Chapter Two: Intense Romance Books About Vampires That Pack A Punch.
The next instalment of The Vampire's Covenant
I’m so excited for you guys to read this next chapter. It definitely has the two D’s, danger and desire. This is what attracts me most to romance books about vampires.
These two elements keep me glued to a book or movie, because, like everyone else, I want to see what happens. Vampires have lashings of danger and desire, don’t you think!
As you will have realised, I have moved over to substack, and I am making a home for myself here, for both my books and courses. Mostly, it has gone smoothly, but there are still a couple of things that I have to do.
The major thing is that I have to register another domain name. It’s not that I don’t like writingcourse4u.com. It’s catchy and everything, but it doesn’t really communicate anything about my paranormal romance books, or about the message I want to send.
So I’m going to ask everyone to vote on the domain name they like. I thought that would be fun. Just click the poll when you see it, and if you’re confused about what slamming means, I’ll talk about that later.
Enjoy this episode of The Vampire’s Covenant, because this chapter is all about danger.
Jacob tried to go back to sleep in his dark bedroom. It was early morning. Kaden’s calm voice carried across the field outside. His muffled tones filtered through the glass windows, but only just.
The bed squeaked as Jacob tossed around in it. The air inside his room was cold from the nighttime frost. They’d used stone because of its ability to retain heat, but it was bitterly cold in his bedroom in the mornings.
So why was he sweating? He would have gone out to join the meditation this morning, but the sweating worried him. He had a fever. How could a vampire have a fever? His mind whirled with anxieties over the coven, Evie and Elijah, and the trip he’d made outside the coven a week ago.
Jacob and Kaden had gone out scouting for new recruits. They’d found a young vampire whose psychic abilities rivaled Jacob’s.
But Jacob hesitated about bringing the boy back. He always thought seriously before taking someone into the coven, and he had his doubts about this boy. Konner’s control was lacking, so Jacob and Kaden returned to the coven without the young vampire.
He’d been talking about it with Kaden after their return, and Evie had overheard.
She’d listened in his apartment as the two of them talked.
“It sounds to me like Konner has had a hard life.” That girl’s heart was always big enough for one more.
“Yes,” he’d replied, turning to his daughter. “There is a dark side to him though. He watched as two vampires set themselves alight,” Jacob had warned. “The boy had used his abilities to cause the vampires to harm themselves. Apparently, they’d been bullying him for some time before that. The vampires didn’t die, but they were in significant pain.”
Why not share this with someone else who wants to read more romance books about vampires.
Evie had thought on it. “Bring Konner here, Dad. It sounds like he needs a family he can rely on. No one does that kind of thing because they enjoy it. Bring him into the coven. I’ll watch him, and if I think he’ll be a danger, we can always tell him to go.”
So he and Kaden made an extra trip out to see Konner. They explained to the boy how he might benefit from joining them. Konner was hesitant. That was to be expected, but Jacob used his own psychic abilities to reassure Konner that he’d be safe. No one would hurt him. He would not be thought of as strange or stupid. That in itself made Konner more receptive to the offer. A day after that, he, Kaden, and Konner returned to the compound. Unfortunately, Jacob had also brought home some kind of illness as well.
As a vampire, Jacob was technically immortal, or he thought he was. So what was this fever all about?
He’d never heard of vampires getting sick. Did his susceptibility to illness also mean he could die?
The necessity of the ward to keep Haborim out meant that Jacob couldn’t afford to be sick or die. If something like that happened, Evie and Elijah and the rest of the coven would be vulnerable to the demon.
Before Jacob could squeeze his eyes shut to try to sleep, that hellish night three years ago flashed in his mind. The night when those rogue vampires attacked.
They had cackled as they left. “Mate, we shouldn’t have hit this house—full of bloody Witches,” one of them had said.
Maybe there had been ten vampires. Jacob couldn’t have been sure how many there had been. One minute he had been watching the news, and the next he heard the door crash to the floor. The lock had been of little use. Their homestead in Maryvale had erupted with screaming.
After the vampires had left, Jacob remembered trying not to let the panic set in. He had willed his legs to move, but for a couple of minutes, he couldn’t even wiggle his toes. Finally, he had dragged himself through the broken shards of window glass. His gaze darted about the room. Where was the phone? He would call for help. But everything had been upended. In the struggle, the phone had been dislodged from its charger, and he had no idea where it was now.
