Blood-Kissed Sky (Darkness Before Dawn) Read online

“Yes,” Sin says. “That was why I turned him. He could have claimed his place as the head of the Montgomery clan, but he was too stubborn, too shortsighted to fully comprehend what could be. Rather than embracing his destiny as a Montgomery vampire, he chose to succumb to the Thirst. Such a waste.”

  “Did my father know?” I ask. “About the Montgomery heritage.”

  “He always suspected,” Sin says. “He once stumbled upon an ancient tablet in which the names of the original vampire families were carved in Latin. Imagine his shock when he read fifteen names instead of fourteen. And imagine what he felt when he read that Montgomery was among them.”

  “It’s a coincidence,” I say. “Nothing more. It’s a common enough name.”

  “Not long ago,” Octavian says, “maybe even you could have believed that. But not anymore. Not now that the blood within you has been stirred.”

  “Victor caused that,” Sin says. “When he bit you, the vampire blood was reawakened. And now it’s coming to the surface.”

  “My neck,” I say automatically. “It throbs when he’s near. He—” I can’t say it, not to them, but I remember how Victor found my blood so tempting.

  “It’s calling,” Sin says. “It wants to be turned. It needs to be transformed. You have to embrace your destiny as the new head of the Montgomery family.”

  I look down at my hands, trying to see the blood running through the blue veins. Could it be possible? I never understood why people wanted to turn. I never wanted to be a monster.

  Sin steps closer to Octavian, who seems so tired now. That secret—he must’ve been waiting millennia to say it. Now that it’s been said, has he expired? Is he prepared for the end?

  “You can start all over again, Dawn,” Sin says, before looking up at me with compassion. “We can start all over.”

  “We?”

  “Three Montgomerys remain,” Sin says. “You. Octavian. And me.”

  “What? No. No, you’re a Valentine. Your father was—”

  “Yes,” Sin cuts me off. “Murdoch Valentine. But my mother … my mother was Esmerelda Montgomery.”

  The missing link. Proof, my father had written. Proof that there was another branch of Old Family vampires. Faith told me her name when we were on the train.

  Esmerelda.

  “She seduced him. He didn’t realize she was one of the last Montgomerys. She thought he would side with her against the other Old Families if he fell in love with her, but when I was born, he couldn’t see beyond his tainted bloodline. It was forbidden to mate with a Montgomery. He knew if the council found out that he would be executed. He murdered her, but he couldn’t bring himself to kill me. Even so, he never forgave me for what I was. He kept me confined in the darkest rooms of a distant manor, never to taste the sun again. Until I grew strong, and began to frighten him. He banished me, and I wandered the earth, tracking down all the Montgomerys, only to learn that all had been killed. Except for Octavian here, who I would not discover for some time. And one other: Esmerelda’s brother—Jonathan. He was just a boy; I followed him until he became a man, and then a father. I followed the Montgomery bloodline until it arrived in you. Don’t you see, Dawn. We’re family.”

  I think of my father, and the secrets he knew. But he never could have guessed how deep those secrets went, where the bloodlines would end up, reaching far back until they converged into Sin.

  “I had a family,” I say. “But they died.”

  “I know,” Sin says. “And I’m sorry for that. But everything has a purpose, Dawn. Look at how strong you’ve become since their deaths. You never would have been prepared to face your destiny as the head of the Montgomery family; not while their hearts still beat.”

  “Did you kill them?” I ask, the words barely escaping my clenched jaw.

  Sin looks me in the eyes, doesn’t say a word, and moves to the other side of Octavian. His silence tells me everything. And I imagine him gazing into my parents’ eyes, my father’s eyes … my father, who was related to Sin by blood. And this monster still killed them. How? How could he do such a thing?

  “You see now the full scope of my plans, Dawn,” Sin says. “With my army of Day Walkers, combined with the Thirst, I will be unstoppable. Cities will bow down or crumble. The Old Families will step aside and recognize their new god, or be destroyed. That will happen and nothing can be done to stop it. Surely you can embrace my vision—it’s what you’ve always wanted. A way to fight vampires without preying on humans or losing the ability to walk in the sun. We’ll be better … humans.”

