by Deirdra Eden
I squared my shoulders. Azrael and I would never let that happen. I tried to turn the focus back to finding Azrael. “If Azrael and Starfire are so important, why do you not have legions of Watchers looking for him?”
Zacaris pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. “Azrael seems intent on destroying himself. You are not much better, Auriella. You are reckless and dangerous.” Zacaris rounded the table and paced the room. His blue robes billowed behind him. “There is nothing we can do about Azrael until you have been trained for combat.”
“I’ve already been trained in combat when I was mortal.” I tried to sound polite, but the edge in my words defeated it. For as important as Zacaris made Azrael out to be, he seemed in no hurry to find him.
Zacaris’ eyes flashed with fury. “No, you are not trained. You are like a baby; you know nothing. You cry over everything.” He met my gaze and held it.
I clamped my teeth, tightening my jaw at his insults.
“You have to accept that Azrael may not ever come back to the sanctuary,” Zacaris said, his voice low and even. His words stung like a slap to the face. He clasped his hands behind his back and faced me, his expression heavy. “After you died, guilt consumed him until he abandoned his mission and left the sanctuary. It was his choice to leave.” Zacaris turned his gaze to the floor and sighed, sounding for the first time as though he might care. “Azrael is on his own crusade now.”
“What does that mean?” I clung to any hope, any hint of finding him.
Zacaris’ head snapped up, his eyes flashing again. “That rogue no longer obeys orders. He roams England, hunting shadows and recklessly slaying Legionnaires in great numbers. He’s been on a suicide mission looking for Erebus since you died. Since Erebus is still alive, it’s obvious Azrael hasn’t succeeded.” Zacaris’ eyes bored into my own with warning. “He is most likely dead.”
Eva had feared it. Korban and Orion had hinted as much. But still as the words slipped coldly from Zacaris’ lips, it stopped my breath as sure as if he had clamped his hands around my throat. Zacaris continued speaking, unfeeling to the ache writhing inside of me. “Azrael is probably in Neviah scolding himself because he is up there now and you are back on Earth.”
I put my hands to my heart, unsuccessfully trying to hold back my worry. “But he could still be alive?” My voice flooded with panic. “I need to know for sure. I need to find him.”
“You cannot return to the battlefield.” Zacaris said. “Erebus has most likely killed Azrael, and when he kills you as well, he will have both halves of Starfire.”
“No!” Angry fire washed over my skin, shooting a pillar six feet above me and still not even licking the roof. How could Zacaris give up so easily? Azrael was alive—I felt it—and nothing would keep me from saving him the way he has saved me.
A wave of flames shot from my hands. The eruption slammed me against the wall. I hadn’t meant such a forceful reaction, but at least the explosion expressed my rage better than my words. Flames still danced from my fingertips, bouncing over the stone floor in front of me before extinguishing.
Zacaris’ hazel eyes flashed a piercing gold light and fire billowed off his shoulders in powerful, controlled waves. His fierce tawny eyes stared back at me.
The fire he created danced around him like a deadly extension of his body that obeyed his every thought. The skills of the High Druid of Fire put my burning tantrum to shame. I wrapped my arms around myself and smothered the uncontrolled flames.
Zacaris’ flames dispersed like a switch he could turn on and off. “You must stay on the island to protect Starfire.” His controlled reaction and steady tone spoke louder than any lecture he might have given me on my irresponsible use of my powers.
The door opened and Eva glided into the room. I had no doubt she had heard our disagreement. She paused near me, laying a hand on my arm, calming me with her cool touch before moving toward Zacaris. She was my ally.
Zacaris’ expression changed when he saw her—the king of winter surrendered to the sun and melted into a radiant spring. When Eva neared, he held out his arms toward the angelic woman, and to my surprise, Eva returned his embrace. She slid one arm around his waist and with the other stroked his arm. Tension drained off of him like magic.
When Zacaris spoke again, it was in a more polite tone. “My wife, Eva, will teach you about the Neviahan culture, and I will train you to properly use your fire abilities.”
