Bloodscourge Read online

  Table of Contents

  Excerpt

  Praise for Sydney Winward

  Bloodscourge

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  A word about the author…

  Thank you for purchasing

  Also available from The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  His eyebrows rose in surprise as the vampire disarmed one of his two opponents and faced off against the one remaining. He didn’t just use his skill with the sword, but he used his short height to his advantage by ducking underneath a powerful swing and kicking the other male in the rear before pressing his sword against his opponent’s throat, ending the match.

  Dracula whistled involuntarily. Despite himself, he was impressed.

  The vampire pulled his hood away from his face and shook his hair free, long red tendrils escaping down his back. Dracula’s heart gave a start as he realized it wasn’t a male at all, but a female. A beautiful female. And she had the longest, most beautiful shade of red hair he had ever seen.

  Praise for Sydney Winward

  “Bloodborn’s action-packed ending will thrill paranormal fans looking for a mix of old myths and new twists!”

  ~Tricia Hill, InD’tale Magazine

  ~*~

  “I definitely suggest reading this book if you love vampire stories and great characters.”

  ~Linda Tonis at Paranormal Romance Guild

  ~*~

  “This is an intense story line that holds your attention as you get caught up in the fierce twists and turns and hot chemistry. Lots of excitement. A thrilling must read, every page will have you enthralled and panting for more.”

  ~Tayra S, Reviewer

  ~*~

  “The world-building Sydney Winward develops over the course of the series so far is brilliant and adds to the reader’s enjoyment.”

  ~N.N. Light

  ~*~

  “Unique, perfectly paced and completely ship-worthy.”

  ~Georgette, Reviewer

  Bloodscourge

  by

  Sydney Winward

  The Bloodborn Series, Book 3

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Bloodscourge

  COPYRIGHT © 2021 by Sydney Winward

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: [email protected]

  Cover Art by Abigail Owen

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

  Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

  Publishing History

  First Black Rose Edition, 2021

  Trade Paperback ISBN 978-1-5092-3507-0

  Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-3508-7

  The Bloodborn Series, Book 3

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To all the fictional characters who make my mind

  a fun place to hang out.

  Chapter 1

  Fog slowly crept across the ocean. Elisabeta Trelles put one hand in front of her. Mist curled around her fingers, smooth and cold. Not completely unlike the silky slippers she wore with her trousers and loose shirt. The soft material hugged her feet, but even the luxurious feel of them couldn’t push the images of their most recent pillage away. Men and women’s faces burned in her memory, eyes cold and empty.

  Guilt churned within her stomach, but she quickly pushed it away. They did what needed to be done to survive.

  The Scarlet Dawn cut swiftly through the water with hardly a sound, one of the fastest ships money could buy. She had lived most of the past few years on this ship with her brother, Miles. They were always moving and only docked for short periods of time. They had too many enemies to keep to one place for long.

  A deep noise echoed across the expanse of sea, and her eyes darted upward. It rang out again, slow and ominous. A fog bell.

  “Now the real fun begins!” Miles jumped down from the rigging, took a spyglass from his pocket, and looked into it as if it could cut through the dense fog. Every ten seconds, the bell chimed through the night, telling others of its location in the fog.

  “We pilfered enough from the last ship,” she dared to say, fingering her red hair as she stared in the direction of the sound. “We should leave this one be.”

  Miles raised an eyebrow at her.

  The look sent an eerie chill down her spine, one that spoke of dire consequences should she refuse his order. Every time she looked at her brother, she saw an exact replica of herself. Red hair that blazed like fire. Green eyes like calm forest trees. Freckles from too many days spent under the sun.

  According to the sister at the orphanage, their father had been a noble, their mother a servant. When their mother learned she was with child, she ran in hopes of hiding her growing belly. However, she wasn’t with just one child, but with three. Miles had been born first. Elisabeta second. And their mother died giving birth to the third, who died with the cord around her neck. They had been on their own most of their lives. At nineteen years old, they were already veterans of the swindling and pillaging trade and, unfortunately, they were good at it.

  He clicked his tongue and patted her cheek, a fiery threat burning in his eyes. “Such a pretty face. It would be too easy to marry you off. I keep you under my wing out of the goodness of my heart. Now, what did you say about pillaging the ship?”

  She swallowed against the fear of being separated from him. All their lives, it had been just the two of them. She didn’t know who she was without him, and despite despising her brother, she loved him too. They were family. He was all she had.

  “I said it would be an easy target,” she replied lamely, pushing down the defiance wanting to rise within her.

  “Good girl. Now put out the lanterns.”

