Tabitha opened her mouth and then closed it several times making her look like a pretty goldfish with long blond hair. Jordan, on the other hand, had a smile on his face that was getting larger by the second. He looked me up and down and even went so far as to step to the side so that he could see all the way around me.
I looked down at myself, clad in nothing more than a tank top and boy shorts. It was far from indecent but I was a sight to see. I flexed the muscles in my arms and legs and felt the endorphins rush through my body. My body looked and felt amazing.
As I was looking at my arms and legs, the two of them shared a quick look. They were keeping something from me, again. And, as if on cue, Jordan gestured for us to enter my room and sit down.
“How do you feel?” Jordan whispered.
I heard him loud and clear but somehow knew that he had just whispered his question to me.
“I feel fine,” I said. But I had not just said it. I felt as if I yelled it. My head felt as if it would split in two and my nose started to bleed.
Tabitha handed me a napkin and smiled. She still had not spoken a word, and the house seemed uncharacteristically empty of all other inhabitants. I looked at Jordan, who was still smiling at me as I sank into the couch.
“You are going to experience a bit of instability. And you will be sensitive to sound and touch until your body, umm, let’s say calibrates itself.”
Jordan squeezed my hand as if to demonstrate my sensitivity. My skin gave under his touch and my heartbeat slightly increased blood flow to the area. My lungs expanded just a fraction of a millimeter more to adjust to the need for more oxygen. And I could hear the sound of the blood traveling through my veins. In addition, my muscles began to tense as my brain told them that there may be a threat. The harder Jordan squeezed the more adrenaline was released. I could taste it on my tongue.
All of my senses were heightened and a flood of memories made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. My adoptive mother betrayed me and my birth mother wanted to sacrifice me. The need for love had led me to Las Vegas and I had dragged my family along. I had nearly gotten everyone killed. My misery enveloped me. I was no longer feeling Jordan squeezing my hand, no longer thankful that I was alive.
Tabitha, still silent, wiped my tears with her fingers. Each tear drop felt as if it was resisting, as if its purpose was to burn into my skin before dropping to my lap.
One minute I was sitting on the couch in my room crying, the next minute I was jumping at something that sounded like the roof falling in on me. Jordan increased the pressure on my hand as Tabitha went to answer the door. Before she could get there, someone knocked again, but this time it didn’t sound quite as loud and destructive.
When she opened the door I could hear whispering but, even with my advanced hearing, could not make out what was being said. Tabitha nodded her head twice and closed the door without letting anyone in.
“Let’s get you dressed,” Tabitha whispered. “They are waiting for us.”
After I dressed in my customary sweats and t-shirt, I followed Tabitha to the library. Jordan was still squeezing my hand, anchoring my senses to something real. I did not know how much I would appreciate him until Tabitha opened the doors to the library and I was assaulted with the sounds and smells of people working.
The library was filled with Stewards who were cleaning and rearranging the large room. We walked through a group of them and each inclined their heads out of respect and continued their work. At the rear of the library we came to a large table where a Steward and Fare were comparing notes of some sort.
Tabitha led me to a door on the rear wall and knocked quietly. Solomon opened the door and bowed. I put my hand on his shoulder when I passed him to show my gratitude. The room was small and very informal. There were a few leathers club chairs and softer chenille couches in the warmest of colors. The room was filled with people who were milling around mingling.
Efia was the first to acknowledge us as she split off from her small group to greet me. At first she didn’t speak but just looked at me. She took my chin, turning my head from side to side, examining me. She turned me around and lifted my t-shirt in one smooth motion. Running her hand along my back she whispered something to Jordan. He released my hand and millions of sensations flooded in.
I could identify the Vampires from the Fare and my family from the others simply by smell. I could also hear every whispered conversation and they were giving me a headache.
“You need to block them out. Control and isolate the sensations. Just breathe.”
Efia was still rubbing my back and I focused on the circular motions of her hand. I tried to isolate the voices first. I was looking for Chloe to make sure that she was okay. Her giggling came from the couch where she sat with Landon and Nicole. My head involuntarily turned toward the sound so quickly that the room started to spin from the motion. The three of them were reading a teen magazine and swooning over the current heart throbs. Each of them had a different heart rhythm. Every beat was distinct. First Chloe, then Nicole and Landon. The trio were in perfect syncopation. It was so beautiful.
My hearing was phenomenal so I attempted smell next. Blocking out sight by closing my eyes, I let my other senses take over. At first I couldn’t smell anything. My hearing got sharper, however, and whispered conversations began to amplify. Tilting my nose to the ceiling, I sniffed. The first breath was overwhelming. Pepperoni and Ivory soap, Swiss cheese and apple cinnamon shampoo. Everything came at once and I thought my brain would go into overload.
