Текст книги "Bloodbreeders: Lies Beneath London"
Автор книги: Robin Renee Ray
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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Tammy rolled to her back, curling up, grabbing her lower right leg immediately. Garvin handed Sydney the branch, but Sydney just shook his head. Garvin dropped it and knelt down beside Tammy. “I am so very sorry. We had no way of knowing that it was you and not a flesher.”
“Why the hell would you think I was a flesher? Do I look like a flesher to you, Garvin?” Tammy was trying not to yell but the pain was making it hard.
Garvin looked up at me. “They just killed three nasty fleshers, Tammy. We really didn’t know who or what was running this way.” I tried to explain but I wasn’t sure she was hearing much as she sat up, grimacing in pain. “Why were you running like that anyway? Is everyone alright?”
“Yes,” she replied through clenched teeth. “Jacob found the monument of Martin’s father just beside the mausoleum. They were looking for a way in, while I was to come find you.”
“And you ran for all to hear?” Fala asked.
“Since when did you start sounding like one of them?” Tammy turned and looked up at him, pointing at me. “Well, don’t just stand there with your mouth open. If you don’t have an answer, the least you can do is help a lady to her feet.”
“Of course,” Fala replied, bending his now nude human form down and lifting her by way of putting his arms under hers. “I was merely stating that you ran without care for things around here to hear you. Do you know that there is nothing inside these walls? Have the other masters told you that we are safe here?”
“Okay, enough,” Tammy limped over and leaned up against the bark of a weeping willow that had no leaves left due to the coming winter. “They told me to be as quiet as I could be, but I heard something and all I could think about was those Specter things.”
“That’s what they’re called. I don’t blame you, after seeing what came out of Fala’s face. I do not want one of those things touching me.” I shivered at the mere thought.
“Not to mention, how they suck your soul out,” Derek added.
“If you think you’re ready, we need to move.” I was anxious and nervous to find out what happened to Martin and scared to death about our Tanda. Though, I did know that she was in good hands. If anyone could get her to a safe place, it was Martin.
We moved to the center of the cemetery with haste. Tammy was in between Fala and Monroe while the rest of us kept an eye on our surroundings. We found the others by sound before sight. Cates was cursing loudly, then the sound of two stones crashing together followed. We moved faster and came around the mausoleum to find Cates throwing a small headstone at what Tammy had called Martin’s father’s monument. It was a smaller version of the mausoleum only it had no door.
“There is no latch, no opening that we can find and the big man cannot move the statue,” Jacob said as the smaller headstone broke in half on the side of the base of the kneeling angel that was perched on a large, square pedestal.
“If I had both of my hands, this thing would not defeat me,” Cates claimed as he used his knee to lift another small stone.
“Let me help you and perhaps together we will be able to move it,” Fala suggested.
“Yeah Cates, you put your shoulder into the side of that angel while Fala pushes on the base and rest of us will line up beside him and give it our all,” Derek added, setting his weapons on the ground.
“Jacob and I could push on the front right side as you all push on the side. Surely it cannot withstand the strength of us all,” Monroe suggested.
“Sounds good to me. Renee and I will protect you guys,” Tammy winked at me and sat down on the closest grave. “If someone hadn’t tried to break my leg, I would have been more than happy to help move that huge thing.”
“Excuse me?” Cates stepped back and looked around the angel’s massive wings.
“I’ll explain everything later, my sweet man. It was an accident.” I could see the sparkle in Tammy’s eyes as she spoke and it made me want to find our people even more.
“Let’s move this thing and go find the rest of our family.” Garvin took the words right out of my mouth; I was thinking the very same thing.
Everyone pushed and shoved until the top of the monument started to give way. Once the connection between the statue and the large, square monument where Martin’s father’s remains were supposed to be, broke free of its hold it was much easier to slide. Sure enough, the statue hid a secret stairway and not a coffin that would have to have been filled with ash. What other reason would a breeder have to place their dead in a cemetery? Martin, or whoever had placed this here, had been very wise to do so. I have seen many things that I wished to forget in my short life as a breeder, but this is one that I would remember for future needs. In the event that I survived to see the elders go down, and then can enjoy a safe home where we could live in peace.
