“Who is responsible for this…” Cade paused, waving his hand at Jacob. “Abomination?”
Cade’s gaze was as cold as steel on a winter morning in Antarctica. No, this wasn’t going to be easy. Jacob inhaled deeply, forming a collection of words that he hoped would not inflame his brother.
“I’m the Alpha now. Of all. Who’s fault is that? You could blame our parents, shifters from generations ago, you could blame the Mungons. Or Sabrina. She did only what needed doing.”
Oh, those had not been the right words. Cade’s face twisted into an angry grimace at Jacob’s first sentence.
“Alpha? Of all? I’m the Alpha, I lead the clan.” His voice shook with his anger and Jacob could see Cade was barely controlling his urge to pound his fist on the desk.
“Look, Cade, you’re a wonderful leader, and you’ll remain the leader of our clan, I don’t plan to change that, but you’re not the king, no matter how you might fit the station. I am.”
“I don’t see how.” Cade, not generally a scoffer, gasped out his disbelief, his face twisting further as he stood, flinging his chair against the wall with the back of his legs. “You are a great helper, Jacob, I can count on you. What makes you think, even as a vampire, that you could take that position? I simply cannot believe you have the gall. After all of these years of hiding in the shadows, what do you think you will gain from all of this?”
“I had hoped I would gain your support, brother. Your help. This is what I get?” Jacob was furious now, his blood boiling.
“I tell you now, brother, I cannot support this. I’m not sure you can even remain a member of our clan, no matter what “decisions” you have made.”
Jacob’s eyes twitched as his brother made air quotes as he said the word decision. The tips of Cade’s hair caught on fire, burning out so quickly that Cade only noticed a sensation that made him brush at his hair.
With now round eyes Jacob tried to hold back a laugh. “You doubt me, brother?”
“I’ve never seen anything in the way you shift to suggest you would make a great king. Black crows, black mice, sure, you tend to go for black animals, but you don’t even have a violent shifter animal, they’re creatures that live in the shadows or on carrion.”
“You have never seen my back have you, Cade? My shifter animal’s mark on my skin. The one animal that rules us all. You’ve never seen mine have you?” Jacob’s words were quietly spoken, a threat there if Cade had only listened.
Cade had never heard that tone from his brother and couldn’t possibly understand it now. The menace there, or the warning. Sabrina had sat quietly through the whole exchange but now she cast her eyes to Jacob, her own warning in her gaze.
“This is your brother! Do not make him an enemy!”
Jacob looked back, reassuring her with his own gaze that he would do his best.
“This must be done, be patient, please.”
Sabrina lowered her cold blue eyes, acquiescing to her king. But the quirky tilt of her head let him know it was only because they were in public. Jacob’s lips wanted to twist into a grin at her but he held it back.
With sure fingers, Jacob plucked at his clothes, pulling his shirt away before turning around.
“What are you doing? It doesn’t matter what your spirit animal is…” But Cade’s words trailed off, his gaze glued to the dragon stretched out across Jacob’s broad shoulders.
The dragon, asleep in the marking that looked like a tattoo but was something more, opened an eye and a stream of smoke to plume from its right nostril. Cade’s eyes went round. The animal was black with dark crimson markings, a three-pointed tail, and golden eyes.
“You…well.” Cade sat down, his legs going numb. He stared into nothing, stunned. “That doesn’t mean anything, it’s nothing more than a myth.”
“You learn I am a dragon shifter and yet you still dismiss it? As a myth? I knew you loved your position in life, Cade, but this is getting ridiculous!”
“You aren’t suited to the position, Jacob!” This time Cade did lose his patience and his fist smashed down on the oak desk with a loud bang. “I love you, brother, but no, this is too much to ask. Did you have any idea of what you were taking on when you made this decision to be turned into a vampire? I have heard some stupid things from Kane and Jadrian but I didn’t expect this nonsense from you. You’ve ruined your life over a myth?”
