Blood Past
( Warriors of Ankh - 2 )
Samantha Young
All Eden wants is redemption... but the road to redemption is never an easy one.
Travelling to Scotland to find her mother’s bloodline, Eden is soon embroiled in the politics and training of the Scottish Warriors of Neith. It is a world where some stand with open arms ready to welcome her as family, while others keep a wary distance, conspiring against her. Through it all Eden learns of love, friendship, and what it means to be a warrior. Her future has promise... that is until a man she thought forever gone from her life returns to threaten it all.
When the one person Eden loves above all else is endangered, she will have to make a choice. Him... or her?
Life is such a bitch...
... but so is Eden when you don’t play nice.
Samantha Young
Blood Past
Warriors of Ankh -2
“All I could think is that it must be a kind of rebellion To arm your fears like soldiers and slay them.”
The Airborne Toxic Event — All I ever Wanted
Prologue. The Flight
The blood of the Blessed splattered walls and chairs and pooled on the floor like something from a fantastical graphic novel. It was a massacre.
Stellan?!
Eden pushed at Noah, who kept a tight grip, tugging her towards the doorway as the chocolate-eyed warrior and the man who had killed Celine drew towards her, guarding her. They were joined by a pretty woman with auburn hair.
“No!” Eden tried to wrench away from them. “Stellan!” she shrieked.
She caught sight of her brother through the fight, his head swinging around to find her as he heard her cry out his name.
A warrior with a swishing blonde ponytail, a girl perhaps a year older than she, took advantage of Stellan’s distraction.
“Eden!” he yelled, turning away from the warrior to fight his way through the miniature war.
“Eden, no!” Noah tried to pull her back.
“Stellan!” She reached out for him, her eyes widening as the sword came towards the back of his head. “Stellan, noooo!” she screamed.
But it was too late.
The sword cut through him, a sweep of his blood swiping through the air along with the top half of his head.
Agony ripped through her chest and her knees buckled beneath her. She felt arms wrap around her, holding her up as the horrific sight of her brother’s body disappeared from view as she was dragged from the room…
Eden blinked back tears, the burning, choking feeling in her throat making it hard to swallow. The image of her brother’s death had played over and over in her head every day since it had happened.
She kept wishing she could pause and rewind the replay, do something different, not shout out his name and distract him. Why couldn’t it have been Teagan? She wondered despairingly. Her cousin was the lowest piece of scum on the earth and yet somehow, out of everyone, he was the one who had survived unscathed. And she knew he was unscathed. He wouldn’t care that Ryan and Celine and Stellan were dead. He didn’t have it in him to care.
Eden frowned; it was paranoia, she knew it was, but that big puff of cloud outside her window had Teagan’s sneer. Eden growled under her breath at it and ignored Valeria clearing her throat from the leather couch across from her on Cyrus’ private jet.
“Is everything alright, Eden? Need the drug?”
She shook her head without looking at the warrior who was taking time out of her busy schedule of hunting and killing soul eaters to escort Eden across seas. The drug she was referring to was the one that was keeping Eden’s hunger abated. Her hunger for souls.
Being a soul eater sucked ass.
Eden exhaled heavily and leaned her head back on the cushy leather recliner, blocking out the tasty tendrils of soul wafting towards her from all directions. She was stuck on a plane with not one delicious Ankh soul but three. They couldn’t get to Edinburgh fast enough.
If someone had told her six months ago that meeting Noah Valois would lead to the death of her parents and the discovery of an unbelievable heritage, Eden would have snarled at them sarcastically and given them a look that said ‘Did I say you could suck oxygen next to me?’
But lo and behold… here she was.
Opening her eyes to little slits Eden snuck a peek at Noah who sat across from her, reading In Cold Blood again. She curled her lip in agitation, ignoring the way her heart thumped a little harder as her eyes drank in his strong face and elegantly masculine hands — hands that could kill a man in under two seconds, she remembered stubbornly. She snorted inwardly. He was reading that damn book deliberately. Trying to charm her with memories of how their friendship first began.
