Half Black Soul

Half Black Soul

The Alexa Montgomery Saga: Book Two

H. D. Gordon

Copyright 2012 H.D. Gordon

Smashwords Edition

Copyright by Heather Gordon, All rights reserved worldwide under Berne Convention. May not be copied or distributed without prior written permission. If you have this file (or a printout) you are depriving the author and the publisher of their rightful royalties and are punishable under law.

As with everything of any significance in my life, this is for my daughters, Soraya and Akira. Without you, none of this would make any sense. I love you more than life.

I would first like to thank Robert and Nicole Passante for all of things you both have done for me. I am certain that without you this book would be lost. I am in awe of the kindness you two have shown me and I look forward to what the future will bring with you by my side. Seriously, Nic, the world needs more people like you. I love you very truly.

 Next, I thank my Mother, Janice Gordon. You introduced me to the world of books. You have always encouraged my writing and believed in me from the start. Thank you for always listening to my endless book babble, for reading every word I’ve ever written. For everything. I love you, Mommy.

Also, thank you to my father, Cyrus Gordon. Without you, I simply would not be. Without you, these books would have never been written. You have loved me unconditionally and been there when I needed you most. You are my guardian angel. I love you, Daddy.

And, finally, to the readers. I can’t thank you enough for giving a little book called 
Blood Warrior
 a try. You have been enormously kind and accepting, and allowed me to live my dream. I love you all.

Alexa

They say that change happens over time.  I think change happens in rapid moments, moments that are as unpredictable as love, as fleeting, and moments that possess you, rather than the other way around.

I know what I am. I happen to believe that I was born with certain… inclinations. But I also know that when I woke up this morning I was something entirely different from what I am now. This morning I was something that was in no sense of the word 
pure
, but also not 
lost
, which is what I have become. One of those moments stole any remnant, any hope that I could defeat my inclinations, that I was not fated, that I was, in perhaps some macabre way, mostly 
good
.

What remains now is no longer a question of whether I can overcome my inclinations, but rather a question of 
redemption
.

Alexa

Of course it was raining. I 
hate
 driving in the rain. I had been on the road for four hours, the storm just following me the whole way. What is worse is that it made me feel as though I was chasing the sun, just a mile behind it at every moment.

I’d had to stop for food, still five hours from my destination. The diner I was sitting in was generic; one that could be found off any major highway across America. Upon entering, to the left, there was a small convenience store, complete with magazine racks, souvenirs with pictures of the state of Pennsylvania printed across them, stacks of candy, and a cashier station that housed tobacco products and lottery tickets. To the right lay the small diner, with booths along the windows, and a counter with tall stools and “homemade pies” on top displayed behind clear cases.  I’d chosen it because it happened to be the next stop off the highway when hunger struck me.  Later I would wonder if it was fate that I should stop at that diner.  

I’d taken the booth nearest the door.  I just wanted a break from driving in the rain, and I needed to eat to keep my energy up. I sat down with my back to the entrance, and in hindsight, I should have known then that this place was nowhere I should be. I’m 
trained, 
see. I should’ve known better. The only time I sit with my back to an entrance is when the biggest threat is already in the room.  

But my mind was on other things. In the past few weeks, everything I’d thought to be true had turned out to be a lie; the veil that had been draped over my world had been ripped away with abrupt force. I’d always known I was different from other people, but I hadn’t known how far that difference extended; I hadn’t known I wasn’t even 
human.

I am the last of my kind; a Sun Warrior, made for battle and killing. And, as it turns out, that was the reason why I’d just left a city full of vampires and werewolves who were under the impression that I was going to save them. To say the least, I had my doubts.

Everything else had come as a complete shock as well; so crazy that if I didn’t just roll with it, I would probably lose my mind. My Mother had trained me to fight, and yes, kill since I was old enough to walk. She had thought that it was absolutely necessary. I had just thought she was crazy, and I’d hated her for it, but she couldn’t have been more right. She had drilled it into me to protect my little sister, Nelly, because it turned out that Nelly isn’t human either. She’s a Searcher, well, 
half
 Searcher, which is a race of vampires that are able to see into peoples souls. But, the other half of what she is was unheard of, and is the reason she has abilities other Searchers don’t have. This is the reason I was supposed to protect her.

My best friend and newly obtained boyfriend, Jackson, had turned out to be a werewolf. The three of us had all run on the night that harsh reality had smacked me in the face. The night that I lost my Mother. The night before we went to Two Rivers.

Two Rivers, a hidden city housed in the middle of the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, was the most magnificent place I’d ever seen. You have to stumble through miles of dense forest to find it, and if you are human, the magic surrounding it will keep you from even seeing it. But, huge, stone walls protect it, and the two wide rivers on either side keep bad things from entering; the same bad things that had served to rip me out of my fantasy world, and send me running to the supposed safety of Two Rivers. On the surface, everything there was divinely beautiful; even the vampires and werewolves who called it home. But, the glorious appearance of the Two Rivers hid ugly lies. People there knew something was wrong, but because of a magical substance in the food and blood that Two Rivers served, they didn’t know what awaited them after they outgrew their use. I knew; I’d seen the village.

