Citera kept her eyes on the ground as they continued. “I know, but sometimes I feel like we Terrians are helpless, even useless, compared to all of you.”
Suddenly, K grabbed her by the arm and spun her around so they were face-to-face. The unexpected contact, and the swiftness in which it occurred, caught Citera off guard. She gasped loudly, catching the attention of several people passing by.
“Don’t ever say that again, do you understand me?” K snapped. She took a moment to breathe through her anger before releasing her arm and softening her expression. Seeing there was no danger, the passersby continued about their business. “Citera, you and your father are anything but useless. You did something for me very few people would have done.” She paused and looked at the people walking around them. “Terrians may not have the physical strength or increased life span of the Full-bloods, but your people are highly intelligent and passionate. You appreciate life in a way we never can because you know how fleeting and precious it can be. And because your people lack the physical gifts the Full-bloods possess, your race has developed a wondrous mind full of creativity and ingenuity. For example, did you know that the person who invented formula was a Terrian?”
Citera nodded and together they resumed walking. “They taught us in school. The books said Herald Graywater invented formula because he was tired of Terrians being forced to serve as a food source for the Full-bloods. They also said he tested his early formulas on Full-blood prisoners until he finally got the mixture right, and that the fanatical religious group that used to exist called the Heralds—” Citera stopped her rambling mid-sentence, remembering that the Heralds were the ones responsible for much of K’s now invisible scars. Shrinking away, Citera dared a glance over her shoulder at K.
“Finish,” she demanded in a low growl.
Swallowing hard Citera continued, “They said the Heralds based their beliefs and practices off his teachings.”
“Is that what they are teaching you?” Shaking her head, K sighed. She trained her eyes down the path in front of them, her gaze becoming distant and lost. “History can often teach us important lessons, lessons that can be used to help guide us toward a better future. Unfortunately, those seeking to gain power often misconstrue these lessons in order to manipulate the masses.” She paused, shifting her attention back onto Citera. “Parts of what you say are true. He was looking for a way to stop the blood drinking, but it wasn’t just for Terrians, it was for the Full-bloods as well. You see, the majority of the Full-blood population didn’t want to be dependent on draining the life of another person to keep them alive, any more than the Terrians wanted to be used for that purpose. And while he did experiment on Full-bloods, it wasn’t forced; he had many volunteers, myself and Jaron included.”
“You let him experiment on you?” Citera gasped.
K laughed her emotionless laugh and smiled at Citera. “It wasn’t like he was going to kill me, although there were times when I thought the taste might.” K shuddered slightly at the memory of the disgusting liquid. “It took a long time and lots of belly aches but he finally did it. Then little by little we began converting the newly matured Full-bloods over to formula.”
“Because it was already too late for the others.”
“That is correct. The older ones could still drink formula, but once the blood lust is in you it never goes away. And as for the Heralds,” K reached up and touched her eye in a subconscious movement, “they were just demented people using a good man’s name to justify the horrific things they did.”
They continued on in silence a few more minutes. Citera was busy thinking about what K had told her when she spotted Jaron standing several feet ahead of them. He was talking and pointing in different directions as the three families from the trail listened carefully. K and her both watched him as they continued to approach, amused by the amount of arm gestures seemingly necessary to explain the camp, when a young boy suddenly collided into K.
“Whoa, young man, where are you going in such a hurry?” K asked catching ahold of him.
“Sorry, miss, there is just so much to see around here and I am an explorer,” the boy answered, striking his most heroic pose.
Citera laughed and even K found it hard not to smile at the young boy’s enthusiasm. Jaron, watching them from a distance, waved for them to join him. K, however, ignored his beckon and continued to question the brave explorer in front of her. “You must be new. What is your name?”
“Yes, ma’am. We arrived today, and my name is Kajol,” he announced proudly, puffing out his chest and extending a hand. “What is yours?”
A flash of sheer terror slipped across K’s face before she managed to quickly mask it, although not quick enough to stop Citera from witnessing it. Frightened and confused by what she had seen, Citera took a step back, and looked down at the young boy’s innocent face, who luckily hadn’t seemed to notice K’s slip. But what was it he had said that caused her to expose one of her closely guarded emotions? And why would a woman who had fearlessly faced down Jaron and Jarod, two of the most powerful Full-bloods in existence, while near death, be frightened of a small boy? Citera continued to glance back and forth between Kajol and K, trying to figure out what was happening when K finally managed to continue, her voice as dry and emotionless as usual, “That is a very unusual name. Where did it come from?”
“I know, people tell me that all the time,” the little boy huffed as if he were put out at having to explain it yet again. “I’m named after a lady my mommy used to know,” he paused for a moment before adding, “but no it’s not just a girl’s name.”
This brought a slight smile back to K’s face as she looked up the hill toward Jaron, who remained with the group watching them curiously. “And which one is your mom?”
“That one, next to the tall skinny guy, that’s my dad,” he announced proudly, pointing to a young looking couple watching their every move closely. Citera followed his gaze toward a tall, thin man holding tightly to a pale, frail looking lady. She wore a tattered dress which was covered with stains from many nights spent sleeping in the dirt. Her light brown hair was falling out in pieces from the braid she had it tied into and hung in loose chucks around her face. But even from this distance, through the caked on dirt and exhaustion, Citera could tell that once she was rested and cleaned up, this lady would turn quite a few heads.
