Dark War Chronicles Box Set One (68 page)

She didn’t want to think about that, if she’d been right about betraying him, than the other theory she had must have been true as well. “I...I need some air.”

“Tegan, I don’t want you—“

“Alone. I need to be alone. No you, no Kaden, no one.” She stood on shaky legs and darted out of the media room. She needed to clear her mind. To her surprise, Lucius didn’t stop her, didn’t appear in front of the doorway leading outside. Was it because he respected her wish or because he was angry with her?

The moment the freezing mountain air hit her lungs she felt like she could breath again. The panic eased, taking the edge off the churning in her stomach. She took a few steps out in the snow and took in the falling flakes in the moonlight. Shivering, she found herself wanting to turn back in already, but she wasn’t willing to face her master, no...watching the snow was too peaceful to leave at this moment.

She continued to walk through the falling snow. With her arms wrapped around her she felt a little bit warmer and could ignore the fact that she had no idea where she was going. Something crunched behind her and she paused a familiar hum and tingle went down her spin and she knew who appeared. She darted back towards the manor, following her own steps in the snow and opening her connection to reach out to Lucius. He’d feel her panic and come, he had to.

A vampire appeared in front of her, one she’d seen very few times, but one she knew well. Terror froze her in her steps as she looked upon the Father. His black hair was smoothed back and his olive skin looked flawless. He towered over her as he stepped up and cupped her face. The moment he touched her the link to Lucius closed, but she couldn’t move away. Fear. That’s all she could feel.

“Tegan,” she’d always hated the way he said her name, it rolled off his tongue in his strange accent and made her shiver and cringe. “You are not allowed to gaze upon me.”

The command in his voice made her shut her eyes out of terror of feeling his punishment. This couldn’t be happening, he couldn’t be real. Her stomach churned as he forced her head to the side and brushed a thumb across her pounding pulse.

Something in the wood shifted and the touch of the Father disappeared. She could breath again.

“Tegan.”

She opened her eyes at Kaden’s voice and the demon came from the trees to her left. “I...I thought I told Lucius I wanted to be alone.” Though she was grateful he’d shown up, she wasn’t sure if the Father had been an illusion or not.

“He said he felt you panic, but didn’t want to come after you himself. Something about the meeting and a video.” Kaden held up an extra jacket. “I figured you probably ran out without one.”

She took the offered jacket and pulled it on. “The video was of me being tortured and betraying Lucius.” Her master. “Kaden?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you see anyone else out here? Sense anyone?” She zipped her jacket up and looked into the night. Was it possible that she had imagined it?

Kaden wrapped his arm around her. “To be honest? I thought I sensed something extremely powerful, but the moment I felt it, it was gone.” He kissed her cheek and started to guide her back to the mansion.

She looked over her shoulder and counted the pairs of footprints. Three.

Chapter Five

Kaden convinced Tegan to take a hot shower then crawl into bed for the night. He used the promise of taking her to the cemetery and the apartment during the day, and it worked. She was settling into sleep when he settled into the chair in her room. An overstuffed chair with an ottoman, he imagined she used when she read. Lucius had felt the same power and demanded Kaden not leave Tegan’s side, not even while she remained in the manor. Kaden had tried to question, but the vampire refused to answer.

Kaden had his own way of finding answers. He watched the steady rise and fall of Tegan’s breathing as she slept and smiled. “I’ll see you soon, my sweet.” He leaned back and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to claim him.

Tegan stood in a middle of what looked to some kind of temple. Strange colored stone created the floor under her feet and the walls. In front of her a vampire stood tall and terrifying, his black hair pulled back in a tight braid, cotton pants hung from his hips, the white a stark contrast against his skin. In a flash, the Tegan he knew disappeared, replaced by one with dark hair and blue eyes and he frowned. It was still her, still his mate, with the same body and facial features, but her hair and eyes...

Another vampire approached her and shoved her to the ground onto her knees. A woman came up and drew a circle in kohl around Tegan. Chanting filled the room and while the older vampire stood and watched, light flooded around Tegan and she screamed. The sound pierced Kaden’s heart. She was in pain, pure pain. The door to the room opened and another human rushed to the circle, the moment he touched the light Tegan’s screams stopped, but a vampire pulled the man away and the pain started again.