Reminding her that he had manipulated an entire friendship with her by forcing In Cold Blood on her (a really inappropriate book considering the ordeal she was going through), and pretending to like the manga magazine she was reading, was not the way to soften her up.
“I lied before,” she huffed, drawing Noah’s pale violet eyes up from the pages of his book to her face. His eyebrow quirked up, clearly surprised she had deigned to speak to him.
“About what?”
Eden ignored the little shiver that tickled down her spine at the sound of his deep rich voice. He had the perfect narrator’s voice. Melodic and unusual, and utterly captivating. She hated him for it.
“About the book. It sucked.”
He threw her a look that told her he didn’t believe her. He knew she was being petulant. “Well, I didn’t lie about Naruto. I really did enjoy it.”
She scoffed. “Yeah right.”
“Eden-”
“Noah, leave it,” Valeria interrupted and Eden twisted her head around to stare at the ancient warrior. Valeria was a tall, leggy, exotic woman, with dark eyes and dark brown hair. She was roughly two thousand years old and one of ten members of the immortal Warriors of Ankh Board of Authority — it was called The Circle. The Circle was put in place to rule and organise, not only themselves, but also their brethren — the vastly more populated mortal Warriors of Neith, without whom the Ankh would not exist. A Warrior of Ankh could only be borne by the Neith, identified by the Ankh-shaped birthmark all Ankhs were born with on their body. The Ankh child was promptly handed over to The Circle and given to a member of the Ankh to be raised as their own. In Eden’s case, her father, Ryan, a particularly perverse and evil soul eater, kidnapped Eden’s mother, Merrit, a Warrior of Ankh, and raped her. All because he’d read somewhere about a stupid legend that said a soul eater had managed to impregnate the normally infertile Ankh, producing a soul eater so strong it had taken the most powerful warriors to destroy him. Wanting to create his own little super race of soul eaters, Ryan experimented with Merrit and the experiment paid off. Merrit fell pregnant but managed to escape back to her husband. However, Ryan found her and had the babe cut from her body and she died. The babe he took home and raised, a legendary child of mixed blood called the Unforeseen. Eden. Eden was the Unforeseen. Not that she’d known any of this until Noah came to her school six months ago, struck up a FAKE friendship with her, broke her heart, destroyed her life and handed her over to the Ankh.
That last part she couldn’t be mad at him for though.
Her eyes caught Valeria’s and a powerful understanding flowed between them. Thousands of years ago, Valeria had been one of the Unforeseen as well, but her guardian, Cyrus, discovered a cure for the hunger, a cure that destroyed the soul eater heritage and made the Unforeseen a pureblood Ankh. The cure was blood itself. The blood of the Unforeseen’s human bloodline.
“I’m not doing anything,” Noah snapped. “She spoke to me.”
“Oh please.” Eden rolled her e
yes.
“Eden.”
The warning rumble originated from the doorway of the pilot’s cabin. She looked up guiltily as Cyrus frowned at her reprovingly. He knew she was deliberately trying to bait Noah. She’d barely known Cyrus two weeks and she felt as if he knew more about her than anybody else. Well perhaps not as well as Noah, but he was certainly getting there. He told her it was because she was so much like her mother Merrit. And Merrit had been Cyrus’ wife.
Now Cyrus was her guardian.
In a way she couldn’t have asked for a better guardian. Cyrus was the Princeps. The leader of The Circle, and the man with the highest authority among all warriors. He was also about twenty five hundred years older than her which made him possibly the most powerful Ankh on the planet with the exception of some guy called Darius she had never met, who was the oldest of the Ankh. He gave over the title of Princeps to Cyrus because he was sick of the politics and just wanted to kill soul eaters. Sounded like a fun guy.
“Cyrus, she didn’t do anything,” Valeria interceded casually, drawing her legs down off the leather sofa so Cyrus could take a seat.
“She’s baiting Noah.”
