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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13 978-1-934329-83-2 ISBN-10 1-934329-83-5
Bloodmate IV © 2007 Jaden Sinclair
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Cover art © 2007 Dyana Lunaris
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Bloodmate IV:
Stone of Enlightenment
Chapter 1
Julian Marino stood at the front room window looking out at the night. The wind was picking up, bringing a storm to match his mood. Lightning flashed off in the distance as thunder crashed with a warning. Tonight was going to be bad and not because of the weather. As the storm threatened to break, Julian’s mind traveled back to her—always to her. He thought to himself that he should be thinking of Serina, yet he wasn’t.
Five years had gone by, and Julian was happy—in a way. He had his girls, he had his memories, but he didn’t have the peace. He watched Lucian and Tempest. Watched and yearned for what they had. He yearned to hold her at night, to touch her only one more time. Julian just wanted her again but didn’t have a clue as to where to look for her.
“You miss her.”
Julian looked down at his daughter, Paris. She was too smart for her young age and looked so much like Serina. Both of the girls looked like their mother, but where Paris got the insight she had, he didn’t know.
“I‘m just worried about her.” Julian scooped up the little girl, enjoying how she wrapped her young arms around his neck.
“Sometimes I can feel her pain. She is sad for you.”
Julian smiled. “You share something special with her.”
“So do you,” she said in a serious voice with both brows raised.
Paris kissed Julian on the cheek then pushed to be set back down. Julian shook his head as he watched her walk down the hall toward Corbin’s room. Both girls were special in their own way, but when it came to Paris, she seemed to have a mind more advanced for their kind, more in tune with what was going around. Both loved Corbin to death.
“He hasn’t shown yet?” Lucian asked, walking up beside Julian.
“No. I’m really wondering what he wants this time.” Julian frowned.
“What he wants, or who is with him?” Lucian smirked.
Julian sighed and turned away from the window and from Lucian. He walked into the kitchen, looking for some of the liquor that Corbin started to hide from them all. Mostly he hid it from Julian.
“How much longer is this going to go on?” Lucian asked. When Julian didn’t answer, Lucian went on, “The girls are old enough for you to leave and go find her.”
“I can’t do that,” Julian said in a tight voice as he pulled out a bottle of whiskey he found. He poured some in a glass and took a shot, hissing as it went down.
“How much longer are you going to go out an hour before dawn to feed, when you know she can ease your pain?”
Julian took another shot and then sighed. “It isn’t that simple, Lucian. I can’t track her down like you did Tempest, or even how I did it with Serina. There is something different this time. All I feel if I try, is deep sorrow. Sorrow and pain,” he said the last in a soft voice, so Lucian didn’t hear it.
“Even more proof I need to be here,” Ambrose said from the open front door. “We need to talk.” Ambrose walked into the kitchen and sat down with a heavy sigh. “Sit.”
Julian sat down, watching Ambrose cautiously. He didn’t hear the man open the door or walk inside. That alone told him his senses were off more than what he thought.
“What’s up?” Lucian asked.
“I didn’t want to involve the two of you,” Ambrose answered, looking at Lucian, then at Julian. “I promised her I wouldn’t, but sometimes you just have to break a promise if it means saving us all.”
“What are you talking about?” Julian asked.
Ambrose rubbed his eyes, looking like a tired old man. “I don’t know where to begin, so I will start at what I’ve found out.” He opened his eyes, looking at both men. “When the council was killed, we all assumed that it was Renzo. We were wrong. Another half breed is out there. A nasty creature bent on killing and turning enough humans to make his own war on mankind. He killed each and every one of the council in order to bleed them and create what he thinks is the perfect army. His one and only goal is to bring humans into slavery. To make them feeding machines.” Ambrose stood up, rubbing his face again as he leaned over the kitchen sink and looked out the window. “I had to make the decision to send out what we had left of our fighters to bring him down.” He turned back around. “Twenty of them. That is all I had left because this bastard wiped them out one at a time.”
“What’s his name?” Lucian asked, seeing the fear and the exhaustion in his face.
“Dangelis de Fiammetta.” Ambrose wrinkled up his nose. “They brought one of his things to me. Showed me what he was creating with the blood of the oldest members.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but why now?” Julian asked. “Why are you coming to us for help now?” Julian crossed his arms over his chest and laughed in a sarcastic manner. “I mean it has only been five years since last we saw you.”
“I come to you because I need your help,” Ambrose informed him with a stern voice. “I sent twenty out to fight this disease. Twenty of our best, and last I’ve heard, I am down to five.” Ambrose looked hard at Julian, showing him the anger that was coursing through his body. “Carissa is one of those twenty, and I haven’t heard a damn thing from her in over five months.”
Hearing that was enough to grab Julian’s attention. “You son of a bitch,” he hissed, coming to his feet.
Lucian also jumped up, holding Julian back from trying to attack Ambrose. “Take it easy.”