The man’s features had changed now. His black hair now white and his eyes red, and Kaden knew this must be her brother. He collapsed to the ground and the witch looked to the vampire. “He will die unless you change him. Without him the girl will be impossible to control.”

Tegan’s screams died down, but the light still blocked her from Kaden’s view.

The scene changed and now the Tegan he knew lay on the floor, shaking. The vampire approached her and pulled her to her knees by a handful of hair. “Cover her eyes, she is not worthy to look upon me. She is nothing but food and a whore, meant only to serve me.”

Kaden swore her eyes met his gaze before someone wrapped a black piece of fabric around her head. That’s where it originated, not with the rumors about her being a dream weaver. Tegan’s brother stirred and stood, fangs showed as he snarled. His eyes locked on to his sister.

The vampire holding Tegan laughed. “Let him feed off her.” He threw Tegan forward and Zaaren rushed to her in a starving rage and sank fangs into her. As a new vampire, he was willing to take what blood he could get and tore into her collarbone. Tegan cried out and tried to fight him, calling his name out and trying to appeal to his human side, but he refused to budge.

“This was the start of my life.” Tegan appeared next to him. “I haven’t dreamt about it in a long time.”

Kaden pressed his lips together. “This was so long ago, I’m surprised that you can remember it.”

“I don’t remember much from that time, mostly just the painful events.” She shrugged. “I didn’t want you to see this. You shouldn’t be here.”

Kaden took her hand and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, we all have our pasts. That is not who you are anymore, not what you are.”

The dream flashed to Tegan being pinned to the floor of a crypt of some sort with the same vampire on her, but then it was gone. Tegan sighed. “That vampire, that is the Father. I am his property, his whore, his food.” Tegan pulled her hand away from him. “No matter how strong I seem, I cannot forget that.”

He would show her, he had to show her, she was so much more. “Tegan,” the dream started to crumble around them and he cursed her tendency to sleep in short stints.

Tegan forced herself to sleep on and off until the afternoon. She was getting used to Kaden appearing in her dreams, but she never liked where they took her and what he learned. There were things he never should have known about, like her origins. She hated the idea that he got a glimpse of what she was, even if he didn’t know exactly what the Father turned her into. By afternoon she was starving and ready to do something other than hang around the mansion. She’d sent Kaden to get food while she dressed. He’d promised the night before that they could go back to her apartment. That seemed where most of the answers lay.

The demon knocked then walked in with another woman following him. Tegan frowned, feeling something familiar about her. Her brown bobbed hair and glasses flared a memory. Something about a television being shattered because of men, one of them being Coran and one she couldn’t recall a name for. She tried to recall the woman’s name, but nothing came to her. She let out a frustrated sigh, but before she could speak the woman gave her a tight hug.

Tegan tried not to let panic take over as she breathed through it and patted the woman’s back in an awkward hug. “I’m sorry, but—“

“I know, Coran told me. You don’t remember anything, but I wanted to come and see you myself. I’m Renee.”

Renee, Coran’s new mate and the woman hugged her as if they were sisters. “I’m surprised he’ll let you near me.”

“I told him you wouldn’t hurt me.” Renee gave her a gentle smile. “We are... well, were close, when you could remember.” A concerned looked crossed her face. “You used to say that it was because I reminded you of what being human was.”

Tegan felt a pang of guilt. She wanted to remember, she felt that this woman was important to her. “Wish I could remember, because right now all I remember is being a—“

“Don’t dwell.” Renee cut her off. “Don’t worry, you’ll remember and until then we’ll start from square one.”

Kaden cleared his throat. “Not that I’m not all for happy reunions, but Tegan needs to eat and we need to go if we’re going to drive to the apartment this time.”

“Demon portal is fine.” Tegan grumbled and sat down in her oversized chair. Her back still pulled a bit in pain, the subtle reminder that she still carried some wounds.

Kaden shrugged. “Okay, then. Either way eat up.”

