War Love and Blood: War Love and Blood, #2

By Kyrian Malone

Kristen Adams died six months ago. Torn from her hometown of Livermore Falls, Maine, Faith, her lover and companion, took her to New York for reasons she still does not know. Over the months, Kristen sees memories appear to her and makes it clear that she is not only a 20-year-old but that her life began more than 1,000 years ago... She is what we call an "Anĭmas", a vampire of pure blood, just like her sister Faith and her brother Erik. From her first life, everyone called her Sarah, born in 936 in North Umbria County, England.

Genre: FICTION/ Romance/ Paranormal/ Vampires

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kyrian Malone
• Release date: Apr 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781071540350

Book preview

This book is a fiction. Characters and dialogues are the products of the imagination of the authors. Any resemblance with any existed or existing person can only be fortuitous.

All rights reserved. Any reproduction, dissemination or partial use is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the authors and ST Editions.

All the information is on:

https://steditions.com

Age does not protect you from the dangers of love. But love, to some extent, protects you from the dangers of age.

– Jeanne Moreau

Prologue

Five months had passed... or perhaps more.

I didn’t know where I was or how long I’d been locked in these basements. With the exception of an iron door, the only exit was a skylight of thirty by sixty centimeters whose bars had frozen under the cold of winter. A light mist covered the window behind which a lake surrounded by forests and snow-capped mountains could be seen as far as the eye could see. Here the night seemed almost permanent, cold and interminable. The dwelling in which I found myself dominated the side of a hill. I woke up here in this cave, and I didn’t leave that little room. The only certainty was that we were very far in the north— Here, days are too short lasted only a few hours and made me lose track of time. The sun’s rays did not reach the cage in which I was shut in.

I was not picking up any vehicle noise, horn sounds, or urban odors, which made me think that the nearest town was probably miles away. My kidnappers had the kind attention, to leave me as a bed, an old mattress placed on a rusty metal bed base, so I could lie down anyway, and anyway I had no choice. In one corner of the room, lying a toilette bowl with an old ceramic sink allowed me to make a brief but beneficial toilet. I had the impression that time was passing faster, but especially during this short period of time, I was thinking of something other than this horrible prison.

I did not feel the cold. Not because I was a vampire, but because the room was heated. In this confined space, the stone walls covered with a thin layer of mold seeping from condensation. The cold from outside and the heat from inside caused a dampness that left me with an unpleasant scent of stuffy and moldy.

You had to face the facts. I was trapped in this cave like a rat in a cage. I was getting regular visits from Lorena and other vampires I didn’t know. They didn’t answer any of my questions, didn’t give me any indication of where I was. Each time I visited them, I harassed them with questions, and I threw a feigning and scornful smile at them. But after all these months of locked up, my credibility seemed compromised.

Richard had also come, as detestable and hateful as I remember. The grin he was carrying in front of me, that smug, arrogant little smile was driving me mad. So, I ended up doubting myself and losing hope. Questions came up in my head: Did Faith survive, and if so, was she looking for me? Did her friends, who were also mine, support her? When would they arrive? And they would find me when I didn’t even know where I was.

I didn’t know how to react in the catacombs when Richard and his minions kidnapped me. They were so fast and brutal that I didn’t have time to defend myself or understand what was going on. Then, the sound of this explosion and all those screams of terror, and finally the heavy, deafening silence, the nothingness... the total darkness before opening my eyes in this prison.

Here, more than anywhere else, I had let the other part of me merge with the one I was now. The young woman I was before was taking back her memory. From then on, I immersed myself in my memories that punctuated my days and reminded me: I was Sarah. I could feel it every second of my endless days and nights, with a heart full of hatred for Richard. Sometimes I regained hope in my lonely moments. My heart then filled with love when I thought of Faith, but especially with joy as soon as my hand lay on my stomach.

I was pregnant. A life grew inside me and formed a perfect roundness in my belly. I knew who I owed it to, who gave it to me, even though I didn’t understand why. From the time I was nineteen, I could have panicked, panicked at the thought of finding myself in such a state, in my condition as the living dead, but it was nothing. I had found what Sarah had lost in the flames, aware that Richard was coveting the unborn child, my child...

Chapter 1: Danielle

I heard the rattling of the metal keys behind the door which was unlocked. Lorena entered and came forward in the room, a tray in her hand. I immediately identified the smell of my meal. My captors took care to feed me with fresh blood, still warm human blood. I had tried to deny it in the first few days, but my nature and my instinct for survival had taken over. Without a word, Lorena handed me the big glass of hemoglobin and got out of my cell. She too I hated her, knowing that she had betrayed Faith and Erik of which she was the favorite. I couldn’t imagine the bitterness my brother would feel if he got wind of her betrayal.

Sitting on the mattress, I slowly swallowed the contents of my glass, my gaze glued to the door behind which I could hear her steps moving away in a corridor that I had never seen before. I knew she was responsible for the ambush we fell in on our outing to the catacombs. My anger with her never wavered, and my resentment led me to imagine a thousand ways to avenge her betrayal. The one I was, was no match for a vampire like Lorena, over three centuries old. Despite my memories, I didn’t have the strength to face her. Of course, I had faced Cara when I woke up at the mansion, and I even got the upper hand on her. How? I didn’t know. Theory and practice were two very distinct things, and if Sarah was able to escape, I remained Kristen, an Anemos, vampire newborn for about six months whose physical abilities remained to be developed.

I got up, put the glass against the wall on the floor and walked to the skylight to see this rare early evening show. Above the immense pine and mountain forest, the northern lights repainted the sky with long yellow, pale green, blue, orange or purple bundles. I figured we were in North America, but where?