How could someone as hard and glacial as Zacaris attract and marry someone so warm and lovely as Eva? Anger at him for his harsh judgment against Azrael still sparked inside of me, and I considered refusing his offer. But my inability to control my new immortal fire proved Zacaris was right. I needed training, but I didn’t want this beautiful island to be my prison. I would find Azrael. I wasn’t going to give up on him.
“Listen carefully, Auriella,” Zacaris said. Though still polite, his tone grew hard. “There is no time for you to be ignorant. Beyond these borders there is war. You may be Immortal, but there are things worse than death, and every last one of them is hunting you.”
Chapter Four
Eva
Exhaustion would have plunged me into a deep sleep if my mind hadn’t been terrorized with the faces of shadowy rebels who sought to destroy me. It was rare for a Watcher to become an Immortal and even rarer for one to join with the Rebellion. I didn’t understand how someone could turn their back on the King of Neviah after they’d gotten to the point where they’d actually received immortality. How could they betray us?
Destructive images of crumbling stone, burning forests, and dead humans and Watchers filled my mind all night long. Though it was still night I left my room and strolled the dark hallways of the palace. I stepped out onto a balcony that had a view of the ocean. The distant sound of waves and the heavy sea air called me to come closer. I left the palace and made my way to the beach. As I walked closer to the water, each grain of soft sand tickled the soles of my bare feet. I sat on the dark shore, listening to the crash of waves around me.
I had to get trained as soon as possible and then find Azrael. Without my ability to use Starfire, the Rebellion would be almost impossible to defeat. According to the others, no one had seen or heard from Azrael in years. My imagination concocted one cruel scenario after another where it concerned him, but I had to believe he was still alive. The sun always rose, no matter how dark the night. It had risen over countless battlefields and broken hearts before. This morning would be no different.
The first glint of fiery gold sun appeared on the horizon of the choppy sea. Coral and lavender hues painted the sky. The wind shifted, pushing the cold Atlantic waves at a diagonal, creating the illusion that the beach was moving.
I unraveled the shawl around my bare shoulders and soaked the energy from the sun into my skin. Sunlight rushed through me, banishing all desire for sleep that carried the plague of nightmares. As long as I consumed enough sun, I wouldn’t have to eat or sleep anymore.
As much as I didn’t want to train under Zacaris, I needed his help finding Azrael and learning to control my powers. It was easy for me to destroy, but much harder to stop the flames once they started spewing. I had used the power of Starfire once and almost killed Korban. Azrael had risked his life to stop me. It was like trying to stop lightning from hitting the earth. I never wanted to see the charred body of a loved one because I couldn’t control my powers.
The aroma of warm fruit flooded the air. I turned to see Eva walking along the beach toward me. A golden lion trailed after her like an enormous kitten. He had a soft, round belly and adorable rolls of fur and fat falling over his legs. The silver tray in Eva’s hands glinted in the morning light. She beamed as bright as the sun in the same motherly way I had only seen my adoptive mother, Lady Hannah, smile.
“I brought you something to eat. You will need all the energy you can get for your training today,” Eva cautioned sweetly.
I hesitated to put anything into my stomach, but the small, ro
und sugar-sprinkled cakes on the platter looked delicious. If Eva thought I would need the extra energy maybe she knew something about Zacaris’ training I didn’t.
I took one of the small cakes from the platter. It was dense, more the consistency of bread than cake, but sweeter. It combined with the tartness of whatever fruit Eva had mixed in. The comforting taste made me think of my former home with Lady Hannah and remembered the love and belonging I’d felt there. For a moment my anxiety lessened. “This is wonderful. What is it?”
Eva’s round face glowed at my compliment. “Cranberry-citrus …” She put a finger to her lips, squinting as she searched for the right word. “I believe in England you call them biscuits, sweet ones.” Lady Hannah’s cook had made sweet biscuits like this, almond flavored. When I closed my eyes, I could almost taste them again. I took another bite of Eva’s biscuits and reminded myself to be lady-like and not shove the whole thing into my mouth at once.
