The Stone Protector (Keepers of the Flame, Book 1)

by Melissa F. Hart

The Stone Protector

  (Keepers of the Flame, Book 1)

  Copyright © 2013 by Melissa F. Hart. All rights reserved worldwide.

  No part of this book may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written consent of the author/publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  https://www.melissafhart.com/

  Books in the series

  The Stone Protector - Book 1

  The Stone Keeper - Book 2

  The Flame Keepers - Book 3

  Keepers of the Flame - Trilogy Bundle

  ***

  Synopsis

  A few months to her 17th birthday, Luanne Kylor begins to experience weird attacks. When she’s almost killed at a shopping mall, her grandmother decides that enough is enough and hires a bodyguard. Even though she’s immediately attracted to Dylan, a bodyguard is the last thing she needs as she’s trying desperately to blend in.

  What most people don’t know is that Luanne belongs to a family of vampires. But not just any vampires; they are known as the BORN breed because they were born into their heritage. They are a sort of vampire evolution and Dylan is a member of the Protector Order of the BORN breed.

  Forging a tentative bond, Luanne and Dylan come together and both face those that have been haunting Luanne for over four years. They had murdered her entire family and now they’re after her. Survival has suddenly turned into a very dangerous game. Will Dylan succeed in saving her or will she have to look inward and find the strength to save herself? What is her connection to the stone in the pendant around her neck?

  ***

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  ***

  Chapter One

  Luanne stood at the curb in front of the shopping mall and fiddled with her cell phone. She'd shared a car with her grandma today, since they'd been going in the same direction and she was waiting for her to pick her up. She pursed her lips and stared at the message she'd received from her best friend, Claire. She was still trying to make sense out of it when the pendant on her chest began to grow warm. All her senses went on alert as a thin thread of apprehension shot down her spine. She lifted her head sharply to search around for the danger but before she'd fully lifted her head a dark figure came at her with such speed that those who witnessed it saw only a blur.

  Acting instinctively and with no time to think, she leapt into the air with equal speed and held out her left hand in a protective gesture at the same time. Twin darts of fire shot from her palm, engulfing the dark figure. The last thing she saw before that figure disappeared were the gold capped pointed incisors.

  Dropping down to her feet, her heart pounding with fear and adrenalin, she was grateful to see her grandma pull up in her silver Lexus. She looked around quickly before she pulled the door open and it still baffled her that everyone was going about their business like nothing had happened.

  “Hi Katrina,” she mumbled as she slipped into the comfortable leather seats of the car.

  “Hi honey, what happened?”

  Luanne stared out the window as they left the shopping mall behind. Her grandmother's voice was carefully modulated and sounded pleasant, but she knew Katrina was trying hard to conceal her fear and she didn't want to contribute to that. Still, she couldn't not tell her what had happened. “There was another attack. This time I saw the person, not the face or anything, just the teeth.” She turned to look at her then and said quietly, “It was a vampire.”

  Katrina didn't say anything but she noticed her hands had tightened on the steering wheel and her normally porcelain complexion was even more white than usual. Luanne used the opportunity to study her grandma, not for the first time. Looking at her smooth features and lustrous red hair, it was almost impossible to believe that the woman was her dad's mom. She did not look a day over thirty and it had nothing to do with cosmetic surgery and everything to do with her heritage. She cast blue eyes on her granddaughter before returning them to the road.

  “You can't continue this way, Lu,” she said softly.

  Luanne knew what she was talking about. Her heart was still pounding from the recent attack and it was only one in a long line of several since she'd turned sixteen a year ago. She absently fingered the stone in the pendant, which was hidden beneath her pink tank top. “I don't know what to do.”

  “Don't worry about it, baby.” She reached out and patted Luanne on her bare knee. “We'll get through this.”

  Just like they'd gotten through other stuff. Katrina didn't say it but she heard it loud and clear. “But why me? Why do they target me this way?” There was a noticeable thread of despair running through her voice.

  Katrina was silent for a moment. “How did you get rid of this one?” she finally asked, not answering the question.

  “Fire,” she replied shortly.

  Her grandmother turned to look at her and there was shock in her eyes. “Did you just say fire?”

  Luanne nodded. “I lifted my arm and fire came out of my hand.”

  Katrina turned back to the road and focused on her driving. It was clear that there was a lot going on in her mind. She looked troubled. “Do you have any idea how that happened?”

  “Er, no.” She shrugged. “I just lifted my hand and fire, like, just shot out.” She shrugged again.

  “OK. That's great.” She nodded slowly. “So did you find what you were looking for at the mall?”

  Luanne lifted one finely arched eyebrow at the abrupt change of subject, but knowing her grandmother, she'd already shifted gears. “Yeah, I did. But I'm not sure I want to spend all that money on a dress.”

