Virgins and Vampires: Blood Falls (The Blood Falls Book 3)

The fact that I was gifted wasn’t a surprise. Everyone in the library already knew I was powerful. The extent of my power was a closely guarded secret. I was the greatest asset to my House. I knew this, and a lot of others outside the House suspected.

But no one had ever compared me to Rhysa.

After I confirmed Saoirse’s suspicions the library erupted into chaos. What did it mean? Rhysa, Dray, me…and maybe others. Was it a sign? The debate raged wildly. I was too overwhelmed to form the words: duh, of course it means something!

There was too much of a coincidence for it to be anything else.

But to protect myself I shrank inward, guarding my psyche from being bombarded by too many excited minds at once. Kris put his arms around me and shifted us away.

“It’s too cold to go to the cave but I had to get you out of there.” He held me tight.

I could feel the psychic buzz still so we weren’t far, but the room was quiet. No more voices on top of voices all speaking at once. I relaxed into his embrace, grateful for how strong and secure he felt.

“Thank you.”

“That was bullshit.”

His anger penetrated my fog and I blinked my eyes open, taking in unfamiliar surroundings. We stood over a bare wood floor. Beside a door stood a coat rack covered in flannel and leather jackets. One wall held three overstuffed bookcases with a very worn, almost rumbled looking armchair that looked out a window.

“Where are we?” On our other side was a small kitchen with barstools at the counter.

“My apartment,” he murmured against my hair. “Let’s go somewhere you can recharge. Your rooms?”

I shook my head as a little thrill zinged through me. “I’ve never seen your apartment.” The things I knew about Kris were superficial. Like knowing he lived in this apartment without ever having been inside. I knew the Kris that everyone knew. I knew him sexually. But I didn’t know him.

What did he think about at night? What worried him? Excited him? What were his favorite memories? What drove him to spend so much time here?

Kris loosened his grip enough to let me look at him. “We should go to your rooms.”

“Give me a tour.”

He stared me down then let his arms drop. “There’s not much to tour. What you see is what you get.” When he stepped back I saw the rest of the apartment.

A large, low platform bed sat against one wall. A huge picture window looked out over the mountain. A couch that matched the armchair completed the room. I walked around, touching counters and shelves, feeling the psychic energy that lived alongside the physical matter. He spent so much time in this small space that it was everywhere. I heard echoes of his life in fragments and whispers, felt the leftovers of strong emotions.

“I feel you.” I caressed the fabric of the armchair and looked out the window at the flat space between the main house and barn. “You’re everywhere.”

“I’m worried about you, Rain. That was a lot for anyone to handle and what Saoirse did is unforgivable.”

I paused, giving him my full attention. “Trust me, I will not let that go. Saoirse may be Rhysa’s grandmother but I’m not going to hold back on telling her what I think of her.”

Kris grinned. “Good.”

Fragments of sadness, loneliness, swirled up from the chair and over my hand. And that reminded me of a question I had. “When you came to the library? You said you had a bad feeling. What happened?”

He scratched the back of his neck and looked everywhere but at me. “I was in the kitchen listening to music and working on the vegetables, but I was mostly reliving last night.” A huge smile curled his lips. “And then all of a sudden I felt this dread. It made the hair on my arm stand up and I just knew something was happening. I followed the feeling. The closer I got the more certain I was that it was you and that scared the shit out of me.”

I played with the fragments of energy. “Does that happen often? You get a feeling that isn’t yours?”

He froze, locking his gaze with mine. “I never thought of it that way. A feeling that isn’t mine,” he repeated slowly. Then he went a little pale and dropped onto his bed. “This makes so much more sense now.”

“You’re empathic.” I confirmed, leaving the chair and coming to sit beside him.

“How did I not know? I just thought I didn’t like being as social as the others.”

I took his hand and squeezed. “Your mother died before she could help you discover your gifts. And your Aunt Bethany is a Wren. Plus she was suddenly raising a lot of kids on her own.”

And my House hadn’t stepped in the way it should have in Lorelei’s absence.

“I feel like I was just introduced to myself after sixty-five years.” He shook his head. “Dray is hyperaware, just like the twins.”

“They’re opposites. He’s extra aware of danger. They’re extra aware of things that work.” Or what humans called luck.

