To Love a Vampire: Part One
Excerpts and Quotes
Caroline Garner, one of the several nurses on duty, entered the nursery to check on the sleeping babies. The young blond jumped back in shock and horror as her pale green eyes settled on one of the cribs. The newborn baby girl sleeping inside was literally glowing with an eerie white light. Unable to ignore the strange light, the woman approached the crib and reached out a hand to the baby tentatively. An electric shock rushed up her arm, making her immediately jump back and fall to the floor, terrified.
The baby, unaware of what was going on around her, continued to sleep peacefully. The light surrounding her small, frail body continued to glow brightly. The light provided warmth to the small body, but produced shocking electric waves to protect her from the touch of everyone around her except her parents. Cursed, the nurse thought to herself. She’s been cursed by the devil! She stared at the baby with terrified, judgmental eyes, her heart pounding. She jumped to her feet, knowing she couldn’t ignore the presence of a cursed child in the hospital. A cursed child would mean trouble if she didn’t act quickly. She turned to the door and rushed out of the nursery, bumping into the middle-aged doctor walking around the corner. “Doctor!” “What is it?” David Vincent, his gray eyes darkening with concern, looked down at the wide-eyed, terrified nurse. “Are you alright? Did something happen?” “The baby,” Caroline forced out weakly, holding on to the doctor’s arm for support. “In the nursery…the baby…the baby is…not normal.” Her heart was still palpitating and she felt dizzy and light-headed. She tugged on the doctor’s arm weakly. “Come see…come see the baby.” Prologue Jaden grinned. “I’ll come with you to the library. You don’t mind, do you?”
“You’ll annoy me,” Quinlan pointed out. “Don’t you want to eat or play or something? Why do you want to come to the library with me?” “It’ll be fun,” Jaden said with a grin. “Let me come, McCormack. I won’t annoy you too much.” “But you will annoy me,” Quinlan observed pointedly. Jaden shrugged. “It’s in my nature to annoy everyone around me. I can’t control myself.” Chapter Two Darren Johnson, founder and chairman of Johnson Steels, lifted his head to look at the younger man. His deep-set icy blue-gray eyes displayed him as the hard, cold man he was—a man that hid behind the front of a high-status steel corporation while training his employees to become hard, professional killers to destroy anything and everything that got in his way of success or threatened to change the life he had. Being a tall and large man, his size also made him intimidating, even to those who had no idea of the kind of man he was. There was not a person that knew him—friend or foe—that didn’t fear him.
He gestured to one of the two empty chairs in front of his desk. “Take a seat, Byrne.” “Yes, sir.” Nodding, Clancy sat down in one of the empty chairs. He fixed his gaze on the older man, waiting for Darren to inform him what he’d called him for. “Someone left this on my secretary’s desk for me.” Darren held up a letter. Lowering the paper, he read the letter out loud to the younger man. “This morning, on the property of Perkins Elementary, a five-year-old girl by the name of Devany Byrne was found to be in possession of a curse mark. The mark, white in appearance, was found to be hot to the touch. The girl’s teacher, principal, as well as her cousin were all burned by her strange mark. A cursed child can bring trouble to a small town and should be watched carefully.” “I received a similar letter,” Clancy admitted. “Someone handed it to my secretary for me. I have it in my office.” Darren nodded. “According to what I know, Devany Byrne is your niece, correct?” “Unfortunately, yes,” Clancy admitted with a nod, his eyes dark with resentment as he thought of his brother. “She’s my younger brother’s daughter. I knew there was something her parents were hiding about her, but I never thought it would be this big. I don’t like my brother, so I try to keep away from him. No doubt my parents will be cutting off ties with them. A cursed child isn’t something to be taken lightly.” “Right.” Darren nodded his head of graying black-brown hair in agreement. “It would be the right thing to do…” He paused, placing the letter he held back on his table. “However, I am going to ask you to keep ties with your brother in this instance. I need you and your family to keep an eye on this girl and her parents. She cursed and we don’t know what kind of curse it even is. She could be capable of incomprehensible things. We have to keep a close watch on her. I want you to get on your brother’s side—get close to him, become his best friend. Leave your parents out of this, but I am expecting you and your wife to cooperate with me in this matter, Byrne.” Chapter Four Kylie Byrne, curly gold-blond hair pulled back into a ponytail away from olive-green eyes, stood in front of the stove making a pot of clam chowder for lunch. She turned at the sound of heavy footsteps and tentatively smiled at her tall, foreboding husband. “Welcome home.”
