Mongrels and Madness: Clans of Cain, page 1
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
About The Author
Clans of Cain
Books By This Author
Mongrels and Madness
Clans of Cain Book 2
S.M. Dapelo
WilderWords Publishing
Copyright © 2023 WilderWords Publishing
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Cover Design by Artscandare Book Cover Design
To the little guy, that at the age of two, figured out how to completly destroy a file so that it couldn't be recovered. Thanks honey. This book would have been done two years ago if you weren't such a cute little agent of destruction. Mommy loves you!
One
I let out a huff and looked around me. I was issued a simple challenge; either make it to the other side of the Galeria Antica before being caught or find the Csillag Fenyes, whatever that was. If I won, I got two weeks of urban parkour without the guys bitching, but if I lost, they got to choose my forfeit. I couldn’t lose this.
I had been bonded to two vampires for a couple of weeks now, and to say the transition was awkward was an understatement. Quillon, or Quill, Cappelo, my first bond mate, was dark, handsome, ancient, and entirely devoid of any pop culture knowledge. He was also the Sheriff, or Preceptum, of the unknown community. He took out the creatures that hurt innocents.
My second significant other was Cesare Borgia, yes, that Cesare Borgia. He was Quill’s only childe and also charming and handsome as hell. Cesare had been disguised as an Apateón, which is a demon/man hybrid, since the time Quill turned him. He was also the most significant pain in my ass right now. The unknown community thought Quill clanless and too weak blooded to have a bondmate; thus, they thought I belonged to only Cesare. And because of Cesare’s reputation, the community thought we had a dominant/submissive relationship that we played up. So when he ordered me to stop the urban parkour, something about me falling off a building, I assumed it was for show. It wasn’t. He, Quill, and Vlad issued a decree. I couldn’t do it anymore. Then, when autocracy didn’t work, they threw in some guilt, and ultimately got me to agree.
And, oh yeah, Vlad. As in Vlad Tepish. As in Dracula. As in my biological father, who hid me and my twin sister Izzy to keep us safe. He looked like a twenty-two-year-old millennial, loved raves, and was one of the biggest flirts on the planet. That was something no child should ever see their parents do, even if they only just entered their life. He was also so autocratic he thought he could ground me, I’m twenty-four, when he saw the parkour YouTube videos I did.
So after a full week of me pouting and complaining I was getting out of shape, because of Italy not having a lot of gyms, I was issued a challenge by Cesare. There’s a ghost town near Rome, the Galeria Antica. The Etruscans founded it, and it was occupied and abandoned several times until ultimately falling into ruin. It also had a unique ecosystem. Several types of animals lived here safely, and dozens of ruined buildings. If I could make it from the North end to the South, before either Cesare or Quill found me, I got to do my type of exercise without their whining. When I pointed out Cesare could hear my thoughts and would probably find me quick, he put in two caveats. One: he would actually have to stop me without reading my mind and two: if I could find the Csillag Fenyes, a mystical gem thought lost back in the seventeen hundreds, I would automatically win. However, if I failed, Cesare got to choose something I had to do, and I knew it was going to be dirty.
They gave me an hour headstart on Cesare, which I thought was fair until I realized how large the North to South trail was. And since Quill was supposed to pretend he wasn’t a daywalker, a vampire who had no problems with sunlight, he had to wait until dusk to join in. I had already ascertained I was going to have to find the Csillag thing, or I’d lose for sure. The boys were so fast it looked like they teleported, and while I got some speed from the bonding, it was nothing like theirs.
I opened up my sense to find anything unknown in the area and felt something toward the steeple I could see in the distance. I checked my watch. I still had ten minutes until Cesare headed out. I ran toward what appeared to be an ancient church in ruins, noticing several signs in Italian along the way.
The ground gave way beneath me. I turned and grabbed a vine and slammed into the hard side of the sinkhole. I jerked to a stop and hung there. I looked around. I realized it wasn’t a sinkhole, but probably an abandoned root cellar the vegetation had covered. Great. Now I had to worry about holes and would be even slower than I planned.
I took a breath and started using the creeping plant as a rope, but because they’re squishy, not dry, it took a lot longer than I thought. I pulled myself out of the hole and checked my watch. Two minutes left. Okay, time for parkour and to get yelled at. I launched myself at one of the stone walls, climbing straight up until I reached a flatter area. Then I jumped from the flat area onto the wall of what I now saw to be a church and climbed the rest of the way up the bell tower and pulled myself into it.
I looked out into the ruined city and opened my sense again, this time trying to keep it in a closer area. Two areas lit up, one was the damn hole, and the other was behind me. I spun and ducked down, letting my improved vision search into the shadows. Something hid in the darkest corner. “Hi, I’m Ellie. Do you know…,” I started.
“Parli Italiano?” the guttural voice said.
“Not a word,” I sighed, “Well, except cafe, te, and espresso. You know, the important things.” Ask me about ancient Babylonian and I was an expert. Italian, not so much.
