The Dark Gifts Birthright (39 page)

“What do you mean, when you decided to change
her? Who is your maker, and why isn’t he with you?” Liz asked.

“Some guy. I don’t know his name. It kind of
happened the same way for all of us, well all of us that live here.
Where are they, anyhow? Did they tell you where they were going?
It’s not like them to just leave like that and not tell us. We’re
sort of a family now.”

Liz thought for a second, and then answered,
“There was no one here this evening. The place was empty, but I
have only been here for an hour or so.”

“I should probably look for a note then.
Maybe we’re supposed to meet them somewhere else.” Jeremy said
nervously looking around.

“So, Jeremy, can you tell me some more about
how you became a vampire? If you don’t mind I mean. I’m very
curious about it. We have several laws you see, and turning young
people is really not something that is usually done.” Liz
remarked.

The teen shifted his weight, and for a
moment, lost his calm demeanor. He bit his lip and glanced away as
if afraid to say anything. Once again meeting Liz’s gaze, he began
to speak. “Like I said, it was kind of the same for all of us. We
woke up in an old farm house. There were a whole bunch of us. Some
guy came in and told us that we were vampires. He said our throats
hurt because we needed to feed. A few minutes later, he came back
and tossed two live humans on the floor. They were crying and
begging us to help them.”

Liz’s stomach twisted inside her. Those poor
kids. If she ever found out who’d done this to them, she would kill
the bastard herself. Keeping her outward appearance serene, she
said, “Wow. Sounds scary. I bet you were really freaked out.”

Expelling a deep breath, he continued. “We
were all kind of scared because we thought the old dude was crazy,
but when he brought the people in, we couldn’t stop. It’s kind of
like you have too, you know?” Jeremy hung his head in shame as he
spoke the last few words, waiting for Liz to reply.

Liz reached down and smoothed his hair, and
answered, “Yes, I know.”

Eyes gleaming with gratitude for the simple
kindness, he smiled. “Just a second, okay?” He waited for Liz’s
nod, and placed his hand on the Sharice’s leg.

The girl gazed into his eyes as he used his
mind to speak to her. Her eyes lit up, and she began to smile.
Sharice hugged him excitedly, and focused her eyes on Liz.
“I
thought you were her. When we first sensed you here, and knew the
others were gone, I thought you were her. It seems like we’ve been
waiting forever for you to find us! I’m so glad you’re finally
here! Are you going to take us with you now? You’re not going to
leave us here alone are you?”

“
Whatever are you talking about, dear? I’m
who? And how have you been waiting on me? I didn’t know myself that
I would be coming here before a few hours ago.”
Liz was shocked
at the girl‘s reaction.

“
I had a dream, we all did, and you were
in it. You, the warrior, and the old man who spoke.”

Liz was confused. None of it made sense. The
girl looked at Jeremy and said,
“Tell her Jay, tell her about
the dream!”

Jeremy began explaining to Liz that most of
the new ones had dreamed, within the first few nights of their
turning, about Liz, a younger man, and a really old man. The really
old man had visited them in their dreams and showed them Liz and
the other man. He told them that she was to be the mother of the
vampire nation and would help them. He told them that when the time
was right, and she had control, she would send others to find them
and take them to a new home where they would be safe and happy. The
old man also said that if they were patient and did the right
thing, they would be able to live with others of their kind and
even have families.

“You have a husband, right? You have a
husband with black hair, and he’s real strong, and a good fighter,
right?” Jeremy asked.

“I have a mate. His name is Michael.” Liz
answered still confused.

“Well Michael is going to be our father.
That’s what the old man said. He’s going to train us how to fight
and to be noble. And after the war comes, you’re going to be Queen.
What I don’t understand is why they don’t just make you Queen now.”
Jeremy laughed.

Liz brought her hand to her temple and began
massaging the area. The old man had to be Brogan, but what the heck
was he up too sending dreams of her to changelings? Michael,
undoubtedly, will find it hysterical that he is to be a father to
countless vampire children.
This is crazy!

