The Caelian Cycle Boxed Set

by Donnielle Tyner

  “Why?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, but they talked about you a few weeks ago. Something about a case that has gone to your head and for my dad to let him know if things get out of hand.”

  My hand that was lying on the table clenched into a fist. Junior’s eyes flicked down for a second before returning them to me. “Tell your dad I’m fine. Nothing’s out of hand here. Just a customer drinking away his problems for a night.”

  “Look. I don’t know what is going on with you, but I get it. If my dad wasn’t in his office, Joey and I wouldn’t have a problem with you…” he waved his hands toward the tray with the empty glasses, “taking care of your problems. But Gordon is the reason you’re allowed to be in here in the first place and my dad is going to listen to him.”

  “Well in that case, make this next one a double. I’ll need some more encouragement to get through another conversation with Gordon.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the suit-man again. His eyes crinkled in amusement as he raised his glass in a toast before draining the amber liquid. He looked familiar, but not enough to where I thought I would know him.

  “Right on.” Junior turned to deliver my order. I grabbed his arm and yanked him back toward me. “What the hell, man?”

  “Junior, who is that guy in the suit at the bar?”

  Junior turned to look at the bar, his eyes narrowed. “I don’t see anyone in a suit.”

  I stood, scanning the club for the man. He was nowhere to be found. I racked my brain trying to think of anything descriptive that had stood out, but my thoughts were murky. The alcohol was starting to take effect. I blinked my eyes and shook my head in attempts to clear my head for a bit. Big mistake. My mind began to swim, causing me to sway on my feet. The movement was subtle, but Junior, who hadn’t taken an eye off me, had noticed.

  “Look. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, Junior. I’m fine. Just get me that double and quick.” The dizziness faded, leaving the pleasant under-water feeling that signaled the beginnings of a decent buzz.

  Junior stared at me for a moment, indecision clouding his eyes. I stared back, trying to exude an aura of sobriety. It must have worked because his face smoothed back into his easygoing waiter facade and he nodded. “Okay Kian, but don’t tell Gordon what just happened.”

  “Sure thing.”

  He walked away, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Through the whiskey haze, seafoam eyes stared back in accusation. The buzz wasn’t strong enough to block the memories.

  Junior plunked my drink down and with a quick salute moved on to another table. The cool glass felt incredible against my heated lips as I took a long sip. My eyes closed in anticipation as I relished how the burn of whiskey warred with the ice cold coke as it slid down my throat before surrendering as a deep warmth spread throughout my middle. I focused on that warmth as it spread through my body, leaving a pleasant numbness in its wake.

  “Let me through.” Celeste’s shrill voice rose over the roar of conversation as she argued with the bouncer. I knew she was causing a scene in a frenzied attempt to get my attention, but I kept my eyes closed. Her company wouldn’t alleviate the guilt that plagued my soul. That’s why I had asked her out in the first place. I had desperately hoped somehow she would do for me what devoting the daylight hours to the job and dedicating my nights to a bottle hadn’t.

  “Kian!” Her voice grated my nerves and broke the brief calm I had found. I brought the glass back to my lips to indulge in another drink when another voice joined Celeste.

  “Girl, I suggest ya high-tail it back ta whatever lowlife ya sunk yer claws into before ya set them eyes on my boy. He don’t want yer company tonight.” Gordon’s raspy voice boomed over her protests. “Ya get on out of here before I get Frank.”

  Well that is interesting. Gordon never throws his connection with Frank around like that. I turned to look at the confrontation. Celeste’s eyes were afire while her body shook with her barely contained rage. They were locked on Gordon who looked like a mixture of bored and exasperated. They stood there staring in a silent grudge-match until Celeste turned her burning gaze toward me.

  She tilted her head, raised her eyebrows, and shifted her eyes toward Gordon as if she were asking for me to interfere. She wasn’t aware of my epiphany not ten minutes before when I decided that being with her wouldn’t alleviate my guilt. Even without that realization, there was no way I was going to get involved.

