STEAMPUNK ROMANCE: An Innovative Clockwork Steampunk World Adventure: The Complete Collection Boxed Set (Mystery Suspense Romance Short Stories)

by Haven, Rose

  “All right,” she said, “what do I have to do?”

  Chapter Three

  Cat’s grandfather stood from the table and opened a door on the right wall of the small adobe room to reveal an even smaller room.

  “Lusio and I will accompany you inside,” Cat’s grandfather said indicating the young man who sat next to Tacia. He stood immediately and made his way towards the room.

  “The rest of you will wait here until we are finished,” the old man said.

  Diana felt her heart begin to pound at the thought of entering yet another mist filled room, this time, without Cat there to hold her hand. She looked quickly to Cat who put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s all right,” he said to her, “I’ll be right out here. It won’t take long.”

  She looked into his eyes and felt her heart beat calm and soften. If Cat said there was no danger, she trusted him. Besides, had she not wanted to take control of her own destiny? Wouldn’t this test help her to do just that? So, with a nod to Cat, she stood from her chair, threw her shoulders back and walked straight into the room

  When she stepped inside, she immediately began to sweat. The heat was so intense she could feel it seeping into her skin making it burn. This scorching heat was coupled with a thick, white mist that made the air inside almost tangible, as though you could reach out and touch it with no effort.

  The air around her was so thick and hot, her head began to spin and she could feel her eyes fighting to stay open, her lungs forcing breath from her body.

  Though she knew the other two men were in the room with her, the steam was so thick that she could not see them. That was why, when a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist in a firm hold, she jumped.

  When the figure emerged from the fog as Cat’s grandfather, she gave a sigh of relief.

  “Don’t be afraid, Diana,” he said to her as he led her to what looked like a stool in the middle of the room. She felt rather than saw the old man move behind her and gently push on her shoulders.

  She slid down onto the stool.

  “Now, Diana,” he said, “Lusio is going to change. Do not be alarmed when he does, he will not harm you.”

  Diana heard, what she assumed to be the young man who had entered with them moving towards them.

  “When he changes,” the old man said, “you will need to reach out and place your hand on his back. It will allow him to see what you are seeing.”

  Diana nodded even though she knew that the two men in the room could, most likely, not see her.

  “Now, Lusio,” the old man said to the younger on Diana’s right hand side. Diana looked and saw the boy kneel down and close his eyes. She bit her lip to keep from gasping when Lascio disappeared and left a brownish red cougar in its place.

  “Reach out to him, Diana,” the old man said. With only slight hesitation, Diana reached out her hand and loosely grasped the short fur on the neck of the creature to her right.

  “Now, close your eyes,” the old man said.

  Diana did.

  “Clear your mind,” the man behind her said, “focus only on the sound of my voice and the feel of the cougar.”

  A moment passed as Diana pressed her eyes closed. Then, the man behind her began chanting in a language she could not hope to identify.

  The chanting was soft, melodic, and hypnotic. She knew that this was supposed to help her clear her mind. She kept pressing her eyes closed and tried to focus on clearing her mind.

  ‘Don’t think of anything,’ she thought to herself, ‘just relax, don’t think about...’

  But there were so many things she still didn’t know. She knew nothing about this test, she didn’t even know the name of the man behind her. She knew that he was Cat’s grandfather but, at the end of the day, how much did she really know about Cat?

  She knew that she was doing all of this on his word. Could she trust him? Really? What if this was all some very complicated, elaborate joke?

  The chanting got louder and the pressure increased on Diana’s shoulders nearly making her gasp as the stinging in her shoulders increased.

  The chanting from behind her stopped.

  “Diana,” Grandfather said, “You need to lose control of your thoughts. Release your mind. Think of nothing. Otherwise this will not work.”

  Diana nodded but thought, somewhat bitterly, this was much easier said than done.

  How could she possibly stop thinking about all the things she didn’t know? How could she possibly stop thinking about what was happening to her or why? Only an insane person would ask her to clear her mind completely after the two days she had just been through.

  Finding a cougar in her apartment, almost being killed, and finding out her office was filled with shape shifters then kissing her boss…

  Suddenly, when the thought of Cat flew through her mind, she registered the old man’s chanting once more. She let the sound flow through her as memories of Catahassa Yazzie filled her.

  She remembered the way he had kissed her in that room, the way his lips had parted so softly then desperately over hers. The way she had pressed into him.

  Then suddenly, perhaps it was the heat, perhaps it was chanting, perhaps it was everything that had happened in the past forty eight hours, but she saw a huge, pure white panther stalk towards her through the room’s heavy mist.

  Moving as though she were in a dream, she stood from the stool and followed the cougar. She kept her hand outstretched and felt the reddish cougar at her side move with her.

  They followed the white cougar through streams of thick mist. The temperature in the room seemed to drop so far that Diana suddenly felt a chill rush through her.

  The white cougar marched on for what seemed like hours, all the same, they never seemed to leave the room.

  Diana knew, somewhere far, far in the back of her mind that this could not have been happening. Not really, but that didn’t seem to matter to Diana any longer.

