Allied Read online

  Copyright © 2021 by Sarah Biglow and Molly Zenk

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  For permission requests, contact the publisher below:

  Cayélle Publishing/Spectral Imprint

  Lancaster, CA 93534

  www.CayellePublishing.com

  Orders by U.S. trade bookstores and wholesalers, please contact Freadom Distribution:

  Tel: (833) 229-3553 ext. 813; or email: [email protected]

  Categories: 1. Fantasy 2. Vampires 3. Romance

  Printed in the United States of America

  Cover Art by Ljiljana Romanovic

  Interior Design & Typesetting by Ampersand Book Interiors

  ISBN: 978-1-952404-60-3 [paperback]

  ISBN: 978-1-952404-59-7 [ebook]

  Library of Congress Control Number 2020940407

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter One

  Darren

  Every time the door to the diner opened and closed, my head jerked to attention, my gaze scanning the faces. Every time, it was some random person, an unimportant nobody. Danny sat across from me in the booth, drumming his fingers on the table out of boredom.

  “We’ve been coming for the last three weeks, Darren. They aren’t coming,” he announced in a low tone.

  “We don’t know that,” I replied, my right hand slipping into the pocket of my trench coat, brushing against the neatly folded piece of paper bearing Edith’s message. She’d told me she would wait for me here. So, I’d been coming here every day since we’d stormed Heartsong’s compound and found it cleared out. I wasn’t giving up.

  “You know I want them to be okay as much as you do. Probably more. But maybe we have to face facts they won’t show up because they can’t.”

  The quiver in my little brother’s voice drew my eye, and I can see fear pinching the corners of his lips into a frown. He doesn’t think I’ve noticed that he’s been waiting up at night, hoping for a sudden appearance by Parker or his friends. I can’t let him know I haven’t been sleeping either or that I share his fear. Sleep brings dreams of Edith being burned in front of me, her screams echoing in my ears.

  “They’re out there,” I finally replied as the waitress with her arms sheathed in tattoos approached our table. She toted a coffee pot and gave me a flirty smile as she bent over, flashing her cleavage.

  “Can I get you a refill?” She licked her lips as if promising something more than just another cup of coffee.

  “I’m fine,” I answered, turning my attention to the door opening across the way again.

  “How about you, honey? Can I get you a soda or something?” She addressed Danny like he was five.

  “I’m fine, too,” he answered.

  Realizing we wouldn’t engage with her, she trounced off to another table where she might have a better chance of getting tips. I spun the empty mug between my fingers, trying to formulate our next move. I’d keep coming here every day until Edith showed up. I never expected to have such a connection with anyone, let alone a vampire. But there was definitely something there, and it was worth exploring.

  I’m not a romantic by any stretch but I couldn’t just abandon her and her family, not when they needed a home now more than ever. Besides, I hated disappointing Danny, and he was still moping around over his boyfriend. I still had to remind myself that my brother had a boyfriend. That fact didn’t bother me, but it was a truth he’d kept hidden from me. Which made me wonder what else he hadn’t told me.

  “Darren, can we please go? All we’re doing is getting weird looks from the manager over by the cash register,” Danny whined.

  I slid the empty mug to the other end of the table and stood, the ends of my coat trailing along the seat. “Fine.” Maybe putting my focus elsewhere was a better use of my time, anyway.

  The Institute was quiet this early in the day. Hunters who’d been out at night chasing down bloodsuckers were crashing hard. A wave of guilt washed over me as I crossed the threshold. Everyone else believed that I was hunting down rogue vampires from Heartsong’s clan for almost murdering my brother. I wanted to punish Heartsong for his bullshit, but it wasn’t just about Danny. I wanted to hurt him for putting people I now cared about in danger.

  “Still a bust?” Caden called from the couch.

  Although he had a perfectly safe and loving family to go home to, he’d been staying at headquarters since Heartsong’s people went underground. He insisted it was because he wanted to be there when we found Edith and the rest of her family. He missed Angel and Hope. I had enough trouble with one woman. I couldn’t imagine having to navigate the feelings of two at once and sisters no less.

  “It’s just a matter of time,” I answered, settling into an armchair and pulling out my favorite pen. I twirled it between my fingers, feeling the sleek exterior against the pads of my fingers. I could envision plunging its point deep into Heartsong’s chest, turning him into ash. It gave me a sense of pleasure to think I would be the one to take out the old bastard.

  “The waitress flirted with him this time,” Danny offered as he joined Caden on the couch.

  “Dude, you’ve been moping for weeks. It’s not like you and Edith were an official thing. If she’s cute, nothing wrong with a little fun.”

  I bristled at his statement. Not because it wasn’t true, but because I didn’t want to have fun with anyone else. “I am not taking advice from a teenager.”

  “All I’m saying is you’re wound tight, and everyone can tell.”

