The Breaking of Bonds: Bad Blood, #2

By Alina Popescu

As vampires fight over vengeance and freedom, a new breed of predator emerges

A human sacrifice throws vampires of two worlds, trueborn and baseborn, into an escalating conflict. The trueborns stubbornly hunt for vengeance, pushed by Hesrah's desire to avenge her human best friend, Alexa. The baseborns hesitate between rallying to those challenging Ankhsis's rule and obeying the trueborns. 

As turmoil rocking vampire worlds surges, something emerges from the portal between Earth and Ankhsis. Neither human nor vampire, this new being will either damn them all or be their race's most powerful weapon.

Ankhsis is faced with a dire decision: embrace this new predator or put it down. In the end, who is guilty? Who will pay? Will anyone survive its wrath?

The Breaking of Bonds is the second book in the gritty urban fantasy series Bad Blood. If you like vampires with a twist, gripping characters, and fast-paced adventure, then you will love Alina Popescu's second part of this edge-of-your-seat story.

Buy The Breaking of Bonds now to return to this innovative and enthralling vampire world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alina Popescu
• Release date: May 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386895589

Alina Popescu

Alina Popescu is an author, traveler, and coffee addict. She has published several paranormal, science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary series, many of them having reached the Amazon bestseller lists for their genres. Her stories often fall under the LGBTQ fiction and romance subgenres. Born and raised in Romania, Alina has been writing for most of her life. She’s an avid consumer of stories in all their forms. She’s fascinated by myths, folk tales, and other creators’ visions of the future. She finds her inspiration in books of all genres, movies, and the occasional TV shows or anime binges. Alina is a proud geek and needs her fast internet connection and assortment of gadgets more than she needs air.

Book preview

by ALINA POPESCU

BAD BLOOD I

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. In other words, if you think this is about you, it probably isn’t! But, as an Internet meme says, if the shoe fits, then lace it up and wear it proudly!

No vampires, humans, animals, or other living things have been hurt in the process of writing this book. My friends, my family, and my sanity might have suffered, along with my dog, but he’s the one who’ll forgive me the fastest.

Warning! This urban fantasy novel contains a few sexual situations, some of them explicit, and occasional swearing. As vampires are involved, there are some action/fighting scenes, and situations when someone drinks someone else’s blood

The Breaking of Bonds

Bad Blood Trilogy, Book II

Second Edition

Copyright © 2015 Alina Popescu

All rights reserved.

Character design by M.P. Revita

Cover design by 8th floor studio

To those who fear change but still embrace it

Table of Contents

Title Page

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

Meet Alina Popescu

Acknowledgments

I assume you have read the first book in this trilogy, as you should! If you have, then you know my acknowledgments tend to get long at times. Well, not to worry, I will do my best to keep it short this time! I might fail, but I promise to try.

First off, I owe a big thank you to my family and friends. Ever since my writing adventure started, they’ve been there for me, supporting and encouraging me, and sometimes bringing me back from the edge of despair. They’ve all done the serious bit, while my ever-crazy dog from hell, Ares, was in charge of the entertainment /driving me crazy in the first place bit.

I would also like to thank my readers and fans, especially those in my street team group, for always cheering me on. Your support and enthusiasm are what drives me forward and what makes me want to write more every day.

A special thank you to Alina, Alina, VL, Lily, Patricia, Frosty, Ioana and Adi for their help in getting this project completed. I love you all, I have no idea how you put up with me, but thanks for always reading my stories, for believing in me, even when I stopped, and for always knowing how to give me one more nudge to keep me on the straight and narrow.

I have a lot more to say, but I am really trying hard to stop myself before I write acknowledgements that are longer than the novel itself! If I’ve missed anyone or you feel you’re not included in the categories I’ve mentioned—family, friends, readers, fans—you probably are and you haven’t realized it. Or you’re not, but I suggest you act smug enough to believe you were! No, really, you probably were included.

Prologue

The unforgiving lava ate away at my sanity. I cried, screamed, and swore all at once. I didn’t quite know how, as it choked me, making breathing impossible. My lungs, throat, mouth, lips, everything burned. It felt as if I was walking through a desert, with a sand storm hitting me from every direction. I should have been dead by now. Maybe I already was, and this was what hell felt like. Permanent torture, not just a passing phase. If pain and eternal torment were the purpose, then I could understand this constant attack on the very core of my being. The only part I couldn’t quite grasp, regardless of how long I tried to analyze it, was why the pain coming from inside was so much worse than this ocean of fire I felt surrounding me but couldn’t see.

