The Van Wilden Chronicles Box Set Books 1-3

by Jessica Gleave

  “Definitely newly-turned vampires,” Morgana reported.

  “Did you examine both bodies?” asked Oscar, rubbing his chin.

  “Only had time to examine the boy. The side of his throat was torn out… very amateur blood lust.”

  “The scent?”

  “Starts over here.” Morgana walked over to the roped-off area. There were splashes of blood everywhere. “No wonder they think it’s animal attacks. These attacks are quite savage, even for a newly-turned vampire.”

  “Where does the scent lead to?”

  Morgana pointed deep into the woods.

  “Okay, we’ll spread out and follow it in.”

  Morgana and Vivienne nodded. Oscar started first, following the visible trail along the ground. Morgana and her mother darted in and out of the trees at a slower pace to avoid being detected. Just like the trail from the other night at Ava’s apartment building, this trail went cold. Oscar jumped up into a few trees, attempting to detect if the vampires had migrated into the treetops for a cleaner escape. There was nothing.

  “It’s surprisingly difficult to pick up anything in any particular direction. Let’s spread out to see if one of us can catch up with it,” Oscar said.

  The three of them spread out in different directions. Morgana ran in a wide arc a hundred yards away from where the trail went cold.

  “I smell wolfsbane,” Vivienne said softly, but still loud enough for Morgana and Oscar to hear.

  Morgana pursed her lips. What were these forest vampires doing with wolfsbane?

  “Regroup,” Oscar called.

  They all met in a small clearing.

  “They obviously want to throw us off their trail. Whoever this vampire clan is, they must know their apotropaics,” said Oscar, barely loud enough for just Morgana and Vivienne to hear.

  Morgana agreed. “We should go back to the scene of the attack. We may have missed something.”

  Oscar nodded. “Yes, we’ll need more information before we can plan our next move, and we need to thoroughly investigate the scene before the clean-up crews arrive, but let’s double back in a different formation. Maybe we’ll catch something we missed.”

  Vivienne headed out, and Morgana quickly followed.

  Back at the scene of the carnage, Morgana kneeled beside a drying pool of blood. She recognized the smell of the boy’s blood from the ambulance. Scattered footprints, looking like they belonged to teenagers, covered the ground.

  “It looks like they were both standing here when they were first attacked. The boy first, there are no signs of him moving from this spot.” Morgana pointed out the footprints.

  Next to what looked like the boy’s was a smaller set of footprints headed away from the scene, then another set of large footprints. Morgana leaned closer, getting the scent of a vampire. “These are the vampire’s footprints. Notice there isn’t any more.”

  Oscar and Vivienne nodded in agreement.

  “The girl ran when the boy was attacked.” Morgana continued following the girl’s footprints. “See these deeper, pointed holes where the heel of her pumps might have sunk into the ground as she ran.” After a few more feet, Morgana found another set of unfamiliar footprints next to the girl’s. “The girl was attacked here.” She pointed and sniffed. There was another strange vampire scent, yet this smell was familiar. “But notice the lack of blood around the area. This wasn’t a newly-turned vampire who attacked her.”

  “Indeed. The girl was pronounced dead when the police arrived. The attacker was obviously older, knew how to drain a human’s body properly without spilling any blood,” Vivienne said, followed by a sigh.

  “We’ll have to find out what the coroner’s report has to say.” Morgana stood. “Have you got any pull there yet, father?”

  “No, unfortunately not. Not until I’m mayor.”

  “I noticed Ava was here tonight,” Morgana said. “She’s been reporting on all of the attacks for the paper since it first started. But she’s been deliberately leaving details out because Alastor is her boyfriend, and I suspect they don’t want to blow his cover. She might have some buried notes with specifics from the other attacks. I’ll track her down and ask her about it in the morning.”

  “Good idea,” Oscar said. “I hear vehicles approaching, probably the clean-up crew. We’d better head off.”

  Even though Morgana couldn’t sense the presence of any vampires, she had a feeling they were being watched. Either way, humans were approaching. The Van Wildens left the scene with haste.