“Please, have some more,” she offered. As she held the tray down, the lion attempted to smuggle some of the food off. With a laugh and a gentle pat to his head, her fingers lingering in his mane, she pushed his large head away.
Decades had passed since I had last eaten, and I didn’t remember food tasting this good. “Where did you learn to cook so well?” The lion abandoned his attempts to steal sweet biscuits from Eva and leaned toward me, sniffing my hands.
Eva hummed a pleasant laugh. “Lots of practice. I’ve been a mother for hundreds of years.”
When Eva looked away, I gave a sweet biscuit to the begging lion. “It must be hard being an Immortal and…” I trailed off as I realized this was not an appropriate conversation to have with Eva. It was the thing I feared most about becoming an Immortal—watching everyone die while I lived on. I swallowed.
“Come sit with me.” Eva motioned toward a cluster of sun-bleached driftwood on the beach. She sat daintily on the driftwood, settling her skirts around her, looking majestic. It was like watching a queen of light sit on a royal throne. Her lion plopped down at her feet, letting out a long breath that mimicked a sigh of adoration for Eva.
I sat in the sand next to the lion and stroked his cotton-like mane. The lion lifted his head, asking for me to scratch under his chin.
“How long have you been an Immortal?” I asked Eva.
Eva smiled at the question. “Almost five hundred years now.”
“Was it hard for you after you became an Immortal?” I hoped the stinging Immortal pain and the inability to control my powers was normal and that after hundreds of years I would be as well adjusted to immortality as Eva.
She nodded. “At first it was. I suffered from Immortal Pain and could feel the hurt, anguish, and even joy and love of everyone around me. It was too much.” She looked out over the sea. “Zacaris was there for me. His love healed my sorrow, especially after all my sisters grew old and died.”
The lion started to drool under my touch when I scratched behind his ears. “How did you and Zacaris meet?” I asked wanting to hear a love story with a happy ending since my own was turning out to be a tragedy.
“Zacaris and I met when I was only seventeen. My father was a Jew and disapproved of me marrying a gentile druid. Zacaris did everything he could. He brought my father gifts and offering his servitude in exchange for my hand in marriage. But my father was set in our traditions and refused to let Zacaris into our home. Still, Zacaris and I found ways to be together.” A smile enhanced her high cheekbones and her dark blue eyes danced against her warm-toned skin. “We had only known each other for a few months, but I wanted to be with him forever. I prayed to our god that he would soften my father’s heart and allow us to marry. I begged him to grant Zacaris’ request.
“Father told me I didn’t know ‘his kind’ and their heathen druid ways. Little did any of us know that I was one of ‘his kind’ too. My Watcher gifts are of the Order of Life. I can read people, feel their feelings and sense their thoughts. I can even connect with people who are not born or who have died a long time ago. I didn’t know anything about Zacaris’ powers, the great Kingdom of Neviah, or the war with Erebus. All I knew was that I loved Zacaris.”
I pressed my face into the lion’s silky fur at his neck, letting it muffle my sigh at the sweet romance. A family’s displeasure seemed such a small thing now, though it must have felt insurmountable for Eva when she was a mortal.
“Zacaris and I had a meeting place,” she went on. “An oasis just outside of town. At night, I would stow away and meet my love there. Father suspected our secret, so he hosted countless feasts and parties for Jewish families with eligible sons, hoping to find me a suitable husband, but I refused them all.” Eva closed her eyes, her expression stricken. “My father beat me for it. I couldn’t get out of bed I was in so much pain.”
The lion growled protectively as if he wished he could have saved Eva from her father’s beating. I felt the same way. Eva patted the lion’s head.
“As usual, Zacaris went to our secret oasis after nightfall. He waited half the night for me. When I didn’t come he knew something was wrong, so he started for my home. My father’s servants were waiting along the trail for him.” Eva pressed her lips and furrowed her brow, but somehow she didn’t look angry. “That’s how Zacaris died.”
I swallowed hard and lowered my gaze to the sparkling, sun-kissed sand.
