“I will.” Leonid opened the main door and looked out over the dark night, his Vampyre eyes seeing further in the dark than Tegan’s. “There is no need for you to come out any further, I will be quicker.”
“Of course,” Tegan felt the tears welling up and desperately fought them back.
Leonid held his arms out and she hurried into the hug from him. “Be strong, be swift, be safe.”
As the tears spilled over Tegan repeated the farewell to the only parent she had ever known. “Be strong, be swift, be safe.” Her father pulled her closer for a moment and then he was gone. Tegan stood in the doorway for a moment, before closing the door with a heavy sigh.
“Are you okay?”
She turned to see Sloane standing there waiting. “No, but I will be.”
“We’re waiting for you, so we can have ice cream.” Sloane held his hand out to her, “It’s salted caramel and you’re going to love it.”
Tegan smiled as she took his hand and didn’t protest as her cousin pulled her into a quick hug. “C’mon, I’ll let you have double scoops.”
The two of them headed back to the dining room, Sloane was quiet for which Tegan was grateful. Once they were back in the room, Salem asked one of the Sentinels to fetch the ice cream from the kitchen.
“You are okay?” Salem asked her and seemed slightly more at ease when Tegan nodded and straightened in her seat.
“I am fine,” she gave a rueful laugh. “I will be fine.”
The bowls of ice cream arrived and the four of them ate in silence, before inevitably Sloane broke the silence. “Did I not tell you it was delicious?”
“You did, thank you.”
They all looked up as the door opened and a petite blonde walked in, followed by Michael. Her glare for Tegan was deadly before she turned her attention to Salem. “Well this is cosy. Not one day and already she’s in my seat? Tell me dad, how many more of your bastards can we expect?”
Tegan was frozen for a moment before she registered that this was obviously Zahra, who was currently being chastised quietly by her brother.
“Bastard? I don’t understand the term,” Tegan turned to Sloane seeking clarification. Sloane’s face showed his displeasure and he flinched when Tegan questioned him.
“It’s an old term that humans used for children born out of wedlock, or also as a curse word,” Marcus explained to Tegan. “But I believe Zahra was referencing the former.” His stare was hard as he regarded Zahra who was still standing somewhat defiantly in the doorway.
“But we are not human, we are Akrhyn.” Tegan turned to the blonde. “Have you spent so much time with humans that you forget who and what you are?”
Sloane coughed out a laugh as he reached for his glass of water, but Tegan was watching Zahra closely. She was petite, short platinum curls framed her heart-shaped face; her eyes were a rich brown. She looked absolutely nothing like her brother or her father, or me Tegan thought.
“Zahra, you will apologise immediately, to both Tegan and I,” Salem stood, his back straight and proud as he addressed his daughter.
“No.” Her tone was defiant, her spiteful glare pinned on Tegan the whole time.
“Go to your room,” Salem ordered. “Michael make sure she stays there.”
“Father,” he took his sister’s arm and as he led her to the door, he cast an apologetic look over his shoulder towards Tegan.
“Sloane, will you attend your betrothed?” Salem asked quietly.
“Nah, I’m going to take Reflection with my cousin,” Sloane stood extending his arm to Tegan. “I’ll show you the normal training rooms and the library – you know, give you a chance to appreciate it now that you’re not breaking into it?”
“May I take leave?” Tegan asked the two Elders. They both nodded and she stood, taking Sloane’s outstretched arm. Sloane walked her to the door but paused when Tegan looked back at Salem.
“It was never mother’s intention for us to meet,” Tegan explained softly. “I am only here for necessity. It was never her intention, or my intention to cause you upset.” Bowing her head, she left the room with her cousin.
“Did you mean, Aunt Celeste?” Sloane asked as the door closed behind them.
“Yes,” Tegan let out a slow breath. “Mother kept diaries and when I was younger, father gave them to me so I could know her better,” she smiled sadly.
