Dark Resurrections: The Brenna Strachan Series, #3

By Hadena James

Someone has set about resurrecting the souls of the Four Horsemen. Each Horsemen is known for their hatred of Humanity and willingness to do anything to eradicate the breed. Their plan is to use infants as the vessels for the resurrected. 

With three pregnant women in her family due any day, Brenna Strachan must find out how they intend to use the infants for the resurrections. As well as discover exactly who is behind this heinous act. 

Her adversaries are doing what they can to keep her off their scent, even attacking cities using mythics to keep her busy. Can Brenna find out who it is and stop them before her own family becomes their prey?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hadena James
• Release date: May 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781513027647

Book preview

Prologue

Don’t you dare give birth in my car!  I yelled at my sister, Rachel, as she bore down with another contraction.

Drive faster!  She yelled back. 

The contractions had started less than thirty minutes ago.  I was under the impression that giving birth took hours.  It didn’t seem like we had hours.  It seemed like we had just minutes and they were fleeing like rats on a sinking ship.  Rachel had gone from oh, they’re ten minutes apart to oh shit, they are 45 seconds apart in less than five minutes.  There had been a mad dash made for the doors.  Her mate was left behind in the chaos and was now following us at breakneck speeds.  This was their first.

Just breathe, our mother coached in the back seat.

You breathe, Rachel snapped at her.

You’re doing fine.  We’ll be there in just a minute, Rach, my mother’s voice was soothing.  My sister let out a wordless cry at this suggestion.  I understood that the child had a fifty-fifty chance of having horns.  Her mate, Thomas, was not Demon, he was a Djinn.  Hence the chance that it might not.  If it did, she had my sympathy; I still wasn’t sure how our mother had managed.

Breathe Rach, deep and slow, our father told her.  My car was sitting pretty low on its springs.  We had Lucifer, Rachel, Daniel, Nick, Elise and me in the car.  My mother was the only one who weighed less than 200 pounds.

Brenna, faster! Nick yelled.

I careened around a corner, nearly flipping the SUV.  I felt the tires lift from the ground.  Nick tossed himself to the other side of the car, while swearing softly.  The tires found traction again.

Don’t kill us in the process!  Daniel scolded.

Hey, I rarely get to drive!  I defended myself. 

That is no reason to kill us all, Lucifer chided me.  I would have turned to glare at him, but I could see the hospital.  I put my foot down harder on the gas pedal.

We hit the curb with a noise that I was pretty sure meant I had just busted a tire and probably ruined a rim.  But that could wait.  Right now, I had bigger problems. 

My father rushed into action, wrenching the door open and springing the hinges.  I wasn’t sure if insurance covered things like harried grandfathers, I would have to ask.  My mother was still giving advice as she slithered out of the back.  Nick and Daniel were trying to help our sister out.

Several orderlies and a nurse arrived on the scene.  They plopped my sister into a wheelchair.  One nurse stayed behind, loitering and giving odd looks to my mother.

No, she’s not ready yet, she just looks like it, I finally told the nurse.

My mother, also nine months pregnant, had the grace to glare at me.  After a good thirty second glare, she waddled into the hospital.  I stood outside for a moment, relishing the quiet.

The silence was disrupted by the screeching of car tires.  The hospital was turning into an Elder convention.  My brother Eli and his also pregnant mate, Hannah, got out of the front seat of his car.  From the back flew Thomas, Anubis and Gabriel.  Another car was right behind them.  Ba’al was driving with Fenrir in the passenger’s seat.  From the backdoors poured the rest of my siblings; Olivia, still unmated, and Samuel with his mate, Samantha.  They looked at me.

They took her in, I shrugged unsure what other information they wanted.

Where?  Samantha asked.

Beats me, wherever they rush pregnant women, I told her.

Anubis gave a quick bark of laughter.  He shook his head and wrapped an arm around me.  As a group, we entered the hospital.

If Hannah hadn’t been waddling like my mother, we might have caught up with them.  We saw them enter an elevator.

I’m sorry, can you tell me where you took Ms. Rachel Strachan?  Fenrir asked at the desk. 

The woman typed it into her computer and frowned, I don’t have a Rachel Strachan.

She’s the whale we just brought in to give birth, I told the woman.

Oh, then she will be on the third floor.  Just follow the signs.

If Elise hears you call pregnant women whales, she’ll kill you, Hannah snickered at me.

You waddle like a penguin.  I thought whale was nice compared to what I could have said, I smiled back at her. 

