Eternal Guard #4 Eternal Uprising

By Tina Smith

Blood is Thicker Than Water...

Despite promises from Jose, Farren lingers in exile. Desperate to both find the infamous Vampire Cartels of Mexico and to be turned, Farren takes matters into her own hands.
Queen of the Coven, Nouvelle, claims to be helping Farren but as time goes by, Farren becomes suspicious of her motives. She can no longer trust José and the Coven as she hatches a daring plan to escape the jungle. Dan helps her flee back to the U.S where they take refuge in her father’s old haunt and the true nature of Farren's legacy is revealed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tina Smith
• Release date: May 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781005249007

Tina Smith

Author of the Y/A Wolf Sirens series and the Ghost Angel Trilogy. Tina has recently penned a vampire trilogy, entitled Eternal Guard.Tina writes paranormal Y/A romance, featuring goddesses, angels, wolves, vampires, intrigue and action. Most recently she released a Children's book entitled, A Spooky Night with Nibbles.Tina was born in the Bega Valley, on the Sapphire Coast of New South Wales. She currently lives in Adelaide, South Australia, with her two children. She is a Writer, Illustrator, Herbalist, Naturopath and Social Work student. Tina believes nothing beats first hand experience. She enjoys soaping, movies, reading, a bit of reality T.V, alone time and she is obsessed with creative writing.

Book preview

Eternal Guard #4

Eternal Uprising

TINA SMITH

© Copyright 2023 Tina Smith

Cover Image Copyright Tina Smith. All rights reserved – used with permission.

This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be resold, reproduced or transmitted without express consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book may not be given away. Each reader is required to purchase their own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

If you feel like you’re losing everything,

remember that trees lose their leaves every year,

but they still stand tall and wait for better days to come.

Contents

Prologue_Dead_or_Alive

Dark_Concept

My_Own_Skin

Name_Your_Poison

The_Devils_Water

Enemies_Closer

Lesser_of_Two_Evils

Blood_and_Promises

Be_My_Eyes

Heart_of_The_Jungle

Dark_Days

Spiders_and__Lies

Blood_Sacrifice

Forever_Eternal

Devil_in_My_Veins

Killing_Two_Birds

Whatever_It_Takes

America_or_Bust

Darkness_Fire_and_Rain

Blood_and_Gore

Divide_and_Conquer

Devil_Eyes

The_Tunnel

Enemy_of_my_Enemy

Prologue_Finding_Alaska

About_the_Series

Glossary

Character_List

Prologue

Dead or Alive

What are you doing? he hissed.

My heart leapt into my chest as I made out his features, Dan?

I had thought he was killed in the blast. He cast a lowered brow glance at José, who had slowed to wade through the river as he stared back at us. My heart stopped.

Oh, I suddenly grabbed Dan in a hug and squeezed my eyes closed as tears welled.

I heard José call out, low. Farren…

What are you doing? Dan asked as I released him.

Overwhelmed, I regained myself and focused on Dan, still unable to believe he was real.

How did you get out? my voice was a breath as the urgency of the situation made me anxious to flee with José as I gripped Dan’s hands.

I escaped the morgue.

My eyes narrowed as I looked up at his face. I had never expected to see him again.

I could hear my own heart beating, as I breathed, You’ve been following us all this time?

Only since the dead woman on the news.

We hadn’t spotted anyone; my eyes fell as I considered the information. He meant Marianne.

Tracker on the car, he admitted.

You saw Leah? I didn’t understand. You’re not working for the Feds?

He shook his head, No, not the Feds not the Guard either, they don’t exist. He looked out at José treading water.

I stared at Dan, searching my thoughts as I could hear José swimming back.

Dan was a skilled Assassin. Come with me… he urged, attempting to leave as José neared.

I can’t… I insisted as I referred to José, who was emerging dripping wet from the water. Dan’s eyes narrowed.

José stood beside me. You can’t trust him Farren, he insisted, his voice steady.

Who’s to say she can trust you? Dan glowered, slinging him a look.

I glanced up at him.

A lot of the decommissioned Guard are pretty pissed about the Governments interventions, Dan explained.

So? I shrugged.

They might be willing to help us? he urged.

I heard men yell out from atop the embankment, they shone torches.

Border Patrol, I braced myself, knowing I had to get in the river. I turned and walked gingerly over reeds, my bare toes sinking into the mud sediment as the icy water cupped my ankles.

They were no real threat, but could be a nuisance, if they stopped me, I could potentially be sent back to the Feds. Come with us? I asked Dan.

He hurriedly started to remove his blazer.

With no time to lose, I went ahead wading in up to my thighs, holding my breath against the icy burn of the water.

José was back beside me treading water. You O.K?

