Karizma: Reborn
Chapter 24: Ryleigh

Ryleigh was sitting cross-legged in an abandoned field miles away from the pack. She was wearing a pair of jeans with a blue T-shirt, her crimson hair free against her back. She gazed at Lukas as she placed her hands on her knees, her palms face-up. Lukas was wearing a pair of black basketball shorts, his large arms crossed against his bare chest as he propped himself against a tree. He was worried about something going wrong, so he insisted on being ready for his wolf to take control if necessary. Ryleigh could not help but bite her lower lip as she observed him. The last few days were the most intense and mind numbingly addicting days of her life, and all she wanted to do was to jump back into them; where nothing mattered but the two of them together, in the solitude of their home. Soon to be three of us, I assume.

Ryleigh resisted the urge to touch her stomach. She needed to keep herself focused and ready to project, but she allowed her mind to wander for the moment. She was terrified. I was never supposed to live long enough to have a child, and now I may have to fight in this war pregnant. Ryleigh did not doubt her own ability to protect them, but the knowledge that her becoming injured could affect the baby terrified her. I am used to pain. Hell, I’ve even died once, But it is a whole new level of pain when you have someone else to protect. The knowledge of pregnancy itself did not terrify her; the knowledge that she could be pregnant felt calming, exhilarating, even desired. She knew that her wolf was beyond ecstatic to become a mother, but even with Ryleigh’s plan to have been dead before she could have become a mother, she felt destined to become one. She smirked softly. I suppose that is what the mating bond is. Destiny unraveling in ways that you had never thought possible.

“I’m over here worried about you, and you’re smiling?” Lukas teased.

“I should be allowed to smile at you, and at the possibility of our child,” Ryleigh stated. “Unless you’d rather I not be happy about us?”

“I want nothing more than your happiness, especially your happiness with me, my love. It’s just a weird time to dwell on it, is all.”

“To be fair, we woke up, you sprung the pregnancy reality on me, and then denied me the ability to think until we reached this field.”

“Fair point,” Lukas chuckled, which caused Ryleigh’s smirk to widen. She had sensed that he was tense and stressed, and she wanted to help ease his worry slightly. At the very least, she temporarily distracted him from it.

“Pregnancy?” Bailey’s voice piped up as she approached. “Am I going to be an aunt?” Bailey was wearing a pair of jeans as well with a white tank top. She crossed her arms as she stood beside Ryleigh, but her emerald eyes were bright. Ryleigh smiled at her sister; she could not remember the last time that Bailey could openly display her emerald eyes, and it warmed Ryleigh’s heart that Bailey was in an environment safe enough to do so. “We won’t know as of yet,” Ryleigh replied.

“Well, you will know sooner than others with the Alpha as your mate,” Lukas added.

“Large ego, that one,” Bailey said.

“Not ego, just powerful swimmers in an Alpha,” Lukas grinned.

“Alrighty then. Why am I here?” Bailey asked her sister. “You’ve projected before.”

“I plan on projecting for longer,” Ryleigh said. “And Lukas worried about something happening.”

“Like what?” Bailey asked as she shifted her gaze toward him. “She knows how to protect herself.”

“She will be projecting for longer than before. With as strong as Naomi is, Ryleigh’s extended exposure could leave room for error.”

“She doesn’t error,” Bailey stated shortly.

“I’m not saying that she would intentionally,” Lukas replied calmly.

“I will shield myself, but you are here in case I need something more,” Ryleigh said. “Just as a precaution. Hey, I was fine doing this by myself,” Ryleigh added as Bailey went to speak. “But no one wanted me to do it. If you are going to protest about what I can do wrong, both of you can leave.”

Lukas immediately closed his mouth. Bailey simply sighed and nodded. Ryleigh nodded for Bailey to step back and provide distance between herself and her sister. Ryleigh closed her eyes as she inhaled. She exhaled and pulled her magic to the surface to construct her cloak. She inhaled one more time, and, upon exhaling, her astral form departed from her body. She floated across the treetops slowly. There was more of a risk of becoming discovered with slower projection, but projecting too fast could cause her to miss her target. Kristopher’s intel did not provide much, which meant that either he was no longer trusted, or Naomi and Nathan were planning something too big to reveal just yet. Either way, Ryleigh needed to know.

Ryleigh reached the outskirts of town. A kaleidoscope of auras flourished into the sky. She floated toward the building where she had last seen Nathan’s and Naomi’s auras previously, but the auras in that building were no longer supernatural, just human. I have to know for sure,. She thought it would be odd for the base of operations to have moved, but it was possible. If it had not, why would the auras only be human? Ryleigh slowly entered the building, and relief and worry washed over her. The humans in the building were asleep with no signs of injury or struggle. The humans were alive and healthy, but where did the vampires go?

