***
Once at the basement, he made her bed next to the recliner where he tilted back. He welcomed the rest that would replenish his body. He made sure she was comfortable before he went in search of their meal.
She realized how dependent she could become on his tenderness. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep and he had yet to return. Falling into a peaceful slumber opened the door for her mind to relive her recent traumatizing experiences in a nightmare. Her mind replayed Vasco’s fangs puncturing her neck. Blood gushed from the wound and filled a bathtub where she stood nude. She wanted out of the tub before she drowned on her own blood, but she could not move. Ivy leaves were wrapping around her body, confining her to the bathtub.
Then, her nightmare pushed forward to her imprisonment in the cave. She was alone in a dirty room and they left her there with no food or water. She could feel her scratchy throat catch fire and while she panicked, a creature from the shadows gave her water. The flashes of the creature’s bony fingers replayed like a broken record in her sleep. When those bony fingers ran its nails across the rock floor, Sophie woke up screaming.
Apollo did not ask her what was wrong. He had returned empty-handed when he felt her inner distress. She woke up with his arms around her. He rubbed his hand over her hair.
“I had a nightmare.” Her voice was barely audible.
“You’re with me, and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I should have been there for my family, Apollo. It’s my fault that they’re dead.”
“It’s not your fault. Don’t say that.”
“I had asked my dad to stop so I could, well, you know, use the restroom out in the forest. They were attacked and there was nothing I could do but watch.”
“If I were there, I would have wanted to protect them, too. I don’t want you to think about it. Just take this one night and let your mind go to a happier place. Will you do that for me?”
She nodded. “Apollo?”
“Yes, Sophie.”
“I should go back to Montana.”
Apollo pulled her closer to him, kissed the top of her head and whispered, “We’ll talk about it in the morning.”
-16-
“I can’t believe it, Fatima.” Amaya was thrilled over her newfound strength. Each large boulder she tossed under the full moon traveled farther and higher with each effortless attempt. She could not believe how strong she had become from one day to the next. If only Papa could see me do this.
Her newly developed strength did not reveal any difference in appearance. She still had the thin arms of an eighteen-year-old, but that did not keep her from proudly flexing her feminine biceps in amazement. She looked in all directions, eager to find a bigger boulder to toss in order to test how far she could throw it.
Fatima looked on, amused by Amaya’s enthusiastic beginning. Over one hundred years ago, Fatima had experienced a poisonous bite that turned her into a confused vampire. When she had felt the changes, she’d fled from her husband and son, scared of the insatiable monster that lurked within her. She’d never had the luxury of feeling the excitement that Amaya now experienced.
Fatima pulled her red hair back tight into a single ponytail before she trained Amaya. She had one goal and that was to make Amaya aware of her abilities, and help her hone her senses.
“Amaya, like I told you in the cave, not only will your abilities sharpen with time, they will also enhance when you transform. Why don’t you try it? Push yourself a bit further and attempt to bring out your features on command.”
“Enhanced? You mean I can be stronger if I transform into a vampire? Do you think I can do it? Please, show me how, Fatima.”
“You already felt your instinctual transformation when you fed. But, your features are also triggered when your emotions intensify, so try to focus on something and allow it to consume your body. Let the adrenaline flow freely so that it may take you to the next level. Go on, try it. Show me your fangs.”
“Yes, Amaya, show us your fangs,” Maximiliano’s deep voice echoed through the forest. He appeared between them without warning. He was an elder who was so fast, it was as if he were a phantom that had materialized out of nowhere.
Fatima noticed him first. She bowed, acknowledging his unexpected visit. Amaya was too surprised for an immediate reaction. But, she quickly realized the importance of his presence and followed Fatima’s example. Amaya diverted her eyes down and bowed to her leader.
Maximiliano put his hand on Amaya’s shoulder. “How is our new member adjusting to her new life, Fatima?”
“She woke up with the typical voracious hunger, and she fed without any hesitation.”
Max turned his attention back to Amaya. With his cold fingers still gripping her shoulder, he put his best attempt forward to come across warmly. “Welcome to the Sanguis family.”
“Thank you, Sire.” Amaya’s gaze still focused toward the rocky ground. She would not look up out of respect—a new, profound respect she felt she needed to display.
“Amaya, I know you wish your father could have been there to see your first awakening as one of us. Unfortunately, I had to send him to search for your rebellious brother once again. We’re your family now. Loyalty and secrecy is essential to our survival. As a leader, it is my responsibility to protect you. I cannot and will not risk your life, your father’s or any Sanguis life over your brother’s child-like fits.”
Amaya cringed at his words. That was her brother he spoke of, and his actions had embarrassed her. She took a deep breath and mustered the courage to look him in the eyes. “I’m not like my brother. I won’t disappoint you.”
Amaya’s words replaced the usual deadpan expression on Maximiliano’s face with a rare grin. Her spunk pleased him. He admired her bold ability to speak her mind.
She felt at ease to see his pleased reaction. “I’m sorry—my brother doesn’t understand the importance of family or loyalty to the Sanguis, but I do.”
“Good. I’m glad to see that my instincts about you were right. I’ll allow you to continue your training, but before I leave, show me your fangs.”
Amaya and Fatima locked eyes with each other. Fatima could tell Amaya was nervous to perform in front of Max. In a sudden attempt to encourage Amaya, Fatima spoke. “We were just about to try. Remember what I told you, Amaya. Just focus.”
