Blood Ascendant (Sons of Navarus #7) Read online

  Blood Ascendant

  I am everything. I am vampire.

  Theron has grown into adulthood knowing he is the war machine the Sons will need to defeat their enemy. The most powerful vampire ever, he’s finally ready for what the Prophecy of Idolas foretold all those centuries ago. But is he destined to ascend to power forever alone?

  For ages, the Sons and the Archons have known all-out war was inevitable, a fight for the domination of their world. The Archons have nothing less than a god on their side, but the Sons and their allies have something more to fight for, more than just control of the vampire world.

  The Sons fight for family, for friends, and for love, but their duty to the vampire world is clear. Stop the Archons. No matter who must die and what they must sacrifice, the Archons must be defeated.

  BLOOD ASCENDANT

  (Sons of Navarus #7)

  K.M. SCOTT

  WRITING AS GABRIELLE BISSET

  Blood Ascendant is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  2019 Copper Key Media, LLC

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright © 2019 Copper Key Media, LLC

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

  Published in the United States

  ISBN: 978-0-9847243-1-4

  Cover Design: Cover Me, Darling

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  Click on the covers below to learn more about the series:

  Table of Contents

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Epigraph

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Books by K.M. Scott

  Books by Gabrielle Bisset

  I am everything.

  I am the Alpha and the Omega.

  The beginning and the end.

  I am vampire.

  Chapter One

  Noele had only been in the Underworld for a short time, but she’d already grown accustomed to how busy Hades’ realm was. She couldn’t remember ever thinking about what being there would be like, although she was sure it had entered her mind more than once in all her time she was alive, but she had a feeling her imagination had never conjured up a place so industrious.

  Then again, as she watched soul after soul hurry in and out of Hades’ chamber, she wondered if all this commotion could be due to the war between the Archons and the Sons beginning. She listened carefully each time one of Hades’ daemons approached his throne to inform him of some bit of news, hopeful to glean even the tiniest detail that might let her help the Sons. So far, little of what they bothered him about had much to do with anything other than the daily running of the Underworld.

  Who had arrived. Who was being sent where. Who the king of the realm should bother with. It all seemed like the type of clerical work that could easily happen without bothering Hades.

  Not that she disliked anyone interrupting him from his near obsession with her. Hour after hour of his attention exhausted her, so any respite was appreciated more than any of his minions could know.

  His sexual appetite had no end, boundless in its style and methods. Every moment with him sickened her and forced Noele to repeat the mantra she’d chosen for her task in the Underworld from the first moment he laid his hands on her.

  I’m doing this for Ramiel and the rest of the Sons. This won’t be in vain. I’ll learn something from Hades or one of his daemons that will help them defeat this bastard.

  Over and over, she silently said those words as Hades did with her what he chose. Sometimes the mantra was all that got her through her time with him, and when he released her to go with another or to sate his hunger for something other than fucking, she could do little more than pray to forget as she tried to convince herself that what she was doing would eventually pay off.

  But all the while, no matter what she believed, she thought of Ramiel and the sadness in his eyes as she watched him fade into nothingness when she died. She wanted to remember all the wonderful moments with him, but all she could ever think of was that look in his eyes.

  It was probably this place. Hades likely did something to make sure she couldn’t remember how happy she and Ramiel were. That sounded like something the son of a bitch would do.

  She hated that it worked so well and all she could imagine of Ramiel now was his sadness at her death. They were so much more than that singular moment. She knew that, even if she couldn’t picture anything else in her mind. She felt it inside in a place Hades could never reach.

  They were happy and meant for one another. And now, he had a war to win and she had her own work to do to help him and his fellow Sons.

  As she thought of that, she wondered if Nico had finally gotten his way and taken her son to be that war machine he was so sure he’d be. Even though she couldn’t say for sure, she had to believe that Ramiel wouldn’t put Theron in harm’s way unless he could handle himself.

  What did he look like now, she wondered. Unlike with her memories of Ramiel, she could see her beautiful son as clearly as if he stood in front of her at that very moment. His dark eyes looking into hers seeking the answers to all those questions he had because of how fast he was growing up. She could only imagine how difficult his life was now that she wasn’t there to help.

  Ramiel would, though, so she could rest easy knowing that. For all his Visigoth nature, he knew how to love and was no doubt taking care of Theron right now.

  “What is my pet thinking of so intently?” Hades asked as he dragged his fingertip along Noele’s jaw.

  Quickly, she recovered from her daydream and smiled just as she knew she should. “Nothing, my lord. Just waiting for you to have a moment for me after all this work you have to do.”