Anger surged, my heart shattered, yet that moment when I’d seen Louis doing nothing to save me, that was when it had all become clear to me, in a little twisted trick life had decided to play on me: I truly loved him. I loved Louis with all the depth and power I was capable of. How short a time I’d known him did not seem to matter. Nor did his betrayal. He’d seen me being fed to the wolves and didn’t move a finger to save me, yet all I wanted was for him to come pull me out of this sea of misery and hold me. Just hold me and tell me he regretted his choice. Once again, I faced the same resolution: the limits I never wanted tested again after being cheated on, lied to and then dumped, they hadn’t gotten any better. I still allowed myself to care for someone completely, accepting all their flaws and forgiving all their mistakes.

If I’d heard Louis say the words I craved for, the pain inside would have vanished; I would have found the strength to escape this liquid fire drowning me and once safe, I would have dealt with Anthony. Anthony… The bastard who’d dragged me into the vampire world, treated me as his property, who had threatened my friend and then forced her to turn me into a vampire, just so he could test a theory. He’d thrown me into the portal to Ankhsis, knowing I had no chance of survival. And Louis had let it happen. Why was I even trying to survive this torment?

Chapter I

Hesrah

HESRAH EMERGED FROM the portal on the Earth’s side in broad daylight. That part of Juliana Park was secluded enough, but it was a sunny day and there were plenty of people about, although most of them clustered around the small beach.

You cannot keep coming and going with no ounce of caution, Hesrah. People will see the portal. Anukh grabbed her arm when she sidestepped and walked past him, trying to get to the car waiting for her.

Hesrah, he yelled, his stony façade cracking.

Hesrah had never in her life heart Anukh raise his voice, but other than a minute flinch, she didn’t react. She got into the car and calmly waited for him to follow.

What does the council want and why couldn’t they wait a little longer? she asked when he started driving.

They have been waiting for a week. They need to be heard.

But she could show up on either end. I have to be there!

Hesrah, I don’t think there is anything left of her to emerge on either side.

That’s not true,’ she shouted, her eyes tearing up. You have no idea anyway, I asked. The portal would either reject her on the spot or let her in, which it did. If it had rejected her after entry, it would have set her on fire. We would have seen her burn, there would be ashes."

No one has ever been stuck within the portal. Maybe her death was too quick for you to see it. Maybe, because of her unstable state, there just aren’t any traces, Anukh said, turning to watch her as she planted her legs firmly onto the car floor and crossed her arms. Her mouth was set in a tight line and she stubbornly glared the road ahead, refusing to look at him.

"Whatever you say. I believe, and my mother backs me on this, that we have to make sure someone is there when… if she makes it to either side."

The portal is well guarded. And you have been going back and forth every hour, on the hour. You can take the time to see the High Council.

She stopped protesting. She was already in the car taking her to see the trueborn High Council, the esteemed representatives of Ankhsis, which oversaw the actions of vampires on Earth. Trueborn of Ankhsis or baseborn of this realm, they the council oversaw all beings who fed on human blood. Great job they did at that, she thought. They’d let Anthony, well-known for his hate of trueborns, plot and abduct powerful vampires at will, including Hesrah. He’d forced Hesrah turn her human best friend, Alexa, then he’d thrown her into the portal. The part she could not come to terms with was her missing Louis’ deceit entirely. The trueborns had trusted him and they’d shared all their secrets and knowledge with him. When the ultimate trial arose… Louis had taken the enemy’s side. He’d fooled her. She’d been convinced he loved Alexa. Yet he casually watched as Anthony drained her. And when Hesrah had been forced to feed Alexa her own blood, hoping it would keep her safe from the portal, he again couldn’t be asked to help, could he?

A week had passed with no sign of Alexa. With the exception of a very small group, they’d all decided she was dead and they’d best move on to more pressing matters, just like the members of the council, who only cared about their reports and dealing with Anthony and Louis. They were both long gone and, judging by who had won every round so far, they would stay hidden until they decided there was something else they wanted. The council was a sham, a useless administrative body to make trueborns, those on Earth and on Ankhsis alike, feel safe and in control.

They had no safety and no control to offer. They lacked basic knowledge about how things worked on Earth and on Ankhsis. They hid themselves behind a fictional safety given by the big lie that the portals would only open to the trueborn. Well, they could say whatever they liked, Alexa was not dead. Hesrah knew it, felt it in her soul. Alexa was trapped in that portal and she would emerge unharmed on one side or the other, sooner or later. And then they’d all see they lived in a fantasy world where their home was safe from all harm.

The car stopped on the driveway of an old mansion on the outskirts of Amsterdam. The council’s headquarters… There would only be three of them present, they would never be caught in larger groups at the same location. Paranoid as they were, one wouldn’t guess they’d be so easily fooled by some baseborns.

