Blood Heritage: Blood Solstice

by Amy Young

Overview

For the first twenty years of her life, Ember thought she was just your average, everyday teenage girl. Now a young adult, she has decided that it's time to learn the secret of why her father abandoned her before she was even born. What she learns in the process shatters her world-and even make her question her definition of reality.

Spared from a brutal attack by an enigmatic vampire named Arystar, Ember sets out on a strange journey of self-discovery. On the night she could have lost her life, Arystar saved her for a very specific purpose. He believes ember is destined to be a great leader among vampires, one who will save the world for vampires and humans alike. In this new world, myth and legend are realities-and Ember begins to learn that not all monsters are evil.

Tasked with the seemingly impossible challenge of bringing together the fiercely independent vampires she meets, Ember must find a way to inspire this group to cooperate for the common good. Can she find the common thread to unite a London sewer rat, a Victorian duchess, a Civil War general, a 1920s Chicago mobster, an orphaned Catholic girl, and a headstrong twentieth-century doctor-let alone the newest additions? If they have any hope of survival, they must put their past differences aside to save their future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781491706480
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/19/2013
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.06(d)

Read an Excerpt

Blood Heritage

BLOOD SOLSTICE Book 1

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By AMY YOUNG

iUniverse, LLC

Copyright © 2013 Amy Young
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4917-0648-0

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CHAPTER 1

One Fine Day

Vacation, it's what everyone looks forward to, a time to get away to forget your worries and lose the weight of stress. That is, when it's a normal vacation. For Ember this wasn't an ordinary V.C., this was a hunt, a mystery that for too long had gone unsolved. Her whole life she lived in a rented apartment building with her mother, and for a long time it was a good life, if you cut out the screams from fighting and the bulling she revived on a daily bases, oh and frequent incidences of seeing the dead. Yeah, for the most part it was a good life, but for her it never felt ... full.

"God, could the streets here be any more confusing, I swear." Ember looked at her map that she bought off one of the venders when she first got into the Dominican Republic. It was the beginning of July here and the temperature was up into the hundred degree mark already. She groaned deep in her throat and pushed on down the over crowded streets of the city.

Ember had been here for three day's now and still hadn't found the building she was looking for, and though many of the locals new fairly good English, somehow none of them could point her to the U.S. embassy building. The map also wasn't helping as it was all in Spanish even though she had asked for one in English a hundred times, she was stuck reading the pictures. "I knew I should have taken Spanish class." She said irritably to herself.

She had taken the bus here into the main city with the logic it would be in this area, and was wandering the streets. She was sticking close to the buildings, avoiding the sun at all cost. She read the map again and looked up as she leaned on the cold stone of the building. She was lost. She sighed hopelessly and folded the map up and tucked it into her bag. Her clothes were sticking to her uncomfortable and her hair felt heavy on her hot head. "What I wouldn't give for a small gust of wind." She said dreamily to herself and closed her eyes for a second trying to make her words real.

She was considering looking for a room, but looking at all the shiny buildings, hundreds of feet in the air and lining the beaches there was no way she could afford to stay here. She pushed off the cold stone and kept moving down the street not bothering with the map, either way she was lost and so she could only hope to get so lost she found her way.

"So, we have a deal then?" A man said his face concealed in shadow as he spoke to another man who also concealed himself. They were in the back of a low end bar yet neither was drinking, they only needed the atmosphere of the place.

"Yes, I already transferred the money, so we're good then?" This man had a much softer voice, rather young sounding. "I'm happy to supply you with anything your master might need." He went on to say.

"Wise choice," he slid a box across the table to him discreetly and the man took it, eyeing it greedily. "Wait until you are alone to open that, keep it under the radar." He said again stressing the concern.

"Of course, I'll make sure that my master understands perfectly." He said and there was a flicker of uncertain in the man's eyes. He calmed himself; it wasn't unusual for people of his standing to have others run errands for them.

"See that he does." He said back leaning back into the shadows. The man gave a nod to him and stood up slipping the box into his coat and departed out the back were most wouldn't be allowed to enter or exit.

"Would you like anything while you wait, the day is still long and ..." he put a hand up and the man fell silent and stepped away.

"I'm fine for now, tend to your customers." He waved him off. He gave a subtly bow and turned away. He relaxed in the darkness of his seat lost in thought, he didn't know the details of what he had just signed into but what he just gave him was very powerful. He only hoped it was worth it.

It was almost three when Ember at long last had found the embassy building, as grand a structure as an office could be. Then for the next two hours she was in a room with dozens of people chatting on phones going over papers nervously, others yelling to get there way but all they got was a sore throat.

She sat in one of the hard plastic chairs playing a stupid game of solitaire on her iPod. She only looked up when a shadow cast over the screen by a man in a well fitted suit and tie.

