by Tina Moss
She opened her eyes and gasped. The room swam with a hazy glow. Before her, a man appeared impossibly bright. He blazed with golden rays, challenging the harsh overhead bulbs. The light radiated from his core out through his body and coated him like a second skin. “Grandfather?”
“Yes, child. I’m here.”
“Where am I?” Twisting this way and that, she tried to get a sense of direction. The room distorted, bending and fracturing the air around her.
“This is the space I told you of, the place between. It’s what our kind use to travel through the planes of existence. In truth, we come from a similar place.”
“Don’t gods come from the heavens?”
His laughter exuded a rich bass that eased her troubles. “It may be so. But thankfully, we’re not gods.”
“What about your—” Sera almost said crimes, but stopped. “The rest? Is the rest true?” Her heart sank as she recalled the phage’s words. She had to know the truth, so she took a steadying pause, then asked, “Are you what she said you are? Did you violate human women?”
“I am Luminari, Sera. We’re an ancient people, older than humans, who’ve lived for many millennia. You are a direct descendent.” Her grandfather spoke with a voice that rung like musical notes on a heavenly instrument. “But I have never harmed a female—human or otherwise—in my life. And that life has been very long.” He exhaled and the breath carried a somber note. “I loved your grandmother, and the birth of our daughter, your mother, was the happiest day of my life. For the first time, I knew true joy. And when you came into the world, it was both the best and worst day. I lost your mother, but I gained a granddaughter.”
She pushed away the rising emotions in favor of a cool head. “What about the rest? Adriana mentioned something about supernatural beings manipulated by you. What does she mean?”
“I am the youngest of four brothers, Sera. To understand, I must tell you of your granduncles.” His light dimmed to a mustard yellow hue. “I fear you will not like the telling.”
“No more lies. I’m tired of living that way. Tell me.” She settled into the strange space, ready to hear the tale.
“Long ago, my kind sprang from the core of the Earth, from its depths and warmth, from its fire. We were many and we thrived for millions of years.” His light shone in vivid detail like the rays of the sun. “The human race grew over time from Earth’s roots, from rock and stone, from a single organism to the beings you know today.” His voice lowered, dropping a full octave to a deep timber. “But as humanity thrived, my people died. Without the fires of below and with the planet cooling from above, we dwindled until my brothers, sisters, and I alone remained.”
“The Luminarium,” she muttered.
“Yes. Two thousand years ago, the situation became desperate. Luminari are children of the Earth’s core. We cannot reproduce with one another.” His hand waved at the haze, parting it and shooting a clear path to the side.
Her eyes narrowed on the far white wall. It shimmered as if alive, transforming into a moving picture.
“With extinction coming fast upon us, my eldest brother, Aurean, decreed we must mate with humans.” The image of a soaring golden figure sharpened on the wall. His confidence showed in his firm step and unyielding stance. Wide shoulders and a broad chest revealed his strength. His dark eyes peered forth and seemed to see into Sera’s soul.
She gasped. “What happened?”
“Aurean took on the task first as an example for the rest of us. He found a human female, more exquisite than any of us had seen before.” The picture changed once more to reveal a woman. Her long black hair, pale skin, and lush red lips revealed a beauty beyond measure. She stood tall and proud, smiling at the man by her side. “Such perfection could not last. As a human, she was susceptible to illness and age. Death came to claim her far before her time.” He swallowed and some of the radiance of his face left him. “My brother planned to mate with her. He never expected to fall in love. But love he did, and when she lay dying, his heart died with her.”
Sera waited, staring at the couple’s image with baited breath.
“For one who has lived so long, death did not seem a strong opponent. He cursed the keeper of death and fought it with all his power.” The wall showed Aurean holding the woman in his arms and cutting a mark across his chest. He cradled the woman’s head to the wound and bade her drink. His light flowed into her, illuminating her body, and pumping new blood through her veins. “He shared part of his essence with her, using her blood as a catalyst for life. But it could not sustain her. She died, then rose again as the creature you call, vampire. Her need for blood, human blood, and the one thing he could not give her, now the instrument of her survival.”
