Table of Contents
Author Note
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Book of Souls
Supernatural Wars Book 1
Steven L. Smithen
Copyright © 2017 by Steven L. Smithen.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author, at the email address below.
Steven L. Smithen
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/stevenlsmithen
Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Cover Art by Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk
Book Layout & Design ©2017 - BookDesignTemplates.com
Book of Souls/ Steven L. Smithen. — 1st ed.
ISBN-13: 978-1546330547
For Jack,
You are forever in my heart
I miss you every day
This book is dedicated to your
spirit and imagination
Jack Trueman
1990-2016
“The Adventure begins when you let it…”
Lela Grayce
Contents
Author Note
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Author Note
This book deals with various supernatural races. I believe that most of you have read a book or two about vampires, werewolves, witches, angels, and other monsters that go bump in the night.
In my world Were’s and Shifters are one and the same. So, you will notice that I use those terms interchangeably. Were’s in my world only change into their animal form and human. Albeit, they tend to be about 50% larger than their natural cousins in the wild.
Vampires in my world aren’t your typical blood suckers from beyond the grave. They can go out in sunlight and suffer no harmful effects other than they are nocturnal in nature. That means that the sun will make most young vampires comatose during the daylight hours and will affect their speed, and reaction times when confronting enemies. Older ones can shake off the effects and go about in the daytime.
Witches are a whole species of humans who just developed genetically different than the rest of the human race. This genetic difference allows them to alter reality, control energy, command the elements, summon entities from beyond our dimension, and cast what you would call spells. Just pick up any RPG players guide, look up spells and yep, you guessed it, they can cast just about anything that their imagination can think of. While this would make them extremely powerful, and you’re right they are, but they are also just as breakable and squishy as the normal human. For clarification, both males and females are considered witches. Warlocks are witches who are specialized in the arts of war and battle magic.
Angels in my world are not the halos and light that you think of when looking at the various religious works of art. Think old testament fire and brimstone ‘warriors of heaven’ type. They have a purpose to hunt down the Fallen and other beings that come into our dimension. Most of the regular world will never know that they’ve had contact with one.
I know a lot of people have some preconceived ideas about the various supernatural races. I’m hoping that this clears it up for you.
Prologue
March 3, 1519, Guatemalan Highlands
The Spanish Conquistador, Esteban, stood at the edge of the jungle looking out over those assembled. Most were kneeling prostrate facing the large temple in the center of the town. It was barely a town, but the temple is one that he had found common in the larger cities of the region.
The temple was what they called a ziggurat in its construction. It had a wide set of stairs that went up to the top where a fire burned. From what he had been told, the fire never died down, even in the early hours of the morning when most would be asleep and the fire left unattended.
Throughout the prostrated crowd stood ‘priests’ wearing blood red leather armor with strange symbols etched into the surface. Strapped to their belts they carried large curved obsidian blades. The priests were the real threat, not those who were on the ground praying to their ‘God’. Esteban knew better. He knew who this ‘Kirin’ was or what he was.
“Gustavo, what have you learned?” Esteban asked.
“It is as the Jaguar warriors have said. This Kirin is a vampire and a sorcerer. They also say that he fuels his conjuring’s with each sacrifice that is committed in his name.” Gustavo answered. He was one of Esteban’s lieutenants and his best friend. The two of them had been turned some two hundred years past by one of the Spanish Vampire Elders. They had been sent by their Elders to hunt down this Kirin and if possible kill him and recover his grimoire; the fabled ‘Book of Souls’. From what they have learned, Kirin set himself up as the Mayan God of Death some seventeen hundred years ago with him being an immortal vampire along with being a sorcerer. It wasn’t hard to get these primitive people to believe. Kirin’s only problem was assuming he was beyond anyone from the supernatural community.
Both the cat and bird shifters had taken notice. Outmanned because of Kirin’s priests they were able to finally get out a message to the Elders. Once it was confirmed that it was a vampire working outside of the rules of the elders, bo
th Gustavo and Esteban were dispatched to the New World.
