by Martha Woods
The Vampire’s Lineage
(Book Thirteen of the Fatal Allure Series)
Martha Woods
Contents
FREE Gift For You!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
FREEBIE
© 2019 - Romance Books 4 U
* * *
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
* * *
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
* * *
For permissions contact: [email protected]
FREE Gift For You!
Do you want to receive a FREE paranormal romance book? Well, Martha Woods is giving you a chance to receive a FREE copy of the Immortal’s Kiss (The first book in the Dawn of the Vampires Series). This book is exclusive to Martha Woods’ VIP group.
Grab Your FREE copy of the Immortal’s Kiss Now!
Chapter 1
“I’m… sorry. You’re who?”
I was already having one hell of a stressful night, given that I’d been kidnapped, but if this woman was really who I thought she was then… well, things were definitely going to get much stranger, weren’t they?
I’m not sure how much more strange I can take.
“D-Damon…” The werewolf stammered, stumbling forward towards him. I was too stunned to do anything to stop her, even when she fell forward and landed in Damon’s arms, wrapping hers around his chest and squeezing tightly.
“Claire…” Damon slowly placed his hand on her back, eyes still wide and his mouth barely able to close, staring forward more into empty space than anything in particular. “What… how… you’re alive?”
“I could say the same to you! I am saying the same to you!” She wiped at her eyes, seemingly unaware of how confused and on guard the rest of us were. I couldn’t even be mad that she had her arms wrapped around him, I was far too shocked to worry about something so trivial when something so unlikely was happening instead. It was so unlikely and so bizarre that I was damn near close to laughing at the whole situation, though I guess that wouldn’t be wise right now.
“Excuse me,” Christine said, stepping forward and raising her hand in question, her other still held at her side in preparation for a fight, “Who exactly is Claire? How do you know Damon?”
“This is… shit,” Damon said, wiping at his eyes and laughing shakily, “She’s my sister. Who… I’ve thought was dead for years!”
“Oh.” Christine rubbed the back of her head, not quite knowing what to say in response. “Carry… on then, I suppose. Pretend that I’m not here.”
“You thought I was dead?” Claire asked, “For the longest time I thought you were as well, after he took me… well, I just assumed that he’d killed everyone else back at the farm at the same time. How did you make it away?”
“I didn’t make it away,” He laughed, “as much of a dumbass as I was back then, you think I didn’t just go running in there after you? I shot him and he slashed me badly enough that I should have died, but our neighbors dragged me inside after he left. Turns out he was just as much of an idiot as I was.”
“No, he was worse,” She sighed, “but so was I. I should have gotten away from there years ago, away from him, but I just… kept staying, and I kept going back. Why would I do that Damon?”
“Because you’re Claire, you idiot, you always looked for the best in people.” Damon reached up, sweeping a lock of hair out of her face and frowning at the scars dotting her skin. “I should have been a better brother, I was supposed to keep you safe. Now look at us, a couple of… torn up morons in the same fight.”
“But not on the same side,” She said, eyes suddenly narrowing and pushing herself away from Damon, stepping back towards the forest and keeping us all in view, “Which means that we’ve both got some questions to ask, don’t you think? Why are you with them?”
“Me?” He asked, walking forward and keeping his arms stretched out at his sides, “What are you doing with him? I’ve come across him before Claire, I’ve gotta say that my opinion is lacking in terms of his personality, you’ve been with him for years now?”
“He saved my life Damon, he took that piece of shit away from me and killed him!”
“He brought him to me! I killed him!” Her eyes widened, boots digging into the dirt as she stopped herself. Damon nodded along. “That’s right, he told me to kill two of his prisoners as payment, then he dragged that werewolf kicking and screaming in front of me, and I spent far longer than I should have making sure that he paid for taking you away from me.”
“But he…” Claire shook her head, trying to gather whatever thought it was that she was trying to form. “He took me at the same time, he dropped me off outside his camp before he continued on to kill him… he was taking him for you?”
Slowly, Damon walked forward ready to defend himself at any moment. He knew from experience how these sorts of discoveries could play with you, he couldn’t blame her if she just started lashing out in response. “Looks like we both got played huh? Makes me become a monster to kill the monster that took you away from me, and makes you think that it was all him doing you a favor. I’d almost admire him if I didn’t want to kill him so badly for it.”
So in shock was she that she didn’t even react to his threat against her leaders life, instead she just looked down at the ground in what I could see was genuine, honest confusion. Who could blame her though? Quite honestly if I was put through the same things that she was I would probably just fall down to the ground and start screaming incoherently, there’s only so many ways that you can keep yourself in control when your entire world just falls apart around you.
