Surface Below: Dark Secrets (The Surface Below Book 1) (12 page)

Pushing a few strands of her blonde hair away from her face, he stared at her for longer than he probably should have. She was so young and that thought made him cringe. Looking away, he closed his eyes, his hand covering his face.

“She’s going to be devastated.” He shook his head, already knowing how Becca would react when the reality of it set in.

Unable to do any more for the girl lying in front of him, he went back towards Becca’s. The faint sound of footsteps rustled just beyond the thick brush, and then came the bickering voices of Markus and Miranda. William looked up to the sky in frustration, his eyes squeezed shut, and he shook his head.

The two emerged from the path and he shot them a look.

“I said not to bring anybody, Markus,” William scolded him.

Markus shrugged as if he had nothing to do with it. And he didn’t really; Miranda already knew something had happened. She just wasn’t sure what. When she saw her sister on the ground she gave William a stern look and ran to her side.

“What the hell happened?” Miranda asked, setting the familiar bag down next to her. A Conjurer’s bag.

Being a Conjurer meant much more than just having the ability to open portals and produce from thin air just about anything their power would allow. It meant the ability to craft potions, pastes and balms from ancient knowledge only Conjurers had. She opened it and looked to William.

“Hello?” she called again exasperated.

“She Matured, Miranda.” he said. “Nothing in that bag will help her. It’s already done and over.”

“What about your arm?” She pointed to the burn left behind by Becca’s touch; it had taken the first layer of skin off. He hadn’t really paid much attention to it until now. It pulsed and throbbed. 

“Not right now, Miranda. We gotta take care of the body,” he said more quietly, looking around as if someone was watching them.

“You mean…did she?” Markus raised his brow and looked around for evidence.

“She’s over there at the tree line. That’s what I need your help with.” William pointed behind him and Markus looked over to see the girl’s body lying there.

“She killed her….” he blurted out, astonished.

William looked away, still angry with himself for not anticipating something like this happening.

“Eh, if she’s already dead then just let me take care of your arm now,” Miranda insisted, already pulling the necessary items from the bag. He gave her an annoyed look. “She’s already dead.” She shrugged over at him.

“Fine, do it quick.” He finally gave in, knowing he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

She pulled a cork out of a large bottle and poured it down over the wound. The liquid bubbled and sizzled as it came into contact with the seared flesh. It started regenerating the skin. Which made it sting, forcing William to jerk away.

“Damn it, Miranda. That fucking stings,” he growled through gritted teeth. She stifled a laugh and yanked his arm back towards her.

“Wimp,” she teased, pouring a little more onto it. Again he jerked and growled. “Okay okay, that should be enough.”

The first round had been plenty; she had just wanted to agitate him. He had been such an asshole over the last couple of years that he deserved it.

“You’re enjoying this way too much,” he noted. A sneaky smile crossed her lips as she wrapped the wound with a bandage.

“Now William, do you think I enjoy seeing you hurt?” She was trying to be serious but it came out more like a giggle.

“Yes, Miranda, I know you do.” A smile starting to form on his face and he let his eyes wander away from her.

“Well maybe if you hadn’t acted like a complete asshole the last two years I wouldn’t,” she said, slapping the now bandaged wound just enough to make him wince.

“Errr…Miranda, damn it.”

“For good measure.” She laughed with a shrug before putting the items back in the bag.

Even though it made him mad, it stirred familiar feelings with him and it wasn’t until now that he realized how much he had missed her. And even more, the walls he had fortified around him.

“Alright Dr. Miranda, can we please go take care of this so we can get Becca back to the house and get Nikki and Z dosed before they fly off the handle too.” William pushed up from the cool ground and walked away. Miranda nodded for Markus to go help him.

“Yes, now you may go and bury the poor girl.”

Markus gave her a weary look but she shooed him away.

“Go, I’ll get her in the truck,” she said, already pulling her sister up to her feet. Markus obeyed but only because it was for his brother.

“All I ever ask for is a normal night with you,” he started whining, following his brother. “One night. Maybe a beer or two. Catch a game. But noooo, can’t do that.”

“Oh come on, Markus, where’s your sense of adventure?” William teased.

“Pfft, adventure. Remind me to skip this particular one when I’m telling my kids stories one day,” he said, stepping down on the shovel driving into the earth.

“Forget so quickly, brother? We are destined to never have children. Barren, remember?” William reminded him.

Markus started to say something but stopped as the information set in. The Heir and Heiress, in all their centuries, had never conceived a child. It was why they had to jump from first born to first born through time upon their death. Never their own flesh and blood to leave their kingdom to.

“Damn, and I was looking forward to it with Miranda.” His tone changed and William considered him. It had never occurred to him that his brother would feel that way. He himself had never given much thought to children. He hadn’t even known what love was until Becca. Not real love. Children just had never seemed to be in the cards for him. And now they weren’t.

