Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeHe had come like an youth at his first sacrifice, Talen thought with wry amusement as he stroked his tongue over Morgana’s skin, cleaning away any trace of her blood. He could feel the stickiness of his seed against his stomach, dripping through his pubic hair, and had probably stained the back of her lacey dress with it.He’d buy her another one.He sighed with contentment as he lifted his head from her skin and let the back of his head rest against the headboard.Morgana’s fingers stroked over his forearms, smoothing the hair bleached almost white by the sun so that it was striking against the tan of his skin and tracing the spots the sun had left behind, and the faint scars from wounds he had not had the time or had considered too minor to bother with healing. Learning the roadmap of his skin, he thought with a smile.“Daddy, sate your monster with me,” she turned, leaning back and lifted her mouth to meet his.He rolled her under him and reached betw
Havermouth, Three Weeks Before“This is outrageous,” Heath snarled at the soldiers who wrestled him into the back of the 4WD. “I am the mayor!” He did not honestly expect the title to make a difference to his treatment, however the longer he upheld the role of outraged human mayor, the longer he could delay, the more chance he had at escape – and there was the chance that he could seed just enough doubt in the minds of the soldiers that they would let him go.They ignored his protestations.“Hey!” He cried out when he saw the 4WD containing Cameron turn off. “Where are you taking my friend?”“Shut the f-k up. Honestly,” the soldier in the front seat twisted in his seat. “You were always such a f-king loudmouth, Heath.”“F-king Guy,” Heath’s jaw dropped. He recognized Guy Barnham’s voice although his face was hidden behind the visor and helmet of the Van Helsing soldier. “What the f-k are you doing working for the NES?”“Drop the bullshit,” Guy sighed and turned to face the front. “Whe
Havermouth, Present Time“Get up!” Aislen threw open the doors to the offices in which the witches were sleeping. “Get up! Get up! Get up! We need to do another circle, right now! Right, right this second!”“M,” Bianca groaned sitting up and dragging her hands over her face. “We’re done. You can’t keep waking us up. We need time to recharge, to restore after you drained us. We can’t possibly do another circle right now…”“I need…” Aislen pressed the heel of her hand to where her heart was racing crazily. Talen placed his hand on her shoulder, his thumb stroking in reassurance. “My mates are missing, B,” she said on the verge of tears. “I need to scry and find them.”“I’m sorry, M,” Bianca shook her head wearily. “The magic is like a fizzle. Not enough to light a candle, let alone something like we did before.”“Perhaps I can help,” Sigrid said from behind Talen. Aislen whirled to face the female vampire, Talen’s first child. “Come,” Sigrid held out her hand to Aislen. “Let’s go somewh
Havermouth, Present Time“In our history, there is a story of great queen, Inora,” Sparrow said softly. “It is said that she was a devoted mother, above all else, and loved her son, more than life itself. Inora began life as a slave, stolen from her people before she was old enough to remember their ways. She was raised amongst her captors, and when she became a beautiful young woman, a powerful lord chose her as his second wife.“However, Inora knew that she was destined for more, her son was destined for more. When the neighboring kingdom visited with word of a new god, one who was above all others, the True God and Only God, The One God, she knew that was what she had been born for – to bring the savior, the One God to the heathens of her adopted country. And so, she rose against her barbarian husband and sister-wife and prevailed, raising her son from second son to king.“But there was another, a pretender king, unblessed by the One God, who sought to dethrone her, and he had witc
Havermouth, Present TimeTalen watched as Leighton took Morgana’s hands and she drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes as Sigrid anointed her again with Samuel’s blood. Rhett’s fingers gripped his forearm, clenching tightly. “What the f-k is with the blood?” Talen’s dark-haired mate whispered as if afraid to disturb Aislen’s concentration.“I do not know,” Talen confessed. “I am intrigued as well.” He saw the flicker of white skirts from the corner of his eye and turned his head to look at the doorway where Leighton’s wife and daughter lingered, watching the proceedings with fascination, as they had watched everything that occurred within the warehouse since their arrival.He could imagine what it was like for them, rendered prisoners due to their hunger, and forced to live utterly isolated other than each other and Leighton, who kept a tight stranglehold on their movements at all times as was demonstrated by the wards that he had built around the warehouse, not quite trusting that t
Havermouth, Present Time As the room cleared around them Rhett pushed to his feet. “The gym, you said?” He asked Aislen as he returned to the bedroom and searched frantically amongst the table-top cluttered with belongings before kicking through the pile of discarded clothing that had been shoved into a corner, until something jangled. He traced it down, exclaiming his success as he found a set of keys. He returned to the workspace. Aislen still sat within the circle of salt, her blood-smeared eyes closed, and her expression scrunched as she concentrated. He hesitated, not wanting to leave her alone, but also unable to stay and wait whilst his mates were in trouble. She did not seem to know that he was there, deep in her magic, and he feared to cross the salt circle in case he did something that would harm her, finally trotting down the stairs and banging with the heel of his hands against the closed doors where he knew, from listening to the talk of his mates, that the witches were