What do you think my next romance book about vampires should be about?
His legs felt like logs of wood as he crawled toward his wife, Sharon.
The movement sent pain rushing up his spine. Most likely, it was the vampire venom coursing through his body, slowly shutting down his organs.
He straddled Sharon, a leg either side of her torso. She had, by far, fared the worst in the attack. She had had no defenses. She was not a Witch like he was. He’d fallen in love with a simple human. When he looked down at her, the swelling bite marks on her neck confirmed what he’d feared. The assholes had taken their fill, but blood still seeped slowly from her jugular. The dark red liquid had trailed down to mark the gold locket she wore at her neck. He had put his hand against the wound, but then reached up to his own neck, and found evidence of bite marks there too. Jacob ripped off a corner of his work shirt, and folded it, before he held the fabric against her puncture wounds. He hurriedly looked about for something to fix the fabric to her neck and stop the bleeding. She moaned.
Jacob stretched to grab the end of the tablecloth that had found its way to the floor and wrapped a portion of it around Sharon’s neck. He wound it tight enough to provide pressure to the wound, but loose enough not to choke her. Satisfied, he kissed her cheek. It was cold. She wasn’t breathing, but she’d moaned, which indicated that Sharon might have been becoming a vampire too. Panic stabbed at his heart. But then her hand twitched, and she seemed to react instinctively when he kissed her.
She moaned again as the early evening moonlight shone through the window and made her look deathly pale.
A chill had run into the marrow of Jacob’s bones that night. The cold was intense. It felt more like burning as though dry ice encased his body. Ignoring the shock that was setting in, Jacob willed himself to piece together the identities of the vampires who had attacked. But their faces had blurred with the motion.
Sharon wasn’t breathing and she was deathly cold, yet she’d moaned. She was definitely succumbing to the vampire venom. Would that happen to him too, to his daughter and his son as well? Too cold to be thinking straight, Jacob jerked up, desperately trying to find Elijah and Evie.
Both of them slumped against the farthest wall, opposite the entryway.
Jacob moved closer to see Elijah. They’d never had contact with vampires before that day. Evie and Elijah had lost a lot of blood. Three vampires had drunk from Elijah. If there had ever been a time in Jacob’s life that he should have protected his family, it was then. But his gift had been of no use. His gift could only influence. Psychic energy flowed in his veins, but what good had that been? His ability to influence the decisions of others had done none of them any good in the flash of violence that had descended upon their home.
Elijah’s eyes were closed. Perhaps that was for the best. His black hair was mussed, and the collar of his white school shirt was stained with his blood. The boy was twelve. Twelve! Jacob shivered, violently. He couldn’t tell whether it was the vampire venom swelling in his veins or whether the cold sensation was merely shock.
Jacob touched Elijah’s shoulder. The boy was gifted with the ability to see mathematical impossibilities. It had taken Jacob a while to recognize it, but Elijah was aligned with the wind. His son could see the way that the wind was represented in numbers. Made no bloody sense to Jacob, but he was proud as punch when he realized his boy was a Wind Witch. They had often gone out to the paddocks to practice his wind magic. Elijah was the apple of his eye, and those monsters had come in and treated him like a sacrificial lamb. When Jacob thought that the horror couldn’t be more overwhelming, he glanced, trembling, at his Evie lying there.
She’d fought valiantly, but in the end, she’d come to rest beside Elijah. Jacob felt along Evie’s arm to find her ulna bone broken. Those bastards. His precious Evie. She was a Storm Witch, a powerful one at that. She’d rushed out from her bedroom and sent electrical blasts flying from her fingers as she ran headlong at the intruders. She’d sent at least one of the vampires careening through a window. That was why there was broken glass everywhere.
But, his Evie wasn’t a warrior. He’d never brought her up that way. She was his little girl. She loved dating, and having fun, and being like all the other girls in Maryvale. She loved parties, horse riding, perving at the guys—as she called it. She had been about ready to move to Brisbane to study veterinary science. To make a life for herself. She was nineteen. Always on Snapchat, taking selfies, until … this happened. His heart broke, right down the middle, to look at Evie lying that way.
