Vampire Princess Rising (Winters Saga Series Book 2)

by Jami Brumfield

  When she heard the door close she focused on the box in front of her. With shaky fingers she opened it and the scent of her mother’s lilac and sage perfume flooded her senses, bringing back happy memories of a time long lost. Of a time when all five of them were a family and there was so much happiness, their home was practically overflowing. She wiped the blood tears from her eyes with the back of her hand as she continued to look through the odd items in the tiny box.

  She had no idea what she would find or even what she was looking for, but it was not the few scraps of paper with words written in a strange language. There were also a few rocks or crystals one of the crystals was on a string so she put it around her neck. Energy from the pink crystal filled her and made her feel better. There were also some previously used colored candles, some herbs and tiny vials filled with what looked like colored sand. She picked up one of the sand filled vials and tipped it upside down, watching as the sand flowed freely to the other side, like an hour glass, proving gravity existed even in this god forsaken place. The vial felt cold to the touch, or perhaps, that coldness came from her.

  She was hungry. She felt the urge to drink come on strong. Celestia was right, she needed to feed. She closed the wooden box and stored it in the nightstand beside her bed.

  The stables, as her mother called it, were in the basement. Humans were kept in glass boxes. They were provided a comfortable sofa, a table, and a toilet, but little else. Most of them signed on to become Celestia’s pets in hopes they would be turned to vampires. Some, however, were humans that were captured by overzealous vampires and brought over to this dimension.

  None of them were ever killed and most of them died of old age in the glass boxes. It was genetically impossible for a vampire to actually kill a human when feeding. There was a switch ingrained in their DNA which turned off the feeding ability the moment a human’s heart got close to death. It was an ingenious tool developed by the Convent of Souls to help keep vampires and other supernatural creatures hidden from human sight.

  The food supply stayed strong and vampires were able to fulfill their feeding needs without their conscious destroying them for killing someone. The stables were necessary, but they were also barbaric.

  Savvy made her way down the aisle, touching each glass box and offering weak smiles of compassion to her meal tickets as she went. She stopped when she reached Danny’s cage. He was her date for the Homecoming dance a month ago.

  After she was turned she discovered Danny worked for Celestia. He was planted in her life with the sole purpose of gaining her trust and manipulating her to the dark side. The problem was Celestia got impatient and she turned Savvy long before the plan had any chance of becoming successful.

  She also discovered Danny was the one who initially pushed Black Death on her brother. Now, the only human Savvy enjoyed drinking from was him.

  Danny took a step back when he saw Savvy at his door. The fear in his eyes was written all over his face. Savvy took pleasure in watching his fearful anticipation. She slowly undid the lock and placed a hand on the glass. It was a promise she’d be with him shortly. This was one meal she enjoyed toying with before eating, just as he’d enjoyed toying with her and her family. He should be thankful she was engineered to not kill humans.

  She slowly, methodically entered the glass box and smiled when he tried to bolt past her. She reached out with super human strength and speed and wrapped her fingers around his neck as she slammed his body against the glass. “Hello Danny. It’s time for dinner.” Her fangs extended and she sank them into his neck, selfishly keeping the sedative in her saliva away from the wound so he could suffer just a little bit more.

  Chapter Eight

  Hunter

  After the meeting with Celestia, Hunter decided to go back to the compound to work on decoding the book. If Savvy’s behavior at the meeting was any indication, Hunter feared the longer she was under Celestia’s influence, the worse she’d get. He was not going to lose another family member.

  Persephone, Willow, and River greeted him at the door and offered him a cup of tea. He thanked them and declined. He was on a mission, so he made a beeline to Rebecca’s office where the book was stored. Persephone and the kids were on their way out. He assumed they were going to the council meeting, but he had more important things to deal with.

  He went directly to the hidden drawer in the mahogany desk. Rebecca gave him a key and his nervous hands shook as he opened the drawer and pulled out the ancient book. The book always made him nervous when he was near. A surge of power went through his hands as he placed it on the desk.