It crawled out of the darker shadow. It had gray-skin that seemed to drip with mucous, no nose, and half its teeth missing. Unfortunately, the fangs weren’t.
“Nosferatu,” I murmured.
“You know my type,” it said in heavily accented English.
“Oh thank goodness you speak English. So I have a bet going with two paranormals and I need to find…,” I started.
“What human plays with the paranormal?” he interrupted.
I scowled. I suspected this conversation wasn’t going to be fast. “I’m not human. Open your senses. I’m the Carnifax. The Sheriff’s deputy.”
“I am Giannozzo,” he wheezed, then bowed.
Shit. Was I supposed to curtsy? Nah. “Nice to meet you. I’m looking for…”
His head tilted to the side. “And your name is?”
“Ellie,” I forced a smile that was the opposite of how I felt. Now I knew how that rabbit felt in the cartoon with the sloth. “It’s Ellie. Anyway, I’m looking for the Csillag Fenyes, cause there’s no way I’m making it to the South end of this place before dusk, and Cesare’s already on his way. And once Quill joins in, I’m screwed. Do you know where it is? Or even what it is?”
Giannozzo stared at me. “Your thoughts are disjointed.”
“If you had the kind of year I’ve had, yours would be too, Giann. Anyway…”
“Who is Giann?” he asked.
“I’m assuming it’s short for Giannozzo,” I shrugged.
“I like it. Why are you not terrified of me?”
I sighed, and pointed at myself, “Carn-i-fax. I’ve seen lots of scary things, including my dad.”
“Who is your father?” Man, he was asking a lot of questions.
Realization hit and I slit my eyes. “Son-of-a-bitch, you’re stalling me.” I spun. A very male hand missed me by an inch. I rolled to the other side.
“Hello, Cara. I win.” Cesare smiled, his bright blue eyes twinkling. His brown hair was cut in a longer style, hitting his shoulders. “Thank you, Giannozzo, for keeping my Consort busy.”
“She is amusing. It was a pleasure,” he smiled at Cesare. At least I hope that’s what he was doing.
“You haven’t won yet. I think you better remember the rules you came up with.” I pointed at Giann. “And the gem’s in the damn hole.”
I dove out the side of the bell tower, Cesare yelling behind me. I hit the wall, then bounced off the side of the nearest structure until I hit the ground.
This is why I did parkour. I noticed I barely felt the fall and landed on my feet. I smiled. I was going to enjoy my new abilities. I ran toward the hole as Cesare appeared in front of me, legs wide like a catcher, causing me to slide at the last minute and go right under him, grabbing another vine and spinning downward as I heard him curse.
I landed and smiled. Being able to see in the dark and fall without getting hurt is so cool. The tunnel went in two different directions, and I ran the way I felt the unknown
“I. Win.” Cesare growled in my ear.
“You. Cheat.” I growled right back.
“I’m an Apateón, of course I do,” he spoke into my ear. I frowned. If he was calling himself an Apateón, we were being observed. “Do you know where you were racing to at breakneck speed?” he asked, stroking my cheek.
I pouted. “From your reaction, I’m guessing somewhere bad?”
“Come,” he grabbed my hand and took me down the tunnel. It ended in front of a swiftly moving river filled with boulders. “Do you think you would have been able to stop in time before you were in the middle?”
“Probably not, but I can swim. I might have been a bit beat up, but I’d survive.” He raised a brow, then pulled me further down the tunnel, following the river and pointed. I winced, “Or not.” The river became a large waterfall that fell about a hundred feet below and had huge rocks at the bottom.
“The Nosferatu set this up. It’s a trap. Their warren is in the other direction.” He started walking the way we came. “If you’d done your homework, I mean research, you would have known there was no way you could have made it to the Southern end before Quill joined in. Never mind me finding you first.”
“That’s why I was trying to find the Csillag Fenyes,” I explained.
“Oh, there was no way you’d find it. At least not here,” he smiled. My eyes went to slits.
“And why not?”
He threw me over his shoulder, then jumped, taking the both of us out of the depression and then slapped my ass before placing me back on the ground. “Because,” he smiled, “it’s in Hungary. Your father has it. He located it a decade ago.”
“You told me it was here. You cheated. Again.”
“No.” He shook his finger at me. “You agreed you would either make it across the Galeria Antica or find the Csillag Fenyes. I never said it was here. If you had spent an hour researching it, you would have been able to call your dad, realized he had it, and tell us. Instead, you wanted all the time you could get for a head start on Quill. You underestimated me. Again. You’re never going to win against me if you keep doing that.” He kissed me, “Never fear, Cara. You’re going to love what I have in mind for my prize.”
“I knew it was going to be dirty,” I groused as he laughed and we headed back from where we came.
“I didn’t even get to start.” Quill was pouting when we got to the car. Quill stood over six-foot with olive skin and wavy deep brown hair. While Cesare was fit like a swimmer, Quill was built to dominate everything around him.