Ryleigh slowly exited the building and pushed herself higher into the sky. After a moment, she finally found the black and violet auras that thickened the building that they resided in. Human auras as well, she realized. There are a lot more human auras than vampiric. Humans, she confirmed as she observed the building. There was a long line of humans outside of the building beyond the opened doors, waiting in line for entrance. Ryleigh slipped down through the roof and remained hovered toward the roof.

Naomi and Nathan sat in chairs propped in the middle of the building, which appeared to be a church. The line of humans started right in front of Nathan’s chair. He looked like the vampiric god that he proclaimed to be. He was wearing a crisp black suit with his black hair slicked back perfectly. Naomi sat to his left, matching the god persona. Her crimson hair trailed down the back of her long, silk ruby dress. Her emerald eyes were bright, while Nathan’s were a deep auburn. Naomi’s violet aura swirled with Nathan’s in harmony. Beside Naomi were bags and bags of blood, unopened and readily available. Ryleigh watched as one of the humans approached Nathan and dropped to his knees. Nathan’s fangs burst through his lips, and he immediately buried his fangs into the human’s neck. After a moment, Nathan removed his fangs, bit into his own wrist, and pressed his wrist to the human’s mouth. The human gripped Nathan’s wrist tightly and drank greedily. No fucking way.

Nathan tore his wrist away from the human and directed him to approach Naomi. Naomi grabbed a bag of blood, handed it toward the human, and motioned for him to sit in one of the pews. Ryleigh watched in fascination as the production line of vampires took shape. Nathan would bite a human, the human would drink from Nathan, and then the human would take blood from Naomi for replenishment. Vampire. The vampire would take blood from Naomi. Once Nathan was done with them, these people were no longer human.

Ryleigh’s wolf growled, and she nodded. Nathan was quite literally building an army. Ryleigh tensed as a female human approached the line but felt relief once again as the female simply took the bag of blood from Naomi and sat down. Ryleigh was worried that Naomi would offer her own blood to the females and build a magical vampiric army. I suppose she wouldn’t. Naomi does not want to share that power in any capacity, that was part of the reason I was killed. This is why Kristopher heard about blood going missing; they needed it to finalize their army. A freshly turned vampire must ingest human blood, or he can become feral and go insane. If Naomi and Nathan want compliant and obedient soldiers, they will provide them with the absolute best care.

Ryleigh wondered how Naomi and Nathan had even begun recruiting humans. Most humans did not believe in the supernatural, so the promise of immortality would seem like a bedtime story. I thought that they were in a church for their own ego boost, but what if it is something more. What if they are targeting the religious, those that already believe in something that most deem far-fetched, and are rewarding the believers with immortality? She watched as the pews began to fill. I hate to admit it, but it is genius.

Ryleigh gasped as her wolf whined sharply and her magic exploded simultaneously. Before she could even question what happened, she watched in horror as Naomi’s head shot up. Naomi’s red and emerald eyes were locked onto the position amongst the roof where Ryleigh was. That isn’t possible. It’s just a coincidence. But the thought was extinguished as she watched the rest of the church follow suit; one by one, each vampire in the church shifted gaze to the ceiling. Nathan paused in his production line to follow Naomi’s point of interest.

“Well, isn’t this a surprise?” Naomi spoke as she rose to her feet. She kept her eyes locked onto Ryleigh’s position, not once shifting away. “Now, if I recall, we killed the last Karizma. So, this shouldn’t be possible.”

“We let him take the body,” Nathan spoke up.

“Our poor Karimza Killer,” Naomi sighed. “He found a way to save you, didn’t he, Ryleigh? No matter, we will not make that mistake again.”

“Fetch the Killer and replace the Karizma,” Nathan ordered two vampires to his right. “I want both alive.”

“We will make sure to kill them both properly this time,” Naomi said.

A gust of chilled wind tore the breath out of Ryleigh as she was propelled out of the building. She struggled to breathe, but the wind was stronger. It forced her farther away from town, until all she saw were trees. Home. The wind is taking me home. The chill intensified, and she realized it was Bailey’s magic. Something is wrong, something happened. He ordered them to replace me. Panic surged through Ryleigh at the thought of the Lycan village under attack. She gulped in a large gasp of air as she returned to her body and her eyes shot open. However, she was met with only Bailey and Lukas watching her, both of their faces contorted with worry and panic.