Shadows of the Keeper

by Karey Brown

  “Emily.”

  “Can’t tell you how welcome Broc made me feel.” She stepped back, hand flying to her chest. “I’m a memory to them. There’s a portrait of Aurelia. Freaky, really, how we’re twins. They have it hanging in a library of sorts, though I think it’s been long forgotten. Fitting. Did Aurelia suffer a sense of never belonging? The first time Peter put his hands around my throat—how come you didn’t kill Peter, but you killed Millie?”

  “I was with my mother. In her realm, I am blind to the conspiracies transpiring in the mortal’s realm.”

  “I should have stayed my ground and never allowed him back into my life. But no, not me, I have to belong—“

  “Emily.”

  “. . . feel a part of something because there’s been this emptiness—“

  Clicks releasing locks and chasings yanked her attention to the onyx door. Quickly, she stepped closer to her father. Glistening spiders slid out from deep ports and followed their macabre paths, twisting, scuttling, turning. Just as before, they settled deeply into their tiny caves. “Don’t you have a doorbell or something?”

  Inzyr wrapped a powerful arm around her. “You have always belonged. I could not allow you to be a part of my world. You would not have survived it. The person you have become is what your mother wanted. Naivety. Though I didn’t agree, it was her dying wish.”

  “Shouldn’t you be getting a weapon ready?” She hiccupped. “I don’t think I’m in a killing mood right now.”

  He remained somber. “Only one knows the code to enter my quarters.”

  “No! Not him!” She furiously dried her face on her sleeve. “I do not want to talk to him right now. It’s been too—“

  His magnificent body stepped through, completely clad in black. His hair seemed whiter, glowing, unbraided and falling to his waist. He was so male, so bracing, his gaze possessing, their breathing unified. Her lip trembled.

  His presence commanded the room.

  Tears blurred her vision.

  He simply held out his hand. “Come to me, Keer’dra.”

  She dove.

  Instantly ensconced within his embrace, he held tightly, crushing her to him. The top of her head was showered with kisses, unintelligible words muttered into her hair, his large hand cupping her head against him.

  “The need to wait ceases to exist,” Inzyr stated, touching the runes. “I will not return this night.” His stare at Dezenial was not lost to Emily.

  Dezenial curtly nodded. “It is done.” He bent slightly, and swung Emily up into his arms. Striding towards a chamber as, behind them, the door mechanics clicked back into place announcing he and his life-mate were alone.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Languidly, she stretched, halting her hand midair. White gauzy something wrapped tightly around her sprained wrist. It had an uncanny resemblance to the woven ooze Spinners had wrapped her body in. Sickened, she dropped her hand. Out of sight, out of mind.

  She felt peaceful; alive. Cherished. Exhilarated; tranquil. Terrified her first time would be as the rumors warned, painful, she’d stiffened. He’d enlightened her that Lumynari males absorbed their mate’s pain. Emily giggled. And covered her face, though no one was currently present to see her blush.

  It had been the most miraculous, spectacular, toes curling, still left quivering event of her life. More blushing. More grins.

  Gah!

  Candlelight flickered, a soft hue warming the room with just enough light as to not have her swallowed in darkness. Now she understood why Inzyr was dumbfounded over her fear of the dark. Being half Lumynari, she should bask in shadows. Eh-eh. Shadows are where creepy shit hides, waiting to pounce. Dezenial respected her need for light. Inhaling deeply, a contented sigh about to escape—

  She bolted upright.

  Coffee!

  Deep chuckling reached her from beyond her partially open door. “Wrap yourself. We are not alone. Come get your poison,” Dezenial called from, she assumed, the galley.

  Coffee. Hell, I’ll storm naked—

  “Use the blanket, Keer’dra. I will clothe you later. You are not permitted to allow any to view what is mine.”