  I can only stare at his madness. I thought it was the sun that made us different from vampires. But as wonderful as the day at the beach was, it isn’t the ability to feel the sun that makes me human. It’s something that goes so much deeper. It resonates in my core. I’m human because everything about Sin repels me. His desire to destroy an entire race of creatures—vampires who can walk only in the night—is too horrible to contemplate. There has to be a way that we can all live together: vampires, Day Walkers, humans. Not one of us is better than the other.

  “I will be king,” he says, “and I will need you by my side. Queen to the masses. You must become the head of the Montgomery family. It is your fate.”

  “You’re insane!” I say.

  “Hear me out, Dawn. Within you swirls thousands of years of Montgomery blood waiting to ignite. You will be powerful, more powerful than you could ever imagine. You can take care of your friends and those you love. I can’t do this alone. I can’t restore our family without you. Even you, Michael, can join us. I will need a strong, powerful Day Walker to lead my armies and I will give that to you. All I ask is your loyalty, and you can have the world.”

  “I don’t see much appealing in this world that you’re designing,” Michael says. “I’m not interested.”

  “You’re a fool,” Sin says, renewed anger in his voice. “What of you, Dawn? Will you embrace the gift I offer?”

  “Why are you even pretending that I have a choice?” I ask. “If you want to turn me, you’ll do it.”

  “No,” he says, shaking his head. “You have a choice.”

  “Why? You didn’t give Brady a choice!”

  Sin clenches his fists, fury in his eyes. But it isn’t directed at me; it’s pointing toward himself.

  “I know,” he mumbles through gritted teeth. “I didn’t give your brother a chance to choose, and I’ve regretted it every day since. I turned him before he fully understood his destiny. It was the worst mistake I ever made. And I’ll never do that to you, Dawn.” He holds out his hand, ready for me to lay mine on top. “Will you come with me? Will you embrace your legacy as a Montgomery? Will you stand beside me as we rule the world?”

  I feel history surging through this mountain. How long did it take to forge and weather these rocks? How long has Octavian waited? Within my blood runs the entire Montgomery family. Millions of years to create this rock. Thousands of years to create me.

  And only one second to decide my answer.

  “No,” I say. “You’re the fool, Sin. You’ll be stopped. You aren’t powerful enough to take on the Old Families. As for your creations, you won’t be able to control them. You act like you’re their god, but when they see how weak you truly are, they’ll come after you.”

  “You’re right, I can’t control them. Not yet. Not in this weak, pathetic body. But you’ve already witnessed the beginning of my transformation. The blood I injected into my veins in the carriage wasn’t human blood. It was vampire blood. I will become infected. I’ve been ingesting for months, waiting for the transformation, and I can feel it within me now, so close. So very, very close. Can you imagine, Dawn? Can you see it? An Old Family vampire who can walk in the sun, with the strength of the Thirst beating in his heart! Nothing can stand in my way! Our family will rise again!”

  Brady flashes before me. He was so powerful. What if Sin fulfills his promise? What will he become when his fangs grow and his eyes blacken, and he only craves the blo
od of other vampires?

  “You have one chance, Dawn!” he shouts. “One chance to prove your loyalty to me. Soon I will be strong enough to kill Victor with ease, but you can do it for me. Drive a stake through his heart! The cold heart that created the V-Process, that forged this world you hate. Kill him and take vengeance against the Valentine family for destroying the Montgomerys. Do this, and you may join me and save your friends. If you do not, you will all fall before me.”

  Sin circles Octavian again. “The Montgomery family will need a new leader.” With his hand, he gently strokes the cheek of the old vampire, his sagging skin unable to escape time’s relentless aging. “We will need a leader who isn’t afraid to fight. We will need a leader who isn’t content to hide inside a mountain while his entire clan is slaughtered.”

  I see Octavian close his eyes, perhaps acknowledging the truth, perhaps acknowledging the inevitable.

