CHAPTER SIXTY
Xenobia
Things have been quiet over the past three months. The rest of the girls completed the blood bond and are doing well at managing their powers. It was crazy around here for a bit, but having the new training building on the property has helped. I finally don’t feel like we’re patching up walls and replacing things every single day.
As much as I have been grateful for the peacefulness, I have to wonder when Kage will make a move. It would be foolish to believe that he’s given up on his plans. Although I still haven’t any clue what those plans are past making life difficult for me. You can’t expect to predict the actions of an unhinged vampire. If I let myself think about it too long, the lack of contact from Kage becomes unsettling. Still, having this time to get more prepared is something I’m not going to complain about.
I’ve finally stopped sleeping in my office. It’s taken some adjustment, and we had to get a bigger bed. But it’s working out so far. Matt, Onyx, and I are trying to solidify our power base and have been working on our mind-to-mind link. We’re trying to make it more efficient, learning boundaries, and also how to give each other privacy.
My whole life has changed in just a few short months. I went from being in hiding, to being exposed to a supernatural community I didn’t even know existed. From managing a business to being the leader and representative of an entire House to said supernatural community. It’s a lot to deal with in such a short amount of time. While no one but the members of House Valdis knows what I am, it is only a matter of time before my secret gets out. I have no idea what the impact will be once that happens. Onyx, Chi, and Matt have been going over the ins and outs of dealing with the supernatural community. I hope I can remember it all when I need to. I’m not the only one at risk when more shit hits the fan, and it inevitably will.
Even with so much on my mind, I make it a point to go observe training sessions, which is where I am headed at the moment. Ezrah and Chi have been working with Sybil to help her strengthen her intuitive power and her connection to her visions. It would be a great advantage to be able to have access to information before things happen. The downside is that the visions aren’t always precise so it can take time to figure out what they mean. We are hoping the practice sessions will sharpen Sybil’s interpretive skills as well.
The scent of frankincense and vanilla permeates the air as I enter the meditation space. It has become somewhat of a spiritual retreat for the women of the House who follow a spiritual practice. Sybil sits astride Chi with Ezrah at her back. Chi has placed one palm on her forehead and one at her occipital. Ezrah has a hand on her anterior solar plexus and his other on the posterior side of it. I can feel the intensity of the connection even from the doorway.
Chi has explained the process to me, so I have a basic understanding of what is happening. I’ve had my powers for many years, but I never questioned how they worked. Maybe I should have so I would be better equipped to handle all of this. Then again, I never expected any of this to happen, never knew I needed to prepare.
An intense shift in the energy snaps me out of my thoughts. The hair on my arms stands up. It feels almost like there is electricity in the air. Sybil’s normally brown eyes turn white, and she begins to speak.
“Invitation. Ruse. Defend. Supplant.”
Her eyes fade back to brown, and she falls forward, her forehead resting on Chi’s shoulder. The energy becomes normal again, and I look at Chi. I wonder if he knows what the message means. Four words are not a lot to go on. Ezrah helps Chi lay Sybil down on a blanket while she recovers. Visions take a lot out of her right now. I can only hope it lessens over time as she masters her power.
“Before you ask, I don’t know definitively what she saw. I’m pretty sure it has to do with Kage, but I don’t know exactly how. Does he defeat us and take over our House? Do we defeat him? It could be either or something else entirely,” Chi says quietly.
“We can defeat him,” Sybil whispers.
“How are you feeling?” I ask as I sit next to her reclining form.
“Like I’ve been run over by a bus. I hope it doesn’t always feel like this afterward. Having powers sounds cool, but no one tells you what it costs you to learn how to use them.”
I push a little healing energy into Sybil, and she relaxes a bit.
“You said we could defeat him. What did you see? We only heard four words.”
“I saw a formal invitation to a dinner hosted by House Muerte, but it is really a way for Kage to get us out in the open. We’re going to have to defend against him. Our only option is to end him. He won’t stop coming after us.”
“There’s no way to do this without killing him?”
“Not that I can see.”
“What happens once I kill him?”
“We acquire House Muerte.”
EPILOGUE
The room was silent behind me as everything came back into focus. It was so silent I could hear the drop of blood as it made its way down the edge of my blade and fell to the floor. Where the hell had I gotten a sword? And why the fuck was I holding a bloody heart in my hand? Only one other time in my life have I felt like this, when Urd had been murdered. I lost time then too, and people died. I stared down at the body in front of me. Kage. His head lay several feet away and apparently, I had ripped out his heart.
The silence became overbearing but I hesitated to turn around. I had no idea what I would find. Had Kage and his minions slaughtered my entire house? More importantly, had I lost control and killed them?
Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my focus, and I recognized Matthew’s wolf coming toward me. His muzzle bumped my hand then he snatched the heart from me and devoured it, releasing a powerful howl after he finished. My skin prickled at the sound of victory, dominance. Matthew bumped up against me in an effort to turn me around. I finally gave in and looked out over the result of our battle. I don’t know what I expected to see, but it wasn’t the members of House Muerte kneeling before me with heads bowed and their right fists over their heart.
“What’s happening?” I asked as Onyx moved up to my other side, taking the sword out of my hand.
“One House leader has not killed another in over a thousand years. They are acknowledging your leadership. All of House Muerte’s assets are now yours, including them.”
He switched to our mind link and continued. “Do not show weakness. I can hear your internal struggle.”
He’s right. I am struggling. I never wanted this kind of responsibility or power. I fell into it with the women of House Valdis. Now I have another House to deal with. A House I know is full of corruption. What Sybil said was true, we were never going to be safe unless we killed Kage, but damn it, this feels monumentally heavy.
With the women of House Valdis fanned out behind me, Matthew, Onyx, and Chi beside me, I realize there is no other way but forward. No more resisting. No more hiding. I drop my glamour. Blue skin, fangs…everything alien about me exposed, out in the open.
“I am Xenobia Valdis, bringer of life and death. My House, my rules.”
Discover more about Naomi Valkyrie at
www.naomivalkyrie.com
Follow Naomi Valkyrie
www.facebook.com/naomivalkyrie
The Rise of House Valdis Page 14
