by AD Starrling
Laura lifted a plank of wood from the pile on the ground and heaved it between two posts. She had just finished securing it to the pillars when Rocky’s animated barks suddenly rose in the distance. She frowned and put the hammer on the table before walking to the edge of the porch, one hand raised above her eyes to block out the glare of the sun.
She wasn’t expecting a delivery of hardware for another week. Her gaze shifted briefly to the swamp. Diaz or one of his men would normally come from Alvarães by boat anyway.
Rocky’s barks were coming from the opposite direction to the water.
Laura’s heart started to thud erratically in her breast when she registered the sheer joy in the dog’s voice. She stepped to the ground, her mouth suddenly dry and her legs shaking. Shadows shifted under the trees to the east.
A man walked out of the jungle, a backpack strapped to his shoulders. Rocky leapt excitedly around the tall, thin figure, his head occasionally bumping the man’s legs while his tail moved in an invisible blur.
Conrad Greene stopped on the edge of the clearing and scratched the dog behind the ears. He straightened and looked at Laura across the lush expanse of vegetation. His eyes were unreadable from the distance.
‘You building a mansion?’ he asked lightly.
Laura glanced over her shoulder at the large footprint of the new house, sweat dampening her palms.
‘I thought we could do with something bigger,’ she said, barely masking the tremor in her voice. ‘Besides, we need space for the hot tub.’
Conrad raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s gonna have a hot tub?’
‘Yep. And we need the extra rooms.’
‘We do?’ he said, puzzled.
‘Uh-huh,’ said Laura. ‘For the babies.’
Conrad paled. ‘We’re having babies?’ he asked hoarsely.
Laura stuck her hands on her hips and glared at him, her eyes misting up. ‘Well, if you get your ass over here and kiss me, we could start on it straightaway!’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ said Conrad, a slow grin splitting his face.
They met halfway across the clearing.
Laura leapt into Conrad’s arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. He grunted, his breath choking with laughter as he fell back. They landed heavily on the ground. Rocky ran circles around them, delighted yips leaving his throat while he drowned them in licks.
Laura’s tears spilled over and fell on Conrad’s face as they kissed each other fervently. She ran her hands hungrily over his body, relishing the heat of his skin. Her fingers stilled when she registered his thin ribs and arms. A low sob escaped her lips.
Conrad cradled her head against his neck.
‘It’s okay,’ he whispered brokenly in her ear. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ He raised her face in his hands and pressed his mouth to her brow reverently, blinking back tears. ‘I’m all yours.’
Laura read the undying promise in his blazing eyes and smiled.
Epilogue
January 2012. Boston. Massachusetts.
They parked the rental a couple of blocks down from the address they had been given and walked the rest of the way. Five minutes after they left the car, they were standing in front of a nondescript apartment building.
‘Is this the place?’ said Laura.
‘Uh-huh.’ Conrad glanced at the piece of paper in his hand.
In contrast to its exterior, the building’s lobby was warm and classy, with pale marble walls and golden lighting. They took an elevator to the tenth floor.
The lift doors opened on a silent corridor. They headed along the carpeted floor and stopped in front of an apartment in the middle of the passage. No sound escaped from the other side of the black door. Conrad pressed the buzzer on the call box next to it.
‘Yes?’ answered a male voice he didn’t recognize. Low murmurs were audible in the background. A dog barked.
‘It’s Greene and Hartwell,’ said Conrad. ‘I believe you’re expecting us.’
‘Hang on,’ said the man.
Locks soon turned on the inside of the door. It opened to reveal Victor Dvorsky.
A golden retriever stuck his head around the Bastian noble’s legs and looked at them curiously, bushy tail thumping the wall. He huffed a welcome and padded back inside the apartment.
‘New place?’ said Conrad with an arched eyebrow.
‘You got a dog?’ Laura asked, deadpan.
‘Very funny,’ Victor muttered at their expressions. ‘Come on in.’
Conrad and Laura exchanged curious glances before walking through the entrance.