Amaya did not want to disappoint Max. She took a long, deep breath and exhaled even slower. She closed her blue eyes and focused, hoping to open them with the color black in full vampire glory. She concentrated. She focused on feeling the slight discomfort under her nose from her new fangs, but nothing happened. Each second that passed was like an added brick on a growing wall of self-doubt.
She knew Maximiliano was impatient. Amaya struggled to focus but had no sign of darkening eyes or fang protrusion. The longer she took, the heavier his presence weighed.
“Allow me to help you,” he offered.
Before she could respond, he reached out and grabbed her by the throat. He put just enough pressure to limit her breathing. Amaya desperately gasped for air. She did not dare attempt to fight him off. She tried rolling her eyes toward Fatima, hoping she would intervene, but his grip was solid. Fatima could only watch as Amaya flailed her arms in desperation.
Her vampiric facial traits did not take long to manifest. Her eyebrows sharply rigid, the irises of her eyes turned black and a pair of upper canines extended.
While still keeping hold of her neck with one hand, Maximiliano inserted his bony fingers from his other hand into her mouth. He grinned in sadistic pleasure as he meticulously inspected her lower jaw. He hoped to find any clue of lower fangs as Apollo had displayed. Once convinced she was normal and not like the anomaly, her brother was, he let go of her throat, disappointed.
Amaya fell to the ground and gasped for air. She was confused. She could not understand why Max had fingered her mouth as he choked her. She looked toward Fatima for answers, but Fatima had no explanation for her. Fa
tima was just as confused as she was.
“Our nervous system is not much different from the ephemeral human version. We both have adrenaline rushes in ‘fight or flight’ situations. Those rushes, along with bone and muscle changes, are what make us what we are, which is why I provoked you. I needed you to feel that rush just before you turn. You may find it challenging to adapt to your new body; but in time, you’ll come to appreciate your body’s instinctual reflexes.” Max glanced at Fatima. “Carry on,” he commanded. He disappeared with the same grace in which he had arrived.
“Are you all right?” Fatima asked.
“I’m fine. I know he meant no harm.” She stood up, retracting her vampire features. The confused look in her eyes lingered as she cupped her palm over her forehead. “This has happened before,” she murmured.
“What are you talking about? He’s looked into your mouth before?” Fatima stared at Amaya’s discomfort.
“No, I meant this.” She circled her finger, pointing at her entire surroundings. “I’ve been through all of this before.”
“Like déjà vu?”
“Déjà who? What’s that?” Amaya asked.
Fatima laughed at her innocence. “A déjà vu is the feeling of having experienced something before, although it’s the first time that it has been experienced.”
“No, this was real. This has happened before. You were standing exactly where you were, and Max grabbed me just as he did. I felt everything. The same feeling before as I did now.” Amaya’s perplexed look continued while she tried to figure out when she had experienced this. “Wait, I felt the same familiar feelings when I woke up from my vampiric coma.”
“Maya, you had a dream. While you were in a coma, your brain began to filter through your human life and your new vampire life. It was either that or Max squeezed your throat too hard,” Fatima chuckled.
“Fatima, don’t make fun of me. I’m being serious.” Amaya was genuinely concerned over that moment. She dismissed it as a vivid nightmare initially, so she kept it to herself. Fatima’s playful demeanor convinced her it was nothing to worry about.
“C’mon, Amaya, shake it off. Let’s get back to business, we don’t have all night. I’ll race you to ‘the large oak’ and back.”
The large oak tree was a mile from the rocky location where they trained. That tree was a demarcation during training.
Amaya grinned. “Okay, at the count of three. One, two . . .” Amaya took off before she finished the count.
Fatima shook her head in disbelief. She should have known better. Amaya was always competitive to a fault even if it meant being devious. Fatima chuckled and ran after her.
Fatima was a lot older, hence faster than the adapting learner, Amaya. She ran past Amaya and reached the large oak first. She touched the oak’s trunk. She paused, looking back to see Amaya approaching. Fatima was not going to give her a chance to catch her. Without haste, she ran back toward the goal. Suddenly, she stopped when she looked back and saw Amaya holding her forehead again. She ran toward the oak where Amaya stood. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s happened again. All of this has happened before,” she cried. She grabbed Fatima by her forearm and led her from one visualized detail to another. Amaya pulled her as if she were guiding a blind person.
“You see that log over there? I landed in your footprint when I jumped over it. Then I went through the same path you made in the grass and crushed a beetle when I touched this oak tree.”
“And?”
“This has happened before, or it’s another déjà vu. Even that owl up there on that broken branch was in my previous experience of this.”
“It’s another déjà vu. You have nothing to worry about. It’s a harmless anomaly of memory. Don’t be scared.”
Amaya inwardly grunted at Fatima’s last comment. Me, scared? Maybe she still thought of me as human. Amaya wondered why Fatima did not know the difference.
Fear was a shade of darkness that toyed with her as a human—a weak, feeble human. In her new body and stronger mind, she hardly knew what the word meant. Fear was like a sailboat that drifted out to sea. Maybe Fatima had forgotten what fear felt like. ”No, I’m not scared. I’m just trying to understand the duplication from my memory to reality.”
“You’re bleeding.” Fatima motioned to the wet ooze on the front of her shirt.
Amaya was too busy to notice the black blood that dripped from her nose down to her chest. She touched her nose and dragged her tongue across her upper lip. She saw the blood on her fingertips and was about to lick them when she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her head. Amaya reached for her head and held it tight as if to keep it from exploding. The excruciating headache forced her down to one knee. Fatima was fast enough to rush in and stop her from falling against the ground.
“What’s wrong? What is it?”