As a large and unwieldy group, we walked to the elevators.  The doors opened and we all squeezed in.  I felt claws dig into my leg.  Ba’al had his hand outstretched as much as possible.  The weight limit on the elevator said 15,000 Pounds.  I took stock of the beings.

We are way over the weight limit for this thing, I said.

It’s only three fl... Hannah was interrupted by the grinding of the gears.

Damn, we are going to get stuck or plummet back to the ground, I sighed.

The gears grinded away; getting louder.  The doors opened.  As the last of us exited the elevator, there was a loud pop and it plummeted back down.  This was followed by a crash, the doors closing and an automated voice telling us to have a nice day.

That could have been bad, I said to the doors.

Nah, I can fly, Gabriel replied.  He’d been the last one out.

I don’t see anything marked ‘Pregnant Women This Way’, I told them.

It’s called obstetrics, Hannah sighed at me.

I haven’t given birth, how would I know?  I shrugged back.

Your mother has, she told me.

I wasn’t allowed at Nick or Daniel’s birth, I reminded her.

Oh, well, it’s this way, she pointed at a sign with an arrow. 

We followed it down a long corridor.  Finally, my father came into view.  He was pacing around the room.  He was also slightly glowing.  To my surprise, my mother was also in the waiting room.

Bren, you’re going to have to go in, Lucifer told me the second he saw me.  They won’t let your mother because she is also due any day.  Rachel won’t let any men in.  That leaves you.

Oh no, we can send in Olivia, I reminded him of my other sister.

Been there, done that, not happening, Olivia told me.  Your turn.

Well hell, I stomped towards the door my father was pointing at.

Carefully, I opened it and peeked inside.  My sister was in what appeared to be a torture device.  Her legs firmly closed at the knees.  She was glowing and spewing obscenities at the doctor that was trying to pry her legs apart.

Rachel?  I asked quietly.

Oh thank god!  Get over here and tell this idiot that this is not going to be like a normal birth.

I’m sure it’s going to be just like a normal birth, I lied to her.

The sonograms and ultrasounds showed horns, she gave me a look that meant nothing to me.

Ok, well, we’ll just have to work around that snafu.  Look, mom did it several times and we all have horns and she’s human, I walked over and gave Rachel my hand.

You’re right. I can do this. I just need to relax.  At this moment, I would give anything to be able to take an epidural. 

As a rule, we metabolize painkillers too fast for them to be any good to us. 

I have Chimera spit, I told her.

Really?  She perked up.

Really and I’ll share. 

I dug out the little vial and put a drop of it on her hand.  Her body instantly began to relax.  The pain subsiding as the magic whatever in Chimera saliva went to work on her pain receptors.

During the last six months, Gregorian had been to see me several times.  Each time he brought me different presents.  One had been a large container of Chimera slobber.  It worked well as a pain reliever for Elders.  I had carefully bottled it into small vials that were mobile.

Oh so much better, Rachel unlocked her knees.

Good, but it is only going to last about thirty minutes.  So if you want to give birth as painlessly as possible, I say we get to it.

Ok, breathing, Rachel took a deep breath.

I didn’t go to any of the classes with you, remember?  You’re just going to have to hold my hand and swear at me while you try to remember what to do.

Figures, she grunted.  I watched her body tense; her stomach muscles became more defined.

I see a head, the doctor informed us.

Well, if you saw anything other than that, I’d be concerned, I frowned at him to point out he wasn’t being helpful.

Another couple of big pushes and we’ll have it.

Shut up, Rachel snapped at him.

Come on Rachel.  You can do it, I cheered her.  She grabbed my hand even harder.  I felt a bone break.  I didn’t cry out or jerk away, but I really wanted to.  She pushed again.  Harder this time.

We have a baby, the doctor cheered. 

Rachel let go of my hand.  I looked at the child in horror and waited.  It cried.  I still waited.

What?  What’s wrong?  Rachel asked, noticing my face.

There isn’t a soul, I answered.

Chapter One

In the waiting room of the birthing area, I sat in a chair.  My head down, my cheeks streaked with tears.  I should have been able to see the soul of the infant.  I had enough vampiric magic stored up for that.  Yet, it hadn’t arrived.

Four hours later, Anubis had been forced into the room with the infant.  He confirmed that it was soulless.  But the soulless didn’t exist unless they were created.  There was much yelling and shouting going on.  The Overlords were all in attendance now.  Each having hysterics for different reasons.

Rachel, upon hearing that her infant didn’t have a soul, had refused it; treated it as though it were something vile and unwholesome.  I understood her horror, I had felt it myself.

