Amare: Bloodstreams

J Gaines

Description

A prequel to Amare: Bloodlines.Amias is a foster child who has never met his biological parents. When he one day gets into trouble at school he suddenly finds himself in desperate need. It's then he discovers something amazing about himself something that has the potential to change his life forever. Now an adult, Amias is once again confronted with the truth about his abilities and forced to fight to protect himself. At the same time he must try to save a world that is completely unaware of the terrifying secrets that threaten it. Unable to know who he can trust, he has no choice but to learn all about his abilities so that he can control them and use them to realise his unique potential as the most powerful of his kind. Amias must believe in himself and what makes him strong his love.Will he manage it, or are the odds stacked too highly against him?

Sujets

• Fantasy (canción de Mariah Carey)
• Urban fantasy
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 06 décembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785897849
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2016 J Gaines

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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.

Matador®
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ISBN 9781785897849

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Matador® is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd



For Emilie, Jesse and Silva.
Dedicated to the memory of Penny Blacksell.


Contents
Prologue
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
Acknowledgements



‘Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power .’
- Lao Tzu


Prologue
As he was dragged through the small living room he looked pleadingly at his brother. His brother looked back at him sadly, but remained sitting on the white imitation leather couch where they’d been watching football together a few minutes ago.
The boy’s foster father threw him into the kitchen and slammed the door shut behind them. The force caused him to pitch forward and he fell heavily into the cheap, pine kitchen table, knocking over a half-eaten birthday cake and almost falling on top of it. He clenched his teeth in anger and got up, keeping his eyes on the fat man stood opposite him.
He watched as beads of sweat trickled down from his foster father’s greasy hair and ran underneath his chin. He was alone with Shaun, and in the small kitchen with the windows shut and curtains drawn, he felt stifled and sick. He could still hear the TV and the crowd cheered loudly in response to something in the game.
His eyes left Shaun’s and he glanced down at his hands nervously, they were clenched into fists but steady. His thoughts turned to his brother. Previously, on occasions like this he’d wished he was with him so he wasn’t facing a beating alone, but this time he didn’t.
Maybe I’m growing up , he thought. He looked at the cake on the floor and felt the urge to kick it. He’d spent the last of his money on his own birthday cake and now it was ruined.
He watched as Shaun walked to the wooden kitchen table. He removed his numerous gold rings, slowly twisting them from his chubby fingers, taking his time and carefully placing them in a tidy line on the table next to an empty brandy glass. Next, he removed his cheap gold watch, his fingers carefully unhinging the clasp on his left hand and slipping his hand back through the watch as he caught it in his other hand and put it into his pocket before turning towards him. He wondered why his foster father didn’t also place his watch on the table.
“Happy birthday,” growled Shaun, “Now you’ve woken me up, we can celebrate together.”
*
Ten minutes later the boy sat on the floor propped against the oven holding his bruised stomach. His foster father stood over him breathing heavily and sneering. The boy sat still, blankly staring at the floor and deliberately trying to avoid eye contact.
A few moments passed which seemed agonisingly long for the boy. Finally, the man turned slowly towards the locked kitchen door, and leaned heavily against it as he struggled with the key. When the boy had first arrived at the house he had wondered why there was a lock on the kitchen door. It didn’t take him long to realise why there was a lock on every door in the house.
Blood was slowly trickling down from a gash in his forehead and began to run into his left eye causing his vision to blur. This was new, but for some reason not unwelcome to him. His foster father was usually very careful when it came to leaving marks and evidence of his handy work. The blood ran down to the corner of his mouth, and he considered the new taste as the door opened opposite him and he looked through.
His foster father stopped suddenly in the doorway in surprise. As the boy cocked his head, he managed to see past his foster father and realised why he’d stopped. In front of him was his brother, stood in the same defiant stance he had recently held. His fists were clenched and hot tears were rolling down his cheeks. Shaun laughed cruelly and walked through the door.
The door slammed shut behind him, and he winced as he heard his brother cry out.


Chapter 1
The children were huddled closely around Amias and were shouting excitedly. There was nothing more exciting to a group of eleven-year-olds than a fight. He glanced around him quickly and realised half of the school year had congregated to watch the spectacle. The word to meet at the lower sports field had spread around the school quickly. It was the secluded venue where most fights took place, and a school fight always drew a big crowd.
He turned back to Thomas just in time, and threw his arm up to block a wild punch. He threw one of his own back and struck him in the nose. He saw his eyes begin to water and a steady trickle of blood escape from his right nostril. Thomas wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve and a bright red stripe stained his white shirt. When he saw the blood he faltered slightly and stepped backwards into the crowd of children. They had formed a tight ring around them and he turned in surprise. Amias had been here before, and he knew Thomas hadn’t.
Seeing his chance, he charged his opponent and grabbed him by the arms in an attempt to wrestle him to the floor. He could hear his friend Aaron shouting his name as he hovered next to him at the front of the circle of students. However, Thomas was fighting back, and Amias struggled to gain an advantage. They stood locked in a stalemate for a few moments when Amias began to feel his arms shake. Thomas was bigger than him and was using his weight advantage to push him backwards. Amias lost his footing, as he desperately attempted to remain on his feet.
Amias could feel the tide turning and an impulse to wriggle free and run away flashed into his mind. As he struggled to regain the advantage he suddenly felt strange, and a dizziness began to fill his head and drown out the shouts from the children. Before he realised what he was doing, he twisted his body to the side, holding on to Thomas’s shirt, he picked him up and threw him over his hip and onto the grass. He groaned in pain and Amias was on top of him in an instant; he straddled his chest and put his knees on his arms so he was trapped helplessly underneath him. Amias looked down at him but was suddenly unsure of what to do next; Thomas looked up in shock, unsure of how Amias had managed to throw him.
“Give up?”
Thomas struggled to free himself, so Amias slapped him lightly across the face and repeated himself.
“Give up?”
Thomas looked up at him in submission and relaxed, but before he could answer Aaron ran from out of the crowd and kicked Thomas viciously in his side. Thomas cried out and Amias fell back in surprise; he rolled aside as Aaron continued to launch kick after kick into his stomach and back. Some of the children stopped in shock at the ferociousness of the attack, and Amias jumped to his feet and pulled Aaron aside.
“Aaron stop it…. he’s done.”
Aaron smiled back at him. “He is now. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
They both turned to make their exit as the crowd suddenly dispersed. They heard shouts of alarm from the other children, and Amias turned to see a man in a police uniform running towards him. He turned to run but the police officer was already too close and grabbed his arm tightly, pulling him towards him, and holding him expertly so he couldn’t escape. He shouted at Aaron to run as he wrestled to free himself. Thomas had picked himself up quickly and was already running towards a gap in the bushes which circled the school field.
Aaron’s eyes were wide with shock but he didn’t run. Amias could see he was caught between the choice of trying to help him, or escape. His indecision cost him dearly as another police officer emerged from the evaporating crowd of children. The officer took hold of both of his arms as he suddenly came to life and began to try and fight his way free. He screamed as he kicked out wildly and the officer was left with no choice but to push him to the floor and restrain him. Amias watched as Aaron was lifted off the floor and carried away. He lay still and resisted the urge to fight against the police officer who held him.
“Let me go!”
“I will. You just need to calm down so we can talk.” The officer’s voice was calm and Amias sensed a kindness in it.
“OK… I’m calm,” he managed through gritted teeth.
The officer slo