Procris (The Complex Book 0)

by M. Stratton

  Chapter 11

  March 2, 4 AS

  Halley

  I felt like I was trying to swim to the surface of thick water, my lungs burning from the lack of oxygen, and my muscles screaming from effort to get to air. Finally, I broke the surface and took in a deep breath. My mind became clear and my body came back to itself. Opening my eyes, I saw Lucian and Fandare sitting at my table, which looked so much smaller with their two large bodies sitting there.

  “Oh, good morning, my fair maiden. I trust you are feeling better this morning?” Fandare smiled over at me.

  “Yes, better than I actually have felt in a long time.”

  “Good. It appears Lucian is better also, although his temperament is still vile.” He shrugged. “We can’t win them all.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Case proven.” Fandare smiled. “Now, I know it isn’t the same as the Uni-Brew, but I have some coffee here, Lucian tells me you like a lot of sugar in it, and some of those pastry things from your food area.”

  “Thank you.” My face turned red. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment.”

  With as much dignity as I could muster, I stood up and went into the changing area. Quickly I jumped into the shower and put on my clothes for the day. If there was one thing I missed, it was having different attire to choose from. Not that I had a lot back home, but here we all had the same things, day after day.

  I twisted my wet hair up on top of my head and walked back out into the main room. Fandare immediately stood up and pulled the chair out for me. Sitting down at the table, I went to drink my coffee when I heard Fandare gasp behind me and grab my head. I froze. Lucian was up faster than I could see and they were both behind me. If I didn’t trust them, I would have been scared for my life.

  “What? What is going on?” I demanded.

  “No,” Lucian said.

  “Yes,” Fandare replied. “Welcome to the family, dear Halley, it appears you and my brother are bonded.”

  “Bonded? What? No. How?” Those were the only words I could get out of my mouth.

  “A mark appears on the female’s body when she has met her mate, as time goes on, it will darken. When she has chosen the man to be her mate, a matching one will appear on him, which will let everyone know they belong to each other. No marks are ever the same; that is how you can tell which couples go together,” Fandare stated.

  I stood up and walked over to my bed and sat down, putting my head in my hands. I was bonded. To a Strogi. Me. The second-born daughter. The one that was never supposed to do anything but take care of her older sister and the rest of the family. The one who was never going to fall in love and have a family of her own.

  “What should I do? Can everyone see this?”

  “What?” Lucian asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you not want people to know you are part Strogi and bonded to me?”

  I raised my head and looked at him so he’d see me roll my eyes. “That is the least of my worries, at this moment. I’m new to all of this and trying to figure things out. Cut me some slack.”

  Fandare leaned up against the wall and spoke to calmly me. “Right now, only other Strogi can see it, it is meant to be a warning for other males to back off.”

  “But if the male doesn’t get a corresponding mark until she decides, so how does the male know which one is chosen?”

  “Each mark is specific to the male the female is mated with. That is how other males will now who it is.”

  “What does my mark look like, how do we know it goes to Lucian?”

  Fandare put his hands together and then pulled them apart. The space between them was filled with a glowing silver image of the back of my neck. There I could see the mark. It was a crown with a glowing orb at its peak. “How do you know that is Lucian?”

  “Because he is the leader of our clan, our king and his name means light.”

  “Oh. So now what?” I twisted my fingers together, feeling a heavy weight on me. I hated not knowing what to do, or what was coming next. I liked to plan things out. This whole time in the Complex had been hard enough, and now this.

  “Now, you get used to having an overprotective mate that will be hovering over you all the time to make sure you are safe.”

  “Fandare…” Lucian’s voice threatened.

  “What, brother, do I lie?” Fandare tried to look innocent.

  “It is my duty to keep her safe. IF she chooses to bond with me, then she will be your queen, and therefore her protection is on you, too.”

  Fandare’s lips twitched. “Oh, I know that. I just wanted to make sure you did.”

  I huffed out a breath. “You know, I’m right here? I’d love to be included in this conversation about my future, because I’m assuming I do have some say into how things are going to go.”

  “Of course you do,” Lucian huffed. “It is up to you if we continue or stop.”

  “Considering the only thing we’ve done is kiss, and we know where that got us, I don’t know what would be next for us.”

  “That is strange,” Fandare said. “Lucian was filling me in that your people originated in Romania when Earth was habitable. There has never been anything like this in our history. For all purposes, you are Human, and you could be part vampire and not even Strogi.”

  “I think she may lean more toward the magical side.”

  “There is that, if that is true, then we could rule out vampire, they don’t have magic. She must come from Strogi.” Fandare nodded. “This is good. That could possibly explain things. Her magic might be stronger. Have her do something.” He pointed from Lucian to me.

  “Excuse me, ‘Have her do something?’ I’m right here, besides, what do I ‘do’?”

  “Here.” Lucian came up to me and I looked up at him and felt calm. “Give me your hands.” I placed mine in his. “I’m going to tell to what to do, if you have magic in you, you’ll be able to do this. It isn’t me; it will be all you. Do you understand?”

  I licked my lips. “Yes.”