“That’s awful.” She splayed her hand across the pulse at her neck.
“Yes. And that I’m afraid is only the beginning.” His features solidified while the hue softened. The act made him appear far more human, but did not quite achieve the full effect. When he sat on the floor cross-legged and slouched, she hid a smile behind her hand. “Will you sit with me and hear the rest?”
She bit her bottom lip, uncertain whether she wanted to hear more.
Geez, are you the worst reporter on the planet? Guy’s retort to her doubts made her sweep them right under the rug. No matter her personal feelings, she’d hear the whole story.
Adapting his appearance, she sat on the floor, crossed her legs, and tried to relax. “Tell me.”
He smiled at her and whispered, “My brave girl.” Then his features fell, a frown forming on his face. “The next in line, my brother, Zelus, never could abide his place as second. When Aurean found his mate and love despite the pain it cost him, Zelus was determined to have the same.” The couple faded from view and a new man appeared. His striking black hair and golden eyes blazed as hot as hellfire. A firm jaw and high cheekbones, coupled with thick brows, gave him the look of an ancient aristocrat. The light that poured off his skin drowned her vision, and marked him as other.
“He’s...” She struggled to find the word to pinpoint her unease. Her grandfather and his eldest brother didn’t cause her insides to twist in a knot like this one. “Different.”
“Yes, he is.” Her grandfather wiggled his fingers and the image shifted. Another woman appeared, similar in size and appearance to the first. Her black hair curled around her high cheeks, where the other woman’s hair had been straight. Though her lips were full and red, they didn’t possess the same depth of color. The most obvious difference lay in this new woman’s skin. Warm, rich honey undertones brightened her complexion, giving her the gift of sun kissed skin.
The woman spun in circles, her arms splayed wide. Her full skirt billowed like a sail in the wind. Gold bracelets jingled on her arms and large hoops hung from her ears. She breathed deep as a breeze blew long strands of hair around her face. Her smile gave her cheeks a gentle glow. “Reyna,” her grandfather whispered.
“Who is she?” Sera stared in wonder.
“The female my brother destroyed.” His face hardened and his light grew cold and dark. An icy chill wafted off his body. On the wall, a figure stood by a tree, observing the woman. With her back turned, she couldn’t see the man snake from the shadows and creep up behind her. As the man leapt at the woman and pinned her to the ground, her grandfather curled his fingers into a fist and the picture disappeared. “Zelus attacked the female, Reyna, and violated her. When he finished, she begged him to kill her. She didn’t want to live with the pain of his brutality.” Her grandfather’s eyes filled with tears. “But Zelus would not be denied. He forced his essence into her living flesh. The light consumed her body and morphed her into the creature called phage.”
“Phage? The same things that came after me? The same as that crazy woman, Adriana?” Her eyes widened.
“Yes. Reyna survived, but craved flesh to sustain her life.” His lips twisted. “Zelus took so much from her, but he suffered for his cruelty. He gave away too much of his light
and weakened while Reyna grew stronger. Her abilities increased in both strength and knowledge. When she took Zelus as prisoner, my siblings and I didn’t stop her.” He cast his eyes to the floor. “We believed he deserved his fate.”
She couldn’t help but think the same. “What happened then?”
“Not long after, the females discovered their gifts and curses. Both would not age, but no longer could they stand the sun’s rays. With so much of the Luminari light flowing through them, any additional light caused their bodies to burn.” He rested his head against the wall and crossed his arms. His golden rays dimmed so much Sera reached toward him and patted his arm out of concern. He blinked. “Fear not, my child. Within fifty years, the light faded enough to allow them to see the sun again. And then the true nightmare began.”
Her muscles cried out for reprieve. The night had dragged on far too long and she paid for it now. Adapting her grandfather’s posture, she leaned against the opposite wall, stretched her long legs, and rested her hands at her sides. “I’m afraid you’ll have to give me the short version.” She yawned.
