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NEW BEGINNINGS Prologue and Excerpt |
What can I say? A drug addicted Vector who is happy with his lot in life? Doesn't want to change? What could be more fun to write about! ISBN: 9781921314353 PDF, PDB (Palm), HTML, LIT (Microsoft Reader), PRC (Unencrypted Mobipocket),RB (Rocket 1100), IMP (Gemstar 1150/Ebookwise), IMP (Gemstar 2150/Rocket 1200) Price: US $4.95
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Adan pulled his black cloak tighter about his lithe frame. His breath frosted in the cold, dank air of the dark alleyway. The moon was high but shed little light on the lands below. Perfect, thought Adan. His gaze shifted toward the streets beyond the alley. Soon, it would be soon. He could feel it. The taverns were closing up. The intoxicated patrons would be disgorged like so much vile waste, to sully the streets and dark alleys until next eve's revelry. A
shudder ran through Adan, but it was not from the cold.
The tremors always got worse before they got better.
He knew that. He
lived with that. And he
could fix that. He just had
to have patience. His
keen hearing picked up the sounds of footfalls, echoing dully against
the tall, wooden structures on either side of him.
He remained still, waiting, blending into the darkness
surrounding him. In a moment, a young man stumbled down the alley, muttering
softly to himself. Adan
drew a deep, slow breath, reaching out with his Vector magic. Yes, this man had just recently taken a dose of hack,
the drug Adan craved, the drug Adan needed.
He waited until the man was almost past him, before he stepped
into his path. The
man stumbled to a stop with a gasp.
His gaze lifted to study Adan's face.
Though he was not a small man, Adan, at well over six feet,
towered over him, and the man staggered backward to get a better
glimpse, blinking rapidly, eyes obviously blurred from drink or drug. "Good
eve," Adan said quietly. The
young man frowned, as if unsure how to respond. He shrugged, and
attempted to pass Adan. Adan
stopped him yet again, gripping his arm.
"What
do you want?" the man slurred. "You,"
Adan answered quietly, and pulled the man toward him. His bite was
vicious, his feeding more so, his lust brought on by his need for the
drug in the man's blood. It had been too long since he'd fed. Lost in
the euphoria of the hack that now coursed through his body, Adan released his grip on
his victim. The man sprawled to the cold ground. Adan stared down at him
for a few moments, then, snugging his cloak, he turned and melted into
the darkness.
Chapter
1 Baris
looked up from his journal at the sound of voices. Voices he knew.
A surge of joy coursed through him as his wife, Anika, led a
tall, dark haired man into the study.
Baris rose, extending his hand.
"Jaeger! What
are you doing here? It's
been a long time." The
man smiled, accepting Baris' forearm embrace.
"It has." "Did
you bring Rhiannon? And the
children?" "No,
I'm afraid I didn't." He paused. "I...I need to speak with you
on an important matter." Anika
tipped her head at Jaeger. "I'll fetch you a drink, then leave you
two to talk," she said and quickly slipped out of the room. Baris
smiled and motioned Jaeger to a chair beside the desk, then lowered his
towering, lithe frame back into his own chair.
"So, what's wrong? Something
with Rhiannon?" "No,
Rhia is fine." He let out a heavy sigh. "I came at the request
of Darius." Baris
drew back. A momentary
surge of panic swept through him, and his hand reflexively moved toward
his left arm. "Darius?"
he whispered. "What
does he want with me? What
have I done?" Jaeger
smiled, his gaze moving momentarily to Baris' arm, though he said
nothing. He reached out to give Baris' shoulder a reassuring grip.
"Old ways die hard. Do remember that Darius is not Cardiss. He does
not have the same punitive rule as Cardiss did. Besides, you have done
nothing. Sovereign Darius
only wishes your expertise, shall we say." "My
expertise? What could I
possibly know that he doesn't?" Jaeger
started to answer then stopped as Anika returned with two tankards of
cold ale. She sat them on
the table, cast a quick glance at Jaeger, and left as quietly as she had
come in. Jaeger
looked at the closed door thoughtfully.