“And Leena can focus thoughts. But none of you are true empaths, so it wasn’t like there was someone who could guide you to this.” But it made him even more special to me. We had a bond. A shared love of quiet. And now I felt even closer to him because we shared a gift.

He laughed quietly to himself. “I brought you here to help you and instead you wound up helping me.” He kissed me lightly on the lips. “Thank you.”

“Thank you. You’re kind of wonderful.” And I was becoming kind of addicted.

He groaned. “If we keep kissing we’re going to break in this bed. Unfortunately we’ve got more important things to do.”

I didn’t want to stop kissing him. His kisses healed all wounds, but he was right. I had work to do and a cranky female to put in her place.

“Are you okay?” Cass shrieked when we returned to the main house. She flew to my side all while glaring at her brother.

“I’m fine.” And surprisingly, that was the truth. Just a few weeks ago that would have done me in for the day. Maybe even the week.

“Sit.” Cass shoved me onto a bar stool while Bridge began stacking plates laden down with various chocolates in front of me. “We didn’t think you’d come back but we prepared anyway. Candies, puddings, ice cream, and cake.”

“Hey!” Kris shouted. “That was for tonight!” He started reaching for the plate covered with an enormous slice of moist cake when Bridge slapped his hand away. “Oh, don’t start with me now, pixie.”

“There’s still plenty of cake.”

“How did you even find it? I hid it just because I knew you’d do this,” Kris said.

Their banter made me smile. While they were at it, I picked up a fork and helped myself to a sample. “Oh wow! This is so good!”

“It wasn’t for me though!” Bridge admonished her brother. “It’s for our dear Rain.” The change in her voice brought my head up. Kris scowled. Bridge bounced her eyebrows.

Not ready to have our happy little bubble burst, I pretended I had no idea what she was talking about. “Why are you doing that with your eyebrows?”

She kept waggling. “It’s very romantic. The way Kris whisked you away from everything…”

I shook my head, doing my best impression of nonchalance. “Kris gets me. It wasn’t a romantic gesture to help me when I was down. It was kind.”

The twins eyed me suspiciously but didn’t press. Bridge filled me in on what happened after we left. “Dray gave Saoirse a thorough dressing down after you left but get this. She was still doubling down on the whole ‘we’re putting everything out in the open’ excuse. Rhysa lost it. She did a whole speech—spit and all—about the psychological tricks Saoirse was trying to pull and that she should be ashamed of herself. Saoirse hasn’t said a word since.”

I appreciated the backup, but I needed to speak to Saoirse myself. “Where is she?” I pushed away from the counter, leaving the delicious treats behind.

“Library.”

I felt them at my back as I marched down the hallway. Kris followed behind and then the twins. When I pushed into the library I felt powerful. Several heads popped up. The desks were all occupied, as were the sofas. Dray, Ivy, and Ronan stood at the chalkboard. Saoirse was at the window.

Rhysa joined my entourage as I approached the window. “Saoirse, we need to talk.”

She turned slowly, eyeing me carefully. “Very powerful indeed. It emanates off you.”

I ignored her comment. “Why didn’t you come to me first?”

She waved at the room, arrogant as ever. “We’re sharing.”

”My life isn’t yours to share without my permission. How and when I choose to explain my very existence is nobody’s business but mine.” I paused only long enough to breathe. “You should have come to me first with your questions. You should have addressed your theory with me before you decided I wasn’t worthy of being treated like an equal. But was I consulted? No. You decided what was best for me and everyone else. You are weak, arrogant, and selfish.”

Her eyes flashed with fury but she kept her lips sealed.

Maybe she was so caught up in her own ideas she was incapable of hearing what I had to say. So I decided to turn the tables. “How would you feel if I turned around right now, called for the attention of everyone in this room, and proceeded to tell everyone about your daughter and my theory her mind being trapped on the Plane is a sign that we should all study.” I waited while that sank in. “Or would you prefer I come to you first, discuss this matter in private, and allow you to decide what you share about your personal, private life with the group?”

Rhysa spoke up beside me. “I think you should do it. My grandmother doesn’t deserve your respect after her performance today.”

Saoirse’s eyes flew to Rhysa’s.

“No,” I said before things got out of hand. “I treat others the way I expect to be treated. I won’t change that now because I’m hurt and angry.”