Yeah, looks like Dan’s coming, I whispered. I knew that he was as blindsided as me by Dan’s sudden appearance.

I turned back to glance at him, still amazed.

There was no time to discuss it. C’mon, José urged through gritted teeth. Dan dived.

I waded in deeper; it was piercingly cold but as I merged into it and swam, I quickly acclimatised to the chill. Dan was already beside me as I paddled. I was glad he had decided to come as I saw the torchlight of the Border Patrol, bouncing off the dark water. There were dogs barking in the distance. Unlike the side we had come from, the Mexican side was manicured and filled with picnic tables, visible under the streetlights. I focused on it as I breast stroked with my head above the surface.

You need help? Dan asked from beside me as José waited on the bank, dripping wet.

No. I was drifting in the current though. I kicked harder, determined.

You should have swum with me at the lake, you need the practice.

I swam at the Guard, I rebutted.

Finally, I could touch the muddy bottom again. I pulled myself up through a bunch of reeds. José appeared in front of me to offer a hand though Dan was at my side.

I knew Dan’s excuse for being overly helpful, but I didn’t know José’s. I held my breath a moment, uneasy with the situation as I trod up the embankment.

I’m fine, I insisted. We could see people crossing upstream in a little paddle boat to the U.S side.

Is this how it normally is? I wondered aloud as the chill of the air hit my skin and I clasped my arms. I had an uneasy feeling.

Day and night, José answered as he headed up the grassy slope.

Dan followed. I couldn’t say I wasn’t glad he had found me. I wondered how much of his dedication was because of Joe’s orders and how much was because he wanted to find me as my teeth chattered.

Higher up the embankment José had stopped to put back on his clothes, from the bag.

If I didn’t go back, they would be dryer, José muttered.

I shivered a little as I retrieved my clothes. Dan’s were all soaked as he had held them in a bunch. As vampires, they weren’t affected by cold or wet.

My soaked trackpants clung to my skin uncomfortably. José’s phone though was evidently dry as he held it to his ear and dialled, a crease between his brows.

Who’s he calling? Dan asked me.

His cousin, I replied looking out, across a paved road at the town. You ever been to Mexico?

Once…school trip, Dan admitted.

José was speaking into his phone as he paced up the hill behind me.

Do you speak Spanish? I asked Dan as I wrung out the bottom of my T-Shirt and tugged it on.

No, just a bit, he admitted, with a stealthy stare in José’s direction.

I wondered if Dan was being modest, if he could understand everything José was saying. We sat atop the picnic bench.

Keen to distract him, I grabbed his wrist, Are you really free? I felt his ice-cold wrist for a tracker, unconvinced. But there was nothing. I scanned his blue-yellow eyes in the dim, wondering if Chris had sent him. I still wasn’t sure that José wasn’t working for Feds in some capacity. I didn’t know if he was even on our side.

My throat was dry. I found my voice, Do you know a federal agent named Chris?

Dan glanced at José who was getting animated on the phone, I guessed he was explaining that we had one more person with us.

Dan shook his head. I still couldn’t believe it was him. I thought you were dead. My eyes started to tear up as José came back over.

They’re bringing some spare clothes. But not for Dan. They didn’t know he was coming, he explained.

That was good, I just had to try and keep warm until then. How long?

Maybe half an hour.

Farren will freeze, Dan complained, his mouth turning down.

Her stuff would have been dry, if I didn’t have to turn back, José muttered.

You could have thrown the bag.

"My phone was in it, tonto," José mumbled.

I’ll be fine Dan, I murmured, clenching my back teeth to keep from shivering, my shoulders pulled high.

Let’s wait over here… José ignored him, starting over to a picnic table, closer to the road as the quiet between the three of us made the sounds of crickets in the reeds drown out my thoughts. Dan had said he followed us.

How long did you track us?

Days…

More women, children and men made their way past with scant belongings headed for the river. I watched as a little girl in a white dress of tule was tugged along by a chubby woman in shorts wearing flip flops and a backpack. It must have been two in the morning. I sat at the bench and Dan joined me. José seemed frustrated as he stood hands on hips. The moon hung low with a spiderweb of cloud shrouding its glow.

I started to recall that I was hungry and then I realised that Dan and José may both have been thirsty. José checked his phone with a frown and sat nearer to me.

I leant over to José as I asked low, Will you be able to get blood?

Soon enough, he assured me. I still have one pack.

For Dan too?

He nodded, looking to Dan. They would need some.

Anything goes in Mexico, Dan said wryly.

I looked at him, José says there are Covens here.

His jaw flexed as his glance shifted, Dangerous Covens.

Not dangerous to their own, José argued.

We are foreigners and Farren is human, Dan insisted with a determined clench of his jaw.

