The Blood Bundle, Books 1-2: Blood Singers and Blood Song (New Adult Paranormal Vampire/Shifter Romance) (55 page)

He shrugged. “You ever have anyone hurt by
violence?”

Karl nodded. “Yeah. Can't escape it with what I
do.”

“Fair enough. Now tell me, no bullshit. Where is
Cynthia Adams?”

Truman opened his mouth to lie. But in the end,
he told the truth. He was so tired of lying. He just couldn't bring
himself to tell another.

“Taken.”

“By who?”

Not who,
what,
Truman corrected.

He kept that part to himself.

Julia

Julia opened her eyelids and two sets of eyes
met hers. The plaster ceiling lay beyond their stare and she shut
her eyes again.

She was on her back, her body tingling like
she'd laid in a vat of liquid fire.

“What happened?” she croaked.

“Give her some room, gents,” Jen said, shoving
at Scott and Victor.

Suddenly Jen was there, her eyes were the palest
shade of grey as they looked deeply into Julia's. “A little much
for you?” she asked with just a trace of sympathy.

Julia allowed Jen to pull her into a seated
position. And here Julia thought she'd licked the old faint at the
drop of a hat thing.

Apparently not,
she grumped
internally.

“Whoa Nelly,” Jen said when Julia thought to get
up.

“I'm not a horse Jen,” Julia said, not
amused.

“I didn't say you were,” she replied, a look of
pure confusion on her face.

Julia looked at Marcus.

Then all the voices of the group ground into her
brain and she covered her ears. “Argh!” Julia grunted. “I can't
stand this, it's so loud.”

Scott reached out and grabbed her arm and
blessed silence filled her head where a discordant symphony had
been.

“Deflector, remember?” he soothed and she
nodded.

“That was no fainting spell,” Marcus said,
palming his chin. Then he looked at the door where Jacqueline had
but moments before passed through.

He laughed, more to himself than anything. “She
knew,” he said, tapping his head.

“Knew what?” Victor asked, his gaze narrowing
like a laser on Marcus.

“She knew that Julia would Awaken. Remember,” he
popped his brows, “she is Precognitive.”

Victor gave a small lift of the shoulder. “It is
the least of her skills.”

“But enough of one to predict that Julia was
gaining more in her Awakening,” Marcus said with certainty.

All eyes fell on Julia. Scott stuck out his palm
and she took it. That was better. Well, kind of. They were all
eight feet tall but there was something less good about being on
her ass than on her feet.

Yeah.

“Do you feel different?” Brendan asked.

“Yes,” Julia said in resignation. “I don't want
to. I want to be me.” She realized how that sounded, her whining.
She couldn't take it back but clarified, “I mean, I know that this
is my calling or whatever but I don't think I'm right for the job.
I'm not prepared,” she ended on a lame note.

“First things first, Julia,” Marcus said. “We'll
have the Negator,” and at his title Paul stepped into Julia's view.
Huh, he'd been there the entire time but she'd been so absorbed by
the Combatant she'd never even thought about him since he made the
torched vamps smell like a bouquet of flowers. Julia gave a small
laugh and everyone gave her an odd look.

Well, shit was strange. Sorry if she was trying
to put it in a box that nothing would fit in.

Paul didn't give her an odd look, maybe being a
Negator wasn't so hot. Nothing was as fun as her new job
description but there were probably jobs in the Singer hierarchy
that were the equivalent of flippin' burgers or collecting
trash.

“I'm Paul,” he said.

Julia smiled, it was freaky as hell. Let's just
introduce ourselves with the burning vamps outside, the crazy
Region Two psycho wandering around God knew where and oh yeah, for
specialness squared, let's help the queen!

Julia covered her mouth with her hand, she was
so near a hysterical meltdown she bit the inside of her lip to keep
from laughing. She knew once it began it might not stop, ever.

“I can give you a zap,” he said with finger
quotes around the last word, “that'll notch down the ESP fun for a
time.” He looked at Julia and when she stared blankly at him he
expounded, “You won't hear all those voices.”

“No psychic friends network,” Michael enthused
from his corner.

