A Dawn of Strength Read online

  After two minutes, she lifted the sheet off him. Caleb propped himself up and we both stared down at his chest. Gone were the dark shadows, and in their place were light scars where his skin had just closed over. My eyes fell on a pile of bloody bullets gathered up in a ball of tissue next to Corrine. I shuddered. “Thank God those are out of you.”

  “Now let’s finish the rest,” the witch said.

  Caleb rolled over on his stomach as Corrine repeated the same procedure on his back and shoulders. Time seemed to pass quicker this time. Perhaps it was Corrine finding her stride and feeling more confident with the procedure, but it felt like less than ten minutes before she lifted the sheet again and showed me the bullets she’d removed.

  “There,” Corrine said, smiling. “You’re a new man, Caleb.”

  I handed Caleb his shirt as he sat up. After looking himself over, he began buttoning it up.

  “Thank you, Corrine,” he said.

  Corrine reached up and ruffled his hair. “Don’t mention it.” She threw me a wink.

  Even though her hands were still bloody, I threw my arms around her and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”

  “Off you go now,” she said after returning my kiss. “Ibrahim and I have some catching up to do. We were unconscious for God knows how long.”

  As we walked toward the exit of the witch’s home, we passed Ibrahim in the corridor, still wearing his navy pajamas.

  “Bye, Ibrahim,” I said, giving him a hug. “We’re heading out, but Corrine wants you. She’s in the spell room.”

  “Try to stay out of trouble this time, Rose,” he said, rolling his eyes and closing the door behind us.

  I looped my arm through Caleb’s as we stepped out into the courtyard and made our way toward the woods. “I was going to suggest we stop at my parents’ place for breakfast. What do you think?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  To speed up our journey there, Caleb ended up carrying me again. I’d grown so used to feeling the bumps beneath his skin even when he was wearing a shirt, it was odd to feel his shoulders and chest so smooth.

  A delicious smell of fresh pancakes drifted through the kitchen window as we arrived up on the veranda. I guessed my mother had been expecting me to show up for breakfast. But I was surprised by the state she was in as she opened the front door for us. She looked… exhausted. She had dark rings beneath her eyes, the tip of her nose was red and her eyelids were puffy.

  “Mom?” I asked, taken aback. I reached my arms around her neck. “What’s wrong?”

  She hugged me tight before stepping aside and allowing Caleb and me entrance. She still didn’t answer even as she led us into the kitchen. My eyes fell on my father, who was sitting at the table. He also looked exhausted.

  “You two look awful,” I said, looking from one to the other. “What’s the matter?”

  “Take a seat,” my father said. His voice sounded even deeper than usual.

  Caleb and I drew up a seat opposite him as my mom placed a tray in the center of the table containing a jug of blood, a flask of orange juice, and four glasses. She reached for the counter and placed cutlery and a plate of berry pancakes in front of me.

  “What?” I asked, my patience wearing thin.

  My mother sat next to my father as they both exchanged glances.

  “Eat something first,” my mom said, looking at me with concern.

  Although the last thing I felt like doing was eating, I obeyed her and quickly finished the plate of pancakes. Caleb had downed a couple of glasses of blood by the time I’d finished.

  “Now?” I asked, my eyes wide with question.

  My mother heaved a sigh as my father cleared his throat. “Your mother would have preferred to not tell you this yet, but I thought it best we stop hiding things… We received news about your brother last night.”

  I leapt up from my seat. “And?”

  “He was caught on camera attacking a human,” my father replied heavily. “It’s been broadcast everywhere, all over mainstream media.”

  I felt like throwing up. “What? Where is he?”

  “The footage was taken in Chile. But that was a while ago. We don’t know where he is now.”

  I gripped the edge of the table so hard my knuckles whitened.

  “There’s also something else we should have told you before,” he said. “But please sit down, Rose.” Caleb guided me back down into my chair before my father continued. “Before he left, there was an accident… he killed Yasmine. That was the catalyst, I believe, for his decision to leave.”

