“Chaos and anarchy?” Auberon asked hopefully, a wicked smile playing at his lips.
“A wrinkle,” Adam said with an amused grimace. “The Queen has demanded we return to St. Paul and deal with it.”
“It must be serious if Her High and Mightiness is begging for our return,” Auberon smirked. “Do you think Mother has forgiven me for my past transgressions?”
“Probably not yet,” Adam laughed. “And if she has, I highly doubt she will forgive you for your current transgressions.”
“Nor my future transgressions, either,” Auberon added for good measure, swinging his long legs over the edge of the bed and sitting up. “When are we to return?”
“A week,” Adam answered, looking around his brother’s room. In the three years since their telepathic split from the Hive he was finally learning to enjoy his independence. He had never realized how imprisoned he had been, even when Auberon talked about it incessantly; not until they finally achieved freedom did he understand. Of course, in order to keep that freedom, they would continue to play the game for as long as necessary, studying, learning, until they were completely free from the Hive, the Queen.
“Will you continue the search for the girl when we get back?” Auberon asked cautiously, watching his brother closely, knowing how deeply he had been affected.
“I will but there is so little to go on,” Adam admitted with a sigh. Moistening his lips with the tip of his tongue, he reluctantly admitted, "I've lost her scent, Auberon.
Auberon's eyes widened in disbelief, "That is not possible."
Adam nodded his head in agreement, truly baffled. "Just like it wasn't possible for her to get past the wards I had in place to keep her at the Hive in Paris."
"I still cannot believe you had the balls to bring her to one of the Hives," Auberon chuckled, his black eyes dancing with mirth and approval. "Mother would have a fit if she knew her favorite son was fucking a human right beneath her nose."
Adam's lips quirked upwards in a half-smile as he remembered how sweet Celeste had been… and how furious he had been when he awoke and she was gone. He had gone after her immediately but he had lost the trail at the airport. After that it was as if she no longer existed.
“We will find her, Adam,” Auberon assured his brother. Seeing the arched eye brow, he corrected himself with a self-depreciating chuckle, “You will find her. I shall keep my distance if I come across her first.”
“No,” Adam shook his head, trying to get over the jealousy that had been plaguing him since the insertion of Celeste into his life; he had no reason to be jealous of Auberon. “If you find her before I do, I want you to grab her and not let her go until I arrive. I don’t want to chance losing her again.”
“Very well,” Auberon nodded his head, knowing the turmoil that beset his brother while ignoring the torture that nibbled at his own dark soul. “I will tie her up and gag her until I am able to deliver her to you, safe and sound.”
Adam laughed out loud at his brother’s statement, half hoping that he would truly go to such extremes to make the girl stay. He had yet to be tempted into biting another human since Celeste disappeared from his life and he had absolutely no desire to bite a Calix, to satiate his needs in the more traditional ways. He only wanted Celeste; he only needed Celeste. “I hope it doesn’t take us a century to find her. I think I might go mad if I have to wait that long to taste her again.”
“Is that all you miss?” Auberon asked doubtfully.
“I miss her,” Adam said on a sigh, not wanting to admit it out loud, unable to stop himself. “I’ve never experienced anything like it before, Auberon. I felt her soul inside of me and it was so warm, so… Celeste. I want her back, Auberon; more than anything.”
A twinge of jealousy tore through Auberon’s guts at his brother’s passionate proclamation. He had been the one who desired freedom from the Hive; he had been the one to discover how to do it; he had been the one to convince Adam of the necessity, years and years of persuading, of tearing down Hive indoctrination; and yet it was Adam who experienced bliss, experienced Celeste. If only he had been at the Louvre that day…. “I will do whatever it takes to help you, brother. You know I will.”
“I know,” Adam nodded, offering a half smile. “We should do a little research when we get back to the Domus, find out if there’s any precedence for this sort of thing….”
