Embrace The Dawning (The Covenant Series Book 1)

by Betty Shreffler

  “We’ve brought the half-breed. Let Eva go,” Orrick demanded.

  Danika laughed wildly. “You think I actually intended to let her go?! What a fool. You think you actually have the power to make such a demand? Look around you. There are nine of us and one of you.”

  Kayci saw Orrick’s expression turn to confusion. He didn’t understand. Kayci caught on as soon as Natalia aggressively yanked her out of Orrick’s grip and dragged her toward the waiting hands of the eager coven vampires.

  Danika grinned at Natalia as Orrick’s eyes filled with understanding.

  “Nicely done, Natalia.”

  Natalia proudly smirked back.

  “Kill him,” Danika commanded.

  Kayci could only watch as five vampires swiftly and viciously attacked Orrick. Orrick tried hard to fight back, but he couldn’t match the strength of all five of them. They tore at his limbs and ripped flesh from bone. Moments later Orrick’s lifeless body fell to the dirty cement ground. His ashes slowly spread into the damp, stagnant air.

  “One down and four to go,” Danika preened.

  Knowing that Danika intended to kill her and Eva, Kayci kicked the nearest vampire, swung her fist at the next closest jaw, and with hands free, pushed the flames to her fingers. Danika’s eyes shot open wide.

  “Grab her!”

  Kayci let her fear and anger fuel the energy exploding from her core. She grabbed the nearest vampire, said the incantation, and let the flames spread from her hands to the vampire’s flesh. She willed her energy further, pushing the flames across his body. He cried out as the stench of burning flesh rose in the air. Kayci went after the next vampire running from her, only to feel strong, powerful hands grab at her hair. She was whipped backward and held tightly in Natalia’s fierce grip. Several others quickly came to Natalia’s aid.

  Kayci threw her fists outward and tried to burn every vampire that approached. She heard Danika shout from a distance.

  “Tie her hands behind her, you idiots!”

  Firm hands instantly held her wrists tight as a scratchy rope was wrapped around them. She didn’t let that stop her. The moment she felt Natalia’s grip loosen, she kicked hard at her knee. She heard the knee snap and Natalia’s growl of pain. Kayci backed away, giving her the space she needed to force the flames to her hands once again in an effort to burn the ropes.

  Natalia turned toward Kayci with a rage-filled expression. She swung her arm forcefully at Kayci’s face. Kayci stumbled sideways from the pain and force of the blow. She tasted the blood on her lip as it spread into her mouth. Another blow came at her abdomen, causing Kayci to buckle over. A third punch shattered her ribs into pieces. She cried out from the excruciating pain.

  “You think you can fight a five-hundred-year-old vampire, you weak, pathetic half-breed?!” Natalia drew her leg back.

  Kayci took another blow.

  “And to think vampires are actually afraid of what you’re capable of.”

  Kayci fell to her knees after another fist to her face. Blood dripped to the floor. She was quickly losing consciousness.

  “Stop!” Danika demanded. “We need her alive. The others haven’t arrived yet.”

  Natalia’s eyes gleamed with anger. Her lip curled as she growled at Kayci. “We’ll finish this later.”

  Kayci squinted up at Eva with one swollen eye. Eva stared back at her with a sympathetic expression. As Kayci looked at Eva, she had a strange desire not to fight anymore. A desire quite the opposite of how she felt seconds ago. Then she realized Eva pushed her own thought forward. Don’t fight right now was the message. A message Kayci admittedly had to adhere to. Her face and body throbbed with pain, making her too weak to fight.

  “What made you betray the Covenant?” Kayci heard Eva ask Natalia.

  Natalia’s head whipped toward the direction of Eva’s voice.

  “Betray seems like the wrong word. In my opinion, I’m helping the Covenant grow to its full potential. The Covenant has become soft, Eva. You’ve become soft. We’re losing order amongst our kind. Too many covens are losing their fear of us. Danika’s coven being a perfect example of that.”

  Several vampires smirked at Natalia’s comment.

  “It’s time to remind vampires of how powerful the Covenant can be. If that means the Covenant needs to be reconstructed, so be it.”

  “We both know chaos will erupt if Danika is a part of the Covenant. She doesn’t want our existence kept as a secret among humans.”