  “I need you to think about the heat from a fire, just the heat. The fire you create cannot hurt you; it cannot burn you. Think of the flames, the color, the sound fire makes. Picture it in your hand, the flames dancing, twisting around one another.”

  Focusing my mind, I did as he said, starting with the warmth in the palm of my hand. Within seconds a small fire started and built itself larger.

  Lucian squeezed my hands and I looked at him and smiled. I could feel his energy and mine, reaching out for each other. Suddenly the flame in my hand burst and shot three feet into the air. I gasped and stepped back before it started raining over my fire column, effectively putting my fire out, and getting me all wet in the process.

  “What happened?” My eyes were huge as I blinked at them.

  “We proved that you have magic, but for some reason, when you are around Lucian, your mate, it goes haywire. The only thing I can think of is that you naturally have magic, and when it combines with his; you can’t control it because using magic is new to you. You don’t know how to control it yet. That is going to have to be your first priority, otherwise, you’ll be doing more than starting fires and shocking the strength out of each other.”

  “Great.” I said, hiding my excitement behind sarcasm. I had magic. I wasn’t so dull and boring, after all. I was special.

  Chapter 12

  April 8, 4 AS

  Lucian

  Since it was too dangerous for Halley to work alone, I was always with her. Now that I knew she was my mate, all the feelings I’d been having became clear.

  Fandare was working on the Merrill angle. No way I wanted him anywhere near my mate. I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d be able to get away with here, under all this surveillance. The last thing I wanted to do was kill him and blow my chance at the money the clan needed, but I needed him away from her.

  Everyone knew the Strogi was dating the Human. Because of that, I was ridiculed for lowering myself to be with a Human, and she wa
s looked down upon for being with a Meta. I tried to shield her, as much as I could, I’m sure she still heard people talk. Even here, in the Complex where we were supposed learn to live together, work together. Certainly, we weren’t the only two, but sometimes it felt like it, especially for her.

  During the day, we worked at Uni-Brew. In the evening, she practiced her magic. Once she went to bed, I went into the tunnels for my side business.

  While most of the Humans didn’t want much to do with the Metas, we were all making an effort to get along. No one wanted another war. But most of the Humans had something the Metas wanted. Fandare was great at finding willing participants and transporting them down into the tunnels. There money would exchange, I’d take our cut and everyone would leave happy.

  Halley was a fast learner and with all the time we spent together, especially sharing magic, her mark was getting darker. She was choosing me. The Procris, the outcast. There was a difference between being desired for my body, and a good fuck, and being desired for who I was.

  I would do anything to keep her safe. Tonight, I’d be putting it all to the test. Tonight, she was going into the tunnels with me.

  Because we were stronger together, I wanted to reinforce the wards I had made. Merrill wouldn’t leave us alone, and I was afraid one of these days he’d wander down into the tunnels and blow the whole thing.

  She knew what I was about. I hid nothing from her, as her mate, I couldn’t. For someone who had lived in the Human world her whole life, and was still a bit scared of Metas, she could hold her own now. I’d made sure she could protect herself.

  With her arms wrapped around me, I used my magic to take us to the office at the Uni-Brew. She wouldn’t have all her magic until we fully bonded and she chose me.

  “This is your last chance to back out,” I told her.

  “No, I know not everything is as pretty as they like to show it up top. I need to make sure what’s going on down there is kept safe. If we are going to make a go of this, everything that happens down in the tunnels affects me, and the clan; we need to protect that no matter what. If my magic added to yours will help, then I’ll do whatever I can to help. The money I make from here must go back to my family, but that’s it. After the one hundred thousand S-Co, I’m done with them. That should keep them in everything they could possibly need.”

  I was happy she came to the conclusion to stay away from her family all on her own. She didn’t need that in her life. Once we were truly mated, she would also become immortal, and therefore, live longer than any of them anyway.

  She wrapped her arms around me again. “I’m ready.”

  Putting my arms around her, I breathed in her scent and closed my eyes. This is what home felt like to me. We quickly went around to each of the tunnels, reinforcing my wards and adding early warning systems, specifically focused on Merrill, before finally walking into the main room. I tried to look at it through what I thought her fresh eyes would see.

  The heavy grated floor kept clean up easy. Couches and semi-private room circled the edges. Off to one side was a bar, where it was standing room only as Humans and Metas tried to get any kind of illegal drink from their from world that they could. On the other side was a band playing, and the dance floor in the middle, had bodies dancing closely together. From where we stood, just outside of the circle, it was quiet and blurry. We were allowed to see what was going on. Anyone who was Intra would see through to the other side. Once we crossed the bridge into the club, the sound almost knocked her back.

  “Welcome to Marfa,” I said.

  I kept my hand on her elbow as I escorted her across the floor. Eyes followed our movement to my throne. I led her around to sit in it and stood behind her, letting everyone know she was mine, and she belonged here. After a few minutes, everyone went back to what they were doing, but I still scanned the crowd. I didn’t want any trouble. Across the room, my brother was doing the same thing. Between the two of us, we should be able to keep things safe.

