Divine Blood (Vampire Love Story #6) (2 page)

The Deity had gone
underground before the Mani war broke out. Though it was long over,
she still lived underground. Sion had said that she currently
resided in Pahrump, Nevada. Why she had chosen there to live, I had
no idea. What I did know was that the only time I ever got answers,
the kind that satisfied my curiosity, it was usually the Deity
giving me the information. She was a phenomenal woman. She was more
than a woman, actually. She was my closest connection to the
Triat.

Chapter Three

I remembered that Lena didn’t want me
to go. I stood in front of our closet, staring down at this woman I
had loved for so long. She had made her way back to sleep and my
thoughts were still going.

I thought about when I did
visit the Deity for the first time since the war. It was a couple
of days after my talk with Lena. She was still acting weird about
me going, but she was doing her best to be supportive.

I knew I had a long trip
ahead of me. I went out to see her all by myself. I had decided to
say goodbye to my family for a night and fly out White Eagle style
to Pahrump, Nevada, and head out from Las Vegas. Lena never liked
it when I flew that far as the Eagle or in my human form. She said
I was asking for trouble. She would rather me drive places. I
laughed. It was inconceivable because I had to fly over an ocean to
get to where I needed to be.

The Deity had a giant
house in the heart of the city of Pahrump. In the back yard, she
had built an underground barracks. It wasn’t as large as the one in
Mexico, but it was definitely in a better area of the world, even
if Sin City was only an hour away from Pahrump.

I got to her new compound
around midnight. It had been about three years since the battle of
Krull. It had been a real long time since I’ve seen her, too long.
I’d avoided her on purpose in the beginning until she was able to
make her whereabouts known to whoever she wanted to have this
information. I had a lot of questions about the future, parenting,
and just how to be the best man to Lena I could be.

This was my first time at
her new compound. I didn’t want my visit to ruffle any feathers. I
knew she would be well protected. But I also knew she would be very
happy to see me.

I would have never even
have found her location if it hadn’t been for Sion. It took him
three months, but he was finally able to locate her.

So, here I was, in
Pahrump, Nevada, at midnight in the year 2016. I was about to have
another heart-to-heart talk with the only person I trusted more
than myself, in regard to the Triat.

I was led to the Deity by
one of her security detail to the back of her giant three-story
house, to the underground barracks.

Just like Mexico, I was
led down a stairway to a hallway and at the back of the barracks,
there was a room with the door open.

I slowly walked down the
hall and made my way to the open door. I peeked in and saw the
Deity, recalling that she was also blind.

I called into the room,
“Hello. Do you remember me?”

“
Josiah Reign, is that
you?” the Deity asked.

“
It sure is.”

“
Come in here and give me
a hug.”

I stepped inside the room
and noticed that it was similar to the one she had in Mexico, very
dimly lit. She sat in a rocking chair, perhaps even the same
rocking chair that she had favored in Mexico. She looked as vibrant
and healthy as ever. “Come sit next to me, child.” The Deity
reached out her hand to take mine.

I took her hand and sat
cross-legged next to her rocking chair.

“
How many years has it
been, Josiah?” The Deity smiled in my direction.

“
Close to four,” I said.
“The boys are almost three years old now.”

“
Oh, my goodness! They
must look adorable.”

“
They’re pretty handsome
boys, I give them that. They do take after their old
man.”

“
I imagine you have very
handsome family, Josiah.”

“
We try.”

“
You know what is even
more wonderful than outer beauty? It’s the only beauty I can see,
the beauty that lives in someone’s heart. Your heart is what
separates you from the masses.”

“
I always thought it was
my fists.”

“
No, dear child. It’s your
heart. You’re an amazing man...on the inside. Never sell yourself
short.” The Deity took a sip from her cup. I never knew what she
drank. I never asked, but she as old school as we get. I’m sure it
was blood based. “How are the boys and your lovely wife
doing?”

“
They’re good,” I paused
and reflected a tad. “I’m worried about Jason.”

“
Why?”

“
He is very
introspective.”

“
And that is concern for
worry?”

“
Joshua talks about
everything under the sun, but we’re lucky to get two sentences out
of Jason.”

“
He’s different,” the
Deity said. “A wise man listens and observes. He is just acting
wise.”

“
He’s three. How wise can
the kid be?” I said, almost making a wisecrack myself.

“
I can only imagine how
wise he already is. Let me ask you this. When he does speak, is it
profound?”

“
Do you mean that all he
does all day is quote Shakespeare sonnets and give his
philosophical take on life?”

“
This isn’t like you,
Josiah. Why are you being so sarcastic and defensive?” the Deity
asked me.

“
Because he is a
three-year-old boy. He is my three-year-old boy and I love him very
much.” I thought about my son Jason and I knew in my heart, he was
a deep kid. I guess I resisted it because I resisted his calling.
“I’m scared for him,” I said as the words cracked out of my
mouth.

“
Knowing what I told you
about your sons is painful for you, isn’t it?” The Deity was
looking through my soul and reading it correctly. It wasn’t a hard
read.

“
How could it not be? They
are my little boys. The joy of my life. It’s tearing at my heart
know what is prophesied.”

The Deity looked at me and
nodded her head. She took in my every word and I could feel that
she was moved by my sentiment.

I continued speaking, even
though it was painful. “Now that I know Jason, he is real to me. I
don’t think I can stand by and watch as my son gets martyred or
murdered or whatever is prophesied to happen to him. I saw Helen
die after she had the same prophecy about her life. It doesn’t seem
right that Jason has to die, too. How many people have to die, and
why do they?”