  Natalia grinned at Eva.

  “Neither do you, it seems.”

  “They’re here,” Danika announced as she took a long, thick blade from one of her coven vampire’s outstretched hands.

  She sauntered toward Eva, with the large knife in hand.

  “I’ll do it,” Natalia declared.

  Danika handed the blade to Natalia as she marched past Danika toward Eva.

  Natalia held the blade to Eva’s throat as Vladimir, Beatrice, and Thorne stormed down the steps and into the scene.

  Each one of them studied the room and their surroundings. They noticed Natalia holding the blade to Eva’s throat, Kayci’s condition, and the number of vampires in the room, yet they remained regal as they stood.

  “Look who’s back from the dead,” Danika mocked as she glanced over at Kayci.

  She returned her gaze to Thorne. “A pleasant surprise, honestly. You were always my favorite Covenant member, especially with your insurgent behavior and all.”

  Thorne nodded his head and gave an amicable smile of appreciation. “May I ask why you have both my sister and daughter in such dire situations?”

  “To be frank with you, Thorne, they’re both ploys in a plan of larger proportion. It’s nothing personal.”

  “It will become very personal if any further harm comes to either of them,” Thorne threatened. “Now, Danika, I believe we can come to some kind of agreement. What is it that you want?”

  Thorne, Vladimir, Beatrice, Eva, and Kayci looked up when they heard the rustling of movement on the floor above them. The doors to the stairway were being closed and sealed shut. Barricades were being added.

  “What I want is for you all to die!” Danika seethed between her fangs.

  Natalia held the knife more firmly against Eva’s throat with intention of putting the blade through Eva’s neck, and then she stopped. Her face became expressionless. She moved the blade away from Eva’s neck and charged toward Danika—her own thought to kill Danika brought forward by Eva’s influence. A thought Natalia had reserved for a different time and place.

  Danika blocked the swing of Natalia’s arm as Thorne, Vladimir, and Beatrice charged after the coven vampires. The vampires surrounding Kayci left her to help fight Thorne, Vladimir, and Beatrice. Those attacking Thorne were quickly being knocked down. Kayci noticed how much more powerful he was than the others.

  Kayci said an incantation and forced the flames to her hands. She watched as Danika and Natalia battled one another for power as the flames slowly melted the rope around her wrists. As soon as the ropes loosened, she rushed over to Eva and began untying her.

  Just as Eva was freed, the large, strong vampire that Kayci recognized from the parking garage grabbed the blade that Natalia had dropped. He charged toward Kayci, raised the blade, and swung for her neck. Eva saw the vampire coming for Kayci and instinctively shoved Kayci out of the way. The blade ripped through Eva and grazed the side of Kayci’s neck. The force of Eva shoving her propelled Kayci sideways. She lost her footing and landed on the cement floor. Kayci’s hand grasped her neck in an effort to stop the bleeding. She painfully turned her head to locate Eva. Her eyes found Eva’s body just in time to witness her turn to ash.

  “No!” Kayci screamed.

  Her chest ached with sorrow. A knot clenched her stomach. The other vampires turned to see the reason for the scream. Several seemed pleased. Thorne’s grief-stricken expression quickly turned to rage. His face contorted, and he whipped his head directly toward Danika. Nata
lia, no longer under Eva’s control, backed away from Danika.

  “Now!” Danika barked at her remaining coven members.

  Danika ran quickly toward a camouflaged door clearly set up as an escape route. Natalia followed closely behind Danika’s heels. As Danika passed one of the columns, Kayci heard a device on one of the pillars click.

  Kayci immediately stood up. Blood covered the entire left side of her body. She felt weak in the knees and fatigued. She ignored the feeling and focused her concentration on pulling every bit of energy she had from her core.

  She heard another click from the device—the release of a timer. A loud crack ripped through the room. Concrete particles and flames exploded into the air. Beatrice and two of Danika’s coven vampires who were closest to the bomb instantly went up in flames. Kayci heard their cries of agony as she continued to force the energy out of her.

  Thorne and Vladimir rushed toward Kayci as another loud crack exploded on a second pillar. Kayci held her hands up high and pushed away the flames that were rising toward her, Thorne, and Vladimir.