To her surprise, he laughed. “My apologies, my dear. You shine so bright, I sometimes forget your human side.” He squeezed her ankle in a reassuring gesture. “I’ll be brief.”
“As the years dragged on the women learned how to expand their lines. In short, how to breed. The vampire needed to share blood, infusing a part of her light into the human by a blood exchange.” His voice deepened as he spoke of the other. “The phage, however, needed to bite and impart the light in the human’s flesh. Not every bite would accomplish the transition. The phage must willingly force the light into the body.”
She shuddered at the graphic picture her grandfather’s words painted.
“Within centuries, the population of both got out of hand. Humans suffered as nothing more than food for the phage. And battles between the phage and vampires spiraled into full scale war.” The room grew darker and a wave of sadness emanated from her grandfather.
She frowned as he grew quiet, then she shook his leg. “Go on.”
He looked at her under half-closed eyes and nodded. “My last brother, Paxus, believed the failure to achieve our original goal of mating with humans brought us to this end. He was determined to make it right.” He flicked his wrist and the wall showed another man’s portrait. Wavy caramel hair ran to his shoulders and framed his noble face. Gentle brown eyes and a tender smile warmed her spirit. “He sought out a human widow heavy with twin babes and appeared to her with an offer. He would bless her children with special gifts, if she would but let him place his hand over her womb.” He inhaled sharply through his nose and snorted. “She thought him an angel and agreed. He imparted parts of his essence into the fragile bones of the boy child and into the forming mind of the girl child.”
“Shifters and psykes,” Sera said. Her thoughts drifted to Talon, but she pushed it away, determined to stay in the moment and discover the rest of the story.
“Yes, that’s right. My brother partially succeeded, since these new creatures could mate and have natural offspring. Still the true Luminari gene did not take root.” He sprang to his feet and offered her a hand up. “This is why I had to discover the secret.”
“What secret?” She slipped her hand into his shining palm. His warmth encompassed her arm when he pulled her to stand. Her fire reacted, running through her veins and pushing away all weariness.
“Life. When my eldest brother discovered emotion, he fell in love with his female.” He laid his fist on his chest. “He didn’t want her to die. I understood this feeling when I found your grandmother and allowed myself to age alongside her. But love wasn’t enough. I needed to live with her, to grow with her, and to be by her side, so I did. When she died, I lost my mortal hold on this physical plane and returned to the Luminarium.” His essence glowed brighter. “The life I had with her was precious, and that life allowed our love to have a child, your mother. That is the key to having natural Luminari offspring.” He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “And you Sera are the second generation of that life and love.”
His body blazed, illuminated in stunning golden hues once more. Her breathing stilled, a quiet acceptance stole over her soul. At last, she knew the truth. A heavy weight shoved itself off her chest, and her heart beat stronger and lighter.
Enough of the sappy drama, pet. We’ve got things to do. Like getting out of this cell.
Her teeth ground together, and she gritted out, “What about this pest in my head? What the heck is he?”
Her grandfather’s laughter bellowed from his abdomen. “I’m afraid that pest is, and always has been, a part of you, my dear. It’s the manifestation of your Luminari side.” He squeezed her arm. “We all develop it as we age. It’s our link to the Luminarium, to the collective, and how we communicate with each other.”
“You’re telling me, I’m stuck with this moron?”
“The inner voice can be silenced if you merge with it.” He raised his eyebrows. “I believe you’ve done it before.”
Sera recalled the times she’d allowed Guy to take over. It fused them together in a stream of unbridled power. She gasped and waved her hand back and forth. “No, thank you. I’m not dealing with that all the time.”
“The choice is yours. But remember, the phage want to use you, Sera. They need your ability to reach us.” He sighed, his light growing ever dimmer. “As you see this space between spaces, this mix of corporal and ethereal gives me form. It allows us to speak without prying eyes. Once I could linger in the physical world, but no longer. It is only here I may take shape again, and only Luminari may enter it. Reyna’s desire for revenge is endless and you are the key.”