She had cried and screamed and thrown anything she could get her hands on.  I had left when she had stabbed me with her clawed hands.  Lucifer and Eli had gone in and restrained her.  She was now babbling quietly in her hospital bed.

I wasn’t sure how I felt.  Sick was pretty close, but not quite.  I was angry, disappointed, horrified, and there was some part of me that told me I was responsible.  How much of Anubis’s power was I carrying around with me?  Was it enough to devour the soul of an infant?  I was pretty sure the answer was no, but pretty sure wasn’t certain.

Fenrir sat down next to me.  He put his arm around me, pulling me into him.  He whispered in my hair.

There’s still time.  It could take as long as twenty-four hours for the soul to form, it’s happened in the past, he said gently.

If it doesn’t form after that?

The child will die.  You cannot live without a soul, he stood up and rejoined the discussion.  I went back to staring at the floor.

How many times?  I suddenly asked Fenrir, loud enough to get the attention of the entire room.  Their eyes turned to me.

Enough, Fenrir answered.

Enough what?  Lucifer inquired.

Times when an infant’s soul did not begin to form immediately upon birth, Fen countered.

James didn’t, Morgana suddenly piped up.  Remember?  At the time we thought it was because he was a vampire.

It happens only with half-breeds, Kagutsuchi offered.

That’s true, Anubis jumped in.  Everyone seemed to sigh with relief.

It is a fatal condition, Vishnu said sadly.

Only if it doesn’t start to form within twenty-four hours of being born, Anubis answered again.  Alex had it too.

That’s true, it took about ten hours before Alex’s soul began to form, Fenrir told us.

Alex isn’t a half-breed.  Kagutsuchi moaned.

Actually, he is, just not his parents.  It’s in his lineage, Fenrir answered.  Alex’s mother is a mixed Lycan, but there is also a touch of Gargoyle in there.  They only produced a couple of children and all of them died save one.  The Gargoyle eventually committed suicide by feeding himself to a dragon.

I remember that, Leviathan said.  That’s been eons though.

Yes and Alex’s birth was only a couple of centuries ago.

Ah, yes, Anubis furrowed his brow as much as possible.  As I remember, all of their children were born soulless, only one ever produced a soul.  The son, Xander, only produced one heir, when it lived, he did the same as his father and fed himself to a dragon.

So a soulless child is not the end of the world?  Thomas asked.

Maybe not, Levi said.  I snuck a look at my father, he was looking better.

We have to wait to be sure, Anubis cautioned, and if this one is soulless, that doesn’t mean you and Rachel should give up.  It seems half-breeds have harder times developing souls.

The Fatal Birth Defect you guys whisper about?  I asked.

Yes, Lucifer nodded solemnly.

How often does it actually happen then?  Not just soulless, but never develop?

Only about 1% of infants who do not begin to develop their soul immediately upon birth, ever get one, Anubis sighed.

Not very comforting, I took hold of my mother’s hand.  Suddenly, I had this overwhelming fear that her and Hannah would be forced to suffer through the same fate as Rachel.  Would my unborn sister, already named Amanda Renee, be soulless fifteen minutes after birth?

Luc, it was Sonnellion’s voice that attracted all the attention now.

Yes?  Lucifer asked.

There is another reason for the infant not to develop a soul.  He hung his head, resurrection.

Resurrection?  I frowned at him.

Resurrection requires either a weak soul or no soul.  An infant without a soul is the perfect vessel for a resurrection, Sonnellion responded.

So what?  We are going to have to stand guard around the child to make sure someone doesn’t resurrect a soul into it?  I frowned harder.

I think it would be best, he looked at me.  We’ll have to choose the guard carefully.

Make sure there are no vampires or anyone untrustworthy in it, I nodded just as solemnly.

I would suggest Lucifer, Levi, Mammon, Elijah and Olivia, Sonnellion said.

In the five months since Sonnellion’s unexpected reappearance into the world, he had been working at restoring relationships with his brothers.  And to some degree with the rest of his family.  This was complicated by the fact that they were all still living at my house.  We spent a lot of time together and got on each other’s nerves.  Their houses were all still under construction.  The hard winter had meant lots of building delays.  There had been more snow in January then in the past two years put together.  February had been just as rough.  Now it was March and lead grey skies and below freezing temperatures were still a threat.

There had also been the hasty construction of a stable.  My Uncle Levi, with the best of intentions, had indeed given me a unicorn for Christmas.  I had named him Stargazer, because that seemed like the right sort of name for a unicorn.  I was waiting for spring, real spring, to get horseback riding lessons, since I had never learned.

