“How can you presume to know me?” Para asked. She exhaled slowly as she spoke. “You think that by placing this jewelry on my body I will never return to being two people?”
“I don’t think so. I know so,” replied Lord Zvarin as he fastened the necklace around her neck. “I have great experience in matters of coalescence. I studied it extensively before my sister coerced me into joining bodies with more and more men. Not one part of me could bear to be separated from the others. Once a body joined with me, it became essential to the whole. Fusion is addictive, in a way.”
“Perhaps it is, but that doesn’t mean I will become addicted to it. My reasons for joining could be very different than yours. After I accomplish my goals I may not have any more need for the technique.”
“Ah, but I have invaded your mind when I first sensed you, and I know that you wish to stay merged. It’s a very consuming, exhilarating technique and it’s hard to fight the feeling of—”
“Invaded my mind?” she asked with concern.
“Yes. It’s one of my skills. When I’m meditating, if I can lock on to a person’s prana signal, I can see through their eyes and their mind for up to five minutes. I can live their life as though I am in their body—I have no control, but I can experience all of their sensations and thoughts. The more powerful a person is, the less time my invasion lasts. The mind and body naturally force me out as an immune system would to a virus.”
Para stared at him as she processed this information. It’s like Suja’s technique—the one she supposedly used when she spied on the woman who slept with Thorn. So it’s true. It wasn’t Suja’s fault—she just watched it happen. Thinking about this made Para grow uncomfortable. She wondered during which five minute period Zvarin had been spying on her life. She wondered if he had spied on all of her friends and family this way, and just how much exactly he knew about her world. She would need to find a way to block him out.
“You have impressive natural defenses, Para. I could not stay in your mind for more than fifteen seconds.”
“I suppose I should be proud of that,” she answered with a sigh. “Might I ask what you saw when you were in my mind?”
Zvarin smiled. “You talk to yourself a lot. That’s how I learned your name, because no one else seems to call you by it. You say things like, ‘Okay, Para, you’ve got three minutes left. Make it count.’ Or 'Think, Para, think of a solution to this problem,' or 'I wish I didn’t have to separate. I wish I could stay joined together for longer than thirty minutes.'"
Para found herself smiling slightly at his imitation of her internal voice. Was this man really as evil as he had been in her dreams? Sometimes her dreams weren’t precisely correct. Perhaps he killed Suja for a good reason. She had not heard the whole story. Zvarin was capable of being quite charming. He had used information gained from spying on her to give her exactly what her heart most desired—a way to remain whole for as long as she felt necessary.
Her smile suddenly disappeared. What the hell is wrong with me? He’s keeping me trapped in a force field and I’m thinking about how charming he is? Get a grip, Para! Dear Sakra, he’s right. I do talk to myself in my head far too much. That’s pathetic!
She cleared her throat. “So why did you make the decision to fuse with someone, Zvarin?”
“It wasn’t my decision. I prefer not to talk about my past,” he answered. He retrieved an anklet and stooped to tie it around her ankle. It was difficult with her giant skirt getting in the way, so he used his force field to levitate her off the ground by a few yards. She was still barefoot from kicking her broken heels off earlier.
“I would like to hear your story,” she said softly. “I knew Suja, but she never really mentioned you until recently in a vision.” Para felt slightly nervous about Zvarin fastening the chain around her ankle. He seemed much too familiar with touching her.
“You know my story,” he said sharply. “I’m the son of the King of the Asura.”
“But that’s all I know,” Para complained.
“That’s all you need to know,” he snapped, straightening. “My people and yours are supposed to be mortal enemies, but I am not like my people. I am not like my sister, and I don’t fight ancient wars and follow outdated dogmas. That is why I’m helping you now. I’m my own person, and my name is Zvarin. That’s all you need to know.”
“I’m sorry,” Para told him. “I do appreciate your help.”
He shook his head. “The truth is, Para, I’m not sure who I am anymore. I am made from multiple men, each with a rich and dark past. Each with plenty of pain and betrayal behind him. Very recently, I have gone through a series of new mergers and I am still learning about who I have become.”
“I understand that,” she admitted. “I’m still not used to being Para. Looking in the mirror still confuses me.”
“Ah, but you are only comprised of two women. Imagine the chaos in my mind: I have merged with one hundred of the most powerful warriors in the Seven Galaxies.”
“One hundred? You’re a fusion of a hundred people?” asked Para in shock. Her reaction was similar to his when she had told him that she was only two people.
“Yes. One hundred young humanoid males, all in the prime of life (for their respective species), but roughly from 21-26 years of age.”
“Sweet Sakra,” she whispered, staring at his face and body as though he had suddenly grown a hundred heads.
“I know; it is rather impressive, is it not? I have basically found the fountain of youth. I could live forever by taking on the youth of those I join with. And they take on my wisdom and power. This was why I agreed to pursue the process: to join with only the best and brightest beings in the universe so that I would become exponentially greater than any of them were as individuals.”
“Did you force them to merge with you?” she asked. “Was it voluntary?”