  My fingers tightened around the base of the pen, and I rose to my feet, leaving them to snicker at me. I traced the path down to the basement and the training room. It was set up like an obstacle course. Shedding my coat, I stretched out my arms and neck muscles, following the course’s trajectory from one end of the room to the other. I’d run it hundreds of times. I could do it blindfolded. At least, I used to.

  Those seventy-two hours had changed too many things. It had disrupted my focus, my mission. I knew now that not all vampires were the enemy, but letting my emotions get the better of me would get people who counted on me killed, and I refused to let that happen. Time to get down to business.

  A small timer hung on the wall and I looped its strap around my belt, hitting the ‘Start’ button as I pushed off with my back foot. I focused on my breathing, keeping it even and slow as the first obstacle flew into view. A little boy being held by a slavering vampire. I uncapped my pen and slammed its point through the foam of the dummy, counting that as the first win of the course.

  To keep our reflexes sharp, they changed up the sequence every two days. I hadn’t been on the course in almost a week, so I couldn’t anticipate what was coming next. I kept my gaze on a swivel, crouching to scoop up a discarded knife and gun along the way. Sweat prickled on my brow as I made it through each part of the sequence, delivering kill shots to each pretend vampire along the way. And then…

  The ultimate confrontation before the end looked too much like her. I stopped mid-motion, blinking back sweat. My vision waved as soft feminine cheekbones, and dark eyes replaced the dummy’s grotesque features. There she was in all of her haunting beauty.

  “You want to tell me what’s gotten in your head, Paxton?” My mentor Harrison’s voice wasn’t accusatory. Not like I expected it to be.

  I pivoted, slamming my fist into the timer on my belt. “I don’t know,” I lied.

  He batted aside the foam dummies to stand across from me. “You’ve been going to that same diner for weeks. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

  “You’re having me followed now? What happened to all that trust?”

  “Seems to have disappeared along with Heartsong.”

  “I told you, I don’t know where he’s gone. But I’m going to find out,” I vowed.

  “What angle are you working here?”

  “I may have converted some of his followers to our way of thinking.”

  He let out a harsh bark of laughter. “No one turns traitor against that monster.”

  “I disagree. I saw how he treats his own people. Some of them are fed up with his bully tactics. I just need a little more time to find them and bring them in.”


  “Bring them in? You can’t seriously be proposing you bring them here.”

  I stepped up, so we were nose to nose. “You have my word that they will not cause trouble. And they will be under my protection.”

  “You’re taking an enormous risk here. And for what?”

  “We wanted to know what Heartsong has been planning. Believe me, we will find out this way. I just need a little more time.”

  “You have one day. You find these supposed turncoats, and I’ll give my blessing to let them seek asylum here.”

  I gave him a nod of understanding, slid the timer off my belt, and pressed it into his palm. I took the stairs to the main floor three at a time and nearly bowled Danny and Caden over. They were falling all over each other like they’d just won the lottery.

  “What is it?” I demanded.

  Danny held up his phone, showing me a text message from Parker that read: “We are safe.” It had a timestamp of twenty minutes ago. “Set a meeting. We need to bring them in by tomorrow, or they’re going to put a permanent end to this mission.”

  Chapter Two

  Edith

  “Mama E! Mama E, Parker did something you told us not to!” Hope whined from the living area. “Apartment” was too nice of a word for our living arrangements. Since being exiled from our vampire clan, we’d moved from abandoned building to abandoned building, trying to stay one step ahead of the trackers I am sure Heartsong had searching for us. To defy him openly brought exile. To defy him openly in front of a crowd as we did, brought death.

  “What have I told you about fighting?” I stepped into the living area from what I’d been optimistically calling the ‘bedroom.’ We’d been here three days which felt like two days too many. It was only a matter of time before they caught us. Heartsong would not let us go with such a soft punishment for long. Movement was our only safeguard.

  “Fighting brings the trackers,” Hope parroted my one warning since exile. It was partially true. Vampires had an amazing sense of hearing, especially for the sounds of their own kind. The quieter we were, the better chance we had of survival. But telling three teenage vampires who were used to going to school, seeing their friends, and blending in as well as could be expected into the human realm to be quiet was a losing battle.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger as a wave of dizziness struck. I gave most of my Red Cross blood rations to the girls and Parker, only keeping the bare minimum needed to survive. I knew some of our kind would hunt humans if other sustenance were not readily available, but I was never that kind of vampire. I clung to my human ways no matter the cost, and it had cost me plenty over my long years of immortality. Going hungry so the children could thrive was not something I regretted.

  “Mama E!” Hope whined again when I did not immediately take her side.

  Angel gave her sister a nudge with her elbow. “Stop acting all scandalized. If his cell phone still has reception, he should use it.”