  “Lucian.” Her voice floated into my mind. She had picked up on how we’d be able to communicate, without having to speak out loud very easily. “Over there.” I saw what she was looking at through her mind. Instantly, I signed Fandare and he was on it.

  Easily, he moved through the other bodies and intercepted the Meta making his way toward Halley and myself. With a simple touch the Meta’s body relaxed and Fandare easily caught him. Taking the Meta down the tunnel to the right, the danger was taken away.

  “What was that all about?” she asked me. “All I know was there was something dark about him.”

  “You’re getting better at reading people’s intentions. Fandare will get to the bottom of why he was here and what his intentions were.”

  It wasn’t long before I could feel her tiring. “Let’s go.”

  “Sure.”

  I knew what this was taking out of her. She was in an unfamiliar situation, using her magic almost constantly, scanning for any kinds of trouble that might be coming our way. Not to mention, witnessing things she’d never seen before. Vampires drinking from Humans. Numerous sexual acts going on in front of everyone or being taken to the semi-private rooms. Metas and Humans in various stages of undress.

  This was a night she could never have imagined would have happened to her. She was going to need time to recharge. Since we weren’t bonded yet, she was still Human and needed her sleep. I wondered what she’d be like, what she’d be able to do in a day if she didn’t need to sleep.

  “Come.” I walked around to the front of the throne and held out my hand to her. “Do you have enough left in you to share your magic with me? I think it would be good to show everyone you aren’t just a Human; that you alone have your own magic to add to mine.

  “Yes, I’m good.”

  We stood, facing each other, our hands an inch from the other. We both started to build our magic. I slowed mine down to match hers. I didn’t want people to see the difference of power, to think of her as not as strong.

  We gathered out magic, starting from our feet, hers was blue and mine was red. As the power built along our bodies, it moved quickly down our arms. When it crashed together, our hands joined and the colors mixed together, my red flowing over her body, and her blue over mine. Using her magic to add to mine, I brought us to her quarters. Once we were there, the magic winked out of her and she almost fell to the floor. I easily caught her and placed her on the bed.

  “Get rest, Halley. You did wonderful tonight.”

  “Don’t leave,” she murmured.

  “I have work to do.”

  “Then come back when you’re done. I want you here, in my bed when I wake up.”

  I smiled. “I can do that.”

  “Thanks.”

  I left and went back to down into the tunnels and found Fandare with the Meta, who was going to cause trouble tonight.

  “What have you got?” I stood with my legs spread and arms crossed over my chest.

  “Just like you thought, he was working with Merrill.”

  “Damn. Did he report back to him?”

  “No, he didn’t have a chance to tell him what he saw.”

  I narrowed my eyes at the Meta. “Is this the first time he’s been down here?”

  “Yes.”

  “We can’t be sure this is the only Meta he’s gotten to. There could be more. Halley and I increased the protection of the wards. I need you to go back through and join yours to them; add any Human or Meta can only enter if they have the right intentions. We need to not have to worry about this again. We still have almost two years to get through. Right now, we’re making bank, we need to make sure we continue. If Halley decides to finish the bonding, then we will have her power in our clan, which will be huge and can make a big difference for our future. Plus, the fact she was Human, even with Strogi descent, and the three of us being ambassadors; we’ll be able to provide for our clan.”

  Fandare raised his chin and looked me in the eye. “Is this all about the cla
n? What of your feelings?”

  “Feelings? Don’t tell me you’re going all Human on me?”

  “Brother, feelings and emotions are what I do. Besides that, I know women. It doesn’t matter if they are Human or Meta; they want to be appreciated. They want to know their mate wants to be with them, that it isn’t simply a business deal.”

  “You, out of everyone, should know me better and know this is not a business deal.”

  “Yes, I do brother, she however does not. Go on, let her know that she means something more to you than an obligation because magic decided to bond the two of you together.”

  “She knows.” I frowned at him.

  Fandare raised an eyebrow. “Does she?”

  I looked down at the intruder. “Clean up this mess.”

  The smile that spread across Fandare’s face truly scared the Meta; he started screaming before my brother even laid a finger on him. I knew what he was capable of, and it wasn’t going to end well for the Meta. However, Fandare not only would be in a good mood, he’d also be full from the blood.

  I knew Fandare would take care of him; I left and went back to Halley’s quarters. Sitting in the corner, I watched her sleep. Over the centuries I’d been with women, but I’d always kept them at a distance, both of us knew what the story was. Not one of them ended up marked. But here, on Lorn in the Complex, a Human, who at that point I had never kissed, ended up with the mark the very second we touched on our first meeting. We were able to determine that she got her mark the day when she bumped into me. It had to mean something that the first time we touched the mark appeared.

  I sighed, went over and grabbed a Sythoplas, and sighed again while I drank it down. In the beginning, I told myself it was because I was so busy setting up my club, Marfa, that was why I didn’t seek out any of the Humans Fandare found that were willing to exchange their blood for money. But it was her, my mate all this time.

  The thought of drinking from anyone but her seemed wrong, which told me she already had me where she wanted me. If in the end, she chose not to complete the ritual, I’d be left without her.