Amaya could not speak. Her nose bled over her half-extended fangs while she lay in Fatima’s arms, semiconscious.
“Amaya, talk to me.” Fatima shook her as if to wake her from a deep sleep.
The pain in Amaya’s head was strong enough to paralyze her temporarily. She could hear Fatima calling out to her, but she could not move, could not speak. Finally, the vision released her from its paralytic hold. “I’m okay, I’m fine. Stop yelling in my ear, please. Allow me to get up.”
The frantic moment left as fast as it came, leaving behind a shaken Amaya and a worried Fatima. As soon as Amaya stood on her feet, Fatima wiped Amaya’s bloody nose with her own black shirt and then embraced her.
“Thanks, I’m okay now.”
“What happened? I lost you for a minute.”
“One second, I was talking to you, and then all of a sudden, I was struck by something that felt like a lightning bolt. Everything around me disappeared. Then, I saw this image of myself, standing in front of Tereq. He wore a blue plaid button-down shirt and a black beanie. The strange thing was Tereq’s face—it was bloody. It felt real. But I was jolted from that moment when I heard you calling my name.”
Fatima could not explain Amaya’s strange behavior, but she knew Maximiliano’s experience could help explain Amaya’s condition.
“Amaya, what do you say we walk back to the lair and postpone further training until tomorrow?”
“Okay,” she whispered, grateful for the temporary break. Amaya’s mind tossed and turned with questions. She needed to know why this was happening to her. Maybe it was normal, and she was worried over nothing. “Did you have nosebleeds? Do you know what’s happening to me?”
“No, I didn’t have them, and I’ve never seen this happen to anyone before. Max will know. He’s been around for a long time.”
“No, Fatima. I don’t want him to know. I’m a new vampire. I know I’ll improve in time, but I don’t want him to think I’m weak or unworthy.”
“Amaya, the nosebleeds are not normal. He needs to know.”
She hesitated when she whispered under her breath, “Fine.”
They started their long, pensive walk toward the lair. For a while, all they heard were crickets, owls, and the rhythm of their march against the cold, damp ground. Fatima was concerned with Amaya’s symptoms, but she kept her concerns to herself.
Amaya also had worries of her own, but she could not keep them bottled up. “Fatima, am I going to die?”
Amaya’s question stopped Fatima in her tracks. She was surprised, shocked, and amused by her innocence. She fought back a chuckle in her attempt to provide Amaya with an answer.
“Maya, you can’t die if you’re already dead.”
“True,” she said, embarrassed.
“Listen to me carefully. A stake through our chest cavity, decapitation, and starvation will destroy our kind. We have a destructive allergic reaction to silver. Last but not least, the sun. Think of our bodies as flammable. Any exposure to the sun’s rays, and we incinerate instantly. Remember, we may not die, but we can be destroyed. So, stop worrying about your nosebleeds. Max will have answers.”
> “Don’t say anything, please,” she begged. “I need to impress him with my abilities, not make him doubt me.”
Fatima understood Amaya’s young perspective to feel accepted. She took a few moments to think about it. “Okay, but if your nose bleeds again, I will not hesitate to tell him. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” Amaya hugged her with gratitude.
“Hey, you’re smiling again. Good. It seems like you feel better. So, what do you say we jog it back to the cavern?”
“Let’s go.”
Deep in the cave, Fatima and Amaya passed a series of torch-lit tunnels that coincidentally led them into Tereq. His unexpected presence startled them. Both Amaya and Fatima froze. In front of them, Tereq stood as the spitting image of Amaya’s earlier vision. From the blood on his face to the clothing he wore, her premonition was precise. Amaya and Fatima looked at each other in shock.
“What’s wrong with you two?” he asked.
Fatima remembered Amaya’s vision. The descriptions that Amaya provided seemed to loop in Fatima’s puzzled mind. I cannot believe how accurate her vision was. Tereq is wearing the exact style and color beanie. She called out his blue plaid shirt and the blood stains on his face. That last vision was not déjà vu. It was a premonition! Fatima thought. “Tereq, why do you have blood on your face?” Fatima asked.
“What can I say? I’m a sloppy eater.”
With an instinct panic, Amaya yelled out, “It’s happening again, Fatima. My head!”
“Fatima, what’s happening to her?” Tereq inquired. Tereq kneeled in an attempt to assist Amaya, but he was not sure how to help. He embraced her, and helped her to the ground while he kept her in his embrace. “She has a nosebleed.”
Amaya wrapped her hands around her head while in severe pain. She jerked to her sides in anguish. The agony drove her to her knees. She would have begged for mercy, if she could. But nothing and no one could help her.
“To hell with this, I’m getting Max involved. Tereq, stay with her, I’m going to get Maximiliano. Do you know where he is? Where can I find him?” Fatima asked.
“Last time I saw him, he was at the mountaintop looking for something or someone. Try up there,” he said.
Fatima left to find Max while Tereq held Amaya in his arms. He looked at her while he waited for her to recover. She twitched from the pulses in her mind—pulses that eventually subsided.
The pain that stabbed at her brain passed as instantly as it had arrived. Amaya’s worst pains might have dissipated, but she came out of it with a sense of panic. She rose from the embraced position she was in and stood on her own two feet.
“Are you okay? Fatima went to get Max,” Tereq explained as he rose and stood next to her.
Instinctually, Amaya wiped the blood that dripped from her nose. “I’m fine, but we’ve got to go.”
“We’re not going anywhere. Fatima will be right back.”
