The Pentagram Child: Part 1 (Afterlife Saga Book 5)

by Stephanie Hudson

“…inappropriate for royalty?” I managed to force out even though my voice felt thick with lust.

  “Well that’s the best part about being King, sweetheart, I get to make my own rules.” I turned my head to the side and rolled my eyes at him making him laugh. Then he put his nose to my cheek and whispered,

  “I can’t wait to get you alone.” Making me shiver with anticipation and fail to hold back the moan that escaped.

  “Ah the happy couple! I must say Dom, it’s finally nice to see you dancing at one of these things with someone other than your sister.”

  “Lucius!” I shouted as I heard the voice I would know anywhere. I was about to get up, forgetting myself, when I felt bands of steel hold me still. So instead I was left to watch as his powerful frame mounted the steps wearing a double breasted military jacket made in a steampunk fashion. His mask was a cream porcelain skull that fit over his entire face. It was creepy but also had an amusing side as it was wearing steampunk googles. He flipped it up to rest on the top of his head before nodding to me.

  “Keira girl.” Lucius said with his handsome yet sadistic grin firmly in place.

  “Back so soon?” Draven said in a serious tone that sounded like it had a hidden meaning.

  “Well as you know I usually try and miss these things but alas, this year it was not meant to be.” Lucius said and then winked at me.

  “You have what I need?” Draven asked making me frown back at him, one he ignored being too focused on Lucius.

  “I am here for that sole purpose.”

  “Keira, you will have to excuse us a moment.” Draven said shifting me gently off him and to my feet.

  “Something I should know?” I asked knowing it was definitely something I should know but all I needed was the what, why, how and who is trying to kill us this time?

  “Nothing you need to worry about, love.” He said gripping my chin and giving it an affectionate shake. It was nice but a little chin shake is never gonna stop this girl from worrying, not considering what we had been through.

  “Yeah right, when have I not heard that one before!?” I said with a hand on my hip.

  “Nice to know that when you do finally pick em, you at least ended up with one feisty.” Lucius said slapping Draven on the back making him turn his head to growl, which only made Lucius laugh harder.

  “Well I am as ever here to bail you out before she drags your king ass to counselling, as I brought reinforcements.” Lucius finished his little ‘I am so the dude’ speech and nodded to the stairs.

  “Percy!” I shouted and this time flung myself at my little friend who was just lifting up his mask. I put both my hands on his scarred cheeks and pulled him into me for a joyous hug.

  “My…fffri…end.” He stammered and I pulled back to first kiss his skin puckered cheeks and then look into his beautiful sea green eyes.

  “How are you?” I asked as I took in his appearance. He was wearing tight leather trousers and red and white striped braces over a leather suit jacket, one cut short at the front and complete with tails at the back. His mask had been of two demon hands held over his eyes as if playing the kid’s game peek’a boo.

  “I. Am…Ggood.” He said trying to say it slowly and I could tell he had been practicing with controlling his stammer. I felt Draven come up behind me and place a hand at my lower back.

  “I will have to leave you now but I won’t be long. Percy, it is good to see you again.” He said and nodded to my friend.

  “Mmmy Lllord…thththe pleasure issth mine.” He said bowing and I supressed a smile when his mask fell forward causing him to giggle nervously. Draven gave him a small smile back and then gave me a wink before he left with Lucius. But I had to wonder what Draven meant by seeing Percy again? This was definitely something I would be adding to the mounting pile of answers needed from Draven later.

  “Doesn’t he look so punktastically dashing! I dressed him of course!” Pip informed me as she bounced her gothic garden dress up the steps with a mouthful of crab cakes. I knew it was that because poor Adam walked behind her not holding on to a tray of them himself but the next best thing.