  Katrina sighed delicately, “I don't understand you, Lu. It's almost as though you don't have my genes running through you. You have all that money, yet you won't spend it. I've never met a teenager as frugal as you are.”

  She carefully hid her thoughts and smiled at her grandmother. “Just because I don't subscribe to retail therapy doesn't mean that I'm frugal.”

  Once again her grandma took her eyes off the road to glance distastefully at Luanne's outfit of shorts and a tank top. “Look at you, Lu. You're beautiful—stunning, actually—since you take after me.” Her eyes twinkled at that, then she turned back to the road. “But you don't even make an effort. No makeup, no pretty clothes, nothing. It's almost as though you're in mourning.”

  When Luanne remained silent, Katrina flashed her a quick look before swinging the car into the parking spot in front of their eighteenth century townhouse. Switching off the engine, she turned to face her granddaughter with a somber look. “You still miss them, don't you?”

  Luanne glanced outside and stared at the manicured lawn of their neighbor's home. She felt the usual pressure in her chest which accompanied that topic and wanted desperately to escape. “I don't want to talk about it, Katrina.”

  “You've kept it inside you for the past three years, Lu. Don't you think it's about time you talked about it?”

  Feeling the tightness increase in her chest she turned pleading eyes to her grandmother. “Please, just leave it, Grandma. I'm not ready, I don't want, I can't...” Taking a deep breath she tried to p
ush back the rising panic and tried again. “I'm just not ready.”

  Katrina stared at her for a few seconds, her ruby red lips pursed, then she nodded. “So, are you going to the prom with Eric? What?” She asked, feigning innocence as Luanne rolled her eyes and opened the car door.

  “Has anyone told you that you're too nosy, Grandma?” she asked before stepping out of the car.

  “Hey, who are you calling Grandma?”

  ***

  I shook my head as I walked into the house I'd shared with my grandma since I was sixteen. Katrina could be impossible sometimes, but I loved her with every fiber of my being. I didn't tell her this, but I had nightmares that someday she would be taken from me. I know this is somehow connected to what happened three years ago, but I didn't want to think about that. I glanced back and saw her with a small shopping bag. Looking at her, it was easy to understand why I called her by her name and told people she was my aunt. What else could I do? How did you go about explaining that, even though your grandmother looked like a young thirty-year-old, she was actually a hundred-and-fifty-three-year-old vampire? Did I say vampire? Sure I did. You don't believe they exist? Well, that's exactly how we like it. And yes, I did say we. You see, it's something I didn't talk about then and it's not something I like to talk about now, except with those like us. Sharing such information would probably have earned me a vacation at the funny farm.

  I entered the cool interior of the home and sighed with relief. We were in the middle of summer and the heat outside was killing. But that wasn't why I loved Katrina's home. It was like living in an exotic cave. The walls were a very pale blue with one section painted in dark grey, and the windows had heavy curtains that were always drawn. The darkness was softened by soft lamps in different parts of the living room. I felt my tension melt away as I sank my feet into the beautiful rug that grandma had told me was an Ambusson rug. When I first came to live with her, I'd been entranced by the patterns on the rug. I looked around me, felt that familiar ache in my chest, the emptiness that had been my companion for the past three years. When was this all going to get better?

  Chapter Two

  I try to live like a normal person. It's not easy when you know you're different. As much as I've tried to blend in, I still stand out and I hate that. I want to be normal. Is that too much for a girl to ask? With a grandmother like Katrina who is always into one escapade or the other, it might be too much to ask. Still, I had no idea she would go as far as to make my life completely unlivable.

  Since it was summer and I didn't have to be in school, I decided to indulge my nocturnal side and spent the day sleeping. So it was not until five p.m. before I woke up and my room was a complete world of its own with an ensuite bathroom and a fridge stocked with almost every snack I could want. Hmm, I suppose you're now wondering about whether I drink blood or not. What can I say? I'm a vampire and the craving for that hits me every now and then. But I'm not like any vampire you've heard about. I was not made a vampire; I was born one. We are known as the parereans or the Born, as we are sometimes called. So we can go out in daylight if we want to, although we prefer not to. I can see my reflection in a mirror, though I have no idea why I would want to. It's just my face that's going to be staring back at me. And yeah, we can manage our craving for blood, when it does strike.

  So sometime around eight p.m. I decided to go down for a real meal, something hot. As I went down the stairs, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Something wasn't right in the house, there was a foreign aura and it was a dangerous one. Strangely, the stone I was wearing as a pendant didn't give a warning like it usually did. I paused and pulled it out of the t-shirt I was wearing on top of my shorts. It sparkled brightly and looked almost alive in my hand, but that was all. How odd. With a frown, I tucked it back into my t-shirt and continued downstairs. I heard laughter coming from the kitchen and knew immediately it was Katrina. With a small smile, I walked in and stopped dead.

  Katrina turned and saw me and flashed a smile at me. “Lu darling! Glad you're finally up, come meet my friend.” She gestured to her companion.