  I raised my shoulders before returning to my drink. Her screech of frustration grated against my ears, causing my shoulders to tighten and my head to shake as if the motion would dislodge the sound.

  “Don’t call me again, Kian,” she shrieked. Without looking at her, I raised two fingers in a halfhearted wave.

  Gordon’s voice bellowed above the bar noise, “If ya even think about damagin’ any of his property, you’ll hav’ta deal with me.”

  I couldn’t hear her response, but if Gordon’s chuckle as he plopped down in the booth across from me was any indicator, it was imaginative.

  “That girl left here madder than a wet hen. I’d hate ta be in her cross hairs tonight. I don’t know why’d ya throw yer lot in with her, she is bat shit crazy.”

  “Mmmhmm,” I murmured, before lifting the glass back to my lips and draining it.

  “Boy, what are ya doing?”

  “Drinking whiskey.”

  “Don’t be a smart ass.” Gordon released a wheezing breath before coughing into his elbow. “Look, I get it. Ya did somethin’ that yer not proud of. Shit happens - ya wade through it and then ya move on with yer business.”

  “Every part of what happened that night was wrong.” My hand clutched the glass as the righteous fury I held tight in my chest burst forth.

  Guilt, I could deal with. Anger, no problem. Self-loathing, bought the t-shirt, but this new, intense emotion was terrifying.

  It was strong enough to consume me and at the moment, I couldn’t care less.

  Frank approached the table with pursed lips and his exotic blue eyes darted warily between the two of us. “What can I get you, Gordon?”

  “I’m not stayin’ much longer.”

  “Kian? Another?” Frank asked as he took the glass from my hand.

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  My gaze met Gordon’s for the first time since he had arrived. He returned my stare, not backing down. It was then I noticed how his chest hitched with short labored breaths and how I could hear a slight wheeze with every breath above the noise of the crowd. He looked like he was knocking on death’s door. I felt my anger slip into concern. Gordon’s lip curled in disgust as the snarl relaxed from my own.

  Gordon stood abruptly. He gave me one last scowl before turning to his friend, his countenance flipping a one-eighty as he slapped his shoulder in a friendly greeting. “Frank. Get the boy one more drink and then call him a cab. I’m goin’ home to rest these old bones.”

  “I’ll take care of him.”

  I watched Gordon leave as the heat from Frank’s stare burned into the side of my head.

  “That man may be a class-A jackass, but he cares for you. Don’t let the delivery negate the message. He wants you to succeed and the only way he knows how is to turn off those pesky emotions.”

  “Frank, with all due respect, I don’t want to hear it. Just get me another drink,” the alcohol’s warmth was beginning to spread through my limbs and I knew what would come with just one more drink. Blessed numbness.

  “Son, the only reason I’m allowing a 19-year-old to get piss drunk in my bar is because ol’ Robbie is my friend and he vouches for you. He may have given his blessing for another drink, but I’m choosing to cut you off.”

  “What…” Frank’s raised hand cut off my retaliation.

  “Junior! Call Kian a cab and close out his tab. He’s done!” Frank’s deep voice boomed over the noise. Junior nodded and disappeared around the corner of the bar where the offices were located.

  Frank
turned back to me. “Get on up. I’ll walk you to the street.”

  “I can find the street just fine,” I replied, as I turned my back from the bar owner. Frank didn’t say anything, but I felt his presence behind me as I weaved through the bodies without bumping into one. Frank and Gordon were so worried about my state of inebriation, but it was obvious I was fine.

  The humid air wrapped around me like a warm, wet blanket. It was Texas’ sweet reminder that spring was ending and summer was just around the bend. Sweat pooled along my hair line and the first droplets began to fall as I made my way to the waiting cab.

  “Now go home and sleep this off. Gordon will be checking in on you.”

  Resentment oozed through my veins at Frank’s remark. He didn’t know my past like Gordon did, so he wouldn’t understand how his offhand statements pulled at those memories. It took every ounce of restraint, but I got into the car without biting back at him. Frank shut the cab’s door and patted the roof, letting the driver know he was good to leave. I leaned back against the seat, sucking in deep breaths in an attempt to calm my mind and push back those walls trying to close in again.

