A Crown of Blood and Bone: Paranormal Romance (The Shadow Walkers Saga Book 1)

by Sloane Murphy

  “I can’t, this is meant to be a time of reflection. To come to peace with the decision you have made, to accept everything that is to come on the new path you have taken. I imagine Mom will be here soon to walk you through it all properly. I am not your guide, but you’ll meet them soon too.”

  “My guide?” I ask and he shakes his head.

  “I’ll see you out there okay?” he says and hugs me tightly again. It centers me and stops the shudder that threatened to wrack my body. I don’t want to be afraid. I made this choice, and regardless of the chaos it brings, and the pain caused by it, to me and everyone else, I know that I was meant to do this. I was meant to be here. So, I take a deep breath and release him.

  “I’ll see you out there,” I say to him, and shut the door as he leaves, leaving me with nothing more than my thoughts.

  I sit in the dark room, illuminated only by the flicking of the candles. I have no idea why all the candles when there is obviously electricity here for all of the security, it must be a tradition thing. It’s so quiet, I almost daren’t make a noise.

  My thoughts fly a million a minute while I try to prepare myself for whatever is about to happen. A guide Creek said. What the hell is a guide?

  I’m pulled from my thoughts by the door opening, I stand just in case I need to move and Maddie’s smiling face appears.

  “Oh sweetheart!” she says and rushes in to hug me. “I can’t believe this day is here already! Your mom would be so proud of you. I’m sorry she can’t be here to help you with all of this, but I will be here for you every step of the way, okay?” She brushes some hair from my face that’s fallen from my ponytail and sighs.

  “Thanks Maddie. It’s all a little daunting,” I tell her and she laughs.

  “It’s so funny to see how you are without the past influencing you. I’ve always thought it. Just don’t let the past change you too much okay? Now, your guide is on his way, he’s one of the elders, he will complete the ritual and will be the one to guide you through your memories and get them in order, at least the ones that appear at the start. After the initial flood, as memories come back they seem to automatically make sense and slot in. It’s a funky process, and I’m glad I’m not a guide so I don’t have to think about how it works. But, Ben is an old and dear friend of our families, and he asked to be the one to guide you through this.”

  “Er, okay,” I say, not really sure what to make of it all, but I shrug because the who doesn’t really make a difference to me at this point.

  "He's just outside, so I'll go grab him, and then he'll walk you through some stuff before we get started okay?"

  "Sure," I smile at her halfheartedly.

  She opens the door and waves in an older man who instantly strikes me as kind. His smile is soft as he enters and looks me over.

  "Good morning, Remy. I'm Ben, its pleasure to meet you, again," he says and shakes my hand, the calluses on his are rough against the soft skin of mine.

  "Hi," I say, unsure what else to say because this feels awkward as hell.

  "I'll see you soon. Love you Rem," Maddie says and waves, leaving the two of us alone in the small room.

  “Come child, I know this must be a lot for you to take in. Now before we complete the ritual, I want to go through some things with you, I know your family will have started to explain, so why don’t you tell me what you’ve got a grasp on so far, and I can expand from there.” Ben’s kind eyes make me feel better in all of this madness. The elders, for the main part, are kind of terrifying, but he, well he’s a good guy. I remember when he would visit when I was a child, he always had so much patience, I guess that’s why he’s the guide.

  “So, this all still sounds ridiculous inside my head, and even more so when I try to say it out loud, but essentially, monsters are real, and I’m a monster Hunter.” I feel the blush rise up my neck, the words still feel absurd, even though I know their truth.

  “Do not worry child, in these modern times when the fear of supernatural is merely just something for the movies, you are not alone in your hesitance to believe. Both your brothers and your friend, Creek struggled with accepting the reality we live in.” His voice is warm and smooth, and his words make me relax. I try not to smile at the thought of Bauer trying to accept this as truth, he’s only five years older than me, but I remember when we were kids, he’d ridicule us for watching scary movies, berating us for being scared of something so obviously untrue that we were only scared of our imaginations.

