by V L Friends
“I love that part of you that is so human,” he said as he took the glass, set it on the nightstand, and turned back to me.
I wanted to say that I hated the part of him that took violence and murder like it was just an everyday occurrence, like brushing one’s teeth, but I refrained.
“You should eat something.” He handed me a bowl of chicken soup and some bread then scooted off the bed to sit in a chair across the room.
He watched me in silence, as I scarfed down the soup and bread and placed the empty bowl on the nightstand on my side of the bed. When I looked back at him his legs were crossed and he was wearing a very serious look as though he was studying me. He turned his head with curiosity. The dim yellow glow of the lamp next to my bed was the only light in the room, so shadows of darkness rested on his face, giving me the shivers.
In an attempt to distract him I stood and faced him, arms folded with an accusing expression.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I said, trying not to tremble.
“What are you hiding?” he replied with a steady tone.
“Hiding?” I laughed nervously.
“Yes, it’s not like you to hide things from me,” he said and his words hit me in my gut. He was too familiar with me. Why had I been so willing to share so much of myself with him? Well, not him, but his panther. I barely knew him.
I swallowed and gave a shrug, trying to form my next response. He stood up, still with his gaze on me, and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Oh, why did he have to be so beautiful? I cursed my hormonal thoughts, feeling irritated with myself.
When he saw I was not able to answer he let out a sigh and turned his head to look away. He seemed frustrated.
This irritated me a bit. After all, what gave him the right to know my secrets anyway?
“It’s the new me, so get used to it. I don’t see any reason to trust any of you,” I said with a hardness as I turned away dismissively.
He was fast, so fast, as he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in front of him.
“Don’t do that.” His voice was stern and a flash of pain ran over his face.
Everything felt fuzzy in my head. I could not think with him here.
“I’m sorry.” Pulling gently out of his grip, I began to back away. His eyes bore into me. “I—I can’t…”
“You can’t what?” he said with a smooth tone as he moved to close the gap between us. His voice was sultry and danced through my mind as if it lived inside me.
“Don’t.” My hand went up to tell him to back up but I couldn’t talk. Get it together, Anaya. He is a user of women. He doesn’t care about you. I tried to talk myself down from being caught in this… whatever it was.
“Lucian, please, just go.” I gathered enough breath to say it.
“You don’t want me to go,” he whispered as the back of his fingers ran down my cheek. I could feel his hot breath on my face when he leaned in close to me, just a breath away from my ear.
“Why do you say that?” I replied.
“Your pheromones are giving out a strong signal, my sweet dove.”
“No, that can’t be, you did something to me. You promised you would not do any spells on me.” My voice was breathless.
“I am not, I assure you. This is purely biological and it is intoxicating.” His cheek brushed mine and I gasped.
“Perhaps it’s time for me to pull out my pocketknife,” I whispered as my heart pounded in my ears. He stiffened and stared wide-eyed into my eyes for a moment then we both burst out laughing. He stepped back. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God.
“Sorry. It’s just that... well, it’s been a while for me since I…” He shifts his feet nervously. “I have been so busy here that I haven’t had any time for...”
“Dating?” I ended his sentence.
“Yeah, dating,” he snorted at the word.
“Well, I should get some rest,” I said, trying to steady myself, as I adjusted to the changing mood. “Thank you for the food.”
“No problem. Yeah, you should. I will be off then.” He paused and turned back to me. “Anaya, maybe you can explain something to me? Why is it that I no longer can siphon your sensual emotional energy? I mean, you are human and I used to be able to get something from your anger, but now I can’t get a thing.”
So that was it. He was just playing around with me to get some strong emotion so he could use it to fuel his magic. He acted like he cared about me but I was seeing right through him now and felt foolish. I was right never to trust him. My heart sank. He was the worst kind of danger for my heart. He really seemed to be caring and attentive and generous.
“Thank you,” I muttered, not able to look at him. “For reminding me just why I can never trust you with my heart.” I finished.
“Oh Anaya, no. That is not what I meant…” He tried to come to me but I nudged him toward the door.
“Never mind. Goodnight!” I slammed the door and locked it.
“Anaya? Anaya, please let me explain.” I could hear his low mumble at the door.
Breathing a heavy sigh of relief now that he was out, I ignored him and walked over to sink into bed, falling asleep the second my head hit the pillow.
When my eyes opened the sun lit my room. I couldn’t move, as someone was lying pressed against my back with an arm around me with one leg over my hip. My eyes focused in on the hand of the arm now lying across my upper arm. It was beautiful, golden skin with three silver rings: one with a dragon and a purple stone, another with a diamond, and another with a Celtic symbol holding an emerald stone in the middle. Recognition flooded my mind. It was Lucian. How did he get in here? The way he held me made me not want to move from that position. It was so nice. I felt safe.
“Lucian?” I tried to wake him with a whisper and a light nudge.
“Lucian!” I said again, louder.
“Mmm,” he groaned against my ear.
“What are you doing in here?” I demanded with a whisper. I didn’t know what Julian or Caleb would do if they found us this way. Caleb would probably kill him.