Cade’s face held defeat but defeat at Jacob’s choices. He still didn’t believe him, Jacob could sense that much.
“Brother, do not destroy our relationship over your own needs, your own selfish desire to be the Alpha.” Jacob’s words were quiet again, threatening, and this time, Cade heard it.
Dark brown eyes met dark brown eyes across the desk and Jacob stood, his back to the door once more. “Don’t say something you cannot take back.”
“But why did you decide this, Jacob? Why?” Cade’s tone was pleading, he wanted to understand.
Jacob blanched, his gaze going to Sabrina. Jacob’s hesitation lasted long enough to let Cade know he hadn’t made this decision.
“She took you?” Cade was standing once more, a face full of rage twisted in Sabrina’s direction.
“Leave it, what’s done is done.” Cade began to move around the desk as Jacob spoke but Jacob held a hand out to him.
Cade’s face smashed against an invisible wall, his hands coming up too as he met the wall. “What have you done?”
“You are not to touch her!” Jacob’s voice was still quiet but now it held its own threat. Something Cade had never heard from his gentle brother before.
“You may not like this brother, but you have to get over it. What’s done is done. Now, can we carry on with our day? I’m sure we need to announce this somehow.” Jacob sounded bored now but he knew this wasn’t over. Cade wasn’t the kind to just let ultimate power slip away. He was too much of a control freak.
The problem wasn’t that Cade wanted all of the power, he just didn’t think anyone else was capable of wielding it. It was time, now, for him to learn he wasn’t alone, that he could rely on others. Whether he liked it or not.
“Jacob, let me out of this!”
“I’m sorry, but no. Not until you chill, Cade. We have some serious shit to sort out and you’re being a baby. Now, will you chill or not?” Jacob sat back in his chair, kicking his heels up on the desk nonchalantly as he winked over at Sabrina.
“Jacob!” Cade started to bang against the invisible wall, his hair waving around his head as he shouted.
The problem was Jacob had stolen his voice with a twist of his own fingers and Cade’s tirade, though spirited, was now silent. He turned to face Jacob and went to crawl over his desk to get at his brother. With a zip of his finger a new wall went up, and Cade ended up on his ass on the floor.
“Cade, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to let this go to my head, and I’m certainly not going to get us all killed.” He shrugged back into his shirt and looked at his brother. “We can get on with what needs doing or we can sit in here until you calm down. Which shall it be?”
Cade looked as though he would like to kill his brother as he crawled back to his feet, and leaned over the desk.
“Do you want more proof? Shall I blast you with energy? Shall I tear down this building? Because if that’s what it’ll take, I’ll give it to you. But I’ll never do something to you that will hurt you.”
Inspiration struck Jacob at that point. So far he had learned that he just had to think of something, conceive of it, and do something such as snapping his fingers to create the effect. With a gentle smile, Jacob waved his hands down his body, turning himself into an orange light that didn’t burn, it was just a glow of orange that shone white in the center, where his soul lived.
With nothing more than a thought, Jacob moved towards his brother. Cade shifted into a wolf, large and as black as Jacob’s dragon, and growled at the gleaming being headed for him. Jacob kept moving, engulfing his brother with his light, for
cing his love out into the energy, all of the love he felt for his brother encapsulated in the light source. The wolf in the room, still trapped behind invisible walls, settled, his hackles laying down as his legs dropped, and the animal, surrounded by the loving light of his brother, fell into a blissful state where he knew nothing but fraternal love.
“Jacob,” Sabrina called to him and the light swirled, coming over to touch her as it expanded, filling the room.
Jacob let her feel his love as well, the moment almost too much for him. With no physical shape he couldn’t touch her but his light embraced her too. He loved them both and now they both knew just how much.
With a sound like a sigh, Jacob released them. The light traveled back to the chair he had been in, and Jacob’s form took shape once more. He was exhausted but knew the moment would pass. Looking at his brother he saw that Cade had gone back to his human shape, his face stunned. Jacob waved his hand and Cade’s voice was given back to him as the walls came down with a tinkling sound of breaking glass.