“But… why?” She asked herself, flinching when Damon squeezed her bicep gently and tilted her head up to look at him. “Why would he lie like that? What would he have to gain from it?”
“Look at what he gained.” Damon said, “A follower that would do absolutely anything to make sure that he’s safe and protected, and a hunter that would go out into the world killing things with the same hate and drive that he does. He created a monster in me Claire, and I think he was hoping to do the same to you. Did he succeed?”
“I…” She trailed off, looking away and shutting her eyes tightly, “Yes… he did.”
“Well, I suppose that I’m hardly one to talk, given everything that I’ve done… everything I’ve become.” Brushing a finger through her hair, still marveling at the fact that it was real and not a dream, he reluctantly forced his vision downwards, not able to look her in the eye any longer. “Will you come back with us? We can keep you safe, we can get you answers-”
“I can’t.” Her answer was quick and without hesitation, but far from unkind. Rather it was easy to hear the pain in her refusal. “I know that you want to help, if you’re the same brother that I lost all those years ago, but I can’t just abandon everything at the slightest of whims. Even if you say that he did these things… he’s kept me safe for years now, he’s kept my friends safe. I can’t just turn away without knowing for sure that he’s really done all of these things.”
“You ca
n’t just believe me?” Damon asked, “I’m your brother Claire, I wouldn’t just… lie to you like that!”
“I know,” She said, stepping back slowly, “I know. But I need to find this out for myself, and I need to make sure that everything is safe before I decide to do anything at all. It’s… been a very long time since we’ve been family, I can’t just jump back into it so easily.”
“I…” He shut his mouth tightly, his fangs hidden behind a saddened frown. “I understand. There have… been a lot of changes for the both of us, haven’t there?”
“There have.” She nodded. “Too many to just sweep aside so easily. I’m sorry.”
He nodded in agreement, but it was hardly an easy thing for him to do. I could see it written on his face, he’d just gotten his sister back after so many years of thinking her lost, only to lose her again so soon, even if only temporarily. I couldn’t imagine having some of the people I’ve lost back for so little time before having to send them off again, it’s a pain that must strike deeply and viciously in a way that you can never quite prepare for.
“Wait,” I said, reaching out for her before she could begin backing away again, “I need to tell you something…”
“Make it quick,” She said, hurriedly but not harshly, “I have no idea how long we have until spies show up to greet you, I would prefer to get back without having to worry about being questioned too harshly.”
“If you need to contact us, you can reach me on this number.” Scribbling down my number on a scrap of paper I had in my pocket, I pressed the note into her palm and closed her fingers around it. “If you can’t reach me on my number but you need help, head to the strip club further in town.” I had to suppress a laugh at the arch in her eyebrows. “I know how that sounds, but they are friends, they’ll take care of you if you need help, believe me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Amy was it?”
“It is,” I said, “Claire, right?”
“That’s right,” She replied, looking suddenly wistful as she glanced back at her brother, “I think, maybe, for the first real time in a long time.”
“Well then, I hope this isn’t the last time that we see each other,” I said, almost reaching for her hand before I thought better of it. Best not to do too much too soon. “I’ll leave the two of you to say goodbye, I know how important that is.”
Damon scratched the back of his neck, not quite able to hide his sadness but managing to do an admirable job. His eyes were watering when you could catch them in the light, his hand trembling as he reached out for hers and a soft gasp escaping his lips when she grasped it in turn. “This isn’t a goodbye,” He said, “we're going to see each other again very soon, do you understand? I’m not going to just let you go again, I’m going to fight as much as I can for the two of us to be a family again.”
“I hope so,” She replied, smiling in a way that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “It’s been a very long time, for both of us. You might not like what I’ve become in the years since.”
“I could say the same about me,” He said, and I could swear the light danced across the tip of a fang for a split second, “But I want to know who you are now, I want to know the woman that my wonderful sister grew to be, regardless of whatever it is that you’ve done or not done in the year since. I’m far from clean myself Claire, remember that, whatever bad you’ve done… I’ve probably done or become something just as bad.”
“I… guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Claire allowed herself a single swipe of her thumb across his knuckles before she stepped back, the forest forming around her and swallowing her back into its depths. “I’m going to be back, I’m not going to just let this chance go by without chasing it. I just need to handle things my own way first.”