“Or any prophecies,” Auberon added as they exchanged speaking looks. “Perhaps it is a good thing that we will be returning to the fold; whatever this wrinkle is, it surely will not take up all of our time.”
“I just want to get in and out of there as quickly as possible and find Celeste,” Adam sighed, raking his hands through his hair. Meeting his brother's black eyes, he brokenly admitted, “I hate being so close to them; it’s getting harder to pretend.”
“I know,” Auberon agreed. “Thankfully they have always given the two of us a little leeway due to the circumstances of our… creation.”
“And the healthy dose of fear they have for us,” Adam added with a wary smile.
Chapter 8
“Do you ever get the feeling that something huge is about to happen?” Celeste asked as she joined Kim in their small kitchen a week later. She was dressed in a colorful peasant skirt and a form-fitting button down blouse. Sitting down, she grabbed the orange juice that Kim had poured for her and grinned, “I feel this huge ball of excitement in my belly, like it wants to break free and just soar.”
Kim laughed, “I’m not sure I understand what it is you’re talking about but I have to admit that it is nice to see a smile on your face so early in the morning.”
“God, it’s like the only thing holding me together is my skin,” Celeste exclaimed, her foot tapping out a nervous rhythm as she ate her toast. “It’s driving me crazy.”
“Have you been smoking something again?” Kim joked. “You know that weed isn’t good for you.”
“Ha ha,” Celeste giggled none-the-less. “I’m not on any drugs; I’m just excited and nervous and going nuts. Like I said, if it weren’t for my skin, I would simply shatter into a million pieces.”
“Well, I’m not going to be the one to clean up that mess,” Kim said with a long-suffering sigh as she gathered up her dishes and put them in the sink. “Blood and entrails do not come out of the carpet, I don’t care what the commercials say; those things stain like nobody’s business.”
“When I come apart I will try to do it somewhere else,” Celeste grinned, standing up and dropping her glass in the sink as well. Looping her arm through Kim’s, the two girls made their way to the front door. “I think it'd be nice to do it by the lake with all of that wonderful water to simply wash me away.”
“I think it would be better not to come apart at all,” Kim murmured, locking the door behind them. “I think you need to take a few deep breaths and keep yourself together.”
“Oh, but it’s such a glorious feeling,” Celeste laughed, pirouetting before looping her arm through Kim's. “I feel like I can take on the world; like maybe someday I’ll run into Adam again and it won’t be so bad.”
“Don’t get your hopes up, sweetie,” Kim warned. “He is still an….” Glancing around the hall, she leaned in and whispered, “An Apocritum.”
“I know,” Celeste laughed, her eyes dancing with whatever energy possessed her. “But, you see, that doesn’t make any difference right now because I can take on the world.”
“Be careful, Cel,” Kim whispered. “I don’t want to see you get your hopes up too high. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I feel too damn good,” Celeste beamed. “Although I could really go for those little mini donuts they sell at fairs – you know what I’m talking about, don’t you? Nice, hot deep-fried dough sprinkled with tons of cinnamon and sugar. God, that sounds so good.”
“Where do you expect to find something like that?” Kim looked at her friend with an odd expression; pre-Adam Celeste hated those little donuts, Kim was the o
ne who made her share a bag every time they went to the State Fair.
Tilting her head to the side, Celeste ignored Kim's question as she envisioned another possibility, “Or maybe I could get some watermelon. Ooh! Grape soda; doesn’t that sound delicious?”
“No,” Kim grimaced, the thought of mini donuts, watermelon and grape pop sounding the very opposite of delicious. “But we can get watermelon and grape pop at the grocery store; would you like me to stop by on the way home from work and pick it up?”
“Yes,” Celeste answered emphatically. “I would be eternally grateful if you also picked up some mint chocolate chip ice cream and strawberry sauce. Ooh, and maybe some of that chicken they sell in the deli?”
Kim laughed at her friend’s enthusiasm, and her bizarre cravings. “What time do you plan on getting off work?”