“That’s because you’re better than her,” Cass bit out.

I realized then that the room had fallen painfully silent and that the attention of several consciousnesses were on us. “Would you like to take this somewhere private, Saoirse?”

She agreed with a nod.

“I know just the spot,” Rhysa pushed past us to a bookcase. A moment later it swung open, revealing a small reading nook. Inside she opened another door that led down to the cellar. “Right this way.”

Saoirse hurried through, followed by Dray. She gave me a nod and went next.

“Do you want us to go with you?” Bridge asked.

I turned to face all three of them, but my gaze caught on Kris. He stared at the cellar stars with fire in his eyes.

“No. Thank you though. I think my point will be made more clear if I go alone.” I gave each of my friends a squeeze.

Kris hesitated. The moment the twins were out of earshot he leaned in and dropped his voice to a low rumble. “You were fucking incredible. I’ll be waiting. You need anything, throw up a flare. I’ll be there in a flash.”

I spent more than a few afternoons in the secret reading nook with Bridge or Cass. Sometimes all three of us. It was more than a little strange to walk through it and down into the cellar. The three of them stood around a wooden table. Dray with his arms crossed over his chest, Rhysa scowling at her grandmother, and Saoirse staring at the armor on the wall.

“I’m listening,” she said.

Dray and Rhysa gave me a look and a nod that said the floor was mine.

It was just the earliest niggle of a theory. I wouldn’t have said anything until I knew more one way or the other, but I needed a weapon and I used it. Now I had to suffer the consequences of explaining a half-baked idea.

“When Lorelei and Graygore made the ultimate sacrifice in closing the Door, we know the Timeline was disrupted. It was felt, recorded, this is not up for debate. Now we know that disruption has caused many changes. Dray is the first dragon shifter anyone can remember. We have no direct records of dragon shifters, only stories as old as the Ancient War. Was only Dray affected? Or are there many more things about that day we haven’t discovered yet. And then there’s Rhysa. They are Fated. Again, this is not up for debate. However, I believe it’s possible we can connect the altered Timeline to Marhysa’s Fate.”

“What?” Rhysa and Saoirse said at the same time.

I put up a calming hand before they bombarded me with questions. “Let’s go back to what we know. They are Fated. In order for that to work, Rhysa had to be cloaked and shielded, otherwise she’d be a child. How would this powerful alliance work if she were so many years from the Age of Maturity? They wouldn’t be bonded as they are.”

Rhysa interrupted. “We know the Dregs’ existence had a hand in my timeline changing to match Dray’s.”

“Yes but why? Did this Timeline mean that Marhysa had to meet this Fate? Why is she psychically grounded in the Plane rather than dead? These same events led to your Fate, which has created one of the most perfectly balanced samhain bonds ever known. Again, we have to go back to the stories to find anything like it.”

Saoirse wavered a little. “I’d like to think my daughter still has a purpose. That she isn’t simply lost to me. What does that have to do with you?”

Rhysa spoke up. Her voice soft. “A mind lost on the Plane would need a very powerful psychic anchor to be useful.” The room was completely silent as that sank in.

Did I have a Fate too? Was this it? The idea took my breath away.

“I’ve talked to my mom twice. It’s always hard. She’s scattered and can’t stay long. Maybe your power can make a difference.”

Based on the hopeful look in Saoirse’s eyes, I had a feeling that was part of what drove her to speak out today. Maybe somewhere in the back of her mind she had hope that the most powerful psychic in generations could help bring her lost daughter home.

A very small part of me forgave her.

A very small part.

“It’s possible.”

“You’ll need a Shield,” Dray said.

After soaking in all the freedom of the last few weeks, hearing that hit me hard. “Excuse me?”

He waved his hand at Rhysa. “We have each other. At House of Axl she helped me. I needed that connection to her. I wouldn’t have been able to shift and fight and survive without her. It might be a bit presumptuous of me to think your connection to the Plane is similar to mine, but if you spend any time there, you’ll need someone at your side to keep you safe.”

Five minutes ago I stepped into the library full of power with an army at my back. I was free and had a purpose. Now I felt Fate pulling me harder and harder toward a destiny I could not yet see. And with all things Fate, there was nothing I could do to stop it.