Vampire Nation 3: Titan Rules Read online

  Titan Rules

  by

  Joe Fowler

  Also by this author:

  The Josh Thorne Trilogy

  The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne (1st book ofseries)

  Vampire Outbreak (2nd book of series)

  Witch Problems (3rd book of series)

  Vampire Nation

  Titan’s Story (1st book)

  Titan Rising (2nd book)

  Losers vs. Zombies

  Having Fun With Side Effects

  Guarding the Door (1st book)

  Healer of Worlds: The Chosen

  Titan Rules

  Copyright© 2016 Joe Fowler

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not

  be used or reproduced in any manner without the express written

  permission of the author.This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or

  dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  About this book

  This is the third book of this series. I did not include explanations for backstory from the first two books. If you have not read Titan’s Story and Titan Rises, then this book will not make much sense to you. There is no fourth book planned but I have not ruled it out. Ideas are forming for a continuation of this series. I will say it isn’t likely even though I love writing for these characters.

  Since some authors like to include an inspirational quote or poem to begin their books, I decided to include this one for those who like that sort of thing.

  ‘Life sucks’

  Said by everyone I know

  Contents

  Also by this author:

  About this book

  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 1

  The room went completely silent as Arria and I were announced. The faces all turned to watch as we entered. Every vampire in the room seemed to grit their teeth at the sight of me.

  Idiots.

  “You knew it would be like this, Titan. Don’t let them bother you.” Arria told me with her thoughts.

  “Easier said than done.” I spoke in the thinnest whisper so only Arria would hear.

  This was Petra’s facility. We were entering her meeting hall. Arria was asked to this fight because of me. One of Petra’s fighters was suffering from the same malady that almost claimed my life, unlife.

  Petra’s steps were forced since they were bringing her closer to where Arria and I stood. She clearly didn’t want to be near me. The protocols must be met though.

  “Arria, I am honored to welcome you!” Petra was genuine in her warm greeting for Arria. Petra was also genuine in her open sneer in my direction. “Titan, thank you for agreeing to help my fighter.”

  “I am glad you would have me.” Arria’s response was required. It was part of the protocols of greeting for these pre-fight meetings. What followed wasn’t protocol. “I would think you could try harder in regards to Titan. He is the reason you are still alive, Petra. You were one of mine. I expect better manners from you. Showing open contempt for someone who is here to help you, again, is out of line.”

  Arria’s voice carried a heavy dose of her disappointment. Very few vampires were as respected as Arria. Petra was turned by Arria and cared deeply about her actions being approved by Arria. It was easy to see.

  “Forgive me, Arria. It is hard to overcome the lies he told. I considered Darius a friend. All the while it was Titan laughing in our faces.” Petra was a mess of emotion. She hated me but hated disappointing Arria even more. Her anger couldn’t be hidden as yet, even though it had been a year since the incident.

  I decided it was time for me to say something. I needed to see if I could start the healing.

  “Petra, it was that same friendship that convinced me to save your lives instead of letting you die.” I tried to reason but could see her eyes remained hard. I shook my head. “There weren’t as many lies as you think there were.”

  “Let’s join the others.” Petra said, turning to the eight old ones behind her. “They will be happy to see you, Arria.”

  Petra led us to the main grouping. Saul, Phoenix, Dorian, Abel, and Caleb were once friends of mine. They wore a similar sneer as Petra’s when they looked at me. Helen, Flora, and an old one I didn’t know stood in a separate group toward the back of the room.

  During the flight, Arria and I went through a small argument about my coming to this meeting. She wanted to start mending fences. I hated being hated. I knew some of them might never forgive me. Considering I still technically worked for Arria, I needed to do what she said. Her being the council leader meant every vampire had to do what she said.

  “Arria, always a pleasure!” Saul greeted her warmly. He managed to hold back his sneer when he looked at me. “Titan, I am not passed the anger stage yet. I realize you helped us but it may take many years before I welcome your presence.”

  “That can be said for the rest of us as well.” Caleb offered.

  Helen, Flora, and the old one I didn’t know joined us then. This was all the old ones slated for this event now. Even though Helen and the other old one weren’t involved, they too looked at me with obvious hatred.

  “I actually understand. I can only hope you will all forgive me eventually.” I couldn’t suppress my smile. “Although, I find it weird to apologize for saving your lives.”

  “We don’t deny that you saved us, Titan. We just didn’t appreciate being lied to like that.” Phoenix stated sadly. She then smiled ruefully. “I was about to try and sleep with Darius. Maybe I should be grateful things happened the way they did. I would have made a fool out of myself trying.”