The village was where I’d met Soraya. Soraya, and others like her, were the reason that I had vowed to kill the King who was the ultimate ruler of the cities in which these supernaturals lived, like Two Rivers. The King was sending the “unfit” to villages where they were milked for their blood. I didn’t know why the King needed this blood, but I intended to find out. The village I’d found by accident was within the same walls that protected Two Rivers. This meant that the Queen who ran the city knew about the village. She was just the royalty that oversaw Two Rivers, though, and I wasn’t sure what side she was on, so I had to get to the King.   

And then there was Kayden. I didn’t even know where to start with that one. Kayden is a Brocken vampire. Brockens are the fighters that have taken up the protection of the other supernatural races after Warriors, like me, had died out. At Two Rivers, Brockens not only protected, but entertained the citizens by fighting in an arena every month, usually to the death. The Brocken school was where I had attended for the last few weeks, and if I didn’t go make a huge mess of things, someday I would be fighting in that arena as well.

But, Kayden wasn’t just a Brocken vampire, he was also a Libra. Warriors and Libras are drawn to each other, and since I am the only Warrior left, Kayden is probably the only Libra. His presence alone can soften the fire inside of me, but I refused to admit that I might need him.    

And, anyway, first I had to go find out if my Mother was still alive.

 So, I stared out the window, watching the day. The roof of the establishment wept rain down the glass, blurring the world beyond it, and the dark clouds devoured the sun’s light long before it could reach the earth. It was a good day for sleeping, certainly not for running off to my probable demise. But, then, I’m not sure if there is 
ever
 a good day for that.

I ignored the sensation for the first few minutes, as my mind was understandably elsewhere, but I felt it as surely as an unwelcome caress to the skin, annoying me rather than alarming me. I was being 
watched.

I pulled my attention from the rain, and the very first thing my eyes settled on was the source of the feeling. I suppose I have an instinct for other predators. And the man sitting in a booth at the other end of the restaurant was certainly that, watching me in a manner that made my own predator perk its ears up in response.

But, this threat was human, and unless he pulled a gun on me or something, I didn’t really have anything to fear. I was stronger and faster, and well, 
deadlier
 than any human. And also in a rather bad mood at the moment. So, I stared back at him, and after a few seconds, he averted his eyes. I returned to my thoughts. The 
watching
 didn’t carry on.

Some time later, while I was well on my way to finishing a stack of fluffy pancakes and eggs, the man stood up to leave. As he moved, 
I
 watched 
him
.  

Somewhere in his mid-to-late forties, with beady, black eyes, divided by a large, hooked nose and thin, pink lips. A greasy, receding hairline. A generous build with extra helpings around the midsection.

The man stood beside the booth, patted his ample stomach twice with his left hand, dug some money out of his pocket with his right, and tossed it on the table. Then he began to lumber toward the exit; toward me. I continued watching. Well, 
something
 in me continued watching.

He wore dirty, old jeans and a t-shirt that I could only guess used to be white. Tan work boots, with thick, rubber soles. Large, hairy arms, and a walk that favored the left leg ever so slightly.  
A weak point.

Yes, 
something
 in me was most certainly paying attention, even if 
I
 wasn’t.

As he moved passed me, the smells of clove cigarettes, fried food, and body odor assaulted my nose, and a feeling that I can only describe as
 dirty
 came over me. But an instant later, the small chime on the door sounded, and he was gone, the feeling following him out. I returned to my food and my thoughts.

For the rest of the meal I tried to think about anything other than my life at the moment. I concentrated on my food instead, and before I knew it, my plate was empty and it was time to be on my way. I paid at the counter, using my own money rather than what my friend Tommy had given me. I only wanted to use his money if absolutely necessary, planning to give it and his car back to him. That is, supposing I was alive
 to
 give them back.

As I pushed open the door to leave, the warm, wet air engulfed me, making me feel once again as though I should really be in bed at the moment. I’d woken up too early, before the sun had completely risen, and since the day was so dark I felt as though last night had never really ended. Like this whole day was going to be one long night for me. Maybe this whole trip.

But, when the sun really left, 
things
 that craved my unique blood would come out looking for me. Vampires that knew no sparkle, or compassion, only destruction. Tonight, 
Lamias
 would come out. Horribly murderous
 
monsters that, until last night, I was sure had killed my Mother a few weeks ago, back
 
when life had been 
normal. 
 I’d killed three of them on the night of the attack. Now one of the ones that I had left alive, left for my Mother to fight alone in order to save my sister’s life, had promised to kill me as soon as I left the walls and safety of Two Rivers. This was the same vampire who had told me that my Mother was alive, that she was being held at a prison for vampires and werewolves; a prison that Two Rivers sent their criminals to. A prison that the Queen of Two Rivers knows about, and a prison that is under the rule of an awful, bastard of a King. The Queen had told me that her search team had found my Mother “drained dry”. Dead. So now I was going to find out who was lying. I had to at least 
try
; I’d already left her to die once.