  “Isn’t he good holding onto that waiter for me…stingy little bugger won’t be running off now will he?” She said swiping another crab cake from his tray making him cower. I had to laugh as now she was in full costume and unlike everyone else she had gone for something a little more daring in the mask department. In short there was no other way to describe it than as a PVC sex bondage mask combined with a blue and green Mexican wrestler’s mask. It only covered half of her face but fit snug over her head like a swimming cap, only had a gap for her hair, which she wore in a high ponytail. And it was all Pip!

  “Nice mask.” I said making her grin and Percy was still blushing so he put his mask back down making me giggle.

  “Oh you like…I was gonna go for a full face one in rubber but that’s a bitchy ass to get on and besides, I wanted my mouth free for you know…” She then pretended she had a penis in her hand and put her tongue to her cheek like she was giving oral sex. She laughed when I rolled my eyes in response to her wagging her eyebrows.

  “You definitely have your hands full, Adam.” I said looking round at him making him smile.

  “I am a lucky man indeed.” Adam said smiling at his wife and catching the imaginary kiss she threw at him.

  “Are we getting a fucking drink or what!?” Caspian said dressed as a massive wolf coming up behind Adam but gently holding onto his partner Liessa who was dressed like a gothic red riding hood. I waved at Liessa getting one in return and I was even surprised when I received a curt head nod from the big scary Caspian himself.

  “I bet Ruto and Hakan are already doing shots by the bar, the bastards! Come on honey pot, I wanna slippery nipple! Laters lady dudette!” I laughed and then winked at Percy after saying,

  “I will see you later.” To which I could have sworn I could see a big grin from behind his mask. Then they all left me and I was in two minds whether or not to follow them but I knew Draven would be looking for me. So instead I decided to go and see if he had finished with Lucius. I saw that Sophia was now out of her seat and when she saw me walking to the side to where Draven had gone she quickly stopped me.

  “Hey, where are you going? Come and tell me about how Percy is doing.” She said and I could tell by her voice something was off.

  “Uh yeah, I will in just a second, I just want to see if…”

  “He’s not, so just come and wait over here yeah.” The panic in her eyes was clear to see and I turned my head towards where he’d walked and frowned. What could be so bad it would have Sophia panicking? Well it was time to find out!

  “Okay.” I said giving her a false smile which she was too relieved to notice wasn’t real. She nodded over to where Zagan and Vincent were discussing something and I made out like I was walking her way. Then as soon as she turned her head back to the group I made my move. I looked to the other end of the throne platform and knew he was on that side but more importantly, he was on that side hiding something from me. So I just went for it. I didn’t care if every supernatural being in the square was looking at me as I just picked up my skirts and ran.

  “Keira no!” I heard Sophia cry from behind me but by that time I had already become lost in the crowd. I ran into sadistic laughing jesters that seemed to mock me and long beaked, feathered birds that followed me curiously as I pushed my way past.

  “Sorry…sorry.” I would mumble as I made my way through and I felt lucky when some recognised who I was and stepped out of the way for me. Well that luck continued right up until I spotted Draven from behind and ended very abruptly when I saw who he was stood with. I came to a crashing halt and the crowd took their time to take in my presence but once they did they started to slowly back away from me. This happened at the same time I heard the soul crushing words coming from Draven that were being spoken to someone other than me.

  “I need you…”

  “Keira?” Draven was
interrupted by the woman he was speaking with, as she could now see me when the last of the crowd slipped away. I watched as Draven’s back stiffened at hearing my name and then he turned his head slowly my way looking over his shoulder. His regretful eyes hit mine and flashed purple when they took in the unshed tears held suspended in my own.

  Then I hissed the name I truly loathed…

  “Aurora.”

  Chapter 33

  When the Apple Falls

  “Keira don’t” Draven growled knowing what was coming next because let’s face it, it was what I always did.

  I turned and ran.

