The BlackBurne Legacy (The Bloodlines Legacy Series Book 1) (20 page)

Chapter Twenty

It’s been a week since Luka hid me away in his apartment. Not that we haven’t had fun, mind you. We’ve had lots of fun learning each other’s touch, but I’m going stir crazy. Sure, I go to classes, but someone is always there when I get out to escort me to my next one. I feel like a prisoner. Luka slipped out earlier to attend to something, warning me not to leave the house. Seriously, he should know by now that I do not like being told what to do.

Saidie answers on the first ring. “Hey, Alex! Didn’t think you’d come out of the sex pit for another week at least.”

I feel my face heat, but I laugh it off. Truthfully, if Luka hadn’t gone out, we’d still be in bed. “I’m going out of my mind cooped up here.”

“Come on over. I was getting ready to binge watch
Supernatural
. We both need to get up to speed on the things that go bump in the night.”

“
Supernatural
?” What in the world is that?

“Oh. My. God. You don’t know who Dean Winchester is?”

“Uh, no. Locked up in a nuthouse, remember?”

“Pfft, they don’t have TVs there?”

“Nope, not that we were allowed to watch recreationally, unless it was some kind of non-violent show.” Wait, I do remember Saidie mentioning Dean and
Supernatural
the other day. I just have never even seen it advertised on TV.

“Get yourself down here. Might as well drag on your pajamas. I have mine on for the binging. Thank God for Netflix. We’ll start on episode one so you can get as addicted as the rest of us.”

“‘Kay. I will see you in about ten minutes. Just let me change and send Luka a text. He’ll freak if he comes home and I’m not here.”

“Mmhmmm…Luka. I can just imagine.”

“Keep those thoughts to yourself or I will have to beat you bloody.” I laugh, but I hear the bite in my voice. My wolf doesn’t like anyone talking about Luka any more than I do, and when she decides to come out and play, I end up nervous and on edge the rest of the night.

“Keep your panties on,” Saidie tells me. “I don’t want him. He’s too broody for me. Now get yourself down here.”

I send Luka a short text as soon as I hang up with Saidie that I’ll be at her apartment watching movies. Luka doesn’t own a TV, and even though I’d spent almost nine years without one, I’ve gotten used to having one since I came home. I’m in withdrawal.

Five minutes later, I knock on her door. She opens it dressed in the cutest pink Hello Kitty pajamas. Mine are SpongeBob. I love SpongeBob, no matter how ridiculous I might seem. Saidie pulls me into a hug, and I get the feeling she’s in need of company more than I am.

Once we are settled on the couch with drinks, popcorn, and fuzzy throws, she pulls up
Supernatural
on Netflix. “I can’t believe you haven’t seen this show. It’s like a classic.”

“You okay?” I ask before she can hit play on the first episode.

“Sure, why wouldn’t I be okay?” She gives me this way too chipper smile.

“Because you just found out everything you thought was stories is true? I know how I felt when I learned the truth. Scared Jason and Uncle Sabien to death. I was in shock and kept thinking of mutant bunnies.”

“Mutant bunnies?” Saidie quirks an eyebrow at me. “Why would you think of mutant bunnies?”

“Because I lost my mind a little. I know it’s not easy dealing with all this. I mean, I spent almost nine years in a mental facility because I couldn’t deal with what I saw when I was little.”

“That had to be weird, coming from there to going to college.”

“It still is,” I confess. “I struggle every day being around people I don’t know and trying to act normal. Sometimes I freak out if I even think someone gets too close. All I wanted was to be free of that place, and there have been times over the last couple weeks I’d give anything to be back there. It was safe, if nothing else.”

“How do you cope?” She leans forward, filching a bag of Doritos off the table.

“Jason, mostly. He believes in me and supports me. If he didn’t have faith I could do this, I’d probably still be in Compton or transferred to an adult facility. I’m a lot better than I was, even more so than when they released me. Learning I wasn’t crazy, that the things in my nightmares were real, helped. It gave me confidence in my own sanity, I guess. Compton left scars on me, though, scars that will
never
go away, but I’m getting better.”

“It all seems so surreal. I tried to talk to my mom about Nanna’s stories, but she refused to even discuss it. There was this wild look in her eyes. She said to never bring up that nonsense again.”

“You’re not evil, Saidie.”

“For now.” She repeats Luka’s words from the other day. “I Googled it. Necromancers, according to our faithful search engine, are evil monsters who raise zombies and use them to exact revenge, get what they want. I don’t want to be like that, Alex.”

“Then you won’t be.”

“But what if Luka’s right and I can’t help it? I’m scared, Alex.”

“Hey, now, you’ve got the monster squad around to keep you from going to the dark side. You can’t let fear of
what-if
take over your life. Evil is a choice, Saidie. No matter what, you have to choose to be that way. You’re not the kind of person to choose it. You love your family, your friends. You’re a good person, and that’s what’s going to keep you from going all Darth Vader on us.”

“You know
Star Wars
but you don’t know
Supernatural
?” Disbelief mixes with her laugh. “Seriously?”

“My dad is a
Star Wars
junkie. Jason and I could quote that movie by the time we were five.”

“Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being here, for being my friend.”

“Always, Saidie.”

After that, we both turn our attention to the
Supernatural
binge-a-thon. Five hours later, I’m officially hooked. Dean Winchester…he gives Luka a good run for his money. The show is addictive, and I realize my weekend is shot because I’ll be glued to the TV, Luka be damned. He needs to discover the awesomeness of the Winchester boys.

“Told you,” Saidie crowed, pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. “You love it.”

“I do. Dean Winchester. Enough said.”

“Yup.” Saidie starts to say something else when my phone rings. “Luka spazzing out?”

