Embrace The Dawning (The Covenant Series Book 1)

by Betty Shreffler

  Adrian raised himself through the pain and crunching of bones and cartilage. He grimaced and used his anger and adrenaline to keep moving. The brawny vampire again swung his leg, aiming for Adrian’s knee. Adrian caught the vampire’s foot and forcefully twisted it until he heard the bone snap. The vampire squealed.

  Adrian dragged the brawny vampire toward the alley vampire, whose eyes bulged in shock. Adrian released his fist-tight grip. The vampire clutched his broken ankle. Adrian shifted his attention to the beady-eyed alley vampire just in time to see him kick off the wall and spring toward him. Adrian swung his arm, hitting fist against jawbone.

  Adrian recognized the crackling of a shattered jaw. The alley vampire collapsed to the ground, clenching his hands to his face. Both vampires writhed on the ground, waiting for their wounds to heal.

  Adrian lifted his pant leg, revealing a sheathed blade. He pulled the blade from the casing and quickly thrust it across the alley vampire’s throat. He tried to be as quick and merciful as he could, knowing the jaw injury was worse than the ankle injury. He faced the remaining rooftop attacker as the alley vampire burst into ashes. Adrian pressed his boot and his weight against the vampire’s chest. He held the blade above his throat.

  “You have one chance to live and one only. I am not patient either. Tell me where she is staying.”

  The vampire’s eyes spread wide.

  “She’ll kill me if I tell you.”

  Adrian brought the tip of the blade to the vampire’s throat. “I’ll kill you now.”

  The vampire grimaced. “A condo. Near the beach. I don’t know the exact address. She doesn’t let us go there. Only her closest escorts know the address. Let me go,” the vampire demanded.

  Adrian eased up on the pressure of his boot. His eyes glistened gold. “Sure.”

  Adrian brought the blade down on the vampire before he had time to realize what was happening. Adrian returned the blade back to its sheath as ashes drifted into the air.

  Chapter 4

  Kayci stepped out of the shower, feeling more relaxed. The evening’s events had shocked and troubled her. She couldn’t figure out how to take Adrian, the exotic vampire woman that he seemed cozy with, the confrontation with the bald-headed vampire, or even how she felt about Adrian, let alone how he felt about her. Maybe she should forget about him. She didn’t belong in his dangerous, complicated world. Knowing vampires existed though would take time to get used to. They seemed more common than she first thought, and easily masqueraded as humans. It would be worth it to research vampires so she could be more prepared if she ran into others. A project she might venture into tomorrow.

  Kayci sat on her bed and downed an aspirin with a full glass of water, for a headache had developed between her temples, undoubtedly caused from too much rationalizing. She laid her head against her pillow, closed her eyes, and tried to focus on the quiet of her room. When visions of Adrian entered her mind, she distracted herself with thoughts of work and prepping for new clients, her upcoming research project, and anything else she could dream up. Once the aspirin kicked in, it wasn’t long before her eyelids became heavy with sleep.

  She gazed back at his sheepish grin. He lifted his hand to the nape of her neck and pulled her in closer. She let his lips press against hers and not only kissed him in return but encouraged him further by joining her tongue with his. The feeling of him pressing against her was enticing. Her body heat rose, and wetness developed between her legs. When he slipped her shirt above her head and reveled in her uncovered breasts, it lit her desire on fire. She pulled at his jeans, releasing the swollen member below. His sheepish grin returned when she smiled at his sizeable and apparent attraction to her. He removed her jeans slowly, tracing the curves of her thighs and buttocks with his hands. She yearned for him to be inside of her. He brought his lips against hers as he lifted her onto the bed. She wrapped her legs around his waist and eagerly awaited him.

