“Well?” Xavier barked.
“The prince said he grew up with Lady Marcolev. We thought-”
Leo speared the soldier on the wall with a hard look. “I didn't ask you. You're hanging on that wall because I can feel your remorse. So shut the hell up before I open your gut.”
The male shut his mouth and grimaced.
“Now this piece of shit, you're not sorry at all are you?” Leo lifted the guard and slammed him down into the carpet. He picked him up and threw him into the wall, watching with disinterest as he slid down into a heap on the floor.
The soldier changed into his true form, and Leo bared his teeth. The Eshu struggled to stand. Leo walked over and grabbed the yards of green and aqua hair to help the soldier up.
“We're going to have us a bit of fun, brothers.”
Xavier and Fallon both stood. Leo smiled. Yeah, the Eshu had a lot of explaining to do and Leo had no problem making the conversation as painful as possible.
***
Liliana lifted a groggy eye and felt the bed next to her. Empty. Damn him and damn her for going to sleep. She’d slept more in the past two days than she had the entire four years she was on Earth. She scrambled from the bed and rushed into the living room. A uniformed soldier stood next to the bedroom door and Liliana backed away.
“What are you doing here?”
The soldier blinked, but said nothing.
She sighed and marched to the intercom on the wall. “What’s the number for the commander’s office?”
Getting no answer from the guard, she searched the emergency numbers on the intercom pad to no avail. Growling in frustration, Liliana eyed the soldier and debated her next move. Leo went to punish the security officers even though she’d told him to drop it. That wasn’t what had her upset. The guard hanging in her room, not speaking, was the source of her anger. He stood over the door like a prison warden.
“Am I allowed to leave?”
Sharine’s taunting words echoed through her mind. She hadn’t wanted to believe the woman, but here she stood, stuck in the room ‘for her own good’.
The Amanda soldier tapped an earpiece and spoke quietly. She tapped her feet and wrestled her temper down.
“I've only been told to keep others from entering.” He said.
Benu, his accent gave him away. Though his human skin disguised his true form, his small eyes and pointed nose gave him bird-like features, so common to their race. Liliana growled and stomped to the door. She opened it to find another soldier there.
“Lady Marcolev, do you have need of something?”
“Are you supposed to keep me locked up in here?” Irritation sharpened her voice.
The soldier shot a confused look to the Benu behind her.
“I asked you a question.”
“No, my lady. We're to guard you, not keep you locked up. If you have somewhere to go, we will get you there.” Perfectly polite, his answer annoyed her all the more.
“Like what, an armed escort?” She worked to calm herself. After all she’d nearly died…twice. She rubbed her neck, imagining the bruises still marring her skin. Okay, so perhaps the guards were needed. “Where is Leo?”
The soldier spoke quietly into his ear piece. “In the commander's office, if you'll calm yourself, we'll escort you there.” The Benu's voice held no emotion, his face gave nothing away.
She sighed, she wasn’t being held prisoner. She knew better to let Sharine get into to her head. The woman said herself she’d come to stir up trouble. Liliana refused to feed into the other woman’s mischief. They walked her down the hallways to what she assumed was the commander’s office. The Benu held out his arm at the door, stopping her movement.
“We cannot enter until we get the okay.” He knocked quietly on the door.
Fallon peeked out of the office. “Liliana you shouldn’t be here.”
“I want to see Leo, now.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Fallon continued to block the door and she wanted to know why.
“Hold on.” He disappeared back into the room, closing the door tightly behind him.
She growled and kicked the door, the small move petty, but made her feel better. The soldier next to her snickered. She shot him a deadly look.
Leo slid out of the door a moment later in his Cagyn form, his black hair around his shoulders in disarray and his eyes meeting hers, no remorse.
“You left me.” It slipped out. She winced at the hurt in her tone.
“Ina.” He dismissed the soldiers with a flicker of head. He pulled her close. “I needed to take care of this.”
“I asked you to drop it.”
