Envisioned (Immortal Chronicles Book 3)

by Samantha Britt

  Darcie frowned as she noted his determination; he meant every word, and she could not believe he was being so closeminded. After all, they needed all the help they could get if they wanted to find Bella as quickly as possible.

  “Be reasonable, Thane,” Eshe leaned forward to put her face in his line of sight. “Adir has gone underground; he is very well concealed. We need skills we do not possess if we wish to find her in a timely manner.”

  “Why isn’t your little vampire helping then, huh?” Thane asked Des with malice, ignoring Eshe altogether. “If you trust the half-breed so much, why hasn’t he contacted his father. This could all be over if Alexander figured out where he is.”

  “He cannot find him,” Des stated without hesitation. “He is searching but striving to appear detached. We do not want to give Adir any reason to suspect Alexander’s loyalty lies with us.”

  Thane scoffed. “I sincerely doubt it; I see him wandering around my home. He is too preoccupied with Darcie to have time to do anything else. I believe you may have competition for the girl’s affection, brother.” The entire speech was stated without Thane sparing a single glance to anyone in the room; he continued to stare at the other end of the table.

  Darcie’s back straightened, and the skin between her eyebrows creased when she glared at Thane. Not only was that a jerk thing to say, but it was also completely untrue. Alexander was nothing but helpful and well-mannered while supervising her training. She did not appreciate the immortal’s attempt to mar their friendship with illicit implications.

  Des, on the other hand, continued to remain unaffected by his volatile brother. “You do not know what you are talking about.”

  “Don’t I?” Thane’s icy gaze finally shifted to Des. “I see the way he glides after her, never more than five feet away at any time. He is taken with her. It is plain as day.”

  Darcie’s eyes bounced back and forth, worrying their verbal altercation might turn physical. While Des remained comfortably seated and unfazed by anything Thane said, the latter’s body coiled, waiting for any reason to unleash itself on the middle sibling.

  “Stop this,” Eshe commanded. “Now. Our enemy is not in this room. He is outside, somewhere, holding Bella as his prisoner. That is where our minds need to be.”

  Thane’s body maintained its tense position for a moment longer. Finally, Eshe’s words registered. He leaned back and propped his elbows on the slender armrests at his sides. He looked defeated.

  Darcie’s heart went out to him. She took in his dejected posture and deeply wished there was some way she could help find Bella. Despite her extra training with Henry, she had yet to master the ability to call on visions whenever she wished. She could only imagine how useful the skill would be for their search.

  “I can already feel the loss,” Thane uttered in a soft voice. “I feel my strength slowly draining out of me with each passing second she is gone.”

  Tears pricked Darcie’s eyes. The leader of the immortal brothers sounded so sad and lost without Bella. She could not even imagine the pain associated with the loss of someone you loved, and she hoped she never would.

  “I feel it too.” Lome’s words surprised her. Darcie swept her gaze to the youngest brother, trying to figure out what he meant.

  “It is clear she still lives,” Des stated. “Otherwise, the loss would be far more significant.”

  “It feels significant to me,” Thane’s voice turned hard in an instant.

  Des tilted his head forward in apology. “Forgive me. I only wanted to reassure you Bella is still alive.”

  Darcie’s mind raced to catch up to the conversation. It became clear the brothers were not speaking of a metaphorical loss of strength. Based on their statements, Bella’s absence was beginning to have a toll on their level of immortal power.

  Just like Adir wanted.

  Darcie prayed Adir did not know the effect Bella’s absence was already having. She hoped Adir was too preoccupied with running the rebellion to actually follow through on his threat to kill the immortal wife. It was a small miracle he had not already done so.

  “I do not want your apologies,” Thane barked at Des. “I want you to do your part. You need to claim the girl.”

  This again?

  Though, Darcie was not surprised Thane chose that moment to make the controversial statement. In spite of Des’ persistent denial of any connection between them, she knew Thane and Lome never gave up their belief that she was Des’ One… his other half… his soulmate.

