First Blade (Awakening Book 1)

by Jane Hinchey

  The warriors discussed battle strategy while Georgia looked out the window at the dark night, her human eyes making out nothing of the landscape they passed. She noticed the small townships they drove through before nothing but black landscape again. The countryside surrounding Redmeadows was beautiful, full of small townships built to accommodate local wineries. Some of their wines were famous worldwide, which gave her a sense of pride.

  She'd never heard of Crystal Lakes, but then Aston had said it was abandoned, so that was probably why.

  In the middle of the black night, the SUVs slowed, finding an almost hidden track off the main highway. Turning off their lights, they crept along. Georgia peered outside but couldn't make out much. After a couple of miles on the rough, overgrown track, shadows of buildings appeared, but as they got closer Georgia could see that they were derelict, practically falling down. No one had lived or worked this vineyard for many, many years.

  The SUVs pulled to a halt and the warriors disembarked, disappearing into the night. Georgia slowly followed, Zak by her side.

  "They're not here," she said sadly.

  "They're not far. We didn't expect them to be at the winery itself, way too easy for them to be found or disturbed. The boys are searching; they'll pick up the trail."

  True to his word Cole soon appeared in front of them.

  "On foot from here. See those hills?" he turned and pointed. Georgia could see nothing but blackness, but Zak nodded. "They took her that way. Possibly a cave or some sort of underground facility. The signal dropped out." Georgia sucked in a breath. Cole put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, we don't need the signal this close. We can track 'em ourselves."

  They set off on foot, the vampires slowing their speed to accommodate her human pace. Georgia frowned as they walked between the old dead vines. While she tried to keep her footfalls quiet, she sounded like a herd of elephants compared to the vampires with her, who seemed to glide across the ground without a sound. Frank halted them.

  "You need to stay here," he told her. "It's not safe for you to go any further."

  "No way! I'm coming with you," she protested.

  "Georgia, please," Zak grabbed her hand, "We need to focus on getting your sister out of there alive. You will slow us down and be a distraction we don't need. Wait here. Please."

  Frustrated and annoyed, she sullenly nodded. Zak led her to a large tree and positioned her behind the trunk, deep in the shadows.

  "Stay. Put." He growled.

  She watched as they moved to what appeared to be a cave entrance in the side of the hill. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could just make out their shapes before they disappeared into the gaping black pit. She waited all of two minutes before creeping across the ground as quietly as she could and following them into the black void.

  Turns out what appeared to be a cave was, in fact, an old mine shaft, held up with massive timber beams. She shuddered to think how rotten they were and how imminent a cave-in was. The first few feet were total darkness and she kept a hand against the wall as she shuffled along. The tunnel slowly curved and beyond the curve, sporadic lanterns had been stretched along the tunnel, casting just enough light to see by.

  The tunnels were cold and dry, the dirt beneath her feet kicking up dust and making her want to sneeze. She peered ahead, seeing no one. She strained her ears but silence greeted her. She slowly made her way along, following the patches of light. Tunnels branched off from the main one she followed, but they remained in darkness. She figured she was heading in the right direction if she followed the light.

  Finally, she was close enough that she could make out sounds, like a scuffling. She quickened her pace, reaching into her boot and pulling out the dagger, the weight a comforting presence in her hand.

  She reached the end of the tunnel, which opened out into a large cavern. She could hear shouting, the yells echoing around her, and had been expecting to see the battle before her, yet the chamber was empty. With a frown she crept through the entry and stepped sideways, keeping her back to the cold rock of the wall. She couldn't tell which way the sounds were coming from, but they were close. She couldn't see any other exits from the cavern, so she started shuffling around the exterior, hoping to come across some sort of hidden exit. They couldn't have disappeared and the lights had only led in this direction. There was only one light in the cavern, in the center.

  There! A small opening, rising to the level of her hip. She squatted down and peered in. Sure enough, light glowed through the small tunnel and the noises were definitely coming from there. She'd have to crawl through; goodness knows how Zak and his warriors had fit!

