The BlackBurne Legacy (The Bloodlines Legacy Series Book 1) (14 page)

“Chin up, babe. Luka’s into you. Don’t worry about the rest of us.” He winks and gets in his car. “You have fun.”

Not likely. Uncle Sabien is going to answer some questions. Questions I don’t think he wants to answer. I know exactly where he lives, as I drove by there several times already trying to work up the nerve to talk to him. His home is beautiful. I learned from Dad it’s the Blackburne family home. We lived there with him and Mom when we were little. The three-story mansion sits upon a hill overlooking the town and college campus. It’s made of stone and wood, blending into the backdrop of the mountains. A castle is what comes to mind with all the stone and sharp angles on the roof. The architecture has me drooling. I love old houses, and this one is probably the best one I’ve seen in a long time. I’m hoping I get the chance to snoop and explore every inch of it.

The grounds have been well kept. The gardens draw my attention as I pull up the driveway. It isn’t just a small garden surrounding the house, but it extends down a hill and into what can only be a park. Uncle Sabien has a park on his property. Rich people. I shake my head at the opulence of the grounds.

I knock on the front door, but when I get no answer after a full three minutes, I let my feet wander down the hillside to the park. Much to my delight, there is a swing set. I love swings. This one has seats big enough for adults, and I sit down and push off. Flowers of all colors, shapes, and sizes grow in abundance around me, the trees making a perfect circle of privacy. Utter beauty. It’s relaxing.

So much has gone on the last few weeks. All I wanted when I left Compton was to be normal, or at least a shot at being normal. I’m beginning to understand normal isn’t what I thought it was. It’s more dealing with the circumstances you are dealt in the best way you can. Aside from the voice that pops up sometimes in my head, I think I’ve made huge strides. I don’t shy away from every social situation, thanks to my forcing myself to deal with my friends and people at school. I do go see the therapist once a week, but I haven’t said a word about the voice. No need to make her worry for no reason. It hasn’t popped up since my mom died.

The nightmares worry me. I haven’t had such severe ones since right before I went to Compton. Jason locks his door at night. Not that I blame him. Given our history, I think I might too. My nightmares have gotten that bad. My therapist is concerned too. It’s the one real thing I talk about with her. I saw something that day in the park. It wasn’t dogs. They were bigger than dogs, and it’s haunted me since. I wish I could ask my mom about it, if only for some closure. I need to understand what happened that day.

Frustration pours out of me as I push off the ground as high as I can. Nothing makes sense. People going on about magic, my mom thinking she was a witch, the strange sensations I get from the journal she left me. None of it.

A low, menacing growl interrupts my thoughts, and I look up.

Good Lord Almighty.

Not more than fifty feet away from me stands the biggest black cat I have ever seen. It has to be a panther. The only ones I’d ever seen were in books, but I don’t think they are supposed to get this big. This thing is huge. They aren’t supposed to come into populated areas either, yet here it is.

Its size doesn’t alarm me as much as the way kitty is looking at me, though.

Kitty’s eyes say I am dinner.

So, so not good.

“Easy, kitty,” I whisper and stand up.

The cat crouches into a pouncing stance.

This is very, very bad. There’s nowhere I can run.

It snarls at me, low and deep.

“Alexandria, do no move.”

Luka comes toward me out of the woods. His clothes are dirty and streaked with…blood? He keeps his eyes on the big cat as he approaches.

The cat screams, shifting to face him.

“You need to stay very still,” he says softly.

As if I’m going to move a muscle with that thing ready to jump?

Definitely not.

“I hope you have a plan,” I whisper.

“I do.”

The cat launches itself at us.

Chapter

Fifteen

The cat hits Luka square in the chest with such force it sends them both rolling backward into the woods. I see claws sink into him before they disappear.

I can’t see them and panic.

Please, God, no. I start to chase after them, but the low, snarling growls behind me put a stop to that plan. I whirl and come face to face with three more of the big cats, all stalking me with deadly intent in their eyes.

This cannot be happening.

“Alex, move, get out of the way!”

Uncle Sabien barrels down the path, taking aim with the rifle he carries.

The first shot brings down the cat closest to me. It yowls in pain as it falls not more than a foot from me.

More shots ring out, but I pay them no mind. My attention focuses on the animal at my feet. It’s…changing.

I don’t understand at first what I see. It isn’t until the paw begins to shift into the form of a human hand that the reality hits me.

I close my eyes, refusing to believe what I’m seeing.

Snap…crackle…pop. Muscles tear, cartilage pops, bones snap and shift.

No, no, no, no…

It’s not real. I’m dreaming.

Oh, God, please don’t let it be real.

I force my eyes open.

A woman is lying at my feet where the cat had fallen.

No, no, no, no…

A dream, just another one of my nightmares.