“Esteban, what plan have you come up with?” Gustavo asked.
“I want to wait until both the Eagle and Jaguar warriors are here. I would value their input since they know these lands and we are the barbarians.” He chuckled.
An undetermined amount of time had passed while the observed their quarry before they both sensed several someone’s coming up behind them. They moved away from their vantage point to meet with their supposed allies. They were the only Europeans here, having broken off from the main Conquistador force that was several hundred miles north.
They moved silently through the jungle, coming upon an assorted group of men and women. Most were wearing jaguar skins with weapons made of obsidian along with some made out of claws. The others wore an assortment of skins and feathers from eagles, falcons, and hawks. The man in front of the group was their spokesman. His name was Omek. He was what they called an Eagle Warrior; in fact, he was a bird shifter. His form was that of a Golden Eagle. When they noticed the two Spaniards, Omek broke away from his people to meet them.
“Will your people help us with Kirin?” Esteban asked
“We will on one condition,” Omek answered, continuing at Esteban’s nod. “That my people, the Eagle Warriors, will take care of his accursed book. If we can’t destroy it we will ensure that it will never be found.”
Esteban and Gustavo looked at each other and nodded. If it meant getting rid of Kirin, then their Elders would just have to live with it. Besides they could just say that the book was destroyed in the battle. “That shouldn’t be a problem. We just want to make sure that Kirin is killed.”
With that settled, they went about the battle plans. Esteban explained that they needed the shifters to focus on the priests leaving the two of them handle Kirin. Having been at the ‘mercy’ of Kirin for the last fifteen hundred years they had no problem with that. They knew none of them were a match for Kirin. And so, they went to kill a god.
Chapter 1
Present Day, Dorian
It was a nice autumn afternoon as I exited the armory at Camp Lejeune, NC. I was carrying my personal M4 rifle and Sig Sauer pistol in locked hard-shell cases. Unlocking the passenger door to my Ford Raptor 4x4, I placed the cases in the backseat. Closing the door, I looked around at the base taking in everything. Today would be my last day in the Corps. Ten years active duty in the Marine Special Operations Command, otherwise known as Marine Raiders. I thought it would bother me more but it didn’t. Not after what happened on the last operation. Besides, it was time I went home to help my twin sister Talia and our parents with the family business. You see, I’m a werewolf or at least mostly. My mother is the Alpha for the New England pack and my sister is her personal assistant and the pack’s attorney. Our dad is his own kind of special supernatural. Becasue he isn’t a Were, one benefit both my sister and I have, is that we fall outside the pack hierarchy. We both have extremely dominant wolves; we don’t need the pack to help control our wolves, which is something that regular dominant wolves seem to need. For example, most dominant shifters, at least from my experience, tend to be arrogant and short tempered to the extreme. I have never felt the need to prove my dominance over any other shifter or supernatural being.
When my sister and I graduated high school we paved our own way. She went to Harvard and I joined the Marines. She got a law degree while I learned tactics on how to kill someone with a paperclip. Not that I couldn’t do that anyway. You know being mostly a werewolf and all. Talia bought me a Ford Raptor when my time with the Corps came to an end. It’s a matte silver color with off-road tires and the full off-road package. You should’ve seen the looks I got from my company commander when a $50K vehicle was delivered to the base for an E6 Staff Sargent. He asked me how I could afford such a nice ride. “A gift from my sister,” I replied. He then wanted to know if she was single, causing me to laugh at him while saying, “LT, you couldn’t handle her. She’d eat you alive.” I left out the fact that she could literally eat him alive. Hey, he didn’t need to know that. With that memory, I walked around checking all my gear that I had stowed in the bed. Making sure I had everything. Getting in, I fired the engine up and I was rewarded with a throaty rumble. My phone synched to the truck and I turned the volume up as Black Rose by Volbeat started playing. I began making my way off the base towards home.
Talia called as I was exiting the Baltimore harbor tunnel. Hitting the answer button on the steering wheel. “What’s up, sis?”
“You on your way, Jarhead?” came Talia’s response.