“No, it’s Conner. Hello?”

“Where are you?” he barks, and unease creeps along my spine.

“I’m at Saidie’s.”

“Why would you leave Luka’s?” Frustration tinges his voice. “Bree doesn’t have the wards up that Luka does. She said to put that kind of protection up would alert the other families something was up. Alex, you need to get back to Luka’s right now.”

“Why? What did you see?”

A knock on the door reverberates through the living room. Saidie jumps up to answer it and before I can tell her no, she’s opening the door. The man standing there is tall, his reddish hair pulled back in a ponytail. He doesn’t say a word, just blows some kind of dust in her face. She sneezes and then falls to the floor. Barely a second passes between the sneeze and the face plant.

“Alex?” Conner yells in my ear. “What’s going on? I see…dammit!” I can hear his tires squeal.

“Hello, little one.” Ice blue eyes twinkle at me. I take a step backward. “I’m Jeremiah, Bree’s brother. She sent me to get you.” There is a hint of a southern drawl in his voice.

I look at Saidie on the floor, and he clucks. “She’ll be fine. I just put her to sleep.”

The buzzing that heralded my magic begins to hum. The wolf stirs to life inside me. We sniff the air. This is not a scent we know. It smells of danger. I want to panic, but her presence keeps me calm. We take a step to the side and are not surprised when he steps with us. A tracker. The thought hits us with a violent shock.

Blue, what is it? What’s wrong?

Someone is here with us,
we answer him
. He says he is Bree’s brother.

“Bree would have called.” I try to stay calm, to keep my wolf calm so I can think. If she takes control of us, I don’t know what will happen.

“Her phone died,” he replies easily. I see two more men behind him. “Please don’t make this harder than it has to be, little one.”

Two more steps backward and we hit the kitchen counter. Our eyes search for a way out.

I’m coming, Blue. Luka, Jason, and I are coming!

“What is this?” Jeremiah strides in and grabs my face, his fingers digging into my cheeks. “How?”

“How, what?” We demand, jerking out of his grasp.

“Your eyes have amber circles around them. You’re a shifter. That’s impossible.”

We snarl at him. A real, live, doggy snarl. “Hard way,” he mutters. Before we can guess what’s coming, his fist is flying at our face and we fall. We shake our head to clear it, the wolf hitting against whatever cage holds her inside. Our body starts to shake, to ache in places it shouldn’t.

“She’s gonna shift!”

Blue! I’m coming. I swear, just don’t shift. Please don’t shift.

“No, she’s not.” Something hard hits us in the back of the head and we see black spots. Another blow has the darkness crouching in on our vision, but we still struggle to stand, my wolf demanding release. She aches to sink her teeth into him, but something blocks her. She can’t get out, and she howls in frustration. One final hit to the back of the head and we can’t fight the darkness anymore. I fade into the black hole of unconsciousness.

***

The sound of crunching gravel wakes me. I try to open my eyes, but the minute I do, pain lances through my head. A groan escapes me when I’m hauled up, and my forehead bounces off metal when I’m pulled out of the car. I’d seen that much before I’d closed my eyes again. Memories flash back, of Saidie unconscious on the floor, my wolf trying to shift and then being beaten into unconsciousness.

“Can you walk?” The gentle voice belies the ironclad hold Jeremiah has on me.

“Jer?”

Bree? Was he telling the truth when he said Bree sent him to get me?

“Hey, I found your friend.”

“Why does she look like she’s taken a beating?” I can feel her anger all the way over here.

“You didn’t tell me she was one of them. She almost shifted, and I had to do
something
to keep her from it. Knocking her out was the best solution.”

“Alex, are you okay?” Bree is front of me and I blink at her, pain exploding in my head.

“No,” I whisper.

“You hit her too hard, Jeremiah!” Bree fusses.

“Look, I’m sorry. Lorelye said to go fetch her, and I did.”

“I know, I got her text to meet here. Come on inside. It’ll be safer than standing out here in the open.”

I don’t understand what’s going on. My head is fuzzy, like the time I had my tonsils out and I woke up all muddled from the anesthesia. Why do I feel so drugged?

They lead me into the foyer of an abandoned farmhouse and then to the right. It looks to be a large room, maybe a sitting area. There are other people there as well, watching me. Their faces are full of some emotion I can’t define. They almost look…hungry. It scares me.

“Bree?”

“Shh, Alex. It’s okay.”

“You have done well, little brother.”

The woman who spoke looks young. She can’t be more than twenty-five or so. Long red hair frames a lovely face with beautiful ivory skin and blue eyes. She looks like an angel. Her smile, meant to be welcoming, puts me on edge. There is something almost feral about her. Her eyes, I decide. Predatory eyes. They remind me of the look in the werecats’ eyes right before they attacked me.

“Alex, this our sister, Lorelye.” Bree pulls a chair over for me and I sink down in it, trying to sort through all this. My head falls. It’s hard for me to even find the energy to sit up and look around. Both Jeremiah and Lorelye are white, but Bree is bi-racial. They must only share one parent. “She’s here to help.”

No, she’s not, I decide. She doesn’t want to help me at all.

Micah?

There is no answer. I can’t find him, can’t feel him. My stomach knots up and bile rises in my throat as fear races through my veins. The wolf in me tries to surface, but something keeps her at bay, sleeping. This is bad. Very, very bad.

“Ah, yes, Jeremiah informed me of your condition.” Lorelye waltzes over to me. She lifts my head and stares me in the eyes. “No.” The woman smiles at me. “There will be no help coming for you. I made sure of that. You have been cut off from your mate, your
compagnon d’âme
. Jeremiah slipped a potion into you while you were out.”

“What’s going on?” Bree sounds confused. “Jeremiah?”