Forged

by Jacquelyn Frank

  Christ, just thinking about that made him want her again. It reminded him of the way she had felt, the way she had smelled. He had loved the taste of her on his tongue. The feel of her surrounding him when he’d been deep inside of her. He began to grow hard for her right where he stood and he turned away from his Pharaohs with a flush.

  Now he wanted to follow after her all the more. But he couldn’t, he realized. He couldn’t or she’d just grow more and more angry with him. And he didn’t want her to be angry with him. He wanted her to forgive him for his boorish ways and maybe let him touch her again.

  He couldn’t follow her, but he might be able to get someone else that could.

  He went off in search of them.

  Kat sat down on the porch swing, Karma at her feet, in order to write a note to Bella. It was short and sweet. A simple “We’re here, are you?” It seemed like a good place to start. She would check the note in about fifteen minutes and every fifteen minutes after that.

  As for these first fifteen minutes, she was going to use them to take a walk. She stuck the note in the front door and leaving her writing implements on the swing, she stepped down off the porch and started walking, Karma close at her side. The driveway was very long, the landscaping cultured and beautiful. Someone had a very green thumb and an eye for making the land around the house look neat and tidy and yet it blended in almost seamlessly with the land that stretched outward beyond them.

  She was really feeling like her head was starting to clear by the time she had almost reached the end of the driveway. It was also about the same time she heard footsteps behind her.

  She turned and saw a man she hadn’t met walking toward her. He was just under six feet tall, had black hair that curled slightly and almost touched his shoulders. He had chocolate-brown eyes and a very lean athletic build.

  She sighed.

  “He sent you to follow me, didn’t he?”

  “Mmmyup,” the man said with a boyish grin. “I’m Leo. Leo Alvarez.”

  “Hi, Leo,” she said, reaching to shake his hand. She narrowed her eyes on him a little. “Why haven’t I met you yet?”

  “I was away. Just got back a few hours ago.”

  “Oh.” She paused. “You’re different. You’re human … I mean mortal … aren’t you?”

  “Yes. How can you tell the difference?”

  “I don’t know. I just can.”

  “Do I carry myself like I can die any minute?” he asked with another grin.

  “No,” she said with a laugh. “Like I said, I don’t know how I know. If you’re mortal, what good could you do if I got into trouble?”

  “You’d be surprised,” he said mysteriously. Then she found herself thinking he might be able to handle himself after all. That was how he carried himself. “So you’re the girl who has our boy tied into knots. You look pretty harmless to me.”

  “I am harmless, believe me.” She paused. “He’s tied in knots?”

  “I’ve never seen him like this. Mind you, I’ve only known him a few months, but he always seemed cool-headed. Intense, but coolheaded. Definitely the sort you want at your back in a fight. The only time I can remember him getting hot was when Kamen first came here, and I have to say I know the feeling.” He paused and absently rubbed a hand over a spot on his chest. She didn’t think he realized he was doing it, but for some reason she knew it was connected to what she was saying to him.

  “I’m going to guess and say you were part of Kamen’s former damage path as well. I have to say, I don’t see … That is, he doesn’t come off as this evil person.”

  Leo paused a beat, but only a beat. “I don’t trust him, if that’s what you mean. I don’t think he deserves trust. But he does seem genuinely repentant for what he’s done. I think he wants to right his wrongs. But I also feel once he’s done that … he’ll either go back to what he was doing before or just disappear off the face of the earth.”

  “What he was doing before?”

  “Being one of the main leaders of the Templar faction. One of the reasons why they’ve been at war so long. He brought a lot of power to bear against the Politic, as I understand it.”

  “What’s it like for you?” she asked. “Being human among all these immortals.”

  “I hold my own,” he assured her. “And there are things I can do for them that they can’t do for themselves. And my girl is a Nightwalker, too.”

  “Really?” she looked back to the house as if she could see his girl. “Where is she?”

  “Visiting her brother,” he said. “She’s a Night Angel.”

  “Black skin, yellow eyes,” she said softly.

  “Yeah. Ahnvil told you about that?”

  “He told me a lot of things. But there’re also a lot of things he hasn’t told me.” She lifted the Amulet into her hand, running it absently up and down the chain. As she did so she headed back toward the house, walking in step with Leo. “And what’s it like, being the lover of a Nightwalker?”