“Tereq, we’ve got to go. Either you follow me, or I’ll leave you here.”
“Follow you where?”
“I found him. I know where he is.”
“Found who? What are you talking about?”
“I know where to find my brother. I’ve been having these visions that allow me to see into the future. I’ll explain along the way. Let’s hurry before Fatima returns. I need to prove myself to Max. I have to show him that I’m a Sanguis, even though my brother has denied his fate.
“I know a part of Max wonders if I will follow in my brother’s footsteps. If I capture my brother and turn him in, then Max will know who I pledge my allegiance to.”
Tereq loved playing bully. He could not pass up the opportunity to remind Apollo who was Alpha Male. “All right, let’s go. Let’s make Max proud.”
Amaya stared into Tereq’s eyes. She did not want her brother to die, but she also knew she had to prove herself more so than she already had. She had the gift of visions—a painful gift that she intended to use to her advantage.
For an instant, a flash of memory ran like a freight train through her mind, reminding her of a time that Apollo took care of her. The memories were there, and then they were gone.
She only hesitated a moment while her human thoughts tried to play tricks on her mind. Without another word, she nodded and took off to bring her brother back to face their leader, no matter what his consequences would be.
-17-
Apollo stood on a thin pile of leaves on a cliff that overlooked the town. He was awestruck with the incredible dexterity he experienced as he ran to the hilltop where he now stood. He was fast, but realized he was faster when he bent over and used his hands. The unorthodox movements felt natural to him. There was a fluid flow of grace in his movements. He ran with speed, agility, and elegance.
Apollo had run for miles, yet he kept Sophie’s essence locked within his senses. He ran until he no longer felt her aura. Then he stopped, and went back just enough until he felt her essence again. He refused to step past that line of demarcation where he lost his ability to feel her—not while he had promised to protect her, anyway.
The hilltop where he now stood was miles from the underground basement where Sophie slept. Apollo was alone, separated by two worlds: the human world and this new world where he was an infant vampire on a quest to learn how to survive. He would have to teach himself all he needed to learn.
Apollo looked out toward the glowing lights of the town and felt an abiding awareness of freedom to be the creature he had become. But he was a vampire that felt stuck between worlds. He was never able to live among the normal human day walkers. The brief, human experience of eighteen years—the one that he had shared with his sister and teacher, Ms. Beasley—was no longer his life. Instead, he would exist in a world where he would lurk through infinite darkness. This was his false freedom, one where he would be eternally bound to darkness.
His red hair moved through the caressing wind and flapped with a playful flow while he gazed out at the scarce lights of the town below. He had his left foot hoisted up on a protruding boulder while both his hands rested in the pockets of his pants. For the first time since his change, he was able to admire things he had never seen or felt before. As a human, he was a prisoner in his own home. Fortunately, he did not realize that at the time.
Now, he was a nocturnal creature who found some refuge in the intensity of Sophie’s beating heart. She made him feel connected to the world that he wanted to remain a part of—the world that once made sense to him. But, it was his new world that included Sophie’s nightmares of her family and her nonexistent life. Apollo cringed as he remembered her disappointed look, the one time he left to feed.
He realized that Sophie did not scowl at him, with one eyebrow raised, on purpose. They were both trying to make sense of the new challenges they needed to face. In the process, they had found some sort of peace within the boundaries of each other.
Apollo struggled to learn to control his hunger and his strength. He found a way to control his desire for Sophie’s blood. He had come to enjoy the blood and flesh of elk. The more flesh he consumed, the longer he could go between meals. This enabled him to build the strength he needed to be in Sophie’s presence without wanting to sink his teeth into her veins.
Tonight, however, her words echoed repeatedly in his head after she expressed a desire to return to Montana and live with relatives. This raised his concerns. How could she go home without her family? How would she explain what happened to her parents and little sister? What would he do without her?
Apollo feared for her well-being. If she lived that far from him, how could he protect her? Tonight, she had cried herself to sleep. Those tears had torn into his sense of stability and yet, they shouldn’t have.
He had stepped outside the abandoned home to avoid Sophie’s sobs. He had to do something to help her find the sense of normalcy that she craved. He hoped to find a way to give her that, a normal life, and share that life with her. But, he was pragmatic and prepared to let her go, if necessary, once he kn
ew she was safe. His new life was no place for a human . . . especially one he loved.
After her crying had stopped and he knew she was sound asleep, he needed to think. He took off on his run, gaining speeds far greater than the human eye could see. Within minutes, he was at the top of the hill where he now stood contemplating the past few days.
Suddenly, Apollo’s nose shot up in the air. He smelled an unfamiliar scent within his surroundings. The alarming scent ran a tingling sensation up and down his pale skin.
The scent was that of an animal. He had the ability to smell a human’s scent, each different according to the human’s blood type and their overall aura. But, whatever stood within his space was neither human nor vampire.
Apollo looked around in all directions using his olfactory senses to pinpoint the source of his alarming titillation. The erratic winds of the mountaintop veiled his target’s exact location. He sensed it was getting closer. His inability to find it exasperated him to the point of transformation.
He released the beast from within and growled. His survival instincts unleashed his vampiric essence to guard himself against the annoying phantom. He breathed heavily and growled viciously, to forewarn the strange energy that approached of the threat of his destructive capabilities. All of a sudden, he heard his mother’s voice.
“Apollo, don’t be afraid, my son. They are here to guide you.”
Apollo’s slanted transmuted ears perked up slightly to comprehend his mother’s message.
“Mum?”