  “Yasmine,” I gasped, clasping a hand over my mouth.

  It was so much to take in at once, my head was reeling. My father reached across the table and squeezed my hand. It took a few moments before I could compose myself enough to speak again. “What… What’s going to happen to him? He can’t take animal blood… what choice does he even have except to kill?”

  “Either he’ll decide he wants to turn back into a human and make his way to The Shade, or he’ll have to find another way to overcome his nature. But he left us a note requesting that we don’t follow him.” My father looked at me pointedly. “So don’t even think about trying to escape this place again to look for him.”

  I still couldn’t believe this was my brother they were talking about. It seemed like a different person. I respected my parents’ request that I not watch the footage because quite frankly, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle it. Hearing about it was one thing, but seeing it would be entirely another.

  I sat with my parents for the next hour, attempting to recover from the shock and keep my breakfast in my stomach.

  When there were no more questions I could think to ask, my parents stood up.

  “You two can stay here if you want,” my father said, “but your mother and I need to pay a visit to Mona and Kiev now.”

  I didn’t feel like staying in the apartment. It reminded me too much of my brother and felt so empty without him here. So Caleb and I left through the front door along with my parents. When we reached the forest floor, we parted ways.

  Caleb and I walked along in silence for a while as I tried to find a way to drag my mind away from my brother. It would be easy to allow myself to worry and stress about him all day, but I realized I had to adopt the attitude my father had. I had to believe in Ben’s ability to survive and in his strength of will to make the right decision even in the darkest hour.

  The problem was, I didn’t feel I even knew this new Ben. I hadn’t been there to see him after he’d first turned.

  I just had to pray that he’d find himself again.

  Caleb squeezed my hand. “For what it’s worth,” he said, “I noticed the strength in your brother from the little time I spent with him. I agree with your father. I believe he’ll find his way.”

  “But what if he doesn’t?” I asked, my voice constricted as I spoke my worst fear before I could stop myself.

  Caleb stopped walking with me and held my head in his hands. “Don’t fear what-ifs, Rose. You’ll drive yourself insane.”

  I took a deep breath as he let go of me and we continued walking. He was right, of course.

  Determined to make a more concerted effort to change the subject, I said, “Let’s go to the sunny beach. It’s the weekend and there will be people there I’d like to introduce you to.”

  I was right in my guess that the beach would be packed. It usually was on Saturday mornings. Humans liked to soak up the sun before it got too hot. Vampires often went along too and sat beneath wide umbrellas.

  As the forest ground gave way to sand, I cast my eyes up and down the shore. Sticking to the shade created by the trees that lined the beach so the sun wouldn’t touch Caleb, we headed toward the crowds. The first people we came across were Abby and Erik. They both sat opposite each other on deck chairs, covered by large umbrellas. They appeared to be deep in conversation, but Abby leapt up as soon as she saw me.

  “Hey, Rose! How are you?”

/>   I swallowed hard, trying to make my smile appear genuine. “I’m fine.” I tugged gently on Caleb’s arm. “I’m just introducing Caleb to people who haven’t met him yet. This is Abby and Erik, Caleb.”

  “Hi, Caleb,” she said.

  “Hi,” Erik said, turning around to face us.

  “Nice to meet you,” Caleb replied.

  We left Abby and Erik to their conversation and continued moving. My eyes fell on a sight that brought a full grin to my face. Griffin and Becky, on a sheltered deck chair about ten feet away. She was sitting on top of him, her legs spread either side of his waist as they made out. I was cautious about interrupting them, but Griffin noticed us before we could back away.

  “Hey, Rose.” He smiled sheepishly, wiping shiny pink lip gloss from his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

  Becky hurried toward me and hugged me. “I missed you!” she squealed. “We all have.”

  “I missed you guys, too,” I chuckled.

  “What happened to you?” she asked.

  I groaned internally. At some point, I knew I would have to repeat the whole story to everyone but I wasn’t in the mood to do it now.

