The Fugitive Legacy Read online

  The Fugitive Legacy

  Legacy of the Shadows Blood™

  E.G. Bateman

  Michael Anderle

  This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright © 2020 E.G. Bateman and Michael Anderle

  Cover by Fantasy Book Design

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  A Michael Anderle Production

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  First US edition, April 2020

  Contents

  One: Kindred Legacy

  Two: After Kindred

  Other LMBPN Publishing Books

  Connect with The Authors

  One: Kindred Legacy

  His teeth were on her neck.

  Lexi should never have allowed him to get so close. Goosebumps rose in response to the light graze against her skin. “Do you swear you’ll turn me?”

  “Sure, baby. You’ll live forever like me and you won’t get a single wrinkle on this beautiful skin.” He stroked a finger slowly down her shoulder and arm before he held his wrist to his mouth. Holding her gaze, he bit into his vein and offered his wrist to her.

  She took his arm, brought it close to her mouth, and turned her face toward his. “Can I ask one more question?”

  “Is it a quick one? Because that vein will close in a few seconds and this is a one-time offer.”

  “I only wondered…is it okay to do this? Doesn’t it contravene Section VB02 Subsection Twelve of the Kindred Treaty?”

  “Fuck!” The vampire leapt back but even his vamp speed wasn’t fast enough to escape the trap that had been laid hours before.

  The spotlights in the room sprang to life and he screamed as ultraviolet beams struck his skin and a hiss filled the air. The only safe area for him was a circle in the center of the space.

  Lexi strolled away, unharmed by ultraviolet lights as she passed beneath them. She turned and gave the seething vampire a little finger wave before she slipped through the door.

  Outside, she was met by her Kindred unit commander, Braxton. He was the “father” of her unit.

  He stood with an ultraviolet flashlight, held her face up by the chin in one hand, and shone it into her eyes and mouth. “That wasn’t what we discussed, was it?”

  She shrugged. “He was getting skittish. I could see it in his eyes.”

  “You almost gave me a heart attack.” He pinched her chin playfully and flicked the flashlight off. “You’re lucky. There are no contaminants. You’re clean.”

  “What if there were contaminants?”

  Braxton’s face became serious again. “You don’t want to know.”

  “You always say that.” She rolled her eyes.

  Lexi headed outside and behind her, the sound of the vamp being read his rights—or lack thereof—faded.

  Her older Kindred sister Maggie approached from the other side of the street with a rifle slung across her back. “Oh, my God. You were so hardcore. I almost pulled the trigger.”

  “I almost gave the signal.” She stared at the girl for a long moment and they both laughed. The pretty chain around her wrist jingled when she shook it. “I wondered if this would still shield me if he broke the skin. He got very close.”

  Her companion put a hand over her heart as though injured. “So little faith. When I cast a shield, no one can sense what you are or find you by magical means. But don’t break it.”

  “You’re a liability.” Their Kindred brother Isaac frowned as he unlocked the car. “You both are.”

  “What did I do?” Maggie’s jaw dropped.

  He pointed at the rifle. “You have a case for that and here you are, walking down the street with it.”

  She lowered the rifle from her shoulder. “Oh, right. My bad.” She slipped it into the case and placed it in the trunk of the car.

  “And you…” He rounded on Lexi. “Letting a vamp get that close when you don’t have your weapon or anything near the legacy abilities required to fight one.”

  His comment stung. Like him, she was a Kindred legacy, infused with the blood of ancient supernaturals. It was supposed to enhance her strength and speed and allow her to police the supernaturals efficiently. Sadly, in her case, she was considered little more than a dud.

  Lexi smirked to cover her discomfort. “That sounds like fighting talk to me.”

  Isaac folded his arms. “I’m happy to fight you if you go through a metal detector first.”

  Although she lacked in legacy abilities, she made up for it with an obsessive devotion to training and where that failed, she was no stranger to dirty tactics. She chuckled at his comment and recalled their last fight when she almost paralyzed him with a shuriken she’d hidden in her mouth. Maggie had all but exhausted her entire magical reserves healing him and she had been grounded for a month.

  He removed his own smaller case from his shoulder. She knew it contained his pistol crossbow. It had been his weapon of choice from the day he picked it up when he’d been ten years old. Her weapon, much to Braxton’s disappointment, had been the katana. He’d have preferred her to devote her efforts to firearms and keep a safe distance from the supernatural criminals. She spied her weapon of choice safely stowed in the trunk of the family SUV.

  The three of them looked up when a car parked nearby. A young man in a sharp suit climbed out of the passenger side, nodded once at the three of them, and headed into the building.

  Lexi frowned and followed the man with her gaze as he disappeared through the door. “Who’s that?”

  Maggie shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  She was about to ask if they should have stopped him from entering when their Kindred brother spoke. “I’ve seen him before. He’s the Head of the Texas division of Kindred.”

