Queens and Monsters: A Vampire Shifter Romance (The Blood Falls Book 1)

“I’m glad,” Gigi said, her knees up, resting her chin on top of them as we sat around a roaring fire pit. “This war has always felt petty. Unnecessary. Especially when we know there are bigger things to worry about.”

Bo shifted uncomfortably to my left. “You really see this thing coming?”

We all nodded.

“Damn.”

After the meeting lots of people left, but many remained to plan and party. Fires were lit in and outside the house, wine, beer, and blood flowed, and a small group of us huddled together in the shadow of the barn. Gigi sat across from me, Aethel to my right, Bo, and Dray’s empty chair to my left. Dray kept getting dragged away to talk and plan.

“Do you have clues as to what it might be?” Bo looked to Gigi, then Aethel.

The flames danced, causing the light to flicker over everyone’s faces, sometimes sending them into complete darkness, only to have them suddenly return. The effect was haunting. Especially the way it threw our shadows onto the side of the barn, like dark caricatures.

Gigi shrugged. “When I’m in the timeline I mostly see vague signs, sometimes I see something so specific I know it has a lot of meaning for me in particular, other times it’s like the Plane plants a lighted billboard in my path that I can’t ignore. But this? It’s mostly the feeling of darkness approaching mixed with a few symbols here and there that mean nothing to me.”

“I’m good with interpreting symbols from the Plane and I’m at a loss as well,” Aethel murmured, a look of unease crossing her face.

Bethany emerged from the darkness. “Perhaps we can work together.”

Gigi perked up. “Aunt Bethany is kind of a genius at this.”

I remembered how she held my hands in the library and forced me to see things. She was powerful indeed. “At what, exactly?”

Bethany moved behind Aethel and placed her hands on her shoulders. “In the same way I showed you your parents and shared my memories, I can enhance what the girls see when they are in the Plane. Maybe some of these clues will become more obvious with my help.”

Aethel saw the timeline in symbols the same way a psychic would use tarot cards to interpret signs from the universe, or an astrologer would use the stars and alignment of the planets to create a horoscope.

Bethany closed her eyes but Aethel’s remained open, unfocused as she navigated the Plane. Her eyes flicked and her head jerked, her lips beginning to move.

“These are ancient symbols,” she whispered. “From the old books. The griffin. The phoenix. The vetala. Callisto. Cetan. The varkolak. Jorogumo.” Her head cocked the opposite way. “There are others I recognize but don’t know without the old books.” She tapped Bethany’s hand. “That’s all for now, please.”

Bethany sighed and opened her eyes, running her fingers through Aethel’s hair. “Was it too much?”

“No. I was just at my limit.” She remained deep in thought, probably trying to sort out everything she just saw.

“What about you?” Bethany asked me. “Would you like to try?”

The honest answer was that no, I really didn’t want to be dragged down into the Plane even more than I already did. Seeing the drained look on Aethel’s face didn’t exactly instill confidence either. I was tired as it was from poisoning.

But answers would be nice…

“Yeah, let’s try it. I can’t promise anything though.”

Bo shook his head. “I don’t think this is a good idea. The Doctor said you needed a couple of days of good rest.”

“I won’t hurt her,” Bethany scoffed. “Besides, she looks perfectly well.”

“I feel fine,” I assured him.

“Sure, no one listen to me or the Doctor. Just go around willy nilly, half-cocked, playing with fire.”

Gigi giggled. “Willy nilly?”

He glared at his sister. She glared back. And their little sibling banter did as much good for me as Dray’s super blood. “Come on now, let’s give it a shot.”

“I’m going to be gentle,” Bethany said as she came behind me, resting her hands on my shoulders. “Just a little nudge at first. If it’s too much, no worries.”

I braced for some sort of wave or impact, but nothing happened at all. Not until I pulled on my anchor to the Plane and descended into the ethereal space. Everything was brighter, louder, harsher. The glimmering black blanket loomed over me with whispers escaping from the edges. With Bethany’s help they were louder. Like someone whispering as hard and loud as they could, but they all still echoed and overlapped each other.

“They’re coming.” I heard that before, so it was easy to pick out those whispers. “The tears are ripping open.” That was new. I listened harder through the swirling sounds that felt an awful lot like long fingers wrapping around me now. “There will be no sacrifice this time.”

I began to feel very drained so I tapped out, curling into myself on the wooden chair. “Sorry. That’s all I’ve got for now.”

Bethany lightly massaged my shoulders. “Knowing when to quit is a sign you’re getting used to all this.” Then she backed away, the shadows falling over her making her seem almost invisible.

I looked around the group for reactions to my words. Gigi’s eyes pinched at the corners as she thought, but Aethel chewed on her lower lip looking like she was debating whether to say something or not. “Aethel?”

She blinked to me. “Yes?”

“What are you thinking?” I was so close to Gigi and that naturally led to a quick connection with Cass and Bridge, but Aethel and I never really spent much time together. She was always wary of me and I didn’t blame her. But now…I felt a connection growing between us.

“Two things jumped out in particular. One, the tears are ripping open. What tears? Where? What does that mean?”

Everyone shook their heads at a loss for a reason.

“And two,” she grimaced a little, “there will be no sacrifice this time. It implies something like this has happened before and a sacrifice stopped it from happening. Which leads me to believe a sacrifice of some kind was enough to heal or reverse whatever mistakes led to the problem, but now it’s too far gone.”

And that was a terrible reality to face.

Gigi shook her head. “Hold on. What sacrifices?”

I didn’t even know what that word meant to them. Was it burning something in a bin, or human sacrifice, or what?

