Legacy of Blood

by J. L. McCoy

  I swallowed thickly and sat down on the couch next to Archer. “What is he going to do to me?”

  Hagan shook his head as his eyes emptied of all emotion. “I can’t tell you that, Morrison.” He quickly glanced at his watch before looking back up at me. “It’s five in the morning now. We may have three hours tops to get you ready, if we’re lucky. Get in your gear, Morrison, and meet me downstairs.” He turned to leave but stopped at the door. “Make sure you wear something you don’t mind getting ruined,” he said over his shoulder before shutting the door behind him.

  I took a deep shuttering breath as I continued to stare at Archer’s closed door. “I’m so screwed.”

  Archer put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. “You’re going to do fine, baby,” he said soothingly as he kissed my forehead. “I promise. You are a Day Walker now and they will see that as soon as testing begins. You’ve done better than most newborns when it comes to feeding. You’ve already shown your superior control over the bloodlust. You have nothing to fear, Skye. I’ll be there by your side if Ruarc will allow it. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  His words eased me immediately and for once, I was grateful for the blood bond that I now shared with him. I felt the honestly of his words and I took a deep breath as I relaxed into his strong, bare chest.

  “Thank you, Archer,” I whispered against his cool skin. “I don’t think I would have the strength to face this without you.”

  Archer lifted my chin with his finger so that our eyes met. His ice blue eyes drank me in as he whispered, “Yes you would. You are stronger than you realize, my love; much stronger than anyone gives you credit for.”

  I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and hugged him gratefully.

  “Skye,” he squeaked out as he tapped my arm gently. I immediately understood and let go.

  “Whoops,” I cringed, contrite. “Sorry.”

  “There’s some of that strength I was talking about,” he chuckled as he rubbed his throat. “Do you want me to go downstairs with you while you prepare with Hagan?”

  I bit my bottom lip sheepishly. “Would you mind terribly? I’m a little nervous at the moment. These could be my last few hours on Earth.”

  “Never say that again!” he growled, his eyes immediately fading angrily. “You WILL pass his tests, Skye. Say it!”

  His sudden change in mood shocked me and I nodded my head, obeying him right away. “I will pass his tests.”

  Archer smiled tightly and stood up. “Yes, baby… you will. I’ll just get changed and meet you downstairs, okay?”

  I looked down at his black silk pajama bottoms and remembered how early it still was. “You don’t have to, Archer… honestly. You couldn’t have been asleep for more than just a few hours. You need your rest.”

  “You are exponentially more important to me than a few more hours of sleep, my love. When will you finally begin to understand that?” he asked rhetorically as he smiled sexily over his shoulder and winked while he walked to his dresser.

  Chapter Ten

  After quickly getting changed into my spandex capris and an old sports tank, I threw my hair up into a tight bun on top of my head and headed through the house toward the front foyer. The place was eerily quiet as everyone still slept.

  As I flashed down the basement stairs, I heard hushed, heated whispering back and forth in Gaelic. Archer was pointing his finger angrily at Oleif and seemingly letting him have it. Hagan had his hand on Oleif’s chest trying to keep him away from Archer as Oleif spat angrier words back at him.

  “You started the party without me,” I chuckled humorlessly as I reached the bottom. “So, who do I get to yell at?”

  Oleif harrumphed, not the slightest bit amused by my lame attempt to lighten the mood, and resumed hissing at Archer in Irish-Gaelic, only this time much louder. It seemed as though he couldn’t have cared less if I heard the argument or not.

  “Eist!” Hagan shouted unhappily as he rubbed his temples. “Is cuma liom! Just stop it, the both of you! You will BOTH take a seat and watch, nothing more! And I want silence! Ifreann na Fola! You’re giving me a bloody headache with all this damn bickering.”

  “What the hell has got you so pissed off now, Oleif?” I cocked my eyebrow, confused and a bit angry, as I crossed my arms over my chest.

  Oleif growled as his lips curled up, showing the sharp, pointed tips of his extended fangs. I looked up into his colorless eyes and frowned. He was beyond livid. “You should not be given the opportunity to prepare for testing beforehand!”