Right.
Out loud Julia said, “That'd be
great. It's a little...”

“Much?” Jen said and Julia nodded. Then suddenly
she thought of something. “Wait... what else can I do?”

Marcus gave her steady eyes. “Eventually, if
legend is accurate: everything.”

Julia stood there like a statue while Paul came
forward and with a palm up he silently asked for permission to
touch her, his eyes first going to the Combatant's then moving on
to her own.

“Don't look at them,” Julia said, thinking about
gaining powers like changing underwear each day. Marvelous.

“I have to. If I touched you now that they're
assembled,” he shrugged his shoulders helplessly, “I think they'd
hand me my ass.”

Marcus sighed. “I believe the dialect training
has been embraced a little too strenuously.”

Michael snorted in the background and Julia
smiled as the voices receded to a dull roar. Now it was just white
noise in her head, static.

She blinked and when she opened them Paul's
stark freckles and carrot hair stood out against his pale skin,
stranded there. “Better?” he asked, taking both hands from her
shoulders.

“Much,” she let out a shaky breath. “But it's a
band-aid. I need to get training. I can't live with all your
thoughts in my head.”

“Not all,” Victor said quietly.

Julia arched a ginger brow at him in question
and he replied, “The Combatant is always silent to the Queen.”

Julia probed his mind, like the slim tendrils of
an octopus she sought, gently touching and retreating until she had
gone over every place she could feel, every texture that throbbed
with his thoughts.

“No,” she said, “I can't.” She looked at Scott
and he smirked.

The same.

“Why?” Julia said, then threw out her palms like
a ward, “Not that I'm complaining!”

“One will be your mate, Julia. You cannot have a
truly open relationship if there is absolute telepathy,” Marcus
said.

“But...” Julia thought about it, “sometimes I
would hear a thought from Jen?”

Marcus inclined his head. “Yes, a random thought
here and there is not unheard of. But this...” he put his own palm
out and indicated herself, “this is a full telepathy. During sleep,
while awake. Not easily shut down. However, you will learn control.
It will take some training and hard work but you can accomplish
it.”

“Not with the crew here?” Julia clarified and
gave a look at all those guys standing there looking expectant.

For what she didn't know. Though Julia thought
that their purpose was simple: guard and defend. She thought they'd
be handy at that.

He smiled and shook his head. “No,” he said
simply. “Although, the Book does tell of you being able to
communicate with them in some way, especially while under
duress.”

Julia felt fatigue like a hand on her, weighing
her down. Even by her own crazy last two years it had been a Big
Day.

She looked around her and said what was in her
heart, “I think I need to hit the hay, guys. It's been...
overwhelming.”

That was the best she could do. Julia couldn't
enumerate all the things that had happened that were doing a world
class universe tilt on her but she'd had it.

Paul said, “I'll be right next door, Julia.”

“Proximity?” she guessed.

“Yeah. I'm gonna pretty much be your shadow
until you get a handle on this.”

“Okay,” she said, trying for not sounding sullen
about more freedoms being stripped and missing it by a mile.

“Hey,” he said and she met his green eyes, “It's
not forever.”

“I know,” Julia said, taking a look around her
and a last look at Scott as she left the room.

It felt a little like an escape.

*

William

William watched the dying embers of the
vampires, his mortal enemies burning on the Singer's land and
smiled. Technically he ruled them now and thought it most good that
they had foolishly tried for Julia amongst her own kind while his
torture had alerted them and who knew what else.

He knew that his pain had transferred to Julia,
which, in turn had given them a course to follow. Merlin's blood
had fueled William for part of his journey until he ran across some
human scum (there were heavy pickings of the criminal element
about) and fed deeply. Satiated, William was prepared.

Even now, as night lay as a black cloak he could
feel Julia. Her change. It was as his kiss had predicted. Her
Awakening was upon her and she was not yet mated. When the final
part of her Awakened, he would need to be there, in her
presence.

Not that he could complain, however, what were
they waiting on?
Foolish of the Singers,
William thought. Of
course, how old were they? Did they have any true elders from whom
to procure wisdom? Perhaps not.