  I turned reluctantly to look at him and felt a zap go through me. Honestly, I literally felt my entire body zap. I looked into his eyes and immediately forgot where I was. They were the bluest eyes I'd ever seen, but it was more than that. They were almost spellbinding and they seemed to draw me into their depths. I felt as though I was drowning in his eyes and was so grateful when Katrina's voice pulled me out.

  “Luanne, this is Dylan. I've hired him to be your bodyguard.”

  I'm not a shy person or anything like that. Okay, maybe I'm a little reserved, but that doesn't mean I'm shy. However, when I stared at the guy standing in Katrina's kitchen looking at me with what looked like faint disdain in his eyes, I wished I hadn't pulled my hair into a ponytail. If I had left it flowing, it could have given me something to hide behind.

  “Hi Dylan,” I said quietly, averting my eyes away from the stranger. I could feel my heart beating and he made me feel defensive and I couldn't even say why. I went to the refrigerator and poured out the special drink that was created to stave off the craving I was suddenly feeling.

  I stood still, the cold air from the refrigerator cooling my body. That was when Katrina's words suddenly dawned on me. I was sure I'd misheard her, I mean what other explanation could there be. As pleasantly as I could, I turned and saw two pairs of eyes looking at me. In Katrina's eyes, I could see that she was looking at me as though I should be leaping for joy. As if! As for the stranger, well I suppose I should refer to him as Dylan; I couldn't read anything in his eyes. I turned back to my grandmother with my mouth hanging open.

  “Sorry, Katrina. I could almost swear I heard you say bodyguard,” I said when I could finally find my voice.

  Even though my tone was pleasant enough, I guess it didn't fool her. She suddenly straightened her posture and frowned at me. “You're not gonna be difficult about this, are you?”

  Me, difficult? She had practically ruined my life and she was calling me difficult? Instead, I shrugged and took a sip from the drink before speaking. “No, Aunt Katrina, I'm not gonna be difficult. Simply send him back wherever he came from and we'll pretend this never happened.” I waved a hand in the general direction of where the stranger – Dylan – was standing. Without looking at him, I sensed the change in him and everything in me went on alert. I shuffled on my legs, trying to hide my nervousness.

  “Luanne, you know there's no other way. The attacks have been getting frequent and you're in no position to defend yourself. Those sporadic bursts of power you've had were pure luck or more like defense mechanisms. What's going to happen if you're outnumbered?”

  I felt my chest getting tighter once again. I couldn't believe Katrina was taking that tone with me and in front of a stranger. Thanks Katrina, I thought bitterly. Let the whole world know how inept I am. “But is it too much to ask that you discussed this with me?” My voice was beginning to rise, that's how mad I was. “How could you just foist a bodyguard on me?”

  “I did it for your own good, Luanne.” Katrina's voice was uncompromising. I'd never heard her this stern about anything before. Ever.

  I gritted my teeth and almost stamped my feet in impatience. “For my own good! How is this for my good, Katrina? Just tell me that? Have you taken a good look at him?” I turned to stare at the, at Dylan. He was exactly what I didn't need in my need to blend in.

  “What's wrong with me?”

  I turned to see the amused smirk on his lips and felt like wrapping my hands around his gorgeous neck. And he was gorgeous. He had thick, dark wavy hair and eyes that were so blue they were definitely azure. He was quite tall too, but what was remarkable were the sleek muscles bulging around his arm. He looked like a movie star and a military man all rolled into one. He was one of those people who drew attention like a magnet.

  “What's wrong with you?” I spluttered. “You are a damned magnet!”

  “No swearing,
Luanne,” Katrina scolded.

  I had the grace to look ashamed, but it didn't last for long. I turned to her and said, “Katrina, please don't do this to me. How can I go to the prom with him tagging along? He'll draw attention wherever he goes. He looks like a movie star for goodness sake!”

  “You take him to the prom with you,” she stated baldly.

  I looked at her in horror. How could she do this to me? Eric Cooper was finally going to ask me to the prom. I'd had this ginormous crush on him throughout the school year and after not noticing me for several months, he'd finally called. Now Katrina was going to ruin that. “Katrina...” I wailed, not caring that I sounded like a five year old in front of the movie star - erm, Dylan, but this was ridiculous.

  “I'm afraid my mind is made up, Luanne. You won't go anywhere without Dylan and that's final.”

  I bit my lip and stared at her. Even as mad I was, I couldn't hate her, which sucked. I wanted to hate her with everything in me but she was my only family left. “This isn't fair.” Great. I really was regressing.

  She walked toward me and gave me a hug, then looked into my eyes and said, “I love you, Lu. I can't bear to lose you.” Too. She didn't say it, but I heard it and it immediately took the fight out of me.

  I hugged her back with a sigh and stepped back. I quickly rinsed my cup at the sink and turned to walk out.