Second Lineage (The First Blood Series Book 2) Page 21

  By the time I reached them, I was a shaky mess, and the man who’d first seen me chuckled as he shoved a water bottle into my hand. “Easy there, son. You made it, only by about thirty seconds, but you made it.”

  “Thanks,” I gasped after chugging half the bottle, the chilled liquid quenching the burning ache in my throat. It wasn’t as rejuvenating as blood would’ve been, but I’d never say that out of the blue to an Elite wolf shifter. He’d take it as a threat and have me cut down right here, before I even had a chance to prove I wasn’t what they thought.

  “No problem.” He pointed toward a group of people standing outside a smaller building on the edge of the base. “I assume you’re here for the Elite Interview.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Then head over there and join the others. They’ll be starting soon.”

  “Thank you.”

  He took the empty bottle from me, and I strode toward the group, my breathing evening out now that I wasn’t racing time to make it here. There were far more people present than I’d first estimated. I blamed the lack in my senses to the fact I hadn’t drank enough blood before leaving home, and I only had two vials in the bag slung across my back. Those vials were from my brothers, and they were nearly as depleted in nutrients as I was, which meant their blood would do little to help me. That was what our race got for not reaching out beyond the dark tunnels where we lived, hiding. There was only so much blood we could share within our House before that blood held no nutrients at all. After that, it would be one slow, agonizing death after another.

  A young, blond man hung back from the rest, studying the group as the other men and women spoke amongst themselves. He couldn’t have been much older than me, and I was much too close before I could smell him. Shifter. Snow leopard. He noticed my approach as I shifted my attention to those around us.

  “Hey, you’re a little young for this group, aren’t you?” he laughed, nodding his head toward the others, who were all easily in their mid-twenties to late thirties. At sixteen, I was likely the youngest person here. There hadn’t been an age limit on the announcement, and since most shifters and magic users were well trained by fifteen, they could easily join the Elite, at least those with battle skill. Schooling was another story.

  “No age limit was listed.” I shrugged my shoulders as his nose flared, trying to get a whiff of my species by scent. “I’m Raven.”

  “Avery. What are you?”

  “Complicated.”

  The shifter grinned a wicked feline smile and shrugged, turning away from me. “I should push you on that, but I’m pretty sure those inside the building will do it for me.”

  Yeah, that was the part which worried me the most about this whole plan. Taking a steadying breath, I forced the anxiety out of my body, refusing to allow myself to feel it. Several of these people were shifters, and some could smell emotion. It would only drive them to dominate over me if they smelled any emotional weakness. My age was already a strike against me. I didn’t need another.

  “It’s crazy, isn’t it? That the humans know supernaturals are real now.” Avery sighed, still watching the group. “It’s actually kind of a relief, don’t you think?”

  I shrugged. “I guess so.”

  “What’s up with the sunglasses? It’s not even sunny out here.”

  “Sensitive eyes.” I used a finger to push the sunglasses I wore further up my nose so there was no chance Avery, or anyone else, could see around them. They’d show off my weak magenta eyes, and if they knew anything of our kind and history, they’d know exactly what I was in a heartbeat. I may not even live long enough to make the gate. That was still a risk I took once I entered the building and was forced to remove the glasses and state my species.

  “Species problem or personal problem?”

  I grinned back at Avery, who was chuckling to himself. “You really want to know what I am, don’t you?”

  “You bet. I’ve never smelled anything quite like you before.”

  “And what do I smell like?”

  “Metallic.”

  Oh. I’d never heard we had a smell to others, but it only made sense that we did since other races could smell us, just as we could smell them. Shifters were easy to spot. They all smelled like animal, but with distinct differences. In the week it took me to arrive here, I’d learned what most smelled like and which ones to avoid. While I’d never gotten into a scuffle with any of them, I’d had to outrun and hide from several. Most were thugs looking for trouble. I hadn’t dared an outright fight as I needed what strength and energy my blood had left for today. If I’d been smart, I would’ve drank one of my brother’s blood vials before arriving, but I’d been too short on time as it was.

  “You don’t know what you smell like?” he asked, arching an eyebrow at me, and I shrugged, muttering my answer.

  “My family doesn’t socialize much.” And not just my family, but my entire species.

  Avery’s mouth had just opened to reply to my statement when the front door to the building whipped open and a large man stepped out, inspecting those milling around. Anyone who I suspected had any military experience, well, experience in the old, human style military, stood to attention, some of them saluting the man. He saluted back and then took in the rest of us. His face was carefully blank, not allowing anyone but a telepath or a mind reader to know what he was thinking. It was frustrating.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is how today will work. You will form a line and four at a time will enter when I come for you. There will be interview questions that you each will answer and then you’ll be asked to demonstrate your fighting skills, all of them. If you’re a shifter, you will shift. Magic users will use their magic. Any Others will show their skills. Am I clear?”

  A chorus of “Yes, Sir’s” rang out while I gave a sharp nod. It took less than a minute for the group to line up, and when we were all in place, I was last, with Avery standing next to me. A tall, broad male and a female almost as large as him were the next two in front of us. If the numbers worked out perfectly, we’d be fighting them. Or I’d be fighting Avery and one of them, but seeing as the two were deep in conversation, if we were able to choose partners, I’d be with Avery.

