by Penny Knight
Slowly. I peel her hands off mine, as her tears fall.
I take a step back.
Irina hiccups through a sob. Why is she crying, for the love of her children, other children? Guilt?
“Please, just leave. Go. Please just go,” she wails.
I take another step back.
The vision of her as she so desperately pleads for me to go is now burned into my brain.
I’m on autopilot, not in control of my body. My mind is empty. I’m empty. There’s nothing else for me here. Pulling down my big dark shades over my eyes, I turn.
I don’t look at anything other than the black door to the car I came from.
There’s movement, legs walking. Even voices, but nothing is penetrating. I know the plan now. We had gone over it early this morning and again before we entered Victoria.
So, I know when the car speeds off, Leo, and I are on our own. I won’t have to see the pity looks from the guys. Or acknowledge what happened. I don’t even know where I’m going. Only Broderick and Leo do. The last time I was in this exact situation was when Irina left me alone, and now I know why.
She sold me.
In the car, I lay my head back and wish we were already there.
“If you think you can handle it, we can ditch the car and we can be there in a few minutes?” Leo asks, reading my mind.
“Yes. Please,” I say without lifting my head or opening my eyes.
That’s all he needs to hear.
This time I close my eyes and let my body slip into unconsciousness. I wake when he whispers my name in my ear, still in his arms.
“Elita.” Leo gives me a gentle squeeze.
I open my eyes.
He still hasn’t let me go. The rush of the travel and being so close to him, has me at a loss for words. It’s hard to take my eyes away from his.
Maybe this is how he enslaves people.
With that reminder, I step out from his arms. It’s then I’m thrown back into my reality and the events of what just happened.
He lets me go.
“I need to get our things, don’t move from here, ok?”
I nod, surveying the room.
My hair blows in the wind as Leo flies past me. For an immortal who cannot go in the sunlight, it surprises me why there are always so many windows where he lives.
What doesn’t surprise me is the drinks tray in the corner of the room. My brain doesn’t even have to think about it. I make my way to the bottle of amber liquid that’s a staple anywhere Leo goes.
Time to find out what it tastes like.
Just as I finish pouring the drink and put the glass to my lips, the door flies open. Leo appears with our duffel bags.
He looks to where I was, but it doesn’t take long for him to find me in the corner. Long enough, though, that I already have downed my first shot.
“Um...” he raises a brow.
“Nope, don’t even try it.” I pour again.
“It won’t help.” He drops the bag on the floor.
I roll my eyes. Nothing will help. Does he think I’m stupid? I just don’t want to feel. Not this. Not the pain, the disappointment, more importantly, the anger.
And the anger is fire, burning through me.
I down the shot again, clenching the empty glass in my hand.
Who does she think she is to treat me like that? To treat anyone like that. How can I have come from her? She would never love me. I didn’t stand a chance. Is that what is in my future, is that in my blood? Would I do the same? I already don’t like people, maybe because I’m just like her.
She sold me.
No.
No way. I am nothing like that. My eyes brim with unshed tears. I pour again. This time a smaller portion as my stomach already burns.
I down it.
But it doesn’t fade. The anger is there, and I can’t do anything to suppress it.
“Throw it.” Leo still hasn’t moved.
“What?” I snap and cannot muster an ounce of kindness in my voice.
He nods to the glass.
I look to the glass in my hand, my veins protruding and my fingers going white.
“Throw it.” I look back to Leo as he urges again.
My breathing is heavier, my chest rising and falling rapidly, my anger seeps out of my pores.
“Throw it!” he says louder.
I do.
The glass smashes, pieces rupture against the wall coming back to me with force but not quite reaching me.
Astonishingly, it feels great.
“Let it out, Elita.”
I do. Whatever is in my path is up for my destruction. The other glass standing there on its own on the table, the vase by the three-seater lounge overlooking the wooden fireplace.
I tear the room apart; what I can lift and throw, I do. Every time I hear the shattering sound it soothes this rage, this beast that’s inside me.
I make it back to where I started and grab the bottle of the delicious amber liquid and prepare to throw it where the family of glasses lay. But my hand is stopped.
I am heaving.
“Maybe not this.” He gently takes it out of my hand.
That’s all I need. His soft touch takes me out of my fuelled mayhem.
The tears stop.
I hadn’t been aware that they started.
“I hate her,” I say.
“Me, too.”
It’s then I know what will make me feel better, I know exactly what I need. What I want. What I’ve longed for since I first saw him.
My lips find his.
He has no time to prepare, and it takes a moment before he returns my needy embrace.
He returns my kiss, and with vigour.
My back hits the wall as his hands cup my face, devouring me just as my hands are devouring him.
Anger has turned to lust, want and need.
My body moves on its own, wrapping my legs around him. He adjusts and I feel what I was craving between my legs.
I moan and throw my head back.