“My father assured me Zacaris went back to his native land, but I knew my love would never leave without me. I had nothing to do with any suitor who sought my hand. I couldn’t marry someone else while I was still in love with Zacaris. It wasn’t until my father died, four years later, that Zacaris returned for me—immortal and beautiful.”
“His revival sleep didn’t take as long as mine,” I noted.
Eva laughed softly and pushed a strand of my hair out of my face, then let her fingers trail along my hairline before she sat back again. She did it as though it was a habit. “The king gives everyone a gift when they return to Neviah, like your flaming sword. All Zacaris wanted was time with me.
“He awoke out of revival sleep almost immediately. He could hear the men who had killed him just down the road, walking away. It was out of respect for my father, the man who had arranged his murder, that Zacaris waited to come for me. Though I didn’t see him during those years, he was always nearby, watching me, waiting for the right time to take me away.
“After we were married, I awoke like this.” She held out her arms. “When I became the wife of an Immortal Watcher, my body changed faster than the blink of an eye from mortality to immortality. Back then, my skin also sparkled with Lifelight.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the love story. I would have never guessed that grumpy old Zacaris died then lived again for love.
Eva continued, “Though the time of my child bearing years has passed and I no longer have the Lifelight, Zacaris and I have twelve children, 36 grandchildren, 89 great-grandchildren 279 great-great grandchildren, 820 great-great-great grandchildren and 2,403 great-great-great-great grandchildren.”
“What?” I gasped and braced myself so I wouldn’t topple into the sand. “How do you keep track of them all?”
Eva smiled a deep, joy-filled smile. “That is one of my Watcher gifts. I have the ability to connect with all my posterity. They might not know who I am, but I know every single one of them. As my family grows, so do my powers.”
“So you have the power to keep track of thousands of people?” My energy drained just thinking about it. I remembered the biscuits still in my hand and stuffed another into my mouth, chewing it twice then swallowing.
“I suspect if the Earth is still exists in the year 2000 A.D. I will have hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of people I can connect with.”
I gasped in surprise at such a notion, but Eva’s face remained pleasant and regal. Her power wasn’t anything tangible or visual, like creating fire, but powerful and just as important in the battle against Erebus and the Dark Rebellion. She really was the perfe
ct mother. I imagined her children had all turned out perfectly too.
“Most of my twelve children are still living.” Eva folded her hands in her lap. “Children of Immortal Watchers have longer life spans. My mortal children are hundreds of years old. As every generation intermarries with mortals, their life spans grow shorter.” Her expression saddened and her hands trembled. “Three of my children became Immortal. One of my sons, Joab, fell and joined the Rebellion.”
I closed my eyes, letting the disbelief and sorrow swirl through me for a moment. Even though her power was to be the greatest mother on Earth, one of her sons still made the choice to join the Shadow Legion. I couldn’t imagine why a Watcher who knew the truth would turn from it and join the enemy legions.
Eva met my gaze, her sparkling eyes dimmed by sadness. “Being a Watcher is not easy and Joab’s fall didn’t happen overnight. He found little faults in everything the high druids did. He thought they were old fashioned, and he made suggestions on how to improve the training of the new Watchers. He thought they should be taken from their human families right after they were born and raised by Watcher trainers.” She turned again toward the ocean, perhaps contemplating where her son was now. I followed her gaze. Based on her powers, she probably knew where he was and what he was doing. I winced at the thought of so much pain and being aware of every evil choice her son made.
She went on. “The high druids decided against his plan, thinking it was best to let Watchers have the experience of being nurtured by a human parent. They need to understand the value of human life. My son felt rejected and humiliated. A Shadow Lord named Tenebus offered Joab a life of ease and recognition. He didn’t accept the offer right away, but over the next few years, we watched him slip further away until one day, he didn’t come home. His two older brothers, who were both Immortal Watchers, went looking for him. They found Joab with the Shadow Lord. He had become one of the Sons of Erebus—a Fallen Watcher. His eyes were coal black and void of light and humanity. He was feral, ruthless, and powerful.”
