Embrace The Dawning (The Covenant Series Book 1)

by Betty Shreffler

  “Her mother was a substantially powerful sorceress,” Adrian told Elise.

  “Did you know her?”

  “Unfortunately no, I did not. I knew of her though. She developed quite the reputation after she helped remove Lycan venom from Kayci’s aunt.”

  “That’s who Thorne was referring to?!”

  Adrian chuckled at Kayci’s surprised tone. “Yes, I’m sure it was.”

  “How did she get bit by a werewolf?” Kayci asked.

  “The story I was told is that Eva had a partner, Victor. He was a member of the Covenant. Eva had been in a relationship with Victor for centuries. They were inseparable. Until she met Hahn, a werewolf. I’ve been told that Eva had a secret relationship with Hahn for several years without the Covenant’s knowledge. However, she chose to remain loyal to the Covenant and her duties and chose Victor over Hahn. Apparently Hahn didn’t take it well that Eva ended their relationship. Animosity soon grew between Hahn’s clan and the Covenant. Thankfully, no wars broke out.

  “It wasn’t long after Eva and Hahn’s split that Eva and Thorne needed the help of Hahn’s clan to find and hunt down a group of feral vampires living in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. After bribes of gold and more land, the clan agreed to help. The feral vampires were found, and during the battle, Hahn took the opportunity to attack Victor. Eva got in the way, trying to save him, and was bitten by Hahn. Thorne killed Hahn on the spot. Victor died as well. Eva survived because your mother was able to pull the werewolf venom from her body.”

  Kayci shook her head in disbelief and fascination.

  “How do you know all of this?”

  “Vladimir,” Adrian answered simply.

  “Of course.”

  “Who’s Vladimir?”

  “A member of the Covenant. Quite the gentleman. You’d like him, Elise.”

  “Only if he’s as nice of a vampire as Adrian is.”

  “He is,” Adrian assured her. “He helped me find you.”

  Elise smiled before eyeing Kayci and Adrian knowingly. She grabbed the leather journal and headed to the front door.

  “I’ll give you two some privacy. I’m going to give Greg a call.” She disappeared inside the house.

  Adrian looked at Kayci staring up at him with affection in her eyes. Seeing that spiked his already rising energy. Adrian responded with a charming smile and then kissed her gently on the lips. He took her hand in his as he leaned against the railing next to her.

  “I’m relieved to see you’re both feeling better.”

  “We are, thanks to you, Vladimir, and Thorne.”

  “Where is Thorne?”

  Adrian had sensed when he arrived that Thorne wasn’t at the house.

  “Not sure. I assume he went out to feed.”

  Adrian was relieved when Kayci didn’t cringe from the word feed, like she used to. She was obviously becoming acclimated to vampires and their needs. Adrian’s hunger rose when the memory of feeding from her crept into his mind. He instinctively lifted her hand to his lips. He kissed her gently on the back of the hand. His energy climbed when she bit her lip and looked at him seductively.

  “I know what you’re thinking.”

  “I’m pleased to hear you do. So what is it that I’m thinking?” The fiend inside him wanted to hear her say it.

  “How much you’d like a repeat of the other night.”

  Adrian’s smile widened. His fangs dipped below his top lip.

  “You’re right.” He leaned in and pressed his lips against Kayci’s.

  She enthusiastically responded by flicking her tongue across his fangs. She giggled from the tantalizing feeling that swept through her. She immediately felt both of their energies rise and then merge. She basked in the familiar humming sensation. Kayci stopped their kiss before they became too immersed in their intimacy. Adrian grumbled as she pulled away.

  “I wish we were alone.”

  “Is she staying all night?” Adrian asked with a breathy tone.

  Kayci grinned at Adrian’s eagerness. “I think she is staying for a while since we agreed not to see each other until Danika is gone. I think she wants to spend as much time together as we can. She does have to work tomorrow though, so she won’t be able to stay too late. She’s planning on asking Thorne to take her home later.”

  Kayci watched Adrian’s face conform to the first frown she’d ever seen. She laughed heartily.