Michael must have felt her mind go into a
spin.
“Where are you? What the hell is going on?”

“
I’m at the cabin. Nothing is wrong, but
you need to get my great-grandmother or someone to bring you here.
You need to hear this.”

“
Hear what? What are you doing there? Liz,
I am tired of you running off alone. Didn't you learn anything
today about the danger out there?”

“
Michael, just get here, and for God’s
sake don’t bring your sword.”

Liz watched the children sitting by the fire.
They seemed so calm and peaceful now. Their faces and smiles
illuminated with anticipation.
“Michael is coming. Sometimes he
can seem a little…well a little overwhelming. But don’t be afraid,
he can be a teddy bear too. He’ll be arriving shortly with a
witch.”

The children gasped.

“
It’s okay. It will probably be my
great-grandmother. Don’t believe everything you’ve heard about
witches,”
she said with a wink.

While they waited, she questioned them more
about where they had been, what they had done and seen, and soon
the others arrived.

Michael came through the portal first,
followed by Angie, Gregorio, Athena, and Minerva. When they noticed
the young teenagers by the fire, their facial expressions held a
myriad of emotions. Anger. Disappointment. Even disgust.

Liz looked at Michael, rolled her eyes, and
shook her head, saying, “Do you have to make a big production of
everything?”

He shrugged and pointed at the children.
“What is that?”

Liz’s face turned red. “Michael….”

Gregorio cleared his throat before she had
the chance to continue. Liz regained her composure motioned to the
living area. “Would you please find a seat. My new friend here has
some information for you.” Liz motioned to the empty seats around
the table.

The fact that they all listened to her and
quietly did what she asked was not lost on Jeremy or Sharice. They
traded knowing glances and smiles.

“Jeremy, if you would be so kind as to repeat
your story to my friends?” Liz said.

She was right about Michael finding it
hysterical that he was to be the “father” of new vampire nation; he
actually laughed out-loud when the boy got to that part. Liz gave
him a “stop it” look, and he quieted down, but was still grinning
over the unintended joke.

When Jeremy got to the part about Liz being
Queen, Athena and Gregorio shared a conspiratory look, but did not
say a word. Once he had finished his tall tale, Gregorio started
asking him questions. “Tell me about those that were staying here
in this house.”

“Well, all of them were new, but not as new
as me and Shar. Some of them were okay. Carl, he was the best of
them, he wouldn’t ever let the other ones pick on us or boss us
around too much. They were all older though.” Jeremy replied.

“Do you know what they were doing here?”
Gregorio asked.

“No sir. Only that the Council told them to
stay here and guard the place. The Council is pretty bossy, if you
know what I mean. Everyone has to go here, and do this and that,
and if you don’t…you end up dead.”

“Who was the leader here?” Liz asked.

“Her name is Claire, she’s mean. I mean
really mean! I think that’s why they made her leader because she
really liked to kill people, you know?”

“I thought you said they were like family to
you, Jeremy?” Liz questioned.

“Well, I guess they were. I mean I never had
a family, most of us didn’t. See, we used to be street kids. I left
my mom and pops a couple years ago. All they wanted to do was get
drunk and do drugs and beat on each other. When they got tired of
knocking each other around, they’d start on me. That ain’t much of
a family, you know? Anyhow most of us (the ones our age), we all
come from the streets, some of us from foster homes. Except for
Stevie, he’s from an orphanage. He’d finally escaped from that hell
hole, and two days later got turned into a vampire. How’s that for
rotten luck?”

“Just exactly how many of you are there?”
Michael asked.

“I don’t know for sure, maybe fifty that I’ve
met. But I’ve heard them talking about it at headquarters, and it
sounds like there’s whole armies of us. Tons. Somebody messed up
and made too many our age and now they don’t know what to do with
us. They can’t get rid of us because they need us. We are supposed
to fight you guys, I guess, in this big war that don’t seem to ever
happen, so they have to keep us. We don’t want to fight you guys.
For the record, we don’t want to fight anyone.”

