by Lori, Rae
“And you confess to be one of these creatures?”
“Not necessarily.”
“A—mortal then?” Jace chimed in.
Daoine shook his head. “No, Perhaps it is best if I illustrate by presentation.”
He stood and walked to the middle of the room. His soft, long robes were the only sound that broke into the quiet air. Once he turned to face them, his eyes glowed and he slowly descended to his knees, transforming into a wolf, dark with a sleek shiny coat amidst the fallen velvet robes.
Gerard jumped to his feet and rushed to the sword hanging over the mantle of the fireplace. “What witchcraft is this?” he said, pointing the blade at the wolf.
The wolf creature turned his head as if summoning a force on his whim. The sword flew out of Gerard’s hands and toward the wolf, turning around with the blade facing Gerard.
Jace tried to figure out what was happening and if he had a chance to retrieve his own sword. He turned his head for but a moment, toward the direction of the weapon room, and when he turned to the wolf, it was gone. In its place was Daoine, his lithe body was naked and glistening against the dark robes he kneeled over.
“You will not bestow this wretched curse upon me!” Gerard said with his fists at his side.
Daoine stood in one movement, pulling the robes over his body as he moved to cover himself. “You will not be able to transform. Only my brothers and sisters have the ability. I was bequeathed a gift unto to me. A blood of three creatures, to sustain my immortality. One of these I bestow upon you to sustain your life as the years pass. I cannot explain what will happen in our futures, but I will be with you. All of you. As we gather our people into safety.”
Gerard walked to the room where his brother slept soundly. “My brother Julian. He is of their blood?”
“Yes.”
“You changed him?”
“No. An English soldier did.”
“Why?”
Daoine walked to Gerard and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Julian was dying after the battle with them. The soldier turned him. Perhaps to gain a leader, or a friend. Your brother was, in essence, not given a choice. But you will have one as you decide to join him or not. It will be your decision.”
Jace watched his father and Daoine as they looked upon Julian’s still body. They had nothing to look forward to for the rest of their days. Despite his strong exterior image, Jace knew his father hadn’t felt whole since Jace’s mother died. He had already felt the cold hand of mortality as it took the only woman he ever loved. Jace felt his father strengthen as his back straightened. A renewed power made its way to his face as he turned to Daoine at his side.
“Sophie. Please fetch Father Ranald for my last rites.”
* * * *
“What about me?”
The bright castle walls gave way to darkness once Jace opened his eyes. Modern furniture decorated the room of beautiful brown and blue accents and bedding. Jace took a few slow breathes realizing his surroundings. He immediately turned to check the time and felt the soreness of his body and face, remembering all the places he was kicked and punched earlier. He shifted under the tight bandages wrapped around his bare torso. He tenderly cradled his head as the memories of a long time past raced back to him, soon replaced with the one person he had come to care for above all.
“Ariya!” Then the present came to him. He and Ariya had been attacked that evening and Ariya was taken. After they—
Jace’s body froze as the full evening returned to him. That must be why he hadn’t healed right away. He had almost changed Ariya with the amount of blood he gave her, but her body rejected most of it—or did it?
She changed right before his eyes with the characteristics of a Nightwalker. Just how far had she transformed? Time would tell whether or not she would thirst for blood and suffer injuries from the sun’s rays. She had already claimed to have heightened senses.
Jace cursed softly. It was now more than ever that he needed to be by her side protecting her.
The sound of footsteps sprung throughout the room before Julian appeared in the doorway with Daoine at his heels. He crossed the spacious room and stopped at Jace’s side.
“We’re here, Jace,” his Uncle’s voice was soft. “You’re safe with us.”
Under any other circumstance he would feel relieved, but the longer he sat the more he felt antsy and useless. “They took her. Shifter Rens just crashed into us and abducted her.”
“I know,” Julian said calmly. “We put out a team to scour the streets and find her. The minute we get any Rens at the scene, we’re going to bring them in.”
Jace looked up with shock at his Uncle’s persistence to find Ariya. “Thank you for doing this for her, Uncle.”
“It’s not for her. It’s for what they did to you. No one hurts one of the members of the house and gets away with this.”
“I suppose that punishment goes double for two members of the house then.”
Julian raised an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to speak again.
“Before you protest,” Jace said. “I must tell you that Ariya’s veins run with my blood now.”
Daoine stepped forward, crossing the threshold into the room. “Jace, you didn’t turn her?”
“Not quite,” Jace said with a sadness that shocked even him. “Her body rejected it although I did see some changes that proved she had turned, even a little. How far the effects will go I’m not quite certain but I do know I need to be with her right now.”
Jace fell back onto the bed feeling the heat of fire pulse through his body. He wanted to scream for letting his guard down and not watching out for either of them. He wanted to find Raine and all his Shifter thugs make them scream for mercy until they could scream no more. Most of all, he wanted to find Ariya and bring her home where she belonged in the Ashen Twilight House. Right here where she would be protected.
What did the Rens want with an Aziza Fairy anyway? Why didn’t they take him as well?