  ***

  Gareth returned home. His mind was racing with thoughts of Morgana and her parents. He felt Alastor was home. Ava’s scent hit him as he entered the doorway.

  “Gareth, we’re in here,” Alastor called out from the living room.

  Gareth made his way to the room. He saw Ava sitting on the sofa, her laptop propped up on a pillow on her lap. She was typing up her article about tonight’s attack. She was never one to rest if there were reporting to be done.

  Alastor looked up with a grim expression on his face. “Not good, mate. Not good.” He held a glass of blood in both hands. His gaze went back to his glass.

  “What happened?” Gareth asked.

  “There was another attack in the forest as you might have heard. Two high school students were in the woods near their homes. It was brutal.”

  “Do you think it was the Van Wildens who attacked?”

  “Nay. They showed up at the scene with everyone else, though. Mrs. Van Wilden even fainted, but I think it was meant to be a distraction. Morgana was there. I saw her. When Mrs. Van Wilden ‘fainted,’ Morgana jumped into the back of an ambulance. She has vampire speed so none of the humans would have noticed her. But lad, she was that fast. Never seen such speeds in all my vampire life. Plus, she leaped into the ambulance from a fuckin’ tree.” He rubbed his face with his free hand.

  “Did she?” Ava looked up from her writing.

  “Aye.” Alastor nodded.

  “Why do you think she did it, though? Was she trying to cover up for her parents?” Gareth asked.

  “Nay. Ye know as well as I do vampires don’t return to the place where they’ve recently fed. Why would they be there?”

  “I don’t know. But Morgana rushed off with a quickness when we heard the sirens blaring. It just doesn’t make sense.”

  “Oh, how did your date go?” Ava leaned forward with interest.

  “Yeah, good until a couple of teenagers got slaughtered.” Gareth rubbed his temple. “She told me not to go into the woods. What do you suppose that’s all about?”

  “Well, we all know how good ye are at taking orders.” Alastor stood and clapped his hand on Gareth’s shoulder. “And the sooner we find out, the better.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Gareth sensed he was being followed. He kept his guard up while creeping through the dark forest. He knew he probably shouldn’t be in the forest without backup, but he needed to know who was causing all the attacks. This had been his home for the last few years. The people in this town had welcomed him and Alastor with open arms. He couldn’t sit back and continue to act like a vulnerable bystander. He wanted to protect the people of this town.

  He picked up his pace, darting through the trees. He had planned on circling and coming up behind his follower. However, he still sensed the stranger behind him, winding his path around to the left. Gareth suddenly sensed the presence was no longer far away but right behind. He spun around ready to attack. All he met was air. He spun around again. Nothing. But he could sense the presence was close, almost on top of him. It only took another second for him to realize the vampire was in the trees above him. But it was a second too late.

  The vampire dropped from the tree above. Gareth tried to dodge his attacker, but he wasn’t quick enough. He felt the stabbing of wood in his right shoulder blade. He groaned in agony. A wave of weakness washed over him. This was no ordinary stake. He could smell something strange—it burned his nostrils. Whatever this
substance was, it was making him weaker by the second. His knees buckled. His body slumped to the ground. He’d never felt so hopeless before in his vampire life.

  A bald vampire who had likely been turned when he was much older than Gareth, maybe in his forties, picked Gareth up and threw him against the trunk of a tree. Gareth groaned as a sharp pain surged through his body. “You broke my spine,” he moaned.

  “Enough of your whining, Daywalker.” The vampire snarled. His dead gray eyes glared menacingly at Gareth. He held Gareth’s neck firmly with both of his hands.

  Gareth could feel the muscles in his throat constricting, his airways slowly being crushed. He tried to raise his arms to pry the vampire’s hands away from his neck, but he felt so weak his arms could barely move.

  What was wrong with him?

  The vampire laughed. “I have stabbed you with a stake soaked in a toxin known as wolfsbane. This is rendering your muscles useless. Tell me, boy, what do you know of the newcomers?”