Though she tried not to show it to him or anyone else, Kylie Byrne deeply feared her husband. He was stone-cold and could kill without the slightest regret or shame, and she knew it, but tried to hide that side of him from their children. One year her senior, she had known him since high school and his detached, intimidating ways had drawn her to him. Married to him since she was eighteen, she now wished she’d never met him. He’d been involved in gangs since high school and now he was involved in something even bigger, and more incriminating and dangerous. Considering leaving him meant risking the lives of her children. It also meant he would kill her at just a second’s notice. She could never leave him or attempt to reveal the truth about him if she wanted to keep herself alive and her son and daughter safe. She couldn’t even challenge a single decision he made about anything. Anything she ever said or did could risk her life, and she was fully aware of it. Clancy shrugged, his leaf-green eyes traveling over the small, slender body of his wife before turning away, and then went to the refrigerator. He took out a bottle of water and opened it. He gulped down some of the water and then recapped the bottle. “I got some news today that you might be interested in.” Kylie was hesitant to hear it, but she knew he expected a reply. “What is it?” “When I was at the office today, I got a letter from someone anonymous. He—or she—said that Devany was cursed and needed to be watched. Mr. Johnson got the same kind of letter. It said something about her first day of school ending in disaster and that it turned out she has some kind of mark on her neck that burns—a curse.” “You believe she’s cursed then,” Kylie stated matter-of-factly. She herself wasn’t a superstitious person at all and didn’t believe in curses or the like, but she was expected to act as if she did. She wondered if he was going to go against his niece just because of his superstitions. “Of course I do,” he said automatically. “You know me, Kylie. A strange mark on her neck that burns—do you really think that kind of thing is normal? Who would believe it, my brother—the perfect son—fathered a cursed child! That child is better off dead! I thought it was the perfect excuse to break off all ties with him, you know…” Chapter Five The bus finally made a stop at the first bus stop it came to in Julian Town, nearly thirty minutes after leaving its last bus stop in the county, and the occupants of the bus began rise from their seats and get off, one after the other. The seven cousins were among the crowd that made their way through the aisles and jumped off the bus. As the bus drove off, the boys and girls left behind went their separate ways in the direction of their schools. Likewise, Kane and Kean left their younger cousins to start on their own way to school, while Quinlan led the other four toward the elementary school.
As the school came into sight, so did the three boys waiting at the gates of it. Ina beamed at the sight of Connor, but Dina, on the other hand, visibly cringed upon noticing Jaden. Declan, catching sight of Aaron with them, smiled at his best friend. Quinlan, noticing the Gifford boys, grinned and glanced over his shoulder at his two female cousins. Gordon, looking between Jaden and his sister, grinned as well. The group of five continued toward the school gates, stopping directly in front of the three boys waiting for them. “Connor. Jaden.” Quinlan smiled at the two boys. “Nice of you to wait for us.” “I wasn’t waiting for you,” Connor said pointedly, and turned his attention to Ina, grabbing her by the hand. “I’ll walk you to class.” Ina beamed and nodded. “Sure.” Quinlan grinned. “Ouch.” Connor and Ina, hand in hand, walked through the school gates, and left the rest of the group behind them. Declan watched his sister disappear inside with Connor and then turned to Aaron and Gordon. “Come on. We’ll be late if we stay here.” He led the way inside, Gordon and Aaron trailing after him. Quinlan glanced at Dina with a mischievous smile and then feigned a horrified glance at his wrist watch. “Look at the time! I’ve really got to get to class! I’m sure Jaden will get you to class, Dina.” That said, he hurried off before Dina could protest, knowing that she would. “Quinlan Carroll McCormack!” Dina screeched after him, furious her cousins had left her all alone with her nemesis. “Traitor! Come back here!” Jaden snickered, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “I doubt that’s going to bring him back, Dina.” He studied her with penetrating eyes. “Girls really shouldn’t scream like that. It’s not very ladylike.” Dina glared up at him. “Don’t talk to me.” She turned her head away, dismissing his presence, and started to walk away. “Bye, pumpkin-head.” Jaden grinned at the term that was too amusing for him to consider as an insult. “That the best you can do, brat? Pumpkin-head? Seriously?” Dina was tempted to turn and throw something worse at him, but she knew he was trying to goad her. Instead, she continued walking with her eyes straight ahead while holding onto the hope he wouldn’t follow her or stop her. She had no intention of letting Jaden be her escort anywhere, no matter what Carroll had told her. After all, her great-great grandfather wasn’t anywhere nearby to make certain that she obeyed him. Jaden followed her movements with wary eyes. Before she had the chance to enter the school through the gates, he grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back toward him. “Not so fast, Dina O’Donnell. We’re going together, remember?” “No, we’re not!” Dina pulled