Central

by Raine Thomas

  Amber, however, ultimately had. It had taken over a month of terrible uncertainty for her recovery. And during that time, Olivia and Skye had stayed near Amber in the elder Ini-herit’s home, where she had battled the effects of the deadly curse while under Gabriel’s care, and where they now awaited the newlyweds’ return. They had wanted to remain nearby in case their sister needed them.

  Right after Amber recovered, she and Gabriel had been married. Olivia had been more than a little surprised over it. But, well, Amber and Gabriel had been best friends on the human plane for more than six years, and they were already avowed, the Estilorian equivalent to “bound for life.” And there was no denying that the two of them were meant to be together. If they weren’t the epitome of love, Olivia didn’t know what was. So she had simply stood up at their wedding and wished them well.

  “Did Jean always know that you were not fully human?” James asked then.

  “Yes, though she didn’t tell me, just as she never mentioned I had sisters. The Corgloresti who brought me to the human plane as a baby told her to do this. The elders knew that if Amber, Skye and I were ever brought together, our powers would surge. It could have endangered us and anyone near us.”

  James nodded as he considered this. His question brought her back to a few weeks before her eighteenth birthday, when she had experienced a surge of what she later learned was her innate power. The experience had caused her to black out. It had also resulted in her having a mental connection with her cat, Aurora. As soon as Jean had realized what had happened, she had made a call. The very next day, Olivia received a visit from the Corgloresti elder, Ini-herit, in human form.

  He had sat very calmly in the living room of their apartment and explained to Olivia that she wasn’t fully human, but was, in fact, half Estilorian. Estilorians, he had explained, had evolved alongside humans for centuries. However, because Estilorians differed from humans on a critical cellular level and could command great powers and abilities, humans had grown to resent them. Estilorians went from being heralded as heroes and gods to being a reason humans warred against each other. And because the Estilorians could not in good conscience stand by while their human friends were uselessly slaughtered, the elders had joined together in an unprecedented display of power to create an entire new plane of existence. In removing themselves from humanity, they became the objects of human myths and legends.

  James asked, “Did you always know Jean was not your mother?”

  “She was my mother,” Olivia clarified, “just not my birth mother. In human terms, she was my adoptive parent. And yes, I always knew.”

  What she had not known was that she was one of three daughters born to an Estilorian father and a human mother. An occurrence that the world had never seen.

  It weighed on her, this abnormality of her very existence, though she would never say as much to James. She understood and could appreciate the fact that her father, Saraqael, had deeply loved her human mother, Kate. It was even tragically romantic that he had found a way to cure Kate of her human illness through powerful Estilorian means, only to kill himself in the process and leave Kate impregnated.

  But Olivia was an intelligent young woman. She reasoned that there would be Estilorians who thought she and her sisters should have never been born. There would be others who might disagree with that sentiment, but felt the girls should have remained on the human plane. No one had said as much. But there had been very few Estilorians at the ceremony welcoming Olivia and her sisters to their plane. The fact that the coliseum where they had Become had been so lightly filled spoke volumes to her. Either the elders who had attended the ceremony hadn’t trusted the others enough to share the ceremony’s location—and wasn’t that an alarming thought?—or the others hadn’t wanted to come.

  Neither option prompted her to feel very welcome.

  “Jean sounds like a very good mother,” James said, once again interrupting her thoughts. “You were fortunate to have her care and guardianship.”

  “Yeah, she’s great,” Olivia agreed, refusing to speak of her adoptive mother in the past tense. Because thinking of Jean made her melancholy, she flashed a deliberately cheerful smile. “And now I have you as my guardian. So I’m lucky twice over.”

  He looked down, avoiding her gaze. “I will certainly endeavor to be a better guardian for you than I have proven thus far.”

  Her smile faded.

  Along with Amber, she and Skye had both been targets in the attack by the Mercesti after the Becoming ceremony. But while Skye had been able to fend the attacking Estilorians off with the holy light that she could command and Amber had used her blessed sword with equally natural skill, Olivia had fallen easy prey to the Mercesti fighter known as Ryce. Only because Aurora had come to her aid had she been able to escape. And even then, her throat had been cut to a point where Amber had to use her healing power to save her life.

  She never wanted to feel so helpless and useless again.

  “You can’t blame yourself for that, James,” she said quietly, reaching out and touching his hand where it rested on his knee. “It was Kanika who led us to that tunnel. And with Layla using her abilities to keep you, Gabriel and Caleb from sensing anything was wrong, there was nothing you could do.”

  He tilted his head the slightest bit when he looked at her hand on his. Feeling herself blush, she pulled her hand back and folded it carefully in her lap.

  Rather than comment on her actions, he said, “I am hopeful you will learn more about your abilities in the coming weeks. You must learn to protect yourself.”

  She agreed, and had spent much of these past two weeks during her sister’s honeymoon gently probing her innate abilities. Her power, so she had been informed by the wise Elphresti elder, Jabari, drew on nature. That hadn’t surprised her. Her utter fascination with everything living around her lent credence to it. Her mental connection to Aurora, for whom the Scultresti had provided the form of a beautiful white panther upon transitioning to the Estilorian plane, was another testament to her affinity with nature.