William used his form that few Singers had and
shifted to his raven. The merciless grinding of tendon and bone
realigning without smoothness, breaking and mending together to
mold to that of a large bird, only his eyes remained. If he had
been fully Singer, it would not have been as painful. However, he
was not. Pain was his penance.

He flew, hoping the Singers did not possess a
shifter that was his natural predator. If they did, William would
be unable to see his objective through.

*

Julia

Julia was ecstatic about the momentary solitude
as she lay on her bed, lost in thoughts of Before. Before she was a
Queen. When she was a regular chic from Alaska with a stubborn
streak of hippie.

Tears that she could shed in private rolled down
her face. She wanted Cyn so bad she could taste it. What Julia
wouldn't do to see her friend again. How was she? Probably still
hunting for shoes and handbags, scoping the next hot dude at some
college.

Or maybe not? Dark thoughts pressed their way
inside of Julia and she couldn't help but wonder that maybe, Cyn
hadn't moved past the whole thing. After all, Kevin was killed in
front of her, Julia and Jason were taken from her as well. Julia
lost all three, but so did Cyn. Of course, Julia knew where Jason
was. Not really... more like, she knew what he was.

And that he was a threat to her now.

Julia curled up in the fetal position on her
side while Singers roamed, lived, talked and thought all around
her.

Julia lay in her bed, as lonely as she'd ever
been, surrounded by people, knowing none of them, their voices like
the low drone of a hive of bees inside her head.

Her friends had been her home.

Jason had held her heart like a great fireplace
in the center of that home.

Now Julia was someone but she didn't know
who.

Julia fell asleep as a dark shape hovered then
landed on the deep windowsill of her bedroom window. Its crimson
eyes found her in the gloom easily. It sent thoughts of comfort to
her as it sensed the duress that her subconscious could not
hide.

For the blood-binding was very strong this
close.

Julia stirred in her sleep, heaving a heavy sigh
that sounded very much like relief.

*

Northwestern Were

“Use the girl,” Lawrence said, spinning the
world globe with a strong and tapered finger, his back to Tony.
“She will be excellent leverage. Not only will she be a fine
instrument of manipulation with the Rare One, she may even provide
some incentive to keep our Feral in line.”

“You don't think of him as Jason Caldwell?” Tony
asked, loving the possibility of the tide turning against his
rival.

Lawrence turned. “Ah yes, I do. However,” his
eyes were as serious as Tony had ever seen them. “He is a rare red
and Singer to boot. No. The reds are renowned for their
wildness...”

Tony laughed.

Lawrence put up a hand. “I understand, all Were
are intrinsically wild. It is our very essence. Yet,” he stared off
into space, “this is different. They have a tenacious streak
governed by emotion. Whether or not that emotion be valid, it is
real to them and thereby something they feel justified acting
on.”

“So,” Tony put up his large hand and began to
tick off all the points that Lawrence had made to his Beta on his
fingers, “one, take Cynthia Adams. Two, make sure she's used to
keep both Jason and Julia in line and what about Adi? She's a pain
in my ass.”

Lawrence stopped the endless spinning of the
globe and gave him knowing eyes. He'd seen deeply and knew who Tony
was, what he was. Tony fought not to squirm under the knowledge in
that gaze.

“Yet you want her?”

Tony's heart sped, his adrenaline kicking up a
notch and answered, “Hell yeah.” Tony knew how few fullblood Were
females there were. Adrianna was Alpha besides. Yeah, she sure as
shit would be his.

Lawrence grimaced a little at the wording but
pressed past it.

“It is a pact of sorts that you want?”

Tony gave a terse nod. “I get the Rare One,
regardless the cost and I get Adrianna. No negotiations.” Tony gave
his Alpha a stare that made the more powerful wolf shift in a slide
of liquid flesh.

Where a human face had been and eyes that were a
dull brown, bloomed a snout that surged forward into a muzzle with
teeth and eyes that were so pale a gold they shone like the
sun.

Those eyes were inches from his face as the
teeth of that great mouth held Tony's massive neck between jaws of
steel and fur.