  She snatched the thin coverlet around her, and stormed from the bedroom. “Must you always be in my mind? Is nothing sacred?” She glared. Until his mouth caught her attention. A delightful shiver of wanting ran through her. Heat warmed her face. What he’d done with his tongue, upon her ankle, swirling, hot breath—she’d climaxed! His tongue, last night, on her ankle! Her breasts began to ache with need, they too having succumbed to his mouth. His hands. Her eyes dropped down to his hands currently stilled. Good God, the things those fingers were capable of. Claw marks ribboned his biceps—marked for any fool female thinking to slink near him! She knew, without seeing, his back didn’t fare any better. Little tremors shook her. Her eyes lazed back up to his chiseled mouth. A sardonic grin lazed across it now, his task momentarily halted, watching her.

  “Oh, just give me the damn coffee.” She snatched the large mug he held out for her, stomping away from him and joined her father at the table. He grinned like a loon. “You too?” Very male all-knowing look shared with Dezenial didn’t get past her.

  “I’m seriously tempted to toss this on you,” she warned her newfound sire.

  “I would then be forced to teach you respect.”

  “Prepare to be disappointed. Precious commodity in this cup. Mine.” She sipped, and purred with appreciation. “Perfect.” She crossed her legs, made sure the blanket covered all the important parts, and glanced around for a clock. “How do you know what time of day it is? Doesn’t the lack of sunlight make you crazy?”

  “Unlike our Lumynari brethren, we are not chained to darkness,” Dezenial stated, joining them. “And we do have tolling bells to announce the passing hour.”

  His voice muted. His body distracted her. The closer he stood, the more she crackled. Jeeze, it’s like he’s a walking Taser.

  He grinned. “We will commence again what we shared last night, since you feel . . . charged.”

  She choked. Burning dark liquid scalded her throat. “Could you keep those comments private.”

  “Sex amongst Lumynari is an art. Wait until he initiates you with a massage and hot oil.” Inzyr leaned closer. “Your mother became very good at it.”

  “Gosh, thanks for the visual—not!” She rubbed her throat, attempting to soothe the burn. “How did my mother survive down here if she was enthralled enough with nature that she painted landscapes? Wait, how? You said she was blind.”

  “Your mother had an uncanny power usually not found in ordinary humans.”

  “Maybe she wasn’t all human?”

  Inzyr tapped the side of his own coffee cup a few times, lost in thought. Emily regarded him with somber curiosity and opted to leave him to his memories. Probably has never shared feelings about himself or Kendra. Up until now, he would never have struck her as the type to even be civil enough to sit and have coffee. Another time, perhaps, when they knew each other longer, he’d trust her enough to quietly share tidbits of who her mother had been.

  Dezenial gave her the barest of nods.

  “So, how do Lumynari begin their day? Killing, torturing, or beatings?”

  “Imp,” Dezenial muttered. Settling his tall frame at the table with them, black leggings his only attire, her breathing hitched.

  “What is that?” Emily asked, the gold strip in his hand an excuse to distract her from his dark, naked chest. Very wide chest. Lickable, or so she’d discovered—ack! He was grinning again, the kind of grin making her very aware of being a woman. That grin that sent shudders down her spine, made her feel like giggling and raping him at the same time. Cretin. She poked at the gold strip. Metal, yet not. “Weird.”

  “It is how your mother survived down here unscathed. She moved about freely. When she wished to go above, a patrol was sent with her for protection.”

  “A piece of gold?” She snorted. “I am impressed.” She waggled pale
brows, and resumed enjoying her coffee.

  “This is like hers, yet different,” Inzyr said.

  “Because I’m an Im’pyur?”

  “Because you belong to me,” Dezenial said, his voice ominous. He rose from his chair, came around the table and dropped down in front of Emily. Sitting here, eye-to-eye, they shared an intense physical awareness of each other. Almost, she broke the spell by grabbing his head and smothering him between her cleavage.

  His wolfish grin nearly resulted in a clobbering.

  “I’m going to place this on your arm—“

  She reared and sloshed coffee. “Will it hurt?” She accepted napkins from Inzyr.

  “You think I would bring you pain?”