  “Where were you, my dear Octavian, as your brothers were hunted down and killed? Where were you when your father was staked through the heart? Why did only you escape?”

  Octavian gives no answer, but merely sits as still as the stone.

  “You are a stain upon the Montgomery family,” Sin says. “You may have escaped the stake for two thousand years, but you only did so through cowardice. I am ashamed that I share your blood. But then again, your blood can have other purposes. It’s the reason that I provided you with sustenance, that I ensured you were strong enough to reach out to Dawn. I needed you, but now I have only one more requirement of you.”

  Sin’s jaw drops and he sinks his teeth deep within the ancient vampire’s neck.

  “No!” Rushing forward, I grab a rock and throw it.

  Not even distracted from his gruesome task, Sin deflects it easily.

  I leap—

  He jerks around. Crimson rains down his chin. With one arm, he gives a mighty swipe, catching me before I reach him, sending me flying back. Sharp pain batters me as I crash against a mound of large rocks.

  I open my eyes to see Michael smashing a stone against Sin’s head. Sin twirls around so fast that he’s just a blur.

  Michael screams, staggers back, and I see rivers of blood across his chest. Dizzy and disoriented, I crawl over to him.

  “Pathetic,” Sin chides before turning to the elder Montgomery and once again plunging his fangs into his vulnerable neck. My ancestor, our ancestor, screams in pain as Sin drains his blood, Sin’s throat working, swallowing it all.

  I can feel the vampire’s suffering. This Montgomery, the oldest of all, his pain is mine. I can’t explain it, but my blood is screaming with his. I double over. My head threatens to explode. I yell, but it doesn’t relieve any of it. Every heartbeat pounds my skull, memories of the Montgomery clan running through it.

  And then it stops. I look up, and Sin is standing over his victim, who is slumped and motionless.

  “It’s happening,” Sin says. “I can feel the Thirst running through my veins. Not long now. My power will be unmatched. I will be a vampire who the world has never seen before, and I will take my rightful place as the ruler of day and night. Victor will kneel before me. All the Old Families will bow and worship me.”

  He releases a bloodcurdling scream and leaps onto a high rock. This madman standing before us, bathed in moonlight, seems unstoppable. The pages of history were all written for this one moment.

  Laughing maniacally as though he’s forgotten all about us, he begins clambering up the side of the cavern and disappears through the hole in the ceiling.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here,” Michael says, struggling to his feet and grabbing my hand.

  He’s weak, we’re both weak, but we start running for our lives, for humanity, for those we love. From a great distance, Sin’s laughter continues to echo around us, drowning out our footsteps.

  The maze swirls around us; we turn at corners, head down widening corridors. Finally we reach the entrance and burst into the night.

  Following the path we traveled before, we use the stars and our memories to guide us. Our feet never quite get traction as we slide and stumble, scrambling over the rough terrain, until we hit level ground. Barely taking the time to catch our breaths, we head into the vast openness that spreads out before us.

  Picking up my pace, I think that if I run fast enough, I’ll outrun what I am. I’ll outrun the monster that I might become. I’ll outrun my destiny.

  But even as my legs churn and my heart pounds, I remember all the times that I told Victor that he couldn’t avoid being the monster he was—that it was in his blood.

  Now it seems that it’s in mine as well.

  And sooner or later, I’m going to have to face it.

  Excerpt from After Daybreak

  Dying to know what happens next?

  Read on for a sneak peek of

  Chapter 1

  With my arms wrapped tightly around Michael’s waist, we ride out fast, eager to escape the mountains, desperate to escape Sin.

  Warm liquid pools against my hands. Michael’s blood. His chest is still bleeding, a four-strike wound from Sin’s claws as Michael tried to protect me. I press my palms against him, trying to stop the flow. Before Sin clawed Michael’s chest, he sliced open his cheek. The blood there has caked over, but the gashes must ache. We debated taking two horses from the coach, but Michael’s injuries are weakening him. I wasn’t certain how long he’d be able to ride if I wasn’t holding him. If he falls, I doubt I’ll have the strength to get him back on the horse. No way am I leaving him to the mercy of any vampires who are roaming the countryside.

