares and was also the man who had murdered my mother.

  “You don’t deserve my mother,” I seethed angrily, feeling a sharp pain pierce my upper jaw, but ignoring it as I advanced on Prime. “She’s better off wherever she is, far away from you.”

  “You will help me return her to this world,” he demanded, his own lips peeling back away from his fangs.

  “I would rather die,” I shot back, feeling power course through my limbs while I prepared to fight the abomination he was with every last drop of strength I had.

  “So be it.” He lunged toward me, clawed hands grabbing my arms.

  “Lavinia!”

  I snarled as invisible hands shook my shoulders. Thrusting my arms out, I pushed what I presumed to be another person away from me even though couldn’t see them. A thud sounded from somewhere in the darkness, but all I could see was Prime coming toward me, his red eyes promising swift pain.

  Just as his claws swiped for my arms, my body was yanked back and my vision blurred as I seemed to be pulled from the ship into an abyss, transported through a nothingness back to where I had been when I fell asleep.

  Something sparked in the shadows, quickly illuminating a room. A man was standing beside a table where a lantern had been lit. His eyes were the purest color of blue I had ever seen—completely opposite to the red ones I had stared into only moments ago. I blinked as realization of who he was entered my mind, rapidly suppressing the violence.

  “Jameson?” I asked, my words slurring as I tried to talk around two sharp objects protruding from my mouth.

  I raised my hands to touch my face, but my eyes caught sight of my fingers. My fingernails had turned to black, short but sharp claws. My eyes focused on them, and it took a moment for my brain to catch up with what my eyes were seeing. If I had claws, then I assumed the pointed objects in my mouth were fangs.

  A scream of frustration ripped from my chest, and I scrambled to free my legs from the sheets that wrapped around me.

  “Lavinia,” Jameson called, taking a step toward me.

  Once my legs were freed, I swung them over the side of the bed and dashed into the nearest corner. I pressed my back against the wall, my eyes scanning the room, and tried to regain my composure.

  What the hell happened?

  “Don’t!” I shouted at Jameson when he tried to step toward me again.

  Fists began pounding on the door, the sound grating painfully on my sensitive ears. I covered them with my hands and wanted desperately to close my eyes, but I was afraid Prime would be there, so I forced them to remain open.

  The pounding persistently echoed in my ears, either from my racing heartbeat or from the fists still knocking. I wasn’t sure which, but it was driving me crazy, and I needed it to stop. I would do anything for it to cease.

  Another snarl escaped me, and I realized it helped push the other sounds away. Closing my mouth, I began to hum the first melody that entered my mind. I kept at it until the tune was the only thing I could hear, and even then, I continued until the tension capturing my shoulders eased.

  Gentle arms wrapped around my shaking body, pulling my body sideways into a chest that was familiar. Breathing in his scent, I pressed into him, and the anger tremors began to slow. Even though his arms were my favorite place to be, they didn’t quite soothe the emotions raging within me.

  “I’m sorry,” I finally said, feeling bad for acting out.

  “There is nothing to be sorry about,” he assured me, placing a soft kiss on my head.

  A few tears of frustration slipped from my eyes at his tender gesture.

  “Let’s get you back to the bed,” Jameson offered, adjusting his arms around me and lifting me effortlessly against him.

  My body was exhausted from all of the emotions it had experienced. My fangs were still protruding from my mouth, and I had no idea how to get them to retract. The same went for my claws. Solomon was supposed to teach me how to use my fangs in the morning so I could start producing venom, and now I wished he’d at least given me some information the prior evening. I doubted I would get any sleep as I was.

  Once Jameson settled me on the bed, movement across the room caught my eye. My body stiffened, surprised to see Solomon standing by the table with the lantern and Evander leaning against the wall by the door. While Solomon had on his sleeping clothes, Evander’s torso was bare, and I averted my eyes from the scars that riddled his chest.