“There has been a cave in,” Monroe said as he lay on his stomach and looked into the darkness.
I grabbed the back of his black shirt and got down on my stomach and tried to see what he had seen. “It’s too dark. How do you know?”
“There is a great deal of dust in the air. If the earth had not come down somewhere close by, the air would only be stale.”
“I’m going in,” Derek said, about to move past us.
“Derek, we must have our heads about us if we are to find those who are down there. We need torches to see by and you have left your most important tools on the ground.” Jacob nodded once then walked away, searching for items to create torches out of. Derek slapped his side where his long blade rested and remembered that he had removed it to help move the statue. I could see his pale face turning flush as he leaped off the monument to retrieve them.
Chapter Thirty One
The hole was almost big enough for Martin to wiggle his way through. He had Tanda stand back just in case his movement caused the soft earth above their heads to come down. Martin then came out through the opening head first, moving his shoulders at an angle that made it easy to get them through, but was having a harder time pulling the rest of himself free. His body still wasn’t one hundred percent healed, by any means.
“Give me your hands and I will pull you,” Tanda said as she started stepping closer.
“No! Back up and stay where you are. It is too dangerous where there is no stone to hold the earth. If we are both buried, who will go for help?” he did his best to smile to reassure her that all would be okay but it was a hard thing to pull off.
A few handfuls of dirt and pebbles rained down on the back of Martin’s head. “Oh, please hurry, Martin.” He grabbed both hands full of debris and pulled with everything he had and when his feet made their exit the ceiling gave way. The tunnel turned to darkness when the earth collapsed; covering Martin and the torch that Tanda had stuck into the ground. The cloud of dirt slammed into Tanda and all she could do was scream, “Martin!” ***
“Everyone be quiet!” Monroe said as he leaned back closer to the opening. “I think I heard a scream.”
Derek was over Monroe’s back and into the abyss before Jacob could strike his flint to light the makeshift torch. We could all hear him yelling out Tanda’s name over and over, as his voice became harder to hear. Fala took off after Derek, then Jacob and Monroe followed with the light. The rest of us were down in the tunnel and about to head toward the glow when we heard Tanda’s cries. It was then that I left Tammy in the care of Garvin and Sydney and took off running. I knew by the sounds she was making that something was horribly wrong.
By the time I had caught up to Jacob and Monroe, Derek was walking back towards us with Tanda wrapped in his arms. She was covered in filth from head to toe and the only remotely clear area on her beautiful face was where her tears had cleared a path down her cheeks. “It just caved in. There was nothing I could do.” Her sobs were so violent that it was hard to understand what she was saying.
“Where’s Martin?”
“Renee,” Derek shook his head.
“Bullshit, Derek. Where is Martin?”
“Fala’s back trying to dig around to see if he’s still…”
I didn’t stick around to hear anything else. There was no way that my maker was dead and I was going to go get him myself. I heard Derek yell ‘turn right at the junction’ but it didn’t take long before I couldn’t see much more than arm’s length. Once I found the junction and turned right, the glow that Jacob’s torch lent was completely gone. But I never stopped. I heard something that sounded like stone hitting stone, followed by a moan. I took off running in the pitch black, colliding once again with a solid mass and ended up flat on my backside.
A hand touched me under my arm and I started swatting as if a hundred spiders were crawling on me. I wouldn’t describe the sound that I made as a ‘scream’ because it was more like a squeal, but whatever, or whoever, had touched me had scared the hell out me. Sparks flew into the dust filled air to the left of me, then the sound of flint hitting stone sounded again as sparks flew and flame came to life. Martin stood by Fala, both covered in earth. I spun around to see who had touched my arm and was shocked to see Monroe.
“You could have let me know that you were with me.”
“I only caught up when you fell down,” he smiled.
I turned my attention back to my maker and got to my feet, refusing any of their help. I had to swallow the lump in my throat and count to ten in my mind to help fight the tears, because had I opened my mouth at that very moment, my relief of seeing Martin standing there would have come out in bigger sobs than Tanda’s cry of panic. “Could you please hand Fala the torch, Martin?”
“Is that the only greeting that I get the second time that we…you run in to me in a dark tunnel?”