* * * *
Ariya drifted in and out of consciousness as her limps body flapped against the tall man’s thin, bony shoulder. Blood rushed to her forehead like a pressure cooker yet she couldn’t move. It was as if she was trapped in the back of her mind and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t move her limbs. She could barely sense her surroundings.
Tapping into her other senses, she used her mind’s eye to look around. Raine carried her over his shoulder with two of his men following close behind. They were in an abandoned house somewhere. The windows still shone darkness so it must have been only a few hours since she was taken.
They stopped at the doorframe of one of the rooms when a man stood with his hands folded behind him. He was tall, with a thick sturdy build like that of a warrior. He had long shoulder length hair from what she could tell in the darkness. Something about him felt so familiar. As if she had seen him before.
“Got her,” Raine said somewhere in the room. “Do you want me to wake her?”
“Not just yet. Let her rest a while. She has a lot of long days and nights ahead of her.”
Ariya tried to tap into Jace’s mind and tell him to stay close to her. As the man turned around and headed back to the car parked outside, she felt herself slipping away once again.
* * * *
Highlands, Scotland—1443
Jace pulled his father around to face him. Gerard stood a good few inches over him, but Jace didn’t let the height nor his authority sway his judgment.
“Father, this man speaks madness!” Jace said gesturing toward Daoine. “He predicts the future, practices witchcraft and is now trying to convince you t’join some frivolous crusade!”
“It is not frivolous, I as sure you.” Daoine’s voice remained calm as he walked toward Jace. “My family has a tendency to “see” things before they happened. Namely on my mother’s side. Gypsies you call them. Though, our kind has existed long before humans.”
“And yet you have this ability t’give us immor
tality and strong senses.”
“Yes. It is a little complicated to explain.”
“Save your lies. You have not the ability, but to take a life and claim it has transcended this world beyond death.” Jace turned to his Uncle asleep in the other room. “An abomination of death against God.”
“Jace!”
Gerard rushed to grab Jace but he was too late. Jace was already in the drawing room next to his Uncle’s side. He bent down to examine Julian’s still body. He recognized that look on his Uncle’s face. That was death itself that claimed him. With a seething rage coursing through his body, Jace rose to his feet and went back to Daoine.
“He is dead!”
“In a sense yes, but only until sundown. Once the stars are high in the sky, he will walk the lands once again.”
“And until then?”
“Until then,” Daoine closed his overcoat and turned with one elegant movement. “We wait.”
Night fell hours later. Jace remained in the drawing room while his father showed Daoine their home. The stranger would be out of their home once it was proven that Julian was dead. If he was, Jace would kill Daoine himself and make his road to death last as long as possible.
He couldn’t fight the unseen plague that took his mother and fellow townspeople. Neither could he fight the English soldier s that took his friends in war. Yet this trickster would quench all of those desires.
Jace crushed the paint powders in his stone pot. The wooden stir cracked under his tight grip. Tossing it aside, he allowed his mind to wander while his eyes darted from Julian’s still figure on the rest bed and to his canvas of his Uncle’s two dimensional representation. Candles were lit shortly before sundown and placed all around the room. Shadows still draped his Uncle in part darkness causing him to look like he belonged in the night. Why didn’t he feel comfortable around the man? It was his Uncle after all. His deceased Uncle and he wouldn’t be moving anymore.
Or would he?
Jace traced the area on his canvas where the bed would appear. A soft moan broke into the shadow s of the room. He reached a shaky hand to the table next to him while keeping his eyes on his Uncle. He gripped the candleholder and held it up as he rose to his feet.
“Uncle Julian?”
His uncle moaned softly in response. “Thirsty.”
Jace rushed to the hall with renewed strength in his body.
“Father! Father! Tis’ Uncle. He has awakened!”
Thunderous footsteps fell across the castle home and Jace knew the servants weren’t too far behind his father and Daoine.
“Julian.” Gerard rushed over to his brother and fell to his knees at the bedside. Tears formed in his eyes as he looked up his brother slowly awakening and taking in his surroundings. “Welcome back, brathair,” he said smiling widely.
Julian slowly licked his lips, blinking slowly to take in his surroundings . “My throat aches of thirst.”
“He must feed,” Daoine said, stepping forward.
“I shall fetch for the servants to prepare a large supper,” Jace said heading toward the kitchen.
“That will not be necessary, young Jacinus,” Daoine held out his arm to block Jace’s exit. “It would do best to fetch a servant instead.”
Jace’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “But why?”
Daoine nodded with assurance. Jace sighed, feeling his head fill with so many questions. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest and for some reason he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. He saw his Uncle dead. His face was pale like stone as if he had passed for days and now he awakens speaking of thirst. An abomination indeed!
“Sophie,” Jace called to the nearest servant. “Fetch Jeanne this instant.”
“Aye, m’laird.” The nearest servant gave a little bow before disappearing toward the kitchen.
A few moments later, Jeanne a young dark haired French kitchen maid entered with her head low and her hands folded in front of her body. Her eyes remained lowered on the stone floor and demure as if frightened to look at them in the room.