  The cell phone alarm buzzed. Kayci knocked the phone onto the floor in her abrupt attempt to stop the alarm. She groaned as she reached for the buzzing phone. She tapped the screen, dismissing the alarm. She tossed it onto her bed and lay back against her pillow in a huff, still reeling from the dream. This one had gone much further than the last, leaving her aroused. It irritated her how easily her body was stimulated by dreams of Adrian. She tossed her blankets aside and tried to instead think about her plans for the day. She only had one client for Saturday, at 9:00 a.m., which left her plenty of time for vampire research afterward. She might as well get started, since she had a particular vampire on her mind anyway.

  After a quick breakfast, Kayci prepped her gear and rushed to the gym. Her client wasn’t arriving for another forty-five minutes, so Kayci ran the indoor track, cycled wildly, lifted reps of dumbbells, jump roped, did squats with weights until her legs felt like they would give out, and then finally collapsed from exhaustion on the weight room floor. Thankfully, she felt too exhausted to be angry with herself for wondering about Adrian. After all her hard work to not think about him, he was her first thought, and it aggravated her. She guzzled her vitamin-infused water and felt grateful when her client entered the gym.

  For an hour Kayci helped her client get her body to the shape she desired. When finished, Kayci accepted the substantial tip, gave her a business card with the next appointment on it, hit the gym shower, and changed into the fresh clothes. She left the gym and headed to town for lunch and a visit to the library.

  Kayci moseyed through the library, disappointed by the scarce resources she found on the topic of vampires. Most books were science fiction novels, fairy tales, and every form of Dracula that anyone had come up with. She grabbed one book about vampires and urban legends. When she came to the register, she asked the young woman at the desk if there were any other places she could find books about the supernatural or vampires in particular. The young woman, who had long black hair and too much eyeliner, studied her a moment. She pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen and started writing a business name on it.

  “You should try this place. It’s in old Naples, a little hole-in-the-wall shop. She has ancient relics, books on everything supernatural, and some unique products for sale. Candles, herbs, charms, those kinds of things. You don’t strike me as the kind of person into that stuff, but if books on vampires are what you’re lookin’ for, you’ll find them there. Not all her books are for sale though. The older stuff is only rentable, and the even older books, she scans copies for you.”

  Kayci took the piece of paper from the young woman. “Thank you,” Kayci said with appreciation. “I suppose I won’t need this book then.” Kayci handed the library book back to the clerk.

  The young woman read the section code on the spine and placed it in an old distressed metal cart for proper shelving later.

  “No problem.”

  Kayci entered the name of the business into her phone as she left the library. The address popped up quickly. She drove the few blocks, watching out her window for the small numbers on the shops. Finally she saw the right number and pulled in.

  From the outside, she could tell the library clerk had been right. It wasn’t the kind of store where she would normally shop. Wymsical Treasures had a wooden sign hanging by the door that read Psychic Readings Available. Kayci had always thought psychics were con artists running scams on gullible people. She wasn’t here to judge the place though. She came for research, and based on the appearance of the shop, it looked like it might provide the resources she needed.

  As she entered the door, little bells jingled above her head and glorious fragrances filled her nostrils. The tidy shop had lots of shelving on the walls, and tables in the center. The left shelves had many kinds of soaps and lotions, herbs, charms, and several candles that appeared homemade. On the right wall, the shelves were covered with a large variety of books. The center tables had homemade relics, pottery, woodwork, and beading. She had to admit, she was pleasantly surprised. The products were definitely eye catching
.

  “Can I help you, my dear?”

  Kayci had been so distracted with the products she didn’t even notice the old woman sitting at the register. The woman had shiny, long gray hair with streaks of white running through the gray. Her gray hair complemented her large bright eyes and smooth tan skin. If it wasn’t for the gray hair, one could easily be fooled about her age. She barely had wrinkles around her eyes and was stylishly dressed, with a long jean skirt and a colorful loose blouse that was accessorized with a brown leather belt and dangly turquoise earrings.

  “Yes, thank you,” Kayci replied as she walked to the register. “I just came from the library. The clerk there said your shop was a good place to find books on vampires.”

