Eternally Forsaken: An Eternal Universe Book (The Eternal Series Vol. 4)

by Candy Crum

  It was a diet that I wouldn’t kill myself with, but it was one that I would build muscle tone and strength with without starving my body. Breakfast was always my favorite meal of the day and right then was no different. Brett said I could make myself omelets using two egg whites and one whole egg, mozzarella cheese, and one slice of turkey bacon. You can’t go wrong with cheese or with bacon, no matter what animal it comes from. I had just gotten up from the table when I heard the knock at the door.

  My heart fluttered and I wasn’t sure why. It was probably just Brett after all. If it was Aeric, that would have made more sense to me. I quickly put my plate in the sink and headed for the door. My blood felt like it was tingling in my veins, and it grew a little stronger with every step, though not nearly enough to hurt. The familiar tingle of my cheeks flushing made me dreadfully aware I was having a very—personal reaction to whoever was on the other side of the door, and I wasn’t a fan of that.

  How was that even possible?

  Immediately, I felt for the energy beyond the door to see who it was. There was no way it was my expected visitor. After only a few moments, I discovered I was right. It was definitely a Vampire, but it certainly wasn’t Brett. He hadn’t made me nervous in a very long time. Though, the energy felt very familiar, I decided to put a barrier up anyway. It was strange; it was like my blood ached for me to open the door, but I knew better without protection, even in the daylight.

  Once the barrier was up, I opened the door, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face from the unexpected visitor. “Jacques,” I said with a smile.

  As beautiful as he was in that poorly lit basement room, he was ten times more beautiful in the early morning sun. His extremely long, shiny, black hair hung loose and reflected the excess light. His medium toned skin was flawless. His eyes were lighter then and almost a clear blue, and his teeth were even more brilliant as he smiled at me.

  “Hello, my goddess. It’s lovely to see that you’re well again and that your powers have not forsaken you,” he said in that sexy, lightly accented, baritone voice of his.

  Remembering I still had the barrier up, I quickly dropped it before stepping outside with him. He reached out for my hand before placing a light kiss on the top. As he lowered my hand, I walked into his arms for a hug. He seemed stunned for a moment, but quickly embraced me as he laid his head down on top of mine and lightly squeezed around my waist. He felt just as good as I remembered, and I cursed my body for having a reaction to him. I didn’t hug him to be a perv; I had simply missed him and thought it was a good idea at the time.

  I quickly pulled out of the hug and took a step back. “What are you doing here? I can’t believe this. How did you find me?”

  I couldn’t help the onslaught of questions. I was so excited to see him. I’d been convinced I would never see him again.

  “My blood still flows through your veins, goddess.” He smiled at me, and my heart jumped from his beauty.

  “I don’t understand. I thought I purified it all. I guess that explains why I somehow sensed you at the door. I just didn’t realize it was you. I understand that sounds ridiculous, but hopefully you got it,” I said with a roll of my eyes at my rambling stupidity.

  He laughed. “Your blood sensed me without your mind identifying me. As for what happened to you, I have thought it over many times, and I think I understand. When the others bit you, they injected you with pure toxins. Your body completely purified the toxins and got rid of them, but with me, it was different. It wasn’t just my toxins inside of you, it was my blood that was coursing through you. Your body only purified the toxins out of it, but my blood remains.”

  “Interesting. Why wouldn’t I have purified all of your blood, too?” I asked.

  “What happens when you purify water? You boil away the impurities, but the water is still in the pot—unless you leave it on the burner too long, of course. Your power boiled away all of the toxins in my blood, but because you passed out and weakened, my blood is still there. It’s not enough to give you vampiric side effects, but it’s enough that I can still tell where you are.”

  “So, I guess that’s a Vampire myth that I can check off as true,” I said with a laugh.