Her shirt had been torn, and her bra had been exposed. After Jacob had moved to her side, he brought the ripped fabric back up to cover her. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
Survivor’s remorse had hit Jacob like a guillotine blade.
At that time, Jacob registered that he had been bitten twice, but he hadn’t lost a lot of blood, mostly thanks to Evie. She’d sent two of the vampires flying. Seconds before, both vampires had their fangs inserted into his neck. He had been lucky, whereas Evie had not. There had been too many, and they’d seen Evie as the major threat. One after the other, they had attacked her until she was overwhelmed.
Jacob put his finger to his daughter’s neck, the blood smearing on his fingers as he pressed firmly. She had no pulse. Evie’s facial expressions twitched, but she didn’t seem to register that he’d spoken. It was likely Evie was becoming a vampire too.
“Evie,” he called.
She didn’t answer.
Jacob rubbed his face and stood up. He thought to call emergency services, but … what would they do? The coldness persisted. He was becoming numb, and the vampire venom would make fangs grow at his mouth soon too. But that was not the worst that this night could have brought. Not by a long shot!
Three thuds emanated from the floorboards.
Jacob glanced over his shoulder, and had to take another look. It was Sharon. She’d kicked the floor with the heels of her shoes as something or someone bent over her.
The identity of the figure was hidden, since the figure’s face stared directly down at his wife.
Another intruder had come into his house!
Jacob struggled around, still on the floor, to see who it was. An intense stench of sulfur hit him. He thought that maybe whoever it was had been trying to revive her, but when he looked down at his wife’s horrified face, her eyes were open and the balls of her eyes were pitch black.
“Who are you? What have you done?” Jacob demanded, trying to expel the sulfur from his nostrils.
The figure was a good-looking man. Debonair even. He grinned. “My name is Haborim.”
Seeing Sharon’s expression, Jacob ignored the response. A silver substance seeped from Sharon’s fingers. Rigor mortis takes hours to set in, but her limbs seemed to be stiffening by the second, her fingers curling into a claw-like formation. If she had not been dead before, she certainly was now.
“What did you do?” Jacob tried to move closer to his wife.
“My dear sir, I have merely helped her to ascend. Just as,” he said, stepping away from Sharon toward Evie, “I’ll help this beautiful creature too,” he added, incredulous, noticing something about Evie. “Her soul,” he said, hovering closer to her. “Could she be the one? The Vampire Mage who can split herself? Become her own doppelganger?”
Do you think romance books about vampires is about evil beings finding love?
Jacob’s attention jerked toward Haborim. What had happened to Sharon could happen to Evie as well, if Jacob didn’t act now.
You leave my Evie be.
Haborim would have nothing to do with Evie if Jacob had to die to make sure of it.
Jacob’s right hand had been marked with Evie’s blood as well as his own. The blood mingled with Sharon’s as well, but she was dead now. Her blood would be useless. Regardless, Jacob had vowed to protect them all, but he’d especially protect Evie. Haborim had called Evie beautiful. The demon had said something about Evie’s power to split herself, and that sent the chill of death into Jacob’s body.
Usually Jacob would not have invoked a spell this powerful, and blood in magic usually yielded a destructive force. But blood was also a substance of life that could oppose dark forces. He needed to do it fast. Anxious, he forced the spell out: “I command this demon to freeze on the spot.”
Haborim halted, not half a yard from Evie. He struggled to move forward, but instead, Haborim’s form twitched as though he were desperately trying to free himself. He snarled over his shoulder, like the demon he was. “What are you doing to me, Witch?”
Jacob ignored him. “By the mingling of Evie’s blood and my blood, I place Evie and all those she loves under the protection of a ward this demon cannot penetrate.”
Haborim’s expression grew indignant as he tried to counteract Jacob’s magic. “Nera Bulla! Terror befall this Witch and all his children!”
Jacob hastily went on to lay out the terms of the spell and reinforce it, knowing that he couldn’t keep this up much longer. He couldn’t hold Haborim there forever. “By Evie’s blood and my blood,” Jacob screamed, “I ward my Evie against this demon before me. May her blood guard her and all those she loves.”