  He was getting used to the power surge after handling it so many times in the last month. Natalia said the current was because its power recognized his power. That was laughable. He had no power. It was like being a knight without a sword or an archer without a bow. It was unbelievably frustrating.

  His fingers seemed to itch to open the pages and flip through the Grimoire. He was close to breaking the witch code on the book. Maybe tonight would be the night. According to Tomas’ journals this Grimoire was from one of the most powerful witch lines in existence—the Matthews family. According to his grandmother, despite the fact that they held their father’s name, Winters, they were also from the Matthews line on their mother’s side of the family. Natalia believed that was why the book recognized his power even though he had little access to his own personal gift.

  He opened the book to the first page and focused on the strange words that stared back at him. Ever since Rebecca had given him the book he’d struggled over the text on the first page. Natalia told him most likely the key to decoding the book was somewhere on this page. It’d been two weeks and he’d tried everything from anagrams to the first letters or last letters of each word. In fact, he’d tried every letter combination available to him on the page and nothing worked. To say he was getting impatient was an understatement.

  “How is the challenge coming along?” Sundae Monroe’s wispy voice echoed quietly in the room, effectively breaking his concentration.

  He sighed heavily. Sundae was an example of why it was important to never judge a person by their appearance. She was a tiny girl, probably the smallest in her class. At one time Hunter thought she was doll like—she definitely looked as fragile as a porcelain doll. Her long moon colored hair with two black streaks framing her face only helped with the illusion. Her pale skin and sky blue eyes actually gave her a ghost-like appearance. But according to Rebecca and Natalia, Sundae was one of the worst types of supernatural beings. She did her damage in the dream world. She was a modern day, albeit pretty, ‘Freddy Krueger’ and not someone you wanted to upset. “Hello, Sundae.”

  That was all the invitation Sundae needed to enter the office and approach him, tentatively, slowly.

  “Any luck finding the key?” she asked quietly.

  “No. I’m afraid I’m hopelessly deadlocked. The secrets in this book are protected well.” He pressed the palm of his hands into his eyes to help him focus.

  “Maybe I can help?”

  “How? Do you have witches blood?” he asked, genuinely curious.

  “No. I’m one hundred percent a dream weaver, and that’s how I can help you.”

  He shook his head confused. “Then I don’t understand. This book can only be unlocked by a witch.” He shut the book. A strange level of protection overtook him.

  “But you aren’t exactly a witch either.” Her voice was eerily cold, using logic against him.

  “Maybe not, but the book recognizes me.”

  “I’m not your enemy, Hunter. Let me help you.”

  “Again I ask, how?” Talking to Sundae was as frustrating as the book’s code.

  “Simple, I help you in your dreams.”

  Hunter laughed. “No way! I know about you, Sundae. I won’t allow you in my dreams.” Did she think he was mad? She’d killed people in the dream world, helped Gabriel brand his sister, and gods only knew what else she had done.

  �
�You can’t keep me out. I’m only asking permission now because I promised Rebecca I won’t give her any more dreams without her allowing me to. You’re her brother, so I extend the same courtesy to you.”

  “No thank you.” He stood up. Sundae scared him to the core and the way she was looking at him made him even more uneasy.

  “You have no need to be frightened of me.” She smiled sweetly—even that smile made his skin crawl. He knew better than to let her know she had any power over him. It was a survival instinct that he’d learned to listen to long before he ever met Sundae or learned of his own ties to the supernatural.

  “I’m not!” His words were rushed and his body language gave away his apprehension. Her satisfied smile proved she knew the truth.

  “You are. Don’t worry, that is wise. People should fear me. I can do horrible things. I have done horrible things.” Her eyes stared past him, into some faraway place he couldn’t see. She returned her attention to him and shivered. “But I really can help you. You stem from the family line that created the book, correct?”

  “I guess.”

  “Okay, my thought is the answer is in your subconscious. Dreams are the tools of communication from the subconscious. I can help you unlock any secrets that might lie there.”