“Five-ish,” Celeste answered as they walked around the building to the small parking lot in back where Kim’s car was parked. After they folded themselves into the small compact, Kim started the engine and off they went, chatting about nothing in particular.
“Do you need me to pick you up?” Kim asked as they stopped in front of the BioGenesis office building. The beautiful gleaming white exterior was classical in design, with the feel of old wealth and luxury, which was odd considering how modern it was.
“Nah,” Celeste shook her head no, opening the car door. “Mrs. Barnes told me she wouldn’t mind giving me a lift; it’s only five minutes out of her way.”
“Well, you'll call if you need a ride, won’t you?” Kim raised an eyebrow.
“You know I will,” Celeste grinned, finally getting out of the car. With a final wave, she shut the car door and headed into the building. The feeling of expectation steadily increased until it felt as if she were floating over the ground instead of merely walking. She really could take on the world.
With a brilliant smile lighting her face, she walked through the building and down the stairs to her own personal heaven: the library. After only three weeks, she felt fairly comfortable with the general idea of where everything was stored. It was very logically set up and though extensive, not so difficult to learn once the trick was figured out. Unfortunately, there was no way to accurately explain the trick so every newbie had to learn it on their own.
Setting her purse in her locker in the break room, she spun around, exhilarating in the dizziness. She stopped when the door opened and Jonathon walked in, a tight expression on his otherwise pleasant face. Tall and lanky with wire-rimmed glasses, he looked like he worked with computers, which he normally did with great enthusiasm. Today, he seemed disgruntled; he was rubbing his temples as if trying to stave off a major head ache. “Jonathon, is something wrong?”
The man jumped, not aware that there was anyone else in the break room. “I should have realized that you would be here; you’re always early.” Forcing a smile to his strained lips, he said, “A couple of Apocritae have requested a great deal of information, and in order to make my life even more complicated, they want it in the original format and they want me to go over the documents with them. It would have been much too simple to simply request files; I could have uploaded the relevant info in less than an hour, annotated and everything. But, no; now I get to look forward to hours of digging through old books with a couple of Apocritae breathing down my neck.”
“What can I do to help?” Celeste asked, eager to offer her assistance.
“Oh, we just need to find a few scrolls and several volumes of Ancient Prophecies,” he muttered, looking upwards as if that might help him remember the required items. “Though why an Apocritum would be interested in a bunch of bunk is beyond me; these silly things always pretend to say one thing and end up meaning something completely different. There’s really no point in studying the damn things.”
“Really?” Celeste asked with a twinkle in her eyes. She always enjoyed reading the silly magazines with their doomsday prophecies because they were always wrong. So far, the sun continued to shine, even after a virulent prophecy that declared the world was going to end three years ago. Actually, according to Genevieve, Dr. Lewis, er, Beck, might actually have been the beginning of the end and everyone’s been too busy to notice. That was too depressing to think about on such a beautiful day.
Pinching the bridge of her nose as the rather unsettling thoughts bubbled forth, Celeste realized that Jonathan was talking; ranting, really. Focusing her attention, she shook her head to try to clear it, “Where should we start then?”
He raised his head and looked at her with a blank expression; had he forgotten what he was supposed to do – or that she had offered to help? She smiled encouragingly, “It will go faster if there are two of us working on it.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, running a hand through his hair once more, making the fine, dark hair stick on end. Pulling a list out of his pocket, he handed it to her. “I’ll get the scrolls and you can find where these bad boys are hiding.”
“There are only five books on this list,” she murmured, glancing at Jonathan with a frown. “It hardly seems….”
“It’s not just finding the books and scrolls,” he reminded her. “After we find those, I have to spend the next several hours poring over the books under the scrutiny of an Apocritum.”
“That can hardly be a bad thing,” Celeste offered, trying to comfort the man.