  It felt as if I were trading one prison for another.

  Chapter 3

  Grandma’s house was always like coming home.

  Since birth, I had spent nearly half of the year with Granny Nell—every holiday and school vacation. Every time my parents drove me down for my summer vacation on the farm, Granny Nell would be waiting by the door smiling like she had just won a million bucks. Her gray hair would be pulled into a loose bun with a few fly away strands blowing around her square jaw, and her chocolate brown eyes glittered with a kind of joy that lives deep down inside—something not even the best liar could fake. Her skin, a weathered tan, indicated that she had spent many years doing her fair share of the manual labor on her cotton farm. She hadn’t always worked on the farm with my grandfather. At one point in time, she had been a negotiations liaison between the Caelian families and norms, but the stress of the job was too much for her and she decided the simple life was her lot after all. Even with all the backbreaking work, she still had the posture and grace of someone who had dealt with powerful people.

  The older I got, the more I had to fight my parents regarding our norm family. First they cut out holidays, then went the spring and fall vacations, until the only time I visited with my grandmother was during the summers. They begrudged my insistence to see her. Not because they didn’t want to drive down to south Texas from the Lane headquarters in Arizona. It was because my mother’s tentative alliance with the Koenig family meant that we couldn’t be seen as norm sympathizers and my father started taking advice from Miles Koenig—the family’s leader. This in turn tainted his already peculiar faith. The Order of Caelum slowly became corrupt and as it declined, my father’s love toward his norm mother and the rest of his family went down with it.

  I drove down the winding dirt road, my sports car bottoming out with every pot hole hit. The last time I’d seen my grandmother, I was 12 years old. The day before I turned 17, and as of that evening I was homeless. Four hours I had wandered around Phoenix after the big fight with my parents, angry and terrified until a stray thought skipped around my mind.

  Would Granny Nell take me in?

  I was nervous she would be angry because I hadn’t seen her in 5 years, but when I called to explain my predicament, her loving voice erased all doubts. She wired me more than enough money to get to her, making me promise I would stop halfway and sleep in a safe hotel. The drive took over 20 hours and two days, but here I was.

  Granny Nell’s farm looked exactly the same as it had when I’d last seen it. As my tires scraped on the gravel to a stop, Granny Nell stepped out of her covered porch. Like her farm, she was the same—only she had aged quite a bit.

  I threw open my door and stepped into the sweltering Texas sun, stretching my stiff muscles.

  “Boy, you get on over here and give your granny some sugar.”

  “Yes Ma’am.” I smiled. My steps were rushed as I made my way to her. Her eyes sparkling with mirth grew wide as she took in my adult body.

  “I’ve grown a bit since the last time I was here,” I stated, suddenly ashamed of the fact that it had been years between visits. Granny Nell grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into a tight hug that caused a few back joints to pop. She was old, but her arms had years of strength left in them.

  Granny Nell pulled back and looked up. Her hands left my waist and found my face. Her calloused hands squeezed my cheeks and she studied each feature. “You look just like your granddaddy. Well, except that he didn’t have that pretty golden hair and mauve eyes, but he was just as tall and strong as an ox.” I chuckled. Her eyes narrowed at my interruption, but she continued. “Now listen here, boy, you don’t go feeling ashamed because of the choices your hard-headed parents made. You were a child and there was nothing a child can do to change the mind of an adult once it’s set. You’re here now and that makes me happier than a tick on a fat dog.”

  I laughed in earnest then before leaning down to kiss her leathered cheek. She wrapped one strong arm around my waist and turned to lead me back inside.

  “Now, first things first, I got some cookies coolin’ on the rack. We will sit down for a spell and you’ll tell me why your folks decided you couldn’t hang around, and then we’ve got to get out to the west plot. I’ve planted some hay this year and we’ve got to get on stackin’ them bales. I hope you were able to obtain some muscles in the city.”

