Reclamation (The Ravening #3)(32)
Author: Erica Stevens

My hand found Cade’s. I couldn’t imagine how he would have reacted if I had died. He would have hated himself.

My curiosity got the best of me and I wasn’t able to keep silent. "And the ones that survived getting the blood?"

Rosemary shrugged. "Some felt no changes from it, but others claim to have better vision and hearing. Those that claim they have enhanced abilities have also found that their desire for blood has increased, or at least their craving for red meat. There have been no other ill effects reported though."

Unable to keep their faces impassive, I felt my friend’s and family’s eyes finally flicker to me. I could feel Cade’s eyes on me, urging me to remain unspoken, but there were so many questions running through my mind. "There are absolutely no side effects from the exchanging of the souls?" I asked.

Rosemary frowned as she glanced at Cade. "No. Do you not feed from her?"

For a second I didn’t think Cade was going to answer but he finally spoke. "Not until very recently."

"You’ve just met?"

Cade shook his head. "We’ve known each other for twelve years."

Rosemary stuttered over a few words and even Jessica’s mouth dropped. "I don’t understand, for all of us it was an instantaneous connection. We had to get as close to the people as we could as fast as we could," Rosemary finally got out.

"Perhaps because he was so young when they met," Jessica suggested. "He didn’t realize it until he was old enough for The Calling to occur."

"I knew it instantly," Cade told her. "I knew what she was to me, I saw her in a way I’d never seen anyone before."

"And you were able to resist for twelve years?" Jessica blurted in disbelief.

"I had to make sure she stayed safe."

"That’s amazing, but you are a part of The Ancient Line and perhaps that is why you were able to resist," Rosemary pondered.

"I’m of The Ancient Line and I wasn’t able to resist for more than a month," Jessica admitted.

"So if you’ve only just recently fed…" Rosemary’s voice trailed off as her gaze landed on me and realization dawned in her eyes. "You’re not a type O, you survived the blood exchange." I tried not to fiddle with the sleeves of my sweater. "And you’re one of the enhanced ones, that’s why the questions."

I could feel my friend’s and family’s gazes burning into me. Most of all though, I could feel Cade’s gaze burning into me like a laser beam, as they all realized that I hadn’t revealed everything about the effects of his blood within me. I should have told Cade before this but then I never could have expected to run into this group and it was too late at this point. They knew, and now so did he, and this group may have some answers for me.

"Yes," I whispered.

Cade’s jaw clenched, a muscle twitched in his cheek, I could actually hear his teeth grinding together. "You’ll be fine," Rosemary assured me. "The others are all fine and have reported no recent developments."

Bishop seemed to regain some of his composure as he tore his attention away from Cade, who looked like he was contemplating throttling me. "What is The Ancient Line?" Bishop inquired as he stepped forward.

"The Ancient Line consists of Isis, Osiris, Agrona, Forseti, Kali, Raijin, Malsumus, and Sedna." The names Rosemary listed off tickled at the edges of my mind but I couldn’t quite place why they sounded so familiar. "They are the most powerful of us and there are only four of us that are directly descended from them."

"Your ancient line named themselves after Gods and Goddesses from different ancient human religions?" Bishop’s voice cracked a little.

Rosemary shook her head and moved back to the other side of the table. "No, your ancient religions named themselves after our Ancients."

Bishop’s mouth dropped. "But some of those religions are thousands of years apart and completely different."

Rosemary nodded. "The Ancients are immortal."

I felt as if someone had punched me in the gut as I took a step back and my eyes flew to Cade. His hand pressed more firmly into my back to keep me close to him. "You’re immortal?" I blurted.

He shook his head. "No, only The Ancients are immortal. I am only a progeny of theirs."

"Of two of them," Rosemary expounded. "Something that only happens once every one hundred years."

My head spun as I tried to process everything that they were saying. I thought I could have months to try and sort through it all but it would still be impossible to do so. I had to sit. I almost sat on the floor but the second the urge hit me I decided I’d prefer to stand.

"You have one freaky ass history that is completely messed up!" Bret said as he ran a hand through his hair and began to pace. "How is it even possible that eight of you somehow managed to become immortal?"

"The Fountain of Youth." There were a thousand things running through my mind, but that most certainly had not been one of them as Rosemary’s words stopped Bret dead in his tracks.

"Oh of course it was," Bret responded sardonically. "What else would it have been? I mean that just makes complete and utter sense. Where did they find it, under Atlantis?"

Though I was just as overwhelmed and baffled as he was, I had to bite back a smile at his words. His sarcasm was apparently lost on Rosemary though. "No, they found it on our home planet, Tintagel."

Bret shook his head. "So The Fountain of Youth was on your planet?"

"All legends start somewhere," Bishop muttered.

"Yes they do," Rosemary agreed. "The Ancients discovered The Fountain and kept its location to themselves. It’s rumored that when our planet dried up they found a way to keep it with them. They’ve been our leaders for over seven thousand years.

"Our kind, the Tintagelians, have been coming to this planet for about that same amount of time. They helped to advance the human species and helped to ensure their survival, and our food supply. Many of your legends and Gods emerged from The Ancients as over time humans noticed that The Ancients didn’t age and that they seemed to possess powers. Though the stories of those powers were heavily exaggerated, other than immortality, their abilities are no different than ours. They can’t control thunder or the oceans, or bring down lightening from the sky. Though, they did bring themselves down from the sky. They do drink blood, they do eat souls, they are stronger and faster than us even, and they haven’t aged a day in seven thousand years."

"I knew we didn’t build the pyramids," Bret muttered. "And I guess that explains Stonehenge."