The Allies of Old; Book Two Renewal: Chapter Sixty Three "A Stands For.."

Book Cover created in acrylic by the extremely talented @therealpaul

If you have not read the first book of the series, "Reborn", it is advisable you do so before reading "Renewal" or you will be lost. This link will provide you with a series summary as well as all sixty-eight chapters of Reborn

Table of Contents for Fifty Five chapters of Renewal, created by @bashadow

Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62

Chapter Sixty-Three

She stared down at her drink then tipped it back and drained it before pushing it across the wooden surface and asking the guy currently playing bartender for another.

“Sure thing Lizzie,” Robbie grinned at her, mixing her drink with finesse. He was a frequent visitor to the estate and she’d nearly kissed him a couple of weeks back while they’d been horsing around in the pool. He had an attractive and friendly face and the only thing that had stopped her was an expressed interest in him by Caroline’s cousin Sue.

She smiled weakly back at him and when he slid it to her she drained it in record time once again.

“Whoa there sweetheart, keep up that pace and I’m going to have to carry you off the stool,” he laughed as he made her another.

She laughed a little in return, and by the time she’d drained her third glass she was feeling much better. A pleasant buzz had filled her ears and she suddenly felt the need to get rid of her nervous energy.

“I’m gonna go dance,” she announced.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Robbie vaulted over the counter top and lifted her off the stool, swinging her out to the patio.

**

Michael made his way outside and scanned the patio for Jess. The moment he spotted her a feeling of vicious territorial anger reverberated through his body. He drew in a deep breath, fighting for balance, barely refraining from advancing on them and ripping her from the boy’s arms. He was completely shaken by his lapse of control and forced his gaze to the ground as he pulled it together.

When he was certain his eyes weren’t flashing he glanced over at her once more. The boy’s hands were dropping lower and this time he did start towards her, though he kept his expression carefully neutral.

Jess saw Michael walking towards her. She disentangled herself from Robbie and started towards him with a smile that faded a bit as she noticed his cool regard.

He stopped several feet from her. “I wanted to inform you that I’ve called Anna. She and LeJarien will be flying in to Vegas International sometime tomorrow morning. Your sister is currently in Europe, so she likely won’t be able to come until sometime next week, though I know news of your return and wellbeing will be a great relief to her.”
Jess nodded slightly, feeling foolish. She glanced over her shoulder to find that Robbie had abandoned her and was back inside the bar.

“Are you romantically involved with him?” Michael inquired.

She turned back to him quickly and shook her head. His low masculine voice, while still polite, had held an edge that made her feel defensive. “He’s just a friend.”

“Do you make a habit of allowing your “friends” to grope you?”

This time his tone held scorn and she flushed as she tried to think of something to say. His obvious disapproval made her feel small and she had to fight the tears that were gathering in the back of her eyes.

Michael sensed he’d upset her and frowned. “I’m sorry Jess, that was uncalled for. I’m just... bothered by the sight of an unworthy male touching you inappropriately.”

Jess’s eyes flew to him and she bit her lip. “Why?”

He looked away, trying to organize his thoughts. He would need to tread carefully since he was still uncertain of his response towards her. He took a breath and shifted his gaze back to her, studying her face as he formed his words. “I believe that you are special, just as Anna is. It cannot be an accident that you have become one of us, there is a purpose for it, you were chosen for a higher destiny.”
She nodded, a slight glow heating her insides at the idea that he would think of her as special.

“Do you recall the vampiress who hurt you?” He asked gently.

She furled her brows and stared down at her clasped hands, wondering what she should say to that. It was something she could never forget as long as she lived, but of course she was supposed to have forgotten everything.

He reached over and put one of his large hands over both of hers and she turned towards him, her heart rate accelerating from his touch. Just like in her bedroom she felt an undercurrent of electricity.

“Sooner or later you will remember,” he was still speaking gently, but his voice held a slight tremor. He squeezed her hands a bit as he continued. “She attempted to take your life, would have succeeded if Paulo had not changed you. And she is representative of most females of our kind who still live.”

“Where is she now?” The question burst out of her and she looked down quickly.

He squeezed her hands a little tighter. “She’s dead, by your sister’s hand.”

Jess’s face paled and she blinked at him in shock. “She killed her? How?”

Michael smiled faintly, though it wasn’t from amusement. The memory of Jenna’s fury as she stood over Terrina’s writhing body would remain forever etched in his memory. “We’d managed to capture her and orchestrate Jenna’s release. When she was returned to us…I’ve never seen such rage emanating from a human female. She would allow no one to dispatch of the vampiress but herself so Mathias showed her what to do. She stabbed the vile creature through the heart, screaming down at her like a Valkyrie as she exacted revenge for her sister. And afterwards she and Anna sobbed brokenly for days.”

The tears that had threatened her earlier spilled over and she stared down at her hands as they fell. Jenna killed her, she thought, for me. God, how could I have believed she didn’t care?

Michael put a finger under her chin and gently lifted her face. “I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad, I just wanted you to understand how important you are. And I thought you should know that Terrina is dead so that when you do remember what happened, you can rest easy in that knowledge. ” He gave her hands one more squeeze then let go. He was feeling largely off center by the flares of sexual awareness he continued experiencing in her presence, particularly when he touched her. Could she be the one? The thought bounced through his brain and he had to admit it was not entirely unappealing.