Eden bit her lip, her cheeks feeling a little warm. Jeez, she wasn’t going to be able to get away with anything around this dude.
“She’s not, I’m fine,” Noah insisted and Eden growled in his direction. He shrugged.
“Eden, do you need the drug?” Cyrus asked, sitting back casually. “We have been on the plane for hours.”
“Are we nearly there yet?”
“Another hour.”
Good. She couldn’t wait to get off the damn thing. It was her first time on a plane but truth be told the excited enjoyment she’d felt had quickly dissipated after the first two hours. The jet was spacious and she had been able to walk about, but it was still like being stuck in a fat, stylish tube for 6 hours.
Only another hour. And then she would be in Scotland where she would meet her Neith family and have the eldest of the line’s blood transfused into her. That would hopefully begin her transition from soul eater to Ankh. Before that, however, she had to get past all the human souls begging for her to take them.
“Eden?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah, I need the drug.”
Chapter One. Divine Approval
They were inside the non-descript rented Volvo barely two minutes, pulling away from the Leuchars’ airfield in the tourist town of St. Andrews, when Cyrus’ cell rang. He flipped it open and answered immediately, pulling the car over to the side of the road. Eden absently took in the open country around them. She’d been instantly enamoured by the crisp, fresh air of Scotland, and already used to the sometimes cold springs in Michigan, wasn’t bothered by the cool, grey day, or the threat of showers in the gradually filling stomachs of the clouds above. Behind them, she heard the gravel shift as Valeria pulled the Volvo she was driving in behind them. Glancing in the wing mirror, Eden saw both Noah and Val frowning.
It was then she realised she’d never heard Cyrus sound so reverent before. Who was he talking to?
“I do appreciate you coming,” he said in a low voice and Eden pricked her sensitive ears, hoping to catch the other side of the conversation. As if he knew, Cyrus leaned away from her, throwing her a look out of the corner of his eye. “Yes.” He nodded. “Alright. Where? No, that is fine, I have a Tom Tom. Yes. Alright. Thirty minutes.” He snapped the cell shut and glanced at her with a thoughtful look.
“Who was that?”
“That… was Darius.”
“Darius? Who’s-” Eden’s mouth formed a little ‘o’. “Darius. As in the oldest of the Ankh, Darius?”
“Yes.”
“Is everything OK?”
Cyrus smiled a little. “Yes. My old friend just likes to surprise me. I told him where we were going and he has decided to drop in for a visit.”
“He’s going to be in Edinburgh when we get there?”
Her guardian’s eyes darkened. “Darius prefers a solitary existence. If other warriors were to know of his location he would be swamped with visitors. No. He is meeting us in a travel motel.” Cyrus leaned forward now and began punching in new coordinates on the annoying sat nav. “It will be a brief visit. He just wants to meet you.”
This Darius sounded like the ultimate enigma. He’d been through this situation with one of the Unforeseen before. Twice in fact. He was actually older than Cyrus. If Cyrus was intimidating she couldn’t imagine what this guy was like! Her heart began to thump a little harder and faster in her chest. “Why?”
“I should think that obvious.”
“Not really.”
“You are one of the Unforeseen and very important to me.” The warmth in his eyes felt like a cosy blanket tucking her in tight, safe and content. She fought the feeling, still doubting despite everything, the trustworthiness of the Ankh. “Whatever else he might be, Darius is a friend. He just wants to…”
Eden curled a lip as sudden realisation dawned. “Inspect me.”
“Well-”
“Yeah, yeah. He wants to check I’m not going to turn on you or whatever. I get it. What I don’t get is how he could possibly know better than you.”
Cyrus sighed. “Eden, some may say my judgement is impaired by my connection to you. I do not agree, but Darius would like to see for himself. He understands. He is very close to Valeria.
Moreover, Darius is old. Very old.”
“What exactly does that mean?”
He gave her no reply, just smiled a frustratingly mysterious smile and flipped open his cell again.