on her arm, trying to escape the strong grip he had on her. “I’m not going anywhere with you!” She hit him with her free arm. “Let me go! I have to go to class!” “The class isn’t going anywhere,” Jaden said patiently, “and neither are you if you don’t cooperate with me, Dina.” Keeping his hold on her arm, he pulled her closer, sliding an arm around her shoulders. “Like it or not, we’re going together.” Dina glared up at him resentfully. She hated needing him as an escort and protector in school. “I don’t care what everyone says. I don’t have to listen to you. I won’t be controlled by you.” Jaden smiled. “I don’t expect you to. If you listened to me all the time, you’d bore me to death.” With a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, he tightened his arm around her, hugging her against him. “We’re going to be best buddies!” “Never!” Dina struggled in his unwanted embrace unsuccessfully. She glared up at him. “I hate you! Let go of me!” Jaden laughed, loosening his arm, but didn’t release her. “You’ll see, Dina. You won’t find anyone else who will accept those bratty tantrums of yours. I’ll be your best friend.” Dina shuddered at the thought. “That will never happen.” Jaden smiled, pulling her along with him as they entered the school building. Then he walked with her all the way to the kindergarten classroom. “Don’t leave the class until I come and get you. If you do, I’ll talk to your teacher and make sure she doesn’t let you out of the class again. I’ll come at break.” Dina glared, but nodded her acceptance. She didn’t want him to make an agreement with her teacher to imprison her and watch her every second of the day. “Fine.” Jaden grinned. “See you later, new best friend.” Chapter Thirteen |
Brenda studied the young girl in front of her, hating the brave and determined expression she saw in her eyes. She would not be a child that she could easily make into a meek, timid girl as she would have preferred her. She looked the young girl up and down before she finally spoke. “I don’t allow students to wear scarves and hats in my classroom. Take off your scarf.”
Devany’s heart stopped at the teacher’s unexpected request and her mind raced for a way to worm out of her sudden predicament. The mark hidden beneath her father’s red cashmere scarf was increasing in pain by the second as the fear of its existence being discovered engulfed her. Determined not to show her fear, she shook her head. “No—my father said to keep it on.” Brenda met the strong gaze that seemed to imply a maturity and understanding beyond the little girl’s years, anger rising in her at the open disobedience. She had not expected the girl to directly disobey her order, though she did seem she’d be harder to handle than any of the other children she’d met so far. Rising to her feet, she looked down at the girl with glowering eyes in an effort to intimidate her into obedience. “You will do as I say, Devany Byrne. This is my classroom and you will follow my rules. Take off the scarf.” “No.” Devany shook her head. “I can’t.” Kindergarten was turning out not to be as fun as she had imagined it would be. The pain of her mark was beginning to burn more and more, but she tried to ignore it as she stubbornly refused her teacher’s request. She knew she couldn’t let her teacher realize what she was hiding under her scarf. The young woman blew out an exasperated breath, eying the little girl angrily. Devany Byrne was turning out to be a problem she’d have to deal with before it got out of hand. Walking around her desk, she roughly grabbed the young girl by the arm, holding on tight. “That’s enough out of you. You’re taking the scarf off unless you want a trip to the principal’s office.” The other children, playing peacefully minutes before, watched the drama unfolding in the classroom between their teacher and the new girl. Some of them crept closer to the scene for a better view while the others remained where they were. Not a single child uttered a word or sound as they watched. Devany knew going to the principal’s office would just make the situation worse. She stared up at the tall, slender young woman that had morphed into a monster in her eyes. Her heart pounded and her mark was burning intensely as she looked up at her teacher through fearful eyes. She tried to pull her arm out of her teacher’s grip as the burning sensation of her mark cut through her skin. “Let go!” Brenda ignored Devany’s protests and attempts to free herself as she dragged her toward the door, while the other children looked on. “I’ve had it with you, young lady. I will not have someone in my classroom that can’t follow the rules. You can just sit in the principal’s office until you’ve learned to listen.” “No!” Devany cried out, pulling on her arm harder. The mark was burning to the intensity that it was too hard to ignore any longer. “Leave me alone! You’re hurting me!” Tears filled her eyes and she began to cry out as she continued trying to escape her teacher’s strong grip. She pulled at the scarf, though she knew nothing she did would make the agony stop while she was enduring both physical and emotional pain. When she pulled too hard, the scarf fell to the floor, but she didn’t bother to retrieve it—the pain of her mark too intense to care about hiding her mark anymore. “It burns! Make it stop!" Chapter One Ina McCormack, rushing out of the building of the school, caught sight of her cousin with her classmate, Nicholas Jefferson. She was surprised to see Quinlan, knowing he hadn’t been with them when they’d left for school that morning. She would have run to the two boys, but the sight of the unfamiliar older males with them stopped her. Though they were around the same age as her cousin, she, as every other female of the pacis lamia, had been taught to be wary of all unfamiliar males for as long as she could remember. The closer the unknown males were to thirteen, the more cautious an unescorted pacis lamia female had to be.