“This isn’t the time to be funny. Please, hand Fala the light.”
“As My Lady wishes.”
Fala gave me a strange look, but took the torch. I waved my hand for Fala to step to the side, then did something that shocked Martin so much that he actually let out his own type of yelp. I dove on him, knocking us both down on the heap of earth that he had just been pulled from and began kissing him all over his dirt covered face. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to put anything between us again. Just the thought of him being truly dead had my mind wondering what the rest of my world would be without him, and I didn’t like anything that had rushed through my mind.
“I believe your other little one’s come this way,” Martin said, pushing the strands of hair out of my face.
“I don’t care. I love you, Martin and I am so sorry for being so stubborn. I can’t stop what I’m doing but I don’t have to keep putting those that I love in such compromising situations.”
Martin lowered his eyes as a small laughed escaped. “You are speaking the words that I was meaning to tell you before you spoke to me.” He rolled me over to where he lay looking down at me. “I surrender to your way and I join you in your fight to stop the madness that the elders have set in place. I adore you and I always will, my love.”
“No matter how bad that I’ve wanted to hear you say those words, all I care about is you and Tanda being okay,” I said, pulling him down so I could continue to kiss every part of his face that I could.
“Finally, now can we get the hell out of this God awful city? I’m ready to kick some elder ass,” Derek said, then let out a yell that caused more rubble to fall.
“I would hold that enthusiasm a bit longer if I were you, young Derek. And I think we should be making our way to the safe room, before the younger ones have to be carried. Dawn is close at hand,” Cates yawned and raised his nub, running it across the top of the tunnel ceiling. “Good thing those stones came down before the earth landed on you, old one. Good roots,” Cates grabbed a large tree root that hung free from the tree that kept its footing. “If this had been over even by one foot, you would have had more on you then just soil. You were very lucky this night.”
“Yes, I am very grateful for that old tree hanging on. And to our good friend here who pulled me free.” Martin stood and pulled me to my feet, then walked over to Fala and took his hand. “I owe you my life.”
“It was my honor.”
“A life for a life. If you are ever in need, I will be here for you, my friend.” They shook hands and Martin patted Fala on the back.
“I love you too, Fala, but can’t one of you lend him your shirt so he can wrap it around his waist. Nudity isn’t a big thing, but it can get a little odd having a man with his business just swinging away, walking wherever. So, I’m just saying,” Tammy said, leaning on the curve of the tunnel wall.
“She’s in a bad mood because Garvin whacked her with a branch thinking she was a flesher,” I explained to Martin when he gave me a sideways glance.
“I am not in a bad mood,” Tammy pushed herself off the wall, slapping Cates’ hand away. “It’s just been a very long night and I am tired. Breeders forbid I mention that the bone below my knee is pounding to match the beat of my heart, because my dear friend’s might crack another ha-ha at my expense.”
“Is my beautiful woman bothered with another man’s business?”
“No, you big baboon. It’s not fair, if you want me to be honest. Why should he get to be comfortable if we have to wear this? And now we can’t even get our good clothes to put back on.”
Cates lifted Tammy like a child as she protested, carrying her deeper in the tunnel, as we all followed. It was the very thing that she needed; a little attention from her man. But I, too, was wondering how we were going to get clothes, at least until we made it back to our floating home. Monroe took up the end of our parade as we made our way to that first room in the tunnels that we had gone in before Martin had taken us to his home. We didn’t see any scavengers or fleshers along the way and, had there been any, they would have quickly moved out of our way because we made no move to be quiet as we walked through the tunnels. I, of course, didn’t pay any attention to anything but the man whose arm I held as we followed close behind Jacob.
“Why do you smile at me every time you look at me?” Martin asked.
“I can’t help it. I’ve never seen you out of sorts before; well, other than when we found you at Angelica’s place, but you weren’t walking and talking like you are now. I’m sure I look like the wrong side of a cow, even more so since holding you,” I laughed, knowing with the smeared make-up and dirt, and with my hair going every which way with hairpins sticking out here and there that I had to look worse than Martin.
“Jacob, do you think she looks anything like the wrong side of a cow?”