  “Please tell me whatever your species is can fight,” Avery murmured, eyeing the pair over his shoulder.

  Taking a deep breath, I fought not to groan. Lion shifters. The proudest of the cats, and they could be quite the bullies when they wanted to be. They were also at the top of the feline shifter hierarchy. I wasn’t sure where snow leopards fell, but from Avery’s grimace, it wasn’t anywhere near the top.

  “We’re decent, although I’m a little weak at the moment.”

  “And what do you need to be stronger?”

  I watched him without saying a word as the first four in line were taken into the building and the door shut behind them. Swallowing hard, I shook my head. Blood drinkers were the lowest of the supernaturals, looked down upon by all. I’d only make our position worse if I told him what I was.

  “Not much at the moment.” I shrugged and watched the lioness in front of Avery step out of line and count out the groups. When she got to us, she grinned wide, her sharp canines growing in her excitement.

  “Well, look here Ross, my dear alpha brother, it’s perfect,” she stated, her r’s rolling off her tongue. “We’ll get to spar with the cubs.”

  “They’re going to wish they stayed home today,” the lion chuckled, stepping forward when the line moved to fill in the space of the four missing people at the front.

  For the next two hours, the two lion shifters spent their time chatting, stretching, and goading us on. Well, mostly it was filled with taunts. They kept referring to me as a cub, which meant they either couldn’t smell me or Avery’s scent was too overpowering. Or they didn’t care and only thought of me as a child, which technically was almost true.

  All too soon, we four were the last standing outside the building. Avery and I hadn’t spoken much, both of
us trying to plan in our heads how this might go down since we didn’t know one another or each other’s strengths and weaknesses in a fight. I wasn’t nearly ready when the door opened and the officer appeared, his lips twitching when he saw who Avery and I were up against.

  “Come on in. Stand on the four taped off marks and wait your turn to be addressed. No speaking unless spoken to, and answer quickly and thoroughly.”

  He stepped aside to let us through. The lions entered first, followed by Avery, and I brought up the rear. I’d just stepped across the threshold when I was yanked to a halt when someone grabbed my backpack.

  “No belongings allowed inside,” the officer snapped.

  And this was the other part I feared. “Sir, I walked here. I’ve been on the road for almost a week. It’s just some clothes and other personal belongings. Can I leave it right here?”

  The officer looked over my shoulder at someone further in the room. I peered over my shoulder in time to see a man sitting behind a desk on the other side of the room give a sharp nod. Trying not to show the relief coursing through me all over my face, I slipped the backpack off my shoulders and left it sitting beside the door. I didn’t even turn around when my ears picked up the sound of the zipper opening. There was nothing questionable in the bag, except maybe the kit I used to draw blood…and my brother’s two vials. Oh well, it wasn’t like I could keep this a secret much longer.

  Once I reached my taped mark, the man behind the table addressed us, the scent of bear drifting off of him. He looked like one. Big, burly, and a growl in his voice. Grizzly. He had to be a grizzly.

  “My name is General Davis. I’m the commander of this training center and Elite base. To be clear, you are all aware that you’re here to Interview for cadet positions for the Elite, the government’s most advanced and special unit, correct?”

  This time I joined the others in the communal “Yes, Sir.” He nodded.

  “Good. Now, let’s start over here.”

  He pointed toward the male lion shifter and started asking a series of questions. By the fifth, I wanted to run and puke. I wasn’t going to even make the door at this rate. By the time he reached me in his questioning, I was sure my skin tone was a sick green hue.

  “It’s a little dark in here for sunglasses, don’t you think, kid?” His voice held cruel humor and the lion shifters and a few others in the room chuckled. I could smell at least three magic users. This wouldn’t end well.

  I swallowed hard. “Sensitive eyes, Sir.”

  “Has his voice even dropped?” one of the dozen or so people milling around the room’s walls whispered far too loud. The general ignored them.

  “Name.”

  “Raven Cartana.” Silence followed. Obviously, some people knew my last name. Great.

  Even General Davis’s eyes narrowed. “Category.”

  There was no more spit in my mouth, making swallowing impossible. “Blood drinker.”

  A few growls and hisses, both human and animal, echoed in the room until the general raised his hand, then all fell silent again.

  “Species.”

  “Vamlure.”

  This time, even Avery’s mouth fell open. “Well that explains the metallic scent,” he muttered and shrugged.

  General Davis turned his attention from the paper to lean his elbows on the desk to study me. “Not much is known about your kind. Besides that you drink blood. Why are you here?”

  “To help keep people safe from the Threats,” I explained before I was cut off by someone else’s mutter.

  “You are the threat.” It was some female. From where her voice came from and the scent of magic, it had to be a witch who spoke.

  “No, I’m not,” I told her before removing my sun glasses and blinked profusely in the dim light in the room. “I’m not a threat. Vamlure are peaceful until provoked. We drink blood, yes, but only for its nutritional value. We don’t crave it until our First Blood, and only when we’ve been without for too long. Even then we’d rather die than take from another who is unwilling.” Staring at the general, I held eye contact. “I only drink from those who are willing to give to me.”