His mother’s voice distracted him from the colossal beast that suddenly stood behind him. The hairy creature stood upright, seven feet tall, on two enormous paws with jagged claws. Its burly chest cavity stuck out with his stoic stance. He had a protruding wolf-like face and human eyes that seemed to glow yellow in the night.
Apollo sensed the threat behind him and whipped around. He stepped back in surprise of the three red-haired beasts that stood upright in front of him. Apollo crouched down, and backed slowly into his predatory position, calculating his attack on these massive hairy strangers. He stood and anticipated the stranger’s first move. He was ready to take on the beast that stood before him.
“Apollo, I’m not here to fight you.”
What in the . . . Apollo glared at the enormous creature in utter shock. It not only spoke, but it used Apollo’s name. He stood his ground and never let his guard down.
“W-what are you? How do you know my name?”
The three furry beasts maintained a respectable gap between themselves and Apollo. They were careful not to instigate a physical altercation. Only one of them approached Apollo.
“My name is Diego. To my right is Vicente and to my left is Tomas. We are here to talk to you. That’s all.”
Apollo did not budge. He maintained his defensive stance while he evaluated the creatures that stood in front of him. His mother’s words repeatedly echoed in his head: ‘Don’t be afraid, they are here to guide you.’ He was perplexed at how he should react. Should he listen to his mother’s words or should he be wary of the intimidating specimens that stood in front of him? Apollo could not pull his eyes away from their enormity—their sheer obscene eeriness.
He found difficulty in comprehending the beast’s words. His speech was laden with a heavy accent that Apollo was not familiar with.
“What are you? What do want?” Apollo repeated.
“We’re hombre lobo—a werewolf.”
Apollo soon remembered having read books and seen sketches of creatures that resembled a wolf in appearance. Based on the journal that he found lodged in the floorboards of the house where he grew up, they could transform to the image of man. The details of the written word washed over him, but he had only seen hand-drawn sketches of these monstrous, hairy beasts. He had also read of the werewolf’s ancient rivalry with vampires. He had doubted their existence.
“What do you want from me?”
“Apollo, I want to offer you the opportunity to discover where you truly belong.”
“I’m a vampire, part of the Sanguis Clan.” He was shocked to hear himself say that. He did not embrace the vampire clan as his family, but this creature did not need to know that. Apollo was warning him that he was not alone.
“We don’t want trouble,” Diego growled. “Let’s talk about this calmly.”
Apollo played his mother’s words in his mind: Don’t be afraid. Diego’s docile approach and curiosity got the best of him, enough to break out of the predatory mode and stand in a less confrontational pose. He waited for the werewolves to lower their guard.
They did not hesitate to reciprocate Apollo’s stand-down. Diego took it a step further. Without another word, Diego took a step back, contorted, and shrunk before Apollo’s amazed eyes.
Diego fought the pain of his morphed bones and skin as he uncontrollably yet briefly twitched. Apollo looked at the claws on Diego’s hands as they transformed into human hands. Apollo reached up and felt the tips of his ears as he witnessed Diego’s ears descend into round, human ears. And, instinctively, Apollo felt the razor-sharp fangs that slanted from the rounded corners of his upper and lower jaw.
Diego had morphed from an altered beast into a normal looking man of average stature. The result was a dark-haired, dark-skinned hairy man. Apollo noticed physical similarities in the mutation process. The ears, the fangs and the claws on Diego were identical to his own when he would change.
The other two wolves followed suit and transformed into their human form. Apollo peered at Diego. He realized that Diego was obviously their leader.
“Why are you offering me someplace else to go? What do you want?” Apollo asked.
“Apollo, I’m reaching out to you because you are a descendant of my bloodline. You can see the similarities yourself, can’t you?”
“How? I was human before Tereq turned me into a vampire. How am I both?”
“True, you have been contaminated by vampire, but your mother, Victoria, was the eighth generation from our pack, and you seem to have resulted into some sort of hybrid.” Diego could see the confusion dash past Apollo’s eyes.
Apollo’s attempt to make sense of this anomaly left a dumbfounded look on his face. He had so many questions, but feared the answers. He needed to make sense of this shocking disclosure that hit him like a ton of bricks.
“You’re saying my mother was a werewolf? How do you know this? Did you know my mum?” Apollo questioned.
“She was never an integrated werewolf. There were eight generations of human blood separating your ancestors from her. Your mother’s blood was diluted. She was only a carrier of the werewolf genes, but she passed those genes to you. When the poison in the vampire venom attacked your blood cells, the poison woke up the dormant genes in your body.”
Apollo once again tried to keep up with Diego’s scientific language spoken in a thick Spanish accent. “How could this have happened? Does my father know?”
“I don’t see how he could have.”
“Amaya? Is she one, too? She’s my twin.”
“No,” Diego said.
“Why not? We have the same blood.”
“The gene is male dominant, Apollo.”
Apollo began to pace. He could not focus on anything. He felt confused and disoriented. He needed to know more.
“What does this mean?” Apollo finally asked.
“It means that you can do more than you realize.” Diego stepped closer, but Apollo did not notice because his mind was processing the threads of knowledge that he was learning.
“Listen, this is all much bigger than you, bigger than this place you call home. Our leader sends a pack of us out to keep an eye on Maximiliano’s armies. Join our pack. Come home with us where you belong.”
“Where is home?”
“Home is on the other side of the world, in Spain.”
Apollo turned his back on Diego and walked toward the top of the hill. “I’ve never been away from this place.”
“I kno
w, but you belong in Spain with our kind.”