  The old woman eyed Kayci a moment, then stepped out from behind the counter and walked toward the bookshelves. Kayci followed close behind.

  “Right here is where you should look.” She pointed to a shelf with several books in a variety of sizes and colors.

  “In order to help you choose the best source, tell me, dear, what would you like to know about them?”

  Kayci didn’t want to sound like a kook and say “everything I can find out about them” and refer to them as being real, so she went with a white lie.

  “Research project. Everything I can learn about vampires through history, the better.”

  The old woman studied Kayci again. Her eyes narrowed, as though she was trying to read Kayci’s mind. Kayci started to feel uneasy, and the woman must have realized it. She stopped studying Kayci and reached to the shelf. She pulled out a dark-blue book covered in old burlap fabric.

  “This will be the best resource. It’s like an encyclopedia of vampires, written by two men that had firsthand experience with vampires.”

  Kayci took the aged book from the woman and skimmed through the first several pages. They were filled with sketches, descriptions, and many narratives. It seemed like a professionally published journal of science, but the science was on vampires.

  “Firsthand experience,” Kayci muttered under her breath, surprised to hear the woman refer to vampires as real, but then she recalled the type of shop she was in. Maybe the woman had had her own experiences with vampires and knew they were real. Surely Kayci wasn’t the first human to know about vampires.

  “This book is a rentable book only though.” The old woman walked back toward her register. “The rental fee is $25 and has to be paid with a credit card. If you don’t return the book, I charge your card $250.”

  The old woman smiled at Kayci’s shocked expression.

  “Ah yes, that gets the customer every time. However, it works. I’ve only had a couple unreturned books in twenty-five years.”

  “How long is the rental good for?”

  “Five days.”

  “Okay, great. That is plenty of time for me to read the book.” Kayci started to pull her wallet out of her purse.

  “Why don’t you have a look around the rest of the shop while I get the rental agreement ready? You may find something you like. On the shelf there.” The old woman pointed to the shelves with lotions, herbs, charms, and candles. “I have candles that are homemade by my own creation. They are quite popular.”

  Kayci eyed the shelves. Intrigued by the items, she set the vampire encyclopedia on the counter while the woman rummaged through her papers under the counter. She headed toward the candles. They had caught her eye first. Out of the five choices, she was most attracted by the green-and-brown one in particular. It had alternating layers of both colors, with leaves and flower petals blended in with the wax.

  “Ah yes, you’re an earth sign. Every customer is drawn to the candle that represents their element. The fifth candle is all the elements combined. That one is popular too and often sells along with the customer’s element candle.”

  Kayci knew she was an earth sign, Taurus in fact, but found it strange to hear she found a candle pretty because it was her elemental birth sign. She brushed off the comment.

  “How did you make them? They’re all very pretty.”

  The woman leaned casually against the counter. She set the rental agreement on top of the book. “The earth candle is created with thin layers. I heat the wax, add a little of the wax in the glass jar, add leaves and flower petals, pour another thin layer of wax, and continue that process until its finished. Then stick a wick down into the wax. The white air candle, I blow bubbles into it with a syringe. With the fire candle, I layer the red and orange and pull a string through the wax to create the imitation of flames. With the blue water candle, I layer the dark-blue and light-blue colors unevenly, put the white on top for the wave effect, and add a few shells as I go.”

  “You’re very talented, creative too. Have you made everything in the store?”

  “Just about. Some of the pottery, woodworking, and beading are brought in by a couple friends of mine. I sell their items in my store for a small commission.”

  Kayci set the candle down, but with the intention to take it up to the register when she finished browsing. She moved along the homemade lotions and soaps, smelling a few, and tried the sample labeled citrus and lemongrass. She enjoyed the fragrance so much she picked up a small tube of the lotion to purchase. Farther down the shelving lay bags of herbs and several different kinds of relics and charms. At first the herbs seemed simple, like lavender and sage, but then they progressed to more complicated names she didn’t recognize, like belladonna, henbane, feverwort, and more. Some bags even had warning labels on them. She chose to skip the herbs and browsed through the relics and charms.

