The Blood Bundle, Books 1-2: Blood Singers and Blood Song (New Adult Paranormal Vampire/Shifter Romance) (53 page)

Marcus smiled and came forward. “I know that it
has been quite a bit to take on.”

Julia almost laughed and he saw her expression
and smiled in response, subtly acknowledging the understatement of
his words. “However, timing is critical and I have not lived all
this time to lose sight of the instincts of our enemy.”

Julia gave him a sharp look.

He sighed, running a hand through his dark hair
in a nervous gesture. “They will come. Both the vampire and your...
husband.”

“She is wedded?” Victor asked incredulously.

Oh boy,
Julia thought. She so didn't want
to explain this whole thing. Again. Or ever.

Scott came forward and before she could shut
that whole conversation down he said, “He was turned into a
Were.”

“He was a Singer....” Marcus began and Victor's
gaze fell on Julia with weight. “You married a Singer?”

“Can't we?” Julia countered and his gaze
darkened.

“I didn't know about any of this,” Julia swung
her arm around her, indicating the general compound she found
herself in. Region One, they'd told her.

“I see,” Victor said but clearly acted as if
some fault rested with her. Well screw that.

She walked to where he stood. Just paces away
and poked him in the chest.

He didn't move, he was a literal mountain of
muscle.

Julia didn't care.

“Don't you dare blame me. I didn't know what I
was, I didn't know what he was. We were just a couple of high
school sweethearts trying to carve out some existence on this blue
marble we call earth. When every stinking weird-ass scenario came
into play and bit us in the ass,” Julia said, her body shaking with
her anger, her memories, her voice ending on a low note of keening
ineffectual rage.

Victor's expression softened and he grasped the
finger she pointed at him and that flame between the two of them
flared to life. Before she knew what had happened, his massive hand
was pressed against the small of her back and was pulling her near,
his face buried in the crown of her head.

“I have waited an eternity for our true Queen, I
would never lay false blame at your feet, Julia.”

Oh. Dear. Baby Jesus
, Julia prayed, this
could not be happening to her.

Mayhem broke out and she had Jen pulling at her.
A knife flashed in the light and then she heard Victor grunt. Julia
cried out, “No!” on a low command, torn from her heart, from her
soul.

If she was a part of more bloodshed, more
violence, Julia truly didn't know if she could manage it.

The tip of Scott's blade lay buried in the
underside of Victor's jaw, a stream of blood cascading down.

Julia got pissed, turning on Scott. “Put that
away! He is one of ours, Scott! What is your stupid problem?”

“His fucking hands on you,” Scott ground
out.

“Scott,” Marcus said in warning.

Julia didn't think, her anger propelling her
ability, she hit the blade in a sharp thwack. Not with her body,
with her mind. It spun, embedding behind them inside of the ornate
molding that surrounded the doorway, making an unpleasant twang
when it landed.

Scott's eyes widened.

“That's right bucko!” Julia said, stabbing him
with the same finger she'd just nailed the misbehaving Victor with
who was currently being restrained by two other Combatants. “Nobody
gets to stab each other! Especially over me!” Julia huffed, her
chest heaving. “I'm not that important,” Julia began and when four
mouths opened to protest she put up a palm to stop their
protestation.

“I get it. I'm the Queen,” Julia dropped her
fingers from the airquote at the title that still sounded so
awkward it hurt. “But I'm just a woman. I haven't had enough time
to become accustomed to the idea and I will certainly not be fought
over.”

“Yeah, I'm on board with that,” Michael said
from the corner with a laugh. Julia smiled gratefully at him, his
attempt at levity was welcome in the emotionally charged
atmosphere.

Jen rolled her eyes and Scott glared at his
younger sibling's attempt at lightening the tense situation.

“If what you're telling me is true, we have two
dangerous groups coming to stake their claim on me,” Julia put her
palm on her chest, her eyes steady on those gathered. “If our
Combatant is fighting each other then they can't protect me from
anything. You guys will be so busy beating the crap out of each
other that they will get all stealthy and I will be gone.” She
lifted her hand and fluttering her fingers, mimed her spirit
floating away in the breeze.

