Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) (34 page)

Raphael’s twin
flunkies were standing near the door nodding with his every word.
Wondering if there was a way to use their loyalty to him as a tool, I
took a deep breath and sent a tiny bit of energy in their general
direction. The twins immediately stiffened but did not move from
their positions. I realized that they had no idea whose energy they
were feeling. They probably thought Raphael was becoming excited by
the prospect of spilled blood.

I sent another pulse
towards them while keeping my attention on their leader. This time
both of the twins stepped away from the door and joined Raphael in
the middle of the room. Chloe sat on the couch with her arms wrapped
around herself crying like a baby. My stomach clinched and I reached
for her. Just then, as Raphael turned to look out of the window,
Chloe glanced at me and winked.

Still lamenting about
our deaths, Raphael spoke about the dynasty Grigor was birthing and
how our blood would be the catalyst to his success. His ranting and
Chloe's crying, concealed the small noises coming from Chloe's task.
Upon closer examination, I noticed that she was removing the metal
wiring that held the decorative braid around the pillow. She was so
sly, in fact, that she had already done the same with two other
pillows by the time I figured it out.

“…
but,
you would not understand the power of Lord Oleander,” Raphael
went on. “He has telepathy and can control the weak-minded. I
am proud to call him Sire.”

Then, Raphael turned to
me and frowned. His power washed over me and I wondered how long I
could hold out before I pushed back. I could see that he was
beginning to sweat and his face was beginning to blur as a result of
his exertion.. Standing, and without taking my eyes off of his face,
I took and deep breathe…

“
Raphael?”

Grigor stood in the
doorway with Zola hanging on his arm. She looked like she had been
drugged and she fought gravity to remain upright.

“
Raphael,
I thought I told you not to come in here. I do not want you or your
men to be tempted to drink from these two. They are far too valuable
to us.”

“
My
apologies, My Lord. I only wished to…well, to insure that they
were not harmed by our men, Sire.”

Raphael sent me a harsh
look before he turned and gazed submissively at Grigor.

“
I
want the ceremony to be perfect, My Lord.”

“
You
liar!” Zola screamed at Raphael. “You have always wanted
to gain honor by draining them yourself. To gain power and prestige.”

Zola had let go of
Grigor’s arm and was wagging her finger in Raphael’s
face. Her words were slurred and she was teetering on her high heels.
She wore a long ivory dress with a neckline down to her naval. The
contrast of the dress against her brown skin made her look exotic and
beautiful. The crazed expression on her face made her look crazy.

“
Now,
now, Zola. I am quite aware of Raphael’s motives.” Grigor
said with a bored expression on his face. “Sit down, I have
some news for you.”

Zola looked at Raphael
with smug satisfaction as she made her way across the room. Chloe
scrambled out of the way just as our mother made her less than
graceful decent onto the couch. It was embarrassing to watch her as
she righted herself and attempted to look important. She looked at me
and Chloe as if she wished we were dead, before returning her
attention to Grigor.

“
I
have good news for the two of you,” Grigor began. “As you
now know, your mother and I have had plans for you since your births.
It was always my intention that you would be raised here, so that you
might learn the delicacies of our world, but that was not to be. The
mere presence of your blood was too tempting for my flock. The very
best that we could do was allow Cheyenne to be raised in ignorance of
our world. Chloe, poor thing, has had her view of us tainted by those
who do not understand our motives.”

Chloe looked at him
with the contempt he deserved, but she remained silent. Her hands
were clinched into fists as she fought to control her energy. She was
using every bit of her training to remain subdued. I didn’t
know what I would do if anything happened to her but I knew that I
would die for this kid.

“…
so,
since the two of you have been without your mother for so long,”
Grigor was saying, “I have decided to reunite the three of
you.”

“
What?”