She is the Descendant of Julius Osinski, José jutted out his chin.

Dan leant back and breathed in through his nose. You sure you don’t want to go back? he asked, turning his pained glare to me.

No. I wanted to see these Covens that José had told me about.

I tried to change the topic, Where are we going first José?

My uncle wants me to visit the family but there is a ranch not far from here that hosts travellers....

What are you going to say when your hand is cold? I asked.

That the Americano Feds did it to me.

The Guard would have never let that happen, Dan quipped.

Yeah, they aren’t in charge anymore, José’s lips twisted to a sneer.

José, I urged him to stop as Dan shuffled up closer with a threatening glare. The animosity was palpable between them. I glanced from José to Dan. I didn’t have time for vampire rivalry. Dan had his mouth closed tightly and his cold breath escaped his nostrils as he took a step back. José kept a glare on him as Dan backed off and sat back on the picnic table. I watched José, cautiously and quietly sighed with relief when he finally backed off.

We sat in silence. I shivered as it started to rain lightly.

***

A letter arrived at the office of the Baxter blood bank in the city. Delivered to a pigeonhole, it then landed on a desk. The secretary paused before opening it. The name was scrawled -- handwritten, and it looked personal, addressed to Brak Holsworth. At closer examination it contained something, two tiny cylinders. She felt them in the corner of the envelope. They were shutting down – Government orders. She had been busy packing a box of her things.

She called her boss.

The letter was taken and forwarded to Scion offices. From there a personal secretary to Brak Holsworth received it. She went into his office and showed him the letter as he sat at his desk. He stuffed it into the front pocket of his sapphire blue suit without saying a word as he finished collecting his work, slicked back his hair and left the building with his bulging briefcase.

Dark Concept

A rooster crowed, as I woke from a dream -- a reoccurring one, in which I was walking into the sunlight. I stroked my arm recalling the sensation that it had warmed through my skin. The reality that I was in rural Mexico sunk in and the dream quickly faded. Dan was asleep beside me. There was a dark stain of blood on the sheets and my stomach felt heavy, a dull ache spread through my abdomen.

My period had started, I ran my hand over the wet patch on my shorts and cringed before I climbed from the bed.

In the dingy bathroom, I cleaned myself up and used some folded toilet paper, stuffed in my stained underwear, to soak it up.

José was moody, he’d been gone two days with no telling when he’d be back. As I exited the bathroom, I breathed in the warm desert air. Knowing I had to play my cards right to find my way back to Estelle and Joe… telling myself as I had done every day – that I would return stronger.

Back in the bed, I turned to look at Dan, his eyes closed as he lay prone on the mattress. Part of me still didn’t trust him. I couldn’t explain why. Do you think the Government will be after us? He was dubious of José’s plan to find the Covens that existed there. When he didn’t answer, I got up.

As I filled a bucket with water outside, I wondered if José would arrive tonight with news. I hadn’t thought it would take so long to get a Coven on side, he had neglected to mention that it would be easier said than done. I was tired of biding my time, surrounded by goats and chickens, roaming free in the dust. The thin old lady who ran the Inn never made eye contact; seeing her in the hall one night, I realized she was blind.

***

As I sat in our room on a rickety chair, looking out the window at the sunset, my stomach told me I was hungry. Dan and José were so wrapped up in their own heads that they had forgotten my human needs. The mug of tea in my hand had not satisfied my appetite. In José’s absence we had no money.

My eyes shifted to narrow at Dan in the bed, sleeping during the light hours.

Dan, can you ask José to get me some food?

He winced and answered almost immediately. He’s getting some… his voice was hoarse.

I was surprised at his sharp response, but I shouldn’t have been. Is he getting blood?

He nodded.

Dan sat up, placing his feet to the floor, elbows on his knees. You don’t have to feel bad about drinking it.

I don’t… my answer was defensive as I turned away. Go back to sleep, I uttered to the window. I looked over my shoulder to see he had shifted to lie back, but his blue eyes were wide open.

I had the bed from sundown till sunup and then it was his. We moved in a cycle but lately as though we had become accustomed to the shared situation, we often lay together there, not caring that it was so intimate.

I was quiet for a while, until boredom got the best of me, I swiveled around on my toes, What happened to you, after the blast?

His glance slowly drifted in my direction as if to see if I was genuinely interested to know. I was knocked unconscious, he finally answered.

Were you damaged?

He rolled to his side to face me, the sheet across his body. They thought I was dead...

Didn’t they know what he was? It was a little hard to buy. He slid up and I averted my eyes.

The Government troops couldn’t tell I guess, he squinted at the light and held up an arm.

I reached for the parted curtains and pulled them shut, Where did you go?

I told you. He stepped over to the window, his mouth parted