  All that mattered was that she follow this panther wherever it lead her.

  It lead her eventually, to a large lake where a white sand played against her feet.

  The cougar stopped directly in front of her and looked at her with bright green eyes.

  Diana stared right back. She knew somehow instinctively not to come any closer.

  The cougar turned from Diana back to the lake. As soon as she did, another form emerged from beneath the waves.

  From beneath the almost impossibly glossy surface of the water, the figure of a tan mountain lion emerged.

  Like the white cougar it stopped for a moment and stared directly at Diana. This new cougar’s eyes were dark and deep, almost jet black. She could not help but feel that there was something desperately familiar about them. They seemed to draw her in. They called to her in a way she had only felt once before.

  The tan cougar walked slowly towards the white panther. Likewise, the white cougar moved towards the emerging figure. The two met at the water's edge.

  They intertwined their necks in a kind of lover’s embrace. When they touched, the lake itself seemed to come alive. A bright, blinding light sprang up from the surface and shot into the heavens above.

  It was so bright that, a small voice in the back of Diana’s mind told her to turn away from it for fear it would blind her all together. She tried to silence the voice but it grew louder and louder in the back of her mind.

  ‘Why are you standing here?’ it said, ‘you’ll go blind! Besides, you don’t have time! You have to know what’s going on. You have to know whether or not the rogue will find you!’

  With this thought, the light went out completely as though it was a switch someone had turned off.

  Now, she could not see the bright white panther or the tan cougar, she could not see the salt lake, she could not see the mist, nor could she see the hand held out in front of her. The world was pitch black.

  Suddenly, as though the sun was rising, she saw light come up against a lone figure. A woman was walk
ing towards her. She was far away but Diana could see her clearly. No mist covered her.

  When she came closer, she recognized the woman.

  ‘Sandra?’ she swore she said this out loud, but the sound did not emerge from her mouth. None the less, Sandra smiled that fake receptionist smile.

  Then, Sandra closed her eyes and in her place stood a large black cougar.

  Diana’s heart began to beat a quick rhythm within her chest. She knew, with one look, that this was the panther that had attacked her at the apartment.

  Diana tried to back away but she was rooted to the spot. She tried to scream but no sound emerged.

  She stared down at the yellow eyed cougar in front of her. She watched as the animal dropped low to the ground and in one bound, leapt towards her.

  This time, a scream did emerge from Diana’s throat as she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was seated again on the stool.

  She could still feel the old man’s hands resting gently on her shoulders. Her right hand was now clutching the fur of the reddish cougar.

  She looked around wildly for the large black panther. It took her several moments to realize that it was not truly there. That none of it had really happened.

  She took two deep breaths to calm herself before asking, “What...what was that? What happened to me?”

  The old man said nothing, but simply took his hands off her shoulders and moved to the side. The reddish cougar likewise, moved from beneath Diana’s grasp, sat back on his hind legs and turned back into the young man, Luscio.

  “The test is finished,” the old man told her, “you may join the others.”

  Diana looked into his face to see if it would give a clue as to the outcome. What did any of it mean? Did her vision mean that she was the salt woman or not? However, the old man’s face was as neutral as ever.

  He ushered her through the small, hidden door and into the room beyond.

  Chapter Four

  “Diana!” Cat said rushing to her as soon as she stepped out of the room. “Are you all right? What happened?”

  Concern lined his face as he hurriedly grabbed her arm and rushed her to a chair as though fearing that she might topple over at any moment.

  “I’m…” Diana was about to say that she was fine, that there was nothing to worry about, but she knew that wasn’t true. Her head felt light and dizzy. The image of that huge, black cougar still played horribly in her mind.

  That was when she remembered...

  “Cat,” she said urgently grabbing hold of his arm as he crouched next to her.

  “What is it?” he asked, still wearing that concerned expression.

  “The girl...the rouge...the one you told me about?”

  “Yes?”

  “I know who she is.”

  Cat looked at her confused. Diana realized that she needed to clarify.

  “I mean,” she said, “I know who she’s pretending to be...it’s Sandra.”

  “Sandra?” Cat asked his brow furrowed at this. He looked very skeptical, but none the less, Diana was certain.

  “I saw her!” she said. “When I went into that...that room, I saw her!”

  “The black cougar,” the voice of the old man said, emerging from the far room, “only appeared when you allowed your fear to overcome you. You may have seen her true identity or the fear may have masked it from you.”

  Diana turned to look at him. His face remained neutral and though he had answered her accusation about Sandra, he was clearly speaking to the room at large.

  "The test is completed," he said loudly. "The girl has passed, but barely. She will need much training before she enters the salt lake."

  "So, does that mean...?" Diana began slowly. She looked to Cat but his eyes were still focused on his grandfather.

  "You saw the lake," the old man clarified, "you saw your mate. The one who was prophesied for you.”

  Diana looked sharply to Cat who moved his eyes to the ground. A hint of deeper red filled his already tan cheeks. So that was what he didn’t want to tell her.

  Diana knew, just as surely as she knew Sandra personified the large cougar who attacked her (no matter what Cat’s grandfather said), that the yellow mountain lion who had emerged from the lake was Cat.