  “She is just a day old for Christ’s sake!” Archer growled; his eyes fully drained of their color as well. “She knows not her strength or even how to control the speed with which she walks! Give her a chance to become familiar with her new body!”

  “Stop being such a drama llama, Oleif,” I huffed as I rolled my eyes, earning a fierce growl from him in return.

  “Silence or thoir do chasan leat!” Hagan roared, his temper completely lost as his irises flashed from brown to white. I had never seen Hagan this angry before and I clutched my hands to my chest fearfully as I listened to him speak. “This is my decision and that is the end of this discussion! Sit the fuck down or get the hell out! I won’t say it again!”

  “Ruarc will have something to say about this,” Oleif promised with a huff.

  “Then Ruarc can take the matter up with me later,” Hagan said plainly as he raised his arm and pointed to the chairs across the room. “Sit… please, brother.”

  Oleif and Archer did as Hagan asked and he finally turned to me. “We don’t have much time, Morrison, so bring your ass to the mats.” Hagan threw me my usual silver dagger and I caught it with ease. It felt much lighter than it had when I was human. I tested its weight as I mentioned it to Hagan.

  “It’s because you are stronger now,” Hagan smirked as he drew his own personal dagger from his hip. “How much stronger is yet to be seen.”

  Hagan had never used his own personal weapon before when we trained and I swallowed thickly as I watched his body shift into an attack stance. Without another word he flashed to me and engaged me. I was instantaneously grateful for my new vampire gifts because I could actually follow Hagan as he advanced on me.

  I easily parried his attack, my dagger crashing loudly against his, and pushed his arm to the side as I brought my left leg up and delivered a hard front kick to his lower abdomen. The air whooshed out of his lungs as he bent over and staggered back a few feet. Giving him no time to recover, I flashed to him and brought my right leg up, kneeing him in the face, and slashed at his throat when the force of it drove him upward. The blade missed its intended target by a few centimeters as he flashed a few feet back in a hasty retreat.

  I gave him no time to rest as I maintained critical control of the match. I sliced in his direction, distracting him as he blocked, so I could drop down into a low sweeping kick. Hagan jumped up, avoiding it as I thought he might, but he couldn’t avoid the spinning reverse roundhouse to the face I delivered next.

  As the sparring match wore on, I got more used to my body and was able to control it better than ever before. Hagan was hard pressed to land a hit on me and I could tell he was giving it everything he had.

  A smell had started to distract me and I glanced over at its source. Oleif and Archer sat completely emotionless and I was a bit confused by what I was picking up. My momentary distraction gave Hagan the opening he needed and he stabbed me in the abdomen with his dagger as he reached for my bun and fisted it, pulling my head back and exposing my neck as he pulled the dagger out of me and held it firmly to my throat.

  I gasped at the unexpectedness of it and an involuntary whimper escaped me as I was wretched to the tips of my toes by Hagan. I groaned as the sharp, burning pain of my deep stomach injury hit me and, after a few seconds, sighed as it ebbed and was immediately replaced by the healing itch.

  “About time he took her down,” Oleif whispered to himself.

  “
Dammit, Morrison!” Hagan chastised roughly as he let go of my hair and pushed me away from him. “Never get distracted, especially if you are fighting for your life; which you WILL be doing in a few short hours. How many times do we have to go over this? No matter what you see, hear, smell, or feel, you block that shit out and keep fighting!”

  “Yes, sir,” I bit my lip as I wiped the precious blood from my stomach to check the wound. Thankfully, it had completely healed by then and I wiped my bloody hand off on my pants. “Sorry, sir.”

  “What was it this time?” he huffed, cleaning his dagger off on a towel and sheathing it.

  “I… uh…” I started, almost too embarrassed to be truthful. “I smelled something, sir.”

  Hagan raised his head up and took a deep breath in through his nose. “I only smell your blood and the scent of the people in this room.”

  Oleif chuckled and Hagan and I turned to him. “Casanova over here is starting to give off a strong scent of sexual desire. I think that is what she smells.”