Julia looked at Marcus next and leveled her
stare on him, never wavering. “You know the Singer history,
right?”

He smiled like
of course.

“Well, let me tell you about theirs. They have
their own Books. Their own laws. And their own rituals.” Her eyes
did the circuit and captured each person's eyes until they found
Marcus' once again. “You must know that just because I'm not a
vampire, I'm not a werewolf... it doesn't matter to them. I have a
value to them and the future of their races. With me,” she paused
significantly, “with my blood, they have a chance to break the
bonds of the moon, the sun.”

Victor nodded, giving Scott a look of disdain.
Scott's returning glare was just as fierce. When he spoke, Julia
was struck by how different the two males were from each other.
Where Scott was concise and to the point, rash and virile, Victor
was cultured and elegant. But there was no masking the underlying
fierceness of the two. They were cut from the same genetic cloth,
born to fight, born to protect.

Born for her.

“She is quite right. If they get their hands on
our Queen, it will be more than losing her to another supernatural
group. It will give them the advantage that goes beyond nature.”
His eyes grew grave and more solemn with each word. “There is a
reason why the Were may only change with the moon's fullness. There
is a purpose for the vampire, that they only roam the night, when
the sun is hidden. If they steal our Queen and through rites of
their own, capture her essence and evolve through using this
unnatural process...” Victor spread his hands wide.

“It could mean the end of humanity as we know
it,” Marcus said.

“The precarious balance of all the species,”
Victor continued, lacing his strong and tapered fingers together,
“irrevocably upset. And make no mistake,” his eyes took on the room
at large, “we may mimic humans but we are not. We are Blood
Singers. We are more.”

Julia smiled. Victor had made her point for her.
“So boys,” she began and the intense eyes of the Combatant drilled
her to the spot, “let's play nice.”

They stared for another moment then gave her a
salute that seemed almost choreographed.

Their right hands were fisted and held in the
center of their chests and it looked like a vow.

When they spoke the words she wasn't surprised
but she was moved beyond words of her own.

For Singers, for hope, the Combatant fight
for peace through blood and sacrifice, may our hearts align with
yours and beat as one.

They closed their mouths, all the males
pounding their feet in unison on the soft wood with a mighty thud,
the beat of it startling Julia.

Waking her.

In a burst of heat and energy, Julia's
Awakening morphed, taking her breath, stealing motion.

Witnessed by all.

Cyn & Jason

Cynthia stalked back inside the house she'd fled
under the imminent threat of violence, so pissed she couldn't see
straight.

Jason's apathy about Julia made her seethe. She
wanted to kill him herself. Didn't he give a shit about her? Why
wasn't he racing to her known location and insisting they like...
have a Do Over? What the hell?

She walked into the bedroom, with the debris
from the skirmish all around and stood at the bay window, the whole
of the compound spread before her. Cynthia wasn't really seeing it,
she was zoning out, her mind in another place and time. She thought
that if she ever saw Jules again she'd be stoked like a chimney on
fire.

Cynthia was stoked alright.

She folded her hands over her chest, huffing.
The deep emerald beauty of the woods was completely lost on
her.

When Adi's voice came from behind her, Cynthia
didn't turn, she just continued to stare ahead.

“Ya know, it could've happened to any of us,”
Adriana began.

“What? Spouse abandonment?”

Cynthia heard the female werewolf sigh and
huffed a frustrated sigh herself.

“He is a Singer, it's amazing he even thinks
now. Singers aren't meant to be turned. It's unnatural.”

Cynthia turned at the tone in her voice, finally
facing her.

“What's this 'Singer' thing,” Cynthia asked,
unconsciously coming forward.

“They're supernaturals like the Were and
vampire.”

“Vampire?” Cynthia said in a whisper.

“Oh... my bad,” Adi said without apology,
“listen Cyn, there may be even more... supernaturals. But those are
the two other groups besides the Were that I know about.”

Cynthia's mind was reeling. Okay, she had seen
the werewolves first hand. She got that. But vampires? That sounded
like horseshit to her.

Of course, werewolves did too. Until you saw
them dismember your boyfriend. That was a real convincer.