  She snuffed out each lantern on the ship. The rest of the crew worked quietly, giving no indication their ship was on the prowl for its next target. The fog bell continuously chimed from the other ship, growing louder as they approached. She waited for the inevitable. Screams of fear. Blood spilling on the deck of the ship. Over time, she had become numb to the killing.

  In moments, the other ship noticed them and ceased their bell, but it was already too late. Their crew shouted and scrambled on deck, attempting to turn, and outrun The Scarlet Dawn, without success.

  Miles’s crew released a chorus of battle cries and
hopped aboard the second ship. The clamor of steel on steel filled the foggy air. She turned away to watch the water sloshing against the sturdy wood, but nothing blocked out the screams of fear and death. She frowned when she felt nothing for their fear. For their pain. Too many years living on the streets stripped bare a person’s empathy.

  Minutes passed and the fighting died down. She turned her attention away from the lapping waves and walked across the plank of wood leading to the second ship. As she had expected, the blood of dead sailors pooled on the deck, seeping into the wood. She stepped over fallen bodies and entered the captain’s cabin. Miles held a knife to the captain’s throat as the man lay on the table, bent awkwardly backward.

  “T-t-this is all of my cargo, I-I-I swear!” the captain stuttered, his eyes wide with fear.

  “Unless it’s been a slow year, I don’t believe you,” Miles spat.

  Elisabeta glanced around the cabin, her eyebrows furrowing when she located only a few rolled carpets. The captain would likely have more carpets below deck, but from Miles’s unsatisfactory frown, she doubted it.

  Force clearly wasn’t getting them anywhere. A woman’s gentle touch would likely work better. There was a reason Miles liked to take her on raids. Her assets worked well in their favor.

  She took Miles’s wrist and he allowed her to pull the knife away from the man’s throat—all part of the act.

  “What is your ship doing out in the middle of the night in a fog like this?” she asked softly, making sure to appear unthreatening.

  The captain rubbed his neck where the knife had rested moments before, and then he lifted his gaze. He stared at her with his jaw agape, and she shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny.

  “We’re in the trade business,” he finally answered after an impatient nudge from Miles. “It takes a few days to reach Blackwater. We sell rugs, but our wares are few. I swear, Miss.”

  “Miles…” she whispered, glancing at the anxious captain. “He has nothing. At least leave one survivor.”

  Miles didn’t heed her plea as he pressed the knife against the captain’s throat once more. “I leave no survivors.”

  “W-w-wait!” he cried. “I-I-I don’t have anything, but I will trade a secret of riches for my life.”

  The grip on Miles’s knife slackened, his interest piqued. “Go on.”

  “I know the location of a petrified dragon egg.”

  Her heart gave a start. The dragons had been extinct for centuries, but the leftover petrified eggs were worth a fortune. They could buy a castle with the coin. Perhaps even a country! They would no longer have to pillage. They would no longer have to kill. Their lives could improve drastically.

  “Where?” Miles demanded.

  The captain uttered one word, but the word sent icy fear through her blood. “Vampires.”

  “The vampires have it?” Miles asked thoughtfully. “Are you certain?”

  “Yes,” the man nodded. “The key to the treasury is safeguarded by the captain of the vampire army. But he’s a brute. It won’t be easy to get past him.”

  By the look on Miles’s face, he seemed to be contemplating the feat. She’d heard of the vampire city of Ichor Knell before. Thousands of vampires lived within, and it was one of the most dangerous places for a human.

  Her brother grinned and turned his head to look her over. Against her better judgement, she began to tremble. This was suicide.

  He paced back and forth, back and forth in the small captain quarters. “I can make an elixir to mask your human scent. The vampires will think you are one of their own.”

  “Me?” she squeaked. “No, no, no. I can’t go there. It won’t work.”

  Miles glared at her. With a commanding, no-nonsense tone, he said, “You will enter the city smelling like a vampire. You will convince them you are a vampire, and you will make friends in the right places. And whoever this captain is, you will seduce him and steal the key to the treasury.”

  Her blood turned to ice, freezing her from the inside out. She wanted to flee, but her legs wouldn’t obey her. She wanted to argue, but her tongue wouldn’t move. Miles had never asked her to do anything like this before. She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t.

  The ship’s captain spoke, still looking terrified out of his wits as he eyed the knife in Miles’s hand. “There is one problem with your plan—vampires mate for life.”

  A flash of heat burst through her, thawing out the ice that had previously occupied every inch of her. If she thought killing was cruel, this cinched it.

  Her eyebrows furrowed as she envisioned the life she wanted for herself, a life without bloodshed. She wanted the dragon egg. It could give them a new life. They wouldn’t have to pirate any longer. They could be nobles. They could buy anything their hearts desired. However, doubt pricked at her mind. Would Miles stop swindling, even with the egg?