Anhubis, the head of the High Council, was there of course, with his smug look and his very human appearance. Jerk, Hesrah thought.

Welcome, Hesrah, thank you for taking the time to see us, he said in a honeyed voice.

I didn’t take the time, I had to come to stop you from pestering me with the urgency of your puny matters, she replied in an equally sweetened tone.

Now, now, Hesrah. I know your friend is what matters most to you right now, but there are other pressing and far more important issues that we need to deal with. Anukh put his arm on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.

You’re all quite happy with your delusions, aren’t you? she grunted back, all sweetness gone. There is nothing more important than what has happened to her.

She’s dead, get over it.

Hesrah smirked. Anhubis finally showed his true colors.

One human is not as important as a horde of baseborns trying to undermine us, he said, sighing.

You know, Anhubis, I can never understand how the least smart of you gets to be the head of the council. I guess stupidity is treasured here on Earth.

Choose your words wisely, Hesrah, or I’ll make sure you go back to Ankhsis and are never allowed back. His face hardened, his upper lip twitching.

It pleased her to see him upset. Too bad the Inner Sanctum is not under your command. But, please, indulge me, what other word, apart from ‘stupid’, would you use for someone who cannot understand that the moment she emerges from the portal, our reality will be forever altered?

She won’t. Now let’s get inside, it’s time for us to share what we know and for you to answer a few questions.

She could feel her fangs touching her tongue. She would have loved to slit his throat and see that all-knowing blood of his gush out and ruin his perfectly tailored suit. Unfortunately, it would have been pointless. He was close-minded, but not a threat, and she needed the information they had. When Alexa was finally safe, she would deal with Anthony and Louis and whoever else was responsible for Hesrah being forced to end her friend’s human life. Dead or alive, Alexa was no longer human. And Hesrah knew Alexa had never asked to be anything other than a normal human being. The only thing that diminished Hesrah’s guilt was the thought that, if Alexa was alive, she’d now be a first generation baseborn. On top of that, she’d have survived Ankhsis’ portal. Other than Louis, no one on Earth could match her new power. And between the two of them, they’d crush their enemies.

Anhubis led Anukh and Hesrah to a dark conference room. He turned the lights on and asked them to sit down.

I assume you know who Louis truly is, he said, looking at her intently.

Yes, I do, he shared a lot about himself while we were investigating the abductions, Hesrah said, giving him a small nod.

We believe that has a lot to do with him being involved with Anthony in this whole mess. They hate us all for what Magnus did, Anhubis said and shrugged.

Yes, that’s the most plausible motive.

Anukh kept fussing in his chair. He opened his mouth to say something but then changed his mind. He got up and started pacing up and down the room, a weary and troubled look on his face.

I would like to talk to Louis when we find him. This is so unlike him, he eventually mumbled.

Yet he did it just the same, she replied, a little edge to her voice, her hands closing into tight fists. Just the thought of Louis made her angry. Even angrier than thinking of Anthony. She had seen him drain Alexa, but she already knew Anthony was scum. Louis, she had trusted him, she had been fooled by him. Allowing all that to happen to the woman he supposedly loved with without trying to stop it was just as bad as doing it himself. If Alexa was indeed dead, they were both equally guilty.

I know, dear. Don’t you think I know? But I’ve also known Louis for centuries. I was there after Magnus left, torn up by his guilt. I watched over Louis as he mourned the loss of his friends and the loss of his maker. I observed him try to make sense of the new world vampires of all kinds had to face. We’ve been friends ever since, I’d like to think. I am sorry, something is not right. And until I hear it from Louis’s own mouth, I won’t believe he had any part in it! His frown deepened as he crossed his arms over his chest and spread his legs, pushing his upper body forward.

A beautiful speech. His trust in Louis was commendable. Hesrah had however been there to see it play out. And there wasn’t any explanation for what he had allowed to happen. She was growing impatient; she wanted to return to the portal, so she decided she needed to push them to finally share their information with her.

What is it that you have discovered that needed my immediate attention?

Anhubis took out an envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket and threw it on the table. She hurriedly opened it and found a few photos inside. Louis, strapped down to a chair, all bloody and beaten. Good for him!

What is this? she asked, looking at Anhubis from under knitted eyebrows.

One of our baseborn friends—we still have a few of those—followed Anthony after the events in Juliana Park. He managed to send these over before being caught.

Do you know where these were taken?

Yes, but they are long gone.

Why would Anthony do this to his partner in crime? she asked, tilting her head.

Gods know, Anukh said. Maybe they were never partners. Maybe he found out who about Louis’s true history.

