League of Vampires Box Set: Books 1- 3

by Rye Brewer

  Same old Raze. He had the best heart of anybody I knew.

  I touched his shoulder and stared him straight in the eye. “You’ve done more than enough. Without you, who knows what would’ve happened?”

  I didn’t want to think about my sister being on her own in this condition, suffering and hurting, nowhere to go, always in danger of somebody discovering her.

  He appeared a little embarrassed and cleared his throat. “So, yeah. I’m suspicious. And it does make sense, since there’s no other way this could’ve happened to her.”

  I looked at her again. Where would she get contaminated blood? The blood we consumed was synthetic, but it was always closely monitored. That was one of the many rules the humans had for us—and it made sense. It was actually for our benefit. If the production of synthetic blood was regulated, it meant we were safer and healthier. There would be less of a chance of a sick vampire running around shooting lightning bolts out of his hands.

  “Who would do this?” I asked neither of them in particular. It was just something I needed to verbalize. Then, I asked her, “What’s going on? Is there something you aren’t telling me? Were you getting blood someplace you shouldn’t have been?”

  That was the wrong thing to ask.

  Wrong by a mile.

  My sister’s eyes went almost scarily wide. She stood, slowly, raising her arms as she did. “I don’t know what’s happening!” she yelled. “It’s not my fault!”

  She flung her hands upward, toward the ceiling, and out of her palms jetted two crackling, zigzag lightning bolts—heading straight toward me.

  “Duck!” Raze screamed.

  My reflexes were always strong—I had needed to hone them when I was Marcus’s assassin—and I managed to sidestep one and duck the other.

  Only I didn’t duck deep enough.

  So much for my reflexes.

  I screamed as one of the bolts hit my shoulder. The force slammed me into the wall. I didn’t know which hurt worse—hitting the wall or the burning of my shoulder where the lightning struck me.

  On reflection, it was the lightning.

  I tried to move my arm and screamed again as agonizing pain ripped through me. I felt sort of buzzy, like my nerves were dancing. The sensation wore off after a moment or two.

  Sara ran to me, babbling apologies, and I flinched away when she tried to touch me. Her face fell. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered through even more tears. “I didn’t mean it. I can’t control it. I would never hurt you, Anissa. I never would. Tell me you believe that.”

  “Of course, I do,” I whispered, still clenching my teeth against the pain.

  Raze sank to his knees beside me. “It’s all right,” he said to Sara. “Be calm. We know you didn’t mean to do it. Anissa would never blame you for something beyond your control.” He looked at me, and his eyes were startlingly intense. “Would you?” he asked in a voice heavy with meaning.

  “No. I wouldn’t.”

  What else could I say? If I told her off for hurting me, she’d probably strike me again—maybe with even higher voltage.

  I glared at him—probably because I was angry and hurting and couldn’t glare at my sister. “What else do you know about this? There has to be something else, Raze. Come on. You’re smart, you read a lot of books. You’ve never heard of anything like this before?’

  He shook his head. “I already told you everything I know.”

  “Come on!”

  “I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. You know, you’re not the only one who’s worried about this. It doesn’t only matter to you. I’m the one who’s been trying to protect her while you were—”

  “All right,” I snapped. I didn’t need to get into that. Not then, not ever.

  I heard a crackle and winced, and when I looked at my sister, she was shaking. Her hair stood on end, the way mine had, and the air started getting that metallic taste to it again.

  “Sara! You need to calm down. Be calm.” Raze turned all his attention to my sister. “Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. Come on. We’ve practiced this, right? I know you can do it. Come on, Sara.”

  He coached her through it as she did what he asked.

  Slowly, slowly, the energy in the room lessened. The air began to feel normal again, and she stopped crackling.

  For the time being.

  Once it was clear she was over her excitement, Raze looked down at me. “The more excited or upset she gets, the worse it is.”

  “No fooling,” I whispered, glancing back at my sister.

  She’d never been good at controlling her emotions in the first place. And the worse she got, the worse it got. Which made her feel worse, which made the electricity worse.

  On and on until we would all be burned to a crisp.

  I told myself to get over my pain and confusion for her sake. “Hey. Nobody blames you for this, okay? I’m sorry if it sounded like I was blaming you before. I’m just as confused about this as either of you, and I’m worried about you. That’s why I sounded the way I did. I hate that this is happening to you. I love you.”

  She gave me a weak smile. “Still?”

  “Always.”

  “It just… It seems you’ve gone through so much for me already, and this is just another thing.”

  “But you’re the one who kept us both alive when we were on our own. I’ll never forget that. Besides, you’re my sister. I’ll never stop wanting to help you. Okay?”

  “Okay.” She seemed calmer than she had been since I walked through the door, which was a relief.

  I could breathe without being afraid every breath was my last.

  I took a moment to get my head together before I tried to stand up. My back ached, my ribs were sore from where I slammed into the wall. I didn’t dare try to swing my right arm back and forth since it was more than my skin that had been seared. The burn went deeper than that, even though my skin barely looked harmed. My muscles ached and twitched. I could hardly stand it and had to grit my teeth to keep from crying out every time I moved it.