  “Thank you.” I smile at him.

  “Let me start from the beginning, shall we? So, as I’m sure your father told you, we, the Hunters are nephilim. Of Angel blood. Our people have been around since the beginning of time, protecting the humans, and ensuring they never become aware of the true world. Our faction are governed, if you will, by the Elders, and each Elder looks after their own territory, which we usually refer to as a guild. We are not immortal, but we are pretty hard to kill thanks to our blood, and we are reborn if we are killed. You, I believe, are on your twelfth rebirth, and in each life you have chosen the life of a Hunter, so you will have many memories coming to you. You may not regain all of your memories of your past lives, which is why we do this fun little bit in each life, so you have the facts. You may regain all of your memories, but usually the process takes around six months, after that point, anything that is missing is unlikely to come back.” He pauses and watches me as it all sinks in. Twelfth life. I mean, I know my dad told me that already, it just hadn’t sunk in until now. Well shit, maybe that explains all the fucking sex dreams recently. My heart skips a beat as I think of Jack and the look on his face when I broke off the engagement, my ring finger still feels bare.

  “Now, the reason you are finding out now, rather than when you are younger is because of the power of the memories, and the steps of the ritual. Your powers as a Nephilim do not awaken until near your twenty-first year. I’m sure you’ve noticed some things already, more strength than you had before, maybe better sight or hearing, being faster and more graceful than you once were. That is your body finally accepting the power in your blood.

  We must wait until your power is accepted, because otherwise the memories, the sheer intensity of the power, would kill you. So do not be too hard on those around you.” He looks at me knowingly. “They left to protect you, new Hunters are less on guard, they have to learn, but once our memories are fully restored and we can be sure of our words and actions, it is safe to be around our young again. I understand you had a small taste of what happens when knowledge is given too soon.”

  He looks at me and I blush a little. He’s not wrong, I swear I can still feel a ghost of the pain in my head.

  “Any questions yet?” he asks and I shake my head. My mind hasn’t stopped whirring since I found out what I really am, so I just want to listen and soak it all in. While training has been one thing, I haven’t given myself chance to focus on the fact that monsters are real, and that’s what I’m training for. I’ve always been great at compartmentalizing, and I’ll be fucked if I didn’t shove that little nugget in a box so far down into the depths of my psyche.

  “Okay, so now you know more about us, I’ll explain a little more about the other factions. There are our enemies, the Dracul, who you would associate with Vampires as the modern world has deigned to call them, and the Lycans, again, you would probably know them as what cinema has called Werewolves. You’ve got to love the modern spin on everything.” He shrugs with a smile and a sparkle in his eye, as if he’s teasing me.

  “These two factions are a drain on our world. They prey on the weak, the humans. They feed on them, kill them for sport, or keep them as pets. Both factions can be made as well as born, but those who are made, if not done properly, are even more dangerous, they are the scourge of the earth, and the filth must be destroyed.” His warm voice, now cold and venomous shocks me. His eyes bleed with pain, and I imagine that when my memories come back, I’ll feel the same sort of hatred he does. How dare these fact
ions treat humans this way!

  “And then, then there are the Witches. They are a torn faction, some work with us, some for the filth, and others will simply work for whoever pays the most. They are rarely a loyal bunch, but we occasionally need their gifts.” The venom in his voice lessens, but I can tell that he doesn’t like the fact that Hunters must rely on the Witches for anything. One thing I have noticed, is that Hunters are a proud, stubborn, egotistical bunch. None more so than the elders. Though, considering what Fallon told me when she announced she was a witch, this little bit of information isn’t something I didn’t already know, but I’m not going to interrupt him when he’s obviously working towards something.

  “The Dracul and the Lycans, while they are tough to kill, it is not impossible. We have blades and bullets made with materials that are deadly to them, their one main weakness. A Dracul’s weaknesses are different to those of the Lycans, but you will garner all of this in your training and from your memories as they come back to you,” he tells me and pats my hand, gone is the angry cold warrior, and his warm, soothing demeanor back. It throws me, that he could be these two very different people, but I guess with many lives, and the many different people you are, personality whiplash is to be expected.