  Emily paused from mopping her small mess and arched a brow at him.

  “That was sex.” He grinned. “You did holler for more. I hurt you?”

  “You do remember my dad is sitting right there? He’s old, yeah, uber old, but he can still hear.”

  Inzyr snorted.

  “You enjoy my taking command of you.”

  His accent and deep voice sent shivers of delight through her.

  “Clutching your hair and pinning your arms above your head—“

  “No!” Emily covered her molten face.

  Both males laughed uproariously.

  “Shouldn’t you be calling him out or something, dad? Defend my honor? Pretend this is too much information?”

  Inzyr’s expression, though softened since his revelation to her, hardened for a few seconds. She didn’t feel fear, but more, he was very matter-of-fact when it came to her and Dezenial and Lumynari culture. “We don’t have silly ceremonies of marriage. His taking you last night was just that—you belong to him. In past lives, you always belonged to him. In this life, I knew who you were, though even your mother did not. When she shared her vision with me, she was confused as to its meaning. I knew immediately the warrior princess she was seeing. I knew immediately who my daughter was. My loyalty is first and foremost to Prince Dezenial. Nothing will ever deter me from this path I have sworn allegiance to remain on.” His voice lowered. “But know this, Emily, and I know not if I will ever make such an revelation again,” He stood a bit, reached over, and cupped her face with his large calloused hand.

  “You are most precious to me. You make me more proud with your temper, your bravery, and your determination to get back up, square your tiny little shoulders, and charge forward. I may not have been able to show myself to you, but Dezenial and I have always been in your shadows, watching over you, allowing you to find your way . . . slaughtering those who thought to raise a hand to you in cruelty.”

  She reached up, covering his hand with her own. She gulped hard, hot tears coursing down her face. So much to say to him; words escaped her.

  “Dezenial claimed you within minutes of you screaming your way into the world.”

  Emily laughed through her tears.

  Inzyr did as well. “Some things about you, at least, have remained consistent. He claimed you, and I agreed, though I never revealed what I knew about your true identity. He would discover such things in time himself.”

  “I should forfeit your membership to my kingdom,” Dezenial growled.

  “I would scale the wall and encourage a coup.”

  They chuckled, some long ago private joke between them.

  Inzyr’s attention returned to his daughter. “Once a Lumynari sire consents to who will be his daughter’s mate, she is forbidden to change the decision.” Inzyr held her stare.

  Emily’s attention reverted to the proud Lumynari on his knees in front of her. “Why? Why did you claim me and I was only a few minutes old?” She wiped her face, but not so much to dry it, but, rather, as if she could wipe away a troubling memory.

  “I was engaged to Peter,” she whispered.

  He uncoiled and cupped her face with both hands. “From the first moments I held you, you glared up at me, belligerent from the first. But also, your screams silenced. I should have known it was your soul recognizing mine. I claimed you then.” Softness withered to menacing. “There was no knowledge of the other residing in you. At that moment, you were a squalling infant, and shirked fear when I glared down at you. You haven’t changed. As for you marrying anyone, sharing your body . . .” A look passed over his face she didn’t want to give voice to. “I would have intervened before that event took place, killing the mortal, if need be.”

  “Sir Galahad.” She pulled down his hands and held them in her own. “You were right there, from the start?”

  “My father’s machinations lack boundaries. I should have known he’d find a way to reunite us.”

  “Regret?”

  Inzyr picked up the thread of explanations, disallowing Dezenial to answer her ridiculous question. “It was explained to your mother, the outcome of ancient magicks—Lumynari magicks—used on humans. Our blood mixing with that of a human causes madness.” He waved his hand. “They are a feeble lot.”

  “You said her religion forbade her to accept your offer.”

  “I was tempted to ignore her wants, my own too potent to hear anything other than what I wanted at that moment.” He looked away. “She knew what I was about to do. She asked me to take her life, if the madness set in.”

  A soft gasp escaped Emily.