  “Honestly, Becky, it’s such a long story. We should all get together one of these nights around a bonfire and I’ll tell you everything in one go.”

  She looked disappointed, but nodded. She glanced up at Caleb.

  “This is Caleb… my boyfriend.”

  “Oh, hi, Caleb.”

  Caleb was already acquainted with Griffin so, after exchanging a few more words with the couple, we continued moving.

  Next, we reached a larger cluster of deck chairs. Among the familiar faces were Anna sitting with baby Kiev, Ariana, Jason, Kyle, Claudia and Ashley. As we approached closer and I got a better look at Anna’s older children, Ariana and Jason, I gasped. They’d turned into vampires too.

  They all turned round to face us as we walked up to them. They hugged me one by one, and I officially introduced Caleb. I stopped in front of Ariana and Jason, staring at them.

  “You turned! How come?”

  “It was because of our blood,” Ariana said. “My parents were scared we might have the same type of blood as yours and be at risk of being targeted by the black witches.”

  “Wow… How are you finding it?”

  Jason and Ariana exchanged glances.

  “It’s okay, I guess. We’ve gotten used to it better now,” Ariana replied.

  “Thanks to me,” Claudia blurted out with a smirk.

  My gaze fell on the short blonde vampire.

  “It’s true.” Anna chuckled. “Ariana and Jason went to stay with Claudia and Yuri immediately after turning.”

  “I did such a good job with them,” Claudia continued, “Yuri’s really having to scrape the barrel now for reasons why we can’t have a baby.”

  I giggled. This was news to me that Claudia even wanted a baby. They’d both have to turn back into humans like my aunt and uncle.

  We spent another fifteen minutes or so walking along the beach, greeting all those who were resting in the shade before we reached the end of the beach and turned to walk back into the forest. But just before we left the borders of the sand, there was a thudding of footsteps behind us.

  I turned to see a group of a dozen human girls—most of them classmates of mine—racing toward us. They were all in swimwear and dripping wet, having just climbed out of the sea.

  “So the rumors are true,” Silvia announced, narrowing her eyes on me. “Rose finally got herself a guy.”

  All eyes fixed on Caleb as they looked him over from head to foot.

  “Oh, my.” Jessica winked at me. “Good choice, Rose. He’s a real hottie.”

  I giggled at the bemused look on Caleb’s face as he was being examined by my teenage girl friends like an exhibit.

  “His name is Caleb,” I said.

  “Well, if you ever grow tired of Caleb, please send him my way,” Lucy gushed.

  I reached my arms around Caleb’s neck and kissed his rough cheek. “You’ll be waiting an eternity, Lucy,” I whispered, though I spoke the words more to Caleb than Lucy. He chuckled softly.

  I managed to disperse the crowd after Caleb endured a further ten minutes of their banter. We moved back into the darkness, walking along in mostly silence as we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the forest. I could see Caleb’s head was still spinning. The Shade was so different from where he was used to living for the past God knew how many decades of his life. He was still taking it all in.

  We reached the clearing in front of the Port. I led him toward it and stopped just before the jetty.

  “You remember what happened here?” I asked quietly.

  His jaw tensed. “How could I forget?”

  I walked along the wooden floorboards and stopped right at the end of the jetty. My stomach clenched just at the remembrance of that night he’d left me, the night I was so sure I would never see him again. “The last words you spoke to me here, that night… You said you didn’t belong in my world.”

  He cleared his throat as he stood next to me. Reaching for my hands, he held them gently and gazed into my eyes. “I’m still not sure that I belong in your world, princess.”

  “Then whose world do you belong in?”

  He furrowed his brows, then averted his gaze to the ocean. Letting go of my hands, he lowered himself to the floor and sat down, his feet grazing the waves. I sat next to him, studying the conflicted expression on his face.

  “I suppose,” he said finally, “since the night I turned into a vampire all those decades ago, I haven’t been used to the feeling of belonging. Every place I stayed was just somewhere I could survive.”

