Burned In Shadows (Shadow Unit)

Burned

In

Shadows

Copyright © 2013 Tigris Eden

Cover: Tricia “Picky Me” Schmitt

Edited by: Alicia Pates

Published by Kats Kreative Ideas

All rights reserved.

ISBN
:
978-1-4675-8371-8
 

Dedication

To my mother Ramona Lynn, for teaching me that there is strength in the smallest of things. I love you mom and I think you’re the strongest woman I know. Hands down, you’re top shelf!

To my beautiful sister Q a.k.a Tekura Bliss, God has a way of throwing things our way that we sometimes feel can be a bit much. He threw you a slider and you whacked that ball out of the park! I know you’re going to beat the odds. I also know that my niece is going to bring you ample amounts of Joy and scares. It’s what kids do, so be ready for the ride of your life!

Alicia, there are no words that I can give you, but I hope this will do. You are beautiful on the inside and out, and although we’ve been through hell and back together, watched on the side lines, and jumped into the thick of it. You, my dear sister have remained stoic through and through. I’m so very proud of you and your family and what you’ve single handedly done with little to no help. I love you dude!

LL, you are the love of my life, my rock, my foundation, the glue that holds our family together. Thank you for being a part of my life. Thank you for putting up with all my cray, and thank you for giving me sound advice when I wanted to get super ghetto. I love you babe.

Darryl, Joseph, and Andrew I’m so very proud to call you my sons. Make something of yourself and then re-make yourselves into something even better. I love you guys!

Dad, for wanting a copy of my books, even though you don’t read romance. Thanks for wanting to show me off to your friends and believing in me.

Belinda (Bells) this is your story girl, live it up!

              Admin Bob (Val) you have helped with putting things together in a major way! You rock girlfriend, round the clock and then some!

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  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the work of the author's imagination, or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Acknowledgements

To my editor, Alicia, for pushing me. I ask that you push me harder. Every day, all day, no matter what!

Ty Langston,
a.k.a Michele with one L, thanks for making me do the damn thing and for always being positive.

Tricia “Picky-me” Schmitt, for making a beautiful cover! Even though we went through a phase of OMG that is horrible. (Not your fault all mine) LOL

Thank you to all the beautiful girls over at the Shadow Unit Street team. You guys amaze me, and thanks for accepting all the missions that have been given to you and going with the flow!

Kat, Val, and Char, you gals rock on all levels! Thanks for reading my words, for encouraging me to keep it pushing and for keeping me in line. You girls are solid!

Thank you to everyone and anyone who fell in love with The Shadow Unit.

Part I
Ferals

F
rom the beginning of time, blue blood has been a coveted source of longing for many. Some believed it would bring them financial resources, others wanted it for power and position the status would elicit. Many desired the life of luxury and royalty that all blue bloods shared. The name alone could open doors money could not buy, thus making the value of the name essentially priceless. There was no social or political office a blue blood did not hold. Deeper still, kings and emperors were less of a man if their name didn’t derive from the avid blue lineage.

However, those were the stories of yesteryear, not stories of Yore. There is an even older tale from an older time that takes precedence to wealth and prestige of what is now called a Blue blood; a time when men were not in the dark and ignorant of their Gods. Some say Rome was built in a day. Other’s claim the Gods themselves instructed humans on ways to become
a
an
enlightened republic.

Romulus and Remus Zaraides of House Atrades built the very core of Roman culture. To see the city rise above the soil to become a thriving civilization that conquered vas
t empires, the twins ruled with savage cruelty. The depravity of which was suckled directly from the breast of the Goddess Amrita, the true mother of the feral race. She saved them from drowning in the river Tiber as babies and allowed them nourishment from her bosom, raising them in the wild.

Unfortunately as their truly wild feral natures would dictate, Romulus and Remus were brought to Jupiter himself for the raping of the Sabines. They gave their seed to the women, who in turn bore them sons, creating a race of feral children. Animals by nature disguised in human form. This exotic union also created a blood line that contained healing and powerful aphrodisiac qualities which ultimately brought them to the attention of the Gods. The women and their offspring were taken. The children becoming blood slaves and the Goddess Amrita captured and drained for her blood. Amrita was put on display next to Jupiter’s throne, for only he was allowed to drink from her veins. There she was kept for hundreds of years as the Gods and Goddess tortured and drank from the feral children.

