Chapter Four: The Vampire's Covenant—drama, tragedy in books about vampires and romance
While PNR may have a reputation for being fluff, this book is anything but.
Books about vampires and romance can explore all types of love, and The Vampire’s Covenant is no different. In this instalment, Kaden reveals to Jacob who and what he really is, revealing how deep their friendship is. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Go back and read chapter three.
Kaden stooped to pick up an envelope that had been left underneath the door of his den. Without looking at it, he moved to his eighteenth-century settee in the center of the room.
The settee was a serviceable piece of furniture. Of course, the design would draw frowns from the younglings. Not that any of them had been to his den, but if they had visited, they would have considered it passé.
Nevertheless, he liked it. It made him feel at home as he sank into it.
Because the den was perched on the mountain ledge, away from the students and the compound, its position afforded him distance, privacy, and quiet. He loved that, but there were disadvantages too. He found himself thinking about the experience of extracting a vampire’s soul. Those thoughts were often rehashed when he found himself alone. It felt as though those memories were like a person who refused to leave. The past had a habit of destroying whatever happiness existed in the present.
As much as Kaden could, as soon as he’d realized that those images had slipped into his mind, he took a deep breath to center himself. To remain in the present. Which led Kaden to examine the envelope in his hand.
The afternoon sun shone through from underneath the eaves and onto the edge of the envelope. He opened the modern seal. These younglings didn’t use wax on their communications anymore. He tore the paper from its glue warily. Envelopes like this didn’t usually bear happy tidings.
Two sentences had been scrawled: Come quickly. It’s Jacob.
If he knew anyone well, it was the coven’s founder. Jacob had been fine three days ago when Kaden had visited. What could be amiss? He released the note and closed his eyes. By the time the note fluttered to the floor, he had disappeared from his den.
***
It would help me a lot if you shared this book about vampires and romance with your friends.
Mary, the coven doctor, witnessed Kaden materialize inside Jacob’s reception area. Mary had worked as a human doctor for many years, before she’d been turned last year. She was sixty years old at the time of her turning. Mary closed the lacquered door to Jacob’s bedroom.
Puzzling, Kaden tried to catch a glimpse of Jacob before the door was fully closed.
“Kaden.” Mary sat at a rustic wooden writing desk adjacent to the door she’d closed a second ago. “You got my note.”
She straightened, looking as though she were trying to smile but not succeeding. Hesitating, she fiddled with the silver bangle at her wrist.
“What’s wrong?” Kaden edged closer. “What’s happened?” It was pointless to hide the anxiety. Jacob was the only man, aside from his brother, he’d had an opportunity to love.
She raised her hand. “It’s all right, Kaden. Well, that’s not exactly true. It’s obvious Jacob’s not all right, but he wants to think I’m being overly cautious.”
“Quite. And are you being overly cautious? Is he ill?”
“I noticed something was off with Jacob after you and he returned with the new boy.” Mary stared at the wall. “Let me do some tests. I’m not sure what it is, and it is useless to guess. It will only frighten everyone.”
“Have you told Evie and Elijah?”
“The old …” She faltered and cleared her throat, releasing her frustration. “He doesn’t want them to know.”
Kaden raised an eyebrow, knowing that if Jacob was reacting like this, it meant that Mary wasn’t overreacting.
A shot of panic flared in his chest, filling him with a sense of dread. He pulled back and took a deep breath. Inhaling relieved the anxiety, but only in a small way. “Then Jacob is seriously ailing. How can that be?”
“Look, go in and sit with him. Right now, that’s all you can do. He’s been asking for you all morning.”
Kaden nodded, numbly. “I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier. I’ve been busy at the den and only just read your note.”
“Come,” she said, gesturing toward Jacob’s inner quarters.
He followed her, moved to the door as she opened it. He exhaled and noticed the feeling of relief. He wouldn’t be in an anxious muddle for Jacob. Whatever was happening, he prepared himself to meet with the man who had become his friend and mentor.
***
What elements do you love the most in books about vampires and romance?
The seat beside Jacob’s bed was immoderate—padded and covered in mauve suede. The eye was drawn to it. Jacob had furnished the rest of his quarters sparsely; excess would have looked incongruous within these stone walls. Nevertheless, Kaden made use of the seat and smiled guardedly at the fifty-year-old vampire.
“How are you, Kaden?” Jacob beamed.
Geniality must have seemed necessary, but Kaden sensed the deception underneath it.
“Perplexed at the moment.”