  Her sister scoffed. “That’s the grandfather? He’s younger than Braxton.”

  Isaac rolled his eyes. “He’s not your real grandfather.”

  “I know that.” Maggie grinned. “If we were all related to each other, you and I would go to hell.” She pinched his butt. “Brother!”

  He grabbed her and kissed her head.

  Lexi glanced at the unhealing scar on his arm. The deep crevice was filled with a white swirling pool of magical energy. Being able to see the scar was one thing her slight legacy ability was capable of. If she’d been fully human, it would look like a thin, healed scar, barely noticeable. She wondered if she would ever be blood matched like Isaac and Maggie. It was a joining so intimate as to allow the sharing of the mage’s magic, along with some level of psychic connection. She couldn’t imagine a mage wanting to waste their magic on her but still, she wished their family had another brother or sister. Three was such an odd number.

  “Zac!” Braxton called from the house. They looked up to see him signaling Isaac to join him.

  The young man hurried to put his case in the trunk.

  “Bring that.” Braxton turned and went in as the young grandfather came out and r
eturned to his waiting car.

  In silence, she watched the car drive away. She felt disquieted and moved her fingers, as she always did in such moments, to her gold ring and twisted it around her finger.

  When she turned to the two men in the doorway, they seemed to be arguing, then Isaac stormed into the building. “What do you think that’s about?”

  Maggie shrugged but she looked troubled. She would have felt Isaac’s mood through their empathetic link.

  The older man walked to the car. “Get in. We have another job.”

  “Isn’t Zac coming?” Maggie sounded nervous as they climbed into the car.

  Braxton started the engine. “He’ll be along in a moment.” He revved the engine loudly but it didn’t obscure the scream from the building. Her gaze darted to meet his in the rearview mirror.

  Seconds passed. The passenger door opened and Isaac climbed in and slammed it behind him.

  Lexi wanted to ask him what had happened but Braxton began to speak. “A couple of kids have been taken by a vampire in Dallas. Several units have been called in from across the state. You know what the rules are. If you meet another unit, no communication unrelated to the current case is allowed. That way, we all stay safe.”

  She almost guffawed. The man had a strange idea of the word safe.

  “All I’m saying is that the propellers seem to be an important part of the plane. Why do they leave them unprotected on the outside like that?” Lexi looked out of the tiny window on the private airplane.

  “Lexi, leave your sister alone.” Braxton’s voice came from the seat behind them.

  “Can you please stop talking about it? Planes have been flying fine with propellers for years. Leave them alone and don’t jinx them.” Maggie kept her eyes on her book.

  Lexi felt bad. She knew the other girl was afraid of flying but didn’t seem able to stop herself. “But what if something hit a propeller and knocked it off?”

  Her Kindred sister dropped the book in her lap and turned to her. “What’ll hit it up here?”

  “A block of frozen shit from the space station.”

  With an exaggerated sigh, she picked her book up and fixed an exasperated glance on her. “Sleep.”

  Isaac shook her. “We’re here and you’ve drooled on yourself.”

  Lexi opened her eyes, straightened, and wiped her face. The seat beside her was empty.

  She followed the others from the plane and approached Maggie. “I can’t believe you did that.”

  The girl frowned. “I shouldn’t have needed to. You’re a grown woman, for God’s sake.”

  “I was kidding.” She folded her arms. “You spelled me. That’s assault, and you made me miss most of my first flight on a plane.”

  Braxton joined them. “Right, the car’s ready. Put your work heads on. Don’t embarrass me.”

  Four hours later, they arrived at their fifth possible sighting at an abandoned pool hall in Dallas.

  Lexi passed the datasheet to Maggie as she’d already memorized the details. They were looking for a vampire in his early twenties with long black hair and who went by the name Dimitri.

  The other girl climbed out of the car and leaned against the door. Her eyes closed and she held a hand out, muttered softly, and turned to face the vehicle. “No one is alive in there.”

  “Isaac, you’re up. I’ll knock on the front and you check the back. This is a known vamp nest, so be careful.”

  “What will you go in as?” Lexi asked.

  He thought for a moment. “Bible Joe. Pass the bag.”

  Lexi passed the bagful of Bibles to him and leaned back with her gaze fixed on the building as Isaac headed around it and Braxton knocked on the door with a Bible in his hand. He stood there for a couple of minutes. Finally, the door was opened by Isaac, who stepped out and they returned to the car.

  Braxton opened the back door and passed the bag to Maggie, while the young man climbed into the front. Braxton took his cell phone out and dialed as he climbed in. “The pool hall was empty. We’re heading to the next one on our list.” He listened for a moment. “He what? Okay, thanks. We’ll head back.”

  He pulled the device away from his ear and disconnected it. “One of the kids has been found.”

  “Is he okay?” Isaac asked.

  A curt shake of his head was his only response.