I will wake up any second now.

Sabien lays a hand on my shoulder, trying to turn me away from the scene.

I flinch away from him.

“Alexandria, you’re safe now.”

A dog howls in the distance, its cry full of rage.

Sabien looks up, startled, his eyes sweeping the area carefully.

“We need to get you inside, honey,” Sabien tells me softly. “It’s not safe out here.”

He takes hold of my arm and pulls me toward the path leading home. I can’t help but stare at the cats now turned humans until they are out of sight.

Please, please be dreaming.

Sabien leaves me at the house with orders to stay inside and lock the doors until he gets back.

I try to lock the door behind him, but can’t. My body shakes so hard I can hear my teeth rattle. Someone starts to pound forcefully on the door. I jump away from it, unable to hold in the scream that tears out of my throat.

“Alex, open up!”

Micah.

I yank the door open and throw myself at him, unaware I’ve been crying until the wetness soaks his shirt. The fear begins to subside, feeling his arms around me. His woodsy smell wraps around me, calming the panic.

“Shh,” he soothes, stroking my hair. “It’s okay.”

“No,” I whisper hoarsely. “It’s not okay, Micah. You don’t know…”

“It’s fine, Blue. You’re fine. No one is going to hurt you, I promise. They won’t get near you again.”

I go still in his arms. He can’t know what I’d seen.

“Yes,” he tells me. “I do know.”

“How?”

“Look at me, Blue.”

His voice comes out hesitant, afraid.

“Why?” I don’t want to look.

“Alex, please.”

I raise my head and meet a pair of glowing amber eyes.

No.

I jerk away from him so hard I stumble backward and hit the stairs, falling. It’s too much for me, and I stay down.

“I’m sorry, Blue,” he says miserably and curls up in front of the door.

“Are you one of them?”

“No,” he denies vehemently. “I go a bit furry, but I’m not a cat.”

“A wolf,” I whisper. “You’re a wolf.”

“How can you know that?” he asks, eyes wide with shock.

“I dream about being a wolf,” I tell him, my voice shaking. “I have for as long as I can remember.”

He stares at me, his eyes full of emotions I can’t understand. Everything makes so much sense now. Why he smells of the trees and the soft dirt that covers the forest floor. He’s a wolf. He smells of the woods because he’s a part of the woods.

Micah stands and starts forward.

I shrink away from him.

“I won’t hurt you, Blue,” he promises. “Your uncle is coming, and I need to leave.”

“
No
!”

Panic hits me full force. I’m scared, terrified, even of Micah, but the thought of him leaving me sends me tumbling over the edge. I need him. I don’t know why, but be holds back the fear, keeps it from eating me alive.

“Your uncle…”

“Please don’t leave me.” Tears well up, threatening to overflow again.

“Hush, Blue, I won’t leave. I promise.”

He approaches me warily, his steps careful and measured. He squats in front of me and reaches out to grip my hands. He speaks softly, slowly.

“I know you’re afraid of me right now. You don’t understand why you need me so close, why I help to lessen the fear. I’ll explain everything to you. I’m going to wait on you upstairs in one of the bedrooms. Your uncle’s coming. You need to listen to him. Try to focus. I think this is what he was keeping you safe from.” He shudders and bows his head. “If he hadn’t been here today…I hate to think what might have happened.”

“Oh my God, Luka!” I jump up, knocking Micah over. Oh God, how could I have forgotten Luka?

“Luka?”

“He was there, he pushed me out of the way. Oh, God, Micah, it hit him and they went flying back into the trees and I couldn’t see them. I wanted to go after them but then…then…then the others came.” Tears stream down my face at the remembered horror.

“It’s okay, Blue,” he tries to soothe me.

“No, it’s not okay. You have to find him!” I shout, my voice frantic.

He nods. “I’ll find him, but you can’t tell your uncle. If he needs help, I’ll make sure he gets it.”

I frown. Luka would need an ambulance. I’d seen the claws tear into him.

“Trust me, Blue.”

“But…”

He stares at me. “Please, Alex.”

I nod at last, not understanding, but willing to trust him. I always trust Micah.

“I’m going out the back. Are you okay?

Panic grips me. He’s leaving me.

“I have to leave if I am going to find Luka.”

I nod, unable to speak past the tears choking me.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He gives my hand a quick squeeze. “Your uncle’s here now. I have to go.”

Micah’s gone before the doorknob starts to turn.

***

Sabien frowns and mutters something about my not locking the door, and didn’t I know what kind of danger I was in when he comes in.

Then he sees me.

I’m still sitting on the stairs with my arms locked around my knees. He looks worried.

I can see why. My reflection in the hall mirror tells me why his eyes widen and his face pales. My own eyes glitter with shock and fear in a face the color of chalk. I look terrible. I look a bit insane, truth be told. Then again, maybe I really am crazy and all this is just another one of my night terrors.

