by Bea Paige
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue
Accacia’s Blood
Sisters of Hex
Bea Paige
Contents
Accacia’s Blood
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
THE END
Sisters of Hex series
Books by Kelly Stock
Author’s Note
Accacia’s Blood
Bea Paige
Sisters of Hex - Book Two
Copyright ©: Kelly Stock writing as Bea Paige
First Published: 18th December 2017
Publisher: Kelly Stock
Cover by: Arizona Tape
Kelly Stock writing as Bea Paige to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
To my newly found readers, because there really is no need to choose – Bea x
Chapter One
“Is that damn stone working?” Ezra says, stopping abruptly. One of the floating lanterns Nostra spelled to light the way through the forest hovers by his head, making him look even more sick than he already does. “Well, is it?” he persists.
“I think so, Ezra. I’m just following Nostra’s instructions. If the stone vibrates, then that’s the way we go. If it stops vibrating we’re off track.” I sigh, not in the mood for Ezra’s shitty attitude. He’s been irritable ever since we left Nostra’s hamlet and it is beginning to wear thin. It’s all to do with the fact that he refuses to take my blood to save his life. The only reason he is here now is because we made a deal. I would undergo the Claiming to save Rhain’s life, and Ezra would help me find Clover. Granted, in the end, despite the overwhelming desire that had my head spinning, I had wanted to make love to Rhain. I had wanted to save him. Turning my head, I catch Rhain looking at me. He smiles. I smile back, a warm feeling expanding in my chest.
Ezra scowls. “We’ve been traipsing through this forest for hours, and nothing.”
It is abundantly clear Ezra does not want to be here, but he made me a promise and now he has to fulfil it.
“What’s the alternative, that I abandon my friend and we return to Nostra’s hamlet, so you can return yourself to the light?”
“This is a fool’s errand,” he says, avoiding my question.
I sigh. Ezra is right in some respects, we have been walking for hours now and there’s been no sign of the mysterious Clan Terra. Just endless trees, shrubs, and the occasional foraging animal. Apart from the oddly shaped, luminescent-green trees, the forest is like any other back home on Earth. Frankly, it doesn’t feel very forbidden to me. I’m not sure what I am expecting, but it isn’t this.
“You should accept that your friend is lost to the fae and we should return to the village.” Ezra starts to walk back the way we came, but I grab him by the arm.
“Don’t you dare. You made me a promise, Ezra. Are you going to go back on that now?” I can see a muscle feather in his jaw as he glares at me. Why does he have to be so difficult? It’s hard enough for me to be here so far from home. He needn’t make it harder. Right now, I hate him for it.
“Give the stone to me.” He snaps his fingers with impatience.
“No,” I say, closing my fist and clutching the emerald to my chest.
“No? Hand the damn stone over, Accacia.”
“Ezra, leave her alone,” Rhain says sharply, stepping up beside me. “You know as well as I do that Nostra has spelled the stone just for Accacia to use. It will not work for you, or for anyone else.”
Ezra narrows his eyes at Rhain. He opens his mouth, then slams it shut just as Devin strides over to us. As always, Devin acts as the peacekeeper.
“Look, there is no use fighting amongst ourselves. Be calm, brothers. The Forbidden forest is big, much bigger than even I expected. It may be days before we find Clover. If we find her…” his voice trails off as he notices the look on my face.
“When we find her. I’m not leaving until we do,” I say, folding my arms across my chest.
Devin places a hand on my arm. “Apologies, when we find her,” he repeats gently. “Ezra, Rhain, we can continue further without the need for rest, but Accacia is tiring. I think we should find somewhere to stop for a few hours.”
Now that Devin has pointed this out, a sudden overwhelming exhaustion settles over me. “Actually, it would be good to stop for a while. I am feeling tired. It would appear that I only got the crappy traits of the curse, not the everlasting stamina and strength you three have in abundance.” Except, maybe, for Ezra who is still trying to hide the fact that he is hurting, despite us all knowing that he is. Giving me his blood to heal my burns a few days ago has started a chain of events that will only end in his death if he doesn’t take my blood in return. Ezra refuses to do so because it means that we will be joined, and he does not wish to betray his late wife’s memory by effectively becoming my husband. The thing is, I am perfectly happy to give him my blood. I don’t want him to die even though, sometimes, I could happily throttle him myself.
