Bloodbreeders: Seeking Others (21 page)

“What tribe are your people from?”

“My mother’s people had a little Indian in them, but I don’t recall what they were called,” I replied licking my lips.

“We, the clan of the moon, never thought it would be one of our own that would take the great Chin, much less a woman.”

“I’m a breeder, not a…wolf.” I knew to not use the word dog ever again.

“It is not the question on which side that we live. What matters is the blood that we carry. You have the blood of our people. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Then you will forgive our misunderstanding?” I asked raising my eyes to his.

“I believe we can come to an understanding.”

I saw Jacob’s shoulders relax with Sontos’ words. Cates lowered his sword, and the others followed his action. Sontos waved his hand and two large beasts came in on their hind legs and dragged Cochee out by his reshaping arms. He was half man, half wolf by the time they reached the edge of the woods, and my eyes were glued on them the entire way. Jessie walked up beside me and took my hand.

“It was his brother that Chin had put down. I think he will not forgive that night.”

“I think you may be right.”

I could understand Cochee’s hatred for the loss of his brother, and had a feeling that our future held a love hate relationship. I loved my life and he hated it. If his father hadn’t stepped out, he would have taken my life with a snap of his massive jaws, well before my boys could have stopped him. Just like Enrique and Omar, I could see my death in his eyes, only this time I did nothing so bad that he would wish me dead. Tammy waited with Cates for me and Jessie to join them on the other side of the gates. We entered the great room, where Jacob and Sontos were taking a seat at the long table. I walked up and sat down on the far left seat and Cates took the right.

“Why does your son seem so angry at me, Sontos?”

“First, because you are a woman and one that holds a higher seat than he ever will. Second, you claimed his prize, something he will never forget.”

“His what?”

“What he’s trying to say, Renee, is that when you killed Chin, you took away Cochee’s chance at revenge forever. Now, he is angry with you,” Jacob explained leaning back in his chair.

“Well, ain’t that a bunch of horse shit,” I spouted out. “I have some crazy animal wanting to eat me because I did everyone a favor by taking out a bad guy?”

“You will have many enemies before you are finished,” Cates added with laughter.

“Keep that up and you’ll get one sooner than you think,” I sluggishly remarked glaring at him.

“I can control my son, can you control yourself?” Sontos asked, stopping mine and Cates’s conversation.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You have a wild spirit. I have seen you take the first step forward with my own eyes.”

“I think you just called me stubborn in a roundabout way,” I smiled shaking my head. “I never meant to offend anyone by saying the word
dog
. I have never even heard of what you are, Sontos. I’m just starting to figure out what we are.”

About that time Shyanna came bursting through the doors, screaming with two breeders on her tail. Sontos and his two guards jumped to their feet and started yelling in their tongue, and pointing at her. The two guards dropped down and put their heads on the floor, like they were praying. Sontos bowed his head. Shyanna flew right to me, and landed on the table, quickly wrapping her arms around my neck, yelling,

“No…no…no”

“It’s okay.
Me’om’s got you.”
“She would not go in…” the boy servant was saying until he seen our guest.

“Go,” Jacob said. “She is fine with us.”

Sontos was speechless as his eyes fell over Shyanna’s amazing form. His mouth was slightly open, and his eyes were much wider as he stood watching her curl up in my lap. I looked up at him and saw the wonderment on his face. He was as shocked to see her as I was the first time, but he seemed to be familiar where I was not. He bent down and tapped the two men on the back and said something in their language. The two men never once looked up at us; they just backed out of the great room and took off running. Sontos showed no sign of fear being in a room with all of us and no one to guard his back.

“You have brought the prophecy. Change will truly come. She is a sign from the Gods,” Sontos said, reaching out then pulling his hand back.

“This is Shyanna. I call her, Shya.”

“She even carries the name of the Blackfoot. It has been said for many years that a winged creature that walks on two legs would come from the ocean and bring fear on her wings. Her flight would show a new change in the ways of our fathers. We would be slaves no more.”