  Embarrassed that they had witnessed my breakdown, I lifted my hand to push my hair in front of my face, but accidently scratched my cheek in the process. Blood flowed down to my chin, even as I felt the skin knit back together. Jameson gently wiped my face with a cloth he seemed to conjure from nowhere, while Solomon slowly made his way to the foot of the bed and perched on the edge.

  “How do I make these go away?” I asked him, gesturing to my hands and mouth.

  “They reacted to your emotions,” he explained, looking into my eyes. “They will retract when you no longer feel in danger.”

  My lips pressed tightly together as I nodded. I knew I was safe in the room, with the people who were around me, but I didn’t feel safe in my own body… in my mind.

  “Tell us what happened, Lavinia. Tell us why you no longer feel safe,” Jameson pleaded, drawing the blanket over me before slipping his arm around my shoulders.

  I sat silently for several moments, trying to muster the courage to tell them that I had a nightmare, and then overreacted to what my subconscious had shown me. When I finally did, they remained silent while I spoke of all I had endured while in the dream, though it had felt so real. I could feel the mast behind me and the ropes tight around my arms and chest. I could sense Prime’s red eyes on me while I struggled against the fog that had oppressed my mind.

  “When he moved to attack me and Jameson grabbed my arms, I was finally able to wake up,” I confessed, finishing my recollection of the dream.

  “That was no dream,” Solomon informed, getting to his feet and pacing beside the bed.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, my voice pitched higher than normal.

  “It’s a skill hunters have only speculated about in the past, but here’s the proof,” he muttered as he walked back and forth.

  “What are you talking about?” Jameson inquired next, but Solomon ignored his question.

  “Solomon,” Evander barked, jolting him from his pacing. “What are you going on about?”

  “It has been speculated by many hunters that some vampires, mostly the older ones, can influence reality of another while they are sleeping. They can draw an unguarded subconscious into a plane that they control. It’s difficult and extremely rare, but by the scratches on your arms, it’s very much real,” Solomon assured, returning to his previous position at the foot of the bed.

  “So, you’re saying that the dream wasn’t really a dream?” I asked, feeling my stomach clench while I inspected the claw marks on my arms.

  “Correct. You were pulled to another plane of reality, using very dark and powerful magic. Though, it would have drained Prime significantly to do so, and it’s not likely he’ll do it again after having failed the first time. The vision you were pulled into was carefully constructed
by Prime. It was no different than if he stood before you right this moment.”

  “Prime did this? Why?” Evander asked, stepping away from the wall for the first time.

  “He did it to rattle me,” I stated, quivering as I recalled how real it had all been. “To let me know he will stop at nothing to have me again. He wants me to bring my mother Susanna back as we previously suspected.”

  “That might be true, but he must not realize that in order to bring someone back, he will need to sacrifice a life in return. He’s not above murdering innocent humans, but it can’t be just anyone. In order to succeed, he has to sacrifice someone who was close to Susanna. He’d have to sacrifice you, Lavinia. A life for a life. That is a price I couldn’t even fathom paying, no matter how much I loved your mother,” Solomon admitted emotively, and my heart swelled.

  “How do we stop Lavinia from being pulled into these alternate worlds? The rest of us may be able to get by with little sleep, but she needs it more than any of us if she’s to defeat Prime,” Jameson reminded everyone, tightening his hold on me.

  “The hunters who had been plagued by these nightmares would sleep with their dagger in hand. Every account I ever heard said that it worked,” Solomon concluded, a smile tugging at his mouth when he glanced over at me.

  “Why are you smiling?” I asked, my eyes narrowing, daring him to comment on my messed-up hair.

  “Your fangs and claws are gone.”

  Chapter 11

  Once Jameson’s dagger was tied to my hand with a cloth, I was able to sleep for a few more hours, with him by my side to make sure nothing went wrong. When I opened my eyes, the sun streamed through the window, and I didn’t think I had ever been so happy to see dawn.