Night of the Shayde: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Vampires' Blood Mate Book 1) Read online

  Night of the Shayde

  A Reverse Harem Romance

  Lili Zander

  Copyright © 2019 by Lili Zander.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover design by Kasmit Covers. http://www.kasmitcovers.com.

  Contents

  Night of the Shayde

  1. Raven

  2. Raven

  3. Saber

  4. Zeke

  5. Raven

  6. Nero

  7. Raven

  8. Saber

  9. Raven

  10. Nero

  11. Raven

  12. Zeke

  13. Raven

  14. Raven

  15. Zeke

  16. Raven

  17. Saber

  18. Raven

  19. Saber

  20. Raven

  21. Zeke

  22. Raven

  23. Nero

  24. Raven

  25. Saber

  26. Raven

  27. Zeke

  28. Raven

  29. Nero

  30. Raven

  31. Raven

  32. Saber

  33. Raven

  34. Raven

  35. Nero

  36. Raven

  37. Raven

  38. Raven

  39. Saber

  40. Raven

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  About Lili Zander

  Books by Lili Zander

  Night of the Shayde

  The Vampires of Shayde want more than just my blood…

  The first night, I was bitten.

  The second night, I was hunted.

  The third night—the night I was marked for death—I attracted the attention of three dangerous, enigmatic vampires, Saber, Zeke and Nero.

  To earn my freedom, I just need to survive one more night. I need to make it through the ultimate trial.

  The tournament of warriors. The Night of the Shayde.

  But the vampires want me for their own.

  ...And everyone knows that whatever vampires want, vampires get.

  1

  Raven

  Boarus 4

  Sundown, FirstDay of FourthMonth

  I’m having a really great dream. I’m flying over the frozen wastes of Boarus 4 in the middle of the night. The sky is clear, and the three moons blaze bright. My brand-new skimmer purrs like a s’kal cat. A man is sitting next to me in the co-pilot chair, and as I take a tight corner, he’s thrown against me, his hard chest crushing my breasts, his hands on either side of my hips…

  The banging on my pod door jerks me awake. “Open up by order of Overlord Zimmer,” a man shouts.

  Even through the door, I recognize the voice. Arnie Hento. Bitten human, blood-tax collector for Sector 23, and all-around dickwad.

  Trouble.

  “Can’t even get laid in my dreams,” I grumble under my breath as I rub the sleep out of my eyes, shimmy into a jumpsuit, and quickly braid my hair. I press the button, and the thin plasteel door slides open just as Arnie Hento raises his hand to knock again, a look of irritation on his face.

  “Good evening, Director Hento.” A visit from the local tax-collector is never a good thing. I should be afraid, and there’s a part of me that is. But then I take a look at Hento, and I have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at his latest-get up.

  His braids are piled up at the top of his head in a hairstyle that resembles a bush grub’s nest. He’s wearing an aggressively striped green and purple jumpsuit that hurts my eyes. His knee-length boots are covered with a silver fur, and he wears a matching neck-muff around his neck.

  Great Spirit, no. Nobody should have to deal with Arnie Hento’s fashion sense this early in the night.

  Even before the human in front of me was bitten, he’d copied the court styles of Starra slavishly, but his outfit today is a new level of ridiculousness. Boarus 4 is a dusty mining colony, almost four hundred parsecs away from the Shayde capital of Starra. Fashion isn’t a priority here. Survival is.

  “Raven Peace Unnuk. Your blood tax is due today.”

  The blood tax. If there’s one symbol of human subjugation by the vampires, this is it. Every month, every human adult on Boarus 4 is required to give blood to feed the vampires. In my great-grandparents’ time, the tax was a half-pint a month, easily paid by the blood in our bodies. Not anymore. I’ve been paying three pints a month since I got out of the re-education camps, and word on the street is that another increase is coming.

  If I tried to pay my tax with the blood flowing through my veins, I’d die. But it can also be paid by credits earned through hard labor, and so I work long, brutal shifts in the boarium mines of Boarus 4.

  Boarium is the only reason anyone lives on this frozen planet. Spaceflight would be almost impossible without the precious mineral, and the only known deposits are located in the thirteen planets of the Boarus system. The pay is crap, but there’s always a steady stream of people willing to work there. It’s not like there’s a whole lot of other opportunities for those that have served sentences in the re-education camps, and besides, it beats the alternative. When a human cannot pay the blood tax, they’re tossed into Overlord Zimmer’s dungeons.

  “No, it’s not,” I reply promptly. “The law states that the tax is due on SecondDay, not FirstDay.”

  He scowls at me, annoyed that I’ve called him out. “You think you’re an arbiter, Unnuk? If I were you, I’d watch that attitude. You wouldn’t want anyone reporting you to the enforcers. Given your history, you’ll probably get a six-month sentence in the re-education camps. Minimum.”