Concordia, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeThaelen climbed the ladder to the guard point at the top of the gate, shading his eyes as he scanned the horizon, the wind dragging his hair and the beads that Sigrid had persuaded him to let her place in his beard rattling. The human blood slaves were making their way back towards the tents and stronghold for their midday meal, whilst the vampires continued their efforts building watch towers at high points of the topography.The fortifications changed the familiar landscape. There were pits being dug to slow the approach of an armed force of horse riders, and further afield, whole sections of the forest were being felled to provide the wood for all the building work. They replanted as they felled, but it would take decades for the trees to grow back.Thaelen mourned the changes, as necessary as they were, they further stripped away his childhood, his memories no longer matching what he saw. He had lost so much, he thought, he did not know if he
Concordia, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeThe sixty Lords and Ladies who had originally settled Concordia had done so after a series of tragic losses, choosing isolation from the rest of their species in exchange for safety, and deciding to blindly follow the vision of a Seer that had foretold that they would find their safe home on the other side of the mountain range that humans had long declared to be impassable.They had gathered their blood slaves and begun a convoy through the mountains, driving ahead of them goats and rugged mountain sheep, the passage of which cut a path for the vampires and humans to follow. So long had their convoy been that it was said that they had spanned the entire range, with the tail still at the starting point as the first goats made their way down onto the plains at the foot of the mountains in Concordia.The ancestors had no knowledge of the land that would greet them – efforts to explore had been thwarted by the rocky coast and the rough waters on the
Havermouth, Present Time Aislen hit her head hard on the floorboards and lay for a moment with white noise ringing in her ears, staring sightlessly up at the beams of the roof. Her entire body ached. She could feel the sharp sting of the cuts across her torso and the wetness of her blood, and she knew that she was dying. She groaned and put her hand to her chest, surprised to encounter cloth and not skin, and lifted her hand, wondering at how it was not covered in blood and what the black chalkiness was that stained her skin. She slowly lowered her chin to her chest. There were no wounds. Oh, yeah, she wasn’t the one bleeding... The thoughts rolled through her mind in slow motion, as if she was thinking through treacle. “Shit,” she groaned. “Heath!” Where were her mates? “Cameron, and Talen,” she whispered, closing her eyes and then opening them again, her vision focusing, the beams coming into focus. She was on the floor of Leighton’s workspace, she realized, and recalled the salt
Havermouth, Present TimeCameron cried out and threw his arms around Rhett, gripping him tightly before catching his face between his hand and kissing him with a thoroughness that left Rhett breathless until the bathroom door suddenly opened, and he released him out of habit, both men breathing heavily as they stared at the startled intruder.“Ah, sorry,” Will Peters was wide eyed. “I can wait…” He backed out letting the door swing shut behind him.“Shit. Oh well, I’m not hiding anymore,” Cameron shrugged, turning back to Rhett, and pulling him back into his arms. “I’m so happy to see you. And you’re looking so much better. Skinny. But better.”“Wow, Cam,” Rhett laughed. “I should come to the rescue more often. Hey there’s power on here!” He added squinting up at the neon lights. “Who would have thought I’d be happy to see the flicker of neon again.”“Did Aislen send you?” Cameron asked, leaning back in order to look at him. “Did she do one of those portal thingies? Where’s Heath? And
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeHeath Gale and Rhett Salem, Talen turned the names over in his mind as he reviewed the details that Tony had sent through to him on his laptop. In one of those twists of little towns, Heath Gale owned the firm that handled some of Zeus’ legal work. A lawyer.Well, that explained the expensive suits and impeccable grooming.Young, he observed, lifting his eyebrows as he saw the date of birth. Young and rich. The rich wasn’t a surprise, most of the werewolf families did well by themselves, but this young man did better than most. Lived just outside of Havermouth, in a heritage home owned by another pack family, the Edison’s.Rhett Salem, the sexy tattoo artist, owned the tattoo parlor in town and made more than a decent living from the business, though the bulk of his wealth had been inherited.“Hmm,” Talen tilted his head and flicked back to Heath’s file.They lived at the same address. Interesting. But not necessarily remarkable, he decided. Young men ofte