  Since the beginning, Des had fervently denied any and all ties to the teenage mortal. Recently, however, things began to change. Darcie remembered two separate conversations where Des’ stubbornness started to shift.

  On one occasion, he expressed a desire to talk with her about things. With the stipulation, they wait until the rebellion settled down of course. Des never explicitly stated what, precisely, he wanted to discuss. But the implications hinted at the state of their relationship.

  The second conversation was more revealing. Darcie could still see Des’ wide, bright green eyes as he said the four sweetest words she’d ever heard come out of his mouth, “I care for you.”

  Despite her suddenly nervous and pounding heart, Darcie leaned forward and eagerly waited for Des’ reply. Her hopeful soul wondered if he was about to reveal there was a connection between them.

  “I understand your fear, Thane,” Des stated calmly. “But I will not allow it to force my hand on a subject we have already discussed numerous times. Darcie cannot replace Bella.”

  “She will replace her power,” Thane emphasized the last word. “And that is crucial if we want to stand a chance against the rebellion–if we want to increase our chances of finding her before it is too late.”

  Des crossed his arms, and his lips formed a thin, tight line. The immortal did not try to reason with his brother. He did not even attempt to console him. All Des said in response to Thane’s loaded claim was, “No.”

  The sound of Thane’s strong palm hitting the surface of the table resounded through the room. Darcie jumped back, causing her chair to screech against the hardwood floor.

  Crap.

  Four pairs of eyes flew towards her, trailing all around the space.

  Darcie did not so much as blink. She held her breath, waiting for one of them to realize the only explanation behind the unsuspecting sound. Then again, Des was the only immortal to know she could physically move objects during her visions. Maybe he would not say anything.

  Lucky for her, a more important event occurred which erased their curiosity.

  The ceiling-high, wood-planked door swung open behind her. As the iron hinges stopped creaking, Charmian entered the dining hall.

  The Original immortal continued her entrance without a welcome from those at the table. Her auburn hair swayed as she walked, and the dark green sundress swooshed at her calves. Darcie watched Charmian with interest, trying to see some physical resemblance between herself and the graceful immortal. She recognized nothing and wondered, not for the first time, how she could possibly be descended from the powerful being.

  As usual, resentment flowed through Darcie’s veins at the thought of her mother’s abandonment. How could Jennifer Abernathy leave her daughter behind with no warning of what was to come? It was thoughtless and cruel.

  Charmian continued to stroll casually towards the brothers and Eshe. As the immortal passed by Darcie’s chair, she swore she saw a slight quirk of her lips and a flick of her fingers in her direction–almost like a subtle wave.

  She knows I’m in here.

  Darcie wasn’t sure how, but she knew she was right. Charmian was aware of Darcie’s invisible presence, unlike the immortals at the other end of the table. Instead, their concentration settled solely on the approaching immortal.

  “You are late,” Thane greeted rudely. Darcie watched Eshe’s hand snake out and tap his arm in reprimand. He ignored the friendly warning. “Where were you?”

  Darcie coul
d only see Charmian’s back, so she had to assume her responding expression was full of disapproval as she said, “I am not your servant who jumps at your every beck and call. You are fortunate I found free time, or else I would have been unable to accept your rather sudden invitation.”

  Thane’s sharp look could cut through stone. “You serve The Alliance and this is important.”

  “Oh,” Charmian made a show of glancing around the room. “Is this an alliance meeting?”

  He growled low at her mockery. “We are in need of your assistance.”

  “Really?” she sounded bored, picking a piece of imaginary lint off her skirt. “What is it?”

  “It is imperative you examine each and every one of your offspring. The alliance needs to determine which half-breeds betrayed us by helping Adir escape the dungeon. We need to know who we can no longer trust.”

  “Is that what you called me here for?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Yes.” It was clear Thane did not understand the reason behind her incredulous tone.