  “I’m glad I can amuse you.”

  “I’m sorry. Your expression is adorable.”

  Adrian snickered. “Adorable and vampire don’t go together.”

  Kayci laughed even harder. She settled to give him a quick affectionate kiss.

  As Adrian drew back from the kiss, he avoided the intimate thoughts consuming his mind by redirecting their conversation.

  “How are you feeling about your discovery at Rosemary’s?”

  Kayci tilted her head in thought.

  “Surprisingly content.”

  Adrian let out a breath and smiled.

  “I feel as comfortable with the magic, as my vampire attributes made sense,” she explained. “Maybe it’s because I already went through the shock that vampires were real and I share characteristics with them. With you,” she corrected. “Finding out that I was capable of magic wasn’t as much of a shock, I suppose. And it helped that I feel better than I’ve ever felt. I feel…whole. Like I wasn’t completely myself before. Does that make sense?”

  Adrian nodded. “It does. After I was turned, I lived among a vampire coven. Living with them gave me the protection I needed and offered me the convenience of learning from them. However, it also hindered me. I lacked independence as well as the opportunity to discover who I was as a vampire. It was after I left them that I learned how to truly appreciate my new life as I am. I wouldn’t go back to being human if I had the choice. I feel satisfied and more alive as a vampire than I did when I was human. Plus, I wouldn’t have met you had I not been turned.”

  Kayci couldn’t help but smile. The comment was cheesy, but she still liked it. Her smile faded as she remembered what Thorne had told her about Danika being Adrian’s sire.

  Kayci looked at Adrian with discomfort in her eyes. Adrian tensed his shoulders.

  “Adrian, I know about you and Danika. Thorne told me she sired you.”

  Adrian’s whole body went rigid. That was a conversation he knew would need to be discussed at some point, but he still wasn’t ready for it. It was a part of his past that he tried so hard to forget.

  “He’s right,” Adrian replied uncomfortably. “She did turn me, and I don’t hate her for it. I was angry with her, but that passed over time. I do, however, resent her for other things she’s done. She’s a cruel, heartless vampire. Once I realized that, I left her coven.”

  Kayci swallowed down the lump in her throat. Unfortunately, she wanted more clarification.

  “The vampire you were lovers with. That was her, wasn’t it?” Kayci asked.

  Adrian closed his eyes, sighed heavily, and then opened his eyes as he nodded. “Yes, it was her.”

  As soon as the words came out, Adrian wished it wasn’t true. He had kept all of this from Kayci out of shame and regret. Now he feared that his secrets would drive a wedge between them. She had every right to be angry. It would be clear now that Danika had targeted her for more than just being leverage.

  A rush of jealousy and disgust swept over Kayci. She shuddered from the thought of Danika and Adrian together. Yet she wasn’t sure she could hold it against him. It was in his past, and he clearly didn’t like talking about it. The only thing that made her angry was that he didn’t tell her that Danika wanted her killed for more than one reason. Although she wasn’t sure it would have made much of a difference… Hearing that they were once lovers probably wouldn’t have been any easier to accept than it was now.

  “Kayci, please say something.” Adrian nearly growled.

  She glanced over to see his golden eyes and stark face. She exhaled, trying to re
lease her tornado of emotions.

  “I hate that you loved her. I hate what she did to you. I’m angry that she is both the vampire that seduced you and sired you. I get why you didn’t tell me, Adrian. I get why you wouldn’t want me to know. I wish you would have told me sooner, but if I’m honest with myself, I’m not sure it would have mattered. Just thinking about the two of you. Her touching you, hurting you. I can’t stand the thought of it. It sickens me. She sickens me.” Kayci stood up from the railing and started to pace. “I can’t stand the thought of another woman having been loved by you. I can’t stand the thought of you with another woman…vampire. You know what I mean,” Kayci added irritably. “It frustrates me how much it bothers me.”

  Adrian stopped leaning on the railing and came toward Kayci as he watched her pace.

  “Why does it bother you so much?” he pressed. He wanted to hear her say it. He wanted to know she felt the same.