  “Watch how you speak, child,” Archer growled in a whisper meant only for them. “You may be An Dilis, but I am still your elder and a sliocht leader.”

  I bit my lip to keep from smiling as Hagan gave Oleif and then Archer disapproving looks.

  “Now, dheartháir, you shouldn’t hold desire against me,” Archer smirked sexily as he then looked up at Hagan and innocently shrugged his shoulders. “She’s damn sexy when she fights and I AM still a man after all.”

  “A man who is distracting her,” Hagan frowned, not amused. “Distractions can mean her death. Rein it in, you two.” He looked over at me unhappily and crossed his arms. “Don’t think I can’t smell yours too, now that you’ve smelled his. Bloody hell, it’s like being around a bunch of teenagers.”

  Oleif laughed out loud as Archer and I briefly gave each other charged looks of desire. Hagan just groaned and threw his hands up exasperatedly as I turned my back on Archer and awaited my next challenge.

  Hagan explained to me next that we had to work on controlling my anger. Whenever I got angry, my eyes turned solid black and that was something that made An Dilis uncomfortable because it showed I carried Amun’s mark.

  He directed me to stand absolutely still and try not to react in any way to whatever happened next. I swallowed thickly and chewed my bottom lip uncertainly.

  “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?” I cringed, having a sudden horrible feeling.

  “Like hell, Morrison,” he nodded somberly as he lifted my hand and gently took one finger. He met my eyes and his look told me to prepare myself. I was in the process of taking a steadying deep breath when he broke my right index finger.

  The next hour was filled with broken bones, screams, begging, and lots of cussing. At the end of it, I had only been able to keep my eyes from changing to black once, but I did get a handle on silencing any impending sound at the infliction of pain. Score 1 for Skye, 127 for Hagan.

  I was allowed a five minute break as Hagan went upstairs to speak with Pádraig and Emrick about something. Archer had left the room during the last exorcise because he said he couldn’t stand to hear my screams. I was very grateful when he reappeared just then with a blue label bottle of Johnnie Walker whiskey. Eagerly, I grabbed the bottle, cracked the seal and took in a few desperate mouthfuls.

  Archer led me over to a nearby chair and sat me down as he knelt before me. “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes sad, angry, and concerned all at the same time.

  I silently nodded my head and took another swig from the swanky bottle. My new body seemed to handle liquor better than my human one and I really missed the old burning sensation that used to accompany any hard drink. Now, it was just a slightly warm tickle.

  “I’ll live,” I sighed as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “That was really tough.”

  “I wanted to kill him,” Archer seethed in a whisper as he tightly closed his eyes and shook his head, as if he could rid himself of the images and sounds of Hagan breaking my bones. “I can’t stand to see anyone hurt you, Skye. It kills me. I’m sorry I did not stay but I couldn’t watch him do that to you.”

  “He’s trying to help me, Archer,” I whispered gently as I reached up and cupped one stubbled cheek, lightly running the pad of my recently healed thumb over his slightly trembling bottom lip. “I’m learning the fastest way possible. It just so happens to be the most painful, as well. But I’m okay… really.”

  “I’m sorry I took the choice from you,” he said after a few moments of silence. “It was selfish of me. I should have listened to you when you asked me to end your life. If I had, you wouldn’t be going through this bullshit right now.”

  “Exactly,” I whispered, suddenly serious, as I gazed deeply into his beautiful arctic blue eyes. “I would be dead and not sitting here with you. I’ve had a bit of time to think about my situation… I may have been mad at first, but I think I’d rather live and love than be in some hole in the ground. This vampire thing can’t be as bad as my human mind made it out to be, can it? I’m already learning to control my body and I can kick some pretty serious ass, thanks to the whole hybrid vampire/monster species thing. Maybe it won’t be so bad, babe. … as long as the part of me that is made out of whatever the hell Amun is, is kept in check.”

  “I’ll always be by your side to make sure it is. You don’t have to worry about that anymore. Do you forgive me?” he whispered hopefully, his eyes cautious.

