The Stone of the Eklektos Read online

  THE STONE OF THE

  EKLEKTOS

  CREATURES OF DARKNESS: BOOK ONE

  BY BRITNEY JACKSON

  THE STONE OF THE EKLEKTOS

  Copyright © 2016 by Britney Jackson

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Published by Noctem Publishing

  First Edition, May 2016

  www.britneyjackson.com

  THE STONE OF THE EKLEKTOS

  By Britney Jackson

  SUMMARY

  The world is darker than you realize…

  Rose Foster is just your typical, smart-mouthed, socially awkward genius from a family full of felons. Okay, fine, so maybe there’s nothing typical about her. But she’d at least maintained a semblance of normalcy in her life until the night a ghost-like man gave her a strange, red stone and disappeared without a trace.

  Rose suddenly finds herself hunted by monsters that she never believed existed. One monster, named Theron, is particularly interested in killing her. Her only hope of survival is to work with Kallias, a cynical, ancient Greek vampire with the ability to read and control minds. As a vampire, he hardly seems trustworthy to her, but he has his own reasons for wanting Theron dead, and that works in her favor.

  With the help of Kallias, Rose finds unlikely allies among an unusual group of vampires. The only problem is… Rose is almost positive that these vampires are hiding a very important detail about what she is. In her quest to defeat Theron and the vampires that follow him, Rose must face the possibility that she might, in fact, be an even darker monster than the ones that are trying to kill her...

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  The Beginning

  The Old, Stone Box

  Hunted

  The Vampire

  Swords and Fangs

  Death and Bad Guys

  Questions

  Not an Ordinary Human

  Answers

  A Kiss of Darkness

  Vampire Roadkill

  Grocery Stores Don’t Sell Humans

  Intoxicated Vampires

  Tearing Hearts Out, Literally

  More Lies

  The Truth, Finally

  Kindness and Murder

  The Lost Cause

  The Stone

  Training

  Damaged

  Strange Blood and Bad News

  The Suicide Mission

  The Awakening

  The Blood Bond

  The Eklektos

  Battle Wounds

  Death and Orchids

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to anyone who is struggling through a period of darkness in life, no matter what that might be. Always remember that you are not alone, even when it feels like you are, that someone understands, even when it seems like no one does, and that someone cares, even when it feels like no one does. Keep fighting.

  “The scariest monsters

  are the ones that lurk

  within our souls.”

  —Edgar Allan Poe

  The Beginning

  471 BC in Ancient Greece…

  Kallias should have realized something was wrong the moment he saw the flickering candlelight in the bedroom window. By this hour of the night, his wife Phoebe had usually left for the Temple of Artemis for her nightly worship.

  His heavy footsteps echoed off of the mud-brick walls of the small home as he walked through the dark halls that were lit only by the occasional torch posted along the wall. When he reached the bedroom, however, light danced along every wall, cast by the countless candles that Phoebe burned throughout the bedroom. He leaned in the doorway, watching his wife with a puzzled frown.

  Phoebe sat in a wooden chair in front of a small, stone table, writing on papyrus scrolls. Her sheer, white chiton clung to her curves, and her sleek, black hair fell down to the base of her spine in a tightly woven, elegant braid.

  Kallias walked over to peer curiously over her shoulder at the scrolls.

  Phoebe suddenly screamed and jumped to her feet, knocking the scrolls into the floor. She spun around to confront him, but when she realized that it was just Kallias, she sighed and laughed, placing her hand over her racing heart.

  Kallias raised his eyebrow at her reaction. “I seem to be having that effect on people today,” he muttered dryly in their native Greek tongue.

  “Honey, you always have that effect on people. You’re not exactly small and meek,” Phoebe teased, waving her hand at his six-foot-six height.

  He knelt down to pick up her scrolls from the floor. “Sure, but I’ve never made you scream before,” he sighed. As he returned to his feet, a playful smirk tugged at the corners of his lips, and he added, “Well…at least not in terror.”

  Phoebe rolled her eyes at him. “Stop being so dirty,” she whispered, as if there were someone there who might hear them. “And give me those.”

  Kallias glanced down at the scrolls curiously. “What were you writing?”

  “Nothing,” she said, snatching them from his hand with a swiftness that surprised him. She rolled up the scrolls and returned them to the table.

  He scowled at her strange behavior. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, it’s just…a diary,” she sighed. “You know how I like my privacy.”

  “Yeah,” Kallias said, running his hand through his long, brown hair, “but…I’m your husband. Shouldn’t there be a little less privacy between us?”

  Phoebe shifted nervously. “What’s wrong with you tonight?”

  He sighed, “I apologize.” He walked over to the wooden chair propped up beside the bed and collapsed into it. “I guess it’s just been a rough day.”

  As the candlelight lit the left side of his face, Phoebe gasped as she noticed the bruises on his jaw. “Kallias! You’re hurt! What happened?”

  “I’m fine,” he muttered, running his hand along his bruised jaw. He winced. “Is it wrong that I sometimes wish I were an illegitimate child?”