  Only the thought of my sister losing control again kept me silent.

  “All right,” I said. “Let’s figure out where we go from here.” I leaned against the wall for support, taking deep breaths to keep my head straight.

  34

  Anissa

  Raze pulled a chair out for me, and I sat in it, trying to think through our next steps. I couldn’t let Sara go on the way she was. There was no way she—or anybody around her—would survive with her shooting off lightning bolts every time she stubbed her toe, or somebody was rude to her on the street.

  “We can’t figure out how to stop this until we know how it started. So, we have to pinpoint when it began and what could’ve happened to you.” I stared at her, and it was so clear she was struggling to control herself. I wished I could give her a hug, but I was too afraid to touch her.

  Raze spoke up. “There’s something else I noticed around the mansion. Some of the guys who came in for the league meeting a few weeks back haven’t left.”

  “No? Where are they from?”

  “Europe.”

  “Maybe that’s who the guys behind you were talking about. European vampires with elemental blood. They brought it over with them. I can’t imagine why, but maybe they did.”

  “They do seem sort of shady. They’re always checking over their shoulders when they talk, like they don’t want anybody to overhear them. They have that slimy sort of look to them, too, and when they smile, it’s more like a snarl.” He shook his head with a shudder. “Like, if I was walking down the street and saw them coming, I’d cross to the other side.”

  Raze was pretty well-built, too, and I had never seen him back down from a fight. If they made him feel that way, they had to be trouble.

  “I trust your instincts,” I said. “So you think they might’ve had something to do with it?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past them,” he said. “Everybody knows they�
��re bad news and wants to know why they haven’t left yet.”

  I turned toward my sister. “Where have you been getting the blood you’ve been consuming since we left the mansion?”

  Her expression was surprised, stunned, offended. “From the Bourke blood bank,” she whispered.

  “You’re sure about that?”

  “I’m positive.” She nodded her head violently. “Only there.”

  I decided to stop asking questions while she was still in control of herself.

  “All right. If that’s the only blood Sara’s been consuming, it means the Bourke blood is contaminated. What if there are other vampires in their clan who are going through this? I mean, it’s possible, right? It’s not as if any of the bags are marked a special way, so anybody could get any blood at all.”

  “True,” Sara said.

  “Let’s follow this out to its logical conclusion,” I said. “If there are others—and there probably are, since I doubt only a single bag was contaminated—there are higher odds of there being a cure for this. If not now, soon enough. I mean, this could become an epidemic. It’s not the sort of thing that can be ignored.” My shoulder ached like I needed a reminder of how dangerous my sister had become.

  “Besides,” I said in a softer voice, “there’s no way a hybrid witch-vampire would be accepted. She would never be allowed to live among other vampires. She’d be ostracized.”

  She might even be put to death. I would never dare say it out loud, but it was the truth.

  I shuddered to think about it.

  “This is why she’s here,” he reminded me. “I knew she had to hide. Nobody can know about this until we know there’s a cure. I had to come and find you, of course, and Sara told me where I could find the Bourke building.”

  “I’m glad you did.” I gave my sister what I hoped was a genuine, reassuring smile.

  “What do we do now?” she asked, looking at the two of us.

  “I think we should tell the Bourkes. They have to know their blood is contaminated.”

  “Assuming they’re not the ones who did this,” Raze muttered.

  “They would never do that,” I snapped. “You don’t know them.”

  “I’ve heard that before.”

  “It’s true,” I insisted, and it was only for my sister’s sake that I managed to keep my voice at a reasonable volume. I really wanted to scream at him, maybe claw his eyes a little. With the one arm I could actually lift without crying out in pain, of course. “You don’t know how he feels about her—one of the Bourke brothers. Scott. He would never, ever let something like this happen. He wouldn’t even chance it.”

  “I’m sorry if I don’t believe you,” Raze said. “I guess I’m not as well-acquainted with them as you are. You’ll have to introduce us sometime.”

  “Okay, fine, whatever.” I shook my head—there was no way he would ever see things the way they really were, not while the Bourkes were our enemies. Or at least, the enemies of Marcus’s clan—a clan I didn’t plan to ever be a part of again. “It doesn’t matter right now. What matters now is getting Sara someplace safe. This isn’t a good enough spot. It’s secluded, but it’s not safe. I’m not saying it wasn’t good enough in an emergency, but she’s sitting in the middle of filth. And if anybody notices us coming and going, they’ll figure out that we’re hiding somebody or something here.”

  “You’re right,” he agreed.

  “But we also can’t be seen with her on the streets—no offense,” I added, looking at Sara.

  She actually gave me a little smile.

  “What do we do, then?” he asked.

  It was a mostly rhetorical question, I realized. But I still felt the need to answer it right away. I wished somebody could answer for me, for once. I wished I didn’t feel like everything was on my shoulders.

  Then, it came to me.

  It was a long shot, but I had to try.

  “Hang on a second. Just wait here.” I stood and went to the door.