“Yep, just north of Baltimore now. Should be home tomorrow sometime. Why? Do you need me to head somewhere else instead of the house?” I asked thinking that she probably wanted me to head to Boston instead of our home in New Hampshire.
“Yes, if you could stop by the Boston before you head up to New Hampshire, that would be great.” She continued “There’s been an issue with one of the new pack members. His name is Shane. He got into a fight at a bar over a female. Got himself tossed into jail for the night.”
“Anyone get hurt?” I asked
“The girl’s boyfriend has a broken arm, a couple of broken ribs, and is screaming lawsuit. Mom wants you to talk to Shane before she decides what to do with him. Said it would be good for you to get back into the feel of things since you are now her second.” she finished, “After we deal with Shane we can go to Mass General to talk to the boyfriend. See if he really wants to pursue this.”
“No problem. Where do you want me to meet you?”
“Downtown police station. I had Boston PD move him there for his arraignment tomorrow morning. Call me when you get into town, Dorian.” Talia said.
“You got it, sis. Love you.” Hanging up, I cranked up the stereo as I raced up Interstate 95. Great! Pack politics, just what I wanted to jump right into. I thought. Mom was right though, I had to figure out how to fit in or I would have to find somewhere else to live. While Talia understood, the other males in the pack wouldn’t. They would constantly try to challenge me. Fucking dominance games. It was the reason I left for the military, and now that’s not an option for me anymore. The opening sequence of Disturbed’s Indestructible started playing, taking me back to that last operation as I drove.
Six months earlier, we were in the Central African Republic near the border with Chad. Our op was simple; go into Chad and find the Warlord who had taken over the town of Um Dafuq. Our objective was to take him and his lieutenants out. Intel said it would be a milk run. Fucking intel guys got it all wrong. The guy leading the op was some CIA douche. What was supposed to be a milk run turned into a massacre. After we scouted out the town, we found out that this place was full of nothing but women and children. That fuck called in a drone strike that wiped the town off the planet. I snapped and beat the CIA man to within an inch of his life. I was so out of control that it took my whole fireteam to pull me off him. I almost shifted on the spot. Werewolves are supposed to protect the innocent.
That night broke me. After we returned to our ship I was arrested for assaulting a superior officer. Six months later, with the help of my sister, the charges were dropped. I was unable to reenlist, leaving me a civilian.
Chapter 2
The next morning I pulled into the parking garage near the downtown courthouse. After getting out, I retrieved my pistol from the locked carrying case. After that, I locked up the truck. I called Talia to let her know I was here. As I dialed her number I heard someone clear their throat behind me. Turning towards the noise, I see Talia wearing a dark grey pant suit with a royal blue silk blouse standing next to her Mustang Cobra. Her clothes probably cost more than my pistol. My sister is a striking woman. At almost six feet with a body that would put those Victoria’s Secret models to shame, and the brains to take on the U.S. Supreme Court. She has dark brown hair with piercing ice blue eyes like our mother. You see, we’re twins. I’m almost six feet tall too with dirty blonde hair like our dad, and indigo eyes
so dark you’d think they were purple.
“Good morning Talia,” I said as I made my way over to her and wrapped her in a long overdue hug. “Thanks for the truck too. I love it.”
She wiped away a tear. “You’re worth it. I’ve missed you lots. Can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that you’re home now.”
“Let’s go see if we can bail Shane out. Then I want something to eat.” I said as we made our way towards the stairs and the courthouse entrance. Four hours later, Talia and I exited the courthouse with Shane in tow. As we approached our vehicles I turned around, grabbed Shane by both arms and lifted him off the ground. As I held him against the concrete wall he began to struggle against my grip.
“Don’t bother struggling.” Talia said, “You see Shane, my brother, Dorian here, is more than enough to handle your ass. You just met the one who will be running the Boston satellite office for the Pack.” If you thought I was a bitch and think my mom, your alpha, was going to let you mongrels down here in Beantown run rough shod because she’s up in Portsmouth, you thought wrong.
Book of Souls (Supernatural War Book 1) Page 1