  Exhaustion threatens to claim me. I can’t give in to its allure. I can only imagine how difficult it is for Michael to remain upright. We don’t speak as the mountains behind us become mere ripples in the sky.

  The clouds begin to change, lightening in shade, and then the moon fades. The sun rises, but it brings little comfort. It’ll send most of the vampires into hiding, but it won’t affect the Day Walkers.

  Michael brings the horse to a slow canter, giving it a chance to catch its breath. “We should stop, check your wounds,” I say.

  Michael shakes his head. “Let’s find some sort of shelter first. If I get off the horse, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get back on. Although … maybe you should go on alone, search for help. You’ll be faster without me.”

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “Dawn, you might not have a choice.”

  “I’m not leaving you, Michael.” I make my voice as forceful as possible. I don’t want to admit that he’s right. We’re the only ones who know the full scope and horror of Sin’s plans. One of us has to return to Denver, to let the others know so they can prepare to meet the new threat.

  Time passes. I don’t know if it’s minutes or hours. The sun beats down on us. It’s so incredibly desolate out here. My mouth is dry; my lips feel as though they might crack if I talk again.

  We have to find food and water, but where?

  The horse slows to a plodding walk. Michael is drooping in the saddle. How much blood has he lost? How much longer can he ride?

  Michael directs the horse to a steep hill and, kicking his heels against its sides, urges it up. We arrive at the top of the rise and look out over the vast expanse spreading before us. Thirty years of war decimated it. Ten years later, nature is still struggling to reclaim what it once owned—much as we humans are.

  Michael raises a hand to his brow to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun. “In the distance there.” He points. “Is that what I think it is?”

  It doesn’t seem possible, but through the wall of shimmering heat—

  “It looks like a town,” I say.

  The Vampire Human Treaty, or VampHu, outlaws the establishment of any town other than the twenty walled cities agreed to in the settlement that ended the war.

  “Maybe it’s a mirage,” he says, and I can hear in his voice his reluctance to hope.

  “I don’t think so. I mean, woul
d we both be seeing it if it were?”

  “Guess not. I’ve heard rumors that illegal towns exist beyond the walls, but I never thought to see one.”

  I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but we need to be realistic. Without the walls that surround the major cities to protect them, the humans in that town would be easy prey. “It might be prewar, and the odds are that it’s abandoned, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find water or food there.”

  “I could use a drink.”

  He could use a lot more than that. He needs medical attention. Maybe we’ll find something that I can use to tend to his wounds.

  The horse isn’t as sure-footed going down the hill, and I hold my breath, hoping it doesn’t stumble. But we make it safely to level ground and the horse trudges forward.

  The town, so small it seems threatened by the enormity of the surrounding desert, grows steadily larger. I spot a windmill, hear the clacking of the blades echoing over the plain as the slight breeze turns them. The tiny buildings begin to take shape, their odd placement showing no evidence of planning, their even stranger form indicating a lack of craftsmanship. Walls curve and bend at unusual angles, stone is missing from key foundations, and the road through the town’s center is little more than well-packed dirt. The only impressive things are the thick, clay roofs, which seem to be attached to the unstable walls by some miracle of architecture.

  As we near, we get a genuine surprise: men, women, and children. They walk along boarded paths, talk to others in front of their homes. People are working: patching walls, gathering water from a well beneath the windmill, sorting a myriad of boxes. I see smiles. I hear the din of laughter and conversation.

  We must look pretty sorry when we arrive at the edge of the town. Michael’s bleeding has worsened, our clothes are torn and dirty, and our poor horse is panting like it spent a year in the desert alone in desperate search of a cool lake.

  A burly man with salt and pepper hair that matches his beard approaches. He must be a guard. A rifle is slung over his shoulder, and a sturdy stake-filled bandolier wraps around his barrel-shaped chest. With steel in his light blue eyes and his mouth set in a firm line, he gives us a measuring look before shouting, “Get Doc Jameson!”