“
It’s not for us to say
who lives and who dies, and this destiny cannot be altered,” the
Deity said quietly to me.

I began to get really
emotional. I loved my family more than I thought I could love. I
was pleading with her without asking directly to spare my son. I
knew at the end of the day, it wasn’t her call. It was the
Triat’s.

I took a deep breath and
tried to regain my composure. “Well, anyway, that isn’t the reason
why I came. I mean...it partially is, but I am here to ask your
advice on a couple of important details that have been keeping me
up at night.”

“
You know I’m always here
for you, Josiah. Ask away.”

“
When the right time it is
to tell Jason about the prophecy?”

She took a deep breath.
“The right time will be obvious, but it won’t be anytime soon. That
will become revealed to all of you in the next few years. Jason has
Divine Blood. Believe it or not, so does Joshua. He just doesn’t
possess the same gifts that his brother does. But make no mistake
about Joshua, he will be a great Mani.”

“
A Mani?” I said,
shocked.

“
You don’t plan on turning
him, but when he is a good age?” the Deity asked.

“
Into a vampire?!” I said,
flabbergasted. “On purpose?”

“
Yes. Listen to me when I
tell you this, Josiah. Only you can turn him. He is a Son of
Josiah. A divine son. So, his best chance is for you to be the one
to turn him at the appropriate time.”

“
You want me to bite my
son on the neck and make him a vampire?”

“
Sometimes, we don’t
choose who we are. It chooses us.”

“
You’re telling me. It
never once crossed my mind to make my child into a vampire. Not
ever.” I paused. “What about Jason?”

“
Jason cannot ever turn
into a Mani. It would be nearly impossible for that to
happen.”

“
Why?”

“
Jason’s body would reject
it. Plus, he doesn’t need it.”

“
Why?”

“
Josiah, it will become
more and more apparent to you as the years go on that you have a
very special boy there.”

“
What should I do?” I
asked, concerned.

“
Continue to raise them
the best way you know how.”

Then there was a silence
in the room that lasted longer than I anticipated. So many thoughts
swirled in my head that I could not contain them all.

“
What else is on your
mind, child?” the Deity asked me.

“
Honestly?” I
laughed.

“
Yes.”

“
It’s hard to
say.”

She smiled. “That’s why
you came to me, when things seem hard to say, you want my
perspective.”

I nodded. “My life lacks a
lot of the former purpose and mission. There’s no cause to fight
for, no battle to plan for, no getting my hands dirty with a life
well-lived on the edge. I’m stuck in a beautiful castle and it has
become more than a bit of an ivory tower. I feel separated from my
people and frankly, I’m bored,” I admitted.

Her eyebrows raised.
“You’re bored? What does that mean?” The Deity seemed thrown off by
my question. I had never seen her like that, so taken
off-guard.

I tried to explain it to
her. “Everything seems focused on raising my sons. What do I do
now? I am not used to living my life in a secondary
way.”

“
I see what you mean. What
would you want to do with your life, your immense resources, your
heart?”

“
Help,” I said
plainly.

“
Help?” the Deity
asked.

“
Help others, like you do.
But I would do it in my own way.”

“
With fists and blood,”
the Deity said.

“
Justice would be done,
and that would be my only goal.”

“
Like some kind of
vigilante superhero?” She seemed somewhat interested, once she
worded it that way.

I latched onto the phrase.
“Vigilante superhero. Something like that,” I said, laughing. “I
think you’re onto something.”

“
Are you asking for my
permission?” she asked.

“
Not necessarily. But I
would like your blessing. I’m asking if you see any harm in it.
Some adventures of my own to do good things, to right wrongs, to
pursue goodness and justice, and to combat evil. I miss that life.
It was my calling and when I defeated Krull with my warriors, and I
put up the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner in my head, there was this
small ‘what now?’ question in my head that has grown from a whisper
to a shout.”

“
You should follow it
then, but I will caution you to just make sure you are always there
for your family. If you do that, I don’t see a problem with it.
Just keep a close eye on Jason, especially. He will need a lot of
guidance in the beginning. Then, he will turn the tables and he
will guide you. He is going to be a very wise boy.”

“
A wise boy who has a dark
destiny.”

“
That’s where you’re
wrong. Jason is Divine. When the time comes, his death will spark a
new revolution. It will be one that I think you just might be too
old for.”

I looked at the Deity.
“I’m going to do everything I can to protect both my boys. Whoever
wants my son’s life, they will have to take mine first.”

“
It will all become a lot
clearer as they boys grow. Allow them to be boys and grow up as
normally as they can.”

“
You mean normal, like
living in a sixteenth-century castle on a deserted island in the
Tasman Sea?”

“
Govern your people. I
know it’s easiest to get self-absorbed and only concentrate on your
family. You still govern that island of yours. You must always be
there for your family and also for the Mani who are choosing to
live in harmony.”

“
In that vein, let me ask
you this: How come so many Mani have left our islands?”

“
Because we all have free
will. At the end of the day, regardless of being human or vampire,
individuals will always do what they want. Those who have stayed,
they believe in the harmony that was prophesied. Use that to
motivate yourself. It might not be your friends who remain, but
those who have stayed have shown a loyalty to you—that is
undeniable. And you should realize how they have accepted you and
support you.”