Citera turned her attention back to K, but K’s eyes were locked on the young woman. “Do you know her?” Citera asked, glancing back and forth between the two, but K didn’t answer. Instead she slowly looked down at the boy then back at the mother, before facing Citera. “I can’t,” she said, turning and heading back down the path away from them.
“K?” Citera shouted. “What about Jaron?”
“Tell him I will find him later,” she answered, and in a flash she was gone.
“Is her name really K, like the letter?” the boy asked, drawing Citera’s attention away from the path K had vanished down.
“Yeah,” she answered numbly, then turned her attention to the top of the hill where Jaron stood looking just as confused as she was.
“And she said my name was unusual.”
Citera looked down into those large curious eyes and wondered what in the world had just happened. Knowing there was no way she would get any answers right now, even if she did know where K went, Citera placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and nudged him up the hill toward his parents. “Well, come along,” she directed, “I guess you’re going to be stuck with me as the other half of your welcoming committee.”
Chapter 2
“Wrong!” Jarod shouted for what felt like the hundredth time. “You’re doing it wrong.” He stampeded across the room, grabbed the knife from Maya’s hand, and sent it flying with deadly precision to the other side, burying it deep into the center of the target. “You have to have it balanced,” he lectured as he jerked the knife free from its mark. Returning to her side he handed her the blade. Meanwhile, Maya watched the
whole tantrum quietly with a calmness and patience that only served to infuriate him more. “Are you listening to anything that I say?”
Without a word she took the knife from his hand, made aim, and let it fly … hitting its mark in the dead center of the bull’s eye. She then cocked her head to the side, placed her hands on her hips, and stared back at him.
He frowned, glancing from her then to the knife, and sighed. “All right, you’re listening. But we have been going at this for six months and you should be able to do more than hit a target once in a new moon.”
“Perhaps it’s the fault of the teacher that his student isn’t learning,” Aziel’s frigid voice sounded from behind them.
Turning around they were disturbed to find all three Shadows had entered into the sparring room without their knowing. Jarod immediately dropped down on one knee and lowered his eyes to the floor. Maya however, dropped into a deep curtsy. It was a lesson she had learned early on, the hard way.
She had been new to the Tower, barely there a month, when the incident happened. Being unfamiliar with the ways of the Shadows, Maya decided she stood her best chance of staying out of trouble if she mimicked Jarod’s behavior around them. So during her first encounters with them, she bowed like Jarod, dropping to one knee and lowering her gaze. It proved to be just the first of many mistakes she would make over the next few months. Gaia, the female Shadow, became infuriated at what she deemed a disrespectful gesture by a fellow woman and yanked her up by the roots of her hair, slapping her across the face. The female Shadow then forced Maya to spend the next three days in her presence practicing an excruciatingly low and painful curtsy for hours at a time; until it could finally be performed to her satisfaction.
So, despite the fact she was currently dressed in the sparring gear Jarod insisted she wear while training, Maya lowered her head and dropped as low to the floor as she possibly could in the tight leather pants and prayed it was enough.
“My lords, forgive us, we were not aware that you would be using the room this afternoon,” Jarod said quietly, eyes still focused on the floor. “We will leave at once.”
“What’s the hurry? I was just thinking about having you join us,” Kai responded, his voice oozing with venom.
“Oh yes, rise up and let’s have some fun,” Gaia seconded, clapping her hands together excitedly.
Jarod quietly stood, as did Maya, making it a distinct point to avoid eye contact with one another as they did. “As my lords wish.”
“As I was saying, perhaps it isn’t the fault of the girl she isn’t learning, perhaps it is the way you are teaching her,” Aziel continued, narrowing his eyes at the pair. “Kai, why don’t you give it a try.”
It was an open challenge to Jarod, a dare of sorts, and one he would pay dearly for if he accepted. Instead he watched helplessly while Maya’s body went rigid as Kai suavely approached her. The only single Shadow of the three, since Aziel and Gaia were married, Kai enjoyed using his position to take advantage of the women living inside the Tower. It made no difference to him if they were servants or diplomats, married or not, once Kai had his eyes set on a woman he pursued her relentlessly until he got what he wanted, and there wasn’t a thing anyone could do to deter him.
“It would be my pleasure,” Kai said, smirking over his shoulder at Jarod as he slid his lean, rock hard frame in behind Maya. Placing his chest flush with her back, he slid his body down her entire length as he reached down to pull a knife from his boot. Then, knife in hand, he wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her hips tight against his, letting out a slight moan for dramatic effect.
Though it was a struggle, Maya managed to keep her face straight, even as his warm breath slid over the delicate skin of her neck. It took all she had to suppress the urge to shudder and pull away from him. She knew exactly what he was trying to do. Like everything the Shadows did, it was a test, a means to see how far they could push them before one of them screwed up, and there was no way she would give him the satisfaction of knowing she was rattled. But more important than her need to save face, was her need to remain strong for Jarod. Because as much as they were tormenting her, their real goal was to elicit a response from him, and she knew if she reacted in any way that might set Jarod off, it was he who would pay the price for her weakness.