Jealousy spread fast as Jupiter continued to grow in strength and youth. The God King mocked others by taunting them with his ever-growing powers and war broke out in the heavens. Albanus the first feral child of Romulus, took advantage of the distraction and led his people safely away from the Gods and their chains. When their absence was noted, search parties were sent out to scour the villages. But they were looking for wild people, untamed and uneducated in the ways of man. Albanus knew he needed to guide the ferals to civilization and while in captivity, he studied man in all its forms. Learned how to act more civilized and less feral in nature. He taught this to himself and to others around him and soon they were able to hide in plain sight. Some became politicians, others farmers. Always careful never to share their blood, and never reveal their true natures to anyone.

Once settled, Albanus, the proclaimed leader of the ferals was given twin sons by his third wife Ione of which he spoiled immaculately. He celebrated and rejoiced in their birth as they were the first among many to be born free. Varinus and Vibanus Zaraides of House Atrades were the only twins born sharing the same umbilical cord. One more animal than human, the other a breaker of female hearts. Albanus, like his father and uncle, ruled with a heavy hand but spoiled his sons.

But there was a day when all would become too clear for the twins. When lust and power went to their heads, when their father, Albanus delivered the final blow with a strong voice and an even harder heart.

Prologue

“
T
he punishment for treason is…. Death.”

Translation, going outside of the clan is bad for your health. And all he and his brother Vibanus did was check out the local flesh market. It was commonly believed the reason for the dwindling population of ferals was due to being sold on the auction blocks. No one thought Albanus, of all people, would be at the markets and neither did the twins. Rome banned the selling of flesh centuries ago, but it seemed there were still underground venues offering flesh to those willing to pay top denarii.

The sun was punishing that afternoon and most of the patrons were standing in shaded corners. He’d only wanted to view what the flesh peddler was selling; it wasn’t like he was aligning himself with humans. His body shuddered at the thought. Humans were off limits, and because of the incident with Vibanus, things were so far up Jupiter’s ass there was no way they were going to escape. It was because of a human they were in this mess. He should have heeded the warning. They should have never gone after her.

Varinus snarled as the edict continued to be read, by none other than his father. Fucking family, and the likes! The Ameri
cas were starting to look good. Vibanus was three minutes younger than him, and those three minutes cost him a world of pain every single moment of what was left of his life. His brother was passionate and cared too much. So what if someone owned slaves, it wasn’t his place to comment. They were doing it in the Americas and would still being doing it centuries from now. Someone was always for sale. But there was one particular slave up for question. Sanya, she’d run from them after a night of making love to him and his brother. She’d tugged on his brother’s sensitivity and had him thinking she was the one for them. He’d known, but what little solace she did offer wasn’t worth what they were going through now.

His father made the mistake of letting his younger brother travel to England. He blended in remarkably well with humans. He’d wanted Vibanus to learn from them, not to fall in love with them. Varinus was
right at home with the animals. But his brother and his many vices continued to stir up so much trouble, the noise had made it all the way back to his father in Rome, the high council elder and founding father of their clan. He knew when his twin returned things would be different, very different.

“The name Varinus and Vibanus shall be stricken from every book of our clan.” His father continued, his voice robust. The sound carried far into the stands as onlookers from other clans watched the spectacle. They were curious to see how the notorious Albanus would handle killing his only sons. Their father knew what it was like to be a slave. A slave that led the escape shaking the very foundations of the heavens and all the Gods that set atop their thrones. He’d saved their species and their way of life and kept them all sheltered. He was a strong leader and a devoted father. Today he was council elder and the voice that led to the demise of his only sons.

Vibanus had the decency to stand taller and pay attention to what was now being said.

“There is no mercy in what the two of you have done. Death is the only solution.”

The word
death
would do that to a male. His father was furious, and what they’d done was treacherous. Because of their actions a woman was dead. They’d been remiss in their handling of her. Varinus was unable to say her name. He’d given it to the winds where it was carried away from him and away from his heart. A small part of him, the part that he considered to have a shred of humanity, loved her, but the animal in him had rejected her. Intentional or not, it wasn’t the issue, she felt betrayed and was conflicted. He should have never allowed his twin to bring her into their home thinking they’d conceal her. They’d both hoped she was theirs, but in truth they knew she was no more than a distraction, something to pass the time. They’d never taken the time to think things out, to see it for what it truly was, a fabrication.

Denial had a way of making anyone blind to the truth and they’d paid for their blindness with bloodshed. She’d run away from them in the
end, and they’d let her, not thinking of the consequences. They’d kept her in a state of arousal for so long, that when she’d finally come to her senses, she’d run screaming into the night. This led them to search for her at the slave market, where his brother had originally procured her from a slave trader. She’d been captured, tortured to death and she’d given up their secret. Thus exposing them to not only the humans, but also putting them back in sight of the Gods, whom they’d been hiding from for more than a hundred years. This was the real treason, outing themselves to the Gods; making it possible for them to go in search of feral blood, and putting the clan in imminent danger.