He pressed a speed dial button and the other person picked up immediately. “Valeria, change of plans. Put these coordinates into the Tom Tom.” He rhymed off the destination. “We are meeting Darius.”
They pulled into the travel inn about thirty minutes later. Eden already had this nervous riot going on in her stomach and her right leg seemed to be bouncing up and down of its own accord. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had cold sweats.
Valeria and Noah pulled up beside them, Val coming to her side as soon as she got out of the car.
“Everything will be fine, Eden. No need to look so worried.” Eden barely registered the bright excitement in Val’s eyes as she nodded at her mentor before turning to Noah. He locked Eden in with his calm violet gaze and his reassurance made her feel a little better. It was only as they turned to follow Cyrus, Eden realised what she’d done. These past few weeks she’d been pretty good at hating Noah, but clearly turning to him in time of need was an old, subconscious habit she’d have to break.
Cyrus drew them to the reception and over to the elevator. Inside, the four of them stood in a tense silence, only really made tense by Eden’s obvious uneasiness. She felt Cyrus squeeze her shoulder as they sidled out of the elevator. Calling herself all kinds of wuss, Eden threw her shoulders back and followed the Ankh determinedly down the hall. Feeling Noah’s knowing smile on her, she slowly turned to glare at him, which only made his grin grow wider. Huffing at him, Eden almost missed the charge of electricity that shot through her body. The further down the corridor they travelled, however, the hotter and deeper the vibration became, thrumming through her whole system. She knew it wasn’t normal.
“What’s going on?” She drew to an abrupt halt, staring at the three of them, trying to mask her sudden fear.
Cyrus nodded. “That would be Darius you are feeling.”
What the…?
With no more explanation (not that that had really been one) Cyrus finally came to a stop outside one of the rooms. He knocked on the door, two slow raps and then three short raps. The latch on the door popped but the door itself didn’t swing open. It was kind of creepy. And Eden knew a lot about creepy. Bracing herself against the abnormal amount of energy radiating from the room, Eden followed her companions into it. Cyrus shut the door behind him and Eden watched as he then crossed the room to shake hands with its sole occupant. He wasn’t what Eden
had been expecting. He wasn’t as tall as Cyrus, nor Noah. At about 5“10 he should have appeared short next to them. But he didn’t. He was a compact man, muscular and powerful looking. What was most striking was the way he moved; his gestures were animalistic and controlled. He was the epitome of strength and grace, and the sheer force of the energy that emanated from him was un-freaking-believable.
As the man shook hands with Noah and then hugged Valeria close, Eden’s pulse pounded harder and harder as the monster within whined in irritation. From Darius there was no sense of soul.
Well… not exactly. There was something. Something molten and formidable… not pure… but sparkling with such crystal clarity it was hypnotising. And yet… she did not hunger for whatever it was, which made her question its very property as a soul.
“This must be Eden.”
Eyes narrowed, Eden watched as the man approached slowly.
“Eden.” Cyrus strolled over to them as they eyed one another. “This is Darius.” Minding her manners, Eden stuck out a hand. “Pleased to meet you, sir.” Darius’ full mouth quirked up at the corner and his black eyes sought Cyrus. Those eyes gave nothing away, almost as blank as that of a soul eater. He took her hand and Eden was almost blown off her feet by his power.
“What the-”
“Eden,” Cyrus interjected before she could say anything that would be construed as rude. “Darius wanted to meet with you before the change.”
“I see.” I really don’t.
“Come,” Darius commanded in his deep voice, gesturing to the dining table at the window that overlooked the freeway — or motorway, as the Brits called it. “Let’s sit.” As Eden took a seat, ignoring the heat of Noah’s body so close to hers as he sat in the chair beside her, she studied Darius. Like Cyrus he only appeared to be in his early thirties but Eden didn’t think he was as handsome as Cyrus. There was something too austere about his hawk-like features to label him handsome… but his dark skin and eyes were just as exotic. And Eden had to admit Darius’ was a face you felt compelled to stare at.
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