My skin almost crawled off my body when he said those words. It was true, we were here to stop anyone who was mistreating the innocent and shut them down for good, but how could his people have known about our doings before they came to pass? Coincidence, maybe, but it was strange either way you looked at it. He said something in a soft whisper that I couldn’t understand, but Shyanna hopped up on the table and tilted her head at him. She took two steps then hopped once landing right in front of him. Sontos reached out and put his hand under her chin and she began to purr. I was the one that was now speechless. She never went to anyone that she didn’t know. He petted her head and she purred louder.

“Master Jacob, there is a crowd,” the same man came entered again, announcing with a shaky voice.

“It will be my people. They will be with good manners I assure you,” Santos said stepping around the table. “To ke una.” Was all he said and Shyanna took off out the door flying straight up through to open foyer. I was almost to the open door when I heard yells and screams from women and men alike on the other side of the closed gates.

“There has to be at least fifty on the other side,” Derek said, running over to us.

“I think they think Shya is some kind of higher power sent by their gods,” I explained walking with Cates and Jacob.

“You must use this to our advantage,” Jacob whispered as we approached the opening gates.

Every person or human looking beast on the other side was down on their hands and knees when we came out. Shyanna was perched on the top of the standing wall. I held my hand up and she flew down. Sontos walked out and his people started getting to their feet. He spoke to them in their language while we stood back and watched. A few minutes later they wondered back into the forest and disappeared. Sontos turned around and walked up to me.

“You will have no reason to worry about the moon people or our land. It is time that we make our way to a better place, as the prophecy has told. The fear that comes on the wings of the prophecy is death, and she bares your name,” he said looking right at me.

“Take care to keep your eyes to your back and the wind at your face, many will know you come, but I think few shall live to tell the tale.”

Sontos slowly vanished just like the rest of them had, leaving us to ponder over what he had said, and if they were coming back. Shyanna leaped into the air and she too disappeared into the night sky. I called to her once but she didn’t respond. I looked back several times as we made our way back into the safety of our own domain. The gates closed and I let out the breath that felt like I’d been holding ever since I fell off the wall. I counted heads making sure we were all there. I started to rethink leaving the younger ones, and just getting on the ship and taking off. Jacob and I got the normals and the little ones down in the tunnels on my orders, because I had a bad feeling that Cochee wasn’t going to feel the same way that his father had, and being overly cautious was far better than not being cautious enough.

Jacob sat the seven guards who were normals that watched our daily rest, at the front entrance. The ones we had down with us were merely servants and had no skills to protect themselves. The wall circled the entire home, and had no other way to penetrate other than the opening of the tunnels that we would be going out if anything should happen throughout the day. After the doors were shut and Jacob had his men in place, I finally felt like we could talk.

“Do you think I’m crazy for being this concerned about them coming back?” I asked as I took a seat on the floor, looking back up at Jacob and Cates.

“I do not trust the son and those who will follow him,” Cates nodded, sitting down on the floor next to me.

“I agree. You have not only taken Chin from him, you have hurt his pride in front of those he will want to make amends with.”

“As in paying me back while they watch?”

“Exactly,” Jacob said, sliding down the wall opposite me and Cates.

“I wish Shya would come back before the sun comes up. Did you see the effect Sontos had on her?”

“He is known as a medicine man, as well as their eldest,” Jacob explained rubbing his temple.

“To you, it would just be more witchcraft,” Cates smiled.

“You are such a pain.” I rolled my eyes, causing him to laugh out loud. “Think she went with them?”

“We will find out when the sun goes back down, for now we should rest.” Jacob closed his eyes.

“I’m not even tired, so I know the suns not up yet,” I added then looked over at my little ones, which were curled together sound out to whatever world we went to.

I turned back to talk to Jacob and was taken aback to see his body change in color and tone. He became more like stone right before my eyes. I was now staying awake longer than him. Cates must have fallen into his slumber while he and I were speaking.

I was apparently talking to myself. Nothing had changed that I could tell. I hadn’t had anymore spells like I’d had after I drank Yvette’s blood, and now I had no one to ask that might know.  I turned my head seeing the normals making themselves comfortable, and closed my eyes, wanting to scream out my frustrations, but holding them in check. I laid my head on Cates’ leg and waited for the pull to take me under.