“We held competitions to choose the best candidates. In these parts, it is considered the highest honor to join bodies with the supreme ruler. There were men lining up to be medically tested, intellectually tested, and to fight in exhibitions of strength for the privilege of joining with me. I have gained an immense array of techniques and an unparalleled rise in energy since the mergers began.”
Para felt dread creep into the hairs on the back of her neck which could not even stand up within the force field. That’s why none of us ever sensed you before. You weren’t always this powerful.
“There is a phrase here on Zvora,” Zvarin said. “People like to say that ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’ Well, Para, can you imagine when those parts are already whole, whole and awesome, and they are combined, how very much greater the whole is? I like to say that the multiplication of several wholes creates a whole whom one can worship.”
Worship. He’s got a hundred arrogant young male brains in there who think that they are invincible. Combining so many bodies and souls has gotten to his head so much that he thinks that he’s the god of all gods. He thinks that he's not only above everyone in the physical sense, but in a moral sense as well. He actually thinks he’s some sort of savior to the people he conquered.
Every being, regardless of species, is flawed and no matter how many of us you put together we cannot become perfect and blameless. Yet I do think I understand some of the way he feels. Joining bodies does make one feel above everything. I have often felt irreproachable and untouchable. I almost feel sorry for him. Whoever he was originally—that man has been lost. He’s drowned in himself. A combination, or multiplication, of a hundred souls has created a monster, and destroyed all of the individuals who previously existed. I have difficulty sorting out my own identity and I am only two people. How does he even carry on in such confusion?
She gazed up at Zvarin thoughtfully, maintaining eye contact with the outlandish violet irises. But he is such a beautiful monster. She swallowed as the odd thought jolted her back to reality. “Do I need to be wearing all of the jewelry to stay together?” she asked.
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“No,” he answered, “the rings are mandatory to initiate maintaining the union. After you have placed the rings on your body, you can wear another piece of jewelry and remove the rings. Just one piece is sufficient. As long as there is Holy Fjuyen around one of your limbs, or fingers, or in a single piercing in your body, you will not be able to divide.”
"Then why do I need so many pieces?" she asked.
“In battles here on Metamora, the first thing attackers will try to do is rip off a person’s jewelry. This is why we wear many pieces to insure against this happening. It is foolish to lose a battle simply because your necklace was unclasped.”
Para quickly glanced at Zvarin’s body, taking a mental inventory of all the jewelry he wore.
“In fact,” he added, “some of us have the Holy Fjuyen implanted directly into our bodies. This way we would have to have certain organs ripped out, or be drained of our blood in order for our union to end.”
Para’s eyes fell. There goes that theory of how to defeat him. “Implantation? That seems very permanent,” she remarked. “I didn’t think of that.”
“There is a lot I could teach you,” he said.
This was an unnerving statement. Although Thornton and Asher were older than Para’s respective halves by roughly a decade, she did not really feel like they were older. Zvarin, however, gave off the distinct impression of being ancient even though his appearance was youthful. His self-possession and strict, stately carriage reminded her vaguely of Vincent, but with less anger on the surface and something darker beneath the surface. It disturbed her that she knew nothing of his history or his powers. If this paralyzing green mist was just the tip of the iceberg, she was truly screwed.
Zvarin stepped closer to her, and she would have stepped back if it were possible. He reached out and brushed tendrils of her indigo hair back over her shoulders. Para had never felt more like a statue. She was unable to evade his touch, and unable to express displeasure with it. It wasn’t completely displeasure that she felt, but it was very unwelcome. She wondered if every man he had chosen to merge bodies with had special techniques of his own. That could make hundreds of finely tuned skills, and hundreds more that the combined minds would create with their new intelligence.
Para frowned at this thought. He could devastate whole worlds with that kind of firepower. This man could not afford to be the least bit mentally unstable—and by definition of his fragmented composition, he must be volatile.
“Suja was right about you,” the green-haired emperor said in a low voice.
“What did she say?” Para asked nervously.
“That there are not many women like you in existence.” Zvarin seemed to be carefully observing her through the jade fog. The cloudiness of the force field around her gave her the sensation of drunkenness, so she almost wondered if she was dreaming his next words: “I will have you as my own. You will be my wife in two years’ time.”
Her heart skipped a beat as her eyebrows folded inward. “What?”
“I have some prior engagements in my dominions, and then there is the time it will take for wormhole travel—but in approximately two years I will visit the Earth and collect you as my wife.”
She normally would have objected and said something harsh, but she was too elated by the first suggestion of her freedom. She had been beginning to believe that she would never be liberated from the force field, and that even if she was allowed to move again, she would end up like Suja. Does this mean he’s going to let me go? And then come to Earth at a later point in time? That doesn’t make any sense! Para felt an ache begin to grow inside of her. “Why, Zvarin?”
“For one simple reason: you are the most powerful woman in the universe. Just like Suja said. It is absurd that you are only the synthesis of two women! Yet your energy, even suppressed, is greater than any of the fused females in these nearby galaxies.”
“Aren’t you already married?” Para asked hopefully. “Probably to dozens of women?”