“You didn’t come here to fill us in,” Julian snapped. “So, why don’t you fucking tell me why you are here?”
Ambrose looked at both men for the longest time before he spoke, “You two are the only others that have had any kind of training. I’m not here asking. I came here to inform you that you are to go and find who is left, so we can regroup.”
Julian shook his head in disbelief, slumping back down in his chair. Pissed was a very soft word for how mad he was at that moment.
“What about our family?” Lucian asked, keeping his eyes on Julian.
“He doesn’t care about our family.” Julian chuckled with no humor. “He just wants us to go fight his war.”
“If we don’t take this threat out, neither one of you will have a family,” Ambrose’s voice dropped to a dangerous low. “He is ordering kills on anyone who might oppose him. Dangelis doesn’t want other vampires who aren’t in his coven free to come after him later. To save your family, you have to bring him down.”
“Then, why do we have to go and bring back whoever is still alive?” Julian asked. “Why not just join up with them?”
“Because whoever is still out there has important information. We need that before they are all killed.” Ambrose gave Julian a softer look. “And I am asking for you to bring Carissa back home. Bring my daughter home as I helped to bring yours home to you.”
“Don’t bring
that card out and play it,” Julian snapped, standing up. He walked around the table, away from Ambrose and Lucian. “If you loved her like the daughter you raised her as, then you wouldn’t have let her go out there. You wouldn’t have let her go fight your damn cause.”
“Hate me all you want!” Ambrose snapped back. “Don’t you ever sit there thinking that I don’t love her as if she were my own child.”
Julian wiped his nose and turned to charge after Ambrose again, which Lucian stopped. “A father doesn’t let his children go out and risk their lives.”
“You forget how she risked her life for your daughter!” Ambrose yelled. “I had to sew her up for you!”
“You self-righteous bastard!” Julian yelled back. “You also let her walk out of here, knowing that she needed me as much as I needed her.”
“Okay, arguing will not fix or solve any of this.” Lucian grunted, pushing Julian back away from Ambrose. “As far as you both are concerned, neither is better or right.”
“Papa.” Alina walked into the kitchen holding her stomach. “My tummy hurts.”
Julian walked up to his daughter and scooped her up in his arms. He turned and gave Ambrose a nasty look. “I have to tend to my daughter.”
Lucian hung his head, shaking it. “He’s not the same man you knew years ago.”
“I can see that. He has become hard.”
Lucian stood up, rubbing his face then his neck. “He isn’t hard, Ambrose, he is hurt. Julian has worried until he is sick about her, and you come to land this on us. What did you really expect?”
Ambrose suddenly smiled. “Just what I saw.”
Lucian frowned at him. “Huh?
Ambrose started to chuckle. “He loves her. That is all I need to get him to go and help. To go and bring her home.”
Lucian shook his head. “I sure hope you know what the hell you are doing.”
Chapter 2
It was three in the afternoon when for no reason at all, Paris woke up. She looked at her sister, who was still sleeping soundly and quietly, then slipped out of her bed. On silent feet, Paris left her room and walked down to her father’s. Again, Julian came home only minutes before a sunrise. Even in his pain, he went out looking for her, not thinking that anyone in the house knew. Paris saw and understood the need her father had, and she knew about the pain he felt. She also understood Carissa was the only one who was going to take it away. Until the day came when she was by her father’s side, nothing would be simple or happy for Julian.
Paris touched the doorknob to her father’s room and jumped when a hand touched her shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Alina asked in a soft voice.
“Something is wrong with Papa,” Paris answered.
Both girls opened the door and found Julian sitting on the side of his bed with his back to the door. His head was hanging down, and he was breathing hard. Alina stayed put, afraid to walk in, but Paris headed to the bathroom. She took a washcloth and got it wet before she walked to Julian.
“Papa?” Paris questioned in a tender voice, “What is it?”
Julian opened his eyes and looked at his daughter. His eyes were a mixture of silver and black. Blood ran out of both nostrils and pain showed very clearly on his face.
“She…hurts,” was all Julian could get out.
Paris jumped back when Julian fell down to the ground, grabbing his stomach and moaning. She looked up at Alina, who was looking scared. “Get Uncle Lucian!”
Alina ran out of the room as Paris tried to help Julian to the bathroom. It did not work. He was much too heavy for her. By the time Lucian rushed into the room, Julian was on his hands and knees with his head on the floor. His moans of pain told Lucian all he needed to know.
Lucian managed to pick Julian up and drag him to the bathroom. He shut the door just as Tempest came in, Isaiah behind her. Isaiah went right to Alina as Tempest rushed to Paris. All three jumped when a cry came from the bathroom.
“What is it?” Ambrose asked, walking into the bedroom in a calm manner.
“It’s Papa,” Paris answered. “He is hurting again.”
“How often does this happen?” Ambrose asked, going to the bathroom.
“Almost every day.” Paris looked at Ambrose. “And she hurts as well.”