  “Did she transform?” Lonon asked Cat’s grandfather, almost suspiciously.

  “No,” the old man answered, “but she saw the lake, she saw her cougar and she saw her mate. That is enough.”

  “But,” Lonon continued, “If she didn’t shift how can we…”

  “I said that is enough,” the old man said firmly. He gave Lonon a sharp glare. Lonon looked back at him defiantly for a moment but almost immediately, he put his head down and stepped back.

  Apparently satisfied, the old man turned from Lonon to Cat.

  “Catahassa,” he said, “will you please escort Diana to her quarters. Her training will begin in the morning.”

  “Yes, Grandfather,” Cat said.

  He stood up, placed a hand gently on Diana’s arm and led her out through the humid fog towards a back door.

  This door lead outside where Diana immediately felt a welcome breeze waft over her. She nearly sighed with contentment upon being lead out of the suffocating, mist filled space.

  Cat still held her arm in a firm but gentle grip as he led her to a small adobe home just across the way from the building they had started in.

  They didn’t speak as they made their way to the small house. Diana told herself not to stare at Cat but she found that she couldn’t help it.

  The strange thing is, she didn’t know if she wanted to glare at him angrily or smile at him. She was afraid the in between expression was more creepy than it was either intimidating or flattering.

  Cat, for his part, looked sideways at her with an odd expression as well before looking away.

  Finally, their awkward stroll ended when they reached the wooden door of the adobe dwelling. Cat opened it and led Diana inside.

  The room they stepped into looked, to Diana’s surprise, very utilitarian. The walls were plain white. The furniture was mostly brown and flavorless. The only spot of color in the room was a painting of a yellow mountain lion which stood above the couch in the sitting room.

  “Your bedroom is just down the hall,” Cat said, “I’ll stay out here tonight.”

  “You don’t need to,” Diana said. She knew she should be angry with him but she still wasn’t sure if she was. She did know that she was tired of him trying to protect her. It was flattering at first, but now, the more he treated her like a porcelain doll, the more annoying it got.

  “Grandfather thinks it is,” Cat answered.

  “Oh,” was all Diana could think to say. She didn’t know if the new fact that staying as a bodyguard not being Cat’s idea, made her feel worse or better.

  They stood staring at each other for a moment. As Diana looked at him, she tried her best to remember that she was still supposed to be angry with Cat. After all, he had failed to mention several things about that prophecy to her. Namely that she and Cat were destined to be mated.

  Still, as she looked at Cat’s deep, gorgeous eyes and that long, flowing hair, it was very difficult to remember why she should be upset about that information. Honestly, the idea that she was destined to be mated to a gorgeous billionaire was not what most people would consider bad news.

  Cat, on the other hand, didn’t look entirely sure about the idea of being mated to her.

  He shoved his hands into his pockets and, after looking at her a moment, began to look in as many different directions as possible. The way he refused to meet her eyes, the way a small blush could still be seen filling his tan cheeks, suggested that he was...ashamed of what had been revealed.

  She wouldn’t blame him if he was not exactly thrilled at the idea of being destined for her. Diana knew she was no tribute to beauty.

  Her body was curvy and lopsided, her eyes were too small and her hair was likewise not exceptional.

&n
bsp; Still...Diana couldn’t reconcile his embarrassment in contrast to the way he had behaved towards her. All the hand holding, the arm touches, the way he spoke to her, not to mention that kiss...it didn’t make any sense.

  Well, Diana decided she was not getting anywhere by staring at Cat and wondering about him. If she was going to take control of her own destiny, she might as well start by being direct.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked him finally.

  “Why didn’t I tell you what?” he asked still not looking at her. She rolled her eyes and heaved a dramatic sigh.

  “What do you think?” she asked. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were part of the prophecy? That we’re supposed to…”

  “...because I didn’t know,” he said quietly.

  “Don’t give me that,” Diana said, “You knew. I know you did. You just…”

  “No,” Cat said stopping her. “I don’t mean that I didn’t know about the prophecy. I mean, I didn’t know if it was you. Not for sure until you passed the test. And I…” finally, he looked up at her. Her eyes met his and Diana’s breath caught in her chest, “...I didn’t know whether or not I wanted it to be.”

  Diana felt her heart sink in her chest. Now it was her turn to look away. It was stupid for her to feel hurt, she knew that. She had only just met the man after all. Despite that, she still felt tears prick at her eyes. She took a deep breath and forced them back.

  “I see,” she said throwing her shoulders back and looking at him again. “Well, if you don’t want to be with me, I’m sure there’s some way around…”

  “No,” Cat said stopping her again, “it’s not that, it’s…” he ran one hand over his face and moved towards the couch. Eventually, he sank down into it.

  “What is it?” Diana asked quietly taking one step towards him.

  “Diana,” he said gently looking up at her, “the prophecy, about us, is very vague. But the elders have certain rules about what can and cannot happen.”

  “Rules?” Diana asked sitting down next to him on the couch. “What do you mean, rules?”

  “That was why, I didn’t know if...I didn’t know if I could...control myself.”