  “I had a backstory to help explain why I couldn’t do that, Phoenix. Look, I won’t stay here long. I know how uncomfortable you all must be right now. I only wanted to make sure you understood something.” I paused to make sure they were paying attention. “I truly considered all of you as friends. Real friends. That went for both sides, Dorian. Arria can attest to this. She heard my opinions of you throughout that whole ordeal. It was those feelings that made me willing to risk my own life to save you. I was tough, but I wouldn’t have survived if everyone had attacked me.”

  I saw Saul and Dorian making a real effort to forgive me in their minds. Most of the others were trying to shrug off my statements. I wasn’t sure if it helped but I wanted to say those things to them.

  “Give us time, Titan. Give us time.” Flora said. She sounded like she wanted to forgive. I could hope anyway.

  “Petra, where is your fighter? I will go and heal him.” I turned to Petra but still saw the others looking relieved that I would be going away.

  “He should be in the training room, Titan. Look for a seven footer. He isn’t the one who needs healing but he stands out. He will lead you to Rip.” Petra informed me.

  I gave a slight bow to Arria before heading out the door.

  Petra’s cream colored walls were soothing. I needed it. I took my time getting to the training room. There was no rush. Reptile had taken over as Arria’s second. He was doing h
is job faithfully for her as he did for me.

  The training room was busy. Nine of the ten teams were present. Arria’s fighters were the only ones not here. They would need more time to get settled in and learn their way around.

  Petra was right, the seven footer stood out. I made my way to their mats. Luckily, these newbies had no clue who I was. I wasn’t being stared at in the way I was accustomed.

  “I’m looking for Rip.” I asked the tall man.

  “Why?” He asked defensively.

  “I am Titan. I am going to heal him.”

  His eyes grew huge. He swallowed comically. It was hard but I managed to hold back my laughter. I guess I wasn’t forgotten, anyway.

  “Rip!” He said, fairly loud. I turned to follow his stare and saw one of the fighters turn at the sound of his name. “Come here. This is Titan.”

  I watched as the sparring stopped on all the mats near us. Every eye turned to me. I could hear the whispers spreading throughout the training room.

  Rip walked slowly over to stand in front of me. I could see the fear in his eyes. There was some hope, but it was mostly fear.

  “Can you really heal me?” Rip asked.

  “Yes, I can. I would have died from the unravelling if Ares hadn’t healed me. I’ve made it a point to help anyone who suffers from it. How far along are the symptoms?”

  “I sleep anytime I can but it isn’t enough. They wake me for my fights but I sleep through the rest of them. Petra made it where I can drain two donors a day. I am still thirsty though.”

  “I remember what that’s like. The time thing is frustrating too. Well, you won’t have to worry about it any longer.”

  I called up the healing gift. I took the two steps needed to place my hand on Rip’s forehead. I felt the energy doing its work. Rip took a deep breath when the healing started. He was smiling by the time it was through. I dropped my hand knowing he would be alright.

  “Thank you, Titan! I will never forget this!” Rip swore.

  “You’re welcome.”

  I left them and headed out with all eyes on me. This was more like what I was accustomed to dealing with. Always the center of attention. I hated it.

  Chapter 2

  I waited in Arria’s suite. I thought of going to visit my friends but decided against it. I sat in my chair and enjoyed being bored for a change.

  The incident last year was like a bomb that sent shock waves through the vampire world. Every vampire has heard varied versions of what they heard happened from someone who heard from a friend of someone that was there. From what I’d been told, there were several versions where I killed two groups of old ones, Ares, and four members of the council. No matter how many times the correct version was told, it seemed the more outlandish stories remained the most popular.

  I wasn’t allowed too much boredom in the past year since that occurred. With Arria as the new council leader, I was put on problem control. The rest of the council, mainly Lorac, decided Ghost and I should be in charge of fixing the things that went wrong. It usually meant killing wayward vampires.

  Ghost was welcoming this rest as well. He was becoming a legend himself. Stories of his intellect were spreading rapidly. We liked it since it would help prevent some of the problems we were being sent to solve. The old ones who might want to do wrong were afraid of me and knew they couldn’t outsmart Ghost. We made a formidable team.

  My friends were allowed to go with us on some of our forays. It gave them a chance to get out of their routine. They were thankful for that. Apollo came with us several times when a day walker would be helpful. Some of our trips brought us into contact with humans. This was usually a vampire out on his own who made a vampire without having them face the gauntlet. Ghost and I tried to take whichever friends could help us the most depending on what their gift was.

  I was coming to more and more conclusions about the gifts each vampire received. Arria told me to let it go but I couldn’t ignore what I was seeing. The old ones all took for granted that the gifting was random. I was questioning this on a daily basis now.

  Every daywalker I met was good hearted. Apollo, Gronk, and Amy were my best examples but not my only ones. Each of them displayed a desire for simple goodness.