"Ember Leigh?" he said curiously. She nodded and he gestured for her to follow. The back rooms were just as crazy and somehow she realized that perhaps this was why nothing got done. "In here." He held a hand to a room and she walked in and sat down in another uncomfortable plastic chair.

"So you are looking for records on your father, yes?" He looked over at her from across he's cluttered desk.

"Uh, yes, my father had left a trust fund before I was born to my mother but she never did anything with it and signed it over to me." Ember explained though she knew what she was saying was a big fat lie. There had been a trust fund given to her mother and true she didn't use it but Ember had forged her signature to get access to it. "There had been a note as well. It said that he had been traveling here but his name wasn't in the directories or anything." Ember said calmly. The man sighed and leaned back in his chair rocking it back some.

"I'm sorry to tell you this but your father perished, we have a small file of records and passport, but you see we can't give you this information without a confirmation that you are in fact a direct decedent." He said leaning forward again.

"I have the note, and birth certificate on me, is that enough?" She said starting to dig into her bag and pulled out the pieces of paper. He looked them over.

"Well this writing does match his and the birth certificate is real, but I'm afraid it's still not enough. Do you have any other way to prove that you knew him?" Ember hung her head at that.

"I never knew him, that's why I came looking for him." She said miserable. The man sighed as well and turned in his chair and pulled a file out from the case not taking more than a second, as if knowing in advance she was coming.

"Listen, under normal circumstance I would never give this to, but as the dates and writing match I will release it to you. There is nothing of importance in the file, only a name and the record." He said. "You also don't seem like the type that goes around stealing identities so ..." he handed the file out to her as she took it wide eyed.

"I'll show you out." He said and within minutes she was outside the door of the embassy clutching the file in her hands. At long last she had the answer, her father had been here and now she would at least, with some luck, get an idea of what he was like.

Ember walked back down the streets to get back to the main street which should have been easy, but was soon lost again. It was a little after five now and many of the less busy and back alley stores were closing up. She tried to get directions but none of them seemed to want to answer her, or just didn't understand her. The sky was a bright orange now as the sun began its decent in the sky and cast the buildings shadows over the street so it almost seemed dark out. She still had three hours or so before real darkness set in but that didn't make her move any slower.

She started to retrace her steps back to the embassy and hopefully get directions there. Unfortunately when she got there it was closed up, she sighed profoundly and leaned on the glass making a vibrating thumb of a noise. She looked out at the streets and listened, she could hear the traffic but it was all around yet couldn't find it.

"Well this is just perfect." She said annoyed and started down the steps again and stopped on the sidewalk. She looked left then right deciding which way seemed better, she had gone right before and gotten lost so maybe left would be better. She hurried down the street and trying to read the buildings for class instead of business, if she could do that she was sure to find the main street.

On top of everything else she was getting hungry; she had been walking all day and only had a granola bar for breakfast and a small sandwich and water for lunch.

"Uh, I can't take this anymore." Her shoulders sagged with despair, the messenger bag now weighing on her. She sat down on a park bench and let out a pronounced sigh. Her stomach rumbled painfully and she clutched it.

"Oh shut up, don't you think I know?" She said to her rumbling belly. She searched in her bag to see if she had anymore granola bars or anything for that matter. She found a small bag of peanuts from the plane and tore into them hungrily and was gone the next minute as she licked the last of the salt and flavor from her fingers. It helped to stop the rumbling but she was still dying for food.

She picked herself up and walked on down the street and finally found a hotel, it wasn't the biggest or the best hotel there was but it would have to do. She had to spend her money carefully but as she couldn't find the main road and needed food and a shower and a soft bed she could spend a few bucks to get that for a night.

She forgot how nice a hot shower and a soft bed were and to have a hot meal for a change was also nice. She also took the time and plugged all her appliances in to charge up. She flipped through the TV to see if one, anything was in English, or if anything was on in general. For the next couple hours she found herself watching the weather channel as it was the only one in English and it would get her updated on what was going on.

She chuckled at the forecast, if anyone forecast the weather it was Ember, she had always been able to tell when weather was coming. They were saying that it was likely to rain tonight but she thought otherwise, she didn't have any headache or migraine of any kind. Tomorrow could be a different story but that would be a wait and see. She turned the TV off and locked the door after putting the "do not disturb" sign up. Turned the lights off except the bathroom one and let a crack of light shine into the room.

She wasn't really afraid of the dark but didn't much like it either with all the things she had seen in it over the years. Even now the shadows seemed to dance and move along the walls as she closed her eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

The next morning she took another shower to wake up and got on her computer for a little bit checking in with some of her friends back home.