She shuddered and Adi smiled, misinterpreting
the gesture.

“Yeah, they're effing creepy.”

True
, Cynthia thought but she'd been
shuddering because... well sensory overload for sure. Blood suckers
and wet dog.

Yuk.

Great mix. “Okay, so what are Singers?” Cynthia
asked, dismissing the vampire revelation for the moment. Gawd.

Adi rolled her eyes. The finer stuff of the
groups was just boring. As long as she was included in battles and
wasn't made to mate Tony the Asshat, that's all she really cared
about. But as Cyn stared at her, she recognized that Cynthia hadn't
been raised with all this stuff as normal.

“Well, all you humans, you're not all the same.
There's a percentage of you that have special blood, genetics. And
the vamps need you guys to like, breed with the general population
and make their food more yummy.”

“It is an issue of sustainability for the
vampire race,” Emmanuel interrupted from the doorway.

“You're fine where ya are,” Cynthia said, eyeing
him up.

“I do not pose a threat,” Manny said in a
vaguely insulted voice.

“Yeah, uh-huh. You guys were non-threatening
back in Kent, and were very non-threatening a few minutes ago when
you destroyed this room. Yes. Very non-threatening.” Cynthia looked
at him, pale blonde brows hiked in disbelief as Adi snorted in the
background.

She looked at the werewolf and decided he was
kinda hot. Well, when he wasn't all wolfy. But he was hotter over
there than closer to her. Yup.

Manny restrained a growl. Very ungrateful girl.
Would she have preferred he allowed Tony, of the lack of preemptive
thought, to have gotten a hold of her? Manny thought not. He glared
at her. It certainly did not help that she was quite pretty, if
awfully pale to be a Singer.

He turned a hard look to Adi, who had not paid
attention to the Werewolf lore of his people. He sighed, raking a
hand through his nearly black hair and turned all of his attention
to Cynthia Adams. Adi was not prepared to fully explain things in
their true light to the Singer.

“What Adi says is essentially true,” he gave her
a look and continued, “however, there are degrees of blood
quantum.” Emmanuel raised a brow, allowing her to pose a question
if she couldn't follow.

“I'm blonde but I do have a brain,” Cynthia
said, crossing her arms across her chest, clearly pissed.

Manny felt embarrassment heat his face. This
young woman made a klutz of him and he was keenly aware of it. It
was a foreign emotion.

“I didn't suggest... I,” Manny began.

Adi did a slow grin. She'd never seen Manny get
all boxers-in-a-wad. “Can it, Manny. She's just sayin' she's got
it,” Adi said.

Emmanuel silenced her with a look. “Okay...
geez. Chill out.”

“Adrianna,” Emmanuel warned.

“Argh! I give up!” she huffed, stalking over to
one of two things not wrecked and flopped herself down on the
bed.

Cynthia kept her smile hidden with an effort.
Adi seemed to get the males all wound up like spinning tops. A
violent group, it was kinda funny really.

“In any event, it is a very small percentage of
the human population that manifests these properties and we are in
a constant search for fullbloods and...”

“Blah, blah, blah! Manny, tell her about the
powers,” Adi said, flopping back down on the bed.

Emmanuel glared at the Tasmanian devil that laid
on the bed and went on, “The Blood Singers are a group who possess
some extraordinary abilities.”

“Me?” Cynthia asked, putting everything together
instantly. Remembering she'd been referred to as Singer a few times
since she'd been taken.

He nodded. “I do not know how much. But enough
for us to scent. Actually, we were on reconnaissance to get you for
answers and intel of Julia. That you were also of Singer descent
was a bonus. As a point of fact, their seems to be a substantial
nest in your region.”

What? Like a flock of gulls or something?
Cynthia didn't like being the bonus. It creeped her but she didn't
let on. Instead she posed a question. “Okay,” she said
thoughtfully, “how do Jules and Jason figure into all this?”

Adi lifted her head enough to meet Manny's eyes
and he looked at Cynthia. “Julia Caldwell is quite rare. In fact,
she is the prophesied Rare One. She who will free the Were from the
call of the moon.”

Cynthia couldn't help it, she guffawed, right
then, right there in front of the two werewolves.