  The hair on the back of my neck stands up. Don’t let him goad you, Raven. Don’t think about the camps.

  I clench my hands into fists behind my back and stay silent as he spins on his heel and walks down the hallway to the next pod. Then I glance at the time and curse out loud. If the sun sets before I get to work, Overseer Thrip will dock my pay. Today, of all the days, I don’t need any more bad news.

  “Today is the day, isn’t it?” Joanna Placzek’s whisper is muffled by the sound of pickaxes. “The day your parents were taken?”

  Joanna used to be from the Inner Sectors. Her parents were rich and bitten, and they both worked for vampires. Then her brother Mical had antagonized Olaf Vander, Overlord Zimmer’s second-in-command. He’d been sentenced to the re-education camps, and her parents had been fired from their jobs. Now, they live in Sector 20, just like me, and Joanna works in the mines to pay her blood tax.

  I swallow the lump in my throat and nod mutely.

  Fourteen years ago, my parents had been arrested on this day. According to Ma Kaila, my history teacher, FirstDay of FourthMonth used to be a day of practical jokes on Old Earth. Not for me. For me, this day will always be a day of pain and mourning, etched forever in my soul.

  After the arrest, they’d swiftly been found guilty of plotting against the Shayde Empire and condemned to death, and I, their only child, was sent to the re-education camps in the middle of the ice desert.

  Ten ye
ars in the camp, and now, four years in the mines. If anything, my burning need to find the person that betrayed them to the Empire and avenge their deaths has just grown with the passage of time.

  Joanna’s expression is sympathetic. “I’m sorry, Raven.”

  Overseer Thrip glances in our direction, and we both bend our heads and turn our attention back to the rocks. Thrip isn’t a bad sort, and I don’t think he particularly cares if we talk to each other as long as our output doesn’t drop. But eleven years ago, right after Klaus Zimmer became the Overlord, the largest mine on Boarus 4 collapsed, killing two hundred humans. Ever since then, every single one of the overseers is paranoid that it could happen to them. If an auditor drops by and finds the miners slacking off, Thrip will get into trouble.

  When the Overseer’s gaze is no longer on us, Joanna slides up to me again. She’s either in a chatty mood today, or she’s talking to keep me from brooding. “Did you hear what happened to Ingrid?”

  I look around and notice the tall, blonde girl is missing. My heart lurches with fear. “Did she get into trouble?”

  Joanna shakes her head. “No, it’s good news.” Her eyes sparkle. “She undid her braids for a vampire, and he bit her. Better still, he invited her to join his bô. He’s moved her to his apartment in Sector 7.”

  My mouth falls open. Ingrid was beautiful and tall, her hair woven in golden braids that cascaded down her back. But vampires don’t often bite humans, especially not the ones that work in the mines. We’re too ordinary for the gift. “He bit her?”

  ‘Undid her braids’ is a Boarus 4 euphemism for sex. Ingrid has become the mistress of one of the vampires. Or many of them. Unlike us humans, vampires are polyamorous, sharing partners as a matter of course. There are rules around adding new partners to a bô, but I don’t know vampire culture well enough to understand it. For her sake, I hope Ingrid does.

  Joanna, who is less cynical than me, sighs, a wistful expression on her face. “She’s delighted, of course. Do you ever wish you’d get bitten, Raven?”

  “Doesn’t everyone?” I quip lightly.

  I’m lying though. I’m not as starry-eyed as Joanna. The vampires are our masters, and you can’t be in a relationship with someone who holds the power of life and death over you.

  I might be stuck in the mines, but at least I’m free.

  The sky is lightening as I walk back to my pod. A cold wind knifes into me, bringing the ice of the frozen wastes with it. I keep my head down and my hood up and lengthen my stride. My skin prickles with awareness. The outer sectors are butted up against the ice deserts of Glacis. Nobody hangs out here if they can help it, especially not during the day. At night, the looters are held in check by the threat of vampires, but they cannot venture out in full sunlight, and the thugs know it.

  Most of the walk from Sector 20 to Sector 23 is above ground, but there’s one section that goes through a tunnel. There are cameras by the entrance and exit, but none inside, and gangs of stray humans have taken to hanging out there, ready to ambush the unwary. I can fight—Spirit knows we learned to survive in Glacis—but I can’t risk getting caught in a struggle. Nobody on Boarus 4—not even the gangs—wants to attract the attention of our vampire masters.

  There’s no one at the entrance. I tighten my hold on the stick I carry for protection before plunging into the passage. It’s when I reach the exit that I see someone stumble toward me, his gait lurched, as if he’s spent too much time in the taverns. I raise my weapon, but then he nears enough that I can see his bruised, swollen face.