He takes this opportunity to kiss my neck. The pleasure overwhelming.
“Elita?” he rasps. I feel him slowing.
No, he is not going to stop this.
I move against his hips, and he thrusts in response with a guttural moan.
“Are you sure?” he pants.
How he can talk is beyond me. I can’t form words. The only answer I give is to kiss him again.
My eyes close as the ecstasy pulses between us.
The hard wall fades into a soft cloud and I sink deeper and deeper into it.
I realise when his weight is off me, we are no longer in the trashed living room, but on a large bed in our little cabin for two.
It’s then I look down at his devilish grin and hungry eyes while he peels off my jeans.
It’s a sight that I will never forget, and a night that I never fathomed could result in as much pleasure as I experienced.
A cool breeze wakes me from a deep sleep. The fluttering curtain of the open window, lets the sea breeze in, chilling my bare body. I’m not surprised about the drumming in my head, the effects of my binge drinking hitting hard.
I sit up, pulling the sheets to cover my nakedness.
Leo’s not in bed and nowhere in sight.
It doesn’t matter, all that matters is going back to sleep. I flop down and my sore muscles get back into position. This time though, deliciously sore. Pulling the sheet high, I take the slight crisp breeze off.
Closing my eyes and with a smile, I drift back into my peaceful slumber.
That is until my bladder calls.
Ignoring it seems the only logical thing right now. My body is basically already off in lala land. My eyes won’t open. There’s no way I’m going to be able to move.
It rings louder.
Then the sounds of the ocean from that dumb window flow in.
I bolt upright in bed with unknown strength. Probably the part in my brain that is telling me not to pee in L
eo’s bed.
My eyes don’t stay open and I decide that’s ok. I have four other senses to help me out.
A few bumps and soft knocks later, I realise I need a little more guidance. I make it into the narrow corridor. There’s a soft light coming from the next room and I follow.
Hoping it leads to a bathroom. I don’t mind at all when I’m wrong. I smile and watch Leo’s bare back as he leans on his knees, head bowed down.
That’s odd.
I move a bit closer and realise he’s bowed over a book. The light from the room comes from seven candles. In the middle, the book.
Shit, he must be in prayer or something.
I silently and quickly push off from the open door. I don’t know what religion it was, but he was very invested. I didn’t even know he was religious. Wait a minute. If he’s over two thousand years old, does that mean he lived through it?
If only my brain could switch off like my body and my eyes are dying to do. I need to save these questions for later and focus on one thing.
Sleep.
Bathroom, then sleep.
Finally, after finding the toilet and relieving myself. I get back in bed. Sneaking past Leo, I have no interest in intruding in his private time, I curl up under the covers.
My eyes close once more and when they open again, it’s because the sun is shining. It’s morning and this time Leo is here.
Not in bed. But sitting right beside me.
“Morning.” I smile at him. Last night flashing in my mind. Warmth fills within and for the first time in a long time, I’m excited to wake.
His throat bobs as he swallows hard. He takes a moment to close his eyes and when they open again, they’ve changed.
They are still the same blue, but there’s sadness in them.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
What is he sorry about?
“Did something happen?” I jolt upright, remembering at the last minute I’m naked underneath. I pull the sheet up fast, but it feels different over my skin.
Not just any part of my skin, my stomach.
My stomach that feels larger, more swollen.
I look down.
“Elita. I am so sorry.” He clears his throat. “There was no other choice.”
I stare down in disbelief.
“I just don’t understand,” I say, not breaking eye contact from my obviously swollen belly. My hand, of its own volition, moves and lands on the peak of the new mound.
“I’m sorry.” He now sounds resigned. “You’re pregnant.”
The fear in her face, the hatred in her eyes as she slammed the door shut, screaming for me to leave her alone, will be something I’ll carry with me for many years to come.
Even how painful that was to see. It will not come close to knowing what I had with her for one sweet night, I will never have again.
That will be my punishment for withholding the truth from her. Even though when I made the choice to complete the ritual, I believed there might be some hope she would understand.
That was wiped away within the first ten minutes she was awake. The only thing now is to make it right. To keep her safe and healthy. But, more importantly, comfortable.
Can I earn back her trust? I’ll always try, but I don’t have much hope.
She slept well into the day, her body recovering from all her trauma. Also growing our child inside. When she wasn’t crying, that is.
The doctor should be here soon, with Broderick and Topher. I’m not looking forward to this. She’s been on the phone to him on and off for the last few hours. Through her tears, she explains what happened. Even I hate myself listening to her cries.
I have finished cleaning the destruction in the living room. That would have painted a terrible picture and a complete inaccurate account of what happened.
Did I tell her she would wake to carrying my child? No. But I never forced and never was going to. I had positioned myself knowing that I was not going to coerce her into anything she didn’t want to do.
I just didn’t apply that to after.
If she hadn’t kissed me, I would never have taken advantage of the condition she was in.