“Cornelius has told me and my brothers so many stories of his fearless sister, Celeste, as I grew up, but there was no mention of a pregnancy.” Sloane looked at his cousin. “I have a few favourite stories of hers. I can tell you them if you want?” Sloane offered hesitantly.
“I would like that very much,” Tegan glanced at him as they walked to the library. “I am apprehensive to meet him.”
“Cornelius?” Sloane asked. “You should be, he’s madder than the Ancient Harrian.”
“You speak the Ancients names so freely, with no reverence,” Tegan admonished him. “You should show respect, cousin.”
“Tegan, when was the last time an Ancient was documented? I doubt even your father Leonid would have been alive. I know Marcus has never seen one of them and he’s a few hundred years old.” Sloane shrugged indifferently. “I think they’re made up fantasies of fanatics of long ago.”
“I think you should do extra Reflection tonight,” Tegan suggested quietly. “If what you say is true,” she carried on as they entered the library, “then how do you explain The Sisters?”
“Castors,” Sloane scoffed confidently.
“It takes more than magic to achieve the phenomenon that is the Sisters,” she replied as she took a seat in front of a large fire. “Have you ever met them?”
“The Sisters? No,” Sloane lounged comfortably on a couch, stretching his long legs out in front of him.
“I have, many times.” Tegan shook her head, “Trust me, they are more than Castors.”
“I have so many questions for you,” Sloane studied her intently. “But it would be wrong to ask without Michael present.”
“What do you mean? Do you need his permission to ask questions?” Tegan teased.
“No, but I want to learn about you, your life and it would be wrong to do so without him here. He is just as eager to learn about you as I am.” Sloane frowned as he looked away from her. “I’m sorry about Zahra, she was rude.”
“I didn’t expect her to like me, I’m a big shock when you think about it,” Tegan shrugged as she got comfortable on her seat. “I’m more surprised that Michael has been more accommodating and willing to know about me.”
“He’s a good Akrhyn, a great friend and a loyal brother, your first meeting with him was truly out of character for him,” Sloane sighed. “But I think you can see with how quick he has come around, that he’s a good Akrhyn.”
“It was quite a rapid turnaround,” Tegan admitted softly. “I must confess, I thought it was a trick of some sort.”
“No, there are no tricks.”
“This is strange,” Tegan admitted as she looked around the library. There were no other people that she could see, but it was a large room. There were couches on one side, situated around an open fire. Behind them were a few tables with chairs, and the remainder of space was taken up with bookcases. The large windows at the far end provided a clear view of night sky. It was very peaceful in here, she realised.
“What’s strange?” Sloane asked her as he watched her take in her surroundings.
“I’m usually in the training room with father during Reflection.”
“You had such an active day, I thought you would prefer some actual Reflection tonight,” Sloane explained.
Tegan smiled at him in appreciation. “It’s nice, thank you.”
The door to the library opened and Michael walked in when he saw them sitting. “Hey, can I join?” he looked uncertainly at Tegan.
“If you wish.”
Michael came over and sat down beside Sloane. The two of them regarded her quietly.
“Salem
tearing into her?” Sloane asked Michael as he lay back closing his eyes.
“Yeah, she’s crying so I left.”
“You don’t like to see your sister upset?” Tegan asked.
“Well no, but she isn’t upset. She thinks if she cries, dad will forgive her,” Michael shrugged uncomfortably. “He won’t though, her words and the way she treated you, are unacceptable.” He held up his hand as Tegan went to interrupt. “It’s a shock to us, I know that, we weren’t expecting you. But, Zahra well, she was unforgivable. I explained it all to her, but she obviously didn’t listen.” Michael sighed. “I don’t know if she will come around to the fact that you’re our sister.”
“That’s okay, I didn’t come to disrupt things. I have been placed here by the Great Council to do my duty as an Elite Sentinel. Anything else I get out of this will be a bonus.”
“If you didn’t look so much like us, would Leonid have told us who you were?” Michael asked as he watched her.