  The incorporeal gift was a split between those like Ghost and Mist. Ghost preferred to sit in the background and spend his time in his own mind rather than be a part of a group. Mist was a sweetheart who gave so much to please others, she lost who she might once have been. Both of these traits can lead to an insubstantial feeling in some.

  Illusions were simpler in a way. Those like Sweetie wanted to hide from the bad things of the world. They wanted to see better behavior and a better way of being. It wasn’t always exactly this way but the principles fit with every illusion bearer I had met.

  Some of the other gifts were questionable. Speed was the best example. The personality traits for those with speed varied in many ways. The best I could come up with was the vampires who received this gift were driven in one facet of life or another. This was one of the gifts that made my reasoning suspect.

  The emotional control Arria had was a strong supporter of my view point. Sean/Pan, one of my fighters during my ruse as an old one, was as sensitive of others feelings as anyone I ever met. Arria was much the same but she was a little harder edged. The girl who cheated while I was going through the gauntlet was unknown as far as personality goes.

  As usual, I was sidetracked by Sean’s choice of name for himself. Pan didn’t fit. I couldn’t deny him since my other fighters before him had named themselves. From what I’d heard, a few of the other old ones started letting their newbies name themselves as well.

  Anyway…

  The whole idea behind figuring these things out was to try and see if there was a reason why Ares and I were the only ones with our gift. What would be the underlying cause? What made Ares and me so different from everyone else?

  My childhood abuse shouldn’t be too much of a factor. I’m fairly positive I wasn’t the only vampire abused as a child.

  I wasn’t overly anything during my human years. The only one word statement I could make is to call myself a survivor. I ran away from home at age fifteen. I managed to keep myself fed and working, albeit as a dishwasher or something just as demeaning where a high school diploma wasn’t needed.

  Ghost thought all this effort to be wasted time. He was much smarter than anyone I’d ever known but he didn’t see it. He accused me of trying to identify with the Twilight vampires then burst into uncontrollable laughter.

  I was drawn out of my thoughts by Arria. She entered to find me sitting in my chair. I saw her smile and forgot my inner debate for a while.

  “I’m sorry it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. I really thought they might be more receptive now.” Arria said, as she took off the fancy dress she wore for the meeting. She liked simpler more comfortable clothes but would always be impeccably dressed for meetings with the other old ones.

  “It will eventually get better. I could tell Saul and Dorian were trying. Some of the others were giving it serious thought as well.”

  Arria was between outfits now. I moved to stop the new outfit. She seemed receptive to my ideas. The rest of the night went without serious thought.

  “I promised Petra some time to talk today. She has some questions for me. It has me a bit worried since she acted a little dodgy last night.” Arria was getting dressed in one of her nicer dresses. I sat on the bed watching her. I would always think it wrong for her to cover such a marvel as her naked form.

  “Do you think something is wrong?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure but I will find out.” Arria took a minute to let the dress slide down over her head. “What are your plans for the day?”

  “I’m not sure. I will likely either spend the time with my friends or with Reptile. I haven’t decided yet.”

  “That is one relationship I can’t understand. You do remember Reptile was hired for that whole Darius thin
g because of how untrustworthy he was, right?” Arria looked at me when she asked. “How did you manage to turn him around so well?”

  “I’ve gotten to know him much better. Reptile was a product of what he saw and experienced. Everyone he spent time around, both as a human and vampire, was repulsive and completely self-serving. He said he was moved by my obvious concern for others. When he found out who I really was, he was even more impressed. He has told me many times how grateful he is that my gift hasn’t been given to someone lacking morals.” I was thinking of other things while I said this. Namely, the whole debate about why we receive the gift we get when turned. Why Ares? Why me?

  “Well, I’m happy for the turnaround. He is proving to be a very good second in command. I guess it’s more accurate to say third in command but it doesn’t have the same ring to it.” Arria said, with a smile.

  I stood and walked to her. I knew she was about to leave and I wanted a kiss goodbye. We were settling in for the long haul now. The initial ‘newlywed’ stage was ending but the love was still as strong as ever.

  “Call me if the meeting with Petra ends quickly. My friends are great but I would rather have you as company.”

  “You got it.”

  Once Arria was gone, I took my shower trying to decide what to do with my day. The fights weren’t until tomorrow. Free days could get boring when you have no responsibilities.

  I found myself entering Apollo’s room. He and Jade were sitting on his bed. Speedy, Venus, Pan, and Loki had their chairs, leaving Apollo’s chair empty in case I came by to see them. This was our custom. It actually dated back to when I was going through the fights in a way.

  “Hey, Titan.” Apollo greeted me with a smile.

  “Hey guys.” I spoke casually as I took the empty chair. These rooms weren’t very big. We didn’t have much room when we were all here but it wasn’t so bad.