  “Keira!” Draven shouted from behind me as I bolted through the crowd once more, only this time in the opposite direction. I just couldn’t face this, not again. It was like catapulting me back over ten months ago. Back to the day my heart discovered true pain. The day it shattered and became lost like my soul, wandering around in the bitter space of a hopeless abyss. And all this time together had been like the net, reaching out and slowly but surely piecing together what I had once lost. And with that dance, with that kiss, with every moment I felt his touch it had done the impossible. It had made me whole again only to have it implode with three words,

  “I need you.” I had heard him say to her. Was it really possible that all this time I had been lied to? Had I been played? I couldn’t believe it! But was that because I just didn’t want to believe it…I mean this man had faked his own death and fed me the cruellest lie of all. Could the only man I ever loved do that to me again?

  These thoughts plagued me as I forced my way through the joyous crowd that were all oblivious to the crumbling life that ran pushing past them. There was just too many of them! The sound of their laughter was like finger nails raking down my skin and leaving bloody track marks in my flesh. It was pulling me in and becoming too much for me to cope with. I covered my ears with my hands and looked around feeling dizzy. The faces! All those faces, all too colourful, all too frightening… all too real!

  “Stop it…” I whispered in a weak voice as they all seemed to be sniggering at me. I don’t know what was happening but it was like they were closing in on me, suffocating me with their cruel mocking. I spun round and round trying to block out their horrific faces that just seem to warp and twist into uglier versions of their masks.

  It was almost like being on a demonic merry go round. One second I would see the mask of an animal or just some feathered pretty mask held on a stick. But then the world would change and the animals would be dead and decomposing. The pretty masks would change from black velvet to human skin and bare bloody flesh would be the only thing left when the crude mask was pulled back. Skulls would bleed, horns would twist into deadly shards and eyes would turn black into endless pits of despair.

  “Stop it!” I shouted louder this time as I held my head and sank down into the middle of the spinning crowd. The weight of them all getting faster and faster until blurring into an uncontrollable force of evil around me. I needed to block them all out, I needed to…

  “STOP IT!” I screamed as loud as I could and stood. The force of me pushing my hands out knocked everyone around me backwards. But the worst part was that just before everyone went forcefully hurtling backwards, no-one had even been too close to me. There hadn’t been anyone laughing at me, pointing at me, not even taking any real notice of me. But now they stared, because I had just given them something real to stare at.

  “Keira!” I heard Draven calling me over the crowd as he searched and before I let myself be found I threw up every mental guard I had. It was so strong it felt like an invisible layer covering my skin, not only my mind this time. It felt like a fortress around me and flowing with some new energy. I hadn’t felt this strong in a long time and I knew why.

  “The kiss.” I whispered to myself touching my lips briefly as I ran. I kept going only looking behind me to check Draven wasn’t following.

  “KEIRA!” I just saw him roaring in the crowd looking all around for me. If anything seeing him this way was just like going back and reliving that night even more. I almost felt bad watching him panic, my dark knight in a sea of colour but then I thought back to those words and who they were spoken to…

  So then I ran harder. I ran faster. I ran scared.

  I jumped as I dodged a masked fire eater blowing flames into the air and the people around him clapped.

  “Sorry…I’m sorry.” I muttered as I backed up into another one of the entertainment, only this time it was a creepy skinny guy dressed in what looked like jet black skin with arms down to the floor. He wore a startling white mask that had a thin beak dripping with blood that came from the centre of where his eyes should have been.

  “Oh!” I said as he walked on his hands and turned his head to look at me like an owl would, listening out for prey. I started backing away now that I had finally crossed the mass of people and found the other side. I turned and walked straight into another body.

  “I’m sorry…wait, what are you…?!” I never got to finish as the mystery man started manhandling me away from the rest of the crowd. Suddenly running from Draven instead of confronting him was not looking like one of my best ideas.

  “Get off me!” I shouted and tried to twist my body from his painful grasp.

  “Be quiet!” A grating and harsh demonic voice spat from behind a sculptured white mask that looked like a handsome but evil man smirking. The eyes were black voids of nothingness and two single tears of blood dripped down the stark white plaster of his mask on one side.