  She hated that she had to be so obsequious, but she’d learned very early with the god of the Underworld that servility was what he required from her to remain happy. She didn’t dare take the chance that he grew unhappy. Noele had made that mistake once and would never do that again.

  Hades looked into her eyes and grinned in that way that never failed to terrify her. She’d seen that wicked smile come before his summoning his daemons and torturing a new arrival to his kingdom. She’d seen that same smile when he was unhappy with one of them and tore him to pieces in front of a room full of them.

  That smile could mean anything, but all too often, it meant something bad was about to happen.

  Patting his lap, he looked at her standing behind him and then down at hi
s hands. “Come. I want to feel you on me.”

  Noele did as he ordered and sat herself across his thighs. Lean and strong, they provided her stability as she quivered in fear at what would come next.

  Naked, except for the black pants he routinely wore, he ran his hand along the inside of her thigh, making her wish he’d let her wear something more than the tiny black dress that allowed him to touch any part of her body easily. Still shaking in fear, she forced a smile for him to hide her terror.

  “What’s my pet frightened of?” he asked, as if he didn’t know the answer.

  “Nothing, my lord. I simply tremble at your touch.”

  She’d become so good at lying in her time in the Underworld. Untruths slid from her mouth with utter ease that she had a hard time believing she could say such things.

  His grin grew, showing his straight white teeth. “So perfect. I love that about you, Noele.”

  Rarely did Hades refer to her by name, so instantly, every nerve in her body went on alert. She looked at him smiling at her and worried something terrible was about to occur.

  Then it dawned on her. Had Ramiel died in the battle against the Archons and in just moments she’d see him standing in front of Hades on his first night in the Underworld? Her body yearned to leap off his lap so her husband wouldn’t see what she’d been forced to be in this place, but she knew she couldn’t show Hades her true feelings.

  For what seemed like forever, she waited for him to say something that would indicate why he was in such a good mood while she silently prayed that she wouldn’t see Ramiel. Finally, Hades lifted her off his lap and set her on her feet on the cold stone floor.

  “I have a surprise for you. Would you like to see what it is?” he asked as he stood and ran his hand down over his chiseled abs.

  Happy it likely wasn’t anything to do with Ramiel arriving in the Underworld, she nodded eagerly. Her anticipation may be met with something horrible, but at least it wasn’t her worst nightmare come true.

  Not yet, at least.

  Taking her by the hand, he led her to a passageway that grew darker and darker by the step. Within minutes, Noele couldn’t see anything and squeezed his hand tighter. Where were they going?

  In the darkness, his whisper surrounded her. “You have no reason to fear, pet. I rule even these darkest of hallways. When you’re with me, you’re safe.”

  Normally, she wouldn’t ask questions of him, but the moment got the best of her and she asked, “Where are we going?”

  He lifted her hand to his lips to softly kiss her knuckles, brushing his mouth against her skin as he answered, “To the depths of the Underworld.”

  Terror raced through her. Tartarus? She’d heard horror stories of that part of the Underworld. Only creatures Hades wanted to punish were sent to Tartarus. Why would he take her there?

  Immediately, she slowed her pace until he practically had to drag her forward. In the pitch black, she shook her head and struggled to hold back tears.

  “What have I done, my lord? Please don’t send me away.”

  The fear that clung to each word wasn’t an act. To be consigned to Tartarus would be tantamount to solitary confinement. She’d never be able to help the Sons from there!

  She felt him stop, and then he pulled her close to his side. “I would never send you to Tartarus, my pet. I adore you over all others in this place, so don’t cry, Noele.”

  Unable to keep the tears from coming as relief swept over her, she sobbed against his chest, ashamed at how weak she felt in this place. He kissed the top of her head like a lover would to show affection, but since Hades had no capacity for love that she’d seen, she took his gesture as one meant to calm her so he wouldn’t have to deal with her growing hysterical.

  Whatever the reason behind it, she welcomed it since it meant she wasn’t being sentenced to that horrible place. But if that wasn’t why he was taking her there, then what was?

  “Now come with me and no more crying,” Hades whispered into the darkness around her.

  She let him lead her down stairs carved of stone that seemed to go on forever. Noele wondered how far Tartarus existed below the Underworld as they continued to walk step by step into the depths of the earth.

  Finally, they reached the bottom and began walking down a hallway lit by torches on both sides. Deep scratches and pits marred the walls, like the beings that had been sentenced to this place fought with every ounce of their strength to not enter Tartarus. Streaks of red told of violence worse than what she’d seen up above as Hades would never allow evidence of that to remain where he could see it. The Underworld was his kingdom, his realm he ruled over, and while it was a prison for many, he saw it as a place of beauty and opulence.