Aethel spoke next. “That’s what worries me. It feels like it goes hand-in-hand with the ancient symbols. Maybe the explanation is in the old books too.” Then she took a deep breath. “Which leads me to wonder…are the Dark Times returning?”

It was like someone had set a bomb off in the fire the way everyone recoiled at that hypothesis. “They can’t return,” Gigi whispered. “Can they? Isn’t that the whole point? The Dark Times happened and then they ended. Period.”

Aethel shrugged. “I have no idea. We all keep referring to the phenomenon as ‘dark’ so maybe my mind is drawing associations it shouldn’t.”

Or maybe she was spot on. I had no basis for this belief other than something about it felt right. “Maybe if you dig into these old books you’ll find some answers. Research always helps.”

“This is true,” Gigi nodded. “Let’s take your theory and walk it out. It will either seem right or become blatantly wrong. No harm in reading.”

Aethel and Bo grinned at that and I felt my heart warm all over again with love for this bookish family. “I’m happy to help with that as a fresh pair of eyes who knows absolutely nothing. I might see things you don’t.”

“I’d love that!” Aethel readily agreed.

“All right,” Gigi tapped her shoulders. “Do me now.”

Everyone looked around but Bethany was nowhere to be found. So I peered deep into the shadows where I’d seen her slink just a minute earlier. Sure enough, as my eyes adjusted, I found her shifting uncomfortably on her feet.

“Bethany?”

Her eyes flew to mine and locked. “I think we’ve had enough for one night.”

“Uh, we’re not stopping now,” Aethel protested. “Where did you go? I can barely see you.”

“I’m right here but I think we should call it a night and get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow when we’ve had some rest we can resume. And you’ll have had time to do some research so that we know more about what we’re looking for.”

Her sudden change of heart had all the Wren siblings confused, myself included.

“Aunt Bethany?” Gigi asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just…think we could all use a break to clear our heads.”

Gigi patted her shoulders. “I can’t sleep now. Get over here and help me out. We’ll hit the hay after.”

Bethany’s unease magnified as she moved closer to her niece. I was no expert at reading samhain emotions, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say Bethany was terrified. She tried to wipe the unsettled look off her face as she placed her hands on Gigi’s shoulders, but I could see something had really gotten to her. Something she really didn’t want to share with the group.

Gigi rubbed her hands together. “Okay, going in!” Her eyes fluttered closed and almost immediately she frowned. “The Plane is pulling me back in the timeline. It doesn’t want me to go forward toward the darkness at all. Wow, it’s pulling really hard. Like I’m on a time zipline. This is wild!”

Dray stepped out of the shadows frowning, his arms folded over his chest as he watched Gigi and Bethany.

“Oh…shit. No!” Gigi almost yelled, then whispered. “No. No, no, no, no!” Bethany tried to pull her hands away, but Gigi grabbed them and refused to let go. “Let me see!” With her eyes screwed shut and lips sealed closed, Gigi followed whatever path the timeline took her down, tears spilling down her cheeks until she released Bethany’s hands.

Their aunt staggered backwards. “Let me explain!” Her wild eyes traveled around the circle landing on no one except Dray. The two locked gazes and didn’t look away as Gigi wiped her tears.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Gigi whispered.

It was like a tennis match, my gaze swinging from Bethany and Gigi to Dray, not knowing where to look next as whatever this was, unfolded.

Bethany’s hands waved wildly. “It was agreed that you wouldn’t be told until you were older or it was necessary. The right time never seemed to come.”

Gigi flew out of her chair, angrier than I thought was possible for her, but Bethany didn’t look at Gigi, she kept her gaze on Dray. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” he asked.

Gigi spun around, done with her aunt. “These sacrifices Rhysa heard about? They were ours. Generation after generation of sacrifice to keep the doors closed. Mom and dad died closing a door, same as our grandparents.” Her voice dropped back to a whisper. “But they weren’t fast enough last time. It’s what changed the timeline. It’s what made you and me and Rhysa different. It’s why sacrifice won’t be enough this time.”

Bethany’s eyes went wide. “What? What are you talking about?”

“I watched it,” Gigi said. “I just watched them die. And I saw something slip through the door between our world and theirs. But it was too late. Mom and Dad were already dying. All they could do was send the message through the Plane. It reached Dray and then me. It’s why we’re different.” Her voice fell away.

Why she was a butterfly and Dray, like some of those on the other side, was a dragon. I wanted to ask what that had to do with me, but the revelation was too much of a shock to the Wrens. My questions could wait because even though neither Dray or Gigi were looking at me, or even thinking about me, I could feel their pain. The deep searing pain of their parent’s death and the effect it had on their lives, even though they didn’t know it until now.

“What slipped through?” Dray found his voice.

“I don’t know. It seemed ethereal. Like a spirit or a ghost maybe. But maybe everything from that side seems that way to us.”

Dray cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve seen what I become. I’m hardly ethereal.”

“True.”

“Are you okay?” His voice became tender in that way that made my heart skip a beat. He could be so cold and focused on leadership, but also so kind to those he loved.

“No,” Gigi shook her head, “I’m not. But I will be.” Aethel grabbed her up into a big hug. Bo barreled across the fire to do the same. A moment later we all piled into the group hug. “You guys…”

I found my friend’s hand and gave her a squeeze at the same time Dray found mine, forming a triangle inside the hug. Nothing about the future felt certain. Not the war, not the darkness, but what was more certain than ever was the bond I felt to this family that brought me into their lives and made me part of their world. It was an incredible world, no matter what came next.