“Yes,” Tegan was honest. “Mother didn’t want Salem to know – she knew it would bring him grief and she didn’t want that. I have been loved and cared for in my home all my life, very much like your sister, I have wanted for nothing,” Tegan stood to stand closer to the fire. “This life of training, I wanted. This is who I am meant to be, an Elite Sentinel protecting my people and humans from Drakhyn and other rogues.” Pulling her braid over her shoulder she continued, “The ways of Court and even the Heir, I am not interested in.”
“So, you don’t want to be Heir?” Sloane asked with a quick look to Michael.
“If I am Heir, I will be Heir. But if I am not, then I will serve as I have been trained.”
“It’s kind of an important thing to be Heir, Tegan,” Michael was fixated on his hands as he spoke to her. “I know as I have been training for it all my life.”
“Are you so very desperate to govern the Territory and rule?” she enquired as she watched him.
“It’s what I am trained to do,” Michael raised his eyes to meet hers.
“I’ve been training to kill,” she replied.
“There’s more to life than killing Drakhyn,” Sloane scoffed.
“There is no life with Drakhyn in it. There is no peace. They prey on the weak, the humans, the lesser supernaturals. We must cleanse them of this world.”
“You sound like a fanatic,” Sloane sneered. “You’re eighteen years old, don’t you want to live a little first?”
“I am living!” Tegan snapped. “The Ancients blessed me with my speed, agility, skills and these blessings are for hunting. Protection. Making this world a safer place for those living in it.” She took a deep breath. “Have you ever seen what a Drakhyn can do to its victims? Have you ever seen a woman after a Drakhyn has forced themselves on her, impregnated her? They are mindless, catatonic shells, they die in childbirth as the Drakhyn spawn rips itself free of the womb. Even Supernaturals, Lycans, Castors, beings who are stronger than humans, die – there is no survival for the host.” Tegan took a shaky breath. “How can I live in a world where I know this is happening and do nothing? How can anyone?”
Sloane was looking at her with a frown, clearly not in agreement with her, but Michael’s head was bent, his hands gripped together fiercely. Michael slowly raised his head to look at Tegan as the silence stretched. “We aren’t ignoring them, Tegan. We aren’t sitting here pretending that they aren’t out there. We hunt, relentlessly. Father is one of the most proactive Headquarters making sure they’re hunted, their numbers low. We protect this territory fiercely. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t do other things, that we don’t live and take time to actually experience life.” Michael’s stare was hard as he spoke to her. “How do you know what you’re fighting so hard for if you haven’t experienced it yourself?”
“Yeah cuz, you’ve been holed up with Leonid. Have you ever just sat down, relaxed and had a conversation with anyone the same age as you?” Sloane asked.
“This isn’t about me! Why are you always trying to make it sound like I have been a prisoner?” Tegan demanded.
“Answer the question; have you ever sat down, in a non-hunting party and spoken to Sentinels of the same age as you?” Michael demanded.
“Not exactly,” Tegan stared hard into the fire.
Michael and Sloane exchanged a look. “Are we the first Sentinels of the same age as you that you have spoken to?” Sloane asked softly.
“Maybe,” Tegan shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“How could he keep you so isolated?” Michael demanded. “You say you weren’t a prisoner, but you weren’t free to come and go as you please were you?”
“I hunted when I chose to,” Tegan defended herself and her father.
“Hunted. Solitary.” Michael was pacing back and forth and it was making Tegan dizzy. “He claims you could be Heir but how can you be? You have no idea how to interact with anyone. You don’t know the ways of Court and Marcus says you know nothing of humans, except how to keep them from being killed.”
“I’d say the latter is pretty important,” Tegan muttered. “You say you are not thinking about being Heir, but you seem obsessed with it. Does it mean that much to you?”
“It means everything,” Michael admitted. “But because I believe I am the best one for the role. Now you are here, and we are equal in birth, but I don’t think you are best for the role. You are ignorant in terms of etiquette and negotiation.”