  “That is not one of the rules,” I said, fighting another wave of dizziness. “The clan can trace cell phone signals, Parker. What made you so careless that you potentially put all of us at risk?”

  “I couldn’t let his texts go unanswered anymore.” Parker held out his phone to me. “They’ve been looking for us, Edith. See?”

  I took the phone from him and scrolled through a mostly one-sided text message exchange between Parker and Dan. Since the morning of our exile three weeks ago, Dan had sent at least four text messages a day pleading with Parker to answer. “Come home.” “We’ll protect you.” “Just let me know you’re okay.” “The Clan cleared out of the base on Tombstone Row. You can go back.” “I miss you.” “Just let me know you’re ok.” “Are you safe? Please answer.” “I can’t stand not hearing from you.” Parker’s one reply was from this morning, not even twenty minutes ago. “We’re safe.” Nothing else. It didn’t give away our location or say more. It just reassured a distraught Dan that we were safe. Could I really fault him for reaching out to Dan? How many times would I have sent a message to Darren if I had the means to?

  I handed the cell phone back. “You’re giving them hope when you know our situation is precarious, Parker.”

  “I know. But I couldn’t let him think the worst. Seeing Dan again is the only thing keeping me going. What if … it’s the same for him?” He hung his head. The dark circles under his eyes because of lack of sleep seemed more pronounced in his pale face. I wasn’t eating. Parker wasn’t sleeping. Angel checked her phone for messages from Caden when she thought no one was looking. Only Hope seemed immune to the ravages of our current plight.

  I knelt on the floor in front of Parker and took his icy hands in mine. “It was a very noble gesture, Parker. I am sure Dan appreciated it.”

  “I’m just so tired of hiding everything,” he whispered, blue blood tears tracking down his cheeks. “And I mean everything.”

  I nodded. Parker rarely spoke of his sexuality, and it was not my place to ask, but I knew Dan was open about his and pushed Parker to be. All that got him was more resistance from Parker. Dan may be a modern teen, but Parker came of age in the 1950s when being openly gay was unacceptable. Just as I clung to my turn of the century Edwardian morals, he clung to what he knew in life.

  “I understand,” I said before pushing myself to my feet. “But please know you are safe here with the girls and me.”

  “We want you to be happy, Park,” Angel added.

  “I’d feel happier and safer with the Paxton brothers,” he admitted.

  So would I, I thought but did not dare say so out loud. They were Hunters. We were vampires. It was the unlikeliest of improbable combinations yet, as Dan says, you can’t help who you love or could love if given half the chance to know the Paxton brothers.

  “Dan said the Clan cleared out. Does that mean we can get the stuff we left behind?” Hope asked. “I miss my own clothes. These clothing drive drop-offs don’t fit right.”

  “Can we, Mama E?” Angel looked excited instead of stoic for the first time in weeks. “If we make it quick?”

  I doubted a trip back to the Clan headquarters would be anything but quick and may even be a trap, but I couldn’t disappoint them. I couldn’t see their excitement dull to disappointment if I could do something about it. I nodded. “Very well, but only take what you can carry. We are not packing suitcases this time. It will only slow us down.”

  The Heartsong Clan building—some Hunters called it a “lair” or “nest”—was eerily quiet when we entered through the back door. Someone covered the furniture with white sheets, which already held a thin layer of dust as if the occupants went for an extended vacation instead of possibly forever. How many years had I worked and slept in this building, recruiting new members through our Vampire vs. Human LARP weekends? How many times had I thought nothing could change in our way of life? It took one weekend and two brothers to show me how very wrong I was.

  “I know you said no suitcases, but what about a backpack?” Angel kicked a stray piece of debris out of her way as we headed up the stairs to the dorm-style sleeping area. I had my room, though I doubted I could call anything “mine” here ever again.

  “Stay together,” I advised as time and room location caused us to split up once we reached the second floor. “Girls, go to your room first and then Parker’s. I shall meet you back here in five minutes.”

  “Five minutes?” Hope whined. “I thought you were giving us ten.”

  “Only ten,” I conceded. “But be careful.”

  “Yes, Mama E,” the girls chorused as they disappeared down the hall with Parker.

  I hurried to my room and pushed open the door, surprised everything seemed undisturbed since our time in exile. I half-expected Mr. Heartsong to tear it apart or light everything on fire to show I was well and truly dead to him. I crossed the room to my vanity mirror set in two long strides. We had left in such a hurry before. I’d taken my prized possessions—photographs from my 1916 engagement party to my dear Daniel—but forgotten the ones in the drawer. I slid the drawer open now, again expecting Mr. Heartsong to take out his anger toward me out on things I held dear. Yet again, it surprised me to see my photographs stacked neatly where I left them. In them, Daniel, the current Paxton brothers’ great-great-uncle, and I smiled happily for the camera. Two years later, he would be dead, and I would be a vampire.