  “Head toward the stairs!” Vladimir shouted through the cracking and snapping of flames and debris.

  A large piece of concrete whipped past Kayci’s head and hit Vladimir’s shoulder. He fell to the floor and moaned from his broken shoulder. Thorne quickly lifted Vladimir from the floor and pulled him in the direction Kayci headed. Kayci could feel her energy beginning to wane. She hoped she could hold the flames at bay long enough to get to the door.

  ***

  Adrian heard the deafening explosion and witnessed parts of the floor collapsing as he entered the first-floor doors of the empty warehouse. Danika, Reece, and Natalia were racing toward him, clearly trying to escape the chaos. When they spotted Adrian, Natalia and Danika split apart and ran off. Reece bared his fangs and came right at him. Adrian did the same as he charged at Reece.

  As they rushed at each other, Adrian raised his arm to his side and clotheslined Reece, knocking him to the cement floor. Reece landed with a resounding thud. Adrian immediately pressed his boot onto Reece’s neck with all his weight. Reece choked out a gasp as Adrian crushed his larynx. Before Reece could push Adrian off, Adrian pulled one of the blades on his back from its sheath and forced it down on Reece’s neck with every bit of strength he had. Adrian sprinted after Danika as Reece’s ashes lifted into the air.

  Adrian quickly caught up to Danika, grabbed her from behind, and tackled her to the ground. As soon as she hit the ground, she immediately began squirming and kicking at Adrian. Her fangs extracted as she brought her face in close, trying to bite Adrian’s neck. Adrian clamped his left hand around Danika’s jaw and pushed her fangs away from him as he used his right hand to press down on her shoulder. He brought his head down on Danika’s neck and tore into her flesh. He pulled his head back, only to sink his teeth into her flesh once more.

  Danika let out a high-pitched cry as blood poured onto her and the ground. She pulled one of the blades from Adrian’s back. As Adrian heard the blade separating from its sheath, he jumped off Danika. The tip of the blade sliced across his chest as he stood up straight. Adrian growled with fury.

  His wrath quickly rose with each forceful strike she aimed toward him. Adrian followed the unskilled maneuvering of the weighted blade in her hand. When she swung again, he waited until the blade forced her arm to the left, then he grabbed her wrist and bent it as far as he could until she released the blade. With Danika’s wrist firmly in his grasp, he forcefully kicked her knee, snapping it sideways. She screamed before falling to the ground. Adrian quickly retrieved the fallen blade.

  “Adrian, you can’t kill me. I made you!”

  Adrian’s eyes gleamed with anger. “I told you to never come back.”

  Adrian held the blade in both arms as he swung it through the air. The blade cut through flesh and bone, severing Danika’s head from her body. Adrian watched as the ashes drifted into the air. A brief feeling of sorrow and guilt swept over him. The feeling dissipated as he turned toward the warehouse to find Kayci.

  The explosions had ended, but the flames and falling debris continued to surround them. With her energy now fading, the flames threatened to engulf them, the heat pressing against her skin. Vladimir and Thorne grimaced with pain as the flames licked at their skin, burning the flesh away. Trepidation and hope overwhelmed Kayci as she heard movement behind the doors at the top of the stairway. She heard loud cracks of someone cutting at the wood, and then the doors swung open. Smoke billowed out, masking the vampire that stood there. Then she heard his voice.

  Thorne shouted to him. The resonant ringing in her ears kept her from hearing their words clearly. She continued to focus on the searing-hot towering flames persistently trying to reach them. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, forcing her body through the air. Her arms collapsed. The flames of the fire swarmed her legs, burning her pants and scalding her skin beneath. She coughed as the smoke filled her lungs.

  Kayci was placed on the ground outside of the warehouse while Adrian and Thorne doused her clothing. The burns throbbed and oozed blood. Walking wasn’t an option. She coughed again, trying to extract all smoke from her lungs.

  “We have to go,” she heard Adrian say.

  Kayci was lifted off the ground. Adrian held her close to his body.

  “We’ll go to my place,” he instructed.

  “Natalia?” Vladimir asked.

  “She got away.”

  Chapter 28

  “How’s my daughter doing?” Thorne asked.