Apollo turned and glowered at Diego, studying his confident demeanor. The way he stood with his legs slightly apart, his arms crossed over his chest, and the easiness in which he spoke. Diego had answers to questions that Apollo wanted to ask. There were so many questions, but Apollo settled on one. He had one question that would make the difference if he even considered accompanying Diego to Spain or continued going his own way. Everything depended on that answer.
“Can I bring Sophie with me?”
Diego nodded. Their pack intermingled with humans. Humans could not detect the werewolf scent. Werewolves were more civilized than the vampire clans they had run up against, especially compared to Maximiliano’s clan.
Bad blood had caused a feud between them for six-hundred years and Diego’s leader was preparing for the attack he suspected would come soon. Suddenly, they all froze. All four of the entities reacted in unison as their werewolf instincts sniffed a disturbance in the lining of the atmosphere. Diego had mere seconds to pull Apollo from his thoughts and get him to leave with his pack. “It’s time, Apollo. We should go.”
Instantly, Apollo’s eyes turned black, his nails grew, his fangs lengthened. His face took on the hybrid combination. His head snapped to the right, his eyes trying to see past the miles of trees that separated him and Sophie. He flew down the hill toward the heavy forest trees. One mission overwhelmed his senses: Sophie’s safety. “Tereq has Sophie.”
Diego moved with speed toward Apollo, throwing his palm in the air, striking Apollo’s chest, and stopping him hard. “I know, it’s too late, Apollo. Let the human go. It’s time for you to take on your own destiny,” Diego said through his upper and lower fangs.
Apollo narrowed his eyes and glared at the partially transmuted beast in front of him. He was angry that Diego would try to stop him from saving the woman he vowed to protect.
“Let her go,” Diego growled.
“You and your hounds can help me or get out of my way,” Apollo threw his opened palms into Diego’s chest and sent him flying backward.
Diego landed on his knees. A growl slipped from his lips as he instantly changed into a beastly werewolf. He rose up on his back paws. Diego’s high-pitched, warning howl bellowed through the air. Vicente and Tomas instantly transformed into the beastly creatures. Two large werewolves stepped out from behind the surrounding trees in order to join the other three.
Apollo stayed long enough to assess how many of them he would thwart if he had to. Then without a second thought, he took off running toward the vague scent of Sophie.
Diego and his pack of werewolves ran behind Apollo, unsuccessfully trying to keep up with his indecorous hybrid speed. They fell behind, but they kept hold of his scent.
-18-
”Ouch, this bitch bit me,” Amaya exclaimed as she threw the semiconscious Sophie to the rocky ground. She bent over, lifted her arm, and backhanded Sophie in the face, knocking her out cold again. Sophie dropped to the ground like a rag doll with a small cut on her cheek from the blow. Amaya licked Sophie’s blood off her hand.
Tereq released a boisterous laugh that echoed off the forest trees.
“What are you laughing about?” Amaya sneered. “You carry her from this point. I can’t resist the smell and taste of her blood.”
“I’m laughing because I find it ironic that you would actually complain about a human biting you when your existence depends on you biting them.”
Amaya smirked and shook her head. “You’ve got a point there.”
“You know. . .” Tereq leaned down and threw Sophie’s limp body over his shoulder with ease. “You hit her pretty hard both times.”
“Well, the first time, in that basement where we found her, she tried to put up a fight. What was I supposed to do?”
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t have hit her. I’m saying you hit her hard. You’re lucky you didn’t kill her.”
“Why am I lucky I didn’t kill her? She’s lucky I didn’t kill her. Anyway, I’m not stupid, I held back my strength.”
“I’m just saying that because your brother is pretty fond of this girl.” Tereq had to keep swiping the substantial vegetation and branches of the lush, dark forest away as they navigated through the thick terrain. “Plus, you and Apollo are already at odds with each other; can you imagine if you killed his playmate? I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when they see us returning with her.”
Tereq stopped abruptly when Amaya had not responded to him. When he saw that she was not behind him, he quickly ran a few feet back to where they were.
Amaya had her right hand on a tree. There was an ooze of black blood that dripped from her nose. He noticed she had already swiped at her nose once because the black ooze left a streak across her face and on the back of her hand. He dropped Sophie to the ground and rushed to Amaya’s side.
“It’s my head,” she moaned. She cupped her left hand over her forehead and fell to her knees as the pain in her head increased.
Tereq reached out to brace her when she began to sway backward. “What’s wrong? Is it a vision? What can I do to help you? Tell me.”
Amaya fell back into his arms and began to convulse. The irises of her eyes changed from sea blue to midnight black just before they rolled up behind her eyelids. She reached her hand out and gripped Tereq’s shirt while she endured the pain. As quickly as it started, it stopped.
Tereq held her close. He glanced back at Sophie still knocked out, laying peacefully in the dirt and leaves. When he looked back at Amaya, her eyes were wide open, her fangs extended, and she peered at him.
“What?” he asked.
Amaya gripped Tereq’s t-shirt with her long razor-like nails. “We have to go, you’re in trouble.”
“What do you mean I’m in trouble?”
“In the vision, something’s going to happen to you. Grab Sophie and let’s get out of here.”
“Are you okay to get up?” he asked.
“Yes, yes . . . Get her and let’s go,” Amaya demanded. She jumped to her feet.
“What did you see? Tell me,” Tereq asked franticly. Amaya’s words unsettled him. Her initial vision’s accuracy convinced him that her unique sense was something worth respecting. Therefore, he wasted no more time asking. Tereq ran over and leaned down to pick up Sophie, but he stopped short when he felt the gust of wind followed by Apollo’s peculiar scent.