  “Have we known each other before?” I ask hesitantly and he smiles.

  “We have. When we are reborn, it is always to the same lines, and our eyes or birthmarks tell us who we are. Your eyes have always been the bright violet you possess, in your first life, you were almost condemned by the humans to be a witch because they are so unusual. But it is how we always know that you are Remington Bennett, along with the birthmark on the inside of your left wrist.” I gasp and look down at my wrist, the strange star there that has always been. “It is the sign of the Bennett line, each of your family has one, and then they each have their own differentiating marks too.”

  “This is so weird, so my brother is always my brother?” “I can see how it could be that way, but yes, if your brother is reborn in the same life cycle as you, then he is always your brother. Sometimes new lives are born, for example, in your first life, it was just you and Bauer. Colt didn’t appear until your third life. But you don’t all always appear in the same cycle. So, some of your cycles, you’ve been an only child, some were all three of you, sometimes, just two of you. There isn’t an exact science as to how or why, its more about the need of time. Anyway, as I was saying, Creek isn’t always reborn when you are, he didn’t show up until your fourth life I believe, but when he is reborn, we always know that you are coming. The two of you have been friends for centuries. The fates play a very strange game with us all.”

  “So, you mean fate makes us friends?” I rub my temples, because this is all a lot.

  “Something like that, but as your memories return, you will see what I mean.” He pats my hand reassuringly.

  “So, the ritual? Is it painful?” I ask hesitantly, almost not wanting to know.

  “Not as such, but it does depend on how much comes back to you at the beginning, if it’s one big hit, or a trickle. It is different for each of us each time. Fate is a bit of a minx like that.” He winks at me and I laugh, some of the tension leaving me.

  “Thank you, I needed that.” I smile.

  “Of course, my dear, it is what I am here for. Now, speaking of the ritual, if you have no other questions, you must dress, and then we shall begin.” He stands and offers me his hand. I take it and stand beside him.

  Ready or not, I guess.

  Eleven

  I follow Ben back into the main domed room that Creek showed me earlier, except now, all but one of the elders chairs are full, and my family and friends are dotted around the edges of the room. Even Nate made it back, I smile at him and he winks at me, setting me at ease a little.

  I pull the robe tighter as we walk across the room to the alter, my hair floats around me, free from its binding, and Ben takes my hand.

  "I present Remington Elise Bennett to the elders, ready and prepared to take her oaths as a Hunter," he says and they all murmur their acceptance back.

  "Do you, Remington, swear to uphold the Hunter laws, our way of life, and vow to protect our faction against all odds, at all costs?" the man in the center chair of the platform asks and I gulp, because I don't even really know what I'm agreeing too. But I clear my throat regardless.

  "I do," I say clearly, trying to hide the nervousness I feel. "Then let us begin," his voice booms around the room and it’s as if a blanket settles over me, a weight I didn't feel before. Ben motions for me to remove the robe and to lie on the alter, so I do, and holy motherfuckers this shit is cold. I can't help the goosebumps that cover my skin as I lay down, trying not to squeak as my bare skin comes into contact with the dark stone.

  "Fata vocant, ad hanc adducere nos ut in venator nobis," Ben says as he stands at the head of the alter, placing his hands on my temples. "Rogamus autem vos, Angelus scientiam, ut restituat in aedis dedicandae se unum ex memoria vobis."

  I lie still, when the room begins to glow, and heat rises from the alter below me. The symbols carved into the stone around me begin to glow, and I just know that the symbols beneath me are glowing too.

  "Close your eyes," Ben whispers to me, and I do, unsure of what is to come.

  "Remington Bennett, your body is marked with the symbols of the Angels, one for each life you have had, for each life you have dedicated to the cause." His voice rings out, and I feel the symbols on my body, they almost itch, and it's as if they're coming to life.