“Alright, Jacob. We can discuss it all some other time. But yeah, I kind of get it now. We’ll see how it goes, shall we?” His shattered eyes, still stunned, gazed at his brothers, so like his own.
“We can do that. I just needed you to accept me, Cade. We can win this coming battle if we stick together. Only together.”
“You, well, yes, Jacob. You’re our king. That much is obvious now. Let’s go.”
“Go where?” Jacob asked, confused at his brother’s sudden shift to standing and heading out of the room.
“You’ll see.” An odd smile played around Cade’s lips but Jacob trusted his brother, trusted him more than any other man on the planet.
“Alright.” Jacob stood, taking Sabrina’s hand as she came beside him. “Lead on.”
Jacob assumed they were heading for another room and slowed as they came near a private office, but Cade shook his head at his brother and made a gesture for him to keep following. Sabrina walked at Jacob’s side with her hand still in his. Her eyes told him to remain calm, all was well. Jacob wasn’t so sure. His family was in chaos, there were guards everywhere, and the Mungons had attacked them before they could get the non-fighting magicals out. He thought they were sitting ducks. That reminded him of Jadrian’s predicament and he felt his lips twitch for a moment.
Cade stopped in front of a pair of huge doors well over twelve feet tall. Jacob hadn’t noticed them before but now he wondered how he could have missed them. Made of solid oak, they looked heavy, but Cade parted them without a problem. Jacob looked at Sabrina, not sure why Cade had brought him here.
“Enter, my liege.” Cade bowed, his head going down as he knelt on the cold stone floor.
“What are you doing? Stop that!” But, Cade wouldn’t stand, he only gestured into the room.
A sudden wind blew through the monastery and a bell tolled somewhere. Jacob looked around, his confusion deepening. What was going on?
He walked into the chamber, dusty with all of the furniture covered in white cloths. Jacob and Sabrina entered, going ahead to remove the cloth from one piece in particular. Solid silver, the throne was encrusted with jewels and covered with velvet anywhere his skin might touch. Whoa. It was true then.
People began to stream into the room, a buzzing sound accompanying them as they all wondered aloud what was happening. Some knew, others had no idea. As the older magicals streamed in, they came to Jacob where he stood at the throne and knelt. The noise died down as the younger ones caught on and Jacob looked out over a sea of bowed heads.
A new murmur came as the current leaders of the magical world walked through the crowd, striding straight towards Jacob before they too, astonishingly to all present, knelt before him.
“Welcome, your majesty. We greet you with friendship.” They stayed on the ground and Jacob looked around uneasily, not used to being in the spotlight.
“Everybody stand up, please. Can somebody help me here?” The couple came to him and guided him to his new throne.
“As the vampire shifter, Jacob, you have joined the two most powerful groups in the magical world. You are now the king of the magicals. Please, take your proper seat.”
Jacob sat, looking out at the room with discomfort.
It really was true.
The people looked at him expectantly, as though he were about to impart some universal truth to them that would end all strife. He had nothing in mind, nothing like that anyway. Only a few words of hi, how are you, I’m your king now.
“Listen, folks, I’m new to this so forgive me for not being all “thee and thou” will you? We’re facing a great danger here, as you’re all aware, my family more than others at the moment. We nearly lost our beloved brother tonight to an infestation of rats. Rats that cannot live. We must take them, destroy them, and ensure peace for all of the magical world. Send out word to all that wish to join the right and good. Come to the sanctuary, join us in our fight!”
Jacob looked out as he spoke, a roar starting to fill the room. They were listening, they’d all accepted him as their leader! Things were changing, where there had been willingness but uncertainty there was now a fierce determination, a positive outlook to the end of this war. Where there had been faces filled with uncertainty and fear there were now faces with hope and righteous certainty that they could win the coming battle. For they were at war and Jacob knew it. He didn’t want to fail, was terrified of failing, but his head was full of knowledge and he knew that new skills lurked beneath the surface he just had to figure them out, learn which twitches produced them.