“Back away from her,” Apollo growled. He was fully transformed and ready to battle.
Tereq turned his full attention to Apollo and burst into his vampiric essence. Apollo’s odd differences did not intimidate Tereq. Amaya followed Tereq and immediately transformed. Each of them had their hands and claws extended and were ready to defend should someone make a move.
“Apollo, just come back with us. Face Maximiliano,” Amaya pleaded.
“The only thing I need is to take Sophie somewhere safer.”
Tereq roared, “You’re not going anywhere. And you’re definitely not taking the human with you. She’s ours now.”
“Tereq . . . please,” Amaya held up her hand, asking him to stop. “Apollo, we need you back at the lair. You cannot run around this forest. If Sophie returns home, she’ll expose us to the humans. That will put our family at risk. We can’t allow that.”
“Get out of my way. I don’t want to fight either of you, but I will if I have to,” Apollo sneered.
“I’m done listening to his babbling. Turn yourself in, boy.” Tereq lowered his head and body into an attack stance while he kept his eyes fixed on Apollo.
“Tereq, stop, please,” Amaya yelled.
“You may be my maker, but I’m stronger than you. Hand her over. Don’t make me hurt you.” Apollo lowered into a challenging stance.
Tereq laughed at Apollo’s confidence. “You’re a stupid child.” Tereq ran toward Apollo, flew through the air and grabbed Apollo’s neck. He lifted Apollo off the ground and pinned him three feet above the ground against a
massive tree. Tereq levitated next to Apollo while he held him around his throat.
Apollo punched Tereq in the stomach, grabbed his throat, and used his feet to push himself off the tree. He landed on top of Tereq on the ground. Tereq’s left arm swiped across Apollo’s body and caught him by the neck, flipping him back to the ground. Apollo broke out of Tereq’s hold and they both jumped up. They immediately faced one another, and circled each other in a counter-clockwise motion.
“This is going to end badly for you,” Apollo warned.
“You don’t scare me,” Tereq growled.
Apollo hissed at Tereq, displaying his upper and lower fangs.
“You’re a freak, Apollo. Remember when I said that God made us in his image. Well, my maker wasn’t sure what to do with you. Even God didn’t want you on his team for fear that you would disgrace him.”
Apollo jumped up in the air and threw a sidekick that caught Tereq in the throat.
Tereq stumbled backward and tried to catch his footing.
Apollo used that moment to embrace his speed and strength. He lunged toward Tereq, grabbed the top of his head and swung his body onto Tereq’s back, locking his legs around Tereq’s midsection.
Apollo grabbed his hair in one hand and dragged his thick, razor-sharp claws across Tereq’s jugular, partially severing his neck. “Meet your maker, motherfucker.” Apollo simultaneously yanked at Tereq’s hair with such strength and speed that he ripped his head off his body. Apollo unlocked his legs and landed on both feet to the ground.
Black blood spurted out from Tereq’s neck and soaked the front of Apollo. Apollo watched Tereq’s body fall to the ground and implode into a pile of tar-like ooze.
“What have you done?” Amaya screamed.
Apollo stood in shock, looking at the head he still held in his hand. Tereq’s eyes were open, his mouth left in the formation of the words he was getting ready to say. Tereq’s fangs were dripping poison. Apollo looked from Tereq’s head to Amaya. He threw the head down next to what was left of Tereq’s body. The rolling head imploded soon after.
Amaya was too furious to speak. She lunged at her brother, attempting to put her hands around his neck. He moved out of the way and she flew past him. She hit the forest floor hard and slid across the ground.
“Amaya, I’m different. I’m not like you.”
She growled, but there were no words left her mouth. She stood up, her hands ready to attack, she hissed through her fangs. Amaya focused her mind and energy on the training she had with Fatima.
“I’m not going to fight you,” Apollo exclaimed. “This is enough. I’m taking Sophie, and I’m leaving.”
Slow and drawn out, she hissed, “You’ll have to kill me first.”
“Listen to me.” Apollo stood straight up, then transformed back into his human image as a truce. He continued, “There is more to Mum than either of us realized there was. Stop trying to fight and listen to me.”
She continued to circle Apollo. She was waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“Mum passed on a gene—” Apollo abruptly stopped. “You’re bleeding.”
Amaya reached up and swiped at the blood dripping from her nose. “Oh fuck, not again,” she whispered.
“What? What’s wrong? What is it?” Apollo was at her side instantly. He caught her when she fell backward.
Amaya began to convulse in his arms. Her eyes rolled back behind her eyelids as her hand tightened into a spontaneous fist.
Apollo was baffled. He had no idea what was wrong with his sister or why she convulsed in his arms. When her body stopped shaking, her hand unfolded and grabbed his shirt.
“Papa, it’s Papa. He’s in danger,” she frantically said.
“What kind of danger? What do you mean?”
“Something with huge claws is going to attack our father. It will pin him down by the neck. We have to help him. I have visions that come true. Please, believe me, Apollo. We have to find Father.”
Apollo already sensed the vampires’ arrival before she finished her sorrowful pleading. He looked up to see Nicholas, Vasco, and Ori emerge from the trees in front of him. When he glanced at his father’s face, he saw Nicholas had fully turned and was storming straight toward him. Apollo released Amaya and jumped backward into a squatting position.
“What’d you do to her?” Nicholas bellowed at Apollo.
“I didn’t touch her, Father.”