Victor had called them ten days ago, when they were visiting Horatio and Anatole in Rio for the New Year celebrations. The Bastian leader explained he had some vital information to impart to Conrad that couldn’t be relayed over the phone. He had insisted they travel to Boston to meet with him at their earliest convenience. Conrad and Laura had taken the red-eye flight to Massachusetts via New York the previous day.
Victor closed the door and led them down an elegant hallway that opened onto a sizable living room. A fire burned in a large hearth to the right. The flames reflected off the thick, polished, walnut mantelpiece and the painting of Monet’s 1906 “Water Lilies” above it. The decor was pleasant and sophisticated.
Two women sat on a couch to the left. They each cradled a baby in their arms and spoke in soft voices, their faces relaxed in easy smiles. The dog lay quietly at their feet, a silver tabby perched on his back in a Sphinx-like pose. The cat turned its head and watched Conrad and Laura unblinkingly.
A thickset figure stood by the large bay window ahead, a cell phone cradled to his ear. A jolt of surprise darted through Conrad when he recognized Dimitri Reznak, the Crovir noble.
Footsteps rose on the right. A man strolled out of a corridor, a feeding bowl in each hand.
‘Grub’s up, kids,’ he said in a business-like tone. The babies looked around at his voice and let out high-pitched squeals.
Conrad froze. Laura inhaled sharply.
Lucas Soul stopped and looked at them. ‘Hey,’ he murmured, blue eyes glinting with an unreadable expression.
Conrad stared at the immortal who had once been the most wanted and feared man in all of Bastian and Crovir societies. His gaze shifted to Victor Dvorsky.
‘What is this?’ he said in a low voice. He stepped in front of Laura, aware of the weight of his staff in the small of his back.
Dimitri Reznak ended his phone call and turned to face them, his eyes hooded.
‘It’s okay,’ said one of the women on the couch. She waited until Soul put the dishes down on the coffee table and handed him the baby. Chestnut curls danced around her striking face and olive-green eyes as she rose to her feet and crossed the floor toward them. ‘We mean you no harm.’
Lucas Soul gently cradled the child in his arms. The boy giggled.
‘Sit,’ Victor ordered. He indicated a pair of leather armchairs.
Conrad hesitated and looked at Laura. She bit her lip and inclined her head. They walked over and sat down carefully. The woman with the green eyes smiled and returned to her seat. She kissed Soul and took the child off him. Silence descended on the room.
Conrad became aware of a laser-like stare from the second woman on the couch. She was even more stunning than her companion, with short, onyx-black hair and silver eyes. Though she was spoon-feeding the gurgling baby girl in her arms while making encouraging coos, he could not help but feel that she had just picked out ten ways in which to kill him. A diamond engagement ring glinted on her left hand.
Conrad looked at Victor. ‘Okay, I’m sitting,’ he said gruffly. ‘What the hell’s going on?’
The woman with the deadly aura narrowed her pale eyes. ‘We do not say bad words in front of the b-a-b-i-e-s,’ she admonished.
Conrad cocked an eyebrow. ‘They’re like what, six mon—?’ he started to say in a sarcastic voice.
On cue, the baby boy said, ‘Hel!’
‘Oh crap,’ muttered the silver-eyed woman.
The child in her arms came out with an enthusiastic, ‘Cap!’ and sprayed mashed carrot and potato across her expensive leather jacket. Lucas Soul sighed.
A dry smile curved the lips of the woman with the green eyes. ‘Well, at least we’re raising them on the island,’ she told Soul. ‘They won’t get kicked out of nursery for using offensive language.’
Conrad stared.
‘Lucas Soul and Dimitri you already know,’ Victor stated crisply. ‘This is Anna Soul, Lucas’s wife, and their children, Tomas and Lily.’ He indicated the woman with the green eyes and the babies. ‘And this is Alexa King, Dimitri’s goddaughter.’ He paused. ‘They know who the two of you are.’
Conrad studied the woman with the silver eyes guardedly. He had heard King’s name before. The Crovir agent had a fearsome reputation, even among Bastian Hunters.