Jacob turned his head and was smiling, more than likely through my and Martin’s entire conversation. “No, not at all. Her actions, on the other hand, are very much like the wrong end of a bull.” He and everyone in front of him burst out laughing.
“For your information, smartass, that would be horse’s ass…my actions are like the wrong side of a horse. You know, like saying that I’m a horse’s ass,” I said with a smirk.
“Yes, yes you are indeed that as well.”
“Renee,” Derek called out, then fell onto the skull covered wall.
“Derek?” I ran to him. All joking had come to a halt. “We need to hurry and get to that room.”
“Let me take him,” Martin said, moving me gently with his hand on my shoulder.
“Please, allow me. He is my friend.” Fala nodded once to Martin and as Martin stepped back, he lifted Derek and we continued.
Sydney was also too weak to walk and was being carried by Garvin, while Martin leaned on me. After another turn, we were there. Monroe and Cates moved the stone door and helped everyone in, closing it afterwards. Most took the main room floor but Martin and I lay together on one of the small grooves that had been carved for the dead in one of the little areas off of the main room. Tammy and Cates had taken the other. As always, Fala slept with his back to the door in the event that anyone should try to gain entrance.
“Martin, may I ask you something?”
“Of course,” he replied, pulling me in closer.
“Was the man that you call your Pa, really your Pa?”
“He was the only father that I ever knew. But, no, he was not my birth father. He raised me and kept me as a normal until I was the age of twenty seven or eight. I can hardly remember.”
“One day you’re gonna have to tell me your story,” I spoke as the day began beckoning for my daily death.
“There will be plenty of time for that, my love. You rest now. Tomorrow we go retrieve the rest of our family and leave this place.”
I fell asleep in his arms with a smile in my heart. Our family, those words coming from him had given me more comfort than anything that I had felt since I was back home on my farm.
Chapter Thirty Two
The feel of his arms around me when I woke was absolutely amazing. I knew he was awake without opening my eyes. I could feel him breathing and his flesh was soft. Martin also knew I was awake for the same reasons. Once his hand moved on my waist, I rolled over and put my face up against his chest and took as much of his scent in as I could in one deep breath. Waking up with him like this every night was going to be the golden lining around our very dark cloud.
Martin ran his hand up under my shirt on my back and onto my neck, and then back down again. He would go lower every time he repeated the motion with his hand, running his little finger under the top of my leggings and causing me to become aroused in ways that I had never felt before. I wanted him to take me like he had taken me the night of our first joining, only this time, I was ready to participate on a much larger scale. I leaned back a bit and took the hand that had been on my back. As I looked deep into Martin’s eyes I placed that hand on my breast as my lips met his and he took full advantage of both.
“Excuse me, Renee,” Fala said in a low voice. I pushed Martin back so fast that I rolled out of the narrow stone slab and all but bounced up on my feet. “Yes, yes, what do you need, Fala.” I was pulling down on my filth covered shirt, making sure the buttons were in place and doing it all very fast, as Martin lay there with a smile from ear to ear, watching me.
“It is of great need that I relieve myself. Now that you and the master are awake, may I remove the stone if I do not venture far?”
“Of course, Fala. You never have to wait to go to the bathroom, not ever.” I stayed where I was when I spoke. I was too embarrassed to move. I had completely forgotten about our werewolf who had better ears than we did; and we could hear ten times better than any normal. I was mortified. Showing them that I loved Martin by holding him in public was one thing; having him almost make love to me in the next room with no door was a totally different story.
“Do I see a hint of red on those lovely cheeks?” Martin patted the spot where I had been lying.
“I think we better go in the next room and wait for the others to wake. Jacob and Cates are in there right now waiting for us to come join them and hearing every single thing that’s going on in here. So, no…you get up, I will not come back over there.”
“Oh, go ahead, give the man a wee bit O’ love. Tis a small thing to ask,” Cates laughed and Jacob joined him.
“See what I mean.” Then I whispered. “We can’t do that unless we have privacy.”
“If you have a hard time using the word ‘sex’, then call it by its true name. What we do with one another, Renee, is called making love.”
“Yes, I know that. I was trying to be discreet but you fixed that.”