  He nodded, still in thought. “I heard vamlure’s eyes are supposed to almost glow magenta, yet yours are so dim they’re almost black.”

  “I’m lacking in nutrients, so I’m weaker.” It wasn’t something I wanted to admit, but he needed to know. All of this clicked in Avery’s head and a tiny gasp escaped him.

  “That’s what you need, blood. Gosh, why didn’t you just tell me?”

  I stared at him like he’d grown another head. “There were too many ears for me just to announce I’m a blood drinker. As it is, I probably won’t see tomorrow. No one likes blood drinkers.”

  He tilted his head at me. “So then why are you here?”

  “So that I can prove vamlure aren’t like vampires and other blood drinkers. We’re civilized, not murderers. How can we prove that when we hide and slowly die?” I shook my head. “I’d rather die here and now while trying to give my people a chance than to watch myself and my people fade into nothing and slowly die.”

  General Davis cleared his throat, bringing our attention back to him. “All right, now that we’ve cleared that up. Age.”

  “Sixteen.”

  “Have you had any formal battle training?”

  “Some. I wouldn’t say I’m advanced by any means.”

  “Schooling?”

  “Homeschooled. Haven’t completed all the courses yet.”

  The general nodded and moved my paperwork to sit with the other three. “All right. You have five minutes to choose your partner and prepare for this sparing session. This isn’t about winning and losing. It’s about showing us your skills, all skills. Your time starts now.”

  Before I could even think past the thought that they were actually letting me Interview, Avery grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the back of the room. During his Interview, I’d found out he was twenty, the son of the local snow leopard pride alpha, and he’d already graduated from college. So, he was tough and smart. I couldn’t even match him.

  “Okay, what do you need me to do?” he asked when we’d reached the back of the room, and I only stared at him, my brain still reeling and trying to catch up. “Do you have to bite me? What? How do you want the blood?”

  My eyebrows shot up. He was giving me his blood? Willingly? In front of everyone. Most everyone’s attention was on us now, including the lions.

  “Umm, I have a kit that draws it so I don’t have to bite. We don’t bite one another.”

  “You take blood from your own kind?” he asked, eyes darkening.

  “Yes. It’s complicated. Few people actually like to be bitten, so we each have a kit we use to draw blood from ourselves or someone else. Are you sure?”

  Avery nodded. “How much do you need?”

  “Very little, but it’s still your blood.”

  “Hurry up and let’s do this. We don’t have much time.”

  In a matter of minutes, I had a tiny vial of Avery’s blood in my hands. The warmth seeped through the glass and saliva filled my mouth. It’d been so long since I’d drank fresh blood that actually held a nutritional value.

  “Thirty seconds to be on the mat,” General Davis barked, even though he and everyone else in the room were still staring at me. “You going to drink that, kid?”

  Nausea twisted my gut. I wanted to, but not in front of all these people. From what I understood, most of the world found drinking blood to be disgusting and taboo. What would they think of me if I tipped the vial back like a shot? Not that I was allowed to drink, but I’d seen television shows where it was referenced.

  Avery moved to block everyone’s view on one side. “Hurry up.”

  “Why do you even care?”

  “Because I don’t want to get beaten to a pulp by those two and you deserve as much of a chance to do this as the rest of us. You’ve been holding that vial of blood for a bit now, and you haven’t gone al
l blood crazed. If anything, you’re nervous to drink it. But you really need to drink it.”

  He nudged my shoulder, giving me that last needed courage to tip back the vial and allow the sweet liquid to cross my tongue and slide down my throat. I wanted more, lots more, but there wasn’t time, and I couldn’t risk weakening Avery. Plus, I knew what this was: blood deficiency. It occurred when we hadn’t had blood in far too long. Often, those who’d allowed themselves to grow too weak took too much blood and ended up in a drunken state. Now was not the time for me to be blood drunk. I’d have to wait for this blood to spread into my body. If only we had a few more minutes, but time was up.

  Avery and I made it to the mat as General Davis called time. The lions had already shifted, and Avery had stripped down to his boxers while he’d run to the mat. While I watched the lions, Avery’s blood began to work its magic. My senses became clearer and less dull, strength returned to my muscles, and my eyes must have been brightening if the looks those across from me were any indication. The male lion snarled at me.

  “You good?” Avery asked as the general walked up beside the large mat.

  “Yup.”

  “All right,” General Davis stated, “Don’t kill one another. Try to keep this contained to the matted area, or close to it. Don’t destroy the building. There will be no time limit. You will fight until I’m satisfied or you forfeit the fight. Once a participant has forfeited, they cannot rejoin the match, and the rest of you may not continue to attack them. Am I clear?”

  The lions nodded as Avery and I gave the standard response. While the beasts across from us prowled from side to side, waiting for the fight to begin, a sour taste filled my mouth as my canine teeth elongated into fangs. Swallowing, I tried to clear my mouth of the venom my body was producing to counter their attack. Even the smallest bit could make them sick, and if I bit down too hard and pumped them full of the stuff, they’d be dead before they could reach a hospital.