Christopher: Blood Brotherhood – Erotic Paranormal Dark Fantasy Romance (13 page)

“I have to go.” He nodded and moved back into the shadows, and had nearly left the area when Janell called him back. “I really need to get back to the encampment. I have...I’m on call.”

“Yeah, well, okay, but here is the paperwork you asked me to bring and the rest of the things you asked for.” Rick took the satchel and turned away. He was nearly ready to transport himself to his room when Janell called him back. Turning, he looked at her. “Want me to tell you when I hear anything about her?”

“Yes. Please. I’d like to know everything you know. You know how to contact me.” She said that she did. “All right then. I really must go.”

He was standing in his room seconds later. Dropping the satchel on the bed that he’d never slept in, he sat down on the big chair that faced his window. None of the rooms really had a view, but right now he didn’t even care.

Lucia Alvarez. She was coming here. And when she.... Rick got up to pace. Christ, he was going to be in a world of hurt when she figured out he’d been the one that had turned her in that day all those decades ago. And the worse part of it was, he knew that she had a temper like no one he’d ever met.

He’d been at war. Not just with those that he was fighting against, but with himself too. His mate, Angelica, had died, and he’d been hoping for a way to end his life that did not make him suffer. He’d been selfish even then, he knew that, but he had just wanted his life to end. An easy way out.

Rick had been gifted, he supposed that was as good a term as any, with the ability to stay in the sunlight. Nate had been right in saying that he was born a vampire and not turned into one. But what he’d not say, and might not have known, was that he came from a very long and very strong line of vampires. One of the first families, his mother had always told him. And with that long line had come powers that newer vampires might not ever obtain.

He’d been on the battlefield, not unlike the one that Remy had described when he spoke of Hector coming to him. Bodies were thick in the grass, their blood forever staining the soil beneath it. Swords and knives, or most anything, had been used to fight. He’d had a sword of his own, having gotten it from his father the day he’d decided that ending his life was better than living without his mate. As had Remy, Rick had been ready to die, his body beaten, stabbed, ready to fall down and become ash, when he saw her.

Lucia was not a nice person, which he supposed was a massive understatement. Or so he’d always heard about her. Her way to end an argument or even a conversation that wasn’t going her way was to kill. Most of the time by snapping the other person’s neck—though that did not limit her killing ability—and walking over them as they lay there.

But she’d been there, walking among the dead, lifting them up and feeding upon their bodies before dropping them where they lay and moving on. It had been the way that they’d done things for generations, he supposed, but...Lucia wasn’t a vampire.

Lucia was a faerie. Not just a normal faerie, but one that commanded armies when needed. Lucia was a faerie of war. The worst kind of magical creature, as far as he knew.

War was a fact of life, he knew this better than most. War faeries were known to simply show up on a battlefield and turn the tide of a fight in any direction that they wanted. It mattered little to them who benefited the most, or what the war was really about. If they wanted a certain side to win, then they did, simply because they wanted it that way.

They could not be bought. There wasn’t enough money in the world to sway them to either side. Promises meant nothing to them. They had everything that they ever wanted or needed. They took no sides but their own. It was said that if they were in the middle of the field fighting for one side, it would be nothing for them to turn their backs on them to suddenly begin fighting for the other group. Rick had seen it happen once in his lifetime.

But Lucia was on the field then, killing the dying and taking from them as if she had been a victor in all this. When she lifted a large man up, drinking from his throat, Rick saw her face. It was a face that he knew that he’d never forget so long as he lived.

Rick moved to the window and watched as several of the children collected leaves. It was fall now, the time of great color and cooler nights. When one of the puppies moved by a pile of leaves that had been raked up, scattering them to the four winds, he smiled. The dogs had been a great distraction and joy to have here. Then his thoughts turned to Lucia again.

Getting up again had been a chore that afternoon. He’d not wanted to live, not to move off the field where he’d be nothing in a few hours anyway. But Rick knew that he had to tell someone, let them know that this woman was going to get caught, giving all magical creatures a bad name. He’d been so young, he thought now. Stupid and young to think that he could make any kind of difference in what others did.

“I tried. Stupidly, but I did try.”

His voice sounded harsh in the nearly empty room. Unlike the others that lived here, he’d not wanted anything in this place but a few pictures, which he’d brought from his home, and his books. Rick was an avid reader. He had books about the very battleground that he’d been on that day. He looked at it now, remembering the words that had been said to him.

The council, when he was able to see them, had told him that they’d had reports before about a woman doing this. His mother and father had sat next to him, one on either side, when he was able to get into the large castle to plead his case. When they showed him a picture of the woman he described, they nodded and conferred for several minutes before speaking to him again.

“Lucia Alvarez will be brought before this council and her head removed.” He started to ask if there would be a trial, but his mom put her hand on his as the head councilman continued. “It has been brought to our attention before that she has been making herself known to humans, without thought of the consequences that it might have to the rest of us. There will be a reckoning with her; she will be made an example of for those who would dare try this again. Thank you, young Richard James.”

Three months later he’d been given word that Lucia had paid the price for what she’d been doing and that he was safe now. His parents had been so happy…he had been too. After being cooped up in the house for all that time, Rick had gone out and never returned. That had been over seven hundred years ago. And now here she was coming back to get him.

“And she’s my fucking mate.”

Blood Brotherhood Series

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Kathi Barton, author of the bestselling series Force of Nature, lives in Nashport, Ohio with her husband Paul. In addition to writing full time Kathi likes to spend time with her eight grandkids, three children and three children-in-laws. She writes to relax and have fun.

Her muse, a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Hugh Jackman brings them to life for her readers in a way that has them coming back time and again for more. Her favorite genre is paranormal romance with a great deal of spice. You can visit Kathi on line and drop her an email if you’d like. She loves hearing from her fans.
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