“I have to make a call,” he told her, “I’ll talk with you more later.”

Jess watched him walk away, her senses reeling, both from the information about Jenna and the fact that the entire time he was touching her she felt little prickles of pleasure dancing over her skin. And his intense beautiful blue gaze had amplified it a thousand fold.

He’s a really big guy, she realized as he stopped next to Chris. Though Chris was far from small, was almost the same height in fact, Michael’s broad muscular shoulders and back nearly dwarfed him.
Wouldn’t Jenna be proud of me if I ended up with a male like that, she thought with a slight smile.

A commotion near the back door broke into her thoughts and she glanced up, her eyes widening in awe as twenty vampires walked out onto the patio.
Caroline, who had been occupied in a flirtatious game in the hot tub with her ex-boyfriend, came bounding over suddenly, her long red hair streaming behind her. “OMG, look at them, they are so hot!” she squealed. “Do you think they’re like ultimate fighters or something? They have to be, they’re all gorgeous and buff! Or maybe there’s a male model convention!”

Jess grinned and nodded. That’s definitely what she would’ve thought if she didn’t know better.

“Um Liz? I think that like half of them are staring at you!”

Startled she swung her gaze over them. I’m a female, she reminded herself, one of few. But the thought only served to make her nervous and she pulled a chair from the table next to her and sat down.
Chris caught her eyeing them warily and walked over.
“Don’t worry,” he leaned down and whispered, “we warned them not to swarm you.”

“Chris, you have to introduce us!” Caroline exclaimed then waved her hand at Sue who was standing with the other “California” girls. The group hurried over talking excitedly.

Chris’s lips quirked. “Sure, come on.”

He led the girls away and Jess scanned the males once more, her gaze stopping when it reached Michael. He glanced her way and their eyes met for a moment but then he turned his back on her and continued his conversation.

Although it had seemed like he’d reacted to her when they’d touched, she wondered if he really did feel something. Probably just lust, she thought ruefully. If he ever learned of her deception he probably wouldn’t even feel that.

She continued staring at his broad back and was suddenly filled with an intense desire to be the kind of female he would want. She wondered what it would take to make him look at her the way she was now looking at him.

He probably still has a thing for Anna, she thought with an unexpected flare of jealousy.

She saw Jay approaching and forced her thoughts away as he sat down beside her. “How are you doing sweetie?” His golden brow arched as he touched her cheek lightly. “My brothers and I have been meaning to talk to you.”

“I’m okay,” she told him. “I…I’m remembering things.”

“Really? That’s great! Seeing Michael again bring it on?”

She nodded slightly, feeling a little sick. She hated to continue to lie but the alternative…she couldn’t deal with.

“So what do you think of all those males?” he asked with a teasing smile.

She blushed and shook her head.

“Oh, oh, what’s this, you’re blushing? Which one is it?” he grinned cocking a blonde brow.

She shook her head again.

“Or maybe it’s just all of them, huh? It’s crazy having so many of us in one spot, I’ve never been around a group as large as this.”

She latched onto that, veering the subject away from her. “Really, why not?”

He leaned back in his chair. “Because vampires are kinda like wolves, there can only be one alpha to a “pack”. And since one out of every three or four of us fits that role, when you get too many of us in one place we tend to fight. Too much testosterone in the air. Up to this point they’ve been letting Michael run the show, but now that they know the score they’ll soon break off into smaller groups.”

Jess felt a thrill go through her at the thought of Michael as an alpha male. She studied the vampires, considering what Jay had said. “What will the groups do?” she asked.

Jay smiled. “Well Michael has made it his mission to remind vampires of their true purpose-protecting humans by fighting demons. He believes there’s a war coming, with smaller battles breaking out first all over this country and Europe, eventually culminating into some kind of Armageddon for lack of a better word. Based on literature and other Intel it appears the final showdown will occur somewhere out in the deserts of Nevada. So what the smaller groups will be doing is more of the same--finding and recruiting.” Jay took a deep breath and let it out, leaning back in the chair.

“Shit,” he grinned. “Battling demons is something I’ve never done but it looks like that’s about to change.” His grin softened into a smile and he put a hand on her cheek. “Any more questions sweetheart?”

She shook her head.

“A’ight,” he stood, then leaned down and pecked her forehead. “If you think of any come find me.”

She nodded and he strode back over to his brothers.

She turned at the sound of Caroline’s high pitched laughter and saw that she and the other girls had pulled a few of the males from the group and were now dancing with them. She watched the scene absently, mulling over the things Jay had said. She wished she could pretend to remember everything all at once, she really needed to express her gratitude to the brothers.

After a few minutes she decided she could do it in part and made her way over to them, sliding in beside Aerik.

He turned to her with an endearingly dimpled smile. “How are you holding up sweetie?” he asked, draping an arm across her shoulders.

“I just wanted…I needed to say that I heard everything Michael told you, and I know what you did for me. I know that you saved me and I love you, all of you, so much.”

Chris and Jay turned towards her and she looked at them meaningfully. “You’ve been wonderful,” her lips started trembling as she groped for a more powerful way of saying it, but Aerik interrupted by pulling her into a hug. Jay and Chris joined in, forming a circle around her and she soaked up their warmth as they murmured endearments.

When they broke apart she gave each of them a kiss on the cheek then went back to where her friends were dancing, feeling a little lighter.

Generously created for me by @son-of-satire

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