“I’m sorry Markus,” was all William could say. “Let’s just get this done, okay?”

Back in the clearing Miranda was just starting to get Becca alert enough to kind of move with her.

“Come on, Becca, work with me.” Becca weakly held onto Miranda as she guided her back up the path and towards the truck. Everything around her spun, the world seemed so far away. Her feet refused to work and felt as if she was walking across Jell-O.

Miranda stumbled as she walked the uneven path back to where they had parked. She supported Becca up against the truck as she opened the back door and pushed her up into the seat, letting her lie down. Becca teetered between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Miranda turned and eyed the lone car parked several feet away, a silver Honda Civic. She went over to it and pulled up on the handle, the door clicked open, and she looked inside.

Sitting in the driver seat she searched for the keys. They were nowhere to be found. She contemplated for a moment going to stop Markus and William, but she decided against it. Getting out and slamming the door, she wondered if her powers were strong enough to dissolve the vehicle. She had never tried anything that big before. But she had been successful with large pieces of furniture. Where William and Markus exceled at being vampires, she did so at being a Conjurer. Practicing and studying since she was barely 13.

Laying her hands on it, she focused all her energy into the object. A tingling sensation creeped up her legs into her spine and down her arms, getting stronger in her fingertips. The car started to glitch underneath her fingers. It flickered and fluttered. Her heart beat fast and hard as she pushed herself to the breaking point, sweat beading on her forehead. Miranda felt her body quake and the Civic suddenly disappearing into nothingness.

She fell forward and hit the ground hard. Sitting up, she looked around and was impressed with her power. Pushing up from the ground, she could already hear the boys coming down the path. The two emerged and Markus stared at the spot where the car had been, and then over at Miranda.

“Where’s the car?” Markus asked, and a proud smile touched her eyes. “Miranda?” She took deep calming breaths, calming her nerves and slowing her heartbeat.

“I dissolved it,” she breathed out.

“You dissolved a car?” William raised his brow, skeptical. She crossed her arms and pursed her lips.

“As a matter of fact I did,” Miranda said, marching over to the truck and hoisting herself up into the back seat with Becca.

William narrowed his eyes over at her. "Think maybe you could have, oh I don't know, dissolved the body?"

"It doesn't work that way William. You know that."

“What are you going to tell our parents?” Markus asked. “You know Craeden saw you leave this morning?”

“I didn’t know, I suppose the parents know as well?” William pushed his hand through his hair and sighed.

“Yeah and they were a little freaked out when Miranda and I left, but we didn’t say anything.”

“Tell them the truth, I guess. No more lies,” William said, rounding the truck. Markus nodded and jumped into the passenger seat.

Becca’s body was still; her breathing labored though as she continued to come down off her first high. She would have to dose twice as much as the rest to keep the addiction from getting the best of her again.

As William drove down the road, his mind wandered and he began to make peace with his past. He realized how reckless and careless he had been in his actions. Watching Becca go through that horrific experience opened his eyes to how powerful the blood addiction was. How it could manipulate her and lure her over two and a half miles away.

Once Becca was back in bed safe and sound, William went down and joined everyone in the kitchen. The house filled with the aroma of breakfast and coffee. With his plate in hand he sat between his brother and mother, and all eyes fell on him. It made him shift in his chair. Bringing a forkful to his mouth, prying eyes still watching him, he rolled his eyes and lowered the fork back down.

“Becca killed a human,” he blurted out, not bothering to sugar coat it or manipulate the truth.

The sound of forks crashing down on plates echoed through the room.

“What?” Sarah blurted out, her fork crashing to the plate in front of her and then to the floor. “How could that happen?”

“Sarah, calm down. She matured. Much faster than I’ve ever seen but her reaction is perfectly normal,” Craeden reminded his sister. “With her not given the chance to do it as a child and put on a rigid dosing schedule, her body did what came naturally. Hunt, kill and feed. Which is why it is even more important that we get these two on a schedule.”

“Schedule for what?” Nikki’s eyes widened.

William was already up and crossing the room to the corner drawer. He pulled it open and pulled out two crimson vials.

“A schedule for you to drink these.” William handed a vial to each of them. “It’s mostly animal blood and it will keep the Beast, as we call it, caged.”

“Blood? Ewww!” Nikki scrunched up her nose at the crimson-filled glass she held in her hand.

“Nikki, what did you think being a vampire meant?” Markus laughed at her.

“I don’t know. I just….ick.” She whined, scrunching her nose again.

“Trust me, you won’t think that once you drink it,” Miranda assured her.

Z and Nikki eyed each other and then looked down at the vials. Shaking his head, he uncapped it and brought it to his lips. Nikki did the same. Without any more hesitation, both tipped their heads back and let the liquid slip past their lips and down their throats.