  Inzyr’s gaze swung back to her. “I was spared an ordeal I do not know if I’d have recovered from. She hemorrhaged. Her passing was not quick. Like you, she was strong willed. Determined to spend her last with you, she swore breastfeeding bonds a child with its mother. She held you in her arms, a mother until too weak to continue. Dezenial held you as I held her during her last breaths.” Amber eyes became shiny.

  Emily’s own eyes pricked. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “Once in a while, Emily, I will open the book and share a few pages with you.”

  Dezenial squeezed her hands while her father continued.

  “We view death like you view clouds crossing your sky. Inconsequential. We had spies confirm Drakar had perished, killed by his own. Centuries passed with such silence from his conniving, we took our spies at their word.”

  Dezenial picked up where Inzyr left off. “But, we began to suspect treachery when outcroppings of rumors emerged of a child possessing unusual powers.”

  “Me.”

  “You. I did not reach you in time to save your foster—“

  “Who were they?”

  “Those such as yourself. They understood the danger posed to you, should you continue living in our world at such an vulnerable age. Inzyr could never guarantee your safety when his duties took him away from your presence. They agreed to rear you as their own, welcoming the protection we offered. They understood your father would return for you during you sixteenth summer. In the meantime, you were to be trained, prepared, if you will, to survive weaponry, wits, and basic Lumynari magicks. And then, when you reached the age of twenty-one, you would become mine.”

  “Not at eighteen?”

  “Though Lumynari mature much more quickly than humans, we wanted you to have a measure of time to become comfortable with who I would be in your life.”

  “What would you have done, should I have determined I didn’t like you?”

  “Inconceivable.” His voice was firm, final. “You belong to me.”

  “Chauvinist.”

  “Everything changed,” Inzyr said. “Forked-tongued spies paid a high cost for their treachery.”

  “You killed them?”

  “I am not feared as an assassin for my gardening techniques.”

  She waggled eyebrows at Dezenial. “Well, we at least know which parent I get my sarcasm from.”

  “Yes, now there are two of you with sharp tongues. I arrived in time to whisk you away, ordering you through the forest, cloaking you with powerful magicks as you made your way towards the voice calling to you.”

  “Pend—“ she glanced Inzyr, who grinned while shaking his head.

  “That
bastard’s been a part of my life all along. Why would you have me run to him?”

  “Drakar lived and only the ancient druid would be able to adequately hide you. To cloak you in a way that not even my mother would easily discover your whereabouts. He has the ability to enter any realm. My capability with such travel is limited. We couldn’t understand Drakar’s obsession until you began calling forth blue flame. Both he and my mother immediately knew who you were.”

  Emily cocked her head. “What does blue flame have—“

  “Only a descendent of Olympus has the power of blue flame.”

  “Oookay.”

  “Gifts from Hades, or so we surmised.”

  “You are the son of Hades and Shadow. You said your father found a way to reunite us. Maybe he wanted me to have some sort of power to match with yours.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. This is a lot to take in. And then these stinkin’ visions barreling out of nowhere. Pieces fit together, and sometimes, the visions just leave me so enraged. That’s the part I hate, the unmitigated anger.”

  “Aurelia was betrayed by Broc, her own kingdom, her mother, the Elders . . . she was a tool cruelly used. And none came to her aid when she was cut down.”

  Emily studied Dezenial’s rage for several moments. The only sound was Inzyr pouring more coffee and setting the carafe down on the warming plate. “Well,” she said at long last. “Unlike Aurelia, I’m not going to allow myself to be manipulated, or at least not willingly, to the point that an entire clan is slaughtered. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Aurelia didn’t use her powers to defend—“

  “Aside from the cruelties she suffered, the attack was swift, she one of the first victims. She knew her soul would be imprisoned by a priestess before her magicks could heal her wounds; be of any use against seven thousand Lumynari warriors. Ardra and my mother had planned well. Aurelia, instead, used her power to become mortal in her last moments, removing all her knowledge as Keeper. Had the priestess succeeded in taking her soul, there would have been nothing gained.”