Can you find them again? Or do I have to bring an Inner Sanctum squad over here?

Don’t you dare, Anhubis said in a thundering voice, pointing a threatening finger at her. The Inner Sanctum will not meddle on Earth. I will find them again.

Make sure you let me know the moment you do, Hesrah said, her eyes boring into him.

Won’t you be too busy guarding the portals, waiting for your precious human friend?

His mocking smirk, more so than his sarcastic words, got to her and in a blink of an eye her fist raced through the air, connecting with his face. As he fell to the ground, she lunged and got on top of him, her fangs piercing the skin of his neck. Her nostrils flared at the spicy cologne he was wearing and she managed to squeeze a few drops of his blood before Anhubis threw her off of him. The fight would have surely escalated if Anukh hadn’t stepped in to stop them.

Have you lost your minds? he hissed, a deep frown line marring his forehead. Anhubis, you are the head of the High Council. Surely you can tell how ill-advised being inconsiderate towards humans is. And you, Hesrah. You are a part of the Inner Sanctum and your mother’s daughter. You should both be ashamed.

When they moved away from each other, Anukh, with a half-sad, half-disgusted smile, said a hurried goodbye and left the room.

If you ever talk about her like that again, I will kill you with my bare hands, Hesrah said through clenched teeth. To her, that was not a threat, it was a promise, and she suspected Anhubis knew it, as he nodded quickly and took a step back.

These are troubled times. We are all tired and angry. We’ll reconvene later, if anything changes.

That was the cue she needed to turn her back on him and return to the portal. The driver was outside, waiting, and took her back to Hoorn. She got off at the park entrance and went straight to the trueborn left there to watch it.

Anything?

No sign of anyone coming through.

Any other vampires lurking around? she asked, looking left and right and trying to pick up any suspicious activity.

None so far, but there are humans everywhere. If you want to cross over, do so as fast as you can.

She stopped one step away from the point where she’d activate the portal. She closed her eyes and let her senses scout the area. When all humans walking through the park were at a safe distance, she ran through and almost stumbled over the guard on the other side. He apologized for being in the way, although he’d done nothing wrong. Hesrah’s orders had been clear, if the portal was active, they were to step as close as possible without crossing over. Alexa might be weak and need support.

Clearly, no sign of her yet, if he still obeyed her command. She was just getting ready to make her way to the Inner Sanctum headquarters when she spotted him, up in one of the nearby trees, trying to stay hidden. But she had always managed to find her brother, no matter where he hid.

What are you doing here, Seth? she yelled. Instead of an answer, he silently disappeared in the forest.

He’d run back to Magnus on his gloomy island, most surely. If she didn’t have other people to worry about, this would hurt more, as it had when he’d first walked away from the Inner Sanctum and moved into that sullen mansion of the Punisher, as some called him. Hesrah preferred Magnus the Mad.

The white marble rooms and courtyards of the Inner Sanctum’s main building were buzzing with activity when she arrived: recruits training, soldiers practicing to maintain and sharpen their fighting skills, messengers running across the corridors.

Sekhmet stood front of her office, waiting. She waved at Hesrah when she spotted her. Back so quickly?

Hello mother, Hesrah said, keeping a blank expression.

How was it?

Anukh will tell you, I’m sure. She sighed and let her shoulders slouch. As she tried to walk away, Sekhmet caught her wrist.

I know this is hard for you. But that is no reason to take it out on me. Come, let’s go into my office and you can tell me all about it.

Sekhmet placed her hand to the small of Hesrah’s back, startling her with the sudden touchy mood. Her mother was one of her very few allies. Alienating her was most certainly not her brightest approach. I’m sorry, it has just been a stressful day.

What did the Council have to say?

They found out Anthony is keeping Louis prisoner somewhere. She rubbed her forehead, trying to sort out her thoughts on the matter.

That is strange, Sekhmet said, frowning and mirroring Hesrah’s own assessment of the situation. Maybe Anukh is right about Louis in the end.

He’s not, Hesrah hissed. He was there and did nothing. That’s a fact and no suffering through imprisonment can change that decision!

All right, dear. Sekhmet tried to touch her cheek in yet another outburst of intimacy, but Hesrah was not ready to acknowledge her need for it. She could not allow herself to get used to this behavior of her mother’s, she’d grow to expect it and that would only lead to disappointment.

I saw Seth, by the way.

Oh. Sekhmet stared at something in front of her, her face once more devoid of all expression.

Oh? That’s it? Why are you not surprised?

I went to see Magnus after all that has happened. I wanted to know what his opinion was on Alexa’s fate.

And what did he say? Hesrah asked, arching a brow.

That if there are no ashes, there is still hope.

"OK, but