Zola was on her feet in
an instance. She tried to rush toward Grigor but tripped over the
train of her dress. From the floor she looked up at Grigor with a
mixture of fear and anger. Chloe and I, unlike our traitorous mother,
were watching the four Vampires to see if there was an opening for an
escape. Chloe pointed to the leg of the couch where she had stuffed
the metal ribbing from the pillows. I wasn’t sure what we were
going to do with them, but I knew they would come in handy.

“
My
Lord!”, Zola cried. “My Lord, you cannot possibly mean to
leave me with them.”

“
Actually,
I do. You see, Zola, you have served your purpose. I finally have two
pure-blood descendants of Efia St. Clair and I no longer have need of
you.”

Grigor turned toward me
and smiled. He looked more hungry than happy. He walked over to where
we stood and picked up a fallen pillow. I prayed that he wouldn’t
notice the spine and the ribbing had been removed.

“
You
two intrigue me. Breaking into my compound to free a mother you never
knew. How heroic. Your ancestors would have been proud.”

“
Where
are our brothers and Violeta?” Chloe asked shakily.

“
Aw,
your brothers. They are being prepped as we speak. And Violeta is
being punished for her betrayal.”

It was still hard to
believe that Violeta had once been a member of Grigor’s flock.
Even though she was under his control at the time, Violeta still felt
guilt and shame about her past. I knew why she trained me so hard.
She knew what I was going to face when I confronted Grigor. I
concentrated on all of those long hours of training. I wouldn’t
let her down.

“
Look,
Grigor,” I began, “I'll make you a deal.”

“
A
deal?” Grigor threw his head back and laughed so loudly that
everyone in the room jumped. “Why, my dear child, would you
believe that you are in a position to deal?”

“
Because,
I can help you track down other descendants.” I hoped this
bluff would work. “Efia said that only pure-bloods could track
them properly. I can do it, if you let my family go.”

I waited while Grigor
gave this some thought. He looked at Raphael, who had a surprised
expression on his face, and then returned his gaze to me. Under his
scrutiny I began to sweat. He was trying to read me and I tried not
to squirm as I held my shields in place. Chloe tensed beside me and
realized that he was trying to read her reaction to my statement as
well. After a long minute, the sensation left and Grigor clapped his
hands like a child on Christmas morning.

“
Deal!”,
He said, victoriously.

Grigor turned and
strode out of the door with Raphael and his flunkies on his heels.
Grateful that my bluff seemed to work, I smiled and turned toward
Chloe. My smile immediately faded when I saw her face. Chloe looked
like I had slapped her.

“
Chlo,
what’s wrong?”

“
Cheyenne,
you don’t know what you have done.”

Chloe was distraught.
She walked over to the couch, careful not to get too close to Zola.
She bent down and retrieved the metal ribbing and then turned to face
me.

“
But,
Chlo, if he believed me then he'll let you go and you can get help.”

Chloe looked up at me,
her large brown eyes filling with tears. She opened her mouth to
speak before closing it again. She did this so many times that she
reminded me of a goldfish. I grabbed her shoulders and made her focus
on my face before I spoke again.

“
Look,
this might work.”

“
No,
Cheyenne, it won’t,” Chloe said with such conviction.

“
Why?”

“
Because,
stupid,” Zola laughed from where she had fallen. “You CAN
track down other descendants. And now he knows how to make you!”

Chapter 25

I looked back and
forth between Zola and Chloe. Zola had a grin on her face while Chloe
was looking down at her shoes. I had a sinking feeling that there was
still more to the story than anyone had told me. My legs went weak
and I sat straight down on the floor putting my head in my hands.

Thoughts were racing
through my mind as I gathered the facts together: first, I was bred
to literally feed the needs of an insane vampire; second, I was
raised by a woman who would have betrayed me on my 18th birthday by
turning me over to said Vampire; third, the best friend I have ever
had was a member of the same Vampire family that I belonged to and
fourth, I was probably a blood descendant magnet. Was everyone trying
to use me? Is that all I was good for…for finding Efia’s
descendants before Grigor? I had never in my life felt so hopeless.