Jacob nodded and forced a smile as he pushed away the hand-woven woolen blanket and adjusted the transparent tube that ran along his arm. “Mary is overreacting.” Sweat rolled down Jacob’s temple. “It’s nothing,” he said, his true dejected mood emerging.
Beads of moisture rested on Jacob’s arm. He was technically dead; no living organs to cool.
Likely, Mary had inserted the tube to replace the moisture in Jacob’s body—otherwise, Kaden was uncertain of the consequences. What would happen to a vampire who lost all the moisture in their body? Would his body shrivel? Almost certainly.
“Don’t look at me like that, Kaden. I’m not dying. I’m only running a temperature. And don’t tell Evie or Elijah—all hell will break loose then. They’ll have me hooked up to every machine possible.”
Kaden glanced at the steel stand holding the bag of saline. Uncertainty raged within, triggering the anxiety he’d been trying to repress. He caught himself needing to rise and order Mary back into the room—connect Jacob to every piece of technology imaginable—make sure he was all right. But … that was a human reaction of desperation—of delaying a fate that they didn’t understand. Obviously, Mary had done what was necessary already. Kaden gathered himself, and prepared a more palatable response. “Then, what are you doing in this bed, Jacob?”
He grinned at his friend. “Having a holiday. That’s what.”
Jacob’s hand rested at his side, and though Kaden rarely touched another vampire, he put his hand on top of Jacob’s. “What is it you need? Ask me anything.”
Jacob completed the gesture and closed his fingers around Kaden’s hand. “So you know, I’m not dying, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s that damned doctor out there. Seems to think there is a chance of me passing, and if that could happen, I want to protect what I’ve built. Too many young ones here—they need this place—and they need a leader. If I should go—”
“But you’re not going to—”
“No, but if something should happen to me, the ward will come down, Kaden. The night that the demon came for us, you and the demon were equal in strength. You’re the only one who could offer them protection if the ward comes down.”
Kaden could see where this was going. Jacob was clearly flustered. The thought that the ward may already be weakening hadn’t escaped either of them.
That night three years ago, Kaden had transported into Jacob’s Maryvale homestead, but not in time to hear the spell Jacob had spoken.
By the time he had arrived, his brother had been hurling energy bursts at an invisible barrier. It was the ward that Kaden later found out Jacob had created.
Nothing about that night sat well with Kaden. He shut and opened his eyes to try to clear the images of the past. “I remember that night too, but I’m not sure that you are correct in thinking I’m the only one who could protect the coven. Evie could hold the ward, if you pass, that is.”
Jacob shook his head. “No, I told you. You got there too late. The ward was created with my blood—the spell relies on it as much as it relies on her blood. Maybe that wasn’t the wisest thing to do, but that’s the way it is. I’m afraid for her, Kaden. That demon has designs on her. The memory of that night haunts me.”
Choosing Hawke is nearly finished!
Kaden remained silent, nodding. He could relate. He remembered seeing his brother attacking the ward. From behind, Kaden had sent a flash of white energy into Haborim’s back. It had sent him crashing into the ward, but he’d bounced off and into an exterior wall instead. It should have caused Haborim to implode. He should have been overwhelmed by the white energy, but he wasn’t. The gods favored Haborim over Kaden. That was clear. The only thing that Kaden’s energy bolt had achieved was a wrecked wall. Haborim had grinned as he’d dusted himself off. “I’ll have that one as my mate.” Haborim had pointed cruelly at Evie through the barrier. “Mark my words, Kaden. She’s mine.” But without another word, Haborim had dematerialized to another location.
Jacob was right. Haborim had been looking for a female Vampire Mage partner for some time, but Kaden didn’t want to verbalize that. It would only add to Jacob’s fear. But this was one more reason that Evie didn’t deserve to be kept in the dark. “I know we’ve been over this, but I urge you to reconsider your stance. You can’t protect her forever. Evie needs to be taken into the fold.”
“You’re right. We’ve been over this. And the decision is not mine to make.”
“I think it is. You say that she would weaken the ward if she even said his name, but perhaps the ward has been weakened already. With respect, my friend, you can’t treat Evie like a child forever. She has a right to know about Haborim and the danger he poses.”
Jacob tightened his hold on Kaden’s hand. “I won’t risk it.”
Kaden knew the risks well enough. There was no way he’d ever put Evie in Haborim’s way. And he could understand why Jacob felt like this. He wanted to protect his baby girl.
The trouble was that Kaden wasn’t sure from whom Evie needed the most protection. Dammit. Kaden sighed. The gods must be laughing at him now, since Kaden was as much a demon as his brother. And both he and his brother desired her.
