Blood Twist (The Erris Coven Series)

34



DEATH



Wandering through the yards that smelled wonderfully of damphyr, Death felt like he found his way back home to the century old villages of Southeastern Europe.

Aroostook County, Maine. The half-breeds had been so close the whole time. After happening upon Lachlan that night in Quebec, he had traveled all over southern Canada, hoping to locate the rest of the coven, but never thought to look south in the heavily wooded state.

When young Riley felt remorse for what he had done, he had taken his father’s wallet and disposed of it before Death could examine the man’s identity. It had been so long since he tasted the flesh of damphyr, his own thoughts couldn’t move beyond the fact that after years of believing no other half-breeds existed, he found one outside a smoky bar, completely unaware of Death’s company.

Drawn to the ally by the blood Riley spilled, Death would have easily taken the boy’s kill if it wasn’t for the scent of damphyr around him. Watching from the shadows as the boy dragged his victim to the rooftop, he didn’t wait long before Lachlan burst through the rear exit, calling for his son.

Slicing into the tender meat, he feasted on the adult male while his son gave into his first blood lust only feet above him. When Riley came around and lowered himself to the alley to find his father, Death slipped behind the dumpster, trying to gain control. He knew if he could follow the boy, there may be more damphyrs to be had. Instead, the boy, shaken with grief and shame, dragged his father into an old shack, emptied Lachlan’s pockets and left him under a tarp.

Torn between following Riley and finishing his meal, Death chose to stay behind and have his way with the enticing corpse. In the cover of darkness, he found a place to hide from the sunlight while he devoured every bit of muscle and sinew the body offered. The pure obscenity of it gave him pleasure, producing his inspired plan.

If he could find Riley, he could take him in. Offer him a protection amongst the nest. He didn’t think the boy would be difficult to convert once his loyalties to home dissolved. Death would convince him to share the location of his homeland.

Approaching Garrick, he confessed witnessing a new vampire in the territory that needed to learn how to cover his tracks. He didn’t mention knowing what the boy’s lineage was or that Death indulged in the youngster’s father over a long weekend. Garrick was ignorant about his own creation, let alone trying to explain what a half-breed was. Riley’s existence was simply understood as just another newborn left behind after a draugr failed to make a kill.

Vampires were always draining humans after feeding them their blood. Most of the time, the newly turned victims had no idea what they were until they stepped out into the sunshine and went up in flames. Only a few of the smart ones found their way to a nest, or were dragged in by an older vampire who knew they needed to learn how to mind.

Garrick was a ruthless bastard and killed any vampire that came across as a threat. Calling himself Strix, after the form of the owl he could shift into, Death made sure he never appeared strong in any way. Stumbling and squirming, he hovered before the leader like he was nothing but an errand boy. It was a game he acted out in countless nests before this one. As he grew tired of the draugars around him, Death slaughtered them all and moved on to the next. That was how he had survived two centuries – how he would continue to live in the years to come.

After a couple of nights, they hunted down Riley and brought him into the fold. The boy failed to be impressive at first, but as the years went on, he matured and stopped fighting what he had evolved into. Witty and educated, he quickly set himself apart from the other vampires Garrick kept on hand. Death taught him to keep his head down and never challenge Garrick unless he wanted to die.

It surprised him how much he didn’t mind having the young one around. Listening to stories of his coven, Death hoped Riley would eventually lead him there. When it became clear the young one intended on taking the secret of the location to his grave, Death planted the thought in his head that he should reunite with his brother, Braden. It wasn’t hard to do.

Now he was here.

While Braden was locked in the cell, Death rummaged through his things until he found his passport and ID. Erris Maine, even the name sounded antiquated. During the day, he could only face the sun in his alternate form. It wasn’t difficult to sneak aboard an outgoing flight to the states in the belly of a plane’s cargo hold.

Using Riley’s phone to message Braden was just for fun. Adding insult to injury would make the damphyr’s blood that much sweeter. Sitting on a fountain in back of one of the damphyr’s houses, he waited for the boy to come to him. After crossing his scent, he sat and waited for the young male to emerge from one of the cozy structures. Others were blissful in their homes or attending festivities downtown. Picking them off one by one would be utterly pleasing.

Licking his lips, he awaited the fight. His own rotten heart roared with the thrill of the chase. The more energy he used, the hungrier his appetite became. Staring into the darkness, he planned to feast all night.





35



BRADEN





Trusting his instincts, Braden was relieved when the scent of the draugr led him in the opposite direction of his mother’s residence. Heading through Torin’s yard and into Cian’s, his teeth were bared and his eyes glittered white as he prepared to fight to the death. Even the heavily clouded night sky couldn’t mask the vampire’s trail.

Moving with lightning speed, his inner hunter united at once with all of his senses. He had perfect vision and could make out every blade of grass and leaf dangling from the tree limbs. His hearing was complete as he registered every breath and heart beat from within each family’s home. For whatever reason, other than his mother, only the women of the coven were home and had gathered at Endellion’s.

The rustle of his own clothing and hammering blood were made silent by his focus. It was the odor of the vampire that was left trailing through the lawns like he had meandered a while before staking his claim. The air tasted of his sweat, an old grainy musk, and years of crawling through basements and filth.

Rounding Cian’s house, the dream he shared with Liz earlier now made sense. The fountain was instantly recognizable. Fianna had Seamus ship it from her homeland in Eire. It was the same one they discovered coated with Courtney Parson’s blood only days before. But upon awakening from his sleep, it was the imagery of the owl that had him confused.