  Charmian placed displeased hands on her hip. “An investigation is already underway.”

  “Who leads it?”

  “Me.” Charmian’s tone dared Thane to continue the insulting line of questioning.

  Finally having enough sense to read the room, Thane tilted his head forward in acknowledgement. “Good.”

  With a frustrated sigh, Charmian dropped her hands to her side. “Are we done here?”

  Thane opened his mouth to confirm the conclusion of her use, but Des interrupted and said, “Actually, I was wondering if I could make a request of you.”

  “What?” The Original immortal was losing her patience. She crossed her arms.

  “Would you be willing to gather your strongest descendants for a meeting with us?”

  Intrigued, Charmian angled her neck and observed the immortal. “Why?”

  “I was hoping they could assist the recovery efforts.”

  Darcie’s eyes snapped to Thane as he let out a long, infuriated growl.

  Charmian noted the reaction but did not address it. Instead, she gave Des her attention. “I am unsure if that is wise. As your brother just pointed out, some of my offspring seem to have conflicting loyalty.” She chose to ignore Thane’s replying mumble about “unfaithful swine”.

  “Then only gather the strongest descendants you can trust without a shadow of a doubt.”

  When Charmian started to shake her head, Des continued, “I am employing the most-talented half-breed trackers, but they are going to need help extending their senses over farther distances. That cannot be achieved without the assistance of a witch or warlock.”

  That was all Darcie needed to hear. She bit her lip, willing herself to not voice her own pleasure to the immortal. She desperately wanted any and every resource available dedicated to retrieving Bella.

  “The majority of my children want to stay out of the conflict,” Charmian replied.

  Thane interrupted her continuation. “Good. I don’t trust the half-breed stock anyway. Tell them to stay away from my home.”

  “Our home,” Des rumbled. “And you can remain stubborn and refuse the help of those with abilities beyond ours, but I will not. Bella is my family too, and I will not let your pig-headed delusional mistrust keep us from using every means to find her.”

  “She is my wife,” Thane replied, rising from his chair.

  “She is our sister,” Lome jumped in, standing up as well. “We all want her back, Thane. Don’t be stupid. Let Des carry out his plan.”

  “I will not sit by and l–”

  “Enough,” Eshe cut off Thane’s reply. “All of you. That is enough.”

  The Egyptian beauty turned to Charmian without any trepidation. “Please ask your most trustworthy offspring to meet with us. If they do not want to join in the fight, that is fine. All we ask is you put the request in front of them.”

  Darcie never felt so in awe of Eshe’s bravery. She was truly fearless to go against Thane’s unreasonable fury. She remembered how the immortal placed herself in front of her and Bella when their group was attacked in Portland. Eshe had been willing to put herself at risk to ensure they were protected.

  Did I ever thank her for that?

  Apparently, the display had the same effect on Charmian. The Original immortal’s head bobbed in approval of Eshe’s bravery, drawing Darcie’s gaze as she said, “I will see what I can do.”

  3

  “Fetch, Argos!” Darcie threw the thin branch with as much force as she could muster. The German Shepherd-looking animal bounded off, covering the distance in half the time any other dog could manage. He promptly returned with his prize, tail wagging in excitement as he dropped it back at her feet for round two.

  “You’re lucky I like you,” she told him before picking up the slobbery stick and putting even more effort behind her next throw. That attempt went a little further, but he was still back in record time.

  Argos trotted towards her, lifting his feet high like a show pony, barely panting from the exertion. Fortunately for Darcie’s shoulder, he settled on the ground beside her, content with chewing the bark instead of chasing it.

  She reached out a hand and scratched behind his two large, floppy ears. “Good boy.”

  Absentmindedly, she let her gaze sweep the well-cared-for lawn outside of the brothers’ stronghold. Clouds blocked out the sun, making the normally bright colors seem subdued. The gloomy weather also brought with it a chill, causing Darcie to seek out a sweater before she ventured outside for her daily stint of fresh air.