Another breath in and, as if I had cataloged the other smells into inventory, they lessened. Only new smells were overpowering. Three more breaths and I felt better. I could still smell everything, but it was less assaulting than before. The last breath hit me like a ton of bricks and I was lost in it. The smell was a mixture of metal, Earth and sugar. It was so strong that my mouth started to water. There was a low growling sound coming from my throat and I slowly opened my eyes.
Ethan was standing in front of me with blood dripping from his index finger. The blood was so thick that it took a long time to drop onto the Lily. The droplet of blood floated through the air and splashed red on the flower. The sound and the smell amplified through me and I leapt at Ethan. In that moment I wanted nothing more than his blood. Despite everything I had believed before, the sweet smelling liquid was all I could think about.
Mere inches from the pulsing vein in his neck when I was restrained. I couldn’t identify what was holding me back; there were no hands or arms on me. My body was at a strange angle, kind of like Michael Jackson in the Smooth Criminal video. I was suspended in an unnatural position. And, when Ethan moved, my body followed him. Both movements were minute but we were both aware of them. He remained very still for a few moments and then he spoke.
“My life is your life and my blood is your blood. Take from me and live so that the world may be better for it.”
At the end of his statement, Ethan slowly tilted his head to the side, revealing a throbbing carotid artery. He offered himself to me just as his ancestors had done for centuries before him. The fact that I could drain every last drop of blood from his body was outweighed by the implicit trust he had in me and my vow to him. If either of us harbored any fear it was me, because his heart beat a slow and steady pace. I blinked to break visual contact.
Determined to regain composure, I returned to a vertical standing position. The carpet under my feet was soft yet I still heard the heels of my feet touch down. Everything was quiet now, every eye on the events in the center of the room. Ethan handed me the flower with his blood on it and, to my great embarrassment, I licked the blood from the soft petals. It tasted delicious. Something in me knew blood should not taste like this, that it should have a metallic stale taste, but Ethan’s blood tasted like caramel with coconut toppings. If all Fare blood tasted that good, no wonder there were strict laws in place to protect them. I smiled as I lifted the flower for another taste and then I froze…
A flashback of a huge dog grabbing my ankle and shaking it's head brought me out of my bloodlust. I felt my leg snap and my foot being torn off. I looked down at my leg, lifting my pants to see smooth skin with no sign of any bite. There was pain and the blood; so much blood. I was being pulled back to Grigor’s compound, away from the Humvee, away from my family. I should have been dead. Was I dead?
“Am I dead?”
Spinning around, I looked at Efia. She looked the same but I could see so much more. The slight tilt of her eyebrow and the dimple in her upper left cheek. It was like looking at her for the first time except with a better set of eyes. A better set of eyes, ears and a new nose. That couldn't be right. Could I be? My pulse started to race and I stumbled forward before my body somehow steadied itself. Ethan took my hand in his and slowly walked me to a couch. His hands were warm and comforting and it wasn't long before I calmed down.
“Cheyenne, you were barely alive when we reached the hotel. Efia was already there and she sent all of us out of the room. The Embrace is a sacred thing so…”, Ethan trailed off.
“Embrace? So, I’m not dead?”
“No. You are more alive than ever. But, you must feed and soon.”
A mixture of instinct, logic and my moral objections swirled around in my head. For months I had studied about the relationships between Vampires and their Fare. I knew the biological changes that I had undergone during my Embrace, the change in my DNA and chromosomes. My DNA had added another helix branch and a few of my chromosomes had changed. There was a volume in the medical section of the library that detailed Vampire biology, so I made a mental note to find it and read it. The need for blood came from the need for extra oxygen. There was a Vampire family, members of the Dubois clan, who tried to abstain from blood drinking by wearing oxygen masks for a certain length of time each day. It helped them live but their physical body suffered. There was something about the way blood delivered oxygen that made the difference. I was looking forward to their scientists finding a way around puncturing a vein, but in the meantime…a girl’s gotta eat.
Leaning over, one hand on Ethan's shoulder and the other on his forehead, I sunk my teeth into his neck. After about 3 minutes, the silent room erupted in applause. Ethan's face was red, not pale like I would have expected after so much blood loose. He had a wide proud grin on his face as if that had been the greatest moment in his life. I, on the other hand, was waiting for nausea and revulsion but neither came. I simply felt…satisfied.
One by one, my family of Vampires began stepping up to congratulate me. My brothers each lifted me off the couch and spun me around. Although I felt stronger and more substantial, they still treated me as if I weighed as little as a rag doll. Chloe and Tabitha hugged me and wiped tears from my face. Efia was next. Her hug meant more than I could say. I was just beginning to recover from the emotional moment when everyone moved away and Violeta stepped up. My new senses read her body language differently than my human senses had. Before I had seen an angry Vampire, full of resentment and hate. The subtle differences were there. The opened hands and the way she bit her bottom lip. All that time Violeta had wanted to hold the child she had helped to save. She was the mother I was meant to have. Neither one of us moved. We stood there in the silence; emotional and unsure.