“No one hurts you and gets away with it. Would you rather I kill Kedric?”
She searched his eyes, and shuddered at the chill in them. He was telling the truth, he would kill Kedric despite the punishment he’d suffer for it. She didn’t want that for him. Not to mention all manner of skeletons were sure to pop out of Kedric’s closet with his death.
“No.”
“Your guards were responsible for you, and the Eshu allowed the prince to push his way into our room. This after the healer was given instructions to let you suffer your injuries. Clearly the monarchy has a lot more power in this station than they should. It stops today. I plan on making a staggering example out of these two so it doesn’t happen again.”
The anger etched on his face was implacable. Talking him out of punishing the guards was not going to happen.
She sighed. “Fine, I’ll leave you to deal with it.” Not like she had a choice. But for the sake of her pride, she would pretend she did and leave while there was a miniscule amount of dignity left.
Leo motioned the guards over. “I’m not locking you up, sweetheart. The guards are there for your protection only. I swear.”
He kissed her cheek and went back into the office, the door cutting off any other conversation. Her protection only, huh? Still, Sharine’s words were there taunting her. She could only hope once they were back in Atlanta everything would return to normal and she would get some semblance of freedom.
Chapter 16
THE SURVEILLANCE ROOM WAS EMPTY, as usual around this time of night. It certainly suited Verity’s purpose just fine. She’d heard Xavier had left the Atlanta Haven to take care of something on Legba. Security all around would be a tiny bit more lax with him gone. She planned on using the opportunity to clean up behind herself a little. There was a meeting with a certain noble she needed to hide. She smiled at the soldier who let her in, and blew him a kiss, shaking her hair a little to dazzle him. Men made it so easy sometimes.
Dismissing the gullible male, Verity spied her reason for sneaking into the surveillance room. Adding an extra sway to her hips, she sidled up to the captain in charge. His cubby sat at the back of the room, the walls gave her privacy for what she had in mind. He smiled as she perched herself on the edge of his desk.
“To what do I owe the honor?” He sat back in his chair, clasping his hands behind his head.
Sliding a finger down the front of his chest, she purred. “Can’t a girl just visit?”
His eyes widened and his pupils dilated in lust as she weaved a spell over him. “You’re always welcome.”
She hooked the belt loop of his pants and slid his chair closer, careful to complete the spell she was murmuring under her breath. The captain’s breathing evened, and his eyes glazed as she finished. She leaned into his space, stopping a hair’s breadth from his mouth.
“I need to see the Oras.”
For a moment, the captain’s heartrate picked up as he fought through her magic. But it was useless. Verity had honed the magic native to her race. There wasn’t a Dziva faster than her at enrapturing their prey, nor one as thorough. The captain would be under her spell until she dispersed it.
But just in case…
She pushed a little more of her magic into it.
The captain’s jaw slackened a bit and she knew he was completely under. Satisfied, she ordered him to pull up the Ora
s from the date of her meeting with the Eshu noble. His hands lifted, if a bit slowly, weaving a spell only he and maybe three other people knew. She’d tried to use the spell outside of Haven’s surveillance room and it not only changed every day, but the magic didn’t work outside of Haven. Unfortunately for her, it meant that anytime she needed to corrupt them, she had to do so from here. It increased her chances of being caught, so she made sure to make each time count.
She sighed in relief as the images from her meeting floated in the air in front of them. Pulling out a crystal given to her by a shaman she used, she laid it on the captain’s desk. She pulled out a piece of parchment and read the spell quietly. The images wavered and blinked out. She was never sure what the stone was for, but each time Sergio weaved a spell for her to erase the Oras, he had her bring it along. One of these days she’d get around to asking him. Satisfied that she’d completed her task she kissed the captain on the lips and left.
She would drop the stone off to Sergio, along with his payment and leave Adro. She didn’t necessarily hate the Earth realm, but she hated the restrictions of being in her human form. Her cellphone beeped at her hip. Her frown turned into a grimace as she realized who was trying to contact her. Not wanting to take the call at Haven, she made quick steps to the exit.