‘Why did you never tell me you were a pureblood?’ Victor asked him brusquely.
Conrad startled, surprised at the question. ‘It never came up,’ he muttered after several seconds. ‘Besides, stuff like that doesn’t matter to me.’
‘It should!’ snapped Victor. ‘If I had known that fact and made the connection with your immortal abilities, we could have had this meeting last year. Christ, I would have dragged your stubborn ass out of that goddamned swamp myself!’
Tomas Soul punched the air with a plump fist and went, ‘Gada!’ while his sister uttered a more dubious, ‘Ath?’
‘Well, at least we know what their first immortal ability’s going to be,’ muttered Alexa King in the uncomfortable hush that followed.
Conrad narrowed his eyes at his old mentor. ‘You knew where I was?’
Victor snorted. ‘Of course! Once Anatole let it slip that you were visiting Horatio, I arranged to have you tailed!’
Conrad silently cursed his absent friend. ‘What the he—?’ He stopped, glanced at the rapt babies, and corrected himself. ‘What does my lineage have to do with any of this?’
It was Dimitri Reznak who answered his question with another one. ‘Does the name Rafael mean anything to you?’
Conrad frowned. ‘No, it doesn’t.’
Dimitri Reznak spent the next hour recounting the most fantastical tale Conrad had ever heard in his entire existence. It was a story that dated back more than five thousand years, about a man called Romerus and the extraordinary fates that would befall the children he had borne.
Conrad listened with rising incredulity while the Crovir noble related his centuries-long quest to discover a truth that had been consigned to oblivion and how this crusade had come to fruition just over fourteen months ago, when he discovered a pair of caves in the mountains of the Eastern Desert, in Egypt. The body of evidence he uncovered finally started to yield the answers he had long sought about the origins of the two immortal races. Victor interjected from time to time, in support of Reznak’s words.
Halfway through their account, Conrad felt Laura’s hand slide on his. He turned his palm over until their fingers intertwined. He didn’t have to look at his soulmate to feel the shock reverberating through her.
As if their narrative wasn’t enough of a bombshell in itself, the nobles’ next two stories rocked Conrad to the core. By the time they finished retelling the extraordinary tales of Lucas and Anna Soul’s origins, as well as the formidable history of Alexa King, the immortal knew his world would never be the same again.
Conrad turned to the three figures on the couch, blood pounding dully in his ears. ‘We’re cousins?’ he breathed.
Lucas and Anna Soul smiled.
‘In a very distant sense, yes,’ said Alexa King, a trace of wariness still evident in her gaze.
‘But…how can you be so sure?’ Conrad turned to Victor, still reeling from everything he had just been told.
An embarrassed expression flashed across the Bastian leader’s face.
‘I stole the blood samples the doctors in Bermuda took from you and had them analyzed for your genetics,’ Victor admitted, his tone somewhat defensive. ‘They matched those from the samples Dimitri found in Egypt.’
Conrad’s jaw sagged in the stunned silence that followed. He wasn’t sure whether to be furious or appalled.
‘Seriously, the two of you need to stop this nasty habit you have of stealing other people’s blood,’ said Alexa. She was frowning at Reznak and Victor.
Anna sighed. Lucas muttered something under his breath.
Reznak crossed the room and stopped by Conrad’s chair. ‘May I?’ he said quietly. He indicated the immortal’s left arm.
Conrad swallowed the lump in his throat and pulled back his sleeve. The light from the fire flickered across the black Aesculapian snake on his forearm. For a breathless moment, the creature appeared to dance on his skin. Alexa leaned forward and scrutinized the birthmark.
‘Fascinating,’ murmured Reznak. ‘Most human historians know these creatures as being related to the healing arts practiced by the followers of the Greek God of medicine, Asclepius. They were said to be found freely roaming popular healing temples built during the fourth century BC for the deity.’ His gaze shifted to Conrad’s face. ‘The Aesculapian snake wrapped around a rod is still the most recognized symbol of medicine to this day.’
