by Candy Crum
The Usurper
Reclaiming the Shadow Realm Book 1
Other Titles by Candy Crum
Tales of the Feisty Druid Series
With Michael Anderle
(Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy—LMBPN Publishing)
The Arcadian Druid
The Undying Illusionist
The Frozen Wasteland
The Deceiver
The Lost
The Damned
Into the Maelstrom
Legends of the Ancients (Summer 2018)
The Therian Chronicles
(Action/Urban Fantasy—Valkyrie Publishing)
(Book 1 Preview at the end of this book!)
Origin (Prequel to the Series)
The Dark Professor
The Therian Prince
The Vampire Queen
They Hybrid Sovereign
Reclaiming the Shadow Realm
(Action/Urban Fantasy—Valkyrie Publishing)
The Usurper
Darkness Rising
Shadow Born (July 2018—preorder coming soon!)
The Anubian (August 2018—preorder coming soon!)
The Usurper (this book) is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
The Usurper by Candy Crum
©2018 All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying form without written permission of the author (Candy Crum) or the publisher, Valkyrie Publishing LLC.
Books may be purchased legally through Amazon or directly through the publisher’s website, www.valkyriepublishingllc.com
Published by: Valkyrie Publishing LLC, Seymour, IN 2018
Cover Design by: Fantasy Book Design (Ljiljana Romanovic)
Interior Design by: Candy Crum
The Usurper by Candy Crum and Amanda R. Browning
ISBN:
ASIN:
Acknowledgements
Candy Crum
To my boys, who are my reason for everything I do.
To my sister and niece, who mean the world to me.
To the fans for their love and support.
You are all amazing, and I can’t thank you enough for all you do!
JIT/Beta Readers
Randy Barber
Tracey Byrnes
Terresa Peterson
Lori Hendricks
Kelly O’Donnell
Jessica Papastergion
Ron Gailey
Audri Taggart
Sarah Weir
Darlene Heisserer
Tess Warner
Diane L. Smith
If we left anyone out, please let us know!
Links
Valkyrie Publishing
www.ValkyriePublishingLLC.com
www.facebook.com/ValkyriePublishingLLC
Twitter: @ValkyriePublish
CANDY CRUM
www.CandyCrumBooks.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Candy-Crum/e/B006RZYQCU/
www.facebook.com/CandyCrumBooks
www.facebook.com/groups/thecandyshopgroup/
Twitter: @authorcandycrum
Make sure to follow the Valkyrie fan page and especially the Candy Shop group. In there, you will get to see pre-release information including artwork (which fans get to be a part of deciding about changes), first looks at upcoming projects, and just have a damn good time!
Locations are based on reality but have been altered along with history to fit the story. Have fun and enjoy the new world! <3
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Prologue
(ATTN: IF YOU HAVE THIS COPY, AMAZON HAS SENT OUT THE WRONG ONE.
A return/repurchase OR checking for “updates” works to fix the issue.
Sometimes Pre-Orders don’t send correctly, and this is the easiest/fastest fix. Thank you SO much for the patience. If you have any further questions, please email me directly at [email protected] and I will work to fix the problem! Thank you so much!
***
Storm clouds rolled in, bringing with it a light wind. Thunder rumbled overhead as rain began to fall, each drop tapping against the window. Sayen tossed and turned in bed. Sleep had become increasingly difficult over the past several days. Sweat beaded on her wrinkled forehead, and her dark, ash-colored hair stuck to her face as she began to breathe heavily.
“Sayen,” Khanae said from the door. “Sayen!”
The seemingly older sleeping woman could hear the faintest echo of her long-time friend calling her name, but she couldn’t seem to respond. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and met with the emerald green eyes of the powerful woman sitting on her bed, firmly holding her with concern all over her expression.
“What’s wrong? That’s the worst one this week,” Khanae said.
Sayen was about to speak, but a sharp pain ripped through her head. She screamed as she gripped both sides, the sensation slowly burning its way through her entire body as the lightning outside webbed across the sky.
She felt strong arms around her, but she quickly pushed them away, stumbling out of bed to stand. Opening her eyes, she looked down at her hands only to see just how badly they were trembling.
In a flash, the light came on. Sayen hadn’t even seen Khanae move across the room, but as old and powerful as her friend was, almost no one could track the vampire’s movements when she made them with purpose.
“Sayen,” Khanae said, a slight shake to her voice.
That only made Sayen worry even more. After all, what did an ancient vampire have to be afraid of?
“What?” Sayen barely choked out.
Her entire body still shook as the pain held tight. Tears threatened her eyes, but her fear of what was happening kept them at bay.
Khanae pointed to the mirror over Sayen’s dresser. “Look.”