  She was making sense, despite his rational fear. She may be onto something. But he didn’t completely trust her motives. “So why do you want to help me?”

  “Because your sister told me once that I should try giving dreams to help people, and you need help. In a way, I’m indebted to her and so I’d like to help you.”

  He chuckled. One thing he was learning about Sundae was that she was honest to a fault. “So you won’t hurt me?”

  “I promise. But I can give you a secret to help you in case you don’t trust me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You can do anything in your dreams. All you have to do is think it, wish for it really hard, and you can manifest it into reality. If you feel threatened create a moon rock sword and run it through my heart. It will kill me and break our connection.”

  Hunter swallowed hard. She just told him how to kill her. She just gave him her greatest weakness. He didn’t want to kill her. While this information was scary, it also said she was honestly trying to help him.

  “That’s a secret we aren’t allowed to tell anyone. I trust you to keep my secret.”

  All Hunter could do was nod. He would. “Okay, let’s do this. What should I do?”

  “Lie down on the couch.” He did.

  “But I’m not tired.”

  “No worries.” She knelt beside him and placed one hand on his. An electrical current shot up his arm at her cold touch. Without another word she blew some shiny dust over his eyes and after one heartbeat he was falling asleep.

  Chapter Nine

  Rebecca

  Rebecca went to the council meeting with Lucky and Gabriel. She sent Sundae and Hunter to her compound and Natalia went home after the meeting with Celestia. She also asked Gabriel to call in some loyal reinforcements. She had a feeling things were going to get messy tonight and she wanted to make sure there was enough backup in case a battle took place in the stadium style meeting room.

  The entire trip over, Siren was snapping and snarling in her mind. She was irritated with Rebecca’s choices and Becks really couldn’t blame her for it. Her decision to go along with Celestia’s plan wasn’t entirely smart but she was, once again, backed into a corner. Gabriel wasn’t any better. He had decided to give Rebecca the silent treatment. She couldn’t even talk to him with their telepathic connection. She just hoped he could still hear her thoughts and maybe he’d be able to understand why she made the choices she did. Lucky wasn’t very talkative either, but at least he hadn’t completely shut her out.

  They made it to the Vacuum shop in quick fashion. Lucky entered in the codes for both doors and they made their way down the torch lit tunneled stairway.

  When they arrived to the large meeting room, which looked more like a grand stage on Broadway, the room was already pretty full. Most of the council members were already seated. The air was thick with apprehension. Rebecca’s eyes zeroed in on Violet who was talking to Katarina, the child vampire Rebecca helped in Tucson. Gabriel pulled her closer.

  ‘There are far too many vampires from both sides. I think I should call in more reinforcements than I already did.’ Gabriel broke his silent treatment by speaking into her mind. His voice was rich, deep, and smooth. It was like a comforting companion. She nodded her agreement.

  Gabriel didn’t take his hand off her hip, pressing her against his body possessively. She fought the urge to melt into him. Keep it together, she told herself. He flipped open his phone and dialed Persephone. “Call in the rest of the pack,” he barked the order. He was always sexy, but even more when he was being the dominant male.

  Persephone answered, “Okay.” And hung up on him.

  As they made their way to the front of the room Rebecca felt multiple eyes on her. Her wolf clawed at her, wanting to get out. It took all her strength to hold her back. Siren had her fill of vampires today. Gabriel helped by sending reassuring messages in her mind, knowing the wolf could hear, hoping the wolf would relax so she could focus on what was happening around them. Rebecca needed all her senses alert and her body ready for anything and she was thankful to Gabriel for helping.

  ‘I’ll protect you,’ he spoke into her mind and it calmed her and Siren. The wolf was head over heels for Gabriel so his voice and promise easily relaxed the angry alpha in her mind—temporarily. And the feelings blossoming in Rebecca for Gabriel only added another level of comfort.

  ‘Thank you.’ Rebecca offered a shaky smile to Gabriel as she sat down in her council seat. The rest of her friends sat in the front row. The meeting went fairly slow for the first hour. The blood brokers, dealers of Black Death, were expanding despite the fact that Lucky had taken Ethan McKenna into custody last month.