Chapter Two

With Sonnellion’s suggestion in mind, we all packed up.  My mother, my father, my sister and the recommended uncles stayed.  The rest headed back to my house.

I stared blankly at my car.  The tire was flat.  The rim was beyond damaged.  And for some reason, I had gotten stranded as a result.  After several minutes of standing in the cold, I meandered back into the waiting room I had vacated earlier.

Bren?  My father asked as I walked back in.

My car is in need of a tow truck and everyone just sort of left me, so I’m back, I told him taking a seat next to my mom.

It’ll be good for you, Olivia smiled at me.

Me or you?  I frowned at her.

Both, she answered quickly.

Great, I sighed.

We are going to see if we can help them develop the soul, Levi told me.

How?  I looked at him suspiciously.

By holding and cuddling the infant, he looked at me like it was one of those stupid questions.

Oh, does the infant have a name?

No, Rachel is holding off on naming him until we are sure he is going to live, my mother spoke quietly.

That seems silly.  They will need something to put... I stopped talking and looked at the floor.  This was as close to a family tragedy as we had had in recent years, except maybe my Maturing.

I got up and went to see Rachel.  She was in bed, her eyes closed.  Thomas in a chair beside her.

Is she sleeping?  I whispered.

No, Rachel answered back, just thinking.

What are you going to name him?

Should I go ahead with that?  She turned, opened her eyes and looked at me.

Yeah, I think you should.  All babies need names.  Hell, I named a unicorn.

I don’t think... Thomas started.

You’re right, all babies should have names.  We agreed upon Trent Raymond Bevor.  Bevor was pronounced with the v sounding like a strange sf.  It was also Thomas’s last name.

Not naming him Strachan?  I gave her a wink.

No, we’ll give him Thomas’s last name, our parents will understand.  His might not.

A last name in the world of Elders was chaotic to say the least.  Our father didn’t have one.  He had no need for one, like Cher.  We had our mother’s last name.  My brother Eli had one child already; the young girl carried our family last name.  But her mother, Hannah, had two last names, neither of them Strachan.

Girls get Strachan, boys get Bevor, Thomas smiled at Rachel.

Sounds like a plan.  Our father and uncles intend to hand your wee one around cuddling and swooning over it for the next couple of hours.  They should have his name, I used it to excuse myself of their loving looks. 

Most Elders were not happily mated.  My parents are one of the few exceptions and apparently so were Rachel and Thomas.  Eli loved Hannah, but it wasn’t romantic.  Samuel loved Samantha, but again, not romantically.  After a few dozen centuries together you either learn to love your mate at least as a friend or learn to hate them.  Eli and Samuel had picked up on that from our uncles and had made friends with their mates.

Trent Something Bevor, I announced coming back into the waiting room.

Huh?  Levi looked at me.

The baby has a name, it is Trent Bevor, she told me his middle name, but I forgot it.  Richard, Ricardo, Roland, Roy, I don’t know, it started with an ‘R’, I told everyone.

Trent, my mother rolled the name over her tongue.  I can live with that.

Thomas says they are naming girls Strachan and boys Bevor. 

Good plan, Livi smiled at me.  She was holding the infant.  He was swaddled in a blue blanket with a green cap on his head.  She passed him to me.

For a second, I didn’t know what to do with him.  He was tiny and wrinkly and orange.  His skin clashed with the cap, so I pulled it off, revealing his horns.  They were already longer than mine by about an inch. 

Baby Trent opened his eyes for a second.  He had the same lighter colored irises that I had.  It created an instant bond.  It was a genetic fluke carried by me, Sonnellion and now, baby Trent, my nephew.  I kissed the top of his head.

Wow, Mammon said.  I looked, there it was, a soul.  Not much of a soul to be sure, but a soul was a soul no matter how small, weak and tiny.  It drifted for another second and entered Trent.  He yawned as though it were exhausting.

Problem solved, Mammon announced.

Put his cap back on, my mother told me.

It clashes with his skin, I told her.

That may be, but it’s there to protect the fontanel on his head.

Whatever that is, I looked at her, eyebrows pulled together.

It’s the soft spot on the top of his head, my mother sighed at me.

Oh, Demons have those?  I asked.

All babies, even Demon babies have them, she said to me.

Oh, since I hadn’t known that, I very carefully replaced the cap on the baby’s head.  It doesn’t look like much protection.

It provides more than you think and when you have children.  My