“You were having nightmares. I came to your rescue,” he mumbled and smiled, still not opening his eyes, barely comprehendible in his sleepy state.
“You have to get up,” I said.
“Mmm, shhh, this feels too good. Go back to sleep,” he replied as he pulled his arm to my waist and squeezed me tighter into him with a soft chuckle.
I lay there for a few moments contemplating his words. I didn’t remember having a nightmare. I didn’t remember dreaming at all. My attention was caught on a hand beginning to roam down over my hip and back up as I noticed Lucian was now nuzzling his face in my neck, trailing my neck and jaw with small kisses. I grabbed at his hand and threw it away from me and began pushing him away.
“Really!” I yelled at him.
“I love morning lovemaking,” he said with a grin, reaching for me again.
“Oh my God!” I was appalled.
“Don’t look at me like that. I know you want me.” His eyes slammed open. He was still grinning.
“I do not!” I said with surprise as a blush covered my cheeks.
“Your pheromones say something very different, my love,” he continued, slowly moving to his knees. I couldn’t help but think he looked like a predator about to pounce.
I slowly moved to stand, keeping my eyes on him. Getting distance was the only thing that was on my mind in that moment.
“Get serious,” I said with a haughty laugh. “You may get your way with women all the time but not with me.”
“Ah, your mouth says one thing but your eyes and body say another,” he said. His focus was on me as he crept slowly toward me.
Stupidly I asked, “What do my eyes and body say exactly?”
He froze and grinned from ear to ear. “Playtime.”
With that he lunged for me. I let out a yelp and reacted by lunging backward to get away. My back was now to the wall. He was watching me
with fascination as he crouched on the bed. His eyes were gray and flashing silver light within.
“Oh my God. You’re not changing to a panther, are you?” I panted, now out of breath.
“No, but I could. Do you want me to?” he replied with a silver glint in his eye as he positioned himself on the bed, on all fours.
I glanced to the door, contemplating my escape. He noticed.
“Do you think you can make it to the door then?” he said with another sparkle in his eye. This was a fun game to him. I was not sure what he would do if he caught me but I was sure he wouldn’t hurt me. This suddenly became as much a thrill to me.
I shrugged and laughed as if this was a ridiculous thing we were doing. I pretended to relax and saw him chuckle. Then I sprang forward with all my might. About halfway there something around my waist lifted me in the air like I was a rag doll. We spun and landed on the floor with my body on top of his before I felt air again and he was on top of me, holding me to the floor.
“Nice try,” he said with his face breathing hard just inches from mine. He was smiling down at me. With a wink, he positioned his body so his knees were pinning my arms down.
“Now for the real foreplay,” he said with a laugh as he began to tickle me relentlessly.
“Stop!” I yelled out between laughter as I wiggled and kicked, trying to get away.
Two voices from the doorway interrupted as they both cleared their throats.
Lucian looked up and slowly stopped what he was doing and sat back. He looked annoyed by the interruption and looked at them as if they were beneath him.
With surprise and feeling like a child with my hand caught in the cookie jar, I sat up.
“What is the meaning of this, cousin?” Julian asked with no expression. That usually meant he was too angry to show emotion.
Looking over at the two of them standing just inside the door, I noticed they looked worse for the wear. Caleb stood just a few inches behind Julian. I could see the dark circles under his eyes and his arm was in a sling. He wore a grim look as his eyes met mine. Julian looked just as bad with his torso bandaged, and his skin seemed a little paler. It had been a brutal fight.
“Well, cousin, seeing as you and the brother of yours were indisposed, I saw it as my chance to have my way with your daughter.” Lucian stood up and began to put on a polo shirt he had left tossed on the chair.
“I have laid my claim to her and now we are running away together.” Lucian gave Julian a mocking grin.
Their faces were grim and I was waiting for one of them to laugh but no one did, so I took it upon myself to call out the humor.
“Ha, ha very funny.” I stepped between the two, now facing Julian, who glared nonstop at his cousin. “He is joking, of course. Nothing is going on.” I went over to Caleb and pulled on his arm for him to lean over as I whispered in his ear. “He is really very old. Definitely not my type. Don’t worry.”
Caleb’s eyes widened, and he was trying not to laugh.
“In that case, on another matter, you used your magic to bind the two of us in chains in the cellar all night; you have some explaining to do.” Julian sounded strange. Was he in pain?
I cringed at the thought of the two of them chained up in the cellar. They had a room in the basement with chains that could keep any supernatural in prison. The chains had some sort of draining element. The idea that Lucian had overpowered them and locked them away gave me pause. Perhaps the mage shifter was more powerful than he showed.
“You two were out of control. You ripped Caleb’s arm right off, Julian. Caleb, you ran Julian through and had him pinned to a wall. You two can’t figure out how to keep her safe if you are warring amongst yourselves.” Lucian took a deep breath and touched my chin while looking into my eyes affectionately. “Which brings me to my proposal.”
“I propose that Anaya come live with me. I have many homes in Ireland and you know I will keep her safe.”
“As what? One of your whores?!” Julian spat out with disgust.