“We are one,” he stood and stretched, “and all know that you cannot resist my overwhelming charms.” He grabbed me around my waist and picked me up. I couldn’t help but to start laughing.
“Is that right?” I kissed the tip of his nose.
“That is a fact if I have ever known one. I can resist you. Your charms are nothing that I would be concerned about,” he said with one side of his mouth lifted in a devilish grin.
“You are just too funny for your own good, aren’t you?”
“And I can be very serious,” he said, letting me slide down in his arms, my body as close to his as two bodies could get. I stood up on my toes as he kissed me, his hands exploring my body; my sides, back, and lower as his mouth moved from mine to my ear then to my neck.
“No more,” I spoke as low as I dared next to his ear. “Please, Martin.”
He stood straight, licked his lips and smiled. “The others should be waking soon. If we get the others from the village, we can have my ship ready to follow yours and out on the open water before midnight.” ***
Finding our way through the tunnel was much easier with Martin as our guide. He knew where he was going due to the many years he had used them. He also knew another way to Cornelle’s hidden village; one that would get us there faster and I, for one, was ready to see my baby brother. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was going to think of his mommy bringing home a daddy.
Jacob was walking in the front of our group with Monroe when his hand went up and all of us went down on one knee, all but Martin. I reached up and pulled on his sleeve and he, too, knelt down. We were almost to our destination so I didn’t know why Jacob was bringing us to a stop. Most had no care to go anywhere near the leper colony, not even those who lived under the cover of darkness. I saw Jacob point to the right and Monroe took off and disappeared into landscape as if by magic. His ability to blend with the shadows was uncanny.
A few moments later Monroe came back. “The village has been under attack.”
“No.” It was all I could say as my body took off in the direction of Cornelle’s home where I had left my most prized treasure.
My whole crew was running with me at full speed. My feet never stopped but my heart dropped when I saw the smoldering embers of some of the homes as we ran past. It wasn’t the elders’ people; I knew that without a doubt. Monroe was one of them and he had killed the other. I was at a loss of who could have done this. “Johnny!” I yelled at the top of my lungs when I saw Cornelle’s home in ruins. “Shyanna!” I prayed she would hear me and come to me. My eyes searched the dark sky to no avail. “Where are they?” I asked as my voice began to break.
“Here, over here!” Cates called out and I ran as if my soul was on fire.
“Oh God, Cornelle,” I dropped to my knees by her broken form. “What happened? Who did this to you?”
“We fought, but they were too strong.” She closed her one good eye and swallowed. “They took them…they took them all.” Then she turned her head away from me and started weeping.
“Who took them, Cornelle?”
“Renee,” Fala said my name but I didn’t turn from Cornelle, I wanted an answer. “Renee.”
“What Fala?” I snapped, finally turning to see what he wanted, wishing I hadn’t when I saw what he held.
“No!” Then I grabbed my face and broke down. He held one of Shyanna’s little green scale covered fingers and my heart broke into a thousand pieces.
“It was the woman,” Cornelle coughed. “The woman of the west.”
“Inara,” Martin hissed.
“Renee,” Cornelle grabbed my hand. “They killed our Lilly and my husband when he was bringing her in from his brother’s boat. They made us watch as they killed them and burned your ship. They took no one off.” She coughed once more then fell unconscious.
Jacob had walked to the water’s edge, with Monroe standing a few feet behind him. I wasn’t sure if he had dealt with this sort of thing but I couldn’t take anymore. I could see the others talking, but I couldn’t hear a word they were saying. They took my child and I knew where they were taking him. They were going to take him to those who thought he was an abomination and should be put to death and that was unacceptable. My rage hit a point that it did not know and I exploded.
The more the rage built inside, the more I could feel it on the outside. I began pacing back and forth, completely blocking out that anyone else was in my world. The want to follow and kill those who touched my children was overwhelming and I screamed, dropped to my knees and pounded my fist into the ground as hard and as fast as my body would allow. Feeling the bones shift in my face was unexplainable, as well as how my teeth elongated twice their length. I must have looked very much like Jacob when he witnessed his sister being hurt in Cuba.
“Renee,” Martin tried to grab my arm.