Haborim growled. “Nice try. The vampire gods will have your souls eventually, and I am their servant.” He cackled maniacally. “I beseech the vampire gods. This Witch’s daughter will utter my name. Every single time she says it, his feeble ward will weaken. And then she will know the paradise of ascension.” Haborim tried to move. Finally succeeding, his foot jerked forward, toward Evie.
Jacob panicked. It hadn’t looked like his wife had been sent to paradise. It had looked like she had been sent to hell. He wouldn’t stand by to let Evie experience the same fate.
Jacob screamed, “I ward my Evie against you, demon, and she will never know your name! Mark my words, I have used our blood to create a shield that will shut you out as long as Evie and I persist.”
As long as Evie and I persist.
As long as Evie AND I persist.
Those events replayed in his head over and over again. He wished he could escape them, but he couldn’t. He pulled the covers up over his head and wondered at the wisdom of making the ward dependent on his health. Would the shield continue if he died? He had not said ‘as long as Evie or I persist’. He had said ‘as long as Evie and I persist’. He’d constructed that spell without the luxury of being able to think about it. This old man’s life could never be without regret.
He recalled what had happened after he’d warded himself and Evie and Elijah. Kaden had burst into the house. Had just appeared. At the time, he had thought that Kaden had come as Haborim’s ally, but that wasn’t so. Both Kaden and Haborim seemed to know each other, and Jacob had feared that they’d join forces.
But Kaden yanked the demon backward. “You have no business feeding on these people!”
Haborim gurgled a drunken laugh.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment!” Kaden sent a bolt of light toward the demon. It looked like Evie’s magic.
But the bolt bounced off Haborim. The heat of the blast reflected onto Kaden’s face.
Jacob watched all this happen from inside the barrier of the ward. He clutched Evie and Elijah close, watching Kaden and the demon fight.
That bolt of white light looked more powerful than anything he’d seen Evie dish out, but it had done the demon no harm. Instead, Haborim had merely been knocked into a wall.
Before the demon had a chance to pull himself to a stand, Kaden rushed at him, sending out another bolt of energy. But these electrical bursts seemed to bounce off his adversary again.
The demon grinned and turned his back to Kaden, looking directly at Evie. “I’ll have that one as my mate, Kaden. Mark my words. She’s mine.”
Kaden screamed, “No!” Perhaps, Kaden knew what the demon was about to do.
Haborim left the house—disappeared as though he’d never been there.
Then all fell quiet. Jacob sat with Evie and Elijah in shock for several hours after that. For the life of him, he couldn’t make his legs move. But when Evie and Elijah woke and wanted to know what had happened after they’d both blacked out, it was Kaden who helped to explain that they’d been attacked by vampires. Jacob begged Kaden not to mention Haborim. What if Haborim came back for Evie? What if she said his name and weakened the ward Jacob had erected? What if?
Before Jacob could go anywhere, he had to know what Haborim was. He demanded Kaden tell him what had happened to his family.
In return, Kaden asked, speaking to him through the invisible shield of the ward, “Good sir, do you believe that the body and soul are separate entities?”
Jacob nodded. Of course he believed that the body and soul were different. He was a Witch.
“I thought so,” Kaden replied to his nod. “When a person is turned into a vampire, their body dies. That much is well known,” Kaden said. “Friend, your bodies right now are transforming from living to dead beings. Once this happens, it will be very difficult to kill you, but not impossible.” Kaden paused as though trying to give Jacob an opportunity to absorb this information. “A vampire can die a second time if their souls have been taken from them. Sir, at the moment, your soul will live on inside you for as long as you maintain consciousness. Your soul retains the purity of your personality.” Jacob remembered the anxiety on Kaden’s face.
“That demon who was here, it is his job to instigate the second death. He was attempting to dispose of your souls at the place of ascension. It is not a beautiful place. It is more like a prison for souls. Indeed, it looks as though he has successfully transported one soul already.” Kaden pointed at Sharon. “Haborim is the vampire equivalent of the grim reaper, and as the demon of the second death, he takes particular joy in his duties.”
These memories were too much. Jacob shivered, sweating in the bed, as he pushed the past away. The consequences of creating the ward against Haborim loomed. Jacob punched his pillow and nestled his cheek against it, hoping that the fever would go away. But what if it didn’t? What if this fever took hold, and he was no longer able to protect his daughter?
Continue and read Chapter Three.
The next chapter will be sent the same time next week.