  Maggie leaned forward and rested her hand on the top of his seat. “He wasn’t turned, was he? I couldn’t bear to have to finish a vamp kid.”

  He shook his head and patted her hand. “No, he wasn’t turned. Only drained.”

  Lexi leaned forward between the seats from the back. “Did they get the vamp?”

  “No. He’s still on the run with the other kid, but it looks like he’s now in Austin.”

  Isaac’s shoulders slumped. “You’re kidding.”

  They drove to the small private airport to fly home and continue the chase.

  The sun was rising when they stopped at an abandoned factory in their hometown of Austin. It had been a long night and Lexi was exhausted. Maggie wheeled her finger around to indicate that they were shielded and safe to speak without being overheard. She opened the window. Her hand had barely raised when her eyes snapped open. “There’s a living human in there.”

  Braxton checked his cell phone. “There are three exits on the back. We’ll have to take one each. He turned to Lexi. “You’re up.”

  Quickly, she took her lipstick out.

  Braxton narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing?”

  She tried to speak and apply her lipstick at the same time. “Make me a vampire.”

  “I don’t think so. Not after the last one.” He turned to Maggie. “Give her the lead.”

  “Have you seen my doggie?” Lexi rolled her eyes. “It’s five thirty in the morning. He won’t risk opening the door to the sunrise for a lost dog.”

  “The front is still in darkness. You only have to distract him long enough for us to get in the back. Don’t go in there.”

  Braxton, Maggie, and Isaac raced to the rear of the building while Lexi took the lead and headed across the street. She knocked on the door with boards across the previously glazed section. It opened immediately.

  She faced a handsome young man with long black hair. Her guess was that it was dyed. She shook her head, distracted momentarily by his white, frilled shirt.

  You have to be serious.

  “I’m sorry to bother you. I was walking my dog and she got away. I saw her around here, but she disappeared. Have you seen or heard her?”

  “As a matter of fact, I was just investigating a whining noise.” He sounded like a bargain basement Dracula with the worst attempt at a Romanian accent she’d ever heard. “It sounded like an injured animal. This place is quite big for one person to search. You can help if you like.” He opened the door fully and stepped behind it.

  Lexi paused.

  He raised an eyebrow. “It’s your dog we’re looking for.”

  It was a good point and she had no counter to it, so she walked in. The place was in darkness and it stank.

  “What’s her name?” he asked.

  “Maggie.” Her senses alerted her to danger a fraction of a second too late. Everything went black.

  When she came to, she seemed to be sprawled on a gritty surface with jagged edges that bit into her cheek. A hand grasped her jaw and turned her face up. The flesh was cold and her eyes opened. She was confused and dizzy. Everything was dark and she couldn’t remember where she was.

  Lexi tasted blood in her mouth. Had she bitten her tongue? Split her lip? With a grimace, she swallowed.

  She dragged in a lungful of air. The darkness was ripped away as she looked into the face of the vampire.

  I’ve been tainted. The fucker’s trying to turn me.

  Horrified, she looked around, able to make out the boarded windows but unable to see where the light came from. It occurred to her that other more talented legacies were always able to see in the dark like this,
a benefit of the supernatural blood used to make them what they were.

  He had pinned her down. “You Kindreds think you’re so clever. But you can’t have him.”

  Energy flooded into her muscles and the sudden strength was intoxicating. “Wasn’t it enough to kill one kid last night? You’re a disgusting blood-drunk junkie. You won’t turn me and you won’t kill that kid.”

  Dimitri frowned. “What?”

  While he was momentarily distracted, she slipped a shuriken from the lining of her vest and sliced it up his belly. The gush of blood and gore that poured onto her made her gag. She pushed him off and ran to the hallway. A last glimpse into the room made her giggle at the sight of him trying to stuff his insides in.

  Lexi glanced toward the back of the building. It was completely blocked off, which explained why the others hadn’t appeared yet. Maggie would want to teleport into the building but it was against Kindred rules to teleport somewhere you’d never seen. A sob drew her attention.

  She raced to the next level, not sure if she was running toward the child or away from her family. The main thought in her head was that she’d been infected. There were stories about what happened to Kindred legacies who were contaminated.

  But they’re only stories. Why am I so terrified?

  It felt like there was something—a memory just beyond her mind like a word on the tip of her tongue—and the feeling propelled her up the stairs.

  I have to get away from my family.

  Lexi found the boy lying on a mattress beside a pile of snacks and drinks. He was bound and crying, but he was alive. She checked his neck for bite marks.

  Logic seemed to take control and she knew her pupils would be huge like the vamp’s—a giveaway, never mind the blood in her mouth. She hurried to the pile of snacks and sifted through them. Candy bars, Cheetos…she found a can of Coke and opened it. Without looking at the kid, she poured it into her hand and washed her face and neck with it, then drank some and sluiced it around her mouth several times. Hopefully, that would take care of the blood in her mouth.