As my eyes went out on the colorful sky, noises rang out in the corridor. I turned and listened attentively.

— You’ll pay for it...

I heard that female voice for the first time, but obviously she wasn’t alone. Heavy footsteps indicated to me that three or four people were accompanying this woman. A familiar rattling noise accompanied the squeaking of a door that was unlocked, but it was not mine. It was then that I heard Richard’s calm and assured voice:

— Do you know how painful it is not to feed us? Gregor lasted eight months and her corpse continues to rot in the cell next to yours. How long do you think you’ll last without drinking a drop of blood?

— Long enough to slit your throat!

I heard the sarcastic laughter of Richard who ordered:

— Tie her up.

"Yes, my lord.

Reports of clashes, then the ringing of heavy chains falling on the ground, indicated to me that Richard’s henchmen had carried out his order. I was intrigued. Who was this vampire who apparently refused to submit to the will of my host? Who was this woman? Maybe one of the ones transformed during my five hundred years of absence?

The door closed in a deaf noise and was locked. The vampires moved away into the hallway, but I stayed at my place. The fumes that were coming at me belonged to that vampire without being familiar. I could hear the thick links of the chains clashing and hindering this woman. She was making a racket out of all the devils and I could easily guess that Richard’s new prisoner was trying to break her ties. She screamed with rage, expressing her anger. I approached the wall that vibrated under her relentless pull on her chains and decided to call her:

— Hey... Can you hear me?

Then the silence subsided without me getting an answer from her. I was nervous. This arrival suddenly changed my daily life and this unknown became my only link with the outside world. Maybe she knew things about mine, about Faith, about where we were. I tried to get back in touch with her:

"I don’t know who you are, but I think we’d have everything to gain by talking.

"You don’t know anything! She said to me in a dry tone.

The way she spoke to me, I understood that this young woman did not want to create any connection with me. What had she done to be locked up on her turn? I asked in spite of everything:

— What’s your name?

Other metallic tinkling echoed between the walls. My neighbor was unleashing the ties and trying in vain to break them. Obviously, she had no desire to converse with me. I retreated from the wall and sat on the bed. This new presence in the adjacent room occupied my thoughts and filled my solitude a little. The slightest event made my daily life less sad and nourished my thoughts. Thus, I avoided madness... My hands closed on the edge of the mattress, I made assumptions about this presence in the nearby cage. How old was she? What was his role with Richard? I was not fooled: my new friend was part of the other clan, represented the enemy, but did an enemy locked up just like me not become my friend? Priorities were changing there.

I know who you are, she said in an accusing tone.

I looked up at the wall that separated us, without being surprised by her remark. I had understood, since the discovery of my roots, that Faith, Erik and I were known to other vampires. Nevertheless, my curiosity had just been piqued and I asked:

"And who am I?

A laugh mingled with irony and sarcasm burst through the wall:

— The one who came back. One of the three with pure blood. Everyone knows that here. But you are not an Anĭmas!

I sensed a touch of animosity mingled with grudge in the tone of her voice. Intrigued, I stood up and took a few steps towards the wall, as if it was necessary to get closer to hear it better. More and more curious, I asked her:

"When you say everyone, how many are you?

I heard her struggling with her chains and she said:

— It doesn’t matter... It doesn’t change the situation!

Her anger was palpable in the tone of her voice and my questions made her more nervous. I couldn’t make my mind to shut up after all these months of loneliness:

"I can see why you’re here.

The silence fell around us, giving the atmosphere a strange atmosphere of intimacy.

"Why should I answer you? She sent me away.

"Because I’m the only one you can talk to.

My answer was obvious and spontaneous, without knowing the resentment that the young woman had towards me. I thought young woman, because by the sound of her voice, I didn’t imagine her any older than me. She must have been, at least for several decades. Was I her enemy? How did she perceive me knowing who I was? What idea did she have of me? I heard her laugh, not with a mocking or sarcastic laugh, but with a nervous and worried laugh:

— The worst part is that you’re right... and what an irony! I’m the one who captured you and look where I am!

I was stunned when I heard this confession that I had not expected. My contempt for this girl should have increased, but our common fate prevented me from perceiving the same hatred I had for Richard. He alone was the main person responsible for my presence here, the instigator of everything... When I looked at a fixed point, I didn’t know if I should ask any more questions or shut up. I heard her getting angry and pull on her chains and yell:

"If he lets me rot here, I will kill him!

I slipped against the wall and sat on the floor with my arms wrapped around my legs folded against my round stomach. I lifted my eyes to the skylight from where a few moonbeams pierced the darkness of the room.

There is no way out, I replied.

"That is what we shall see, I will find a way!

I’d rather not answer him. Here, hope was all I had left, we now had, but unlike my new friend, I had already looked for a way out. The stone walls were thick, the door metal, impossible to unlock or take off. I knew I owed my salvation to be a pure blood, at least in the soul, and carrying the only child of the bloodline. Faith had told me that I was like them, an Anĭmas, but physically it was nothing since Faith had transformed me, simply granting me immortality and not the power to give it. If Richard wanted to kill me, I’d already be dead, but what about when my child is born? They fed me three times a day, heated the room only to make sure my child could develop in the best conditions. But what would happen to me next? I didn’t know...

After a few minutes of silence, I heard my neighbor:

"Do you really think she’ll come?

I knew she was talking about Faith and answered with certainty:

"She will come.

Her question also revealed her hopes and she naturally commented:

"I’m in deep shit!

Surprised, I frowned and immediately asked:

— Why?

"Because I will either starve in the coming months, which will be slow and painful, or your friends will find me before that and burn me at the stake for taking you.