  He laughed, too. “Actually, it’s false. I can’t track everyone with my blood in their veins. We use our blood to heal the wounds we create, and I have been doing that for a long time. I would have gone crazy by now with that connection to all of those people. The only ones we can track are those we sire. In a way, it’s still as though I sired you. You drank my blood, even wielded some of my power, and survived, so I’ll always be able to find you now.”

  “Very fucking interesting to know,” I heard an angry Brett say as he steadily made his way up to us. “Do you really think it’s a good idea for you to be here?”

  “I mean no harm, so I see no harm. I merely wanted to check on her and make sure she was fine,” Jacques replied cooly.

  “Right. And you have absolutely no interest in finishing what you started?” Brett was clearly pissed that Jacques was there and was being more than a little rude.

  “I have absolutely no interest in finishing that convoluted plan. That was the plan of the young one, Jeff. He had us convinced that it would be easy to do and would help end the war. I had no idea that it would kill her, and once I found out, I tried to save her. Kailah requested that I turn her once Amanda was brought into it, but it burned a hole in whatever sliver of a soul I had left. It forever changed me, and I want nothing more than to aide her in whatever way she needs. I want to help her win whatever war it is that she wants to win, even if that kills me.” Jacques was calm and collected and took everything Brett threw at him in stride. I suppose he kind of expected it.

  “Brett, please,” I said. “Please believe him. If he wanted me dead, I would be already. He had no idea you were here and has been here for a few minutes. Not to mention the fact that he could track me this entire time and hasn’t approached me until now.”

  “And how do you propose helping her?” Brett asked, tone a little softer now.

  “Whatever you need. Why are you here? Are you training?” Jacques inquired.

  “Yes. Kailah requested that I be her hand-to-hand combat instructor, so I’m here to do that.”

  “Well, you can use me to teach her. I have traveled the world, same as you. I have also learned different styles of combat. Surely, together we could train her properly. You and I could spar together and show her what it is that you expect of her rather than explaining style and expecting her to move correctly. She could get hurt that way. Plus, it gives you a chance to gain a few free punches if that is what you wish.”

  One of Brett’s brows lifted in surprise. “You would do that for her? I hit like a truck, ya know.” He smiled.

  “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her,” Jacques said with a genuine smile.

  Brett sighed before smiling at me. “Aeric isn’t going to like this. You know that, don’t ya Kay?”

  “Well, it doesn’t really matter what he thinks. But that is exactly why we aren’t going to tell him.” I smiled a big goofy smile at him, and he laughed as he rolled his eyes and walked off.

  “Listen, old man,” Brett said to Jacques. “I may be two and a half centuries younger than you but that is my little sis over there. If anything happens to her, I will rip you apart. Understand?”

  Jacques nodded once.

  “Good,” Brett said. “Then let’s get started.”

  Brett turned and smiled at me just in time for a sharp pain to stab its way through my head. It felt like I had a steak knife sticking through both of my temples. My hands quickly moved up to the sides of my head as the pain brought me to my knees. This was all very familiar to me…

  A Forsaken was coming.

  “Kay!” Brett shouted. His arms were almost immediately around me. “Kay, what is it?”

  “Don’t you smell it?” I heard the warning in Jacques’s suddenly deeper, darker voice.
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br />   “What?” Brett asked quickly.

  I forced myself to look toward Jacques who was now staring at Brett and shaking his head.

  “I suppose it’s up to me now,” Jacques said softly before turning towards the woods. I slowly turned my head to look at Brett and saw that his eyes were completely glazed over.

  “What—is—aah!” I tried to speak to Jacques, but the pain began to throb worse.

  “Only one thing smells like decaying animal and brings young Immortals to their knees while rendering young Vampires useless,” he said as he took a few steps into the yard, bracing himself for the monster that was coming.

  Another pain rolled through me and locked up my entire body with its power. At that moment, a black blur leapt from the heavily wooded area behind my house, growling, snarling, and heading straight for me. Jacques was barely visible as he swiftly ran for the creature attacking us. A noise resembling a small thunder crack sounded out from their incredibly powerful bodies colliding. It was like two vehicles in a car accident.