“See, nothing to it. Three times a day should be good.” William sat back down and continued eating.

They both grimaced and it sent goosebumps up and down their arms.

“Bleh.” Nikki stuck her tongue out at the taste.

“You’ll get used to it, sweetheart,” Tobias said.

She gave him a wary look at the endearment, still coming to terms with him.

“Becca will have to do it twice as much to counteract the consumption of human blood,” Craeden said. “And it will take a few days for it to work out of her system. She may be volatile. A little edgy.”

“I’ll handle it,” William said, pushing up from the table, plate in hand.

“You sure? You yourself are coming off a pretty shaky withdrawal,” his father warned. Crossing the room, he placed the plate into the sink and leaned against the wood, keeping his back to them.

“Yeah, if anyone is best to handle it…it’s me,” he said.

Reaching into the drawer, he retrieved two more vials and then left the room. Climbing the stairs, he reflected. Recognizing that he had an addiction had opened his eyes. The danger he had put himself in and the repercussions his family could have suffered were evident now. But yet knowing there was a stash of fresh human blood downstairs in the cellar weighed heavy on his mind.

Entering the master bedroom, he found Becca sitting up in the bed. Her knees brought to her chest hugging them, staring off out the window next to the bed. William went over to her and sat down. She was filled with remorse, fear and sadness; that much he could feel.

“It’s not your fault,” William said.

She remembered every bit of the incident. From the feeling of her chest catching fire to the euphoria she felt when the blood exploded into her mouth. And then the pain, she remembered the pain.

And she was sure she would never forget it either.

“Why is this all happening?” she whispered, wiping a few tears from her eyes and burying her face in her arms.

“Because we are all meant for something much bigger,” he said, watching her reaction. Finally she looked up at him, confused and thirsting for information.

“You mean the Heir and Heiress, right? That’s what we are?” Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper. There was a gentle lull of warmth starting to scratch at her chest, climbing its way up her throat.

“Yeah, we are,” he answered. “Okay, the Bottom, our world, had been ruled by the Heir and Heiress for nearly nine hundred years. Part of the Royal Vampyr bloodline.”

“What does that mean? Royal Vampyr? What’s the difference?”

“You have vampires. They drink blood, feed on emotions and do have an aversion to sunlight. But just an aversion – it doesn’t stop them from going out in it. It’s mostly just an unpleasant burning sensation all over their body, kinda like a bad sunburn. And then you have the Royal line. They also drink blood and feed on emotions. However they have no aversions to sunlight and they carry a certain power within them. Not quite as strong as a Magi but close,” he explained. “When the nations started to come together – Vampire, Beast, Magi and Conjurer – they needed a place of their own. Something separate from the Surface. So they created the Bottom. Vampires were considered the alpha species. And so the Royals created the Heir and Heiress to rule the nations.

“They were created with love and darkness. Good and evil. The Heir and Heiress had a love for each other that was unprecedented. And when one died, for whatever reason, the other would take his or her own life. Unable to bear the pain of their loss. And then their essence and spirit would pass on to the next born male and female Royal.”

“But there are six of us…”

“Twenty-eight years ago, someone began killing off the royal line. And they worked all the way up to the Heir and Heiress. Killing them in cold blood. They didn’t like that too much and had other plans for their future successors,” he explained.

“Who?” she asked.

“Viktor…” And his voice trailed off. She raised her brow and nodded as if saying it made sense.

“So basically we are the embodiments of ancient vampire royalty.”

“Yeah, we are the rightful Heirs to the throne.”

Becca leaned back against the headboard and shook her head. It seemed impossible that Nikki, Z and she could possibly be a part of all of it. Her mind went back to the eyes of the blonde-haired girl. The shock and fear she saw there made her cringe.

“You couldn’t have stopped it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Ya know I’m not sure what’s worse. The fact that I know that or the fact that I didn’t want to stop it,” Becca admitted, bringing her gaze back to the window. “My throat is starting to burn again.”

“Here.” He handed her the vials. “That’s what these are for. It’s what most vampires drink to keep the Beast inside. It’s Hybrid. Human blood…it…” William took in a deep breath. “It’s a drug. Like heroin or cocaine for humans. For you, most likely it will work out of your system in a couple of days. You may feel surges of energy and emotions but we’ll keep you well dosed with Hybrid until you level out.”

“So this is what it means to be a vampire?” Becca said, studying the vial. Slowly tilting it back and forth. The contents sloshing from side to side. William considered her comment, raising a brow to it.

“How else would we be?” he asked.

“The way we were supposed to be.” It was stated dryly and matter-of-factly. Vivid images of their kind’s history flashed before her eyes. They were hiding within the shadows of their predecessors.

“Becca, what are you talking about?” She looked up from the glass in her hand and into his eyes. He could see something there and wasn’t quite sure what it was. But there was something different lingering in her.