  Kayci turned toward him. Frustration filled her face. “Because I’m falling in love with you.”

  Kayci’s eyes widened as she realized what she had just said.

  A wide smile of satisfaction spread across Adrian’s face. He didn’t give her time to think about what she’d said. He took her in his arms and kissed her deeply and more passionately than any kiss she had previously had with him. As the familiar humming rose and swirled, she let her emotions fade. She gave into his fervent, lasting kiss. Her wall seemed to melt away as he caressed her back and ran his fingers through her hair. His fangs tickled her tongue, warming her below. She pulled him closer as she purred with pleasure. He growled with need. She felt that need as he pressed it against her.

  “Adrian,” she said breathlessly between kisses.

  “Yes,” he answered just as breathlessly.

  “Elise…she’s…still here. Thorne…”

  Adrian eased off their kiss and forced his roaming hands to find a steady place around her back as he held her close to him. He looked down at the expressive eyes of the creature he had fallen in love with.

  “You’re intoxicating, Kayci Pierce. It’s dangerous for both of us.”

  Kayci smiled and then bit her lip as her emotions stirred. “You really know how to make a woman feel wanted.”

  Adrian leaned his head to the side of hers and brought his voice to a whisper. “You have no idea how much I want you.” His lips grazed her neck, causing the hair on her skin to raise.

  Adrian caught the lustful gaze in her eyes as he tilted his head up to look at her. He smiled with satisfaction.

  “I’ll let you two have your fun tonight, but tomorrow you’re mine.” He let Kayci out of his arms.

  Her lip curled downward into a slight pout.

  “Tomorrow seems so far away all the sudden.”

  Adrian admired her pouty lips, then gave her a smile before disappearing into the darkness like a shadow.

  Elise set down her cell phone as Kayci walked into her living room.

  “I caught him just in time. He was going to bed when I called.”

  Elise looked up at Kayci and then jumped.

  “I will never get used to the eyes,” she complained.

  “I get it. I saw them in my reflection when I rode the elevator to meet with the Covenant. It didn’t even look like me.”

  “So smoochin’ Adrian made you bright eyed?” Elise asked teasingly.

  Kayci laughed wryly. “Something like that.”

  Kayci was about to ask Elise about her conversation with Greg, when she sensed the presence of another vampire outside. She hurried to the window, pushed the curtain aside, and scanned the area. She saw Thorne approaching the porch, and she relaxed.

  “Thorne’s back,” Kayci announced before opening the door for him to enter.

  Relief washed over Elise’s face.

  Kayci greeted Thorne with a smile. “Glad to see you back.”

  She didn’t bother asking him where he went. She didn’t want to treat him as though he were a child arriving home past curfew. She assumed he had gone out to feed anyway.

  “Glad to be welcomed back.”

  “You just missed Adrian,” Elise told him as he entered the living room.

  “That’s a shame. Would have been a pleasure to chat.”

  “I hope that isn’t a father instinct talking.”

  Thorne’s blue eyes sparkled with unspoken amusement. “I believe it’s best that I don’t respond to that comment.”

  Elise giggled. “He knows you already, Kayc.”

  Kayci gave Elise a playful warning with the narrowing of her eyes.

  Thorne motioned to the wineglasses on the coffee table and to Kayci’s spell book. “I’m not interrupting a special activity, am I?”

  Kayci and Elise followed the direction of his eyes.

  “We thought it would be best for Elise to stay away from me at least until Danika is caught. That way she isn’t at risk.”

  “So we decided to have a fun girls’ night, and that led to Kayci making it rain,” Elise added. “It was pretty awesome.”

  “I imagine it was.”

  The three moved farther into the living room, and each found a comfortable seat on the couch and matching chair.

  Kayci picked up her wineglass and took a sip before continuing their conversation.

  “Thorne, may I ask where you’ve been hiding all this time? I ask, because Rosemary performed a reading for me and Elise. During Elise’s reading, she asked if you were alive. Rosemary had trouble retrieving insight and was unable to determine if you were alive or where you were. She said there was stronger magic blocking her from receiving insight.”