  “The Van Wildens?” Gareth panted.

  “You have been getting quite cozy with the young female, have you not?”

  “We’ve only hung out a couple of times.”

  “Lies,” the vampire roared, tightening his grip, slamming Gareth’s body against the tree again.

  “I don’t know anything.” The sharp pains were shooting through his entire body now.

  “Then you’re of no use to me.” The vampire snarled, moving his right hand down to Gareth’s chest. Gareth could feel his flesh being pried open as the vampire’s fingers dug into his chest.

  The vampire suddenly froze, his fingers only inches away from reaching Gareth’s heart. Protruding from the vampire’s chest, piercing his own heart, was the tip of a wooden arrow.

  The vampire collapsed to the ground revealing Morgana’s crouched body behind him. Morgana plunged a thick stake into the vampire’s heart next to the arrow, then flicked open a Zippo lighter, igniting the end of the stake. The wooden weapon—obviously saturated in something flammable—was immediately engulfed with flames, turning the dead vampire’s body into ash.

  Gareth gasped for air, clutching at his chest, sinking to his knees.

  Morgana stood. She was wearing her favorite tight, black leather pants, a black tank top, and a black leather jacket.

  Gareth couldn’t help thinking she looked like Kate Beckinsale’s character in those melodramatic vampire movies, but sexier. Around her waist was a brown leather holster full of wooden stakes. In her left hand, she carried a crossbow.

  “Did you just shoot that vampire?” he asked, his voice raspy.

  “Yeah,” Morgana replied, holding up the crossbow. “But I don’t like to use this much. I prefer to use stakes. The bolts in these things can get a little tricky. They don’t always meet their target. Lucky for you, it did.”

  “How did you know to find me here?”

  “I didn’t. I was scouting the woods when I came across him stalking you.” She placed the crossbow strap over her left shoulder. Her long, braided hair fell over her other shoulder. She narrowed her eyes. “Even though you said you’d stay out of the woods.”

  Gareth glanced down at the finger holes in his chest. “Hey, I’m pretty sure karma already paid me back for my disobedience, no need to rub it in. What are you, anyway, like some sort of vampire hunter?”

  “Not exactly.” She turned her head to the side, looking thoughtful, “I’m not out to eradicate all vampires. No, my job is ultimately the opposite of doing that.”

  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Gareth could barely pronounce words anymore. He gasped then gawked at the large bloodied holes in his chest not healing fast enough, or at all—the wolfsbane must be preventing his body from healing. His perfect vision began to blur.

  “Whoa there.” Morgana crouched down, inspecting the wound, then she caught a whiff of it. “Wolfsbane? But why would they be using it?”

  Something clicked in Gareth’s foggy brain, “Wolfsbane, isn’t it the stuff they use against werewolves?”

  Morgana smiled. “That’s what we want you to think.”

  “Who to think? What? We?”

  “Steady now. We’re going to have to get you home so you can drink some blood.”

  “Yes, blood.” He wheezed. “I can’t smell yours. Usually, I can.”

  Morgana placed her hand under Gareth’s elbow, lifting him. “Again, that would be the wolfsbane. As you can tell, deadly to human-turned vampires, but I’m safe. It helps to hide my presence from vampires when I’m tracking them.”

  “You’re the one who’s been tracking me?”

  “I had to rule out all possibilities.”

  “Great.” Gareth’s eyesight was getting worse. His feet stumbled over the uneven ground.

  “Shit, we haven’t got enough time to get back.”

  “Morgana,” he said weakly.

  Morgana hesitated before thinking better of it, “Here, drink mine.”

  Gareth’s eyes could barely focus, but he swore Morgana’s canine teeth had grown before she pierced her wrist. The smell of her blood drifted to his nose.

  Ah, there it was, her delicious scent. He was finally going to taste it.

  She pressed her wrist to his mouth. The blood oozed into his mouth. Her blood had the same undertones of salt and metal like other human blood, but hers was richer and sweeter. Like a fine dessert wine.