Slowing his speed, he could see it now. It wasn’t a dream, but it filled him with rage. Spread out like the angel that mounted the sculpture and rose in the center of the pool, a large owl perched waiting. The bird was bigger than it was in Vancouver, but the smell and coloring were the same. Chastising himself now would not help his attack, but he should have realized then it was no ordinary beast. It was a shifter and it came to destroy.

Dropping down in front of him, the feathers covering the creature pulled and parted until a man’s naked form appeared. Staring at him through pitch-black black eyes, Strix smiled, revealing jagged, sharp teeth.

Taking his time, Strix stretched his wiry neck. Thick skin the color of ash, glowed deathly in the moonlight. His lips peeled back and a long black tongue darted out, swiping where they had cracked and dried. The black vein in his forehead pulsed, s sign of thirst Braden knew all too well.

“Sorry I’m not your brother,” the vampire garbled, “I hope the lack of kinship between us won’t disappoint.”

“I knew you weren’t Riley,” Braden said, gritting his teeth. “He doesn’t need to cower behind the shape of a bird.”

“Oh?” Strix seemed surprised. “Then my ruse didn’t work. Well so much for that little game. Best we get on to more serious matters.” Grabbing hold of a tempered glass dining table, Strix hurdled it through air, but Braden dodged it, as it crashed down around him.

Braden kept his chin up and his feet moving, never taking his eyes from his opponent. Regardless of how dangerous a vampire as old as Strix was, Braden wasn’t about to back down now. Thinking of Liz and how amazing she made him feel while spending the afternoon in her arms, a tug of love bolted through their bond.

She was worth fighting for. They were worth fighting for. Regardless of the cost, he would not back down.

Sniffing the air, a pleased look showed on Strix’s face. “You smell different somehow. You always smelled delicious, but now, more so. Like your father even. What’s the change?”

Braden took an angry step forward, then another one. That creature didn’t deserve to mention Lachlan. Clenching his fists into angry balls, just the thought of Strix knowing his family made him seethe.

“No telling? Maybe I can guess. Your brother said your kind had all sorts of special tricks that my own lineage missed out on. Oh, what did he call it? Soul-twisting, soul-gathering? Is that what has occurred? You and that mouse you dragged up North are now an eternal pair?”

“Why don’t you come closer and ask that to my face? If not, I don’t want to hear you mention Liz or my father.”

Strix dove at him, clenching powerful arms around his chest and launched them both straight up. Despite the whirling air that whipped around them, Braden kicked out at the vampire, forcing him to let go. Crashing into a deck chair, Braden looked up just in time to see Strix collide with the fountain. The force of the vampire’s impact broke large pieces of rock free, causing the cherub in the center, to teeter and crack, before plummeting into the pool.

Showing no signs of injury, Strix was back on his feet and diving for Braden. “Don’t like me talking about Daddy? But he was so delicious when I bled him dry then ate him piece by piece. Of course I never told Riley that. I feared if he knew, he would never let me meet you. Of course, he was all concerned about your female. I’m surprised he worked so hard to let you go.”

Braden’s jaw clenched. He should have known it was Strix from the beginning. Riley’s misplaced trust in the monster blinded him. Digging his fingers into the dirt, Braden dislodged a thick granite patio rock. Gearing back with a sideways kick, he sent it careening at Strix’s head.

When the vampire sidestepped the blow, Braden sent off three more in quick secession. Each time, the older vampire evaded his attacks and moved ever closer.

“Do you know what I think? I think she’s a distraction.” In a second, Strix was on him and grabbed him by the hair. Whipping his face down into the earth, the vampires bulk was surprisingly heavy. He tried turning his head to lessen the pain in his scalp, but Strix just adjusted his hold so that his long fingers found his throat.

“If you touch her, I will end you,” Braden warned.

“I was once like you,” Strix explained, squeezing even tighter. “I too once had a second heart beat in my chest. But after almost five decades of being hunted by men because my kind didn’t age the same way, I grew tired of being weak. Aigle, my brother, and I were out hunting when we came upon a group of soldiers that had heard we were sorcerers and ran my brother through with a sword. We barely escaped, perhaps wouldn’t have if I hadn’t known the mountains the way that I did.”

Squirming beneath him, Braden tried dislodging the beast’s claws. Strix’s voice was rough like sandpaper and held such wistfulness about it, like Braden should be proud to share something with the creature. “Well aren’t you a saint,” he choked while the pressure continued to build in his lungs.

“I carried him deep within the belly of a cave so his flesh could have time to regenerate. While sitting there watching him, I knew the day would only be repeated again and again because we were weak. Our kind was weak and it would never change. While my own wife and child were at home waiting for me to bring sustenance, I was trapped like a chicken in a cage waiting for death. The angrier I became, the more my thirst, demanded I drink. Looking at Aigle, I knew then that I could evolve and never know fear again.”

Strix’s hands cut so hard into Braden’s throat that he was incapable of uttering a single word. Staring up at the beady eyed monster, his brain was, with difficulty, trying to absorb this information.

“Before my brother even knew what I was going to do, I tore out his heart and feasted on his flesh.” Lowering his face towards Braden’s Strix ran his tongue along Braden’s jawline. “Why do you look so disturbed? Not so different than your own brother’s transformation. Someday, Riley will be like me. Someday, he will lose his disillusion that he can keep his family now that he is a killer. By the time I deliver death to each of you, he will have nothing left to save and finally embrace the power within him.”

“But,” Strix continued, staring down into Braden’s eyes, “There are so many wonderful ways I can have you tonight. I don’t want to rush it.”