  Vampire.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. Immediately, I drop my stick and fall to my knees, my forehead touching the icy ground. “My Lord,” I whisper through dry lips. Who has hurt him? The gangs wouldn’t be foolish enough to attack one of the vampires, would they? Overlord Zimmer has burned entire sectors for far less provocation.

  If the cameras spotted me… if they think I had anything to do with this…

  The re-education camps.

  I cannot go back. I cannot.

  “Human.” He’s resisting the slumber, something I didn’t think was even possible. His body is trembling. His voice is hoarse and strained, his eyes red-tinged, glittering with madness, but his words are overlaid with compulsion. “Come here.”

  Something is wrong. His clothing is ragged, and he smells like piss and sweat. He’s bleeding from several open wounds. He looks on the verge of passing out. This isn’t the result of too much drinking; vampires aren’t affected by alcohol the way humans are.

  Fear claws at my throat and I can’t breathe. Every instinct is telling me to flee from this situation before it spirals out of control, but I’m not strong enough to fight the compulsion and not foolish enough to try. My pulse racing, I obey the vampire.

  “Yessss. Stay.” He wraps one hand around my neck, drawing me closer. My mouth goes dry. Great Spirit in the Sky, he means to bite me, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

  His fangs elongate. I gasp as they sink into my neck, hot fire searing my skin as the vampire takes blood from me. My vision goes blurry. My head spins.

  Lassitude fills me.

  “Good,” the vampire whispers. I wait, limp and placid, as he brings up his bleeding wrist to my lips. “Now drink from me.”

  Obediently, I open my mouth and allow the warm blood to pour down my throat.

  He makes me drink at least a pint before he’s satisfied. Then he looks at me, his bloodied eyes bleak. “I’m sorry. I had no other choice. I will not survive the day.” His voice gains strength. “They will hunt you now. If they find out you drank from me, they will kill you. Don’t let that happen, human.”

  His words should alarm me, but the bite has made me numb. My body feels boneless. In the back of my head, questions explode. What has this vampire done to me? Who wants to kill me and why? What is happening?

  Before I can ask any of them, the vampire tilts his head to one side. His eyes fill with alarm. “They’re here.” His voice lowers to a whisper. “Get to Starra,” he hisses, his breath hot against my skin. “Find Ivar Karling. He will know what to do.” He pushes me away from him, and I stumble. “Run,” he orders. “I’ll buy you safe passage.”

  He’s insane. That’s the only logical explanation.

  Crazy or not, he’s badly spooked. Without waiting to see if I’m obeying, he takes off toward the ice desert, running due west. No, I want to scream after him. Nobody can survive Glacis, not even a vampire, and the west is especially dangerous. To go west is to die. But before I can chase him, I hear the thump-thump-thump of the choppers.

  The enforcers are here.

  I shrink back into the tunnel. I should run away, but something compels me to stay where I am.

  Three sleek choppers approach from the inner city. I see the vampire running as fast as he can, but the ice is treacherous, and he slips and falls. Before he can scramble to his feet, they’re firing their weapons.

  The first brilliant blue ray grazes his arm, burning it away.

  The second leaves a hole in his chest.

  The third sends him to the ground.

  He doesn’t get up.

  I want to turn away. Bile rises in my throat. My stomach churns, and I retch violently, but I force myself to stay where I am. My parents taught me that every life was sacred. Even the life of a vampire. They’re gone now, but in honor of their memory, I make myself watch, and to ease his passage to the afterlife, I whisper the prayer of the Long Night.

  Sing your death song, vampire. Die like a hero going home.

  2

  Raven

  Boarus 4

  Sunrise, SecondDay of FourthMonth

  Run, Raven, run.

  There are no cameras inside the tunnel, just at the entrance and exit. I stay huddled in the corner of the underpass, hidden from sight. A few minutes after the vampire falls, a chopper lands. Two enforcers emerge from it and walk over to the crumpled body.

  They check to make sure he’s dead, and t
hen one of them reaches for his comm. I can’t hear what he says; the wind is whistling too loudly for me to be able to catch the words.

  The vampire had told me to flee.

  Any moment now, the enforcers are going to set off in search of me.

  Any moment now, more choppers are going to land.

  Any moment now, they’re going to gun me down, the way they did the vampire.

  I’m poised to make a break for it. My muscles are tense. My heart is hammering in my chest.

  But nothing happens. After a few seconds, the two of them turn away and head back to the chopper, leaving the body of the vampire behind.

  Nobody is searching for me.

  I start to tremble, a combination of fear and nerves. I sink to the icy ground and lean against the tunnel wall, retching violently as the bite works its way through my system. For thirty minutes, I’m too weak to move. All I can do is curl up into a ball and wait for it to be over.

  Once the waves of nausea pass, my mind starts to work again.

  He didn’t look well, the vampire that bit me. His clothes were tattered, and he reeked of sweat and booze and worse. He seemed crazy. Paranoid.