  “You mean you don’t know?” he asked with an amused gleam in his eye.

  “Well …” She blushed. “Is he a Nightwalker? I mean, I thought he was just a weapon a Nightwalker devised.”

  That seemed to give him pause. “You know what, I never looked at it that way. I suppose in a way you are right. They’ve only been around a few hundred years or so. I thought there was seven Nightwalker breeds, but that would make it only six, if I looked at it that way.”

  “Six? I forgot who they all were. Djynns, Bodywalkers, Night Angels …”

  “Wraiths.”

  “Oh yeah! Them.”

  “Trust me, you don’t want to know them. Mysticals are another, though I’m not sure what they are. And Phoenixes. Never seen one of those, either.”

  “Phoenixes! I think I’d love to see one of those.”

  “I hear it’s very rare. They’re a bit reclusive. But they are going to have to get over it because if this god Apep is getting as powerful as I think he is, we’re going to need help from every corner.”

  “I see.” She shuddered. “It’s so fantastical. Gods and monsters and such. Now that I know they are real, I want to meet all of them. I’ve already got a phantom of sorts following me around.”

  “You mean besides the dog?” he asked, giving a purposeful look at Karma.

  “Yes, besides the dog,” she laughed.

  “I heard about that. I’m really curious to see …” He trailed off just as they were coming up on the porch. “Can I help you?” he asked, sounding a little stunned.

  Kat looked in the direction he was staring and saw nothing. Then she heard the sound of a gun leaving its holster and for the first time she realized he was armed.

  “What is it?” she asked tensely.

  “A man, and a woman. They just came around the corner of the house and onto the porch but they came out of nowhere. I was just looking that way a moment ago and there was nothing.” Then, speaking to the invisible people he said, “You might want to rethink getting closer to that house, mister.” He raised his gun and drew a bead.

  And that was when she realized what was happening.

  “No! Don’t!” she cried. “It’s her! The phantom. Ask her what her name is.”

  “What’s your name?” he asked dutifully.

  “Bella,” Bella said from around her husband, who had stepped in front of her to protect her from the gun being aimed at them. “I’m looking for Kat.”

  “She’s standing right beside me,” Leo said, nodding in her direction.

  “She can’t see me, and I can’t see her,” Kat said. “You say there’s a man with her?”

  “Yeah. Kind of looks like me. Same build, same coloring … a little taller,” Leo said.

  “Ask her who she is. Tell her … tell her …” She floundered a moment, thinking furiously. “Tell her magical people live here. Nightwalkers.”

  “I am not telling her that!” Leo bit out to what seemed like nobody, from Bella’s and Jacob’s perspectives.<
br />
  “Tell her!”

  He grumbled. “Magical people live here. Nightwalkers.”

  Bella’s jaw dropped and, frankly, Jacob looked just as stunned. He stepped forward and narrowed his eyes on the Hispanic male. “What kind of Nightwalkers?”

  “We’re Nightwalkers,” his wife piped up from behind him. Her husband turned to glare at her. She shrugged, put up her hands and said, “What? Like any of this is normal? Like we’re dealing with the average mortal or something? It’s a leap of faith.”

  “He’s mortal. I can tell,” Jacob said, his preternatural senses making it clear.

  “All kinds,” Leo said finally. “You’re right. I am mortal.” His brow furrowed. He looked at Kat. “But so are you. Why can’t you see them?”

  She shrugged.

  “We can’t see her, either. But Bella and Kat are able to write to each other.”

  “I know. I heard,” Leo said, slowly lowering his weapon. “So now what?”

  “What kind of Nightwalkers?” Bella repeated, stepping as if to go around her husband, but he held her back again.

  “What kind are you?” Leo countered.

  “He’s a Demon and I’m a Druid.”

  “A Demon?” The gun came up again.

  “Bella …” Jacob warned.

  “But the good kind!” she added hastily.

  “There’s a good kind?” Leo asked, completely sounding like he didn’t believe it for a second.

  “Yes,” Jacob said. “Your turn.”

  “Bodywalkers. Not me, but inside the house.”

  “We’ve never heard of Bodywalkers,” Jacob said with a frown.

  “And we’ve never heard of Demons or Druids. Not as Nightwalkers in any event.”

