Untamed - Book 1

“How did you meet someone like him?” I walk into the kitchen and get a glass of water.

“You mean a vampire?” His lips curl into a snarl at the mention of vampires.

“Yes, and one in such a high position of power.” I smile and lean against the counter.

“Darius found me three years after I had fled the council. He knew who I was and why I was running. He offered to help me, to protect me, to help me to hide. He helped to train me and helped me to make peace with my beast. He also provided me with a means to suppress my beast and its nature. Doing so has allowed me to remain off the radar for all these years. It looks like my streak of luck is reaching its end.” I chuckle nervously at the last of my words.

“Who is coming for you? He asked me to take care of you, but I can’t do that if I don’t know who I am protecting you from.” I walk over to the chair, my glass of water held tightly in my hand, and take a seat.

“Remember when I told you of the task I refused to do for the council?” He takes a seat on the couch cross from me.

“Yes, I remember.” He leans forward, giving me his undivided attention.

“21 years ago, the council approached me about a task they needed handled swiftly and discretely. I had accepted the job, as I had all the others before it. I was tasked with taking out a group of rogue witches. They were rumored to have amassed a great deal of dark artifacts, performed dark rituals and even dabbled in necromancy. I went in with every intention of completing my task, but when I scouted out the group, I couldn’t do it. The group were elderly women, a few men and small children. Not one of them had a magical bone in their body. These people, they were just that, people.

I contacted the council with my findings and they called me back, placing me on probation while they dispatched someone else to deal with the group. I snuck out of the council confinement and searched for the group, I wanted to warn them. I found them only a mile away from where they had been when I had observed them. It was a massacre. Blood and bodies littered the ground. I found a young girl, she couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 years old, and she was barely alive. I used every ounce of my energy trying to save her, but the damage was too severe.

My beast appeared for the first time as she drew her last breath. My beast was brought out by my rage and desperation. She fed on my anger and she was insatiable. We hunted down the men who had taken the lives of those innocent people. We found them and we made them pay for their crime with their life. Blood for blood. Had I been in control, I would have handled things differently. The man responsible for carrying out the slaughter of those people was a man of great power. His brother was a power mad monster and I murdered the only blood relative he had left. He has hunted me ever since. By containing my beast, I have managed to keep myself hidden, but the enchantment is dulling, or maybe my beast is growing in strength.” I feel my mind drifting with possibilities for the failing enchantment when his deep voice pulls me out of my daze.

“Who is he?” I look at him closely and sigh, running my hand through my hair.

“Caleb Altier. His brother, Hector Altier, was the man who took the life of more than two dozen innocent men, women and children.” I clench my fists tightly in my lap as the phantom scent of blood and the haunting cries of the little girl spark inside me.

“Who is Luca to you?” I draw in a ragged breath, the bitter sting of tears bite at my eyes.

“Luca is my brother. When Caleb came for me, Luca tried to hold him off. He was taken and Caleb still has him. He had a witch from the council place him in a state of suspended animation, a dreamless sleep. They did not account for his ability to astral project. He can travel to anywhere that he has a tether, but the only thing tethering him is me. I am his anchor. Once I find him, I still have to figure out how to undo what the witch did to him.” His eyes focus on me with a sympathetic look.

“Can’t you just use a spell or something?” I chuckle at him and his simplistic view of my world.

“It is not that easy. The witch used dark magic. Because of my beast, I can’t give in to the temptation of using dark magic.” I see the way his brow furrows as his train of thought derails and a new thought sparks to life.

“What are you?”