“I was. However, Suja stipulated a requirement that if any man was chosen to join with my body, his entire family and his beloved must die in order for him to fully embrace this new identity.”
Para would not have believed that her scowl could deepen, but it did. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry. Why would anyone want to go through with something like that?”
“The prize of being me was worth the loss of everything they had before.”
“I don’t understand how anyone could sacrifice that,” Para whispered.
“But don’t you?” he asked with a smile. “For many of these men, the chance to join with me was better than winning the lottery. I have everything. I will live forever. Nothing can be denied me—not even you.”
“I hate to burst your bubble,” Para said as she felt bubbles of rage fizzing up in her throat, “but we are doubtless different species. I’m part human and part deva, but you’re—who knows what you are! We probably are physically incompatible. I doubt we could ever conceive a child, so you’d probably have better luck with a local girl.”
“There are none who can compare to you. I know, for some of my parts are noblemen who have searched for many years. We have found no one worthy until you. I will possess you.”
“Oh, boy,” Para said with a chuckle. Her chest hurt as it tried to expand against the force field. Her laughter grew into a hysterical chortle. “Come on, Zvarin. Pinch me so I can wake up. I know that this must be a nightmare.”
“A nightmare? Is it so unpleasant to be around me?”
“I’m locked in a fucking force field and you’re teasing me about letting me free. It’s pretty damn unpleasant, to put it lightly. So just hit me in the face or something so I can wake up, comfortable and warm in my own soft bed. Then I’ll go to therapy so I stop dreaming about you.”
“This is not a dream, Para. I am not surprised to learn that you have dreamed of me. You must have been attracted to my power. You see, it is natural for the greatest beings to be together.”
“Please,” Para growled. “You sound like my father.”
“Then he must be a wise man. You and I have been drawn to each other from across the vastest expanse of space conceivable. Fate has brought you to me. You are my intended.”
“Intended? I don’t think so.”
“What else is there? I will rule the universe with you at my side. It’s the way things must be.”
“This is ridiculous,” Para said, trying to look down at her frozen body in disgust. “I don’t want to rule. I just want to live with my family and be happy.”
“You weren’t happy on Earth. You weren’t happy with your identity. It seems to me that you weren’t happy with your family either.”
“I love them, although we have problems sometimes. I also love living on Earth. It’s my home,” she said with a nostalgic smile. “I just want to wake up and be safe and sound at home. Like Dorothy. It was all a dream, you know.”
“I don’t know. I believe you mistake me for someone that you can insult!” Zvarin snapped.
Para gasped as she felt herself forcefully grabbed by the shoulders and pulled painfully up against Zvarin’s chest. She felt as though her breasts were being crushed against steel. She could feel his deathlike heartbeat increase from one beat every five seconds to one beat every two seconds. She could see raging violet infernos in his beautiful eyes.
“You are not allowed to disobey me. You are not allowed to challenge me. You must submit willingly and respectfully, or face consequences—do you understand? This is not a dream. This is real—this is a reality where I am emperor, and the moment you stepped onto my dominion, you became one of my possessions.”
“Then let me leave. Zvarin, stop,” she winced, feeling his fingers dig into her shoulders. “You’re hurting me. Please!”
“Do you understand me?” he roared, tightening his grip until she thought her bones were being crushed. “Now that I have you in my sights, I will never let you go!”
The pain w
as blinding. She thought she could feel the fracturing of her clavicles and humerus at their joints in his large hands. The sharp sensation of her bones being crushed was one that she would never grow accustomed to. It overwhelmed her senses. But as she fought through the pain, she discovered a boon. Blinking in surprise, she realized that her hands had instinctively moved up to grasp his wrists and try to pry him off of her. In his distracted fury, he had accidentally released the force field. She couldn’t teleport back to earth while he was touching her or she would take him along with her. She needed to wrestle him off first.
Instead, of course, he wrestled her to the ground. She struggled against him, and decided to throw all of her strength into it. But just before she could release the energy needed to power up to Ruby Form, she felt the force field close in around her again. Shit, she thought in dismay, realizing she had missed her narrow window.
Zvarin smirked down at her with an air of superiority as he held her pinned to the ground with both his body and his force field. He had frozen her from head to toe again. He moved to grasp her hands, and gently kissed the tips of her fingers. “As far as I gather, Para, you need your hands to execute this teleporting skill. Am I correct?”
She didn’t respond. She only looked at him in terror. Her heart was pounding, and she was beginning to feel claustrophobic in her own skin as the force field inhibited her movement. What did he intend to do?
“I suppose I could rip your fingers off so that you couldn’t teleport back to Earth. That would be quite the solution, wouldn’t it be?”
Para couldn’t close her eyes to blink as tears began to gather in them at the prospect of never seeing her home again. I deserve this. It serves me right, doesn’t it? Thorn, Ash. How could I live without ever seeing you both again?
“But then you wouldn’t be able to wear the fjuyen rings, and if you were to separate by accident you wouldn’t be able to join bodies again. I am sure your halves are nice women, but I have no interest in them. I want you, Para.”
Thirty Minutes to Heartbreak Box Set (Books 1-3) Page 92