“I am equal in birth, but I am the better fighter, the better strategist, the better defender of this Territory. No, I may not be as skilled in being sociable, but I am, as you said, eighteen. I have plenty of time to learn.” Tegan regarded them both coldly. “Every Trial I have undertaken has been completed with time to spare. I have been fighting Elite Sentinels since I was four years old. When did you take your first Trial, brother?”
“Five,” Michael bit out.
“Against who?” Tegan asked, but she already knew the answer. “Oh wait, it was Sloane was it not?”
“If you knew, why ask?” Sloane demanded.
“To prove a point,” Marcus who had just come into the library, walked over to them and took a seat on one of the couches. “Leonid did not say you were arrogant, Tegan. But then, living with him, maybe you don’t recognise it for what it is?”
“It is not arrogance,” Tegan scowled. “I am the better fighter.”
“But that doesn’t make you the better Sentinel,” Marcus pointed out.
“No, I never said I was better,” Michael looked at her in disbelief. “I didn’t say I was better than you for Heir. I said I was better than you when it came to fighting,” she exhaled tiredly. “This is pointless, I should be training.”
“Why do you think it is pointless?” Marcus asked, watching her carefully.
“Because you will never accept that this is what I want to do,” Tegan stood and made her way to the door. “My father didn’t keep me locked up, I was free to come and go when I pleased. I didn’t want to meet others, I didn’t want to spend time with them other than hunt with them. I don’t want to be sitting around a fire discussing inconsequential things like males, females, fashion. I want to be out there; hunting, killing, ridding this world of as many Drakhyn as possible. They are a scourge on this world and their numbers are increasing. I want to know why, I want to stop them, I want to never see another torn apart corpse that I could have saved.” Her gaze swept over all of them. “That is why the Great Council conducted my Trials at home, why I was trained against Elite Sentinels. This is who I am and what I was meant to be. If I am Heir, I am Heir. My fight against Drakhyn and other dark beings will not stop for a social engagement.” The three males sat in silence when Tegan was finished. “Thank you for the company, but I still have to patrol tonight.” With a nod, Tegan left the library.
Michael, Sloane and Marcus sat in silence for a few moments before Sloane looked at them both. “She totally believes it.”
“She should,” Marcus answered. “I spoke to C
ouncil Elder Anika earlier. She raved about her. Said she is the best they have ever seen. They are keen for her to take up her post and start training others.”
“But she doesn’t know Court,” Sloane protested weakly.
“Yes, but as she said, she can learn. Plus, the Great Council doesn’t care if she knows it, they want her and a hundred others like her, out there, patrolling and hunting.” Marcus stood too. “Try not to push her – she is fragile even if she thinks she isn’t. Leonid helped mould her into a soldier, but she is still young, vulnerable. She will need you both in the coming weeks. I had hoped Zahra may help, but alas, your father has sent her back to her school.”
“He sent Zahra away?” Michael jumped to his feet in shock.
“She would not listen, and she is too angry to try. She would only bring discord,” Marcus explained.
“She didn’t want to see me?” Michael’s hand was on the library door handle, paused in the act of leaving.
“She found out you were here with Tegan, she chose to leave without telling you.”
“By the Ancients,” Michael cursed. “This whole evening has been a disaster.”
“It has taken a sour turn,” Marcus agreed. “I am going to go offer to patrol with Tegan – an offer of peace.”
“She may stab you more than welcome you,” Sloane joked as he lay out on the couch, closing his eyes.
“She may be right to do so,” Marcus laughed as he headed out.
“You’re going to sleep?” Michael asked of his friend.
“Sure am. I’m on patrol in a few hours, perfect time for a nap.”
“You have a room with a bed,” Michael headed to the door. “And Zahra has left, so you don’t even have to pretend to talk to her.”
“I have no idea what you mean,” Sloane grumbled.
“Sure you don’t,” Michael closed the door firmly behind him.
“Low blow,” Sloane muttered as he heard the door close.
“Well that was enlightening.” The voice came from the darkness. Sloane kept his eyes closed, praying to the Ancients he had imagined it. “You’re ignoring me, brother?”
Into Darkness: The Akrhyn Series (Book 1) Page 10