  Phoebe nodded in understanding. “Your father,” she realized. She grabbed a rag from the bucket of warm water in front of the fire and glanced back at him as she wrung the water from the rag. “Considering that would mean your mother was promiscuous, yes, it’s probably a bad idea to wish for that.”

  Kallias shrugged. “I would prefer a promiscuous mother over that ignorant asshole of a father any day. Knowing that he is my father sickens me.”

  She strolled over to him and gently pressed the rag against his face. He winced, but he didn’t pull away. She sighed, “What did he do this time?”

  “Chloe came to see me at the temple when I was teaching,” he said.

  “Your sister?” Phoebe said, frowning. “Why would she do that?”

  Kallias shrugged. “She visits me there from time to time,” he explained. “She said she just wanted to see me, but Phoebe, she was covered in bruises.”

  She sighed, “She is grown. She can take care of herself, Kallias.”

  “She’s barely fifteen,” he argued.

  “I was barely sixteen when I married you,” she pointed out.

  “And if you had come to me with bruises all over your body, I would have kicked your father’s ass, too,” Kallias stated, his eyebrows lifting.

  Phoebe shook her head at him. “You can’t save everyone, Kallias.
”

  “Maybe not,” he admitted. “But I can’t just let it happen either.”

  “I know,” she sighed as she returned the rag to the bucket. “You’re a good man. That’s why I love you.” She turned back toward him and placed her hands on her hips. “Even though you do get into way too much trouble.”

  He chuckled. “I love you, too.”

  She walked over to him and crawled into his lap, her legs straddling his. She pushed his long, brown hair out of his face. “It doesn’t matter who your father is because I am your family now. And you’re nothing like him anyway.”

  He smiled. He pulled her hair forward, letting it fall over her shoulder and between her breasts, and then he busied his fingers with loosening the braid. “You seemed surprised to see me. Were you expecting someone else?”

  “What? No,” she said a little too quickly.

  Kallias raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

  “I wasn’t,” she assured him. Smiling, she leaned forward and kissed his neck and jaw, immediately scattering his thoughts. “Less talking, okay?”

  “As you wish,” Kallias chuckled as he hastily finished freeing her silky, black hair from its braid so that the soft, thick waves cascaded around her shoulders. “But, then, does this mean you’re not going to the temple tonight?”

  “Not tonight,” she said, her lips tilting upward into a sexy smile.

  “I can’t say I’m disappointed,” he said. “I miss you when you’re gone.”

  Phoebe stopped for a moment and pulled back to look at him. Her brows furrowed, and her dark brown eyes softened with what looked like regret, or perhaps guilt, but she quickly recovered, her lips curving upward again. And yet, Kallias couldn’t help but notice that the smile seemed less genuine this time.

  But before he could ask, she leaned forward and kissed him. Kallias laced his fingers through her hair as he held her close, deepening the kiss.

  His fingers ran along her soft thighs as they kissed, pushing the chiton higher toward her hips, and her smaller, softer hands clutched his face.

  An ear-piercing scream suddenly echoed through the street.

  Kallias pulled away suddenly and glanced toward the window, but he saw only darkness outside. Scowling, he gently pushed Phoebe off of him and walked over to the window. The warm breeze caressed his skin as he ducked his head through the window to listen to the sounds outside, but he heard nothing.

  He sighed and decided he would have to go outside to check.

  Knowing exactly what had caused that scream, Phoebe ran over to him and grasped his hand, pulling him to a stop. “No, you can’t go out there.”

  Kallias frowned at her. “I have to check. Someone just screamed.”

  “No, you don’t,” she argued. “You can let someone else deal with it.”

  “What if there is no one else? What if no one else heard it? What if anyone who did hear it decides to ignore it, like you’re suggesting I do?” he asked. He started toward the door. “Someone could need my help, Phoebe.”

  She clutched his chiton. “Stop. Please. Do not go out there.”

  He turned back toward her, his brows furrowing with suspicion. “What’s wrong? Why are you acting like this? Do you know something?”

  “Of course not,” she lied. “It was just a scream. What would I know?”

  He frowned at her, his eyes darting down to her trembling hands. “Baby, you’re shaking,” he said, grabbing her hands. “Why are you so afraid?”

  “Just don’t go out there, okay?” Phoebe pleaded. “I’m afraid for you.”

  Kallias let go of her hands. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

  “No, you won’t,” she said, running after him as he started to leave.

  “I don’t understand,” he said irritably as he walked briskly through the dark halls of their home, hearing her soft, quick footsteps behind him. “If you know something, just tell me. And if you don’t, then why are you so scared?”

  “I don’t know anything,” she insisted again, trailing closely behind as he left the home and turned the corner onto the street. “Please, come back inside.”

  The street looked as dark and desolate as it did when he’d made his way home. He couldn’t think of a reason for anyone to even go outside at this hour, much less scream out like that. “I don’t understand why you’re acting like this.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Phoebe said dismissively. “Just please come back inside while you still can. Please, Kallias. Before something terrible happens.”