When Damon spoke next it was a simple farewell, though none of us knew if Claire was actually still listening to him. His only answer was the blowing of the wind, a sparkle of the stars that hinted at the sunlight that was soon to come and color the sky its brilliant shade of orange. There were many things that we needed to do, prepare for what could very possibly be a violent battle, go and talk with what allies we still had, both old and new, or even just get into shelter out of the danger of the sunlight that was only a few short hours away. But for now, while Damon sat in the dirt with his knees growing dusty and muddy, his expression far off and his eyes trailing through a forest too thick to track through, we figured that we could allow him a moment to grieve in silence.
Something told me that he wasn’t the only one.
Of all the ways that I thought tonight was going to go, I can very comfortably say that this was in no way one of them. I was definitely starting to enjoy Claire’s company as she brought me back, I was even considering trying to reach through to her to see if she could persuade her handler to stand down and stop trying to hurt the people that I was trying to protect, but it’s pretty clear that things are going to be far more complicated than that.
Of course as many questions as I had, and there were many, I know that there is no way in hell that I’ll have as many as Damon does, nor do I think any of us will be in any position to really give him the answers that he so desperately needs any time soon. I would certainly wish to try, but where would I even hope to start?
“Damon,” Vincent said gently, approaching slowly from his position back with the others. Damon was still knelt down in the dirt, knees growing wet with the night dew and his eyes still glued to where Claire had disappeared, the absolute picture of loss as it were. Can’t blame him for that, he’s definitely been through the emotional wringer over the last few months, something like this on top of everything else is just… too much really, it’s a wonder that he’s even upright at all. He didn’t react when Vincent laid his hand on his shoulder, nor when he shook him lightly to try and get his attention, which was definitely a worrying sight. “Damon, come on, we’ve got to get going. You’ll see her again.”
“...Will I?” He asked after a painfully long stretch of silence, sounding every bit as hopeless as he looked. He may have been able to keep up a somewhat strong facade in front of her, at least until she was well and truly gone, but with her disappeared into the forest and his hopes for family gone along with her, it was no wonder that he’d just collapsed and given up. In the face of that I don’t know a single person that wouldn’t.
But I’m not just going to stand here and let someone that I care about be so helpless, not when I can actually do something about it, you know? That’s the whole point of us being together, so we can help each other heal when we’re in the lowest depths of ourselves. With a prime opportunity to do so, what would it say about me if I didn’t do everything that I could to make him feel even slightly better?
Walking over to him carefully, not fully able to have my own feet underneath myself either given everything that had happened tonight, least of which being a blow to the head that broke my nose, I knelt down next to him. I have to admit that the feeling of mud soaking through my pants and tickling against my knees is far from my favorite feeling in the world, matter of fact it’s one of the things that I hate most, but at the moment I can’t really find it in myself to care too much about that. Not with my fingers in his hair and my lips on his cheek, the soft whispers that I was breathing into his ear telling him that everything was going to be all right, that we were going to get her back and that he would be able to have a sister again. Even I’m not sure if I fully believe it but… stranger things have happened lately, right?
“Damon, look at me,” I said, brushing my thumbs along his cheeks and turning him to look at me. “I need you to believe me when I say that we are going to do everything we can to make sure that she is safe, and that she can make her own decisions about what she wants to do. I’m not going to let her be used as a pawn by some… fucking madman bent on destroying a bunch of innocent people for the crimes of only a few. This is… a second chance, for her, for you, for… all of us really, I’m not going to let that just slip through my fi
ngers.”
“But what if she doesn’t want to be saved?” He asked, staring up at me with so much desperation in his eyes that it hurt, “What if she likes being with them more? You heard her before, she’s… made friends, she’s probably made a family, why should she have to give all of that up?”
“Are you kidding me Damon?” I shook my head, I couldn’t really blame him for his doubts, I knew more than anyone where they could come from, but you really did have to be blind to not see what she had been feeling. “I had one look at her and I could see just how much she cares for you, even now after all the time you’ve spent away from each other. You could see it in her eyes that she really didn’t want to leave, but she knew that she had to, she doesn’t want to put you in anymore danger if she can help it.”
“How would you know that?” He asked, not unjustifiably given the circumstances, “She just spent the night delivering you back from… from whatever the hell it was that they could have done to you back at that camp, who knows what that asshole has been teaching her all these years?”
“Damon she is your sister-”
“And I’m a goddamn monster!” Damon screamed, startling me with the sudden life in his eyes, “I know we keep trying to say otherwise but... Jesus I was a monster before all this vampire shit, before I met you! All the things that I’ve done, those shifters that I killed for him were far from the last ones that I ever did it to, but I didn’t feel anything about them, I just thought that I was finally getting back at a world that took her away from me…”