  “You said Nightwalkers, as in … more than one?”

  “Yeah. As in Djynn, Night Angels. More,” Leo said cautiously.

  “Vampires? Lycanthropes?” Jacob suggested.

  “Right,” Leo scoffed. “Like they’re real.” Then a beat went by. Leo seemed to remember that a few months ago none of this had been real to him. “How many do you know about?” he thought to ask.

  “Six breeds,” Jacob said.

  “We have seven … or wait … maybe just six. Long story,” he said at Jacob’s questioning look.

  “The prophecy!” Bella yelped suddenly.

  “What?” Jacob and Leo asked at the same time. “What prophecy?” Leo asked.

  “ ‘… And so it will come to pass in the forward times that the nations of the Nightwalkers will be shattered, driven apart, and become strangers to one another,’ ” Bella began to recite. “ ‘Hidden, by misfortune and by purpose, these twelve nations will come to cross-purposes and fade from each other’s existence. In the forward times these nations will face toil and struggle unlike any time before and only by coming together once more can they hope to face the evil that will set upon them. But they are lost to one another … and so will remain lost, until a great enemy is defeated … and a new one resurrects itself …’ It’s from the Lost Scroll of Kindred. I found it not too long ago. I think … I think there’s something keeping us from seeing each other.”

  “But Kat isn’t a Nightwalker,” Leo said. “So that shoots that theory all to hell. Unless …” He looked at Kat, his eyes falling to the Amulet. “Unless it’s that Amulet you’re wearing.” Leo slowly put his weapon back in its holster and held out his empty hands. “Look, maybe you should come in the house and meet some of the others. Maybe they can see you.”

  As it turned out, by the time all introductions were done, only Max, the other mortal in the group, was able to see the newly arrived couple. Everyone, including Kamen, Max, and Leo, was sitting in the main living area and Max and Leo were taking turns translating between the two kinds of Nightwalkers.

  “The scroll must mean our six breeds of Nightwalkers can’t see your six … for some reason,” Bella said. “Although, from what you said there’s only Bodywalkers and Gargoyles here. And you don’t think Gargoyles are one of the breeds, so why can’t they see us, either?”

  “Because they are made from the energy, the Bodywalker spirit, of their forger,” Kamen said. “If we can’t see then it stands to reason they can’t see. I have to say, this has all the earmarks of a curse. It feels unnatural like a curse.”

  Kat fingered her pendant. “Like this is cursed,” she said.

  Ahnvil was standing beside Kat’s chair and his hand went to the back of her neck in a gesture of comfort.

  “If this is a curse then there is a way to lift it,” Kamen said. “Just as somewhere there is a way to lift the curse of that Amulet. It’s just going to take time and research to find out what it is and how to lift it.”

  “We can’t lift it unless we know first the nature of it,” Ahnvil said.

  “Yes.”

  “So together there are twelve Nightwalker nations. Six have no idea the other six exist … until now. Until Kat,” Bella said.

  “Yes. Until Kat,” Kamen said thoughtfully. “Docia, I want to see if the other breeds are blind to this couple. Can you get SingSing here? SingSing is a Djynn we know,” he said aloud in explanation.

  “Sure. She said all I have to do is put on her scarf and she’ll know I need her.” Docia rose and hurried off to her bedroom. A few minutes later she returned, wearing a lovely colorful, silvery scarf. She was a bit breathless for her effort. “I don’t know how long it’ll take …”

  “Well then, I guess we just wait until she comes,” Leo said.

  “Let me make sure I have this right,” Bella said. “Mistrals, Lycanthropes, Vampires, Demons, Druids, and Shadowdwellers can’t see or hear Bodywalkers, Djynn, Mysticals, Phoenixes, Night Angels, and Wraiths.”

  “In theory. We’ll have a better idea when SingSing gets here.”

  “You rrrrrang?” a perky voice asked on a rolling r. A moment later a diminutive young woman with corkscrew ginger curls appeared in the center of the room. “Ta-da!” She snickered. “That never gets old.” She looked around the room. “Jeez. Why so serious?”

  “SingSing,” Ram spoke up, “how many people do you see in the room?”

