Ryze Series: Books 1 & 2

by N. Isabelle Blanco

  “No, Evesse,” Ismini says, her tone implying she’s struggling with patience. “I’ve spoken to her. She’s cool. And she knows a hell a lot more about being immortal than us. So you’re coming with me right the fuck now. She has a thing or two she can teach us.”

  “I still don’t understand why you’re dragging me to ‘train’ with her,’ I grumble as we walk down the hall.

  Ismini whirls around, hands on her hips. “Are you done? Because the woman didn’t do anything to us personally. She had nothing to do with setting up the sacrifice. She didn’t even want to be brought back.”

  “What do you mean she didn’t want to be brought back?” I ask.

  Ismini hesitates, tucking a dark brown strand of hair behind her ear and chewing on her lip.

  “Spill, Iss.”

  She shushes me and pushes at my chest, almost sending me flying into a statue of Shiva behind me. Eyes paranoid, Ismini looks up and down the white, marble-covered hallway.

  “Supernatural hearing, woman. How many times am I going to have to remind you before it sinks in?”

  The nerve of this woman.

  I shake my head, disbelieving. “Woman, all I’ve heard for the last week—aside from Cy pounding music in his room—is you and your mate going at it. Everywhere. The fucking roof isn’t soundproof. No area here is. And I now have supernatural hearing. So shut the hell up about that and answer my question. Why didn’t Dimithinia want to be brought back to life?”

  She narrows her gray, purple, and light-blue eyes. “I can’t control where my mate decides to take me.”

  “Nor would you want to. I know.”

  My best friend’s eyelid twitches. “And, Dimithinia didn’t want to be brought back—”

  “Because I knew that Crius would want nothing to do with me the moment I was given physical form.”

  Ismini and I jump and look up guiltily.

  Dimithinia is standing just inside one of the many openings leading outside.

  It’s the first time I’ve gotten a good look at the former queen of ancient Ritrio. Dimithinia is wearing dark blue jeans, a white tank top, and combat boots—an outfit that can in no way be considered ‘queenly’ attire. But there is no mistaking that she’s someone who used to be royalty.

  Her long black curtain of hair falls all the way down to her hips. Strands of it sway in the light breeze coming in from outside. Back straight and expression proud, Dimithinia stares me down with eyes that appear to glow like dark blue LED lights.

  Between that and the woman’s dark purple, blue, and silver aura dancing in the sunlight, she makes for one hell of an impressive sight.

  “So . . .” Ismini’s clears her throat.

  Dimithinia walks up to us, head held high, and with a gait that lies somewhere between “I’m a Queen” and “I’m a badass”. The closer she gets, the more I can see that her facial features are a mix of European and Asian. She’s truly unlike anything I’ve ever seen. By the time Dimithinia stops in front of me, I’m already begrudging the flare of admiration sparking in me.

  “You . . . have an issue with me.” Dimithinia squares her shoulders. “Do you wish to discuss this?”

  Whoa, that accent. I’m honestly at a loss for words for a second or two. Ismini throws me a gloating look.

  I ignore Ismini, refocusing on Dimithinia. “I have two questions. First, are you sure you have no residual feelings, desires, fantasies, or even what you might consider tiny, insignificant hormone flares for my best friend’s man?”

  Ismini face-palms herself then groans up towards the heavens. “Are you serious, Eve?”

  “Damn right I’m serious. Now let her answer the question.”

  CHAPTER 15

  EVESSE

  D imithinia raises an eyebrow, amused. “I have none of those . . . things for Dyletri. I will always care for him. Greatly. Verily, he showed me kindness at a time in my life when only one other male cared.” Her tone is so matter-of-fact.

  She seems to be telling the truth. However, I’m not done with her yet. “And this other male . . . did you have sex with him, too?”

  “Evesse!” Ismini looks ready to strangle me.

  Meh. It isn’t the first time.

  I cross my arms.

  Dimithinia’s lips stretch into a smirk. “No. I did not. But, I did try.” She shrugs, still smirking. “He was an attractive male I cared for and I was desperate. Alas, he was too faithful to his position and would not betray his king to help me.”