I woke thinking I was in our room with the fireplace burning out of control.  The smoke was so thick that when I took my first deep breath I coughed it right back out. I sat up as soon as my body regained its strength to the coming night, and couldn’t see my hand past the heavy smoke that filled the tunnel’s hall. I grabbed my mouth and crawled over to Jacob who was still out of it. I got up and made my way up to the opening that went into the ladies dressing room and felt the hidden door, which was as hot as the
flames of a burning fire. We had been attacked while we slept. It was the only explanation. I turned and ran back down and started shaking Jacob, grabbing him by his shirt. His form was as stiff as a dried stick. I fell back against the wall and waited, looking at him, realizing that we were truly dead when we slept. We didn’t sleep at all, not really. My head was spinning. How many times had I laid next to my little ones and never once tried to push them over or done more than slide out quietly. Yet, I had known they were just as stiff but until this moment it had truly not sank into my mind.

“Do you smell smoke?”

“Oh Jacob, thank goodness your awake.”

“How long have you been up?”

“It started when we fell asleep. You did and I didn’t,” I said sliding over by him.

“Don’t look so worried, we all change in time.”

“I haven’t even been a breeder a year yet. Why am I changing so much, so fast?”

“I believe because you took the life of the one who created your maker,” he replied stopping to look at me.

“How do you know that?”

“We don’t have time to discuss this. Come, I want to see what has happened.” Then he took off deeper into the tunnel.

“Jacob? Jacob!” I yelled but got no response, so I got up and ran after him.

I came around a curve and had to jump over the normals that were passed out from the smoke on the floor. Jacob was standing at a closed door a few feet away from them with his head leaning on the door. I walked up and put my hand on his back and asked what was wrong.

“They made their way into the sleeping quarters of our guard.”

“What are you talking about, Jacob?”

He left his head on the door a few more seconds then pulled it open by stepping back. This was one of the doors that were secured from this side and looked like the rest of the wall from the outer side. The light that found its way through the cracks on the two heavy doors that were left slightly open showed charred body parts and broken furniture thrown all about the room. The wood was blackened from the fire that seemed to have burned itself out. They were all dead, even if they had survived the fire it was apparent that their headless bodies would not be getting back up.

“Cochee will think we burned in the fire as well,” Jacob said in a low tone.

“Then let’s put that dog down,” I added raising my voice when I said the word dog.

Everyone woke with the same form of shock when it came to the smoke hanging over their heads. Jacob explained everything at one time. It was Cates that stormed down the hall. We heard his cries of anger, then the destruction that followed as he tore the room apart. Tammy was the one that took a chance going down that long dark hall, while we all waited only to hear Cates scream in agony. It became quiet, and then we heard the soft weeping of a man’s heart over the ones he had lost. Jacob’s head hung that night and sorrow filled the air. But, when the hurt passed, the blood rage filled its place and the temperature changed. Cates held Tammy at his side when they walked back up the hall, and Jacob held up his head.

One by one we all stood, until we made a perfect circle facing each other. We ten stood strong and would track them down, making them pay for what they had done. Just how many came into our home during the day and killed everything that they saw, we didn’t know. What really mattered was that we didn’t care. We buried our dead that night and took our weakest to the ship, instructing our people take it so far out in open water that no creature could follow. They were told to bring it back in only under the cover of night. Jessie returned with us.  We made sure that we could not be reached down in the tunnels and waited for the sun to set the next night. It was apparent that we were being watched while we performed our duties throughout the night, but we were very careful to show no signs of going underground. We used only the entrances in the ladies quarters, due to the fact that its doors didn’t open to another exposed area where a pair of glowing green eyes could be watching from the top of a tree. Jacob was covering every angle.

The men went into the back portion of the home, the girls and I went to our room. It was then that we all met in the tunnels. Cates had set a rig to slam the door shut if anyone should come through the men’s area during the day, making them as trapped as we were below. Jacob knew they would start looking for a hidden passage as soon as they found the rooms empty, planning on trapping some in the first half of the tunnels and taking us out the back. All that we could do now was stay down in the center of its depths and see what we would wake to the following night. I thought about Shyanna while the day took
me, hoping that she was okay.