“Jeanne,” Daoine’s voice was a calm echo in the cool air. “Would you be so kind as to walk over to Monsieur Julian?”
Jeanne peered up at Gerard across the room. “M’lord.”
“Come forth, Jeanne,” Julian said softly.
“Peer into his eyes,” Daoine said.
Jeanne walked over to the brothers with the disposition of a timid mouse. Once she reached Julian, she did as she was told and looked up at him.
Jace watched closely as she suddenly straightened her posture as if the power of his gaze gave her a renewed confidence. Julian’s eyes opened wide with alert and he slowly leaned up toward her.
Jace began to walk toward them but stopped once he felt Daoine’s arm in front of him. What was happening before his eyes?
“Closer,” Julian said.
Jeanne obeyed, leaning down toward Julian as he moved up to meet her halfway. Their eyes were like magnets drawn together by an invisible force until she moved to allow him access to t he concave of her neck. A harsh, low growl emitted from Julian’s throat as he opened his mouth. Two sharp canine fangs shown as he dug into her neck and began to drink.
Jace and Gerard froze in their respective spots while Daoine walked over to Julian. Slowly Julian drank from her, an expression of ecstasy and bliss claiming her young face. She slowly reached out and grabbed his head, cradling it to her. Her thin body writhed against his in a motion of sexual abandon.
Jace couldn’t take his eyes off the scene as he watched, mesmerized by the erotic ritual in front of him. His body stirred with a sudden need, a desire that ached to explode from between his legs and throughout his limbs in unbridled passion.
Daoine slowly placed his hands on Julian’s shoulder.
“Remember the hunger is a basic need that drives your survival,” he said speaking as teacher would his student. “A connection to the land of the living that feeds our essential desires. Despite this, do not let it rule you. Know when to stop and leave their life before they are drained.” Gently he pushed the two apart. Jeanne’s pale cheeks blushed as he struggled to catch her breath.
Julian leaned back, reveling in the stain of her blood on his lips. A scream echoed from within the hall outside the drawing room followed by another as the servants discovered the act. Jace’s mind struggled to figure out a way to stop the commotion. Deep down he knew there was only one thing left to do.
Chapter 16
“You were thinking of your father.”
Jace opened his eyes and angled his head to see Daoine standing at the doorway. He was still the regal man of long ago that came upon his doorstep with the promise of a new life. Jace moaned slightly as he reminisced over what a life he had promised.
“I was.”
Daoine’s angular visage turned slightly. His eyes narrowed and he smiled. “I can tell by your expression. You look so much like him.”
“I wish he was here.” Jace breathed deeply, feeling his organs and skin tissue repairing itself by the minute. He took extensive damage that would take some time to heal. He hoped it was sooner rather than later because he couldn’t allow time for a restful retreat at the moment. More importantly, he had to get to Ariya as soon as possible. If only he knew where she was. He sighed, wondering how much would’ve changed if his father still lived. “He would be Patriarch, wouldn’t he?”
“Perhaps. Both him and your Uncle would be powerful leaders, that is certain.”
“Could you have made us Shifters? I mean, instead of Nightwalkers?”
Daoine chuckled deeply. “Are you regretting your blood origins, Jacinus?”
Jace shook his head. “No, not at all. I just wonder sometimes what it would be like to shift and have the powers that you have. All this time I’ve been wondering, but since Ariya came, so many things I’ve bottled up have been coming to the surface. I need answers.”
The tall Shifter Elf walked across the room as if h
e was gliding on air. He took a seat at the end of the bed and folded his hands on his lap. His blue grey eyes focused ahead as he descended into deep thought.
“So curious like the day you changed. Destiny was handed to us, Jacinus. In more ways than one. We have abilities that mortals only dream of. Yet we have a right to survive and life just as they do on this Earth. Together, all of us; Nightwalkers, Lycans and Shifters are most powerful working together.”
“And Fairy?”
Daoine smiled. “Young Ariya.”
“It’s not too late to save her. I can go—” He tried to sit up but felt a sharp pain shoot through his head, knocking him back down.
“Shh. Rest, Jacinus. We will find her.”
“I tried to turn her, Daoine. I saw her change right before my eyes but still she couldn’t contain my blood.”
“Is this why you wished to be a Shifter?”
Jace leaned back into the pillow. “Julian said the exchange of blood is a heightened form of intimacy. Still I wonder what it would be like to have that intimacy grow as a child inside the woman I love.”
“And so you can, but in another way.”
“Not like the Lycans or Shifters.”
Daoine gently shook his head, his long dark main flowing gently side to side. “No, not like them. But in another way.”
* * * *
Scottish Highlands—1443
Jace slipped his hand over Sophie’s mouth to silence her. He wrapped his other hand around her waist and held her tightly to his body as he kicked the door behind him close.
Across the room, Julian slowly rose to his feet and slipped his hands on Jeanne’s cheeks, cradling her face. His eyes mesmerized her, Jace could tell from where he stood as she allowed Julian to whisper something in her ear.
Jace strained to read his Uncle’s lips but he couldn’t decipher the words. Jeanne turned toward the door and walked as if she were under a trance.