Because of their homicidae lamia descent, the offspring of the pacis lamia reached maturity prematurely. With the mental maturity comparable to that of a human adult by the age of thirteen, they were able to pick a mate in their early teens. Pacis lamia males as young as nine or ten were the equivalent of a human male of about sixteen or seventeen years old, already potentially dangerous to the female pacis lamia. Not all the males were as honorable and trustworthy as they were expected to be, which was the reason the females had to be cautious around them, especially when they were unescorted by an altor, trusted male companion, or a male relative. There had been times that esurio low-level—which had no control over their own desires, unlike ones of the middle-levels or high-levels--plenus males had attacked pacis lamia females or taken them for their own purposes, especially as convenient blood sources or blood slaves to be sold on the market to other low-level pacis lamia males—or even homicidae lamia individuals. It was a common scenario among the esurio low-level pacis lamia males, all of which carried a mentality closer to their homicidae lamia ancestors, intent on satisfying their craving for blood more than anything else without caring whom they hurt, rather than their human ancestry. Because of the potential danger of the esurio low-level males that lurked around the valley looking for unsuspecting females, families kept their girls that had passed the age of six or seven in high-security boarding schools, which only accepted altors and altor trainees as male students, during the year and their families kept a close watch over them for the rest of the year. When they stepped off the school grounds, it was required for a curatricis and an altor to accompany them. When they were at home and wanted to step out, a trusted plenus male, male relative, or an altor was required to go with them. It made the probability of being cornered by an unfamiliar male with less than honorable intentions much lower. Ina stood in front of the exit if the school building, trying decide on whether to approach her cousin and the boys or not. Kids pushed past her, but she barely noticed, studying the two older boys with her cousin and classmate with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. By appearance, they seemed harmless and her cousin was with them, so she came to the conclusion she’d be perfectly safe, but she didn’t even have the chance to move toward the group. Robert Terrence, the troublemaker of his fifth-grade class and known to have been graded as a level-nine on the esurio scale on the assessment performed by the Pacis Lamia Vampire Welfare Organization when he was six years old, which would be confirmed by another assessment when he reached twelve, stepped out of the exit of the school, taking notice of the young girl beside him. He didn’t have a clue to whom she was, but she was pretty enough and he was certain that her blood would satisfy him when he reached his plenus by the alluring, sweet scent of it. She was as good a choice as any. Without a second thought, he grabbed her wrist firmly in a strong grip. Ina stiffened instantly, becoming aware of the boy beside her. None of the boys she knew that could be trusted would grab a girl they didn’t know that way. The triumphant smirk and hard eyes seemed to hint of a male that would never bring anything other than hurt and pain to others. She jerked her wrist, but of course he was stronger than her and she couldn’t escape his grip. She glared up at him as she brushed a strand of her red-brown hair out of her eyes with her free hand, determined not to be intimidated by him. “Let me go, dummy.” Robert raised an eyebrow and ran the fingers of his free hand through his blond-brown hair. “Don’t you want to know why I grabbed your arm, brat?” “No,” Ina said bluntly. “I want you to leave me alone, loser.” Robert tightened his hold on her wrist, causing enough pain to send a warning. “You’d be better off watching what you say to me. Right now you’re with me and no one will be able to save you if you make me angry. Don’t even think about calling out for help.” Ina winced in pain and racked her mind for a way out of her sudden unexpected predicament. Her cousin was just feet away and she’d heard that around half of the male population of the school were altor trainees like her elder brother, but she didn’t want to know what would happen to her if she dared to call out for help and she wasn’t reached in time. She had no doubt that the boy with her was dangerous to her, even though he hadn’t reached his plenus yet. If she could attract the attention of one of the altor trainees, preferably one from the upper classes, in some way that her captor wouldn’t notice, he’d probably be able to help her without difficulty. Robert smiled down at her with an expression that held no warmth, compassion, or sincerity. It was as cold as the smile of a killer. “You should feel grateful that I’ve chosen you. You seem a little young, but you’ll want a patronus just like every other female when you reach your plenus, and now you’ll have me. You’re pretty enough for someone like me and your blood will probably be perfect for me.” Chapter Four “Good job, Dad!” Kean said. “You did it!”
