Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) (38 page)

Violeta remained silent
and I thought I had messed up. She took a timid step forward and
stopped, making me hold my breath. Zander came up behind her,
squeezing her shoulders in support, and walked her the rest of the
way.

“
Look,
Brat, I am not your mother...,” Violeta's voice broke and she
fought for composure. “But I would have loved to be.”

We fell into each
others arms had a long, cathartic cry.

Chapter 27

We were called into
the conference room a few days later. I was surprised to see
Sebastian Castellano and Isidora sitting next to Jordan and Zander.
If they were invited to a family meeting, things were bad. Chloe and
I were seated in positions of honor and importance, which also
surprised me, and our Fare and Stewards were present. Once everyone
was seated, Efia cleared her throat and began. Whatever Efia had to
say was going to be big.

“
As
you all know, we have located more descendants and have a plan for
extraction. The problem is, Grigor has also found their location,
however he is just not certain who they are.”

“
They?”
Jordan and Zander asked together.

“
Yes”,
Efia continued, “we found twins. Meet Oliver and Olivia”

On a screen on the
wall, pictures of two teenagers appeared. The twins were of Asian
descent and looked like they were doing their best to dispel the
stereotypes that plague their race. The boy was well over six feet
tall with large biceps. He wore a football jersey and a grin that
looked remarkably similar to Jordan's. His sister stood about 5'7”
and wore a short pink Afro. Thankfully, neither of them had gone the
route of facial piercings or forehead tattoos.

“
The
best course of action is to place our people in their school to gain
their trust and determine if they would survive the Embrace.”

“
And
what if we find out that they won’t survive? That won’t
deter Grigor?” I had often considered what would have happened
to me if I had not been strong enough to Embrace.

“
We
have options, but we will discuss those at a later date. For now, we
need to decide who to send.”

Everyone looked around
the room. Although everyone in the room looked young enough to pass
for high school seniors if they needed to, many of them acted much
older than an adolescent. I looked at Tabitha, knowing that she would
be chosen again because of her ability to blend in. But, then I
remembered, their unification ceremony was coming up and couldn’t
see them being separated. Violeta and Zander were out of the
question. They acted way too old to be high schoolers and there was
no way to guarantee they could go undercover as teachers and gain the
twins’ trust. Eventually, everyone’s gaze landed on me
and Chloe.

“
So,”
I began, “where are we going?”

“
San
Francisco.”

About the Author

Beverly Toney was
raised on the Central Coast of California and earned a B.A. in
History from California State University, Northridge. Always an avid
reader, she set out to write a novel that she would want to read.

Glossary

• Achanum: A
  Vampire without any attributes. Commonly known as a
  

Mute or Mutes. They
are disgruntled about their lack of power and seek it through
questionable means. The Castellano Clan.

• Attributes: Abilities
  or powers.
  

• Calla Lily: The
  St. Clair Clan flower.
  

• Caste System: A
  class structure in a society, often determined by birth, but also
  by reputation.
  

• Cerebralis: A
  Vampire with the ability to perform a type of mind control. They
  are able to make a person see any image they want. Also called
  Cerebs. The Dewhurst Clan.
  

• Coetus
  Essentialis: Meaning the essential society. The central Steward and
  Fare community.
  

• the
  Council: There are twelve Elders, twelve Senators and 100 Vampire
  Representatives.
  

• Daisy: The
  Lower Cast Fare flower.
  

• Electus: The
  Steward and Fare that come of age and are ready to be selected by
  a Vampire family.
  

• Elementarium: A
  Vampire with the ability to control the elements. Also call Els
  or Elems. The St. Clair Clan
  

• Embrace: The
  process of turning a human into a Vampire
  

• Familiae
  Regalis: The Royal Families
  

• Fare: See
  Sanguine Fare
  

• Historia
  Lamia: The History of Vampires
  

• Ludos
  Praesidium: Meaning the protection games, it is meant for Stewards
  to compete and show their value.
  

• Ludos
  Sanguineum
  : Meaning the blood
  games, it is for the Fare to compete and show their value.
  

• Ghost
  Orchid: The Dubois Clan flower.
  

• Motus: A
  Vampire who was a human before the Embraced.
  

• Narcissus: The
  Dewhurst Clan flower.
  

• Natus: A
  Vampire from birth. Although they are born Vampire, the Ritus
  Transitus must be performed no earlier than their 18th birthday
  and not later than their 25th birthday.
  

• Oraculum: The
  Oracles or Orcs. A Vampire with the ability to see into the
  future by going into a narcoleptic state. The Dubois Clan.
  

• Petunias: The
  Middle Caste Fare flower.
  

• Physice
  (Fizz E ChA)
  : A Vampire with an
  extraordinary amount of physical strength. The Miklos Clan.
  

• red Poppy: The
  Castellano Clan flower.
  

• Porphyria: A
  rare disease, that causes the inflicted to be sensitive to the
  sun and have tight, receding skin among other symptoms. Caused
  by genetic markers that effect the production of Heme in red
  blood cells.
  

• Pro Vita
  Eligamus: Meaning the choosing for life, it is the ceremony where
  the Fare are selected by their Vampire patrons.
  

• red Rose: The
  Miklos Clan flower.
  

• Ritus
  Transitus: The ritual performed when a Natus, born Vampire, comes
  into maturity. This ritual insures that the Vampire will
  continue to live and thrive properly.
  

• Sanguine
  Fare: Meaning the carrier of the blood or the getter of the blood,
  Sanguine Fare and the not-so-human nutritional source for
  Vampires. Each Fare feeds one Vampire.
  

• Sanguine
  Township: An island in the Bengal Sea. Located at 11.562796,
  92.237284, the island offers the isolation the Stewards and
  Fare need to live, study and train.
  

• Steward
  Guard: The Steward military; equivalent to a black ops unit.
  

• Stewards: The
  not-so-human care-takers and protectors of Vampires.
  

• Sunflower: The
  Steward Guard flower.
  

• orange Tiger
  Lily: The High Cast Fare flower.