“It wouldn’t be like that. She would be well taken care of, adored, even loved.” Lucian looked to me with eyes that caused my heart to flip. I did not like what his looks did to me internally.
I was feeling a balance of power suddenly shift. Lucian was throwing his weight around as if he were suddenly the one in charge. When had this happened? Perhaps it was last night when he chained them up. I wondered if he had planned to even release them and, judging from the feeling I was getting, he seemed surprised they had escaped.
“That is out of the question. She belongs here with us,” Caleb replied.
“You two don’t even know who or what she really is,” Lucian accused. “I know more about her than you do.”
“Are you sure about that, cousin?” Caleb shot him a look that gave me the chills.
“Look, just think about it. I have a meeting with Louis this afternoon, so we will talk later.” Lucian stopped to give me a hug and then looked down at me as if we were the only two in the room. “I can meet you at our waterfall before dusk,” Lucian said.
I had a nervous feeling that he was coming very close to claiming me as his own. The worst part was that he was not even trying to hide it from Julian and Caleb.
My head was swimming with what was just presented. I couldn’t believe what he had just proposed. I never had a clue that he wanted me. There was something in my gut again and I felt uneasiness churning. Did things just get enormously complicated again?
I nodded absentmindedly and he kissed my forehead and turned to leave.
“Wait! No, I can’t. I have something to do,” I said after him.
He turned and nodded but said nothing. Then he was gone.
I stood staring after him with confusion and I am sure the look on my face showed it. I began to think over my interactions in the last few days with Lucian, in bewilderment as to when he made this decision to take control over my well-being and why.
How did he do that? How did he shift from a playful, protective, light-hearted boyish figure to commanding the room?
I turned to Caleb and Julian.
“What the hell just happened here?”
The room was quiet as the three of us just stared at one another.
Caleb finally broke the silence.
“Would he do it? Would he just take her?” Caleb asked Julian.
Why were they ignoring my question?
“I don’t know. Something is up. I know Lucian, something must have happened to make him suddenly change like that…… Julian shook his head then seemed to give a look of shock as if he thought of something.
He turned to me. “What is the nature of your relationship with him?”
“I am confused by his announcement just as much as you are,” I replied. “He has given me no hint that he wants to take me away. I mean, sure, I go on and on about things in my life, especially when he is in panther form, but he seemed unaffected. I am afraid I am as much in the dark about him as you are, if not more.”
Julian pointed a finger at me and narrowed his eyes. “He is acting as if he has formed some kind of shifter bond with you! There is something you are not telling me! I demand that you tell me now!”
“Who the hell do you think you are ordering me around like I am nothing but an animal?!” I screamed back. I did it again. I was losing all control.
“I am your father!” he yelled.
I laughed and scoffed at him.
“What kind of father lets his little girl watch him rip a person apart with his bare hands and then drop their heart at her feet like it’s nothing more than a stuffed animal? What kind of father leaves his daughter on the bloody floor clutching a human being’s heart in her hand as she becomes one with the gore around her? Huh? Just minutes before that you were shown mercy as I begged for your sorry-ass life and then you showed none. Not even a hint of mercy yourself. You are a tyrant! A monster! I don’t know you. You are not a father. I want nothing to do with you. Do you finally hear me?!�
� I screamed at him with such rage that it gave my heart a pain. I sank to my knees. Yes, he would see me cry once again.
“Enough! Julian, leave us alone. I need to talk to her. Please. Lucian is right; we can’t fight anyone off if we are constantly fighting one another.” Caleb was kneeling next to me as I began to sob.
“I don’t want this.” I shook my head as the sobs took over. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry.” My voice was a squeak.
“Anaya, listen to me. You and I will go away together. It will be okay,” he said soothingly as he tried to pull me into his lap.
“You don’t know what I am, what I did. I do not belong here with you,” I said, trying to explain through my tears.
“Anaya, that is where you are wrong; I do know,” Caleb replied with a heavy sigh. “Did you think I wouldn’t know? I read your thoughts. I saw the images in your mind. I sensed the power, nothing like I have ever felt before. You are a daughter of heaven,” he said and I think my breath caught in my throat as I let out a surprised cough.
“It does not change the fact that you are still my family and I will love and protect you always.”
Chapter 8 - The Land Cries Out
I was on foot, emerging from the dim woods as the car lights flashed a light of recognition to me as I stepped onto the road. It was not easy getting away unnoticed. Thank God Lucian was still at his meeting with Louis or it would have been impossible to shake him. He was watching me like a hawk. He seemed to be taking his protector role a little too seriously, if you asked me.
Jeremiah, an elder in the Amish community, saw me at the church in town and said it was very urgent he meet with me. He said a car would be waiting for me on the road outside the Alexander property at 7 p.m. I was a little shocked at that because I was expecting a horse and buggy since he was Amish and they take a simpler approach to life. That included not using electricity or gas vehicles.
I didn’t dare alert anyone where I was going. I would tell Caleb later, but it was best not to worry him.
As I got in the back seat, two faces turned to greet me from the front. They must have been brother and sister because they looked too much alike, both having dark brown hair and round faces.
