Blood Burdens (The Shadow World)

by Brandy Nacole

  “Hey,” I say. My whole body feels weak as I try to sit up.

  All three of them jump up and rush to my bed. Addie brushes a few tangles away from my face. “How are you feeling?”

  “Peachy? Or would ‘coconutty’ fit this scenario better?” I haven’t seen any coconuts around since we got here but there’s a beach, so there should be coconuts around somewhere.

  Addie gives me a pointed look. “Seriously, Racquel. Do you need anything?”

  I want to say no but I do need something. Blood. My throat is burning, just like the rest of my body. I used a lot of energy last night, the kind that needs blood to restore it. Before I can say anything Danika says, “I’ll be right back,” and walks out of the hut.

  What’s Danika up to? “Where is she going?” I really wanted to talk to her about these visions and the dark cloud around the golden and black strands of my auras.

  Meira places her hand on my arm. “Honey, your eyes are giving you away.” I jerk back from her words. They’re the exact same words Coy had used the first time he had tried to get me to drink from him. Sadness, then worry fills me at the thought of him.

  “Is Coy okay? The Chimera didn’t-” I trail off not wanting to finish that sentence. I couldn’t think about something bad happening to him. I still want to make things work between us, even if it’s on a friendship basis.

  “He’s fine. Luckily, he wasn’t around when the Chimera attacked,” Addie says. Well that’s a blessing. I’m sure he wanted to be alone after our fight.

  “The vision. It was-”

  Meira interrupts me, “It’s okay, we can talk about that after you get your strength back.” It’s weird to have her coddling me. I appreciate the kind gesture but it’s not what I had intended. When I talked to Meira, I just wanted understanding. I definitely don’t expect her to try and step up as some mother figure.

  A few minutes later Danika walks through the door with Coy in tow. I jerk up in shock. “What’s he doing here?” Although I think I already know the answer. Him being here can only mean one thing.

  “He’s the only option you have. The Coven doesn’t have any blood bags on hand.” Danika is confused at my reaction. No one knows about our tiff or how I called it quits.

  “Then I’ll wait until they get some.” I lay back against the pillow with a thud, fighting the urge to rip into Coy.

  “Racquel, you can’t. You need to get your strength back. We need you today.” Addie pleads with me not understanding my stubbornness. Then a look of realization comes over her face. She glances over at Coy and then back to me. “One more time won’t hurt him Racquel. He’s been doing really good, right?” A reasonable and true conclusion, but still wrong.

  I shake my head, protesting. “Addie, I can’t.”

  “Just do it, Racquel. I’ll be fine.” Coy appears irritated but I can see the hurt in his eyes.

  I shake my head, still wanting to avoid this. I am not going to bite him. If I do that, all those old feelings will be drudged up. It will only make things worse. I still care for Coy and that’s what started all this. My attraction to him, his paying attention to me, my need to protect him, and my care for his safety, all got twisted up into this mess.

  There was only one option.

  “Go get Natahala.” She’s the only one who understands, and can help.

  “What? Why?” Everyone is sure confused now. Everyone except for Coy. He knows why I want Natahala.

  “Just go get her,” I say angrily.

  Addie looks over at Danika. “She’s in the guest house with Brynn.”

  The room falls into an awkward silence while we wait for Danika to bring back Natahala. I lie there trying to come up with any other option besides the one before me. But no matter how hard I wish and hope for another possibility to present itself, I know Coy is the only option. If it wasn’t for our battle tonight, I would try to hold out. I can’t do that though, I need my energy back.

  Addie glances nervously between me and Coy. I take a quick glance at him, and immediately wish I hadn’t. He’s standing there with a cool, calm expression but his eyes are weighted with sadness. His soft brown eyes are bloodshot. Has he been up all night?

  Again I chastise myself for hurting him. Why did you do this now, Racquel? Why didn’t you wait until tomorrow? At least then he wouldn’t have this pain on top of everything else. Nice timing.