  Ethan had given Hunter a pill at the homecoming dance and she’d caught him in the act. One good thing came out of the entire mess—Hunter promised never to touch the stuff again. It appeared there were no lasting effects to the drug, but Natalia was watching him carefully to make sure nothing popped up.

  Rebecca felt confident that he was out of the woods. He was also in training with Grandmother, Natalia, Gabriel, and Lucky, so she felt pretty confident he was going to be okay. It was a relief knowing he was safe. One less worry to be concerned about.

  As the details of the black market drug dealing unfolded it became apparent that locating the drug source was like finding a needle in a haystack. The dealers were elusive and used multiple supernatural beings as covers. No one really had any information, even the Ethan lead came up empty as far as who was masterminding the drug trade. What was apparent was that no one was safe, adult or child, human or supernatural. Everyone was a potential client. In the human world the drug had not been identified at the moment. As far as they were concerned the humans who’d died from the stuff suffered from a psychotic break and their actions brought about their demise. But there would come a time, if they didn't find a way to eliminate the problem, that humans would gain more insight and possibly uncover a world that was best kept hidden below the surface.

  Before the break, Josephine stood in front of all the council and audience members and pleaded for help in solving the case. "Any lead, big or small, will be a great help in removing this threat from our streets. If you’re found hiding information from us that could help us make our homes safer or jeopardize the safety of the supernatural beings that reside in this area, you will be held responsible and crimes of this magnitude could be considered traitorous.”

  Some members in the audience expressed their disgust at the threat with shouts of anger. "The council is traitorous to your own kind! All you care about are the humans! When will we be important? Why threaten us?"

  Francesco attempted to quiet the angry mob down. A mob Rebecca was happy did no
t include her wolves. It wasn't the gavel pounding or Francesco's angry statements "calm down" that made a difference. It was the Protectors who removed the angry crowd out of the stadium style seating. It was clear the Black Death drug was not only taking lives but also creating dissension within the supernatural population. With the Convent of Souls waiting in the wings dissension was not a good thing. When the mob was removed Francesco called for a break.

  Rebecca found her grandmother, Catherine, and pulled her aside for a quick word. "Have you seen Savannah?" she asked in hushed tones.

  Catherine shook her head, worry clouding her sapphire eyes. "No. I was hoping she’d be here tonight."

  Rebecca snorted. "Not likely. Celestia wouldn't relinquish her control of her that easily. But I’m concerned about her. She isn't herself."

  "No, I suppose not. She’s a vampire under Celestia's grasp. I don't think she’ll be normal for a long time." Catherine pointed out.

  "It’s worse than that. She tried to drink a kid’s blood. She let Celestia break her bones to get my agreement to help her," Rebecca hissed. A small level of disgust entered her mind every time she thought of the incident.

  Catherine sighed heavily. "Vampires drink human blood. It doesn't matter the age. If they’re hungry they drink just as you drink water. That’s why the Convent of Souls redesigned the vampire virus to shut down feeding just before the human dies. As far as the breaking bones, Celestia has never been very nice to her sired children. What we need to do is focus on getting her out from under the vampire’s control.” Catherine whispered the last part.

  Rebecca couldn't believe her grandmother was defending such a heinous action, and had to remind herself that the witches were supposed to remain neutral. It also helped she was willing to engage in a rescue mission sometime in the future.

  Francesco called the meeting back to order by calling up Celestia. When Celestia stood at the podium Rebecca’s heart stopped beating for a few moments and she held her breath. It was show time and her reinforcements were not all there. Some were though. At the moment she was about thirty strong. If a fight broke out she was certain they’d be able to hold their own, at least for a short time. She hoped that didn’t happen. She didn’t want to have any more death on her hands. The vampires she killed trying to rescue Savvy still haunted her dreams at night sometimes. The wolf did her best to protect her, but even her alpha had to sleep.