  She had realized that with a great deal of focus, she could enter the minds of the animals in the forest around her, much as she had once done to a pack of wolves on the human plane. She could sense what they sensed, giving her an unusual and quite stimulating education. Thus far, she hadn’t been able to influence the animals’ behavior as she had done on the human plane with those wolves, but she suspected with the right amount of time and focus, she could learn how.

  “I have a distinct feeling self-defense has a whole other meaning on this plane than on the human one,” she said at last, thinking of classes full of soccer moms held in community YMCAs.

  “What does it mean on the human plane?” he asked curiously.

  “I didn’t mean…” she shook her head, fighting a grin. Sarcasm was lost on him. “I was just pointing out that things on this plane aren’t like those on the human plane, as you know.”

  Tangible things couldn’t cross over to this plane from the human plane. Well, there was the notable exception of the rings worn by Amber and Gabriel, but that was a total anomaly. In essence, everything on the Estilorian plane was much as it had been a couple of thousand years ago when the plane had been formed. There had been some innovations over time, of course. But while a few of those updates, such as indoor plumbing, were apparent on the Estilorian plane, most everything was more antiquated.

  “Ah, yes,” he said, nodding in understanding. “Well, you have managed to get along without your cell phones and internet and automobiles so far. I imagine you will do the same when you begin your lessons in defense.”

  She knew he enjoyed her stories about life on the human plane. Hearing him mention the things that had absorbed so much of her time in her human life made her want to sigh. There were many things she missed. But there were also many new experiences awaiting her.

  “I’m sure you’re right, and I’m quite enthusiastic about it. There’s so much I want to learn. Especially flyi
ng.”

  She hadn’t yet learned how to extend her wings, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Skye had been able to call forth her wings instinctively, something that completely awed Olivia.

  “Do you think we’ll be learning how to fly when Amber and Gabriel return?” she asked.

  “Sure,” he replied without expression. “That is one of the first lessons you will need to learn.”

  For some reason, his unflappable nature constantly humored her. She found herself wanting to try and get a reaction out of him. So far, she hadn’t succeeded.

  Reaching over, she patted him on the knee. “Thanks for climbing up here with me. But I guess it’s getting to be time to head back down.” Then she gave him what she hoped was a winning smile. “Will you fly me down?”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “We almost crashed the last time.”

  “Because I let go of the branch at the wrong time and it hit your wing. I’ll know better now.”

  He continued to stare at her blandly, tilting his head as if to say, Seriously?

  “Please?” This time she added a completely ridiculous batting of her eyelashes.

  One corner of his mouth lifted. It was a rare reaction from the Gloresti, and it had Olivia clapping her hands together like she had seen Skye do a number of times. “Yay!” she exclaimed. She scooted forward on her branch and moved closer to him.

  Bracing himself on two of the thicker branches, he stood with innate balance and assisted her to her feet. “I do not see how you made the climb in that gown, anyway.”

  Another laugh escaped her. She had become rather partial to the flowing, ankle-length sundresses gifted to her by some of the Estilorians’ hospitality class, the Lekwuesti. They were very comfortable. It hadn’t been that difficult to hike the skirt up enough to climb, but she could see how something like that would perplex him.

  Then he pulled her so that her back was pressed against his front. The top of her head rested against his chest, an inch or two under his chin. His arms encircled her waist. Together, they edged closer to the end of a long branch.

  When it started to bow toward the ground, he said, “Okay.”

  She moved perfectly in synch with him, her long legs helping to propel them forward even as her arms reached to spread the branches in front of them. His arms were occupied with holding her, so the pathway was entirely up to her. As they burst from the tree, he called forth his luminescent dark blue wings and they were soaring in the air.

  Her breath leaving her in an exhilarated rush, Olivia couldn’t help but think that this was such a better way to leave a tree than falling out of it.

  Chapter Two

  Olivia enjoyed some time silently communing with the night creatures in Ini-herit’s backyard as the sun set later that day. Skye was engaged in a flying lesson with her Gloresti, Caleb, something that had proven quite necessary since she first learned to extend her wings. Although Olivia looked up into the darkening sky, she couldn’t see the glow of their wings. They must have moved beyond her line of sight.

  James stood on the back porch discussing something with the Corgloresti and Elphresti elders, Ini-herit and Jabari. He kept a watchful eye on her as she strolled quietly around the property. Although Ini-herit’s house was strongly enchanted and probably safer than Fort Knox, James was always diligent when it came to her protection. Knowing this, she was careful not to stray too close to the forest, not wanting to cause him any undue concern.

  The landscape around Ini-herit’s house reminded her of pictures she had seen of an English countryside. The large, stone manor home was situated on vast, sprawling lawns with magnificent landscaping. All around the house were thick green forests, making Skye say that it looked like an oversized version of the cottage belonging to the dwarfs in Snow White. Olivia couldn’t really argue. And the forests made excellent hunting grounds for Aurora. Indeed, that was exactly where Olivia’s panther friend was at the moment.