  I sit up, meeting Coy’s eyes. A frown replaces his calm face and he steps forward about to say something when the door opens. In steps Danika and Natahala. Thad follows in behind them.

  Natahala takes in the scene before her. “Everyone out,” she commands in a hard stern voice. Danika, Meira, and Thad obey immediately.

  Addie, however, doesn’t budge. She stands there shaking her head. “I’m not leaving Racquel until she tells me what’s going on.” She crosses her arms over her chest and waits. I squirm under her gaze. I want to tell Addie what’s going on but not in front of the others. There are other things I want to discuss about all this, some of those things I don’t want Coy to hear.

  I give her a reassuring smile, “It’s okay, Addie. I promise I will tell you what’s going on later.” She still doesn’t budge. She stands there like a parent waiting for answers from their unruly child, her blue eyes piercing as her face remains set in a stern expression. I should be used to this look. I received it a lot after our grandmother passed away. Addie could always tell when something was bothering me. She would get all mother bear on me until I relented. This time, I couldn’t. “Please Addie. I promise you, I will tell you, just…not right now.” I drop my gaze to my lap, breaking away from her fierce, concerned gaze.

  After a few silent moments, I hear Addie take a deep breath. “Fine. But you are going to tell me.” Without looking up, I hear her exit the hut, leaving me alone with Natahala and Coy.

  I’m still looking down when Coy’s hand comes into view. He places his hand over mine, giving it a slight squeeze. I look up at his sad face. “Racquel, you don’t have to do this. Last night we said some things we both regret but we can work through this. I know we can.” Coy cups my face in his hands. “Please.”

  I hold his sad, brown eyes that search mine for signs of hope. My heart races as I try coming up with an answer. I can’t give him false hope just to turn around and break him down again. Whether he believes it or not, I know a lot of what we were feeling for one another was created by false and confused sensations. Take right now for instance. To me, his touch feels like a brother’s. I don’t know what he’s feeling but I’m afraid he is still hung up on the past.

  I hold Coy’s eyes as I say, “Natahala, how do I do this?” A tear slips down my cheek as he lets go. He takes a step back, anger masking his face where sadness was just a few seconds ago.

  Natahala steps up beside me. “You have to put a mental block up so that your minds and feelings are shut off from one another. Visualize some kind of barrier that separates you from Coy. Keep your focus on that barrier until you are finished. If you ever lose your concentration, the barrier will fall.”

  I hear Natahala take a step back but my focus is on Coy. I wish he could understand why I have to do this. If I keep all my feelings open to him, he’ll see how much it hurts me to be doing this but he might also see the truth in it. As good as that sounds, I can’t do that either. He would probably see my feelings about Micah and I can’t let that happen.

  Coy takes a seat beside me on the bed. He starts to lean in toward me, keeping his eyes on the wall. Natahala speaks up, “The less contact between you two, the better.” Coy straightens back up and holds out his arm.

  Before biting him, I put my barrier up. I visualize a brick wall with a steel plate fence around it, that’s surrounded by a high chain-linked fence. With razor wire on top. My barrier may be a little excessive, but I’m not taking any chances. I stay focused on the barrier as I bring his arm up, and sink my teeth into his wrist.

  I moan as his warm blood slides down my throat. My min
d is silent. The only feelings I have are from the rush of his blood, feeding my essence. I’m relieved, yet at the same time I feel a sense of loss. I know I’m doing the right thing but I miss the intimacy I shared with Coy before. There was nothing in this world like being open and vulnerable to someone else, sharing your pain and secrets while also feeling their concern and love. I guess that’s why the vamps didn’t do this with one another until they were bonded.

  When I pull back, I look up at Coy but he isn’t looking at me. He’s still staring at the wall, but tears are now falling down his face. I seal the wound I had created before letting go. I want to say something, want nothing more than to erase the pain I have caused, but he jumps up, sways a moment—probably from the blood loss—and without a word, rushes out the door.

  “Coy-” My words are cut off as the bamboo door swings shut.

  Natahala shakes her head. “Give him some time. He will soon see the truth.” I know she’s right but I am concerned about his blood loss. Natahala walks over to the door. “I must be getting back to Brynn. Will you be okay?”