  The charms were categorized by their purpose—for luck, improved health, financial advancement, fertility, and even to ward off evil. As she looked them over the, one caught her attention. She thought she recognized the charm that had hung from the taxi driver’s rearview mirror. She reached into the basket to pull out the charm for a closer look.

  She ran her fingers across the engraving and studied the picture that had been pressed into the metal. She was sure now the charm was the same as the taxi driver’s. She noticed a faint heat to the metal, as though it was growing warmer. As she stared at the design, she found herself squinting from the same flash of bright light she had seen before. The bright light was painful enough on her eyes that she looked away. The charm’s temperature elevated to a point that she felt like her fingers were on a hot stove top. In response to the intense heat, she dropped the charm.

  “Dammit,” Kayci barked.

  She looked down at her fingers, shocked to see that the engraving had burned its design into her skin. The old woman rushed over to Kayci from behind her counter. She saw Kayci’s hand and looked at Kayci wide-eyed before picking up the charm and placing it back into the basket.

  “Come with me, dear,” the old woman said urgently as she grabbed Kayci’s arm and pulled her into a room obviously set up for psychic readings. It had a floral area rug on the floor with shades of red going from bright to dark, almost black. A wooden table sat above the area rug, with a matching chair on either side of the table. The wood chairs had pretty green cushions that accented the area rug. To the left of the room, a small kitchenette had been built with a sink, counter, and mini fridge. To the right of the fridge sat a massive aged wooden armoire.

  The colors of the room seemed brighter and more vibrant. Even the old woman’s hair and skin glistened in a way it didn’t before. Kayci thought she heard a second heartbeat and tried immediately to tune it out. She even recognized the uncomfortable sharp pains of hunger.

  “What is wrong with me?” Kayci asked.

  The woman studied Kayci closely as she held Kayci’s hand under cool running water that eased the burning sensation on her fingers.

  “Let the water run on your fingers as I get some salve.” The woman reached into her armoire, which held all sorts of lotions, herbs, bottles, books, and things Kayci didn’t recognize. The woman came back with a dull-green cream.

  “I’m going to put this on your hand. It’s a he
aling salve. It will ensure your fingers don’t scar and will keep that burn from aggravating you.”

  “Why did that happen? Why do I feel funny?”

  The woman’s eyebrows furrowed. She seemed concerned for Kayci.

  “I’m going to ask you some questions that may feel invasive, but it will help me identify why that happened and why you feel strange.” The woman turned off the water and quickly dabbed Kayci’s hand dry.

  “Okay,” Kayci responded meekly.

  The woman generously spread the salve on the wound. Immediately the burning sensation eased. Kayci’s strange symptoms and eyesight began returning to normal.

  “Have you been bitten by a vampire or drank vampire blood in the last twenty-four hours?”

  “No,” Kayci replied, puzzled.

  “Have you had sex with a stranger recently?”

  “No!” Kayci retorted as she pulled her hand away. “What kind of questions are these?”

  “Like I said, they are invasive questions, but you reacted to a talisman that is meant to protect against demonic beings.”

  “What?!” Kayci asked crossly. “I’m not a demon!”

  “I know. I can tell. Everything about you is human. My dear, please have a seat. I can see you are very distressed. What is your name?”

  Kayci sat in the chair the woman gestured to, feeling relieved to be off her feet. Her head throbbed.

  “Kayci Pierce.”

  The woman sat in the chair across from her, watching Kayci with an expression of concern. “My name is Rosemary St. Claire. How about I make us some tea, Kayci?”

  Kayci nodded. Any drink sounded wonderful.

  Rosemary pulled two cups out of her armoire and filled them with water from the teakettle near the sink. She dropped herbs into the teacups before bringing them to the table. Kayci wondered what herbs Rosemary had put in the tea and stared at Rosemary hesitantly before taking the cup from her.