Ian laughed, putting one arm around each of his sons. “Don’t I always? Would anyone else like to race before Hennessy takes the horses back to their stalls?” “I will!” Quinlan announced. “I want to race.” “Quinn, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” his mother said. “You’re not a very good rider yet.” “Please,” he begged, looking at her with his best mournful look. “Just this once, Mom.” “Let him go,” Carroll said. “He needs the practice anyway.” She sighed, giving in. “Fine—but be careful, Quinn!” “Well, then we have one racer,” Ian said. “Anyone want to race with him?” “I will!” Kean said excitedly. “I want to race, too!” “That’s fair then,” Ian commented. “You’re not a very good rider either. You two are well-matched.” “Dad!” Kean cried. “That’s mean!” Quinlan laughed. He started climbing over the fence. “What are you waiting for, Kean? Let’s go or I’ll start without you!” “Coming!” Kean said, following the younger boy’s lead, climbing over the fence as well. “Let’s do this! I’m going to win!” “Says who?” Quinlan countered. “I’m going to win this and leave you in the dust!” “This is going to be entertaining,” Kane commented, fully expecting his younger brother to mess up halfway through. He always seemed to when he mounted a horse. “Let’s bet on who loses first.” Ian laughed at his eldest son’s remark. Thomas climbed over the fence after the boys. He rechecked the horses to make sure all was secure. Then he returned to his place on the other side of the fence. He waved the green flag, giving his go signal. Both boys easily mounted the horses and started off around the corral. Gripping the reins of their horses tightly, they raced around the enclosure, each determined to beat the other one. Neither one of them seemed better or faster than the other, their horses side by side as they galloped, their hooves kicking up the dust. Then Kean made a mistake. He glanced over at his father and brother. Releasing the reins temporarily, he raised both hands in the air victoriously. “See? I can do this! I’ll win!” His horse was going too fast for him to remain balanced without holding on, and he teetered on the saddle for a few seconds. Suddenly, he toppled from the horse, landing in a large puddle of mud as both his own horse and Quinlan’s left him behind. “Kean!” Catriona McCormack called out to her youngest son worriedly. “He’ll live,” Ian assured his wife with his usual devil-may-care tone. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.” “You’re not even worried,” Catriona observed with a sigh. “What kind of man have I married?” “A fun one obviously.” Ian grinned. He called out to his son over the voices of the other family members. “Kean, your mother is worried so tell her you’re fine!” “I’m fine, Mom!” Kean called from the ground, sitting up with a groan. He glanced down at himself and realized he was covered in the mud he’d fell in. “This isn’t fair! I was supposed to win!” “That was a stupid mistake,” Kane stated. “I knew he was going to fall off sooner or later. He always does something stupid and falls off.” Quinlan glanced back and laughed at the sight of his cousin. “Idiot!” he called out. “You look like some kind of mud monster! I guess I’m the winner this time… I knew I’d win!” Looking at his cousin, he was no longer paying attention to his horse or the direction they were heading. The horse suddenly stopped short, and the boy sailed over his head and into the mud only feet away from Kean. “Darn it!” Chapter Seventeen |