“Yes, mother.”
“Verity, your grandmother wants to see you.” Her mother didn’t bother with a greeting.
She sighed as she unlocked the Porsche she drove on Adro. “Will she be sane?”
“I doubt it, but it doesn’t matter.”
Verity rolled her eyes, happy her mother couldn’t see. Of course it didn’t matter to her mother that her grandmother was insane. The woman had given up half her power to contain Ofeeree, that type of sacrifice demanded respect. Which meant, every time her grandmother yelled jump, they were to ask, ‘How high?’
“I don’t have time.”
“You will make time.” Was her mother’s simple answer.
Not bothering to argue, Verity locked the doors of her Porsche and walked around the back of Haven. There was an illegal portal nestled in the forest behind Haven’s back door. That the Amanda continually missed the portal baffled her. Though, in their defense, a lot of care was taken to keep it hidden. Weaving the spell for Uhlango, her home realm, Verity stepped through the portal and into complete darkness.
For some reason, time on this realm, ran differently than other realms. Not bothering with a cab, she walked the mile to her grandmother’s house, using the cool air to center herself. Meeting with her grandmother was always a chore. According to family legend one elder from each realm gave a portion of their power to bind Ofeeree to stop him from taking over the world. Those elders and their families were heralded as heroes, each of them given riches incomparable. Unfortunately, her grandmother was paying for her contribution with her sanity. She was going insane, and each decade it got worst. It didn’t help that the loss of her grandmother’s power made her an outcast in Dziva society, despite the money and property.
She didn’t know how the other families lived on other realms, but on Uhlanga, power ruled. And giving up your power voluntarily…Her family was ridiculed. Dzivas were a matriarchal society, a cut-throat one who saw noble deeds as useless unless they garnered favor. And money, unfortunately for her family didn’t count. Verity had spent her formative years dressed in the finest money could buy, but shunned because both her mother and grandmother were weak. It had taken her a while to hone her magic and a lot of shady deals to build her power, but she had. She’d clawed her family back up the rungs of Dziva society and made examples out of anyone who got in her way. Now the same ones who looked down on her family, wouldn’t dare look her in the eye, for fear of what she’d do.
Not bothering to knock, she entered her Grandmother Helen’s home and called out for her.
“In the living room, dear.” Helen’s voice sounded strong, so clearly it was a lucid day.
Verity rounded the corner, surprised to find her grandmother not only lucid, but combing through old family albums. She leaned over and gave her grandmother a perfunctory kiss on the cheek.
“I don’t have time to waste, darling, I don’t know how long I’ll be lucid.” Helen’s hands shook as she flipped through pages.
“What’s going on, grandmother?”
“You’re working to free Ofeeree, right?”
Verity gasped, and sat down in alarm. “Grandmother, you can’t go around…”
“Never mind the lying, child. You want the family’s power back and Ofeeree is the only way that will happen. You will need to know the names of the families who gave up their power. Likely the Kokoro souls will be born to them.”
She nodded. It was the same thought she and the rest of the guild were counting on.
“I have those names here in this book.” Helen mumbled absently. “They swore us to secrecy, but you know a Dziva could never resist having that kind of information.”
“I would’ve done the same.” Verity said, leaning forward to look in the album her grandmother was searching.
Old pictures and family announcements were taped into the scrap book.
“Of course you would’ve. You’re nothing like your weak mother. I love her dearly, but she would never have the power or the audacity to return us back to our rightful place in society.”
Pride swelled her chest and a new found wonder for her grandmother filled Verity. She too loved her mother, but Helen was right. Her mother had no time for politics, and no desire to mingle in society. She’d been content to live with her father on the outskirts of both the city and Dziva society. Verity would never settle. She watched her grandmother flip through the pages. A few moments later, the page turning slowed down, and then finally came to a halt. Helen looked up at her granddaughter, her once sparkling violet eyes, clouded with confusion.