"How goes the hunt?" One e-mail asked, she grind and replied,

"Success!" she typed back then typed again. "Can't decide if I should chill out here a little while longer or head home?" She sent it and walked over to the small table in her room grabbing some of the breakfast she got from down stairs earlier after her shower and walked back.

"You should chill, not much happening on our end anyway." The reply said and she laughed and began to type again.

"What time is it there?" she asked, here it was right around seven.

"Sixish?" and she shook her head and typed.

"What are you doing up, go to bed fool!!!" She replied back.

"What's to say I'm not?" the reply said.

"I'm shutting down now." She typed with sarcasm that couldn't be expressed yet she knew they would get it.

"K, have fun in the sun. LOL." The replay came.

"HA HA, jerks." She said and closed out of the computer and started packing her things up. When she checked out she asked if they had a map that was in English and pointed her to a small hole in the wall concession store. She thanked them and walked over and got a map and several bottles of water and snacks since she probably wouldn't be staying in a hotel for a day or so.

The weather was nice again, and as she had guessed it hadn't rained. With her new map she found her way to the main street and from there walked to the beach for the first time. The sand was warm between her toes as she walked to a shade cover and got comfortable with her sketch book. Now that she found out what she wanted she had all the time to just relax.

As the hours passed by more and more people came and went, kids laughing and chasing each other over the sand mounds and the tide of water as it washed in and then back out undamaged. Couples held each other close kissing softly now and then others were near ready to remove the last of their clothes it seemed. A light breeze was helping to keep the heat down but it was still near the hundreds.

Around lunch she pulled out the file with her father's information in it and ran her hand over the cover, she still hadn't opened it and a terrible idea came to her making her heart race. She whipped the cover pack and sighed with relief; to think this whole time it could have been empty. Now that it was open she couldn't tear her eyes from it. She got the first question answer, his name was Dorian. She only wished there would have been more on what he looked like, the coroner report only said that he had been shot in the chest and suffered several other abrasions like those that suggested he got into some kind of fight. It wasn't much yet, but it felt like her heart had been ripped out. This was her father, a piece of her that was taken away from her.

She shouldn't feel this way over someone she had never known, for all she knew he could have been a scumbag and was doing drugs. It wasn't so far-fetched considering the islands reputation. But the way her mother used to talk about him, when she did. He had broken her heart, and she always said he was so beautiful, eyes the color of the moon.

Ember sighed and closed the file and set it next to her pulling her knees to her chin resting on them and wrapping her arms around her legs. The sky was growing gray overhead and a light pain was growing at the back of her head.

"Thought so," She whispered to herself. She closed her eyes letting the wind wrap around her cooling her skin off. She only opened them as a rumble rolled in the sky. People began to flee the beach while some other risk takers headed for the waves hoping to catch the swells that came in.

Ember knew she should pack up to but her mind was everywhere but here on the beach, she couldn't stop thinking about what she had wrote to her friends. She said she didn't know if she should stay or head on back home, which she knew hadn't been true. She had never felt the peace this island brought her, as well here she felt like her life was finding its meaning. But what tired her to home was her friends, and though she didn't get along with her mother she didn't know if she had the heart to up and leave her like her father. The sky had grown darker and rumbled louder. She took in a deep breath of the ocean and rain in the air and let it out slowly not wanting to let it go.

Slipping on her tee shirt over her bikini top, she grabbed her things and started on her way back into town. By the time she had gotten off the beach and into town it started to drizzle; people scurried away to find cover like cockroaches when a light turned on. Venders closed there stands faster than she could blink. She stood up against a wall waiting for things to calm down, and then proceed on her way to find a place to lie low till the rain passed, only she wouldn't get that far.

The same man from the other day had finished up the last of his business in town and was starting to get up from the booth again when a rumble came from overhead.

"Sounds like it's going to rain," the man that had waited on him said. He looked over at him and flipped the collar of his coat up and started for the door. "Would you like for me to call you a cab sir?" The man said and he turned back his eyes looking on with amusement.

"No thanks, I get around my own way." He said and stepped out letting the door slam behind him. The sky was dark gray and looked angry about something, a flash light up the sky followed by another rumble. The man licked his teeth and stopped and he reached the back and touched it with his fingers and raised his eyebrows.

"Already," he said curiously. He looked down the streets that were now deserted and started on his way. A small smile came to his face as he sighed, "Oh well, you have to do what you have to do." He grinned and as the sky lit up in another flash and he was gone.

The rain was getting heavier now so Ember took shelter under a canopy of a store to wait it out, but within several minutes an irritated tap was rapping on the window behind her came. She looked back at a man that was waving her away and her eyes widened and gestured to the falling rain but the man only waved more forcefully and she huffed and left. The street was empty now and the stone under feet was getting slippery now and treaded carefully.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Blood Heritage by AMY YOUNG. Copyright © 2013 Amy Young. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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