She shook her head as tears stung her eyes. She didn’t want to look. Without a doubt in her mind, she knew what she would see if she turned. She knew what was happening to her because of the explosive changes she felt in the world—the rapid changes she felt in herself.
A new life would soon be born, one she had watched for over the decades and had been nearly certain would never come.
Taking a deep breath, Sayen turned toward the mirror. Even mentally preparing herself hadn’t been enough when she took in her appearance. It had been one hundred years to the day since she had completed the ritual with her late husband, binding her spiritual powers and making her human as a result—or so she had thought at one time.
It was painfully obvious that wasn’t the case anymore.
Over the sixty years she spent with him, her physical appearance had changed. She had physically grown old and looked like any other elder. Grey hair, wrinkling skin, slightly slouched posture—though her stamina never really dwindled.
But then her husband had died, and over the decades her appearance had slowly begun to change back to that of a young woman.
Year after year, her hair would change only a slight s
hade or two, lightening from its dark, ashy color as it crept back to the natural, impossibly pure white. It was a color that told the Shadow World exactly what she was—just as wings were to a bird, or a fin to a fish, snow white hair meant that person was an Immortal.
It had taken years, and she still looked as though she were in her late fifties, but now, that was all gone in little more than a few minutes.
Thunder cracked overhead again as she watched her skin rapidly tighten. Her deep brown eyes turned an icy blue, and her scalp ached as her shoulder-length hair grew and fully returned to its original white. Her skin even began to glow with the dark olive tone that was natural for her Egyptian lineage.
She was once again an Immortal. Very different from the Vampire queen now at her side, but still very powerful.
“I can feel something, but I just can’t explain it,” Khanae said. “Why did you change? You’ve been slowly and steadily changing over the years since Taima’s death. Why all at once right now?”
Sayen’s hands now rested on the edge of her dresser as she stood staring hard at herself. Rising to stand, straighter than she had in years, she looked down at her now steady hands. “I can feel them again. The spirits.”
Once again steeling herself, she turned to see several translucent faces in the room that had not been there before. Spirits. She could feel them calling to her, begging her to use their power.
She sighed, tears now freely falling as the pain dissipated. “An Immortal girl was just born,” Sayen said flatly. “One of my grandchildren. I wasn’t sure until I saw the change in myself. These past few days, the mother must have been in early labor. I haven’t felt well for almost the last week. That must have been what caused my sickness. I’ve had dreams for days about a little Native American girl, but I never imagined she was my descendant. I just thought it was me remembering Taima since it was closing in on the centennial anniversary of his death.”
Khanae’s eyes widened. “You’ve watched over them for decades with what very limited power you regained after he died. Every generation. Not a single one of your children, grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren showed any signs of carrying immortal abilities.”
Shaking her head, Sayen said, “I was the one that was fated to give birth to the child that would end the war between our people. When you helped me flee Egypt and I bound my abilities, all that power must have passed down, becoming stronger with every generation. That’s the only explanation—because what I feel, the anticipation of this child… She’s unbelievably powerful.”
“And in comparison to you?” Khanae asked, her eyes narrowed.
“At my absolute best, she will be stronger.”
Khanae’s lips parted in disbelief, and worry etched her features. She stared off, obviously knowing just what that meant. The war would now be able to come to an end, but at what cost?
After three thousand years, the Immortal queen, Khia, would have exactly what she needed to destroy every Vampire, Werewolf, and any other creature of the Shadow World she chose.
That included the person Khia wanted to kill most of all: Khanae, the Vampire queen.
“We can’t let Khia find her,” Khanae said flatly. “I’m assuming the child is a girl, yes? Where is she?”
Sayen nodded, doing her best to ignore the intense power blossoming inside her. It would take time to re-learn how to control it again. Suppressing it was proving to be just as difficult.
“A little girl. She’s in Indiana.”
Once again, Khanae appeared shocked. “Indiana? How the hell can you sense her from southern California? You’re so weak, and she doesn’t have active powers.”
“I don’t think you realize just how strong she is—or will be, I guess I should say. If we don’t bind her powers, and soon, Khia will find her. I have no doubt Khia felt her enter the world just as I did. She’s like a beacon in the night. We must go. Now,” Sayen said, suddenly feeling stronger with the need to protect her descendant.
Khanae smiled, placing a hand on Sayen’s shoulder. “I’ll wake Aeric and Brett. We’ll find her. I swear to you, I won’t let anything happen to her.”
Sayen smiled back, but it was sad. “If what I’ve foreseen in my dreams from earlier tonight and the last several days are true, she won’t need either one of us to protect her when the time comes. I just hope she took after me, instead of her other ancestors.”
Because her power continued to grow so quickly, Sayen could now see Khanae’s vampiric red aura that was indicative of just what she was. It was yet another development in the Immortal’s rapidly growing abilities.