  “Of course I do, honey. Our connection now… it’s so deep, it transcends anything I’ve felt for you in the past, anything I felt ever before. I don’t think there is anything that you could ever do that I wouldn’t forgive you for. Not now… I love you, athair.”

  “You called me your father,” he whispered wondrously, his eyes filled with deep happiness.

  “You are many things to me, Archer. My father is now just one of them.”

  “You are incredible, Skye,” Archer said gently as he reached up to hold my face softly between his strong hands. “You never cease to surprise me. I did something unforgiveable by forcing you into this life and you forgave me my impetuousness.”

  “I can’t stay mad at you, honey. Trust me… I’ve tried,” I smiled and gently rested my forehead against his.

  “Get a bleedin’ room,” Oleif grumbled disgustedly a few feet away.

  “Oh, bite me Oleif,” I rolled my eyes, determined to not let him get to me. “Archer is my maker. Surely you have gotten a little warm and fuzzy over your own maker a time or two?”

  “Not like that,” he growled.

  “Jealous? You know, you really should mind your own business, Oleif,” I sighed as I pulled back from Archer and looked over at him. “Don’t you have more important things you could be doing other than sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong?”

  “Ruarc made you my business,” he growled as he stood up from his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m going to be all over you and your business until I’m reassigned. I’m not like your friend Hagan, little girl. I won’t ever make it or take it easy on you.”

  “Hagan doesn’t make anything easy for me,” I frowned angrily as I flashed to stand as well, nearly knocking Archer on his ass in the process. “He never has! I work damn hard JUST to keep up with him. He’s kicked my ass six ways from Sunday and I even had the bruises to prove it before I was turned. He’s regularly pushed my body to its ultimate limits and brought me back. He is my trainer and nothing he has ever done or taught me came easy! I worked my fucking ass off!”

  Oleif scoffed as he cocked one eyebrow and took a step toward me. “He took it easy on you in the dagger match. I saw it with my own eyes. A newborn should not have had the upper hand in a fight with a soldier who is over 900 years old.”

  Oh hell no! He did not just say that to me again!

  “You know she is not like other newborns, Olei-,” Archer said quickly before I cut him off.

  “He most certainly did not take it easy on me!” I sc
reeched indignantly and pointed to the bloody gash in my tank top. “He fucking stabbed me, for crying out loud! That’s not taking it easy on someone, Oleif; that’s called kicking ass and taking names. That shit hurt like hell!”

  “Please,” he scoffed again. “It was but a mere scratch.”

  “I’ll scratch you, you pompous dick,” I seethed angrily under my breath, my eyes narrowed to slits.

  “I’m sorry,” Oleif chuckled as he took in my pissed off face and cupped one hand behind his ear. “What was that? I missed it.”

  The door to the basement opened and I heard several pairs of feet make their descent. An Dilis had arrived; I swallowed thickly as I turned back to a smug looking Oleif.

  “We WILL finish this later,” I hissed angrily.

  “I look forward to it,” he smirked and winked. “That is, if there even is a later for you… creature.”

  Archer growled loudly in warning as Oleif turned his back and joined Ruarc and seven other men in the middle of the sparring mat. God, I fucking hate him! Oleif started talking quietly with Ruarc, updating him on all things ‘creature’ related and I quickly turned back to Archer, realizing we only had a couple of minutes to ourselves before this whole testing mess started.

  “Archer,” I sighed as I closed my eyes tightly. I was suddenly terrified of what I was about to go through. I didn’t know if I’d make it out of this room alive, so I wanted to say my goodbyes to Archer now while I still had the chance. “I’m so sorry you were dragged into this. I-I never wanted to put you at odds with anyone. You don’t have to watch this. I don’t want you to see…” I had to swallow hard, unable to finish the sentence. I couldn’t bear to say it out loud, but I didn’t want Archer to have to see my final death. I braced myself as I looked up into his eyes. “I want you to go upstairs and be with the rest of your children. I’ll be fine down here. Hagan will be with me.” I tried to smile for him, to reassure him, but I just couldn’t manage it