  I swallowed hard. The distant look in his eyes was tearing me up.

  “I hope we can change that, Caleb,” I managed. “I really do.”

  He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me onto his lap. Facing forward, my back against his chest, I felt him let out a quiet sigh against my neck. We fell into silence as we both gazed out at the dark waves.

  After half an hour had passed, I was about to suggest we get up when Caleb pointed toward the ocean. Easing me off him, he stood up and stared into the distance.

  “What?” I asked.

  “A submarine is coming our way.”

  Excitement and apprehension coursed through me at once.

  Ben! Could he have decided to return?

  Standing as close to the edge of the jetty as I could without falling off, I strained to see what Caleb was looking at. Only once the vessel came within twenty feet of us did I finally spot its shadow beneath the water.

  I held my breath as the black submarine surfaced and, a few minutes later, the hatch opened. A dark-haired head emerged, and I was about to scream out my brother’s name, but as the head raised fully, I gasped.

  “Uncle?”

  Chapter 7: Micah

  I remained hiding among the rocks at the base of the castle long after my wolf form had disappeared. Without my thick coat, I was shivering in the snow, but I just couldn’t bring myself to return to the boat. Not after hearing Rhys mention leaving for The Shade.

  After his conversation with the female died down, I kept my attention sharp, hoping that he might start up another conversation and I’d be able to glean more information. But hours passed and, although there were other conversations, none of them were of interest.

  I huddled into a crack between two boulders in an attempt to at least escape the biting wind. It worked, but the icy damp continued to seep into my bones. It was torture, waiting for endless hours in the snow. Once I’d lost all feeling in my limbs, I suspected that if I wanted to survive, I’d have to return to the boat to warm up, at least for the time being. But then night fell outside the island’s boundary and I turned into a wolf again, immune from the cold.

  Yet another night was spent straining to hear anything that could give me a clue as to Rhys’ plans. But again, I failed. When I did hear Rhys speak, it was usually rela
ted to his injury. It wasn’t until I’d turned back into my human form again and, in the early-morning hours, was close to being forced to return to the boat that I finally heard what I’d been waiting for.

  “Arielle,” he murmured. “Gather together the vampires. I’m ready.”

  “Should I give them any explanation, or would you like to do that yourself?” a female voice asked.

  There was a pause before Rhys answered, “You can just tell them that the time has come for us to take over The Shade. I’ll give them more information if and when required.”

  There was the sound of a door clicking open and another female voice spoke—Julisse’s. “The rest of our witches have just arrived through the gate. They’re waiting in the apartment below.”

  “Good,” Rhys said. “Isolde, take one last look at my palms before we leave, will you?”

  “Yes,” another voice replied. “The balm is all off. Your powers should now be as they were before.”

  “So, if all goes according to plan, we should be ready to start the final ritual in three days. Once I’ve dealt with Mona and we’ve secured the island, Julisse and Arielle will head up choosing those with the choicest blood. We’ll perform the blood rites for three nights in a row.”

  “The third night, I’ll bring Lilith to the island,” Isolde said.

  “And by the fourth day,” Rhys continued, his voice almost trembling with anticipation, “Lilith will be gone.”

  “Should we not have someone stationed in The Sanctuary to make sure Lilith didn’t sacrifice her life for nothing?” Julisse asked.

  Isolde scoffed. “Trust me, Julisse, even in the human realm, we’ll all know if it has been successful.”

  “Our dear friends in The Sanctuary won’t know what hit them,” Rhys said quietly. “The wave of rage will sweep through their every home and street, until every witch not aligned with the Ancient’s cause is either punished or resurrected to the true path of our kind.” Rhys paused, letting out a dry chuckle. “It’s easy to argue about what the Ancients might or might not have wanted. It’s easy to squabble over the texts the Ancients left for us. Quite another thing entirely to be standing in front of one and still trying to deny their instructions.”