“You’ve obviously never met an Apocritum,” he shuddered. “Beautiful and terrifying, with jet-black eyes that seem to devour your very soul.” Another shudder ran through his body, “Add to that the fact that they can change a human just by biting them.”
Celeste didn’t bother to correct him on his assumption; most people had never met an Apocritum. Most never slept with one either but she wasn’t about to tell that to Jonathon. Smiling, she shook her head, “I’d like to help; I mean, with the research; if you don’t mind?”
“Fine,” he grumbled, heaving a sigh and nodding towards the list. “Find those books and I’ll let you tag along; maybe you’ll be able to handle their cold indifference. Or in the immortal words of Kytharian the Greater, ‘Not.’”
She shook her head at his bizarre reference; was she supposed to understand it? Besides, cold indifference was one thing she did not experience with Adam; it was all about heat and craving. Warmth crept into her cheeks at the memory of how hot their mutual interest became. Her hand automatically went to her stomach and when she realized what she had done, she smiled brightly and quickly said, “I’ll get right on it.”
“Whatever,” he grumbled, already walking away to get the scrolls.
*****
A while later, the two research assistants were climbing the stairs, preparing themselves to be subjected to the intense scrutiny of an unknown Apocritum. Celeste was both incredibly excited and terrified at the prospect of seeing more of the elusive race; what if the Apocritum could smell her unique-ness? Would the Apocritum even care? Was this the exciting thing that was going to happen to her today? If it was she had to admit that it was a bit of a disappointment.
Clutching the large tomes to her chest, she followed Jonathon, her head down to make sure she wouldn’t miss a step and drop the all-important volumes. After listening to every single warning Jonathan issued while they were looking for the books, she had no desire to incur his wrath should she let one slip through her hands. Though the ensuing tantrum might be worth a few laughs, she didn’t want to risk her job.
Jonathon, of course, was grousing about the amount of time he was going to be wasting while searching for some arcane prophecy probably having to deal with the flight pattern of cicadas. Celeste was unable to hide the smile at the wandering ravings as they entered the main lobby of the building, sunlight spilling through the windows and bathing the vast area in warmth and light. Jon was having none of it. “I hope they don’t keep us past six, I have a campaign to lead on WU.”
“Woo?” Celeste asked.
“Wizards Underground,” he muttered, his eyes briefly lighti
ng up at the words. “Online gaming community.”
“Ah, W - U,” she nodded her head, never having been a fanatical gamer; yet having known a few, she understood. Before she could say anything more, awareness slammed into her and time seemed to slow. Way. Down. Lifting her head, the room melted into a blur of white as her attention was drawn to the man standing on the other side of the atrium. His head was bent down as he discussed something with one of the medical researchers but she knew it was him; it was Adam, and he was standing. Right. There.
Her body instantly heated as her blood began to race through her veins. Her lips parted slightly as she tried to suck more oxygen into her suddenly shallow lungs. The grip on her books tightened until her knuckles turned white from the pressure. Nothing could have stopped the joyous dance the butterflies were performing in her guts or the loss of moisture in her mouth. Apparently, all of her body’s fluids were coalescing between her legs. Goodness, if he lifted his head and looked at her she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from flying across the room and jumping him.
In that moment she knew that Apocritae didn’t have to chase humans; there was absolutely no need. Humans were attracted to the deadly Apocritae much the same way a bug desires to die in the light; just for the briefest, most fleeting moment of passion.
“Just relax, Celeste,” Jonathon ordered, sounding a little panicked. “Are you going to faint? God, I hope not; please don’t faint.”
Slowly, Celeste glanced at Jonathon out of the corner of her eyes, wondering what the hell he was blabbing on about. Then she felt it; his gaze burning a hole right into her. Without looking, knowing what folly that way led, she dropped the books and turned, bolting for the stairwell and hoping to escape before she did something totally and completely stupid. Had she really hoped to see Adam again? Well, yes; just not in such a public place – where she worked for God’s sake.
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