  On her hands and knees, she crawled her way through the opening of the short tunnel which led to another cavern, not as big as the first, but this one was well lit, with several lamps strategically placed on the rock floor. She'd noticed from her protesting knees that the ground was no longer soft dirt but hard rock.

  She crawled through and staying low, plastered herself against the jutting rocks to the left of the entrance. No one had noticed her; they were all engaged in punching the snot out of each other. Blades flew, fists connected with flesh, blood and grunts filled the air. She shivered, keeping her own dagger close to her chest.

  Where was Skye? Between the bloody bodies, she spotted her across the cavern; Erik had her pinned against his chest with an arm around her throat, using her as a human shield against Zak. Zak was positively glowing with anger. The two vampires were at a standoff. If she could just distract Erik, that would give Zak the opportunity to lunge and hopefully get Skye out of his clutches uninjured.

  It was pointless to create a distraction from so far away; one of the lesser vamps could easily pick her off and it would all have been for nothing. In the center of the cavern was a massive rock formation, about the size of a car. The top appeared to be flat but had a long rock formation along it. Perfect cover.

  She waited for an opening and darted across the floor, keeping low. She pressed up against the rock, keeping her head down so she couldn't be seen. Vampires continued to fight around her but no one had actually noticed her yet, which amazed her. She continued to shuffle along the rock, cursing the roughness as it scraped against her bare arms. She came around the end, positioned herself behind Erik. Closing her eyes she centered herself, taking a couple of deep breaths before raising her arm and throwing the dagger. She watched, breath held, as the dagger flew through the air, a few more inches and it would be buried between Erik's shoulder blades. Then he moved! What? No. No, no, no. She watched in horror as the blade sailed past him. Into Zak.

  In horror she watched, the blade pushing through muscle and flesh until it came to a halt, hilt deep in the center of his chest.

  She rushed forward, past Erik, her arms outstretched to Zak; his arms instinctively came up to grab hers, keeping them both balanced.

  She raised her terrified eyes to his and he looked at her in wonder, blood leaking from his wound to start trickling down his chest. Oh my god, what had she done? His face paled and his hands slid from her arms to flop at his sides. His knees began to crumble and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

  "ZAK!" she screamed, "No, no, no!"

  "Well, well, well," Erik drawled from behind her, "I couldn't have planned it better myself."

  "It was meant to be you!" Georgia yelled at him, struggling to turn her body that felt as if it was weighed down with wet concrete.

  A loud thud indicated Zak had hit the floor. Georgia turned on Erik in a rage, intent on hurting him in any way she could, despite having no weapon aside from her anger and grief, grief that hadn't fully materialized since her brain couldn't fathom what had just happened. She launched at him and he simply laughed, a solid punch to the side of her head sending her flying. She hit the ground hard, her cheekbone slamming into the rock with a loud crack. Her vision blurred as she blinked her eyes, trying to get her bearings, but the room was spinning and her head hurt.

&
nbsp; She closed her eyes for a minute, when she opened them again she could focus on Zak, laying only a few feet away, eyes open and unseeing, staring up into nothing, her dagger protruding from his chest. A chest that was no longer breathing. Exactly as he'd appeared in her vision.

  She groaned, the pain from her head injury nothing compared to the pain tearing her heart in two. She'd killed him.

  The sounds of battle dimmed around her and she realized the fighting had moved down the small tunnel and into the larger cavern. Only Erik, Skye and Georgia remained. And Zak's body.

  Georgia tried to pull herself up but the pain in her head was debilitating. The cavern spun around her and she gave up, laying her face against the rough cold ground again, ignoring the burning and throbbing in her cheek.

  She watched through blurry eyes as Erik spun Skye to face him. He spoke to her, his voice low so Georgia couldn't make out the words. Skye stopped struggling and looked into Erik's hypnotic gaze. With a nod she stepped away from him, moving across the cavern to kneel at Zak's side.