The Vampire’s aura darkened to a deeper, blackish red with a quick tinge of anger as she spoke. “Then all we can do is protect her now. When she’s older—when she’s ready—we can show her the way. The war will end with her. Let’s just hope she chooses to fight for what’s right.”
Chapter One
Twenty-Four Years Later
“Aaah!”
The scream echoed inside the basement walls. Aeric only smiled as Sayen pulled her hand away from their captive’s shoulder.
“Please! Please, don’t kill me. I didn’t come here to hurt anyone, I swear it,” the young Rogue Vampire cried.
“See, I’m not exactly sure I believe that,” Aeric said. “If you meant no harm, you’d tell us what you know.”
The man shook his head, his eyes wide. “I don’t know anything! I swear it.”
Aeric smiled again. “So much swearing about trust, but you forget… You’re Rogue. You survive by feeding on humans exclusively—and not in the way where they can enjoy it. You torture them. You get off on watching them squirm and hearing their hearts race. What you fail to realize is that even if you are telling the truth—and you’re not—you’re still guilty. You know the law.”
There was a hitch in the Rogue’s breath as he gave a shaky nod. “No killing humans.”
“Child molesters, rapists, and murderers. If you must kill, that’s who you take. I smell death on you now, so I know you killed just moments before you arrived. Do you deny it?” Aeric asked, his voice cold and distant.
His emerald green eyes had a reddish-black ring around the irises, and aside from his posture, flaring nostrils, and other mannerisms, it was the most telltale sign of his annoyance and anger.
Aeric could see the wheels turning in the Rogue’s mind as he decided whether or not he wanted to attempt lying. Finally, he blurted out, “Okay! I did. It was a young mother. The father had just taken their son into the house. Are you happy? I’m sorry! I won’t do it again. I swear it.”
“There’s that word again. You were human not long ago. Don’t you remember what it feels like to be scared for your life? Don’t you remember what it felt like when that Rogue—the one that turned you—came for you that night? Just because a monster turned you, doesn’t mean you don’t have choices over your actions.”
Aeric paused, watching the emotions cross the Rogue’s face. The man swallowed hard as he looked into Aeric’s eyes. He wasn’t very old for a Vampire, only coming up on his second century, but he and his fraternal twin brother, Bret, were royalty. They had been turned by Queen Khanae.
Vampires could smell the power in his blood and instinctively knew who he was.
“Here’s the deal that I’m going to offer you,” Aeric said, leaning his six and a half-foot-tall frame over, his straight, shoulder-length black hair hanging forward. “If you tell me what I want to know, you’ll die quickly. I’ll rip your heart out, and it’ll be done. You will die for your crimes, but not as a traitor.” He stood, his eyes narrowing. “If you don’t tell me what I need to know, Sayen will purify you.”
The Rogue’s eyes widened, and Aeric knew he had him exactly where he wanted him. Death would be painful no matter what, but Immortals were natural-born enemies of Vampires. Their intense spiritual power allowed them to turn a Vampire to ash just by touching them.
In this case, Sayen was highly motivated, so he knew she would
make it slow and agonizing if necessary.
“Okay,” the Rogue said finally. “I’ll take the quick death.”
Nodding, Aeric said, “Good. Now, who sent you here to spy on us? What are they after, and what else do we have to worry about from them?”
“We’ve sensed the Immortal queen getting closer. My sire told me that his brother saw her in southern Indiana. At first, we thought she might be coming here to Louisville to look for you guys,” he said, voice shaking.
Sayen stepped forward, her hands resting on the Rogue’s shoulders from behind. His breath hitched in his throat as a shiver went through his body. Aeric could tell by the dark blue in her ordinarily light blue aura that she was barely containing her anger—and her power.
“You said, ‘at first.’ What happened to change that?” Sayen asked.
He swallowed hard. “Well, you guys have never stayed in one spot for too long, but you’ve been in Louisville for almost twenty-five years. That wasn’t too much of a tell, but when Khia showed up and stayed within a fifty-mile radius of you, we knew something was up. We assumed she wanted you guys, of course. But when she slowly started inching her way north of the Ohio River, we knew what must be happening.”
Aeric growled. “And what exactly would that be?”
“Uh… W-well… It’s no secret that the Elysian was born about the time you guys came here.” He cleared his throat, trying to regain some of his composure. “When Khia showed up, and we realized you hadn’t moved in nearly a decade and a half, that told us the Elysian was close.”
Aeric saw the flash of anger on Sayen’s face and in her aura. Her grip tightened on the Rogue’s shoulders. “And what is being done with this knowledge? Where is Khia now?”
“Last I heard, Khia was somewhere in Clarksville hunting her down. Immortals are lost when it comes to finding her. All they can go on are their visions, but that doesn’t work with her powers being bound. But Vampires, though, we can smell her out,” he said.