  In the distance, Noele heard noises that sounded like they came from giant beings. Instinctively, she tightened her hold on his hand, and he chuckled.

  “Don’t be frightened. That’s just the Titans complaining, like they always do. You’d think after all the time they’ve been here that they’d be used to it by now.”

  Noele thought back to what she knew of the Titans and remembered they were the gods who came before the Olympian gods. They had given birth to Hades and his brothers and sisters, and after Zeus overthrew Cronus and the Olympians won the War of the Titans, those first gods were imprisoned in Tartarus, joined by the worst the world had to offer as the eons passed.

  Clearly, he hadn’t brought her all the way down here to see them since he had such disdain for them, so was she there to see the criminals that had been sent to Tartarus?

  Hades was nothing if not unpredictable, but he’d seemed to genuinely care about her happiness back in that dark hallway. Then again, his being capricious meant he very well may have dragged her down there to show his displeasure for something she’d done and never even realized she’d offended him. Gods were like that, and mere mortals like her, even if she was a vampire, simply had to endure the lightning quick changes to their moods.

  They passed the cages holding the Titans, but she squeezed her eyes shut, too afraid to look in at them. He stopped a few cells away and tapped his knuckles against the bars. “Don’t be afraid. You can look into this one.”

  Noele tentatively lifted her eyelids to see a man alone in the cell. Light-haired and muscular, he looked like every image she’d ever seen of Apollo. Leaning forward, she studied him for a moment. He was nothing less than beautiful.

  “I think you’ll know who this is when I tell you his name. Noele, I’d like you to meet Idolas, famous for his prophecy. Idolas, this is Noele, the born vampire who gave birth to the child you claimed would overrun the Archons in their little war with the Sons.”

  The man stood from his stone bench and walked toward them. As much as Noele didn’t know what to expect, she didn’t fear him. He was the one who foresaw her and her son’s part in the world centuries ago.

  “You forget I also saw that he would defeat you, Hades. You conveniently left that out.”

  The god of the Underworld threw his head back and laughed at the comment. “Ridiculous nonsense. This is my realm, and only a god could dethrone me. Your little born vampire isn’t a god, Idolas.”

  “You underestimate him at your peril, Hades.”

  In the next cell, another male pressed his face against the bars and beckoned Noele to him. Consumed by the back and forth with Idolas as their insults grew louder, Hades didn’t notice her move around his side so she could be closer to the prisoner.

  She looked into the cell and saw a dark-haired man who looked nothing like Idolas. Leaning forward, she whispered to the being with dark eyes much like hers, “Who are you?”

  “I am Nikitor, one of the original Sons of Navarus. We don’t have long, so listen carefully. I heard what Hades said about you. You’re the born vampire of my bloodline who joined with one of my brother’s to conceive the child he prophesized would save us all. You clearly have a protected position in the Underworld, so take advantage of it to help the Sons defeat the
Archons when the time comes.”

  Noele hung her head and answered quietly as Hades bellowed about the Prophecy of Idolas and how he’d never be overthrown. “I haven’t been able to do much of anything yet, but I’m trying. I’m sorry to tell you I think the time has come, and the war has begun.”

  “Then it’s more important than ever that you do all you can to help them. You’re strong. You’re of my bloodline, so you can save them just like I saved my brother. Find a way.”

  Nikitor stepped back as Hades barked at Idolas, so Noele quickly hurried back to his side before he noticed she had stepped away. Finished with taunting his grandson, Hades looked at Noele and smiled.

  “I thought you might like to see where the original Sons of Navarus live. These new ones will join them once they’re all here.”

  Noele didn’t say a word, not knowing how to respond since she couldn’t defend Ramiel and the rest of the vampires she believed in. Better to simply force a smile for the god of the Underworld to placate him.

  He took her hand in his again and turned to leave. “Time to get back, pet. I don’t like to spend much time down here. Gods belong in better places.”

  They walked out the way they came, but now she heard a female’s voice calling to them. Hades stopped for a moment and then turned to face a cell near the entrance to Tartarus.

  “Let me out!”

  Pointing at the dark-haired woman who gripped the bars of her cell so tightly her knuckles were stark white, he rolled his eyes. “Love, this is Macaria, my daughter and the cause of all my troubles with vampires.”

  Noele stepped forward to fill her eyes with the vision of the female. Beautiful, even after God only knew how long she’d been imprisoned in this horrible place, she smiled and loosened her grip on the bars in front of her.

  “Hello, Macaria.”

  Before she could say anything more, Hades huffed in disgust. “I had to put them down here after they gave birth to those sons of theirs. The fruit of my loins and she gives birth to vampires.”