  “Fine. Question number two.”

  “I believe that would be question number three. Unless my English counting is off.”

  I try my damnedest not to be amused by Dimithinia’s cheeky response.

  “Evesse, can you just drop it? Before I hit you?”

  I wave my best friend away. Ismini’s clearly not pleased with my interrogation of her new friend. Well, tough shit. I’m not done. “Is it true you killed dozens of girls before dying?”

  Dimithinia’s expression flattens, but I recognize deep, penetrating horror when I see it. There are some things that stay etched into a person’s tissues and organs. Things that burn like acid long after they’ve occurred.

  That look in Dimithinia’s eyes? I’ve seen it staring back at me in the mirror many times over the last five years. “You know what? Forget it. You don’t have to—”

  “I killed thousands, not dozens . . . thousands.”

  Ismini’s sharp gasp ricochets up and down the hall. Clearly, not even she knew that part of the story.

  Dimithinia lowers her eyes, but not before I catch another glimpse of that lingering horror. “I changed the laws shortly after my husband’s disappearance so that I . . . would have the power to sacrifice those females. I—I drained them of their blood, then bathed in it. And to this day, I cannot tell you the reason why.”

  I swallow heavily. “They say you did it because you loved Dyletri, and you went crazy because of him.”

  Dimithinia’s eyes snap back up. “There is no . . . doubt that I went mad. But I do not care what my tale says, for it is false in that aspect. I do not know why I did what I did, but I can swear to you that it was not because of Dyletri.” A resolute expression hardens her face. “If you wish to judge me, you are within your right to do so. But, if you must, then judge me for what I did to those females. This, I ask of you.”

  Yeah, well, there’s just one problem with that request. As much as I wanted to judge the woman before me, I just can’t. It isn’t in me. She doesn’t deserve my judgment. The feeling makes no sense considering what I just heard, but the conviction is too strong to ignore.

  “Are you fucking done?” Ismini snaps.

  “Chill out, bitch,” I snap right back. “I’m only looking out for you.”

  Dimithinia tilts her head. “You love Ismini very much.”

  I give her a sharp nod.

  She returns my nod. “That is . . . understandable. There is much to fall in love with.”

  I soften. There’s no other word for what happens inside me.

  Ismini stares at Dimithinia with a smile and sparkle in her eye. I’m clearly not alone in my reaction.

  “I’ve fallen in love with you, too, Dimi. Now you—” Ismini raises an eyebrow at me. “As much as I love the fuck outta you, you better be done with this shit.”

  Aw, hell. After what I just witnessed? “Yeah . . . yeah, I’m done. We’re . . . yeah, we’re cool.”

  The smile Dimithinia gives me nearly blinds me. She raises her fist up rather awkwardly and wiggles it in my direction. “Give me a . . . a . . .” Gone is the proud, tormented ex-queen. In her place is now a confused, young woman. Dimithinia looks at Ismini imploringly. “Ismini, please supply me with the term. This one keeps escaping me.”

  “A pound. You’re asking her to ‘pound it’.”

  Dimithinia nods eagerly at me. “That is the custom, yes? Pound it.”

  She’s too freaking cute.

  Right as I raise my fist and touch it to
the ex-queen’s, Dimithinia’s head swivels in Ismini’s direction. “Wait. But a pound is a unit of measure, is it not?”

  Ismini and I laugh as we all head outside. “How do you know so much about being immortal? You were just human, right?”

  Before Dimithinia can answer, Dyletri materializes right onto the platform of one of the statues in the courtyard.

  Ismini stares up at her mate with a mock-exasperated look. “Baby, I thought I told you to go find something else to do for a while. Doesn’t Ianthen need help tracking down Enteax?”

  Dyletri makes himself good and comfortable, stretching out on that platform and crossing his arms behind his head. “Nope. He’s good. And since I can’t do you, my R’ma, the least I get to do is watch.” He smirks lasciviously at Ismini, looking like sex incarnate.

  Dimithinia rolls her eyes. “I am telling you, Ismini. You have made him more insatiable than all the females in his history combined.”