  Adrian closed the balcony door behind him. “She’s sleeping. She’ll be fine,” Adrian assured. “She usually sleeps while she heals.”

  Thorne nodded, his expression pensive.

  Adrian looked from Thorne to Vladimir. His arms crossed his chest as he rested his weight against the railing. “What happened?” he asked.

  “Natalia was in alliance with Danika. I was unaware. Her behavior was becoming suspicious, but I never expected something like this. She must have given Danika the location of where Eva was. She had been privately going to the Dawning. She was going to embrace the Dawning soon.” Vladimir looked at Thorne when he said the last comment, clearly hoping to offer consolation.

  Thorne’s head dropped, his expression full of sorrow.

  “When Thorne, Beatrice, and I arrived at the warehouse, Orrick was missing, Natalia had a blade to Eva’s throat, and Kayci had been beaten severely. We fought Danika’s coven. One of her coven vampires locked us all into the lower floor. Kayci managed to free herself and Eva. Reece attempted to kill Kayci. Eva sacrificed herself and saved her. Danika had planned for us all to die in the explosions. When she fled, she triggered several bombs. Kayci held back the flames until you got there. It was a blessing you arrived when you did. Kayci was growing weak with fatigue and losing her power over the flames. We were beginning to burn to death when you arrived.” Vladimir grimaced from the memory.

  “What happens to the Covenant now? You and Natalia are the only remaining members.”

  Vladimir’s fangs appeared below his lip. “She left us to die. Even her own brother. Her own blood. Natalia…” he seethed, “will need to face the consequences of her actions. She is no longer a member of the Covenant. As for the Covenant…” Vladimir’s shoulders lowered. His seething anger began to settle. “Eva had plans after her death. She disclosed those plans to Beatrice and myself.” Vladimir looked at both Adrian and Thorne, gauging them.

  “Eva wished to invite Kayci as a new member of the Covenant. She proposed it to the entire Covenant. As you can imagine, that did not go over well with all the members. After receiving the rejections of Florence, Orrick, and Natalia, Eva had a private conversation with Beatrice and myself. She knew that the Covenant was dividing and was going to need new leadership after she was gone. Leadership that was powerful and stable. She hoped to turn Kayci to a full-blood vampire, and with her skills as a sorceress, Eva believed she would be a formidable force. One that vampires w
ould undoubtedly fear and comply with. Eva felt that after Kayci was turned, her seat on the Covenant would be accepted. From there she planned on preparing Kayci to take over the Covenant as well as to recruit new members. She wanted you back on the Covenant, Thorne. She planned to enlist you as a member, Adrian.”

  Adrian let out a breath. His hands left his chest and settled on the railing in a fist-tight grip.

  Thorne glanced at Adrian’s shift, then returned his attention to Vladimir before asking, “What of Florence, Orrick, and Natalia? What of their resistance to this plan?”

  “Eva believed Florence to be the cause of the division amongst us, not Natalia. Eva planned to kill Florence if he didn’t secede from the Covenant.”

  “You and Beatrice agreed to all this?” Thorne asked.

  Vladimir leaned against the railing and nodded. “Yes. Florence and Hasasha led the raid against you and Katriana. I always resented him for it. Beatrice agreed with Eva that Florence was hindering the Covenant from generating progress. She felt he was becoming too dominating and resistant to change. Eva knew the Covenant would fall to a rogue coven if changes weren’t made. If the Covenant wasn’t assembled into a stronger, more reliable faction.”

  “How do you feel about my daughter leading us?” Thorne asked casually.

  Adrian allowed his displeasure to show. “You’re actually considering this?” he asked.

  Vladimir looked from Adrian to Thorne.

  “I believe it is in our species’ best interest to have a stable and dominant Covenant once again. I believe Eva was correct when she insisted that Kayci can aid in that goal.”

  Adrian stepped closer to both Thorne and Vladimir. His fangs extracted as his irritation grew.

  “Neither of you will touch her. Do you understand? You can present the idea to her, and if she accepts, we’ll choose what action to take next. If she says no, then it’s done. She won’t be forced into it.”

  Thorne looked at Adrian, clearly ready to argue, and then his expression changed to solemn.