“Here will do,” Ezra snaps, avoiding my gaze. He sits down against the trunk of a tree, crosses his arms and closes his eyes. Well, I guess that’s the end of any conversation with him tonight. Not that I particularly want to speak with him right now.
“Arsehole,” I murmur, knowing full well he can hear me. He flinches but says nothing.
“Come and sit for a while,” Rhain says, taking my hand and pulling me away from Ezra. “You can use me as your resting spot.” He winks. I smile, some of the tension leaving my shoulders.
Devin han
gs back, one of Nostra’s spelled lanterns hovering above him. He looks at me, dips his head and takes a spot near Ezra. “I’ll keep arsehole here company,” he says with a jerk of his thumb and a devilish grin. Ezra’s eyes snap open and he glares at Devin.
“What?” Devin says innocently.
“I am not an arsehole,” Ezra growls.
“Not all the time, brother,” Devin agrees with a laugh.
Rhain lays his jacket on the ground and sits upon it, pulling me onto his lap. He is warm, and familiar to me now. The sexual tension is still there, but the overwhelming desire I had felt before we underwent the Claiming has gone, thankfully.
“Do not let Ezra rile you, Accacia, he is not himself,” Rhain murmurs into my hair.
I absentmindedly run a hand over his chest, my eyes resting on Ezra, who is now staring at me intently. We look at each other for a long time and I can’t help but feel guilty that Ezra is in pain because of me, because I took his blood. Though at the time I didn’t have a choice in the matter. The way he is staring at me, it’s as though he is trying to figure me out, like I am a puzzle to be solved. It’s so frustrating, and it doesn’t help that my own feelings are so confused when it comes to him. There is something within me that is drawn to Ezra. Perhaps it is the sadness he exudes, I don’t know. My mother always said I needed to be able to fix things. I went into medicine because I wanted to find a cure to my disease, to help others like me. Ezra’s sorrow is a little harder to fix. My heart aches for his loss, but at the same time I feel angry that he has placed me in this position with no consideration as to how it would affect me, and angry that he seems to want to hurt me.
Eventually he looks away and I curl into Rhain’s arms, resting my head against his chest, glad of the comfort and the steady beat of his heart.
“He is so angry all the time, angry at me mostly, it would seem,” I whisper into Rhain’s chest. “I understand the tragedy of Ezra’s loss. I can’t imagine what that feels like. I just… He made the choice to give me his blood. I wouldn’t have taken it had I known what was at stake. At the time I had no say in the matter.”
“Yes, he did have a choice, Cia. He knew exactly what he was doing. I am sorry you have been caught up in his sadness. I wouldn’t have allowed him to do it, had I known what he had planned,” Rhain says, pressing a gentle kiss against my head.
“Do you think we can change his mind? Maybe if I tried speaking with him again…”
“Ezra is a stubborn man. I’m not sure anyone can change his mind.
“Despite the way he is with me, I can’t watch him die.” My voice catches in my throat as Rhain squeezes me tighter.
“Hush, don’t think about it now, just rest. I will watch over you all. We might have more stamina, but we are not infallible. We still need to sleep every now and then too.”
“Thank you, Rhain.” I whisper, the heavy drag of exhaustion pulling at my eyelids.
Chapter Two
“Accacia, what are you doing here? You must leave, it isn’t safe.”
My eyes flutter open to find Clover standing above me. She looks different, her pale skin sparkling in the light of two fireflies that are hovering about her head. She is barely dressed, wearing just a thin wisp of material that is draped over her body, slightly thicker in parts to cover her modesty. Yet the most noticeable thing of all is her eyes. Where once they were the pale green of a tropical sea, now they are a striking emerald and as illuminous as the ivy entwined in her hair and the stone vibrating in my pocket. She was always beautiful, now she is beyond stunning. She doesn’t seem real. I am scared to touch her in case she disappears.
“Is that really you?” I ask, standing. I pull the stone out of my pocket. It is pulsing with a strange, green glow.
“Yes, it is me, Accacia.” She begins to walk away, stepping barefoot through the forest. Where I seem to catch myself on every shrub and fallen branch, she has no problems traversing the forest floor. I can see the bracken fold back as she moves. The fallen leaves and dropped twigs roll out of the way of her step as the very forest itself parts for her. It reminds me of the story of Moses and the Red Sea. Eventually Clover stops and turns to face me.
“You shouldn’t have come…” she starts, but I just throw my arms around her, smothering her words.