  Almost a month had passed since she returned to Greece. During that time, she kept busy training and following a routine to keep her occupied. It was that, or run the risk of going mad.

  Normally, despite his frustrating and know-it-all attitude, the majority of her time was spent with Alexander. Not only for training sessions, but also for most of her leisurely activities. He would accompany her to the library, hedge maze in the back of the house, and even the sports courts she discovered hidden in the far corner of the lowest level of the mansion. Though, he had yet to pick up a tennis racket and play a match with her.

  You could say that in the absence of Bella, Alexander quickly became Darcie’s most-reliable companion. It was that fact which made the last seven days practically unbearable.

  Last Sunday, without any warning, Alexander announced his impending departure from the brothers’ home. Darcie did her best to appear indifferent, but she was anything but. His words immediately drowned her in a feeling of impending loneliness. What was she going to do without him around? She had hoped to trouble Eshe for entertainment, but the immortal seemed as occupied as Des with their continued hunt for Bella.

  Having no desire to draw attention away from the noble efforts, Darcie swallowed her despair and resolved herself to spend the week in solitude.

  Well, not complete solitude.

  Her eyes traveled the stoic guard positioned no more than three feet away. Before Alexander left, he appointed one of his lackeys to take his place as her ever-present shadow. However, unlike Alexander, her newest guard was uninterested in making her time in Greece any less miserable.

  After two days of trying to prompt him into conversation, Darcie gave up on Gregory. Looking at him now, he did not even spare a glance at her sudden attention. Instead, his midnight-blue eyes continued to scan their surroundings, watching for an imminent threat.

  Darcie turned back and flopped down dramatically. She was bored. She craved something new to help pass the time, but she’d pretty much run through all activities the mansion had to offer. Without Alexander’s constant teasing and conversation, she was resigned to suffer.

  Argos, still chewing the stick, inched closer until his long body pressed up the length of her leg. She patted his back, glad he did not decide to leave her in her self-pity.

  I wish I had someone to talk to.

  For a moment, Darcie contemplated reaching out to Kevin. Her ex-bo
yfriend called her a couple of times, but he never left a message. Too afraid of the unknown, she had not returned any of the calls. She did not know what to expect, and she loathed the idea of continuing to lie to him about where she was or what she was doing. Not to mention, she doubted she would be able to handle it if he started to reminisce about their relationship, or if he decided to say he wanted her back.

  No, I definitely could not handle that. She wasn’t that desperate… yet.

  Darcie released a sigh of pent up frustration. She stared at the cloudy sky, wishing her life was normal, but she knew it never would be again.

  Argos pawed her leg. Looking down, she realized he was finished chewing his latest toy. Now, he wanted her to throw it again. To confirm her thought, the animal bent down and nudged the branch towards her hand. When she did not immediately grab the item, he let out a low, pitiful whimper.

  “Alright, alright,” she said, sitting up. Winding back, she let the stick fly. Given her lowered position, however, it did not go far.

  Argos immediately returned for another go. Darcie picked up the stick and was about to throw it when a voice cleared behind her. Surprised, she lowered her arm and turned to stare at Gregory in surprise.

  He cleared his throat again and jerked his head towards the branch. “May I?”

  Stunned, all Darcie could do was nod and reach out to hand over the item. She nearly lost her cool as she watched the vampire’s cold mouth turn up in a small, warm smile. Argos, having no qualms about switching playmates, skipped over to Gregory and immediately sat down to await his throw.

  The vampire extended his hand to lightly pat his head before rearing back and releasing the stick.

  Darcie freed an amused and astounded laugh as she watched the branch soar through the air and into the distant trees. Argos bolted after it, not letting the fact he could no longer see his prize keep him from chasing it.

  “Wow,” Darcie continued to chuckle, looking back at Gregory with a grin.