But I am a man at my core. As soon as her lips touched mine, l wanted to be inside her more than I wanted anything.
Whilst I watched her sleep and the Venus Transit passing, I remembered my duty as the King of Immortalies and the protector of humans.
I’ve been in this job for too long. I’m getting tired. Constant aggravations of watching history just repeat itself, fixing the same mistakes that each generation creates.
A new king is needed. The only one that can rule has to come from my bloodline. This was the only chance I’ve ever had to complete the birthing ritual with my fated partner.
How can I explain thousands of years of history and duty to her? To understand I didn’t have a choice.
There is loud banging at the door.
“Hurry, open the door.” The kid keeps pounding away.
I do not make him wait.
As soon as the door opens, he pushes past me, frantically looking around.
“Where is she?” His face hard, his eyes murderous. This is not the same kid from the day before.
“Down the hall, last door to your right.” He looks at me with disdain.
“I can’t believe she was fucking right about you. She told me you had ulterior motives and not to trust you!” The venom in his voice infecting me.
I nod.
There is nothing to say that would have mattered. I deserve his wrath, in fact I’d do worse.
He curses at my lack of response before running directly to the room.
I listen intently.
He knocks softly. “Elita, it’s me honey. Open up.”
Her cries start again. I hear her feet patter as the door opens. Her tears are even more vivid, even more soul crushing.
It must be then the kid sees her rounded belly.
“Oh my god!” he gasps. “What did he do to you?”
I wince.
She doesn’t respond, only slams the door shut and cries.
“Rough day.” Broderick hands me a drink.
I shake my head and wave off the offer.
He downs it himself. Maybe he was talking about himself having to be holed up with the kid, breaking his balls to bring him to her.
“You had no other choice.” He tries the same reasoning I’ve been feeding myself all morning.
“I could have told her the truth earlier.”
“Would she have agreed?”
“Obviously not.” Still, that was a choice, and a choice that I took away from her.
“The whole thing has always been pre-destined, Leo. There was no way you could pass it up.”
“You haven’t seen her yet.” Easy for him to see the bigger picture, when he hasn’t seen the broken woman, I left behind the bedroom door.
He looks down. “No, I haven’t.”
“I am sorry to interrupt, but I will need to see Elita soon to check on her vitals and the baby.” The doctor interrupts tired of waiting patiently.
I rub my face. Now, how am I going to convince her to let him in?
I crack my neck to the side.
“Follow me,” I say.
We get to the door and knock. “Elita, I have the doctor here to help you.”
“Go away!” she yells through the door.
“Please, he can just make sure you’re doing ok.”
“Obviously I am not fucking doing ok.”
I clench my jaw. I hate talking to this wooden door and fighting my urges to rip it open. I need to find a way to convince her.
“Elita, please let me in.” The doctor tries. “Let me just make sure you and the baby are doing ok. I can then explain to you how and what to expect for the rest of the week.”
There is silence on the other end.
“What do you mean the rest of the week?” she asks.
Here goes. I take a step back not looking forwa
rd to her reaction.
“The gestation period for you will be completed within the week. You will have the baby within seven days, so it’s important we make you as comfortable as possible and ensure you and the baby are ok,” the doctor says.
Silence.
The door squeaks open.
It’s the kid that answers it.
“Not you,” he spits at me. “Just the doctor.”
That is all I need. I nod in acceptance. I don’t get to see her before the doctor slips inside.
Here I am the outsider, the bad guy. It’s now me that has been added to her list of people that have unequivocally let her down.
My gaze is locked on the waves crashing over the rocks lining our private cove, pummelling the defenseless rocks repeatedly. Over time, its surface will erode and gradually it will surrender to the unrelenting sea. That rock’s fate is just as sealed as my own.
Mine has always been to live this life alone.
I’ve tried many times to change that. Finding a woman that will stick with all that comes with me. Impossible.
Human.
Immortal.
Divinian.
Shifters.
There would always be one thing that would make them leave. I could never give them my heart, I could never give them a family. Ultimately, they knew if I met my fated mate, I would leave them and there was nothing they could do about it.
“Broderick,” I say, sensing him behind me.
“I can come back for the briefing later.”
“No, go ahead.” Work, like always, will take my attention away from my pathetic brooding.
“We got word back from the Anax for the shifters here. They want a sit down.”
“Did they answer to what happened at her work?”
“Denied it was them. But they did claim there were a few deserters that have been wrapped up in The Uprising.”
“They can say what they like. But I want to know why there was one explosion at the Versiti Institute and one at her work in the same week? That’s no coincidence.”
“So, we go to the sit down and find out what the fuck is going on. Have you met Reid Jackson before?”
“Briefly last year, after he was promoted.” I had no objections to the promotion. He seemed to value the same need for abiding by the global law. Now, suddenly, the shifters are involved with the growing Uprising.