“Verity, darling, shouldn’t you be in school?”
She cursed, standing to pace Helen’s small but opulent home. Not bothering to answer, she simply marched into the kitchen and called the nurse they’d hired to care for Helen. Answering on the first ring, Verity arranged for the woman to come back and sit with her grandmother for the rest of the evening. According to the nurse, Helen had given her the night off. She’d known it was only a matter of time before the woman submerged back into the murky confusion where she spent the majority of her days, so she hadn’t gone far. Just down the street to visit a friend.
Walking back into the living room, Verity kissed her Helen goodbye, grabbed her family album and walked out. Perhaps her grandmother did have the name of the families where the Kokoro souls could possibly be born too, and perhaps she didn’t. There was no harm in checking.
***
Between the plans for the di êjê and chaos of being attacked, Liliana had lost track of the days. It had taken two weeks to get the ceremony planned to the royal family’s exacting expectations. The bonding ceremony had been an intangible concept until she’d awakened this morning. Now with the ceremony looming in just hours, her nerves were all over the place. She stood in the middle of her and Leo’s room being prepared for the ceremony by Bea. She fluttered around Liliana, making last minute adjustments, fretting over every miniscule flaw. Liliana eyed her reflection in the floor to ceiling mirror on the wall in their bedroom.
The gown she'd chosen was the palest yellow, with gold thread in geometric shapes throughout. Strapless, it displayed her shoulders shining from the hours spent in traditional preparation. She didn't want to attend another bathing ceremony for as long as she lived. She'd been scrubbed, lotioned and invigorated within an inch of her life. The invigorating process was especially joyful. Over eager maids with small, flat straw brooms briskly tapping her body until her brown skin glowed. Liliana curled her lip in remembrance. Some were more eager than others, no doubt at the instruction of her mother. Arian had had a week’s worth of admonishments for her while she watched on in glee. From the ever unfolding story of the market stall
bombing to the drama between Leo and his mother, Arian covered it all as the palace servants tapped her body. The results could not be denied though. Her skin felt like silk.
Bea grumbled behind her as she used magic to finish her hair. Liliana rolled her eyes as her hair changed styles with the flick of Bea's wrist. Leo would have her tresses down her back soon after the mating. Bea's work would be for naught in a few hours.
She smiled secretly. He liked her hair down. He'd told her so every time he yanked out her pins during the moments they’d had these past few days. The planning and his investigation had kept them both busy, but the nights were theirs, and they’d not wasted a single one. Liliana clamped her mouth shut, trapping a moan. She looked forward to the rest of her life with him.
"It’s important you not upset your mother today, Lily." Bea's words brought her back to the present.
She sighed. “My mere existence upsets my mother. There’s nothing I can do about that.” Liliana closed her eyes and put a hand to her stomach. Butterflies fluttered, making her anxious.
Beatrice clucked her tongue. “You shouldn’t say things like that, my love.”
Liliana shook her head in impatience. “You know it’s true, Bea. My mother loved Kita more. I’m resigned to merely being a thorn in her side.”
“That’s not true, Lily.” She met Liliana’s eyes in the mirror. They both knew the truth. Bea looked away.
“You’ve always been more a mother to me than she.” Tears gathered and Liliana blinked them back.
The fact that Beatrice helped her prepare and not her mother testified to it. Tradition dictated her mother be here, helping her dress, giving her last minute advice and soothing the nervous bride. That her mother was not, was proof of their tumultuous relationship. The room should be filled with both friends and family, but no one wanted to be seen with a social pariah. She understood her friends being absent, not that she’d ever had a lot of friends. The few she had, had mothers as strict as her own. They wouldn’t allow their daughters near her. Her mother’s sisters were another story. Her mother, their baby sister was not here, so they wouldn’t be. In fact, none of the women from her mother’s family were there, especially the ones with daughters unmated. Whether or not they showed up to the ceremony at all was questionable.
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