  "Skye," Georgia groaned, "don't do this. Fight him. Please..."

  Skye's eyes were blank, not indicating she'd even heard her sister speak. She lifted Zak's lifeless hand and slid the ring from his finger. Tears stung Georgia's eyes. No movement from Zak, not so much as a twitch. He'd gone. Left her. And she was the one who'd sent him on his way. Oh god. Her tears pooled on the floor beneath her and she struggled to catch her breath. The pain in her chest burned, her heart hurting with each beat.

  Skye stood, the ring resting in the palm of her hand. She offered it to Erik.

  "Well done, my dear. Now come and stand here." He indicated a spot next to the stone slab in the center of the cavern.

  Erik placed the ring on the crumbled pile of rocks on the slab, then began a chant in words Georgia couldn't understand. He took Skye's wrist in his hand and brought it to his mouth, fangs gleaming. He tore her wrist open, blood dripping from his fangs as he held her dripping hand over the pile of crumbled rocks.

  Georgia stirred. Her sister wasn't in pain, whatever trance Erik had her in had spared her that, but by the way the blood was pulsing from her torn wrist, he'd severed an artery. She was going to bleed out in minutes. She couldn't lose them both. Struggling to her knees, the room swaying and dipping around her in dizzying circles, she crawled the few feet to Zak's body. Distracted, she gently touched his cheek.

  "I love you," she whispered, a tear landing on his cheek, then trickling down his face as if it was he who was crying. Tearing her eyes from him, she wrapped her shaking fingers around the dagger and pulled it free from his chest, the slurping noise making nausea roll in her stomach.

  Erik was still chanting, but he'd moved behind Skye to support her sagging body; the blood that had been pulsing from her wrist was slowing.

  Georgia struggled to her feet, stumbling forward and catching herself on the rock slab to keep her balance. The dagger slipped from her grasp and clanged to the floor but she didn't notice. The pile of rubble on the slab had moved. Changed shape. What she had thought was a pile of rock...was slowly transforming into the shape of a man. Her foggy brain tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Skye's blood was dripping into the man's mouth. His body had changed from rock into a kind of mummified state. The skin looked dry and brittle, but she could see clearly defined limbs and torso. She could make out shadowed eye sockets, a nose, and hollowed out cheekbones as his face started to take shape. On his chest sat Zak's ring.

  Erik stopped chanting and threw Skye's body to the ground behind him, blood still trickling slowly from the wound in her wrist. Georgia didn't know how long her sister had, or if she could save her.

  "You can't," Erik told her, meeting her eyes before looking back down at the Master Vampire who was awakening before him.

  Dazed, Georgia watched too, her world dipping and swaying, unable to make sense of what was before her. The vampire on the stone slab moved, his limbs twitching as blood began circulating through his system once more. Then in a rush of movement, he was up, his skeletal hands gripping Georgia by the shoulders and dragging her to him. His mouth had taken shape, four-inch fangs protruding from dry, cracked lips. Then his fangs sank into her neck and she screamed, the pain horrifying as his fangs pierced her flesh. He guzzled at her neck, pulling in great gulps of her blood and she knew she was about to die here. At least she'd get to be with Zak and Skye again, she thought as her eyes fluttered closed and the darkness took her.

  18

  Rhys frowned at the recorded message telling him the cell phone he'd called was either switched off or out of service. Shoving his mobile back into his pocket he surveyed the front of the burnt out store, his sensitive nose picking up the faint scent of vampire over the heavy stench of smoke and wet ash. First the fire, now he couldn't get a hold of either of the Pearce sisters. His gut told him something was going on. Something bad.

  Stepping into the store, he watched the clean-up crew for a moment before drawing another deep breath. He couldn't be one hundred percent certain, but he didn't think the vampires had been in the shop. Just outside. Although, any traces of them could have been covered by the fire itself. Striding across the floor he made his way to the back entrance and up the stairs to Skye's apartment. That too had suffered smoke damage, but thankfully he couldn't detect any vampires inside.

