Shadow of the Snow Queen: The Blood Dynasty Chronicles

By David L Dawson

The unmissable bridging chapter between volume one and two of the dystopian vampire series "The Blood Dynasty Chronicles".

The Snow Queen has come to the Slums, a powerful vampire looking for revenge against the person who destroyed her city and her life.  She has the power to turn to mist and to manipulate the ice and snow around her.  Is she unstoppable?  The only person standing in her way is Ashlyn, who is busy with her training and sorting out her feelings for a local boy called Rod.  But is the Snow Queen really the biggest threat to her, or is there someone else more close to home? 

PLUS - Short stories featuring Jensen, Vienna, Catherine, Cary and Jankin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Dawson
• Release date: Dec 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497708884

Book preview

Forward

I have to say I’m a sucker for Christmas specials and the whole holiday season.  It’s a time when you can eat and watch silly TV specials and just feel really good about everything.  This Christmas I’m going to be curled up on my sofa in Sheffield, UK, eating mince peas, watching Doctor Who, and shouting at my cats for trying to knock the TV over.  Bliss. 

Of course, things aren’t going to go as smoothly for Ashlyn.  Christmas for her is going to be a time of lost love, misery and death.  But what fun it will be for us to read about it!  After Ashlyn’s story we’ll have a few short stories featuring all our other cast members.  Vienna will be stroking a triceratops in New York; Catherine has a nice chat with her dead husband in the Tower of London; Jensen meets a feisty new suitor; Cary has to look after a kitten, and Jankin must overcome his own injuries and embrace life again.

Right.  Now I’m off to plan out volume two.  There will be three volumes in total, but we’ll concentrate on volume two for now.  Expect new loves, new friends, more deaths, and Ashlyn may finally get to see her cousin Trent’s triceratopses.  I’ve wanted to write that scene for ages!

Have a happy holiday,

Love David

Shadow of the Snow Queen

1

Do you miss me?

Ashlyn sat up in bed.  The voice echoed around the small room like a lost memory.  It stirred feelings within her that she didn’t want to relive.  Those memories made her feel stupid.  They made her feel like she didn’t know what to believe in any more.

Of course I don’t miss you, she snapped.  Why would I?

You love me.

I don’t love you.  I never loved you.

There’s nobody there.  Don’t be silly.

Go away, she whispered, lying back in bed and closing her eyes.  She must be dreaming.  There was no way he could be here.  Jensen thought she was dead.  He had seen her engulfed in a ball of flame, an illusion created by her brother so she could escape.  How had he found out?  Had she been betrayed?  Would someone give her up to Jensen?

I miss you, Ashlyn.

The voice certainly felt real, like he was in the room with her, breathing on her, waiting for her.  Was he by the bed even now, waiting to kiss her neck and to caress her face?

He can’t be there...can he?

Jensen? she whispered.

Please don’t let it be him...

You live, he said.  His voice was relieved, full of happiness.  I knew it.  I could feel you across the distance separating us.  It’s like you were calling to me.

I’d never call for you, said Ashlyn.

Let me be near you...

Please don’t hurt me...

He laughed, as if she was acting like a silly girl.  I’m not going to hurt you.  I’d never harm a hair on your head.  I love you.  I’ll always love you.  Yet...you betrayed me.  You told me you loved me but it was a lie.  You broke my heart and you shattered my life into a million pieces.  I have to kill you for that.  I have to make you suffer the most unimaginable agonies.

No...

Something light tickled her neck, and she woke with a start, striking her hands out.  But they didn’t hit anything.  There was nobody there; she was just imagining it.  Her paranoia must be making her hear things.

Go to sleep, she thought.  You need your energy for tomorrow.  You have to be ready for your training.

Jensen? she whispered, seeing her cold breath coalesce in front of her.  She shivered and pulled the meager blankets closer around her, but the cold kept seeping in.  It hadn’t been this chilly five minutes ago.  It was like the temperature had changed in the blink of an eye.

Jensen? she whispered again.

She heard nothing more, so she slowly lay back down. As the cold started to seep away, the warmth of the bed lulled her back into tumultuous, nightmare-ridden sleep.

Ashlyn yawned as she sat up in bed.  She was eager to put last night’s strange events behind her.  Maybe she was paranoid, or it had been a dream, or she was tired from all her training?  There was a simple explanation for what she’d experienced.  She just had to find that explanation.

What the...

Her room was covered in a thin blanket of snow, from the floors and desk to her bed.  She placed her bare feet on the floor, feeling the soft snowflakes melt against her toes.  She looked towards her window, but it wasn’t open.  It looked like it hadn’t even been snowing outside.  How did the snow get in here?

That’s when she saw the footprints.  They led from the door all the way over to her bed.  The footprints were small, and definitely belonged to a woman.