“You are right to be afraid for her, for the young ones we’ve brought here.” Kaden paused, searching for the right way to phrase this. “But it would be wrong for you to pass the leadership of the coven to me.”
Jacob shifted in the bed. “How do you mean?”
Kaden sighed. What could he say? That if Jacob handed the reins of the coven to him, it would be like handing it over to a demon, just like Haborim. Perhaps, it was time for the truth. “An ancient coven of Vampire Mages attacked my family over two hundred years ago. They were members of the vampire elite. They took me and my brother as recruits, to further their activities under the gods.”
“The gods?”
“Entities made up of pure energy. They watch us. They play with our destinies, like we are pieces on a game board. But they also need us. They feed on souls to maintain their own existences. That demon you saw in your house that night was their servant.”
Jacob puzzled, his brow furrowing. “I know they feed on souls. They’ve fed on Sharon’s. I’ve got no intention of letting that happen to Evie and Elijah.”
“It takes quite some time for the soul to be ready before the gods will feed on it, but that’s not my point. The point is that when the coven took me and my brother, they gave us the same powers: to call the elements to our service, to materialize anywhere on Earth, to reach into a vampire, extract a soul, and send it to hell.” Kaden checked Jacob’s reaction. “They call it the place of ascension. I call it hell.”
The old man had stiffened in the bed, but said nothing.
Here it comes—there is always some kind of secret in vampire romance books.
Kaden swallowed and continued to explain. He’d already gone too far to turn back now. “The process of taking a soul is called ascension. At least, that is what the gods call it. The coven who recruited us called it ascension too.” Kaden paused. The old vampire looked confused, as though there was a piece of the story he was yet to understand.
“There are some who think that the place a vampire soul goes is determined by the deeds of the vampire or an allegiance to a particular god or way of living. Not true. Regardless of the vampire’s beliefs, the gods take the vampire soul to the place of ascension, where the soul awaits the gods.” The words were shameful. He’d always known he’d need to have this conversation with Jacob at some point. “Both my brother and I have the ability to move from Earth to this place of ascension and back to Earth again, as we deliver each soul.”
“My Sharon! Could you—”
“No,” Kaden replied quickly. “No. We can’t bring anyone back.” He bowed his head. The powerlessness tainted his words. “If only that were the case.”
Jacob slumped back into the bed. “You’re the same as the demon,” he muttered under his breath. Perchance, he thought himself a fool for trusting Kaden all these years. “Why have you waited all this time to say what you really are?”
Kaden met the old man’s gaze. “Because you were grieving for your wife. Still are grieving for her. The information seemed too much for you at the time and, the truth be known, you instinctively offered me your friendship, your trust, and I didn’t know how to tell you. Being here in your coven has been … healing for me too.”
Kaden let go of Jacob’s hand. It wouldn’t have surprised him if Jacob told him to leave right now. “I’ve only ever delivered a single soul to the place of ascension. I can tell you, it is nothing like paradise. It is a prison for millions of vampire souls to be tortured. The souls decay over time until the gods finally consume them. A raw vampire soul is beneath a god, until it has been … processed. I’m not sure of what exactly happens, but that is the only way I can describe it. Once, it was my goal to provide souls for the gods, until I defied them. If you were to pass the coven to me, you would be handing it over to the same kind of being as the demon you fear.”
Kaden could hear the old man gnash his teeth inside his mouth. The man was obviously trying to make sense of Kaden’s past. Finally, Jacob’s fingers crept to Kaden’s hand again. “I’ve always prided myself on being a good judge of character. And you have done us no harm these three years. I stand by my decision. You’re not like the demon. Nothing like him. If you have the same powers, all the more reason for you to be charged with the coven’s protection.”
“But don’t you see, Jacob! Evie and Elijah are your children. I am merely—”
“Merely.” Jacob scoffed. “You’re part of the family. Always have been. I understand your hesitation, but at the same time, I won’t put Evie and the rest of the coven in harm’s way. She must never know Haborim’s name, and though she’s a powerful Storm Witch, she’s no match for that brother of yours.”
Cradled in her father’s arms, Evie had looked so vulnerable that night. Her black hair had fallen into her face, and her once-olive skin had been covered in blood. When she had woken, she’d found her mother dead. Helplessly, he’d offered his condolences through the shield, and after a while, perhaps instinctively, she’d let him pass through the ward.
I’ve always loved the clashing of vulnerability and dark forces in vampire books.