“The images, the flashes. What we are now? We are a weaker species now. A mere blip under a dark shadow,” she said.

Becca uncapped the first vial and the aroma hit her immediately. It wasn’t as enticing as the warm, smooth and almost creamy blood she’d had that morning. The smell was off, lacking the sweet, metallic aroma. Bringing it to her lips, she closed her eyes.

“We should be embracing it, not substituting it.” And with that she emptied its contents into her mouth. The taste made her cringe and goosebumps ran down her arms. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Her body protested it. The burning in her throat and chest subsided but not fully. She could feel it barely cowering to the faux substance. The thirst would return.

“What images? What flashes? Becca, talk to me.” He was worried. From what he could remember from his first time, it hadn’t included any images.

She brought her eyes up to meet his, and they flared purple and then normal. He straightened and tilted his head. They flared again but this time they didn’t change back. No, the purple color deepened until they were glowing back at him. Mechanically his hands closed around her wrists and he held them there. Not tightly but enough for whatever he could sense was about to happen.

“Becca…” he said cautiously.

Before he could react, though, she lunged for him and easily overpowered him, much to his surprise. She pushed him onto his back and was on top of him in a flash. Her breathing quickened, eyes darkened till they were almost black with a hint of purple.

“Becca what is happening!?” He raised his voice, hoping it would jar her from whatever had its hold on her. But yet not enough to alert anyone downstairs. Whatever was happening, he wanted to see it through. And he didn’t need parents, uncles and siblings interrupting that.

Unsheathing her fangs, she dipped down into his neck and sank them deep. It made him jerk away but her strong hold kept him from moving. A fire erupted where she bit down, and it spread slowly into his shoulders, down into his chest and out into the rest of his body. It boiled and peaked quickly. Just as fast, it subsided, leaving behind a euphoric pleasure.

Closing his eyes to the feeling, he cradled the back of her head with his hand. His fingers tangling into her messy locks. He wanted her to drink from him, as deeply as she could. A deep satisfied moan passed his lips and it made Becca bite down even harder, drinking from him even more.

William didn’t know what was happening but as she drank from him, it awakened his own Beast. It stirred and came to life, already trying to push its way to the surface. His eyes began to change to a brilliant emerald green, and a newfound strength was building within him. And when it peaked he grabbed hold over her and easily switched places with her. The urge to drink from her was greater than ever before, and he didn’t resist. In fact, every fiber within him was screaming for him to take from her. She arched against him and offered up the flesh of her neck.

He lowered down to her, feeling every bit of her hips grinding hard against him. It excited him and made him quiver above her. His body thirsted for all of her. A low, guttural growl ripped from his chest. Without giving it any thought he let his razor sharp canines graze against her skin, leaving behind a streak of blood. His tongue lapped at the few drops and then he succumbed to her, letting his fangs bite down into the flesh of her neck.

She moaned at the sensation as it stung, tingled and pulsed.

Becca tasted every bit of the aroma she emanated. It was sweet and spicy. His arms wrapped her body and he jerked her up hard. A satisfying cry escaped her as she felt his teeth sink even deeper. He drank greedily from her, taking whatever she was willing to give. She arched up to grind into his groin and a more visceral growl ripped through his chest.

Releasing her, he felt a renewed sense of balance. His senses kicked into overdrive and everything around him came to life. The smells that mingled throughout the entire house hit him in the face. The sounds of laughter, heartbeats, thrumming of fingers, water running all filled his ears. And then her, he could feel her even more now. Her thoughts were in his mind, and his in hers. Her heart beat in his chest, and his in hers. Their very existence merged and became one.

William pulled his shirt over his head and lowered back down, kissing her hard with an urgent need. She moaned against his tongue as it pushed for admittance. Her hands caressed down his back and to his front, greedily pulling at his jeans and fighting to push them off of him. He pulled from her and stood to remove them. Kicking them off with rabid intent.

He took her by the hand and pulled her into his arms, meeting her with his lips. He nibbled at her bottom lip and traced them with his tongue before kissing her hard. She moaned against his tongue twisting with hers.

His hands cupped firmly around her bottom and he lifted her up into his arms. He turned and lowered her to the antique green dresser behind them. His fingers grabbed at the bottom of her tank top and pulled it up over her head. He wanted to see her face, taste her lips and look into her seductive purple eyes. They mesmerized him. Their beauty alone was captivating. He lined her neck with kisses, letting his tongue trace the curvature of her collar bone. It made her belly bubble and boil with excitement.

Becca pulled at his boxers, freeing him from the restriction. William’s fingers slid into the waist of the PJ pants she wore, and he worked them down her legs and off to the floor. His lips kissed and licked their way back up the length of her, stopping just short of the spot on her neck. He inhaled deeply and groaned against her hot skin. Savoring her aroma as it mixed with the scent of sex.