  "Angelus autem ducibus nobis dona puer hic noster de quo in suis bonis quasi unus accipit vera semita."

  His voice grows distant as the pain increases as the marks on my body increase in heat.

  "Ut rogatus est, et illud fieri."

  The Latin becomes nothing more than a whisper as pain wracks my body and my mind, and I feel tears stream down my face as the pain grows too much.

  Pictures inside my mind hit me, feelings, faces and so much more. My mind screams at the flood of memories, until I can't hold it any longer, and the screams escape me. I try to move, to escape, but my body is held in place, so I can barely move. And then, a warmth washes over me and the pain subsides as the warmth grows at the back of my neck, a pressure growing, and just when I think I can't take it any longer, it releases and I hear an intake of breaths and groans in the room around me. I open my eyes and sit up slowly, finding the others in the room sat on the floor, either groaning or holding their heads.

  "What the hell was that?" one of the elders asks, looking to Ben who is sprawled on the floor at the head of the alter. I jump down and go to him, his nose bleeding. I shake him gently, and he moans opening his eyes.

  "Are you okay?" I ask and he laughs. "I'm quite fine," he says, sitting up.

  "You need to explain," a woman of the elders asks. "This is quite unusual."

  I look around the room at the bewildered looks of my family. Of course, I get to be the weirdo amongst the freaking monster Hunters.

  "It was the power of the Angel. Apparently, Remington here was Angel blessed in one of her last lives, and because the flood of memories was more than I have ever known, possibly because of her age span, the Angel’s protection kicked in to keep her safe."

  The others in the room all look at me, a mixture of shock and awe, with a hint of suspicion from some of the elders too.

  "Angel blessed? Well, I'll be damned," my dad’s voice echoes across the room and I look to him as I slip the robe back on from where it was pooled on the floor.

  "Erm, are you sure it worked properly. I don't feel any different," I say quietly to Ben as I help him stand.

  "Yes dear, it went almost exactly as planned. It will take a few days, and then all that was restored today will become a part of you fully. You may feel a little disorientated for a few days, so I suggest resting. But, let me be the first to say, welcome to our faction." He bows slightly and I cringe a little, trying not to let it show because why the hell would he b
ow.

  "Thank you," I say to him before turning to my dad who has moved to stand at my back.

  "Thank you, all of you, for receiving us, and so quickly," he says, meeting each of the elder’s eyes.

  "You are welcome," Ben tells him with a warm smile, and I feel my dad’s hand settle on my shoulder.

  "Let’s get you dressed, Remy, and then we can head back to the house." His gruff voice reassures me, he's still my dad, I'm still me, even with everything. I nod and walk from the room, leaving the noise of chatter that starts behind me as I leave.

  Hurrying into the room I was in before, I discard the robe and throw on my jeans, t-shirt, and chucks, slinging my jacket over my shoulder, and hauling ass out the way we came in. I don't want to be here longer than I have to be. This places creeps me out, a lot.

  "Where you running to?" I hear Creek’s voice call out behind me as I reach the stairs to climb out of here.

  "I need some air, you coming?" He nods and jogs towards me, joining me as I almost run up the stairs, pushing open the heavy door with a thud. I suck in deep breaths of the fresh air and just breathe until my heart stops racing.

  "Well, you just always have to outdo us all don't you?" Creek teases, nudging me with his shoulder.

  "What can I say, I'm just that awesome." I laugh and walk toward the car.

  "I suppose everyone’s going to want to know about the Angel blessed thing, huh?"

  "You could say that," he laughs. "I've never, in all my lives, heard of anyone being Angel blessed, so I'm going to guess that yes, people are going to have questions." I groan and he laughs again as he climbs into his truck.

  "Want to grab donuts and coffee on the way back? Give yourself some more time, some space, before the madness at your dad’s begins?"

  "Yes, hell freaking yes. You are a god send, Creek Winchester!"

  "Technically, Angel sent, but eh, details," he laughs, and I shove him playfully.