Havermouth, Two Weeks Before “I already knew what you all were, and I didn’t tell anyone.” Aislen finished her glass and held it out for Heath to refill.“Yeah, Rhett said that.” Cameron looked at Rhett.“If the pack knew that, though,” Rhett explained. “They would decide that you were too great a risk and kill you anyway, so we couldn’t let them know about that…”“And we couldn’t talk about it with you without breaking werewolf law,” Heath told Aislen. “Until you were officially ours, officially recognized as part of the pack, we could not openly talk about ourselves to you, or show you…”“I’m not part of the pack, or yours now,” she pointed out.“No, but things have changed,” Rhett let his hair fall over his face, avoiding looking at Heath. “You are in danger.”“You were an idiot,” Heath sighed out his frustration. “Arrogant and prideful as always and decided to show off what you knew with that f-king Secret Keeper poem.”“When you came back to Havermouth, we had another chance, be
Havermouth, Two Weeks Before The necklace around her neck was held together by a padlock. Heath hadn’t noticed it at Rhett’s tattoo parlor – things had happened so quickly, and he had been so angry, it was no wonder that the details of her outfit had skipped his notice. But he had seen it the moment they’d entered the kitchen, noting the workmanship of it and the glitter of diamonds.A love token from the vampire, he had decided straight away. It wasn’t until they were sitting across the table from each other and the infinity knot had slipped to the side, that he’d seen the padlock holding it closed at the rear. A tiny padlock, but a significant one. The necklace wasn’t a lover’s token but rather a declaration of ownership.Considering how the vampire had defended her against Heath the evening before, he wasn’t surprised that he had made sure to mark Aislen as his. A warning to Heath to back off, and a notice that the vampire intended to continue his pursuit of Aislen.Heath wasn’t s
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeJules leaned against the fence and wiped his brow on the back of his sleeve. “That’s done then,” he decided his eyes on the indignant wet sheep in the holding pen. They’d spent the day putting this part of the herd through the dip – a process that Rhett always found comical when he was drafted in to help, enjoying the complaints of the sheep as they treaded dosed water before being drained and released into the pen.Cameron had left him in bed that morning, however, as Rhett wasn’t himself. The sex the night before had been… strange. It had held shadows of the early part of the last five years, when sex between the Triquetra had been about hurting each other as much as getting off. Rhett hadn’t hurt Cameron precisely, but Cameron had known that the sex hadn’t been about him, although he was the recipient, but about Aislen.“Yeah,” Cameron agreed. “I’ll grab a shower, change and head home.” He headed towards the house.Jules checked the gate before followin
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeRhett couldn’t concentrate, so it was lucky that he didn’t have any clients booked – he had cleared his schedule anticipating that they would still be at the river house with Aislen. He pottered aimlessly in his office as a result, shuffling paperwork that he didn’t have the focus to read, and collecting up the empty coffee cups that clustered on every surface, pulling his face at those which had a skin of green over them.Coffee was a good idea, he decided, and the walk to Boyston’s and back would clear his mind, even if the trip risked him bumping into Heath. His blond mate had returned from work the night before in a foul mood having broken his own rules and gone to see Aislen, only to find the vampire already there.Rhett was the only one who hadn’t broken the rules so far, as Cameron had come knocking on his door the previous afternoon, still sweating from his run and reeking of sex with Aislen. Rhett had been trying to do something constructive with
Concordia, Eleven Hundred Years Before Thorarin looked out from the top of the sand dune. “A kings worth is measured not by his success on the battlefield during times of war, but in his daily judgements. It is too easy, my son, for a man to overlook the day-to-day in seeking glory, but the true glory of a ruler lies not in the battles won, but in the actions that he takes during peace time.” “Father,” Thaelen’s voice caught in his throat as he watched the wind string out Thorarin’s hair, the colored beads arranged in a pattern that only Abara had ever mastered and had taken to the grave with her. “How did you die? I must… I need to know. Were you…” He closed his eyes on the tears that burnt there, but they escaped anyway, sliding down his cheeks and into his beard. “Was it peaceful?” “Is death ever peaceful, Thaelen?” Thorarin replied without looking at him. “Especially for immortals such as we are? But, yes, perhaps. I recall little of it. We drank… and slept, and there was no mor
Concordia, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeThaelen was pleased to see Gyrd and his son leave through the stronghold gate as Thaelen led his army within the range of the archers on the walls of Gyrd’s stronghold – a move that required confidence that Gyrd would not turn traitor and shoot them from behind. The Lord’s presence was reassurance that treachery was not planned although the archers remained at alert, the top of the wall bristling with their strung bows.“My king,” Gyrd bowed. “You are a welcome sight to behold in the Gulgane armor.”“Gyrd,” Thaelen reached out to clasp the Lord’s arm. “And Timal,” he greeted Gyrd’s son and heir. “I thank you for your loyalty to the Gulgane family, and for holding this stronghold against the invading humans.”They turned to regard the campsite. The distance made the details difficult to make out, however there was no gathering of men, no readying of the siege machines that they had been constructing, and minimal activity. Thaelen narrowed his eyes