  “Is this a trick question?” she asked, climbing up onto the arm of one of the chairs and perching there like a bird. As a stunned Kat watched, a small dragon head peeked out of the nest of curls adorning the little woman’s head. “I see eleven.”

  Everyone looked at each other.

  “Name them.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Just do it,” Ram asked in a pained tone.

  “Fine fine. Crab-ass Ram. Sweet Docia. Jackson, Marissa, Max, Leo. Ihron. Hey, handsome.” She gave him an exaggerated batting of her lashes. “Girl, I Don’t Know. Ahnvil. By the way, I am so mad at you. I thought I was your girl. And there you are cheating on me with another Djynn. Kamen and Stohn. Is this a game? I like games. Are we all going to hide now? Who’s it?”

  “You don’t see a dark-haired couple other than tha—? Wait.” Ahnvil said. “What other Djynn? You mean Grey?”

  “No, Grey isn’t here. And unless you’re gay, I don’t have to worry about him. I mean the Djynn you’re all touchy-feely with over there.” She pointed to Kat.

  Djynn?

  “But I’m not a—” Kat looked even more perplexed than everyone else. “I’m human.”

  “Mmm, mostly. But you’re definitely a Djynn. Halfsies. Not wholesies. Ooo … some naughty Djynn musta banged your momma. No offense to your momma. I’m sure she was quite bangable.”

  “My—but … my mother? Mom?” Kat was entirely incredulous.

  “Oh, she probably had no idea. It’s against the rules to you know with humans”—she pumped her fist in and out—“but it’s not unheard of.”

  “That’s why I can’t see her!” Kat cried. “I’m an effing Nightwalker??”

  “The sun! That’s why you’re allergic to the sun. Why you blister!” Ahnvil said with no small amount of shock.

  “Well, sure,” SingSing said.
“I would think that might happen.”

  “But then how could I talk to Bella?” Kat wondered. “Because I’m a half-breed?”

  “Talk to who now?” SingSing asked.

  “Bella,” Ahnvil said, then rapidly explained the situation.

  “Or because of the Amulet,” Kamen put in. “It’s helping you to see partly beyond the curse.”

  “Wow. Curses. Spells. Amulets. Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!” SingSing said. She poked the dragon head until it disappeared back into her hair.

  “I have a headache,” Ahnvil grumbled. “She gives me a headache.”

  “Humph, I know when I’m not wanted,” SingSing said with a pout. She reached up and with a snap of her fingers she disappeared. Then an echoing, “Ta-da!” was heard.

  “Great, you scared her off,” Leo said dryly. “We learned more from her in the past minute than we have in the past hour.”

  “Sorry,” Ahnvil sighed.

  “Djynn. I’m not weird, I’m just a Djynn,” Kat was marveling.

  “Partly. I wonder if that means you can use magic,” Kamen mused.

  “Magic!” Kat gasped.

  “Djynns derive their powers from objects that harbor magic. Like the Amulet,” Kamen said. “It’s imbued with magic. You could probably use it to perform a trick … like maybe SingSing’s disappearing act.”

  “Oh. No. No disappearing,” she said hastily. “I might not be able to reappear again.”

  “I can teach you some magic that would—” Kamen began.

  “No!” Ahnvil cut him off sharply, putting himself between Kamen and Kat. “You’ll no’ teach her anythin’!”

  “Better she be taught than to do something accidentally that she has no control over,” Kamen said darkly. “Rather like putting on an Amulet without recognizing its power. She put it on for a reason. It called to her. Attracted her. But instead of using it as a power resource she put it on and now is stuck wearing it.”

  “I doona care. If she has to learn then it will be from SingSing or Grey or anybody else but you.”

  “Whoa. Hostile much?” Bella asked when Max finished interpreting him. “I don’t mean to get in the middle of this, but clearly she couldn’t see us, either. What do we do now? I mean, maybe it’s because I’m half human and half Druid just like she’s half human and half Djynn that we can sorta talk to each other. But that doesn’t change the fact that none of our world knows about yours and there’s something standing in the way of it. And the only people who can communicate with us are human mortals … who none of the races I know have told about themselves so on our end it’s out of the question. So maybe one of you guys”—she indicated Leo and Max—“can help us out? We need to contact the Demon King the Vampire Prince, the Lycanthrope Queen. There’s a lot of people out there who need to learn about this.”