Nicholas looked from Apollo to Amaya and then back at Apollo. “If you ever hurt—”
“Okay,” Vasco bellowed. “I’ve had enough of this family reunion.” He looked toward Amaya. “How did you end up with the human and your brother? We’ve been searching miles and miles of terrain for them.”
“My visions—”
“Your visions?” Nicholas questioned.
“Since my turning, I’ve had visions that come true. That’s how I found Apollo.” She looked toward what was left of Tereq on the ground a couple feet from where they stood. “Then I also had a vision of Tereq and it happened.”
Vasco dashed over to the black tar-like glob left of Tereq’s remains. His head shook in disbelief. Anger tore through his veins, instantly transforming into his hideous appearance. Large, black wings grew from his back; his fangs were stained red with pockets of yellow and they extended over his bottom lip. His face mutated into an unrecognizable beast. “What the fuck happened here? Who did this to him?” His mad cry echoed throughout the mountain range.
Before the echo faded, a large werewolf had jumped through the air and landed in front of Apollo.
“Diego,” Apollo whispered.
“Are you all right, Apollo?” Diego said over his shoulder. Before Apollo responded, Diego growled fiercely at Vasco.
Four more seven-foot werewolves jumped through the air and landed behind Apollo in a solid line. Their menacing presence made Vasco and Ori take a step back. Nicholas grabbed Amaya’s hand, and they moved backward toward the clan. Tension filled the air. They were all prepared to battle, but they were waiting for someone to make the first move.
“Ya sabía que olía el apeste de perro español [I knew I smelled the stench of Spanish dog],” Vasco hissed at Diego.
“Mira nomás, la rata voladora [Look here, it’s the flying rat],” Diego retorted.
“What do you want? You’re on our land,” Vasco raged.
“We are here to claim Apollo. He is one of us. He belongs with us.”
Nicholas stepped forward, a conscious bold move to interrupt Vasco’s conversation with Diego. “What do you want with my son? Apollo is one of us.”
Apollo stepped forward in front of Diego. “Did you know mother carried the werewolf gene?” he asked angrily.
“What?” Nicholas looked confused at Apollo.
“What is he talking about, Papa?” Amaya looked from her brother to her father.
“Explain this at once, Apollo,” Nicholas demanded.
“Mother was a descendant of a werewolf clan. She passed on the gene to me. When Tereq bit me, the poison ignited the gene of Mother’s bloodline.”
“I’ve heard enough of this bullshit!” Vasco’s roar shook the tree branches that surrounded them. “You are a traitor,” Vasco yelled at Apollo.
Diego lashed out with a wicked growl that rang in everyone’s ears. “You have no right calling him a traitor after you committed treason on your king and country,” Diego hissed at Vasco.
“You know nothing,” Vasco said.
“Six centuries and you’re still trying to claim inocencia [innocence]? Te pudrirás en el infierno [You will rot in hell].” Diego’s dark, slanted eyes peered out from behind his deformed, wolf-like ferocious face. He narrowed his eyes at each one of them.
“No werewolf will ever take my son away from me,” Nicholas snarled. He lunged through the air toward Diego.
Before he reached Diego, two werewolves came from behind, grabbed both of Nicholas’s arms and tossed him down at Diego’s feet. Diego’s large, heavy paw, with i
ts extended razor-sharp claws, stomped down on Nicholas’s neck.
“Apollo,” Amaya screamed, “MY VISION!”
Apollo recalled her warning and without hesitation, he charged at Diego, tackling him off his father. Both Apollo and Diego slid across the forest dirt. Everyone froze, except for one werewolf.
Out of nowhere, a wolf leaped toward Apollo. Apollo sidestepped and slammed his thick claws into the hairy beast’s belly, ripping open his opponent’s stomach in an uppercut motion. The lacerated wolf collapsed and shook as he gazed upon his own slimy intestines and spilled-out contents on the ground.
Diego looked down at his dying comrade. He threw his head back and howled up into the sky. His howl was a deep, gut-wrenching howl. “What have you done?” Foam flew from his muzzle. “He was your own family.”
Apollo’s rage and confusion left him perplexed. He stood in the middle of two clans: family from the Sanguis Clan on his right and family from the werewolf clan to his left. He glanced at an unconscious Sophie on the ground, and then his eyes connected with each of the vampires that stood to his right.
Apollo turned back toward the werewolves. Keeping his eyes on them, he took two long steps backward toward the vampires. He looked down at the wolf on the ground, who had now transformed back to his human form. His eyes looked into Diego’s eyes and slowly said the following words about the vampires that stood directly behind him. “This is my family!”
Darkness stood still. Every creature of darkness that witnessed Apollo’s proclamation froze. Diego was the only one who inched his way toward the casualty.
Diego leaned down and scooped up his fallen comrade into his arms. Then, he turned his attention toward Apollo.
”¡Te arrepentirás cuando descubras la verdad!” [You will regret this when you discover the truth!] Diego growled as he stepped back in retreat.
Simultaneously, each wolf took a slow step back, retreating from the glow of the moon into the shadows of the forest. In a deep rumble, from the shadows of the night, Diego warned, “This is not over. This war has just begun.”
From a distance, somewhere in the woodsy terrain of the forest in Stockwood, Washington, several werewolves released an insidious howl that echoed through the night . . . and in the ears of the Sanguis.
THE TURNING
UNLEASHED
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Dedication Page
Reign’s dedication:
This book is dedicated to my two teenage sons.
My sincerest thanks to:
E. Arellano, John Catlin, Shawn Anthony, Liz Jones, Eve Paludan and to all my readers.