  “DRA…!” I started to scream but then a hand was clamped tight over my mouth. My first thought after the panic was, ‘Jesus, not again!’ but as soon as the thought entered my mind I felt something.

  At first I wondered if it was the same energy that knocked all those people back moments ago and I hung on to hope until I realised it wasn’t. No, it might have started in the same way but it ran along my skin like when your body shivers for no reason other than an overload of some emotion you can’t always place. This feeling rippled from the ends of my limbs and crawled along my nerves to the centre of my heart.

  I sucked in a heavy, harsh breath as I felt the weight invade my organ as if someone had sent some supernatural charge to my core. As soon as I released the sharp gust of air from my burning lungs it all shot straight from my chest through to my back and straight up my spine, ending at the base of my neck, where my birthmark was. The feeling made my body arch and bow backwards, making it now impossible for my captor to keep a hold of me with the force of my sudden movements.

  “No!” He growled trying to restrain my body back to under his control but it felt like my bones were made from steel and my flesh from granite. I was unmoveable and the feeling was like taking an intoxicating drug that flooded my system with a calming and euphoric presence. It was as though I was an invincible force and with my head still thrown back looking at the night sky I felt like someone up there was also looking back down at me.

  “Seth!” He hissed the name and I angled my head, still looking up enough to see him staring above me towards St Mark’s Basilica. There at the Cathedral above its central arch stood a man against one of the four bronze horses. He wore a long jacket that was split at the back and both sides were blowing around from being up so high. I could tell he was wearing a mask but I couldn’t make out enough of the details, only that it looked like stiff material wind swept to one side. It almost gave him the appearance of some Cathedral phantom standing watch.

  Well whatever the case the man who tried to take me knew who he was and what was happening. It was enough to give the guy second thoughts at least as he let go of me and fled into the oblivious crowd. The instant he let go I was released from this extraordinary power and my body slumped forward as if exhausted. I placed my hands on my knees as I bent forward trying to compose myself, dragging in air and suddenly feeling constricted in such a tight dress.

  I then looked up one last time to see the man who seemed to have sa
ved me. He gave me a salute with his hand from his temple and this was combined with a nod before turning to leave. I then watched as he jumped down to somewhere out of sight but not before I noticed the artist’s utility belt at his waist where his jacket split.

  “Seth.” I uttered his name, testing it from my lips as the name of my new saviour. I had no clue as to whom either of these men were or more importantly what they wanted with me but I knew one thing…now wasn’t going to be the time to find out. So I stuck to my original plan and that was to get the hell out of this freakish masquerade.

  I looked around trying to make my way out of this labyrinth of bodies and looked up at the giant tower that stood next to the Cathedral. I remembered it from when I came in so I started to make my way across the square and as far from that wannabe kidnapper as I could get. I didn’t actually know how I hadn’t yet crumpled to the floor in a mess of mixed emotions, I just knew that I couldn’t yet afford to. So instead I did the only thing that I could do and that was to keep running.

  It seemed like a small eternity when I finally broke free of the crowd and I felt as though I could finally breathe for the first time. By this time my hair was half tumbling down and my beautiful dress had torn in a few places. I had no idea where I was going but one rarely did when they didn’t even have a destination in mind.

  I wanted to scream at the sky in frustration but I think I had caused quite enough of a scene since the chase began. In fact I knew I needed to act quickly before Draven caught up with me, shields or no shields. But this thought quickly had me thinking back to the power that affected me just at the right moment, one that obviously had something to do with Seth. So if this was the case then how could he have broken through when someone as powerful at Draven couldn’t?

  I shook my head knowing now was not the time to bombard myself with more questions I wouldn’t be finding the answers to anytime soon. So with this in mind I walked quickly along, still looking over my shoulder but at least finding it easier now I was away from the main event. I looked around and saw a massive building on my left that had an Arabian palace look to it, with its elaborate arches and a long row of columns holding up a pathway you could walk under. Above this were the same miniature arches that made up a balcony that was lit and would have made a great view to see the party from.