Renee smiled. “Coran’s out in the great room waiting for me anyways. He didn’t want me to stay long.”

“Because I hate him.” Tegan shrugged. “I’m sorry, but right now with what I can remember...”

Renee nodded. “I know, I know what he did to you.” She gave one more smile before she left the room.

Tegan sighed and looked down at the salad Kaden gave her. She knew she was hungry, but nothing sounded appetizing.

“Just a few bites.” Kaden urged. “Promise, you’ll feel a little better after you eat. We’ll make a pit stop for something else after if the salad isn’t appetizing.”

Something else. She shook her head and ate some. This time she managed to eat half the meal and not just a couple bites. “Okay, let’s go. I want to see if maybe I kept a journal or something, anything that can help with these memories.” She needed to get them back to see what happened after that video. To see if the Father was actually back or if her imagination was running wild. She hadn’t mentioned it to Kaden in fear she was going insane.

Kaden smiled. “I hadn’t even thought of that. Here’s hoping you were a person who liked to keep track of things.” He waved his hand and summoned a portal. “Shall we, my lady?”

His words sent chills through her as if there was a hidden meaning behind them. Him claiming her as his. She took his hand and closed her eyes, allowing him to take her through. After the sick feeling faded, she opened her eyes and looked around to see where he had brought her. A cafe and the aroma of coffee hit her senses and she couldn’t help but smile.

“You used to stop here every night before returning to the manor. It’s open twenty-four hours a day and they make fantastic coffee.”

Tegan nodded. “The corner table by the window.”

“Exactly, you’d sit there, drink your coffee and then turn in for the day.” Kaden smiled. “Come on, let’s get you a mocha and we’ll get you to the apartment.”

She gave a happy sigh and the two of them went in and got coffee before Kaden used a portal to take her to the apartment.

Her apartment. Not Lucius’, not Zaaren’s. Hers. She sat down on the bed and sighed.

Kaden sat next to her. “We can stay here for a while if you’d like. I know Lucius wants you back before dark, but I can tell you’re more at ease here.”

“Because there’s no pressure. No Lucius looking over my shoulder, no obligations to act as a bound human, and no reasons to hide.” She took her sunglasses off.

Kaden took her hand and kissed it. “The hiding originated with the Father, why did Lucius continue it?”

She closed her eyes, trying to remember the reasoning behind it. How it all came together. “When Lucius saved me from the Father, Markus had been looking for a human who was rumored to be a Blood Human.” She nearly choked on the words, because it meant admitting to Kaden what she was. “The appearance of one is very similar to that of a Dream Weaver, which had never really been proven to exist, but my brother and Lucius went with it. Keeping my eyes covered at all times or closed meant no one could see them and could not confirm or deny it.”

“You were without covering when Markus took you from the market place.” Kaden’s thumb rubbed comforting circles on the top of her hand.

She nodded. “I shut my eyes the moment he appeared, but he had seen them. He and the other members of the Circle believed the stories and feared me and my imaginary abilities. It worked, until Markus started to get suspicious because...” She shook her head. “I can’t tell you this. I’m sorry.”

“Tegan, you’ve already told me what you were—“

“But you clearly don’t know what the term means.” She snapped back. “Being a blood whore is different than being a bonded human and you obviously don’t understand that.” He hadn’t flinched or anything at the term, which meant he wasn’t familiar with it. How could he be her mate?

He let go of her hand. “You won’t explain it to me.”

“No.” His words hadn’t been a question, but she felt she needed to confirm his assumption. Getting off the bed she went to look at the bookshelf trying to keep her calm and trying to find some clue as to who she was.

When Lucius woke for the night two things hit him hard. One, Tegan was not at the mansion like she should be and the other was a power in his territory he had not felt fully in centuries. Tegan needed to be with him for this. He closed his eyes and reached out to his link with her. Something had upset her and he couldn’t pin point what. ‘Tegan?’

‘It’s dark I know, we’ll be back in just a moment.’

Even in her thoughts Lucius could sense the exhaustion. ‘Are you well?’

‘Fine.’ She shot back without explaining. Lucius knew she was guarding against something, a newer habit and a sign she was trying to return to herself.