Ambrose looked at Tempest. She read the message that he was telling her and went to work at getting the children out of the room. Paris was somewhat harder to force to leave, so Ambrose had to reassure her that he would take good care of her father.
Ambrose opened the bathroom door and watched in silence as Julian vomited blood into the toilet. With each burst of blood, he cried out in pain. The only thing Lucian could do was stand there and wait for it to run its course—the same course for a bloodmate.
“A bath won’t help him,” Ambrose said. “When he gets done, bring him out. I want a few words with you both.”
It was a good twenty minutes before Lucian brought Julian out of the bathroom. Ambrose was sitting in a chair, facing the bed, waiting. The second Julian was sitting, Corbin walked in with a drink for Julian. He stood in front of him until he drank the whole thing, then left.
“How long, Julian?” Ambrose asked in a grim voice.
“How long what?” Julian answered in a pissed off voice. The last thing he wanted was to explain all of this to Ambrose.
Ambrose sat forward in his chair, taking hold of Julian by his throat. “How long have you been feeling her pain? I want to know when the two of you exchanged blood,” he hissed, showing his own set of incisiors.
“Ambrose! Jesus Christ! What the fuck is wrong!” Lucian yelled.
Ambrose stood up, taking Julian with him. Lucian tried to pull on Ambrose’s arm, but it was iron. Nothing was going to break the hold that Ambrose had over Julian.
“Fuck…you…” Julian gasped out.
Ambrose slammed Julian against the wall hard. “I want to know when you drank from her,” he hissed. “No one has tasted of her blood before. No one! You have started a bond with her, a bond with a half breed!” Ambrose tossed Julian on the bed.
“Ambrose, take it easy.” Lucian frowned.
“Take it easy?” Ambrose snapped back. “You of all people should know what is going on. You went through it with Tempest.” Ambrose ran his hands into his hair, looking at Julian as if he wanted to rip the man’s throat out. “You have put her in grave danger.”
“No,” Julian hissed back, rubbing his throat. “You did that all on your own.” He stood up, facing Ambrose with a hard look of his own. “You sent her out there to fight your war. You let her walk out of this house and away from me. You closed your fucking eyes to the pain that she was going through!” He finished with a yell.
Ambrose stood glaring at Julian for the longest time. “You both leave tonight.”
Ambrose turned to leave but was stopped by Lucian. “Wait a second!” When the old man turned, Lucian went on, “You command us to leave our family to what? Bring Carissa home?”
“No, Lucian,” Julian remarked dryly, looking hard at Ambrose. “He wants us to fight his battle.”
“I don’t give a shit what he wants to call it,” Lucian snapped. “Mercenary missions are not my cup of tea.”
Ambrose looked hard at both of them. “This is not a request. I am ordering you both to go and bring what is left of this team back with the information. Don’t make me force my hand as head of councils.”
Julian placed his hands on his hips and watched the back of Ambrose as he walked out of his room with red in his eyes. He was so pissed he was shaking.
“That motherfucker,” Julian hissed with venom.
“You said it,” Lucian remarked. “You said it all.”
Julian packed a small bag the next night as both Paris and Alina sat on his bed watching him. His mind kept going over what he might say to Carissa and how he was going to get her to come back with him. Nothing sounded right in his head.
“How long do you think you will be?” Alina as
ked.
“Oh, I should be gone only a night or two.”
“Do you think she will come back easy?” Alina asked again in her soft voice.
Julian looked at Alina and was about to answer when Pairs butted in, “I bet you are going to have to force her back.”
“She doesn’t like us anymore?” Alina asked in a sad voice.
“She’s mad at your daddy,” Tempest said with a smile from the doorway. “Very mad.”
“Thanks,” Julian remarked with a half smile.
“Anytime.” Tempest smiled back at him.
“Well, why is she mad at you, Papa? Did you say something and hurt her feelings?” Alina asked again.
“I bet he made her cry, just like us,” Paris put in.
“Well, if you two devils wouldn’t have busted in on Corbin, then you wouldn’t have gotten that spanking.”
“But, Papa,” Alina said. “We thought he was hurting.”
“Yes, but when a door is locked.” Julian looked at Paris. “You don’t go and pick the lock.”
Alina gave him an innocent look. “We were just checking up on him.”
“Yes, but when a door is locked,” Julian said again, still looking at Paris. “You don’t go and pick the lock.”
Paris raised her arms and gave him an innocent look. “How was I supposed to know he was with a girl? He was yelling like he was hurting.”
“And begging for no more,” Alina added. When Julian looked at Alina, her arms went up as well. “Hey, we are just little kids. We don’t know anything.”
Tempest laughed then covered her mouth with her hand when Julian looked over his shoulder at her. “Can you believe these two?”
“Well, they are your daughters,” she said, smiling.
“Still,” Julian went on. “Around here a locked door means privacy. Therefore, you two stay out next time. I doubt you will be getting anything special from Corbin for quite a while. He is still pretty mad at you two.”
Bloodmate IV Page 1