  Thorne’s eyebrows pinched in. He seemed deep in thought.

  “After your mother’s death, her masking spell vanquished. I knew with Katriana’s spell gone, I was much easier to locate. After ensuring your safety, I remained on the move until I found a shaman in a small village in Central Africa that could conceal me from any and all supernatural beings as well as from magic. That’s why Rosemary’s insight was hindered. The Shaman’s sorcery was old magic and more powerful,” Thorne explained.

  “The shaman’s sorcery was effective only as long as I remained in the village. I was not permitted to feed on humans from the village. To remain compliant, I would sleep for several months in an abandoned crypt and only wake occasionally to feed on wild game. I thought of you often and wondered what you were like as a child, an adolescent, and finally as an adult. I at least had the blood bond to cling to,” Thorne stated with a sad tone.

  “I always knew how you were feeling. I always knew you were safe, and that mattered the most. I could not permit myself to come out of hiding until I felt you were able to protect yourself. I couldn’t risk revealing your identity to the Covenant. In spite of my efforts to conceal your identity, you were still discovered by the Covenant. I am deeply sorry for that, Kayci. I regret that I could not be a part of your life as I wanted to be.”

  Thorne sounded disheartened by his last comment. The combination of guilt for her years of anger toward him, her current empathy toward him, and her growing affection for him pressed down on her chest. By the look in his eyes she knew he understood every emotion she was experiencing. It made it easier on her that she didn’t have to try and turn those emotions into words. Instead, she set the wineglass down and stood up from the couch. He instinctively rose from the chair. She reached toward him and wrapped her arms around him in an affectionate embrace. The hug lasted for several moments before Kayci backed away from Thorne, teary eyed. Elise too had watery eyes.

  “It’s wonderful that you’re here now,” Elise commented softly.

  Kayci and Thorne took their former seats.

  “Yes, it is.”

  Thorne’s expression transitioned, and his brows furrowed.

  “Kayci, may I ask how is it that you came to know Adrian?”

  Kayci smirked at Thorne and his incessant interest in her relationship with Adrian.

  “He saved my life. Remember how I
told you I had been attacked by a fledgling vampire while running at night?” Thorne nodded. “The vampire had knocked me out, and when I came to, Adrian was fighting him. I assume he had been hunting the fledgling that night. He saved my life by stopping the vampire from killing me. He made sure to get me home safely. Getting home on my own would have been a struggle.”

  “That’s why you didn’t call the police!”

  Kayci looked at Elise and shook her head yes. “Makes sense now, doesn’t it?”

  An expression of understanding swept over Elise’s face as she nodded her head. Kayci looked back at Thorne.

  “I ran into Adrian the next night when Elise and I went out to a nightclub that seems to be a common vampire hangout. He was there that night trying to track down Danika. The next evening he stopped by to check on me, and from there we kept seeing each other. He never told the Covenant about me. However, Danika’s attempt to kill me let the cat out of the bag.”

  “I see,” Thorne responded casually while clearly still in thought. “I suppose I owe Adrian my gratitude for saving my daughter’s life.”

  Kayci and Elise both nodded in agreement.

  “It would seem Adrian cares deeply for you, Kayci. His emotions were revealed when I pulled you out of the car. He also took a great risk by rescuing Elise and letting Danika escape. Your happiness was clearly more important to him. A choice that likely will not go unpunished.”

  Kayci had come to the same conclusion of how important her well-being was to Adrian, which was one of several reasons she had fallen for him. She hadn’t thought about his choice to save Elise over capturing Danika. Her nerves bunched into a knot in her stomach.

  “What do you mean by punished for his decision? What will the Covenant do to him?” she asked, her chest tightening. “Adrian said he was an asset to them. Don’t they need him?”

  Thorne remained silent for a moment.

  “He is no doubt an asset. Adrian’s gift is unusual and does not come along often. I don’t believe the Covenant will seek retribution if Adrian does capture Danika. However, his decision to save Elise rather than capture her will surely give her more time to execute any plans she has in order.”