  “Damn straight,” Dyletri mumbles, his eyes slowly tracing his mate’s legs.

  Ismini fucking beams. “See? This is why I love you. Keep the good shit coming, Dimi.”

  “Oh my god, if you two start doing it right here, I’ll hurt someone. I’ll hurt him, Iss.” I glance at Dimithinia and see her sheepish expression. “Oh, fuck. They didn’t. In front of you?”

  Dimithinia nods solemnly. “And Soleria. And the twins. And Cyake, who seemed abnormally happy that he got to witness the beginning of this . . . event.”

  “I’ve lost all respect I ever had for you,” I inform Ismini.

  She shoves her middle finger in my face. “Both of you shut the hell up and let’s move forward. Dimithinia knows what it’s like to be human, and she also understands immortals. So can we get on to why we’re here?”

  I can’t get the image of my friend going at it with her mate—in front of everyone—out of my head. But I sure as hell try to brain bleach that shit.

  “To understand what you are now, you must first understand what gods really are,” Dimithinia begins. “Humans now have an . . . idea about gods that is not fully accurate. You think of them as these spiritual beings out of myth. All beings are spiritual. All beings have souls. Even the human that does not believe . . .” She pauses and I realize that the pauses in her sentences occur whenever Dimithinia forgets how to say a word in English.

  “Atheists.”

  Dimithinia nods gratefully at me. “Yes, even an atheist is a spiritual being in a flesh and blood body. Even if they do not know, or believe. In my kingdom, what you call gods and the immortals lived and walked amongst our streets every day. The ‘gods’, we worshipped them for what they were. Not these higher spiritual beings. Just higher. More, physically. They . . . we are now more. In order to learn to . . . work these new bodies you have been given, you must let go of any lingering old beliefs.”

  I think I get where she’s going with this. “You’re saying that, in order to gain control over them, we have to think of our bodies as what they are. Scientifically speaking, we are still flesh and blood. But we’re now a different species, one similar to humans, yet thousands of times more powerful.”

  “Yes. Such a simple concept, but so hard to truly understand, yes?”

  Yeah. And it makes perfect freaking sense.

  “I have one question, though. I was able to materialize a phone out of thin air, and no one told me how. Yet, when I tried to dematerialize before, it was hard as hell to aim myself properly.”

  “I’m still having issues with the aiming thing,” Ismini says.

  “When you materialized the phone, you materialized an inanimate object,” Dyletri interjects from his perch on the pedestal. “Dematerializing ourselves, or other living creatures, or even erasing memories . . . anything that has to do with a living organism is ten times more complicated.”

  Dimithinia seems grateful that Dyletri saved her from having to explain.

  “My phone has moving, technical parts you know,” I throw back at him.

  Dyletri laughs and shakes his head. “And this is exactly why Dimithinia says the concept is so hard to grab. Your phone has no organic matter. No soul-like energy. No free will to get in the way.”

  I rub my hands together, ready to go. Okay, I’m dying, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn some new shit before heading out the door.

  Besides, this is much better than what I was doing before. Moping is for the shits. “Okay. We let go of the old belief. Then what?”

  “You focus. As you tried before, I am sure. Just this time, try to . . . scientifically—that is the word you used before, correct?” Ismini and I nod, and Dimithinia continues. “Try to scientifically imagine what is happening. Imagine the bits of you breaking apart, imagine them swarming together like a swarm of bees. Then, you must aim that swarm where you wish it to go. Ismini, you first. Dematerialize to the other side of the courtyard.”

  Ismini inhales sharply. “I can do that. But if you mean go straight ahead, you might not get that, Dimi.”

  “Just try.”

  “Alrighty.”

  Ismini crouches down just low enough to seem like she’s about to take off running. Dyletri raises his head, his silver-and-blue eyes locked on Ismini’s ass.

  There’s no need to guess what’s on his mind.

  And, yup, the moment Ismini’s molecules break apart and start swerving in the direction Dimithinia told her to go, Dyletri sits straight up.

  Then, just like that, Ismini’s molecules are pulled in his direction, like a shot barreling out of a cannon. My friend rematerializes right over her R’mann’s lap. Dyletri grabs Ismini’s hips and yanks her down onto him.