  He checked the time. Just after ten. He'd been expecting either Skye or Georgia, possibly both, to be here. It was strange that they weren't. He knew how much the shop meant to them, how devastated they'd been when it had been torched. And it had been arson; of that, there was no doubt. It was out of character for both girls not to be here, supervising the clean-up and making plans to get the place up and running again. And giving him grief about finding the bastard who'd done this.

  A shiver crept up his spine. If anything happened to those girls...he didn't want to think about it. More to reassure himself than due to any sense of them really being in danger, he returned to his patrol cruiser and headed out to Georgia's farm house. He smiled to himself - Georgia would give him a serve for worrying about them like a mother hen. She'd lecture him that she was big enough and ugly enough to take care of herself, thank you very much. Even though it was him she'd call when she inevitably found herself in trouble, or drunk and needed a ride home.

  He thought back over the last few weeks and just how often she'd roused him from a deep sleep to drive her drunken ass home. A little too often for comfort, he acknowledged. Something had been going on with her lately, even before she'd gotten involved with Zak Goodwin, and just the thought of the vampire had Rhys's hackles raising. He told himself it was just his protective streak, that his role of protector to the two girls was kicking in, but he'd spent some time reflecting in the bottom of a beer bottle himself and admitted there was a twinge of jealousy there too.

  Pulling to a halt in Georgia's driveway he climbed out, almost staggering at the scent that greeted him. Vampires. Lots of them. He approached the house, hurrying when he noticed the front door standing open.

  "Georgia? Skye?" he called out, hand resting on his gun as he approached. Silence greeted him. Something was definitely wrong. Moving with stealth he climbed the stairs and pressed his back to the wall by the door. Freeing his gun he raised it to his chest.

  "Police!" he shouted. "Nobody move!" He swung into the doorway and froze, gun aimed, scanning the room. Stepping inside he noted the broken furniture, blood, but no bodies. Quickly he worked his way through the house.

  "Police! Call out!" he kept repeating, praying that Georgia and Skye had found a safe place to hide and weren't game to come out.

  Upstairs he checked the bedrooms, frowning when he saw the broken window and torn fly screen in the spare room where Skye would have been staying. He looked down through the window. Had she been taken? Why would vampires kidnap a human? Why not kill her here? Drain her and leave? Because that wasn't what they wanted her for, he surmised. She was needed. For what?

  F
rustrated, he hurried back down the stairs to the living room, crouching and examining the floor. He could scent Georgia here. She'd been injured, had bled. But of all the blood pooled on the floor, only a drop or two were human. Had she been taken too? Why? Why would vampires take two human girls by force? He knew they could glamor humans into doing whatever they wanted, so why do it this way? Was it Georgia's psychic ability that made her a target? He knew she couldn't read vampires - they were already dead after all, but maybe 'they' didn't know that?

  Reaching for his radio, he called it in. Either way, two human women were missing. He knew when they dusted for prints they'd never find a match, just like the blood specimens would come back as being contaminated or some such thing, explaining away what the human police officers couldn't fathom. That vampires, shifters, and werewolves did exist.

  He went back outside and leaned against his cruiser to wait. Pulling out his cell phone he dialed his alpha, Hayden Donovan.

  "Rhys. What's up?"

  "We've got trouble, Hayden. Vampire trouble."

  "What's happened?"

  "I'm not one hundred percent sure yet, but it looks like Georgia and Skye have been taken. Forcefully. Their shop was firebombed the other night, now their house is trashed. Vamp blood everywhere."

  "Vamp blood? Fighting amongst themselves?"

  "Georgia's been seeing Zak Goodwin. I'd say he and his crew were here to help the girls. It's my best guess. I'm going to explore that angle, go and talk to him, see if I can find out what happened, but I need to keep that side of it off the record."