“Clover, I’m so glad you’re okay.” She hugs me back and I catch her scent. It is different now, earthy. She smells like the forest itself. “You don’t know how glad I am to see you. I’ve come to take you home.”
She pulls out of my arms. “You must leave, Accacia. I don’t have time to explain. You are in danger.”
“No, I won’t leave without you.”
Clover places her hands on my shoulders and squeezes. Her fingers dig into my skin as her eyes glow even brighter. “Listen to me. YOU MUST GO NOW!” she shouts.
“Please, let me help you.”
“GO!” she says, pushing me away from her. I fall, and it’s as though I am falling into a bottomless pit…
“Wake up. Damn it, Accacia, WAKE UP!”
My eyes snap open to find Ezra shaking me roughly. I stand, pushing him out of the way. “Where is she, where has Clover gone? Did you see her? Which way did she go?” I look frantically about the forest, my eyes desperately trying to adjust to the lack of light.
Ezra grabs hold of me and swings me around to face him. He presses a finger against his lips and pulls me to the ground, tugging me beneath him until he is lying completely over me. It is only then that I realise there is no Rhain or Devin nearby and panic sets in. I attempt to speak, but Ezra simply presses his whole hand over my mouth this time, shaking his head frantically. For long, agonising minutes we lay pressed against the forest floor. Weak sunlight barely penetrates the thick canopy overhead, but despite the sun’s power to kill me I find myself wishing for more of it. I try not to think about the press of Ezra’s chest against mine, the position of his knee between my legs, or the fact that I am cradled in his arms. Eventually, Ezra peels himself off me. He stands, picking up his satchel, and pulls me up with him. “Rhain and Devin have been taken.”
“Taken? Taken where?” I stutter, shaking off the sinful thoughts that seem to want to torture me at the most inappropriate times. I did not want Ezra like that.
“By the fae. Who else?” His body is shaking with anger. “They should never have come along. Now I may lose my friends too.” He turns from me and punches the thick trunk of a tree. I’m pretty certain I hear bones break, but he neither cries out in pain or acknowledges me. He simply walks away.
“Where are you going, Ezra? Will you just wait a minute?”
He swings around, and I collide with his chest. Ezra looks down at me, grabbing my upper arms and lifting me away. “I am going to find my friends, and you are going to stay the hell away from me.”
I want to cry, but I don’t. Instead I poke a finger in his chest. How dare he treat me this way. He looks at me in shock, his eyes resting on my finger, which is still pressed into the hard muscle of his chest.
“You can push me away all you like, Ezra,” I say, jabbing my finger into him again. “You can hate me all you want, but I asked for none of this. None. Whether you like it or not, for now you’re stuck with me. I can be just as stubborn as you.” I glare at him, my own body shaking with anger and hurt.
My hand drops away from him and I feel a sob rising up my throat. Turning away, I cover my mouth with my hand and move deeper into the forest. I don’t care that I am stumbling over my feet because I can’t see my way clearly enough through the tears that well in my eyes.
“Accacia…” he starts, but I ignore him, swiping at my face. Two can play at that game.
“Accacia, I shouldn’t have…”
I keep walking away from.
“Accacia!” He grabs hold of my hand and I whirl around to face him.
“What?”
He flinches from the force of my anger. “What?” I repeat, refusing to look away this time. An angry tear falls fro
m my eye, but I make no move to brush it away. Let him see how he’s hurting me, I don’t care anymore.
He raises a finger and gently swipes away the rogue tear. “I do not hate you, Accacia.”
“You could have fooled me. You have been nothing but cold towards me, angry even. I am sorry about everything. If I could change what has happened, I would. It would have been better if they had taken me. At least I would get to see Clover.” The words spill from my mouth in a jumbled hurry.
“You are right, Accacia. I have been cold towards you. When it comes to you I am…”
“You’re what?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing. Just know, I do not hate you,” he repeats, letting me go.
I don’t believe him. Every time he looks at me it’s as though he wants to run a mile in the opposite direction. I am nothing but an irritation getting in the way of his plans to kill himself. I could scream in frustration. “Well, now that we’ve got that cleared up,” I say sarcastically. “What the hell do we do now?”
He swipes a hand through his hair and looks about us. His eyesight is far better than my own and like all the vampires of Clan Lux he can see very well in the dark.
“I’m not sure. Lights damn it, they just appeared out of nowhere. If it weren’t for you sleepwalking in the forest, we both would have been taken too. I got up to follow you. You wandered off quite a distance.”
“You followed me?”