“Honey, you’re safe now.”

Safe? I want to scream and rant and beat at him. Safe? My world is…just…
gone,
and he has the nerve to stand there and tell me I’m
safe
?

Instead of doing any of the things I want to do, I tighten my hold around my knees, hoping it will help with the tremors that wrack my body. No such luck.

“Alexandria?”

I finally look up at him. He cringes back at the fear, the pain, and the anguish that lashes out at him from my eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers.

Sorry? That’s all he has to say to me? He’s sorry?

“What…what were they?” I croak out, trying to keep calm, but close to cracking. I honestly don’t know how much more I can take right now.

“Trackers.”

“They…changed.”

“They’re shifters, able to go from one form to another.”

I stare, unable to ask what I want to know.

He sees the question in my eyes. “They were looking for you and Jason.”

“What…why?”

“It’s a long story, honey. Let’s go to the kitchen and I’ll make you something hot to drink. It’ll help with the shivers.”

I realize how cold I am. God’s truth, but I’m freezing. Shock, I guess. I get slowly to my feet and my uncle catches me before I fall on my face. He leads me to a chair at the kitchen table and then sets about making me a cup of hot chocolate. That done, he takes a seat across from me.

“Explain.” My voice comes out almost calm, which surprises me, considering it feels like I’m going to fall apart at any second.

“It’s not so easy to explain.” He sighs wearily.

“Uncle Sabien?” Jason’s panicked voice reaches us, the front door slamming.

“In the kitchen, Jason.”

He rushes in and sees me. Relief floods his face. “Are you okay, Sis?” he asks, falling down in the chair beside me.

I nod woodenly.

“Uncle Sabien called.” His eyes flicker to him. “He said you’d been in an accident?”

I laugh harshly, the anger I’ve been trying to hold back erupting to the surface violently.
An accident?
Ha!

“She’s still in shock,” Sabien tells him. “She saw something today that severely shook her.”

Ha!

“What happened?”

“Yes, Uncle,” I seethe. “Tell Jason what happened.”

I can’t help the anger that bubbles up. Sabien knew these things were hunting us, and he didn’t tell us. If he had, Luka might not be hurt right now. God, is he even alive?

“I hoped I would have more time,” he murmurs and stands up. He walks over to the window and looks out, his face tired and worn. “The trackers have taken that from us, I’m afraid.”

“Trackers?” Jason asks in confusion.

“They found your sister today. She was nearly killed.”

“Killed?” Jason whispers, turning to stare at me. Fear makes his eyes almost as dark as my own.

“If Uncle Sabien hadn’t been there, I’d be dead.”

Some of the anger fizzles out of me. As mad as I am, he
had
saved my life at the risk of his own. I owe him something for that. The rage had stomped out the fear now blazing like wildfire through me for just a moment.

Breathe
, I tell myself and try to think happy thoughts. Bunnies. Nice, soft, happy little bunnies…bunnies morphing into mutant sized…
No
.

I take a sip of my hot chocolate. I need to understand this. “Will you tell us what is going on? All of it?”

He gives me a shrewd look that says my calm tone doesn’t fool him, but he nods. “The animals that attacked you are what we call trackers. They follow a scent until they find who or what they’re searching for. They never fail. No matter how far or how fast you run, they always find you.”

“And then they kill you?” I guess.

“Not necessarily,” he disagrees. “It would depend on their orders. In you and your brother’s situation, a kill on sight order has been issued.”

“
What?
” Jason explodes.

Sabien runs a hand through his hair. “I promised your mother I would take care of you and keep you safe if something ever happened to her. I’m doing a bang-up job of it, aren’t I?”

The mention of our mother causes us both to tense up and our eyes to harden. Uncle Sabien frowns, noticing our reaction. He’s become aware of our feelings toward Alesha over the last few weeks. How could he not? He’d tried repeatedly to talk to us about her in the beginning, but we’d blown him off. Except for my questions about her death. He wouldn’t talk about that.

Sabien sighs and ignores our reactions.

“Did your mother ever tell you anything about her family?” he asks Jason.

“Not that I remember.”

“She had good reason not to.” Sabien laughs bitterly.

Jason and I frown. Now what does that mean?

“Alesha and I were to be the last of the Blackburne bloodline,” he tells us. “We promised each other ages ago that we would never have children. We didn’t want to pass this curse on to anyone else.”

“Curse?” The truth explodes in my mind with the force of a Mack truck.

No. It can’t be.

“You’re one of them?” I whisper, barely able to make myself ask the question.

Sabien’s eyes widen. “You’re more perceptive than I thought.”

I am so totally freaking out. Calm…mutant bunnies…