I continued breaking my knuckles on the ground. I felt someone touch me and I jerked away, I even heard my name but I had no idea who said it until he slapped me across the face. “You must get control of yourself, my love, for the sake of those who were taken.” No sooner than the words left his mouth, a fist came out of nowhere and knocked him to the ground.
“I don’t care what the reason, don’t you ever put your hands on her. Do I make myself clear, Martin?” Derek was furious.
Cates had stepped in and grabbed hold of Derek, while Garvin and Sydney intervened with Martin. Tanda was holding Fala’s hand with tears rolling down her face. Tammy was sitting on the steps of Cornelle’s home, rocking back and forth and crying just as hard. I looked around at all of them and then threw my head back, and with every ounce of air that I had, I screamed, “Jacob!” then collapsed onto my side. What I needed at that moment was my mentor, not my lover.
He was holding me in his lap on the ground when I came back around, and for the first time, I saw crimson lines on his cheeks. Jacob gave me a sad smile and one small nod as I sat up. My eyes couldn’t settle on one of his and I didn’t know what to say. Half of his being was gone and he had to be hurting like hell not knowing what was happening to Jessica. We were thinking the same thoughts. We needed Martin’s ship and we needed to get out into open water right away.
“We have to move fast if we are to reach them before they reach the elders,” Jacob spoke first.
I couldn’t control my chin from quivering. “Do you think the twins are together?”
“I do not know, why do you ask?”
“What if they are together and try to split our family up?”
“Martin has a plan, Renee. He and the others are getting things ready for us to leave as we speak.”
“What sort of a plan?”
“Come, let us go to the dock so he can explain everything to everyone at one time.”
“Am I remembering right, did Derek hit Martin?”
“He did, indeed,” Jacob nodded. “They are fine. Martin is very fond of our Derek and knows you have a valuable warrior in him.”
“What about Cornelle? Did they take her to Martin’s ship?”
“I’m sorry. She did not make it.”
“Son-of-a-bitch, Jacob,” I shook my head as the tears began to fall again. The longer we walked, the more I realized how stupid I had been by hitting ground. It didn’t fight back, but it had sure kicked my ass. My hands hurt like hell and they would for a few nights. Every time I bumped one of them on my legs, I wished I had had more control. But I couldn’t imagine any mother controlling their rage if their child had been taken and it was killing me. Nothing I had been through from my birth into the normal world, to my birth into the dark world, was as horrid as the feeling of losing Johnny twice. This time seemed worse because I had grown to think of and love him as mine.
“How are you controlling your feelings, Jacob?”
“Jessica will do everything in her power to keep the two little ones safe, including giving her allegiance to the twins. She will tell them anything that they wish to hear. Jess has been trained to do as she is told, no matter the deed, Renee. She will do whatever it takes to keep them from harm’s way until they reach the elders.”
“I don’t want her to be hurt for anyone’s sake, Jacob.” My mind was swamped with horrible thoughts of what they could be doing to my little ones and I hated myself for leaving them. “And now I’m going to get my brother killed; all because I changed him. I’m always getting someone hurt, Jacob.”
“Why would you say that? If not for what you have done, none of us would be walking free right now. We will get them back before they reach the elders, we will.” He stopped and pulled me into a hug.
“Oh, Jacob, he is just a little boy…he’s a baby! They can’t kill him, it’s not his fault, it’s mine.”
To be continued in the book of: Bloodbreeders: The Elders
Coming soon:
Bloodbreeders: The Elders Book 5
Piper Vale: Please Don’t Hurt Me: Book 1
Soon to be re-released:
Bren Woodard: Hatred With a Passion
When She Wakes
After Hours
The Tale of Two Toodlegnomes
About the Author:
Robin Renee Ray is known as a Multi-genre Author. She's only been writing for seven years, but has come to love everything about the world of being a novelist. She began in the paranormal romance/dark fantasy genre, jumping into horror, then right into suspense thrillers. 20 novels and numerous short stories later, she is well on her way! She resides in Southern New Mexico with her husband, David, and lives very close to her two granddaughters.
Other than her grand’s, her Bloodbreeders are her babies...Babies with fangs. : )
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