He nodded at Sabrina, Allana and Cade, and they came to him.
“We have plans to make. Cade, I know this is a bit of a shock, that what Sabrina did broke more than a few customs, but we’re past that now. What’s happened has happened, being angry, starting a war isn’t going to change that. We already face a fight that’s going to take everything we have to survive. We have a battle to win and bickering over it isn’t going to change the fact that I’m now a shifter and a vampire. It’s time for battle. Work with me, please?”
“Of course, Jacob. What’s done is done now, and perhaps Sabrina was right. It’s time for drastic measures. Obviously the Mungons are bent on destruction. And from what I’ve now seen, I know that you’re the man for the job.”
Jacob could see Cade’s face was hard but accepting. He had kept to his word, whether he liked it or not.
Chapter 10
Jacob
“No, death is the only option for this vermin!” Jacob clapped his hand down on the table and glared at the alien couple next to him. He would not have recognized himself a month ago, strong, charismatic, and decisive. Some were even whispering that he was a hard man, ruthless, but necessarily so. “I’m not going to allow them to come back a year from now and start this all over again! Have you paid attention to what has been happening in the world? If we don’t annihilate the whole bunch of them, they’ll come back. Sure, there might be another faction that forms later but we’ll deal with that then. For now, we deal with the Mungons. All of them!”
“As you wish, majesty.” The alien couple moved as one, making a placating gesture. “You are right of course. We have been too diplomatic I suppose. As the king it is your place to judge. If you find them lacking they will be dealt with.”
The couple had come to him to ask him to try diplomacy once more. Jacob had left the current government intact but had retained the final say. He wanted to know the will of his people, and he knew it now. It was death for all adult Mungons.
“Is there a world we could send them to, perhaps?” Jacob asked, a moment of weakness making him ask the question.
“Not one that they could not eventually escape. It might take them hundreds of years but they would make their way back to our world.” The couple, still so pale it made Jacob squint, touched their fingertips together, hands tapping together, as the creatures thought. “No, you are right, Jacob. There is nowhere we could send thes
e beings without them causing death where they go, and eventually coming back to us.”
So far, no children had been found in the enclaves, mainly because, as they knew now from questioning prisoners, the Mungons didn’t have children, they made them. Children were vulnerable, weak, and could go either way when it came to personality so the Mungons turned adults instead, refusing for the most part to reproduce naturally. The knowledge saved Jacob’s heart and brain some distress but still, people were dying, and it didn’t sit easily on his shoulders. He had a moment of hope when he’d asked about another planet but now he knew he had to continue making the hard decisions that burdened him greatly.
A month had passed and the Mungons were being flushed from their enclaves, and Jacob hated all of the death, he hated the monster he considered himself to be now, but he was a leader. He had to protect his people and the unsuspecting mortal world that had no idea of the battle raging to save them. If it required mountains of death, so be it. He sighed as the room emptied, and Sabrina came to him, her hand joining his as she perched on the arm of the chair.
“It’s not easy, I know, but you’re doing well, Jacob. Throughout the world the Mungons are being hunted down, at the will of the people, not just at your direction. Don’t shoulder all the guilt for what we all do, what’s been done.” Her words soothed him but they didn’t take away the burden of being a death-dealer.
“I’ll be fine. How are you today?” He had softened to her over the last few weeks, his need for her burning hotly still, but his emotions became entangled with hers and they faced the knowledge they were mated with acceptance. He knew his soul had chosen her but there was still something in him that was cold towards her, an anger that he thought would never leave him. Sighing once more, he waited for her answer.
“I’m fine, as usual. I’d like to get you into bed again, but I know you’re busy.” She soothed a hand down his face, leaning into his body. A vampire needing comfort, Jacob almost snorted, but held it back as he brushed a hand over hers.
Jacob (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 3) Page 10