  The woods were also excellent fodder for Olivia to test her abilities. She kept her mind open to the thoughts of the abundant wildlife thriving around them. It was actually quite challenging to filter the thoughts down to one single creature. For the most part, it felt like she was sitting in a crowded restaurant trying to hear someone talking to her from three tables away. Only Aurora’s thoughts were distinct to her, and Olivia could only hear those with the animal’s participation.

  So it was with quite a bit of surprise that she felt a very strong presence in her mind from an animal near the edge of the woods not even fifteen feet from her. She could tell it was a large animal even though she couldn’t see it. She could also sense that it was hungry.

  Pausing in her walk so she didn’t get unwisely close to the animal, she considered its thought pattern. She sensed that it was seeking to build a store of food so that it could hibernate, and it would then be dormant for a long while. Ini-herit had told her that there weren’t many bears in these particular woods, but she wondered if one happened to find its way to them. Frowning thoughtfully, she barely resisted the urge to take another step closer to the forest as she tried to get more from the animal’s thoughts. The strangeness of this presence concerned her. The last thing she wanted was for Aurora to get caught and injured or killed by a larger and more vicious predator.

  Come closer.

  She stiffened. Then curiosity overrode her instinctive fear as her gaze scoured the forest for some sign of what was communicating with her. This wasn’t a bear. It wasn’t any type of animal that she had read before, actually. The thoughts were much too clear and structured. Intelligent, even.

  What are you? she instinctively thought toward the creature.

  Come here and find out.

  The thought was intensely compelling. Hypnotic. She was surprised to find her feet moving to obey. She had taken five full steps closer to the forest before she caught herself. Realizing she was now only about six feet from the tree-line, she shook her head as if to clear it and turned to slowly move away, hoping not to provoke whatever creature it was into charging after her.

  “James,” she said calmly, glancing carefully over her shoulder as she backed up a step, “There’s something—”

  That was all she got out before she was violently yanked off her feet and the world flipped sideways.

  Her breath left her in a sharp and painful burst as she hit the ground and somehow shot like an arrow into the forest. She couldn’t even muster up enough breath to scream. She felt something heavy and thick and unexpectedly warm wrapped around her arms and waist like a vise. Her body skidded rapidly along the forest floor, her exposed face, arms and shoulders suffering innumerable gouges from stones and debris. Because she had unbound her hair earlier, it caught on anything handy and pulled, leaving her scalp stinging painfully.

  A couple of close brushes with thick tree trunks had her desperately trying to curl into a more protective position. Several leaps from the creature pulling her made her efforts in vain. As soon as her body left the ground and then hit it again, she went as limp as a rag doll.

  It was several minutes of stunned shock before her brain cleared enough to even let her absolute terror through. She could only draw rapid, shallow breaths because her diaphragm was compressed by the tail of the creature that had grabbed her. Although she feared for the safety of her eyes with so much debris flying up around her, she dared to look as far ahead of her as she could to try and see what was dragging her. It was fruitless. The darkness within the forest was even more pervasive than it had been in Ini-herit’s backyard. All she saw was a large, solid mass moving impossibly fast.

  She considered calling for Aurora with her mind, but feared she would be putting the cat in danger by drawing her near. So instead, she prayed.

  Jean had raised her Catholic. They had attended Mass nearly every Sunday morning. Now, the Lord’s Prayer, a few Hail Marys—the entire rosary, for that matter—ran through her mind as rapidly as she was being dragged. Although she wouldn’t have considered herself a
truly spiritual or religious person despite her hours logged in church, just reciting the lines in her mind served to help calm her.

  Why are you doing this? she thought toward the creature when she was coherent enough. If it was intelligent, she thought, she could possibly reason with it. Please don’t do this! I mean you no harm. I’m not food!

  The creature had closed its mind to her, however.

  She saw the large shadow of another tree coming up and her eyes widened. There was no way she was going to avoid hitting it. Still, she tried, twisting quickly in one direction only to find the tail around her waist flicking her back. It was as though the creature was aiming her for the tree. Bracing herself, she squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered before she even made contact. When she did, she heard the snap of the bone in her right leg even before the nauseating pain blasted through her.

  And this time, she found the breath to scream.

  James ran through the forest at a speed faster than any human could ever pace. He had considered and dismissed the idea of flying above the trees to try and track Olivia that way. He already knew the foliage would be too thick and the darkness too heavy for him to find her from the air.

  Her trail on the ground, however, couldn’t have been clearer, especially once he cast a ball of light to lead his way.

  She had been taken by a kragen. The creatures had been crafted by the Scultresti before the creation of the Estilorian plane. Because of this nature of their origins, all of them had transferred to this plane while none of them remained on the human one. After hearing some of Olivia’s tales from the human plane, he had come to believe that humans had crafted fables and stories about the kragens after the creatures’ removal from their existence, much as they had created human myths, legends and biblical stories about the Estilorians.