But now, three years on, Evie lived and loved in the moment. As he studied her from afar, she grew more protective and compassionate each day. Konner was a great example. She’d do anything to protect the coven—her growing family. She wanted nothing more than to bring one more in, and despite the risk, she’d convinced them that Konner was worth it.
But, if someone or something were to trigger her ire, her storm instincts were unrelenting. Evie had inherited the nature of a storm. She had that unpredictability sometimes, which contrasted with a slow-building anger that lashed out with cracking thunder, and yet she had the ability to bring the nourishing rain and renewal.
Electrical ions could flare from her fingers, and he’d seen her clone herself. She often said she was the Witch equivalent of Agent Smith, a character from one of her moving pictures.
That harsh beauty and her contradictory nature of both dazzling power and heralding renewal drew Kaden to her. Perhaps that was why his brother wanted her as well. It worried Kaden that Haborim might have her one day.
Kaden could not help but notice that the arch in her brows would hitch up when she called the electrical ions to herself. The power would accentuate her hazel eyes and burn brilliantly in her soul. The pink color in her lips would deepen, and she would cause dark, forbidden tenderness to stir deep in his torso.
Both she and Kaden could wield incredible power if needed, and even though he knew he shouldn’t notice the swing of her hips when she walked or the smile that made her soul glow brighter, he did notice them, and all those things made it difficult to think a rational thought when she was close.
Even more than that, it made him argue in her favor—made him vehemently believe she was worthy of so much more respect. Evie could absolutely handle Haborim. “I think you’re underestimating Evie,” Kaden said.
Jacob clenched his fists in stubborn defiance. “You’d put Evie in danger like that? I don’t think you would.”
“No, of course I wouldn’t,” Kaden objected. “But her blood fuels the ward too. She thinks it’s there purely to protect the humans, but it has been three years. She deserves the truth. With respect, Jacob, and do not misunderstand me, I hold you in the highest regard. But I feel as though your fatherly need to protect her is clouding your judgment in this.”
“I’m not an overbearing father.”
“Then—”
“Kaden,” Jacob interrupted, annoyance driving his terse tone. “You weren’t there when I cast the spell. You didn’t hear him cast his own spell against her in response. He said that if she were to utter his name, the ward would weaken. That’s my reality! Evie fought valiantly that night, but still she fell to the vampires. What more do you want? Revealing Haborim to her? It’d be like pitting a bull dog against a hamster. I never brought her up to fight. I meant for my daughter to follow the path of her heart—to connect with the Earth, to care for the animals that live within it. If we told her about Haborim, then we’d have to tell her who he is. We’d have to tell her his name, and then tell her not to say his name. Why tell her at all? What if his name should slip from her mouth and weaken the ward? Put everyone in danger? It’d be like lighting a fire around the coven. Eventually, everyone will burn.”
“And you want me to succeed you, so that you don’t have to tell Evie what really happened that night. Protect her from the full force of the nightmare.” Kaden surveyed Jacob’s swollen eyes. He loved this old man. But he doubted the wisdom of keeping this secret anymore.
Yet Kaden couldn’t fathom losing Jacob. What would happen if this gruff but kind-hearted vampire were to expire? May the universe preserve him. “Do I get a choice?” Kaden asked.
“In this? No. I’ll protect my daughter any which way I can. That’s my right and my duty. I’m her father.” Jacob started to cough as he released Kaden’s hand to cover his own mouth. It took him a moment to recover. “Damned cold.” Jacob shook his head as though he thought that would rid him of the coughing.
“This coven needs a leader whatever should happen. There’ll be no arguments. I have already signed the Will.”
The sweating old man glanced over at a folder sitting on the rough-hewn wooden table. “You were a leader without followers that day you appeared and helped us fight off Haborim, and you’re a leader now. In case the ward fails, you promised to stay and guard against Haborim, and you’ve already been doing that.”
Kaden had played his part in hiding this from Evie and Elijah—he had to admit his complicity.
“It’s only right that you watch over the rest of the coven if I go. They’re all a part of the Dixon clan; they’re all my children in a sense.” Jacob coughed. “Every single one of them. I know it in my bones.”
Kaden refused to entertain the notion of taking over this coven. “Well. You’re not going to die, good sir. Other than the coming of Haborim, vampires cannot die.”
They grinned at each other.
“Yeah,” Jacob said, laughing. “Vampires can’t die. Not in the human sense, anyway.” He continued to laugh until the coughing took over.
Kaden stayed for another hour until Mary returned. Then he transported back to his den to let Jacob rest. The old vampire had tired significantly while Kaden was there.
Go back and read chapter three.
Continue reading Chapter Five.