  “It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” her brother said casually as he flipped his knife in his hand. Addressing the captain, he said, “Is there anything else we should know?”

  He shook his head. “That’s all I—”

  Miles slashed the man across the throat. She looked away and tried to block out the sickening gurgling noises escaping him before all became still.

  “He knew too much,” Miles said with a shrug as he cleaned his knife, his eyes flashing dangerously. “We will sail straight to Ironfell, which is closest to Ichor Knell. From there, I will see you as close to the vampire city as I am able. You will report back to me often. But you better do this right, or I will—”

  “No.”

  The word from her mouth surprised her. She had never disobeyed her brother before. Never.

  “No?” He arched an eyebrow and approached her slowly, backing her into the wall and glaring at her until she could no longer hold his gaze. Instead, she fixed her attention on the freckled hand he had struck her with far too many times before. “I can easily find someone else more willing to take your place. If you are no longer useful to me…”

  She shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat. Miles was all she had, and should he choose to discard her… “I will do as you ask.”

  “Then you will go to Ichor Knell and be useful to me. Understand?”

  Defiance burned bright within her, but she found herself nodding in agreement. She would follow orders. She would procure the dragon egg. And then they could start a new life.

  “Good girl,” he said with a grin, patting her cheek. A blaze of anger burst through her at his touch, but she forced her expression to remain blank. “Let’s get you outfitted with a handful of weapons. I believe you have a brute to impress.”

  Chapter 2

  “You like that?” Dracula Ardelean shouted as he held a vampire male upside down over the bridge, shaking him as if trying to make coins fall out of his pockets. The male dangled precariously, his head only a foot from the raging water below.

  “Don’t drop me!” he pleaded. “I will do better. I swear!”

  He rolled his eyes and allowed the male’s ankles to slip from his fingers, momentarily followed by a splash as the river’s current swept the vampire away.

  A sigh carried on the wind from the other side of the practice field—which he picked up easily with his heightened vampire hearing. He glanced over to find Nicolae Covaci sitting on the fence post, a bored look on his pale face. His long blond hair amplified the paleness of his skin. His crystal blue eyes appeared both gentle and piercing at the same time.

  “Must you torture your recruits?” Nicolae asked, drumming his fingers against the fence as Dracula moved closer. “No one will return if you continue this behavior.”

  Turning his attention to his dearest friend, he glared. Nicolae was one of the few people who didn’t shrink under his gaze. He had known him all thirty-five years of his life; Nicolae was only a couple months younger than him, though vampires lived indefinitely, and they both looked to be in their late twenties. “If they’re too cowardly to face me, they don’t des
erve a spot among my army.”

  “Shah Jorin’s army,” Nicolae corrected. “You are not Shah, nor will you ever be.”

  He rolled his eyes again. Being the shah was the last thing he wanted. “I could do a far better job than that halfwit of a vampire. Ichor Knell is in chaos.”

  As if to prove his point, the mourning bell tolled slowly, five chimes for each death from the following day. Thirty chimes total. Six deaths. Three more than the previous day.

  Someone had smuggled iron weapons—one of the few things able to kill a vampire—into Ichor Knell right under the shah’s nose, and somehow, the church got a hold of them. Ever since, chaos ensued. Corruption leaked through the foundation of the church like an oozing, puss-filled wound.

  Those who didn’t follow their teachings ended up getting buried six feet beneath the ground, an iron stake through their heart. Dracula certainly didn’t want to meddle. He was just one lone vampire who currently had no death wish.

  “You should take care when speaking of our shah,” Nicolae cautioned. “You never know who is listening.”

  “You worry too much.”

  He twirled his sword in the air, eyeing the next batch of fearful recruits on the training grounds. They all huddled together like cowards, watching him with wide eyes. “You!” he called, pointing to a male far too scrawny to hold a sword correctly. “Come fight me. Show me how much you want to join the army.”

  The vampire swallowed audibly, trembling as he raised his weapon and cautiously approached. He had valor, Dracula had to give him that.

  “Take a swing,” he said, watching the recruit’s sloppy footwork as he lunged. He easily sidestepped and tripped him, pushing him right over the bridge and into the water below. He, too, got swept away by the current. “You lazy buffoon. Don’t bother coming back!”

  “Is he doing it again?” a voice quietly asked beside Nicolae, and he turned his head to find Lucian Dragomir skulking about. He usually hid himself away in the safety of his home, rarely showing himself in public. He was ten years younger than Dracula and was a stark contrast to Nicolae. Whereas Nicolae had blond hair and blue eyes, Lucian had shoulder-length black hair and violet eyes. He always bared his fangs instead of keeping them retracted, too, as if he wanted to be an outcast in society.