  “Wait. Where are you going?”

  “I’m not going far,” I said, trying to calm Sara. “I promise, I’ll be back shortly.”

  “All right.” I glanced at Raze, who understood he needed to sweet-talk her into remaining calm while I was gone.

  I hoped it wouldn’t be for long. I hurried back through the tunnel, retracing the steps I’d taken with Raze until I reached the door propped with the brick. It was heavy enough, and the hinges rusted enough that I had to throw my weight behind it, which only made my sore muscles and aching bones hurt more. I could say I had been struck by lightning and survived it, though, and how many people could say that?

  By my own sister, no less.

  I stepped over the garbage strewn through the warehouse and made it outside, where the air was much fresher than it had been in that little room full of electricity and anguish. It was cool on my overheated skin, too. I wished it could help my shoulder.

  “Here goes nothing,” I whispered to myself. Then, only slightly louder, I whispered a single word. “Allonic?”

  Nothing. I waited for a slow count of sixty with nothing to show for it.

  “Allonic?” I whispered again, and again I counted.

  Nothing.

  I couldn’t lose hope, but it started to drain out of me like water in a sieve.

  “Come on,” I whispered through gritted teeth. How much more was I supposed to endure? Why couldn’t we get a break for once? “Allonic? Are you here somewhere? Can you hear me?”

  After another minute, and then another, I wondered if I would have to course back to Sanctuary. I knew I could find it again if I had to, but I didn’t want to take the time. My sister needed help immediately, and I was in enough pain I knew coursing would exhaust me.

  Then, the answer to my prayers appeared.

  It was like he materialized straight out of the shadows, out of pure, thin air.

  A tall figure in a long cloak, the hood pulled over his head.

  Relief flooded my body, relief I had never felt before.

  “You took long enough,” I snarled when I really wanted to throw myself into his arms and weep from exhaustion and confusion. And gratitude.

  He sighed. “You summoned me so you could give me a difficult time?” he asked in that low, gravelly voice of his.

  “Sorry. I’m so glad you’re here. We have a situation—a very dangerous one.” I pulled at the collar of my tee and showed him my burned shoulder.

  “That’s quite a burn.” He was very good at understatement, my brother.

  “Our sister gave it to me.”

  He lowered his hood so I could see the slight smile playing over his face. “You brought me here for what? To settle a sibling fight?”

  “I wish it were that simple. Come. Follow me.”

  As we walked through the warehouse, I explained the situation. His silence told me all I needed to know—he saw how grave the situation was. “I don’t know how much more of the blood may be contaminated or if anymore was, but Sara is out of control. She has no idea how to handle this. She slammed me into a wall.”

  “Is she often emotional?”

  “She’s emotional, even fragile, but not violent. Not ever. She’s not doing this on purpose.”

  We stopped at the door leading to the tunnels. “Here is what I don’t understand. I’ve never heard of a case where a vampire or any other creature has been turned into an elemental witch, and I don’t see how she could’ve gained these powers simply by consuming elemental blood.”

  “Mom developed certain… traits… from the shade who saved her, didn’t she? Your father? I saw her in your memories. She didn’t look like herself anymore.”

  “Yes, but that was after many years of feeding, of healing. She was little more than dead when she came to our Sanctuary, so her body was… compromised, I suppose. We’re talking about one feeding, maybe two from the same bag in Sara’s case. And taking on the traits of a shade is far different from gaining the powers of an elemental witch.
It simply isn’t the same situation.”

  I groaned and punched the metal door with my good hand on my good arm. “I’m trying my best to figure this out. I don’t know where to start, all right?”

  “I understand. I’m only trying to give you some of the insight you’re looking for.” His voice sounded gentler than usual, more compassionate.

  “I know you are.” I sighed, and wished I hadn’t punched the door. Having one arm that didn’t hurt was better than having two sore arms. It seemed my sister wasn’t the only one who needed to learn a little self-control. “At any rate, that’s not our biggest concern at the moment.”

  “Oh, there’s more?” he asked. I guessed that passed for humor, coming from him.

  “Yeah. We need to find a place to stash her while we figure this out. We need to hide her from other vampires. Imagine what would happen if even one of them got word of her existence. They would put out a call to have her dealt with. You know what that means.”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” he said in an almost dangerous voice.

  Yes, he probably knew how unforgiving vampires were when it came to half-bloods and hybrids. Yet another thing we had in common.

  Except a half-fae or half-shade wouldn’t be put to death just for the sheer fact they existed. A half-witch, on the other hand? There were few creatures that vampires hated more than witches.

  “Do you know of anywhere we can go?” I asked with my heart in my throat.

  “I know just the place.”

  I lowered my head and drew a deep breath. For once, something was going my way.

  “All right. Let’s go get her.” I led him through the door—he opened it for me—and down the tunnel to the door which concealed my sister.

  No, I reminded myself, our sister.

  I gave him the same warning Raze gave me when I first went in. It seemed pointless, like he already understood, but a warning couldn’t hurt. Lightning, on the other hand, could.