  I nod. “Is Brynn okay?” When Addie had said Natahala was with Brynn, I figured they were still discussing her involvement tonight but from the worried expression on her face, I knew something else was wrong.

  “Brynn was injured last night when the Chimera attacked. He’ll be fine, he just needs some rest.” Natahala unlocks her umbrella before opening the door. Standing outside is Thad, with another umbrella in hand. He opens it and then shields Natahala’s side.

  Natahala was still young for a Vampire. The sun usually didn’t start having an effect on Vampires until they were over a century old, so I was surprised to see her using an umbrella. “I didn’t think the sun had an effect on you yet.”

  “Sires mature faster, which makes us stronger, but also defenseless when it comes to fire and the sun. Since becoming a Sire, my power has grown but so has my reaction to the sun.” Natahala raises her umbrella. “When you’re ready, everyone is waiting for you. They’re out front of Alanis’s house.”

  I stand up, stretching my body. I hate that it comes at the price of hurting Coy more, but I feel one hundred percent better. I wash up in the basin, and after rinsing all the blood off, I put on clean jeans and a light purple v-neck shirt. My black hair falls around my shoulders.

  As I look in the mirror, I notice that the light purple of my shirt makes my eyes stand out. While traveling before all this started, I had gotten a good tan. That tan has started to fade and now my skin only has a light bronze tint to it. I try finding the beauty that some tell me I have but I just can’t see it. The only thing I see are eyes that scare people, lips that hide fangs, and the anger of an innocent girl that’s lost.

  With a sigh, I throw my hair up in a ponytail, grab my boots off the floor, and head out the door. As I walk up to Alanis’s house, I absorb the quiet of the morning. The sun’s rays on my back send relaxing warmth through my body, as the waves lapping against the beach calm my racing mind.

  Everyone sits in groups outside Alanis’s house. Alanis and the Elders stand in the center of the groups, talking amongst themselves. When everyone notices me coming, conversations fall silent. The Elders turn their attention on me.

  “Racquel, may we speak with you for a moment?” Witten asks. He has a sense of reserve to him, almost as if he’s afraid of me.

  I nod, and follow him around to the back of Alanis’s house for privacy. Alanis’s house has charred spots from the fire the night before. Others are untouched, while some have burned to the ground, completely demolished.

  When we stop, Dagna inquires me hesitantly. “Can you tell us what happened last night, dear?”

  I think back to my vision. I wasn’t going to admit to the betrayal I felt from Micah or my impeding death. “It was the same as before. Cerelia binded her minions and then they attacked us. There was blood everywhere and…she just stood there laughing as people fell.” I choke up for a minute, not because of Cerelia’s laughter but because of Micah. I couldn’t get his betrayal out of my head.

  Again I start to question myself. Why do I feel so drawn to him? Every time he visits me in my sleep, he’s cold and distant, except for this last time. Last night when he visited me before the Chimera had attacked, he actually embraced me. My heart thundered at the thought. But what if I’m kidding myself? What if I’m only feeling this way because I know he’s like me now? What if he’s using me? Have I ruined everything with Coy for nothing? At least Coy cares about me.

  I think about Micah’s caring eyes when he had nursed me back to life, when he was just human and I was, well, me. He had shown me the same unyielding, fearless compassion that Coy had. I moan inwardly. These brothers were going to be the death of me.

  Laveda brings me out of my entangling stupor. “Racquel, we aren’t talking about your vision, although I would like to take a moment to apologize once again for the pain they put you through. We are talking about your transformation.”

  I had forgotten all about that. What to say? “I don’t know what happened. After I was thrown against the tree, rage filled my body and I started transforming.” I look at each of the Elders in turn, then rest my eyes on Witten. “What do you think it means?”

  They all shake their heads, not knowing either. Meira places her hand on my forearm, “Were you able to work on your balance?”

  I nod my head, “I need to talk to y’all about that.” I explain everything as best as I can about my essence strands and the black mist.