"Doesn't she like me?" Baris
was startled by the words. "Of
course she does! I think
she's a bit intimidated by you is all." It
was Jaeger's turn to be surprised.
"By me? Why?
I'm not even full Vector." Baris
managed a small smile, despite the fact that his heart was doing double
time. "Perhaps intimidated isn't the right word. Embarrassed might
be better. She's still a bit unsettled about all that occurred between
her and I almost two years ago. I
have to admit, I'm highly embarrassed over that whole incident myself.
I wish I could erase it from my past, and my memory." Jaeger
took a sip of his ale and fixed his dark gaze on Baris.
"Well, actually, that's exactly what I'm here to discuss
with you." Baris
felt the color drain from his cheeks.
"I thought you said that I'd done nothing wrong. Why would
Darius –" "I
told you," Jaeger interrupted.
"He needs your exper – assistance with something.
It seems that there is another Vector who has fallen prey to the
ravages of hack.
He is refusing to even acknowledge his pledge to the Sovereign.
He has basically gone his own way.
Darius would like us to intervene.
He doesn't want this to become a nasty state of affairs." Baris
digested the words slowly, trying to drown them with a large swallow of
ale. Just the mention of hack
set his skin crawling. He'd
had enough of that torture. The
days he had spent under the influence of the powerful drug were only a
blurred memory, but he could still clearly see the dead body of the boy
he had taken as his consort during that time.
A boy who had died because of him. He had used the boy as a food
source, but more than that, he has used the boy as a way to ease his own
cravings for the hack. Even now, he could remember the euphoria
that had swept through him each time he had taken the blood of a person
high on hack. It was a euphoria not met by simply ingesting the
drug in its leaf form. A shudder ran up his spine and he took another
long pull on his ale, only wanting to distance himself from any more
conversation. "I...I
don't see why Darius just doesn't take this Vector into the Lair by
force. It's his right as
Sovereign." "That
has been the right of the Sovereign in the past," Jaeger agreed.
"But do remember that when Darius assumed the position of
Sovereign, he gave the Vectors freer rein to pursue their own
lives." "Then
why does he care what this Vector is doing?" "Because
this Vector is giving us all a bad name, Baris.
I don't need to tell you how tenuous our acceptance into this
human society is. One
Vector out there doing ill deeds affects us all. We certainly don't want
to get back to the point of being hunted and killed simply for who we
are. At least, I don't. And
I don't wish to jeopardize my family either." The
words startled Baris. "You
think that would happen? All
of our spouses are witches. I
don't think common folk would dare to –" "Think,
man!" Jaeger
interrupted. "Rhiannon's
clan were hunted and killed for years.
In fact, it's only their association with the Vectors that has
brought them any peace at all." "Then
perhaps the common folk having a fear of Vectors is a good thing,"
Baris returned. Jaeger
sighed. "To a point, I agree.
But only to a point. I
would much prefer that we were respected, not feared.
And I certainly don't like the fear this particular Vector is
spreading about him. He has done a lot of killing. And he's not been too
particular about his victims either.
From the reports, he's killed men, women and even children." Baris
drew a deep breath and rose, gripping his tankard with both hands.
He went to the window and peered out, though he focused on
nothing beyond. His mind's
eye again saw the body of the boy he had commanded.
He couldn't get rid of the image despite the fact that he had
been assured that Antyn's death was not his doing.
It had been an overdose of the hack
that had killed him, something that probably would have eventually
occurred with or without Baris being involved.
Still, the boy wouldn't have been attacked, nearly beaten to
death, if it hadn't been for his relationship with Baris.
And he wouldn't have tried to calm that pain with more hack than his frail body could endure. Baris felt almost as if he owed it to Antyn to stop this
other Vector from claiming victims. Almost.
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