Maybe I sleepwalked last night, she wondered.  People under a lot of stress do strange things in their sleep.

She walked over to the door, stepping on the footprints, but her feet were an inch or so bigger than the prints in the snow.  When she opened the door to the rest of the small cottage, she saw that the footprints ended.  There was no snow in the rest of the house either.  Everything looked just as it should be.

Are you okay? Harry asked.

He looked up at her, confusion written on his young face.  If she just blurred her vision, she could imagine them back in 2013, living with their parents.  Harry had his usual messy bed hair and the sleepy eyes of a young boy on the verge of puberty.  It all seemed so normal.

Did we have a break-in last night? she asked him.

He yawned.  No.  I would’ve heard, and I would’ve killed them.

Harry had become overly protective of her over the last few months.  If anyone even looked at her in the wrong way, he’d want to kill them.  She liked that he cared, but the fact that he was the First Vampire still unnerved her a little.  He didn’t need to feed on blood anymore, which was nice, but he could still fang out, and he still had the enhanced senses and strengths of a vampire.  He was probably more powerful than the entire Sublime family put together.  She didn’t want to worry him with her problems, but in truth, her little night-time visit scared her a lot more than her vampire brother did.

She indicated her room behind her and said, Take a look.

He walked into the room and stopped when he saw the snow.  She came up behind him and registered the look on his face.  He looked frightened.  What could frighten the First Vampire?

What is it? she asked, concerned.  Do you know what did this?

Nothing, he whispered. Nothing is wrong.

He fanged out, startling her.  When he saw what he’d done, he retracted his fangs, but he still looked angry and terrified.

Why are you so frightened? Ashlyn asked.  You can talk to me.

He looked up at her and said, You need something to eat before your training.  Come on.

You tell me what’s wrong right now or...

The look he gave her made her step back.  That look, even more than the fangs and the red eyes, told her he could kill her if he so wanted.  Would he kill her?  Would her own brother drain her blood and kill her?

Guilt flashed across his face.  I’m sorry.  It’s just...some things I can’t talk about yet.  Give me time.

She wanted to press him for more information, but decided against it.  Adrenaline was pumping through her, and her hands were shaking.  She was terrified.  Perhaps it was best if they left the matter alone for the time being.

But something weird is definitely going on.  It doesn’t snow inside for no reason.

2

Have you noticed anything...strange this morning? Ashlyn asked.

Nana looked at her wearily and said, You were early for your training this morning.  That’s strange.

Ashlyn smiled awkwardly.  Never mind.  Let’s just get on with it.

You sure nothing is wrong?  We’ll cancel training today if you’re not feeling up to it.  You do look a tad pale.

She knew she looked pale.  It would be handy if she could pop down to Boots and buy some fake tan.  Not that she used fake tan all the time like some people she’d known at school.  Just...occasionally.

I just had a bad night, Ashlyn confessed. 

Nana crossed her arms.  Winter is setting in.  We’re all going to be having bad nights soon.  The winters here are a nightmare.

How bad are we talking about here?

Nana shuddered, thinking about the coming winter.  Ashlyn dreaded it too, but she was more scared of the strange presence she’d felt in her room.   

Nana continued.  Ten feet of snow and the occasional flood.

That’s strange weather for this part of the country, Ashlyn said.

The red net messes with weather patterns, said Nana.  You probably didn’t notice when you were cooped up at Sublime mansion.

Everyone knew not to mention the Sublime family around her.  They seemed to think she would break like fine china if she were reminded of the vampires who had previously owned her.  True, she didn’t like thinking of them, but that didn’t mean they had never existed.  How could she not think of them?  Jensen had taken her virginity.  Vienna had eventually become a close friend.  They were hard to dislodge from her thoughts, no matter how much she tried.

Forget all this talk of the weather, said Nana.  We have work to do.

Harry pressed his hand against the cold, damp wooden floor of Ashlyn’s room.  He could almost feel her presence, taunting him. 

It can’t be her, he whispered.

A draft of wind ruffled the sleeve of his shirt.  He turned around, expecting a presence, but there was nothing there.

Are you here? he demanded.  Show yourself!

He heard a whisper on the wind, saying, Feel the cold...

He ran into the main room of the house, slamming the door behind him, hoping to lock away his rising terror.  Nothing should scare him, not anymore.  He’d lived through wars and evolutions and countless bloody assassination attempts.  A mere whisper, barely heard, shouldn’t scare him.

Yet it did, and it made him more scared, and more angry, and...

Hungry. Hungry for blood.

There was a timid knock at the door.  It pulled him out of his thirst for blood and memories of the cold.  He could do this.  She wasn’t here to torment him.  She was dead.  As for his blood lust...