“Yeah, well, it was finish the game or watch her hit the waterfall. If she’d gone toward the warren, I would have dragged it out,” Cesare shrugged.
“Your agent called,” Quill looked at him. “The villa will be ready for occupants in two days. They have finished all the supernatural upgrades. The pool house will be done in a week.”
“Pool house?” I frowned at the two of them.
“It’s not a pool house. I’m enclosing the pool so we can use it year-round,” Cesare said.
Quill sighed. “It’s a house with a pool, thus a pool house.”
“That’s not what it’s called,” argued Cesare. “We have to do something about this. You’re gonna let everyone know what you are.” He waved an annoyed hand at him. “Get in the car.”
Quill glared at the white Lancia Cesare had driven over. “Why would you bring this car? It’s small and ugly.”
Cesare shrugged, “It’s what they drive here. We’re supposed to blend. I wasn’t leaving the Ferrari behind while I chased down Ellie.”
I looked at Quill. “Did you know Vlad had the Csillag Fenyes?”
He bit his lip, trying not to laugh. “Of course.”
“You two suck,” I growled. “Shotgun,” I yelled, headed toward the car.
“What does that mean?” Quill asked.
“That you’re in the backseat,” laughed Cesare. “Have fun.”
Two
Movie night started well. I was cuddled under a blanket with my blond hair in pigtails and my fuzzy pajamas, popcorn next to me, and Guardians of the Galaxy starting. The place Cesare had rented for us was full of plush furniture in blue and green. I couldn't believe this was a hotel, but the fact that they brought us breakfast on our private patio every day did a lot to convince me.
Cesare vaulted over the sofa, landing next to me. “Oh, I like this one.” He reached across me, grabbing the bowl of popcorn.
I grabbed it back. “Oh, I’m sorry, cheater. The popcorn’s for people who play by the rules.”
“One, I’m not a cheater. That implies I would cheat on you with someone else. I would never cheat on you, just on games. Two, I didn’t cheat, and you know it. You’re just a sore loser.” He grabbed the snack again. “Give me some blanket.” He tried to sneak under.
“No, this is for people who play fair.” I yanked the blanket away and glared. That was the wrong thing to do because his eyes went to slits and he calmly put the popcorn down on the end table…
Then launched himself at me, tickling me until I couldn’t breathe. When he let up, I found my breath as I looked into his pale blue eyes and sighed. He leaned over and kissed me, teasing my lips and his hand went under my shirt.
Suddenly, he stopped himself and sat up, pulling me with him. He grabbed the popcorn and started eating it as I caught my breath. “Vlad’s here,” he said in my ear.
“What are we watching?” Came Vlad’s booming voice as he walked into the room. My father looked younger than me. He styled his black hair to look messy. His dark blue eyes watched everything in the room, while looking bored with an almost constant sneer on his face. He looked like the bad boy of every teen soap on television.
I made a face. “Why are you here?”
“Because I heard one of my idiot sons-in-law said you could start parkour again.” He jumped into the overstuffed chair. “Oh, I like this one. Anyone notice Quill’s a lot like Drax, even though there’s a Quill in the movie?”
I sighed and shook my head. “He’s not that violent.”
“He can be, and he is that literal,” noted Cesare, nodding. “And she lost a bet, so she’s not doing parkour.”
Vlad stared at Cesare a moment with a frown, his brow creasing. “Okay, I gotta ask. What bet?”
Cesare smirked. “She either had to go North to South in the Galeria Antica without myself or Quill catching her, or she had to find the Csillag Fenyes, which she assumed was in the Galeria Antica. I found her within ten minutes.”
Quill walked in and sat on the other side of me, grabbing my hand. “I didn’t even get there before he stopped her.” He leaned forward and frowned at the screen. “Is that raccoon using a gun and talking?”
“Yeah, he’s a lot like Vlad,” I deadpanned.
“Outstanding. I love Rocket. He’s my favorite.” Vlad reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn.
“You are totally Gamora,” Cesare whispered in my ear, his breath making me shiver.
“And you’re Peter, who thinks he’s smoother than he is,” Vlad said, as he threw the popcorn up in the air, catching it in his mouth.
Cesare shrugged, keeping his smile. “Peter’s the romantic lead. I’m good with that.”
Quill scooted closer to the screen with a frown. “Why is the tree talking? Is it a dryad?” The rest of us just started laughing.
“Oh goody, the gang’s all here.” Merle walked in. He was older, with grey hair and pale eyes, always wearing a dark suit. I originally thought he was Quill’s man-servant, then I thought he was some sort of assistant, like Renfield. But after watching him turn an Elder vampire to dust with just a touch, I realized how wrong I was. He told me to think of him as my paternal grandfather, many times removed. Many, many times removed. He scared the shit out of me, and with my background, that took a lot. “So we’re working on Quill’s understanding of pop culture tonight?” He forced a smile as he sat.
“I just call it movie night. It tricks him that way,” remarked Cesare. He looked over at Vlad. “We move to the villa in two days, by the way.”
