Chapter One
The sound of guns shooting breaks into the peace of my dreams. Once again I'm sucked into a long forgotten war, and terror floods throughout my entire body.
Again, I see Joshua get struck by a wooden bullet and I race towards him before I realize I can't go back in time; I can't save him.
My eyes fly up just before the plane carrying the hunters flies overhead.
"Jacob!" A voice yells from above me. "Jake, wake up!"
I sit up, scared, and look around me, the fear turning to surprise as I see Mike standing over me, his eyes concerned. I realize my breathing is ragged and I stop it for a second.
"Seriously dude, if you could sweat, we'd all be swimming right now." He says continuing to stare at me.
"What time is it?" I ask, pushing my hair out of my eyes and and looking around.
"Two a.m." James says angrily from across the room. "You woke us up with all your tossing and turning. You know some of us get tired from all the constant patrols and training you and Angelo put us through, every day. " He says. "What's wrong this time?"
"Bad dream." I apologize. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you guys."
Looking at him and his twin, Justin, I distinctly remember that the war was supposed to only be their first border patrol as fully trained Fighters for Mystiques.
"You were dreaming about Joshua again, weren't you?" Justin guesses.
"Good guess." I say quietly. "Yes, I was."
"Uncle Jacob," he says, his eyes soft. "You really shouldn't keep blaming yourself for his death."
"Yeah, he's right." James says angrily. "Blame Sebastion, he sold us out to Klause that night."
"I know," I say to both of them. "Let's, uh, let's go back to bed."
"Yeah, we wouldn't want Angelo to find out that we're awake or he'll make us train now."
I look at Mike, and though his voice is bitter, his eyes are light. And his deep appreciation for Angelo flows from him.
Mumbled agreements come from my nephews as Mike turns off the light and slips into bed. Soon their steady breathing reassures me that they've all gone back to sleep.
For a while, I sit in silence staring at the ceiling. I let my eyes close for a minute and the images from the war return with a vengeance. One of the disadvantages of being a vampire, Jake. I think. Never being able to forget anything.
It's been almost ninety years, I tell myself. Stop blaming yourself.
After a minute, I admit defeat and pull on a pair of shorts. I leave my shirt off, grab my phone and slip out of the room silently.
Mikaela's scent hangs in the air, and the trace of fear in it shocks me. I follow it to the back door and see her sitting on the railing staring at her hands.
"Hey," I say.
"Hey Jake." She says, turning to me. "What are you doing up?"
As if she didn't know. "Couldn't sleep." I shrug, humoring her. It's not like Kaela to pretend that she doesnt have a gift, that is unless we're keeping up the human charade for cover.
Mikaela looks just like me, but with longer hair. We both have grayish green eyes and light brown hair with bronze highlights. And we have a link between us that helps us to know when the other is trouble, it even existed when we were humans. Something uncommon.