  My vision was beginning to get cloudy, and my body was trying to pass out, but I somehow forced myself to focus in order to stay awake. I could hardly move, though I managed to bump into Brett to see if I could get a reaction from him. Nothing. Brett was gone to the world, and I may as well have been. It was even worse than the first time!

  I focused back in on the fight in time to hear a loud crunch before seeing Jacques take flight across the yard. My eyes went wide. I wanted to scream, but I was incapable of making noise. I knew he wasn’t dead because I could still sense his vampiric aura, but it was still no less shocking given his age and strength. That Forsaken was really strong.

  “Girl.” The single word rattled its way through my ears, and my body cringed, strangely not from pain, but disgust.

  My vision cleared, and I looked out to the yard. I couldn’t tell if my body was becoming used to the new aura in the battlefield, or if he simply let go of whatever it was he was using to hold me. When my eyes focused, chills ran through me as I saw the large mass of muscle before me. I’d gotten a look at the Forsaken at the college, but this one I saw perfectly with no distractions and no one standing in the way.

  The Forsaken was over nine feet tall and easily weighed over five hundred pounds. He stood on two incredibly muscular legs that resembled the hind legs of a massive dog complete with large, clawed paws. He had a very large chest with a thin torso and hips. His arms were thick and his clawed hands were big. They looked like they could easily rip a truck in half. All of him had me breathless, but what had me absolutely dumbfounded was his head.

  His head was that of a short haired wolf. While he looked very similar to the other one, he looked like he came from another part of the world. His nose was long and thin with razor sharp, snarling teeth, tiny black eyes, and pointed ears on top. His coat was jet-black, sleek, and short in length and reminded me of a Doberman Pinscher’s.

  “What do you want from me?” I asked. He took a few long and graceful strides forward, but stopped long before reaching me.

  “It’s no matter to you now. You cannot be allowed to live.”

  I could still feel Brett’s slack form next to me, and I knew the Wolf would keep his word about killing me now that I had no protection. I also knew that he wouldn’t stop with just me and would also kill Brett and Jacques. I felt for the energy around me used to create a barrier, but I couldn’t find it. Fear swept through me as I realized I had absolutely no way to protect us since there was no way I could fight him. It was obvious that spiritual energy would not affect this monster. I still hadn’t learned much elemental control, and the only thing I had mastered was barriers.

  “Are you trying to raise a barrier against me, young one?” A barking noise escaped him that sounded like laughing.

  It was then that my body was seized in pain again as his deep purple aura flared. He nearly disappeared as he headed toward me with great speed. I couldn’t see him, but I could feel him. It only took a millisecond, but it seemed like slow motion. Jacques slammed into the Wolf’s side and threw him several feet back. He had already healed and was back in the fight.

  “Can you walk, goddess?” he asked.

  “Huh-uh,” I managed. The pain had dwindled some with the space between the Wolf and me, but it was still lagging me greatly.

  “You are powerless against him without elemental power. Spiritual barriers have almost no effect on Rogue lycanthropes this old.”

  I heard a loud growl, and it brought me back to attention. The Forsaken and Jacques were staring each other down, sizing each other up. I knew Jacques wouldn’t take his strength for granted again, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying. The Forsaken slowly leaned over, digging the claws of his paw-like-feet and the claws of his large, powerful hands into the soil. The flesh over his teeth pulled back in another snarl and drool leaked from the corners of his mouth. His deep purple aura flared again, and it made the pain in my head worse, but I managed to push through it.

  If he wasn’t affected by spiritual powers then maybe the things that he caused could be. I used my power to focus on pushing the pain away as I watched the event unfolding before me. Large chunks of earth momentarily littered the air as the Rogue tore through it, using the leverage to power the run toward Jacques. In fluid motion, Jacques jumped several feet in the air, tumbled over once, and landed gracefully on the ground behind a very angry Forsaken. I felt the anger of the earth spirits as the wolf quickly stopped and turned, tearing the grass and soil beneath his claws in the process.