“Why? How? I don’t understand.”
He patted her arm. “You are Luminari. You are linked to us, to my brothers and sisters. If Reyna finds a way to use that link to cross the divide between the realm of humans and ours, she can find us.” His eyes dropped to a muddy brown hue. “And then, she can kill us all.”
“You said only Luminari can cross the divide. How could she use me then?”
“The phage queen is clever Sera. She’s survived for thousands of years by draining my brother, by using his essence to fuel her.” His jaw tightened, a snarl of disgust crossing his lips. “He deserves punishment for his crime but two thousand years—”
“Grandfather, please. This doesn’t make sense.” She gripped his elbow. “I don’t understand.”
“I know.” His chest rose and fell with a deep breath. “I cannot say how Reyna would accomplish her task. But she burns with a passion for vengeance. One that is no longer appeased by punishing my brother. She would see all of us, the last of the Luminari, dead.”
“My human side allows me to walk in the physical world.” Sera’s eyes widened. “And my other half connects me to the Luminarium.” Adriana’s earlier words haunted her, All we need you to do is make the connection. Once we see you do it, we can replicate it. Her breath hitched. “They want to copy the link somehow.”
“I must go then.” Her grandfather’s form began to fade. “It is not safe. I cannot allow the phage to enter our realm.”
“Wait.” She gripped his arm like a lifeline. “I have so many questions.” Her mind raced. She babbled on. “Guy had this weird robot voice one time, what does that mean? And you said you had sisters, what happened to them?” A tear streamed down her face as she thought of the most important question of all. “And my mother and grandmother, what were they like?”
He cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead. “This isn’t goodbye, my child. We will speak when it is safe. For now, another is near to aid you.” He faded in a stream of light like a ray of sunshine setting into a misty evening. His last words lingered in the air. “The vampire is our ally.”
The temperature dropped as the haze left the room and harsh reality settled over the space. With her vision back to normal, she took a finer look at her surroundings. A long white wall sat at the bac
k. She could see the faint outline of a door, but no knob or handle. To the right and left, cement made up the adjoining two walls, and to the front, vertical bars blocked a narrow aisle. Across the row laid another cell identical to this one. She narrowed her eyes as a feminine figure rested her back against the neighboring bars. The woman’s jet-black hair and matching dark clothes seemed so familiar. The name lay on the tip of her tongue.
“I told you, Sera, the phage are not creatures to trifle with.”
Sera gasped as the thunderous voice mixed with that formal accent, jogged her memory. The vampire with the slick as oil eyes rose across from her. She stared in disbelief and struggled not to stutter as she asked, “Strife?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hillbend Hospital, Calgary, Alberta
An explosion, a man’s manic laughter, a dark narrow room and the smoke—oh shit—the smoke filled her ears, eyes, and nose. Jame sucked in air, willing her body to work, to move. But the fumes clogged every pore, freezing and burning at the same time. She struggled, thrashing without movement, screaming without sound.
A steady beep-beep-beep interrupted her dreams. She blinked twice. A soft yellow light cast a shadow over her vision. Her hand came up to her face and met a plastic tube under her nose. She gasped, startled more by her ability to move again, then the tubing.
“Thank you,” she whispered far too scratchy. Her throat ached. “Water?”
“Jame? You awake?” The voice rasped low. She couldn’t place it.
“Yeah,” she said, angling toward the sound. A man lay in the bed across from her. Squinting, she could make out his disheveled brown hair and golden green eyes. “Hey, Slick.”
“Hey, yourself. You okay?”
“Think so. Except for a splitting headache.” She smoothed down her hair and rubbed her temples. “Nice to be able to move again.”
“Tell me about it.” He sat up and groaned.
“Now, that’s enough.” A man with sun-kissed bronze skin and short black hair walked through the door, over to the bed, and pushed Slick back against the pillows. “Don’t overdo it, amigo.”