The Crovir noble indicated his goddaughter. ‘Alexa has a trishula birthmark, a symbol of her own unique lineage.’ He gestured to Soul. ‘Lucas has an alpha and omega one, a legacy of his original bloodlines.’
Conrad digested this information in silence. Reznak’s words about the rod of Asclepius resonated in his ears. The immortal hesitated and glanced at the woman beside him. Laura inclined her head. Conrad reached behind his back and took out his staff. He handed it to Reznak.
The Crovir noble carefully took the weapon off him. He examined it for some time before manipulating the rings. Conrad felt grudging approval radiate from Alexa when the spear blades and short swords appeared. Reznak looked thoughtful as he slid the blades back inside the shaft.
‘From the scriptures we found in Egypt and in the Ural mountains, the pureblood immortal from whom you, and all the men in your family who came before you, inherited your powers was said to carry a staff,’ said the Crovir. ‘Some of the writings mentioned that he used it as a walking stick, whereas others professed that he fought with it.’ He paused, his expression solemn. ‘He was known as the greatest healer who ever lived in those times and was said to use snakes in his rites. He also kept them as pets.’
‘This is the…Rafael you referred to at the beginning?’ Laura asked haltingly.
‘Yes,’ said Reznak.
Conrad stared at his hands, his head buzzing from the incredible revelations of the last hour. He thought of all that he had ever done with his immortal powers in the four hundred and sixty years of his existence and what he had more recently achieved, first with Rocky, then with Westwood. He had never heard of another immortal pulling off something like it in the past, in either his own bloodline or the rest of Bastian society.
‘Could Rafael…give life?’ Conrad said finally. He looked up at Reznak and Victor.
The Crovir noble appeared puzzled. ‘What, you mean as in procreate? Well, he obviously had children, otherwise you wouldn’t be—’
‘He doesn’t know?’ Conrad interjected. This time, he addressed the question squarely to Victor.
The Bastian noble shook his head. ‘I didn’t think it was my prerogative to tell him.’
‘What are you talking about?’ said Reznak.
Conrad took a deep breath. ‘I can do more than heal.’ He hesitated. ‘I can also gift one of my seventeen l
ives if I wish to do so.’
‘What?’ exclaimed Anna Soul. Her green eyes reflected shock and a glimmer of intellectual interest. Lucas and Alexa went still.
‘The seventeen pieces of an immortal’s soul reside in their heart,’ said Conrad. He heard Alexa inhale sharply and glanced at her pale expression. ‘I can feel all of mine and manipulate them. It’s not easy, but it’s doable.’
Reznak was quiet for some time. ‘As far as we know from the scriptures we have in our possessions, Rafael never gave away any of his lives,’ he said finally. He exchanged a troubled glance with Victor. ‘It seems that all your powers have evolved in some way or another. None of your ancestors could do what you can.’
‘Are there others?’ said Laura.
‘You mean other pureblood descendants of the original immortals?’ said Reznak.
Laura nodded shakily.
The answer came from Victor Dvorsky. ‘Yes. Based on the genealogy of the bloodlines, there may be two more. We don’t know for sure. As far as Dimitri and I are aware, it isn’t anybody in our current societies.’
Conrad’s mouth went dry at this news. He possibly had two more cousins out there.
An excited gurgle drew his eyes to the couch. Lily Soul was bouncing up and down on Alexa’s knees and wriggling her hands toward him in a demanding gesture.
‘Looks like she wants to get to know you,’ Alexa said wryly. She rose and came over.
Conrad suddenly found himself holding the baby.
Alexa frowned. ‘She’s not a bomb.’
‘Oh,’ blurted Conrad when he realized that he was holding his niece at arms’ length. He savored the word as he cradled the tiny body against his chest. Niece. It had a nice ring to it.
Lily Soul had inherited her father’s eyes and her mother’s complexion. She looked at him solemnly for a moment before reaching up. Plump fingers closed on his cheek. Conrad grinned at the warmth of her skin.