  I could feel the prickling of their souls on my skin as they begged me to use them. If only they would calm themselves long enough to teach me how, I may be able to. As the week had progressed, though I still couldn’t see them, I could feel them easier. When I was in the process of turning into a Vampire and had the best of both worlds battling it out inside of me, I had the power to back up my words and was able to simply demand the spirits follow my orders. I have tried asking for help since, and it’s as if they can’t understand the language that I speak.

  Perhaps they can’t.

  Spirits wander from all over the world, so there may be a language barrier. It must be a spark of a feeling they listen for and follow, not words. It also may have been that I was partially dead as the reason why they could understand me then. Regardless, without that power and without them showing me anything, I was stuck there, powerless.

  A growl sounded out as the Werewolf swung out with one of his massive arms and sent Jacques flying into a large tree behind my house. The tree cracked and whined as splinters flew through the air, raining down on all around it. Jacques fell to the ground and the whines grew louder as the tree began to topple over backwards. I could feel Jacques’s anger flare, and his raging, dark vampiric-red aura matched.

  He quickly disappeared before reappearing behind the Forsaken and throwing a powerful kick into the side of the unsuspecting Wolf’s knee. Loud, hideous cracks sounded out, accompanied by a scream as the leg broke in several places. The Wolf dropped to his good knee and Jacques appeared in front of him with swift movements to take advantage of the lack of attention.

  With power only five hundred years could bring, Jacques snapped the Wolf’s neck before delivering a powerful uppercut into the Wolf’s chest. There was a stomach-churning pop, along with some other sound that was equally as disgusting, that I couldn’t really identify since the Wolf’s back was to me. Once Jacques violently jerked his hand back—holding a very large heart in hand—I knew what the sound was. My stomach rolled over, and I thought I was going to throw up, but I managed to hold my breakfast down.

  “Jacques,” I whispered.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that, my goddess. Unfortunately, the neck is extremely thick, and it is quicker and easier to rip the heart out than it is to rip the head off. With Wolves, the only way to kill them is removing the heart or decapitation, not unlike yourself.”

  I was once told how a mature Immortal w
as killed, but I was kind of ignoring it until right then in hopes it wasn’t true. I suppose I learned something. Decapitation or removal of the heart—I was so glad those are the only ways that I can die.

  Yuck.

  He forgot that you can try to turn an Immortal into a Vampire. That also gets the job done.

  Amanda’s car skidded to a stop in my gravel drive, Sayen and Amanda bolting and running for us. “Are you okay?” Sayen asked.

  “What the hell happened?” Amanda asked frantically.

  “Apparently, our cover’s been blown,” I said sarcastically. I didn’t mean to be a bitch, but this wasn’t exactly how I wanted to start my day.

  “Where were you?” Brett asked, a little sluggish. I was glad to see him coming around okay.

  “Amanda needed to go to her house to get some things, and I told her that I would go with her, to make sure she would be safe. We weren’t going to be gone long, so I didn’t think it would be an issue. We’ve been here a week with no incident. Kailah, I am so sorry. Is everyone okay?”

  “It was an easy oversight,” Jacques said. “All is well and everyone is safe.”

  “Thanks to you, it would seem,” Sayen said as she stepped forward. “Thank you for protecting my family when I was clearly unable.”

  “I promised my Queen that I would protect her, and I will forever keep that promise. Amanda, you would be included in that promise.”

  “Thank you, Jacques,” Amanda said.

  “Am I the only one curious to know how two attacks have gone unforeseen by two incredibly powerful Immortals?” I asked incredulously. “This is a huge issue. Sayen, whatever you saw was a little late, but I’m glad it was there at least. What’s going on?”