“So, do I call you Mom now?” I asked, trying to break the ice.
Violeta remained silent and I thought I had messed up. She took a timid step forward and stopped, making me hold my breath. Zander came up behind her, squeezing her shoulders in support, and walked her the rest of the way.
“Look, Brat, I am not your mother...,” Violeta's voice broke and she fought for composure. “But I would have loved to be.”
We fell into each others arms had a long, cathartic cry.
Chapter 27
We were called into the conference room a few days later. I was surprised to see Sebastian Castellano and Isidora sitting next to Jordan and Zander. If they were invited to a family meeting, things were bad. Chloe and I were seated in positions of honor and importance, which also surprised me, and our Fare and Stewards were present. Once everyone was seated, Efia cleared her throat and began. Whatever Efia had to say was going to be big.
“As you all know, we have located more descendants and have a plan for extraction. The problem is, Grigor has also found their location, however he is just not certain who they are.”
“They?” Jordan and Zander asked together.
“Yes”, Efia continued, “we found twins. Meet Oliver and Olivia”
On a screen on the wall, pictures of two teenagers appeared. The twins were of Asian descent and looked like they were doing their best to dispel the stereotypes that plague their race. The boy was well over six feet tall with large biceps. He wore a football jersey and a grin that looked remarkably similar to Jordan's. His sister stood about 5'7” and wore a short pink Afro. Thankfully, neither of them had gone the route of facial piercings or forehead tattoos.
“The best course of action is to place our people in their school to gain their trust and determine if they would survive the Embrace.”
“And what if we find out that they won’t survive? That won’t deter Grigor?” I had often considered what would have happened to me if I had not been strong enough to Embrace.
“We have options, but we will discuss those at a later date. For now, we need to decide who to send.”
Everyone looked around the room. Although everyone in the room looked young enough to pass for high school seniors if they needed to, many of them acted much older than an adolescent. I looked at Tabitha, knowing that she would be chosen again because of her ability to blend in. But, then I remembered, their unification ceremony was coming up and couldn’t see them being separated. Violeta and Zander were out of the question. They acted way too old to be high schoolers and there was no way to guarantee they could go undercover as teachers and gain the twins’ trust. Eventually, everyone’s gaze landed on me and Chloe.
“So,” I began, “where are we going?”
“San Francisco.”
About the Author
Beverly Toney was raised on the Central Coast of California and earned a B.A. in History from California State University, Northridge. Always an avid reader, she set out to write a novel that she would want to read.
Glossary
Achanum:A Vampire without any attributes. Commonly known as a
Mute or Mutes. They are disgruntled about their lack of power and seek it through questionable means. The Castellano Clan.
Attributes:Abilities or powers.
Calla Lily:The St. Clair Clan flower.
Caste System:A class structure in a society, often determined by birth, but also by reputation.
Cerebralis:A Vampire with the ability to perform a type of mind control. They are able to make a person see any image they want. Also called Cerebs. The Dewhurst Clan.
Coetus Essentialis:Meaning the essential society. The central Steward and Fare community.
the Council:There are twelve Elders, twelve Senators and 100 Vampire Representatives.
Daisy:The Lower Cast Fare flower.
Electus:The Steward and Fare that come of age and are ready to be selected by a Vampire family.
Elementarium:A Vampire with the ability to control the elements. Also call Els or Elems. The St. Clair Clan
Embrace:The process of turning a human into a Vampire
Familiae Regalis:The Royal Families
Fare:See Sanguine Fare
Historia Lamia:The History of Vampires
Ludos Praesidium:Meaning the protection games, it is meant for Stewards to compete and show their value.
Ludos Sanguineum:Meaning the blood games, it is for the Fare to compete and show their value.
Ghost Orchid:The Dubois Clan flower.
Motus:A Vampire who was a human before the Embraced.
Narc
issus: The Dewhurst Clan flower.
Natus:A Vampire from birth. Although they are born Vampire, the Ritus Transitus must be performed no earlier than their 18th birthday and not later than their 25th birthday.
Oraculum: The Oracles or Orcs. A Vampire with the ability to see into the future by going into a narcoleptic state. The Dubois Clan.
Petunias:The Middle Caste Fare flower.
Physice (Fizz E ChA):A Vampire with an extraordinary amount of physical strength. The Miklos Clan.
red Poppy:The Castellano Clan flower.
Porphyria:A rare disease, that causes the inflicted to be sensitive to the sun and have tight, receding skin among other symptoms. Caused by genetic markers that effect the production of Heme in red blood cells.
Pro Vita Eligamus:Meaning the choosing for life, it is the ceremony where the Fare are selected by their Vampire patrons.
Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) Page 27