  Laveda addresses Witten. “Do you think it’s the curses?”

  Witten starts to say something but I interrupt him. “What curses?”

  “The Vampire and Lycan curses. Not really curses, I guess, but it sure seems that way. The Lycans were designed to kill Vampires. I’m just wondering if some lingering effect is hindering you.” Laveda says as she scrutinizes the thought.

  “It’s possible. You say you separated the blue and green auras?” Dagna asks. I nod and wait for their verdict.

  “I believe Laveda is right. Your transformation last night is probably just a fraction of your potential.” Witten stands in front of me, probably the closest the old man has ever come to me. “I know you have been trying, Racquel, but we need you to try a little harder. After we discuss a few things with the others, I need you to try and achieve inner peace with the Lycan and Vampire spirits inside you.”

  I whisper, “What if I can’t?”

  “You are an extraordinary girl, Racquel. Even if you don’t succeed, you will be great,” he says, smiling.

  Okay, what’s up with the sudden show of kindness? Witten’s such a complex being. One minute he’s cold and hateful, then bam! A show of kindness that seems out of place for him. Do the Elders really think they need me that much?

  Witten starts walking back to the others. As we follow, Meira grabs my hand, giving it a little squeeze. I look at my aunt, who gives me a reassuring smile. I hope I can pull this off for them. I don’t know why they have so much faith in me but I’m thankful someone does. Gods know I don’t have much confidence myself.

  As we reach the rest of the group, a large line of vehicles top the hill, driving straight toward the Coven. The array of vehicles range in size from small sedans to a Hummer. My adrenaline picks up at what could be another possible threat.

  Then Ethan stands up with a broad grin.

  “The cavalry’s here.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  I stand there, awe-struck, along with everyone else, as thirty or so vehicles park along the road. Jobe and Zaire exit the first vehicle, followed by a parade of Lycans from the other vehicles. Jobe walks up to Witten and shakes his hand. He acknowledges Natahala with a slight nod, holding back disgust he may feel.

  “Jobe, we weren’t expecting you here.” I can tell Witten’s excited and grateful for their arrival from the delighted look that now covers his face.

  “Zaire and I have been preparing our fighters for this. We knew something was b
rewing, we just didn’t know when. After you called about the crystal, we knew it was time.”

  “Your help is appreciated.” Witten says.

  Jobe grips Witten’s shoulder, “Remember, we are all Shadows. This is a fight for us all. We must stand together as so.”

  Natahala gathers her courage, squaring her shoulders, as she approaches Jobe. “Does that alliance extend to us as well?”

  The crowd goes silent as they watch the two feuding Shadow leaders stare at one another. Jobe turns to Zaire, who slightly nods. Jobe then sticks out his hand, “It does.” Natahala smiles as she shakes Jobe’s hand. His muscles cringe at her touch but he doesn’t back away.

  “You probably won’t be surprised to hear that Aldrick has betrayed us. He has joined forces with Cerelia, no doubt to gain power.” Natahala admits.

  Jobe seems delighted by this news. “Killing him will be rewarding.”

  “I hope that when this is all over, we can discuss negotiations to end this bad blood between us, so our races can co-exist.” I notice all the Lycans except for Jobe and Zaire are tense and still lined up along the road. They haven’t crossed over onto the Coven’s grounds. Lycans have a dismissive attitude when it comes to Witches. They wouldn’t even allow Danika to enter their encampment when we visited them in London a few weeks back. That’s probably why the others haven’t set foot on the Coven’s land.

  Jobe regards Natahala. “Let’s get past one life changing hurdle at a time, shall we?” Natahala nods, giving Jobe a sincere smile.

  Alanis steps forward and approaches Jobe slowly. “I agree. These feuds must stop. Please tell your men they are welcome to enter our Coven grounds.” Alanis gestures to the Lycans on the road.

  Zaire turns to face them. “We are not here to fight amongst ourselves. Remember, brothers and sisters, we are all facing an impeding danger. We must forget our petty differences and fight as one.”