  “Dyletri! Let me go.”

  “Nope.” Dyletri bites his lip, his incisors elongated, his expression straight-up carnal.

  “I . . . I have to practice!” Ismini cries feebly, her hungry stare already locked on his mouth.

  “And I am in need. Let’s go.” Dyletri dematerializes, taking Ismini with him, and I have no doubt that the infernal sounds of them fucking will soon reach my poor ears.

  Again. “I can’t believe this shit. Have they been like this the whole time?”

  “Worse. Much worse. He is the God of Lust and he has not copulated in millennia. I am assuming it is to be expected now that he is mated.”

  I study Dimithinia’s expression. “And you truly don’t care.”

  “Nope,” she says, surprising me when she pops the “p” and smiles.

  I can’t help but ask. “If it was Crius, would you care?”

  Dimithinia’s expression becomes one-hundred-percent, pure, grade-A vicious. “Once more, I say to you, nope. He is an unfeeling bastard who has not spoken a word to me since I took him the invitation to Ismini’s Ziaphrite more than a week past. He can rot in his hell.”

  “How long were you down there with him, before you were reincarnated, I mean?”

  “Almost fourteen-thousand years.”

  Fucking hell. “And you were aware of it?”

  “Every moment.”

  “You spent time with him as a soul?”

  Her lips purse with annoyance. “Once more, I must say: every moment.”

  Well, hell. “You’re right. He is an unfeeling bastard. And first chance I get, I will cause him as much agony as possible. I promise you this.” As far as peace offerings go, I suppose that’s a real good one, because Dimithinia gives me that blinding smile again.

  “Looks like it’s just you and me, and I’m willing to learn. Care to teach me?”

  “It would be my pleasure, Evesse. And, afterward, perhaps you can explain to me what ideas you have for Crius’s suffering?”

  Gee-freaking-whiz. I might as well throw up that white flag. ‘Cause I know, just know, that I’m gonna fall in love with this female as much as my friends did. I had the same exact feeling when I met Soleria and Ismini. Fighting it will be utterly futile.

  And I don’t do futile.

  “Come on, then. Teach me how to aim.”
r />   CHAPTER 16

  One week later

  – Enzyria

  EVESSE

  “I love this song!”

  “Cy, seriously. Don’t start this shit. Shut it.”

  Gangnam Style blasts over the speakers, and Cy takes off, straight into the “riding the pony” motion.

  “Cy, I’m serious.”

  “Don’t be a hater, Ian. Dance this shit with me. This is classic!”

  “Someone smack him.”

  “Gladly.” I walk right by Cyake and deliver the necessary blow to his head.

  “The fuck? The song is playing. I have all the right to dance it!” Cy rubs his head and glares after me.

  “Seriously, Eve, that dress is hot.” Lizzisi, Goddess of Light, steps in front of me and hands me a glass.

  Liz’s white dress is just as gorgeous.

  I look down at the tight, red strapless piece with the slit up the thigh. Oh, I know my dress is hot. So are the black heels.

  I picked both out on purpose.

  He’s not going to be here.

  “Your dress is, too.” I smile at Liz and slowly sip whatever she gave me. It’s similar to champagne, but with the kick it has, it’s definitely more than just fermented grape juice. “What is this?”

  “Laussane.” Liz slams back her glass.

  “You guys and your weird fucking language, man.” I’m amazed she managed to toss this strong-as-hell shit back like that.

  Liz smiles happily. “It’s our own version of alcohol. Just enjoy it.”

  “You trying to get me drunk, Liz?”

  She laughs, flipping her platinum blond hair over her shoulder. Her eyes spark whenever she smiles, the lightning in her irises flashing rapidly.

  I’m no longer freaked out by it.

  Nah, not after the little sight that awaited me the first time I looked in the mirror after waking up.

  Swirls of gold, brown, and black dominate my irises now, and when I get mad, a sea of red stains my entire eyeballs.

  “Don’t tempt me, woman. I might take you up on that. Make Zen regret he was too late,” Liz says, because she’s oh so sensitive.