Liz looked at the others. “There’s only one
thing we can do. We have to take them back to the castle. And we
need to figure out what to do about this new issue.”

“Do? It’s not our problem.” Michael
returned.

Athena placed her hand on Gregorio’s
shoulder. “You do agree that we cannot allow this? This is our
problem whether we created it or not.”

Deep in thought, Gregorio nodded. “It must be
addressed and a course of action must be taken. After centuries of
knowing the man, I am still appalled by the depths of his
malevolence.”

Both teens stood without being told and
waited to be taken with Liz. They didn’t even bother asking
questions. Minerva opened a portal and the group returned to the
Citadel.

***

During the Council meeting, Liz noticed
changes in the attitudes of her fellow council members. Everyone
that spoke, seemed to be speaking to her. When they had ideas or
questions, they addressed Liz and waited for her response. She
began to wonder just when these changes had occurred. Was this a
new thing, or had it been going on for a while?

The leaders were in agreement that something
must be done to help these children who had been so thoughtlessly
changed. Even Rene, who had previously argued so strongly for
putting all the outside clans to death, had changed his tune. What
had been done to these countless young people was repulsive and
unconscionable. They were children! It was possible that not all
were as Jeremy and Sharice. Some of them might truly be monsters,
but those that were not had to be saved. It was the appropriate
thing to do. After discussing the issue, they invited Jeremy and
Shar in to speak with them.

The teens entered the room wide-eyed with
amazement, but did not seem fearful. They walked straight to Liz’s
chair and sat on the floor beside her. Both of them answered every
question. The teens had more information to give them than they had
originally thought possible.

Monroe was having serious trouble with his
followers, his Council was continuously at odds with each other.
There had already been several attempts to throw Monroe out of his
position of authority. The newly-made had been fighting not only
with the old ones, but among themselves as well. For several
months, the renegade army had been disbanded, having been told they
would be recalled at some point. Any refusing to return to
headquarters, would face death. The hordes of vampires had broken
up into their own clans, some returning to previous clan
affiliations, while others began new nests. They had no idea how
many new vampires existed, but when they looked into Jeremy’s mind
to view his memories, it appeared to be thousands. Michael
estimated that at least two if not three thousand new ones had been
created, many of them children. It was diabolical!

The children knew nothing of Tiberius so
there was no way to be sure if he had managed to infiltrate
Monroe’s inner circle. Not a soul on the Council had heard word
from him since the day he left. When the questioning was at an end,
Athena brought up the subject of what was to be done with the two
teens. They were obviously getting tired, and it was well past
daybreak.

Liz smiled at the two sitting so close to her
and questioned,
“What would you like to do? Would you like to
stay here with us and become part of our family?”

Relief washed over Jeremy’s face as he
replied, “That is what we are supposed to do. If you want us
here.”

“I want you here. We all want you here, and
not only that, we want you to help us find those that are like you
and bring them here too.” Liz told him. Liz thought for a moment
and then said, “My good friend, Angie, will help you learn our
rules. There is one very important rule that must not break. If you
do, then I’m afraid we will have no choice but to sentence you to
death. Do you understand?” she asked.

Both of them nodded.

“A human child lives with us. Her name is
Jenna. She is like a daughter to most of us here. She is not to be
touched or harmed in any way. She is here for safekeeping and
because we love her. Should you try to harm her, it is highly
unlikely that you would live through your attack. Jenna’s protector
is a formidable fighter, and will have your throats out before you
can blink.”

Wide eyed, the teens nodded again.

Liz motioned to Gen, and the woman took them
to find rooms. Rooms were going to be hard to come by. At some
point they would need to think about turning some of the larger
rooms into dormitories of sorts. They would need at least two to
start with, one for boys and the other for girls. She mentioned
this to the others while still thinking about what else needed to
be done. While she was in verbal thought, Gregorio put Rene and his
soldiers on that detail and made arrangements for Callista to have
the necessary funding to purchase more bedding.