  He spun around to face her. The moonlight illuminated her face, her ghostly pale skin, and her wide, frightened eyes. “Enough with the games, Phoebe. Tell me what’s wrong. You’re obviously terrified of something.”

  She pursed her lips. “It’s not a game,” she whispered.

  Kallias sighed, “Just go back inside before you get hurt, okay?”

  He turned and began walking in the direction he’d heard the scream.

  But Phoebe didn’t turn around and go back inside. Instead, Kallias heard her quick footsteps behind him as she practically jogged to keep up with his long strides. “But I’m not the one who will get hurt!” she called breathlessly.

  He froze. His brows furrowing, he turned back toward her. “What?”

  But she wasn’t looking at him anymore. Her dark brown eyes widened, and her face paled as she stared past him. “Oh, gods,” she whispered.

  Kallias followed her gaze to find the silhouettes of a man and woman, cloaked in shadows, outside a small home several feet down the street. He inched closer to the couple as he tried to understand what he was seeing. The man appeared to be holding the woman against the wall of the small home.

  At first, he thought that the man was just kissing the woman’s neck, but as he moved closer and the long stream of blood pouring down the woman’s neck glistened in the moonlight, his confusion quickly morphed into horror.

  He had the distinct feeling that the man knew he was there, but he continued to move closer anyway, determined to understand what he seeing. With the moonlight illuminating them, he could see the couple now.

  A man in a maroon chiton held his lips to the pale woman’s neck. With her drab peplos lifted around her hips, the woman leaned limply against the wall with her eyes closed as blood flowed from her neck down to the bottom of the peplos, staining the fabric and her skin. Even her hair was matted with blood.

  Snapping out of his shock, Kallias rushed over to the couple and pulled the monster away from the woman, but as he did, the woman collapsed on the ground in a crumpled heap. He heard the man laughing. It was a dark, sadistic laugh, a laugh that sent chills down his spine. He turned to look at the monster.

  The man leaned lazily against the wall, like someone intoxicated after drinking too much wine. Blood spilled out of the corners of his mouth, blood that he didn’t bother wiping away. He had long, dark brown hair woven in a braid down his back, and his eyes were so dark that they looked almost black.

  Aside from being far more attractive than the average human, the man might have passed as an ordinary human if it were not for the blood that coated his face and lips and the razor-sharp fangs that flashed in the moonlight.

  Not sure how to react to the creature, Kallias quickly turned his attention to the woman. He knelt next to her curled body to take a closer look. She didn’t move. He started to shake her, but her skin felt as cold as ice.

  “She’s dead,” the creature laughed, as if this were amusing to him.

  Kallias stood and faced the creature. “What are you?”

  The monster stepped forward, staggering slightly, as if he were drunk, and he smiled at Kallias. He gripped Kallias’s chiton and slammed him into the wall. He leaned in close so that his face was only inches away, so close that Kallias could smell the metallic scent of blood on the monster’s breath.

  “I believe you’ve heard stories about my kind,” the man said. He licked his fangs for emphasis. “Undead monsters that feed on the b
lood of humans.”

  Kallias shook his head in disbelief. “That is impossible.”

  “Is it?” The creature glanced mockingly at the dead woman.

  Kallias tried to remove himself from the monster’s grasp, but he never even budged. This creature was stronger than anyone he had ever encountered.

  “Theron,” Phoebe said softly, tip-toeing forward. Her hands trembled as she glanced nervously back and forth between them. “Let him go.”

  Kallias gaped at her, stunned that she had called the monster by name.

  “And why would I do that?” Theron asked, his voice dark and amused.

  Phoebe gazed at him, unfazed by the sight. She didn’t seem shocked by the man’s strength, the blood that coated his face, the fangs, or even the fact that the monster had just killed a young woman. Kallias realized as he glanced back and forth between Phoebe and the murderer that they already knew each other. He realized that Phoebe had already known what he would find when she heard the scream, and that is why she didn’t want him to leave the house.

  “Because he is my husband,” she said softly. “Please. Let him go.”

  “Oh, my dear Phoebe,” Theron cooed in a cruel, patronizing tone. “You should realize that you’re just a pet to me. No one takes orders from pets.”

  As soon as the words left his mouth, Theron jerked Kallias forward and slammed him back against the wall with enough force to knock him out. Kallias vaguely realized that the monster was carrying him as he lost consciousness.

  —

  Phoebe slipped quietly into the cold, windowless room. Light danced across the wall, in time with the flickering fire burning in the stone furnace.

  She gasped the moment she laid eyes on her husband. Kallias hung by his arms from the wall, each wrist shackled above him. All except for the bloodied white garment wrapped around his waist, his golden skin was completely bare, and dried blood covered almost every inch of his skin. His long brown hair hung around his shoulders, matted with blood. Gashes and burns covered his entire torso. His head hung forward weakly. She barely recognized him in this state.