  “Granny Nell, strength is my Talent.”

  She crossed her arms and gave me the once over. “Are you sassing me?”

  I stood up straight. “Granny, I’d never sass you. You’ve taken me in when I had nowhere to go. I may joke around with you, but I’d never be disrespectful.”

  The lines around her eyes crinkled as she smiled. “We don’t have many Caelians in these parts, and it’s been almost 40 years since your daddy lived with us. I had forgotten what y’all called your powers. Talents, is it?”

  “Yes ma’am. And mine is strength. Strong like an ox with three times the stamina.”

  Granny Nell laughed as she shut the door behind us. “Boy, you came at a good time. I had to fire some of my boys for some unbecoming behavior in the city and now I don’t have to hire new ones.”

  “I’m glad to help.”

  She set a plate of cookies in front of me and the sugary warmth melted on my tongue with each bite. It was heaven in my mouth. Between the home and the cookie, I felt like a small child again. Happy and safe with my granny.

  “So tell me what happened.” Granny Nell stopped wiping the counter and met my eyes with hers. I always thought her eyes looked hypnotic—she could always get me to admit if I were lying or if I needed a hug. Those brown depths captured me and I spilled my guts.

  I told her how, for the past 5 years, my parents had gradually become pawns of Miles Koenig and the result was that they cut every norm out of their life. They unenrolled me from my private school because it had both norm and Caelian students and paid teachers to homeschool me. From then on they pressured me to believe the same as them. They wanted me to believe that Caelians were the next evolution of mankind and that the meteorite that had crashed during the Great World War was God’s way of forcing the evolutionary step. That norms were obsolete, lower than dirt under our feet and that we should be running the world.

  “You know how I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was seven? They told me that wasn’t an option anymore. If I were to get an education, it would be in law or politics so I could be on the Lane family council. They wanted me to follow in their steps. Granny, I couldn’t.” I reached over the counter and grabbed her hand. “Every time they spouted their hate, I saw your face. How could I hate the only person on this planet who ever truly loved me?”

  Her other hand landed on top of mine with a gentle tap before her calloused fingers squeezed. “Kian, I don’t believe I’m the only person on this
planet to love you. Even though they lost their way, your parents still love you. I’m sure of it.” She paused, taking a deep breath which shook as she released it. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. “I hate that my son has forgotten where he came from. He’s the only Caelian born to our entire family, besides you. Your granddaddy’s side wouldn’t have anything to do with my boy, but my side loved him as if he were born a norm. He has known the love of both norm and Caelian. I don’t understand why he’s chosen to forget that. If you take anything away from your time with me, promise you won’t forget the love of this norm.”

  “Never.”

  She stood, sucking in a breath and releasing a cough to clear the emotion from her throat. “Now. Let me show you the ropes. Work’s never done on a farm.”

  “You alive back there?” The cab driver pulled me from my favorite memory of my grandmother. I had lived with her for a year before she passed away from a massive stroke. We had so many good times together, but I would never forget how it felt to know that someone loved me unconditionally. If it hadn’t been for the laws preventing a norm to leave inheritance to a Caelian, I would still be living on her farm and enjoying the satisfaction of a hard day’s work instead of participating in the daily struggle to forget the evil deed that I had a hand in creating.

  My parents are right about one thing. Caelians do need to stop allowing norms to control us so much. We need freedom too.

  “Yeah.” I tossed a wad of cash in through the opening in the grate dividing the front and back seats. “Keep the change.”

  My garage apartment was nothing impressive to look at, but at least it was located on the decent side of town, where the homes didn’t have bars on the windows and the neighbors were mostly college kids and young families with a few elderly couples sprinkled in. My neighborhood was two blocks away from North Texas University and down the street was St. Vincent’s—a Caelian orphanage. It was a wholesome place. Living here cost a pretty penny, but the atmosphere was family oriented, which made me feel closer to my grandmother, so I paid the price.