  Her blood was instantly revitalizing. The wound in his chest began to heal. Her blood had neutralized the wolfsbane. His strength began returning almost immediately but felt amplified. It was a strange new strength, something he had never felt before. He wanted more.

  Morgana groaned. He heard her discomfort, but the blood was so gratifying, he couldn’t stop himself.

  “That’s enough,” she cried, wrenching her wrist away from his mouth.

  He pulled himself into a sitting position and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Sorry,” he said and meant it. The growing sensation that he couldn’t bear the thought of being without her was overwhelming enough. The thought of hurting her, or worse, was downright horrifying. But this bloodlust had been stronger than he’d ever felt before.

  “It’s okay.” Morgana tore a strip off the bottom of her tank top, wrapping the torn cloth around her wrist to stem the blood flow. “You can’t kill me by draining my blood. But next time you decide to ignore my warning and almost get yourself killed, try not to take so much.”

  Gareth liked the thought there may be another time he would get to taste her blood. It was sweeter than most humans, but there was a richer flavor to it. Whatever the case, drinking her blood, would also mean being close to Morgana again. But there was little time to think about that now as he looked down at his hands. He felt a surge of power rippling through his body. “I feel so much stronger.” He couldn’t believe the intense power he felt. He walked over to the nearest tree, grabbing the trunk with both hands. He crushed the wood beneath his hands as if it were paper. The top of the tree groaned as it fell to the forest floor. Only a rigid stump remained. He suspected he could pull it straight out of the ground as if it were a mere weed. He reached to grab the trunk when he felt Morgana’s hand on his shoulder. So absorbed in the destructive force coursing through him, he’d almost forgotten she was there.

  “I don’t think the birds and small animals living in the tree will appreciate it if you destroy their home.” Morgana pulled his arm away.

  “Your blood has done this to me?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Morgana nodded.

  Gareth turned, ready to ask more questions, but they held in his throat at the sight of Morgana. She was glowing in the moonlight. She gazed up into his face, puzzled by his expression, hers was inquisitive. He thought about pulling her into his arms and placing his lips against hers. Gareth slowly moved toward her, then stopped. Her expression had changed to concern. They could both sense vampires approaching, and fast.

  She grabbed his hand, “Let’s go.”

 
They raced through the forest, zig-zagging through trees in a swift but erratic pattern. Gareth was running faster than he ever had before, but even more shocking was Morgana was able to keep up with him without even breaking a sweat. Still, he could feel the vampires gaining on them. Morgana suddenly stopped and crouched.

  Gareth followed her lead. “What are we doing? They’re going to kill us.”

  “Not on my watch,” she growled, pulling back her coat to gain easy access to the stakes strapped around her waist. Without hesitation, she pulled a stake from the holster, glanced over her shoulder, then flung her right arm backward. With precision aim, she threw the stake. It pierced the heart of a tall, blonde female vampire’s heart, knocking her down.

  “Whoa,” said Gareth.

  “Keep going, there’s no time to burn the corpse, four more are on our trail.” Morgana sped past him. Gareth could see the vampires coming toward them. He quickly followed her.

  They ran for another two hundred yards, but Gareth could feel the vampires were gaining on them.

  Boy, they’re fast, he thought, but they were still no match for his new speed and immense strength. He was even outrunning Morgana. When he passed her, Morgana turned, pulling the crossbow from beneath her coat. She lit the arrow-bolt cocked on the crossbow, aimed at one of the approaching vampires and fired the blazing arrow. With her free hand, she threw a flaming stake at the other. There were grunts and screams of pain as the two weapons successfully connected with their targets. The vampires were now engulfed in flames, flailing between crooked trees. Grabbing two more stakes from her holster, and lighting them, Morgana ran at the other two vampires. With the same deadly aim, she flung a stake from each hand, both sinking straight into the hearts of each vampire. Morgana nodded in approval of her work, then fled the scene.

  Gareth stared at the four dead vampires consumed with flames with awe.

  “Come on,” Morgana called.

  Gareth hesitated, then ran.

  As they reached the outskirts of the forest, Morgana slowed down.