I sat there on the cold
floor for what seemed like an eternity. Chloe was smart not to try to
comfort me but Zola was trying my patience by her continual
commentary on the last few month’s events. Somehow, Grigor had
known of all of my movements, either before or just as they had
happened. He had not shared his knowledge with Raphael because he did
not want to alert Zander to any mole in our organization. Zola was
quite proud that Grigor had held her in such confidence and she
seemed to forget that he appeared to be throwing her aside for me;
The Prophesied One.

“
Mother,”
I said shakily, trying to see if I could get some information from
her. “Mom?”

Zola stopped her
marathon ranting to look in my direction. Now that we were not
running I could study her more. She looked like a combination of all
of her children; at least the ones that I knew. She was a beautiful
woman and yet there was evil surrounding her as if it were part of
her aura. She craved whatever it was that Grigor had offered her;
craved it enough to bear children for him to sacrifice. Now, this
woman, my mother, was looking at me as if I was her path to glory.

“
Yes,”
she answered, tilting her head.

“
What
is really going on? I mean, you could have had it all with Efia. Why
betray her and join Grigor?”

“
Betray
her? She must have you brainwashed. Efia was never going to Embrace
me. She was going to use me just like Grigor. I was the descendant
that would bear The Prophesied One. There are only a few of us, you
and I. The mother daughter combination has to be concise for it to
work. Efia knew it would be me the moment I was born. She was going
to breed me and then have me locked away in a tower to rot. I was the
one who was betrayed!”

Zola spoke so
vehemently and with so much passion that I had to look at Chloe to
see if there was any truth in her words. Chloe was staring at Zola as
if this was all news to her. Could it be that there was more secrecy?
Chloe, having been raised by Efia, would have known everything there
was to know. She appeared to know a great deal more than me. Was it
possible that both Chloe and I were played as fools? If that was the
case, why would Efia sacrifice the others on this quest to rescue
Zola? There were far too many questions for one evening and I was
growing restless sitting there on the floor.

I stood up and had to
stomp on my left leg to get the circulation back. The third stomp
sounded hollow. There must be a sub-floor and possibly a crawl space.
Chloe glanced in my direction having seen me pause. Zola, on the
other hand, was still talking. She was quite happy to slander Efia’s
name in one breath and praise Grigor in the other. If I had not been
wrapped up in this horrible ordeal, I would almost believe that she
had chosen the right side. But, I was wrapped up in it and I had to
believe that Efia was being true to me. I had to believe that there
was a reason she had kept me in the dark about the prophecy.
Believing in her was all I had.

The window was much too
high to see out of, so any escape attempt would be done without
knowledge of our location. I tried to move some of the air around but
Chloe cleared her throat loudly, coughing as if she was choking. Once
she stopped coughing I realized that we were in silence. Zola had
stopped ranting and was staring at the two of us. Apparently even the
slightest bit of energy would alert Zola to our powers; she was our
mother after all. I patted Chloe on the back and pretended that her
coughing fit was real. This was no time to let the cat out of the
bag.

Zola kept looking at us
while we walked the perimeter of the room. We didn’t dare speak
to each other but we stayed close enough to have eye contact. On my
twelfth trip around the room, I noticed inconsistencies in the
ceiling tiles. There were cameras in even intervals so I was careful
not to look directly at them. The walls were paneled with oak wood
and appeared to have speakers concealed behind wood-like screens. We
were in a fish bowl and Grigor was waiting for us to slip up and
reveal something that he didn’t already know.

I decided to test the
theory on my next lap around. I began to nod at Chloe as if we had
come to some sort of agreement. Chloe, though slightly dumbfounded,
followed my lead and we both started to steal glances at Zola. After
a few moments, Zola nodded at one of the cameras. She didn't move
much more than a centimeter, but her action was caught by whoever was
watching us because the door swung open and Raphael walked in. This
time, alone.