***
It all happened about three months ago, and it was a day that would be forever imprinted in her mind. Because it was on that day she became all too aware of just how far the Shadows were willing to go with their twisted mind games and recognized for herself how much danger she and Jarod were truly in.
None of it was Jarod’s fault. He had tried to warn her repeatedly to be suspicious of everything they asked of her. But she still thought nothing of it when one day she was called to meet Gaia in her bedchamber alone. It wasn’t an uncommon request after all, Gaia frequently sent for her to get her opinion on clothing and jewelry, often having her sit for hours as she perused her wardrobe trying to select the perfect dress for an occasion. Sometimes she even made Maya try them on so she could get a better idea of how they looked from every angle.
However on this particular day, when she arrived for their meeting Maya was surprised to find not Gaia, but Aziel and Kai in the enormous room waiting on her. Thinking she had misunderstood her instructions she quickly apologized and politely excused herself. But when she moved to leave the room the pair of them grabbed ahold of her and pulled her back inside. Hands came at her from every direction, touching her hair, face, and body while the pair of them described in graphic detail the things they planned to do to her. Fearing their intentions, she panicked and screamed. To her shock and relief, Jarod instantly appeared, snatched her out of their grasp, and shoved the two of them across the room. But when Gaia appeared through the door soon after him, grinning victoriously, Maya knew instantly she had made a terrible mistake.
It had all been an elaborate set up, one she had leapt into with arms wide open. But it was the hopeless, defeated look in Jarod’s eyes when he dropped to his hands and knees, as he too realized what had happened, that would be forever embedded in her memory. With two guards holding her back, Maya was forced to watch helplessly while the three of them beat and kicked him until he fell unconscious, Jarod never once lifting a finger to defend himself.
Maya spent that night crying alone, imprisoned inside their room, while Jarod was left to recover in the darkness of one of the holding cells. The following morning, when he had regained consciousness, they were both marched to the yard, where Maya was yet again forced to watch as Jarod shouldered the consequences of the Shadows’ wrath alone. Barely able to stand, he was led out into the center of the yard and chained, with his hands above his head, to a massive stone pillar; while each of the Shadows took turns delivering a multitude of lashes using a razor whip. By the time they finally stopped, Jarod’s already heavily scarred back was mutilated beyond recognition.
That night and each night that followed Maya wept as she cleaned and dressed the wounds on Jarod’s back, while he sat and stared silently into nowhere. Since they denied him the right to feed or the use of red formula, it took over a month for him to heal completely, and it was only then he finally spoke.
“You have to stop.”
She was sitting on the couch crying, as had been her habit for nearly a month, while he stood staring out the window at the city below them. After nearly a month of silence she had already decided he was never going to speak to her again.
Pulling her wet hands from her face, she looked toward the window and saw he had turned to face her. “What?”
“You have to stop crying. It doesn’t help anything and it gives them the satisfaction of knowing they have hurt you.”
The words caused Maya to burst into tears once again. “But they didn’t hurt me, they hurt you and it’s all my fault. If I wasn’t here, if I hadn’t come to see you at the clinic, if I hadn’t grabbed your arm and made a link, none of this would be happening.”
&nb
sp; Jarod exhaled deeply and walked across the room to sit beside her on the couch. “Maya, this wasn’t your fault. Things like this happen all the time. Even without you being here they would have eventually found an excuse to put me back in my place. It’s just how these things work.” He paused, staring down at some random fixed point on the floor. “I’m sorry I brought you into this, perhaps it would have been better for both of us if I had …”
“Killed me?” Maya finished, gazing up at him through the haze of tears. “Do you regret not killing me?”
“Not for me, but for you. I was selfish to think this could work. It’s just … I was so tired of being alone that I didn’t stop to consider what it was I would be doing to you.” Jarod turned and looked into her bloodshot eyes then back down at the floor. “You had gone through so much at home already … well, I thought maybe you might be able to handle it here.”
Maya wiped the tears from her eyes. “But that is why this is so much harder. They aren’t punishing me for my mistakes, they are punishing you.” He turned and met her gaze with a confused look. Maya inhaled deeply and tried to explain. “When my father was angry at me, no matter how unjustified, he beat me. Even when he did occasionally go after my mom, I could always distract him away from her and back to me. But here …” She dropped her head and stared down at the floor. “No matter what I do, they will always go after you and I am going to be forced to stand by and watch, helpless to do anything about it.”
Jarod leaned back into the sofa and rested his head on the edge. “It’s because they know it bothers you. They always know what a person’s greatest weakness is and they use it against them. They used you to get to me, then used me to get to you.”
Maya scooted closer and leaned into the comfortable spot beneath his arm where she felt safe and protected. It had been torturous this last month not being able to get close out of fear he was angry with her, but as she nestled against his massive frame she could feel his body relax even more, accepting her into him. “So what do we do about it?” she asked quietly.
Linked (The Shadow Chronicles Book 2) Page 4
