Haven

by Dria Andersen

  Death’s messenger was an apt description for Leo. He delivered Demis to Azreal and their death consistently and efficiently. Finding Demis sentenced to death was no easy task, yet Leo did it better than any warrior in the centuries prior to him. He regularly traveled the portals to hell and came back, a feat in and of itself. His brother was adamant in Leo keeping his job. He would trust Azra to strengthen the wards on his side of the portal and keep the warrior safe. In this case he would override the Eminzu and allow Leo to keep his position.

  He started to tell Leo that when the female’s aura reached out to him.

  Rugaba walked to her and reached passed Leo laying a hand on her shoulder. The contact brought her past, her future and her every thought into his head. He hissed. The simple touch burned, but her fate was now an opened book to him. Its pages littered with the peril she would face and had recently faced. She was a Kokoro soul. While he knew the Mina were almost always right, he was still shocked that this small female housed one of the most important souls on Earth. For a moment he stared, unable to fathom the pain that awaited her if some of the visions he saw came to life. She would need a strong protector, that much was clear.

  He turned to Leo. “This is your mate.” Not a question, he saw the strong bond of their souls.

  “Yes.” Leo looked from Rugaba back to Liliana.

  “Your request is denied.” No way would he allow Leonalph to traipse the world for his job, when his mate was more important than any Demi sentenced to death.

  He lowered his head. “Yes, my lord.”

  Leo’s pain shot through him along with the lancing heat from his mate. It was one of the side effects of him touching her. They would be tied to him for eternity, their every emotion and thought a burden to him. But he wanted to keep tabs on the Kokoro soul, and would readily bear the burden.

  “You will be needed to protect your mate, Leo. For that reason only I deny your request.” He couldn’t allow him to hunt. It was way too dangerous. He would talk to Azra. His brother could keep him as a messenger, provided he did as he said and strengthened his wards over Leo. It would be the only way to mitigate some of the danger of Leo traveling through the portals.

  Leo’s pain forced him from his thoughts. He sighed, he needed to explain his reasoning. He turned to Xavier.

  “I wanted to talk to you anyway. For a while now, there have been blank spots covering Adro, voids we call them. It keeps us on Alafia from being able to monitor Earth’s events. Only one being leaves those voids.”

  “Offeeree.” Fallon said.

  Rugaba nodded. “As I’m sure your father told you, to lock him away, some of the Demi had to endow their power upon three people.”

  “You’re talking about the Kokoro souls?” Xavier sat forward in his chair.

  “What are the Kokoro souls?” The female’s eyes were wide with fear.

  “The souls of the three people who bound and hid away Ofeeree.” Leo told her.

  Rugaba had an idea which soul she housed, but kept it to himself. Three people were used in the binding spell and their souls alone held that knowledge. One soul held knowledge of the location where Ofeeree was bound, and he had a suspicion that this was the soul she had. He’d found a woman who had the book of divinity. So he suspected she held the second soul, the one able to read and decipher the spell used to bind Ofeeree. It was the third soul he worried after the most. That person would be most important, as they would be the only person able to access the realm in which Ofeerree was hidden. Only with that person would the rest be able to have even the smallest chance at freeing the evil.

  “You have one of the souls.”

  “Me?” She backed away from Leo.

  “Each soul is imprinted with the knowledge of how Ofeeree was bound.” Rugaba told her.

  “And in turn, would have the knowledge of how to free him.” Fallon said grimly.

  “I don’t know anything about Ofeeree.” She hugged her arms around her waist.

  Rugaba grimaced. “You don’t know now. But there is a ceremony, a very painful spell used to activate and unlock the knowledge imprinted on your soul.”

  “My God.” She whispered.

  He nodded. “It’s exactly why I want Leonalph to protect you. With the voids increasing, and the Kokoro souls roaming Adro freely, it’s in our best interest to keep you as well as the other souls, when found, protected.” He turned and faced Xavier. “I’ve found one other who houses a Kokoro soul and will need guards posted on her at all times.”

  “The bookshop owner?” Fallon asked.

  Rugaba nodded, Fallon already had the female’s name and information, so he didn’t have to go over that with him.

  “Done.” Fallon promised.

  He faced Leo. “Azra has asked that you retain your position as messenger, and I agree, you would be hard to replace. I will do battle with the Eminzu for you but, only on the condition you no longer hunt.”

  Pride straightened Leo’s shoulders, his relief trickling through Rugaba’s subconscious.

  “Train someone to take your place. Hopefully they will be as good as you were. One other thing, when you travel, you’re to have someone there when you cross back.”

  Leo sucked in a sharp breath and glanced at Xavier. He nodded reluctantly. Satisfied he wasn’t leaving chaos, he nodded to the room and took his leave.

  ***

  Leo stood staring at the spot Rugaba disappeared from. He was stunned. Though stunned seemed too mild a word. His wife was a Kokoro. If he thought she’d been in danger before…

  He took a shuddering breath.

  There were those who would kill her to get the secret her soul was harboring and there were those who would kill her to keep it from happening. He rubbed a hand across his face.

  “What did he mean have someone there when you crossed back?” Xavier’s sharp tone broke through his thoughts.

  Leo shrugged. “I cross to Azreal in the same place I find my mark. Sometime it’s not the safest place. But I’ve set up a few areas as my safety nets.”

  Xavier eyed him, knowing he wasn’t telling the complete truth. Luckily Liliana slumped against the door, her face was pale. It distracted his brother from his line of questioning.

  “What’s wrong?” Leo gathered her into his arms, checking her over.

  She shook her head. “Nothing. I mean, that was Rugaba, you know. God of the sun, of fate. I can’t believe I just walked in on him. On you guys.”

  Fallon snickered.

  “And why did you bust into my office without knocking.” Xavier asked.

  “Oh.” She pushed away from Leo, blushing. “I came up on the corrupted Oras Leo told me about and I had an idea.”

  “What kind of idea?” Fallon sat in the chair across from Xavier’s desk and crossed his ankle over his knee.

  “Well, I know a shaman who may be able to help with the corrupted magic of the Oras. I want to go see him.”

  “Absolutely not.” Xavier quickly denied her.

  “Why not?” Liliana asked, a stubborn gleam in her eye.

  “Did you not just hear what Rugaba said about who you are? No. End of story.”

  She looked at Leo and he shook his head. He knew what Xavier’s tone of voice meant, and it was nothing good for his mate.

  “I need to go see this shaman.”

  Leo frowned. “Who is the shaman?”

  “Sergio, he helped me with my papers, and his fake pass got me into Haven. He’s pretty powerful and could possibly help fix the corrupted Oras.”

  “Is that right?” Xavier’s tone should’ve been a warning to Liliana, but she ignored it and kept up her plea.

  Leo tuned out their argument. The huge weight of what she was hit him again. He was already protective of her, with this new information…He sighed. It would impossible not to smother her. Liliana was already touchy about the guards he’d had on her in Legba. How in the hell would he be able to keep her safe if she insisted on traipsing across Atlanta into who knows what ki
nd of danger? He shook himself from his thought as everyone turned to look at him.

  He shrugged, not having kept track of the conversation. He had no idea what they’d asked so he gave a safe answer. “Let me think about it.”

  She growled.

  “Gods almighty, it’s like I’m talking to walls. None of you jackasses listen to me. What use is being head of the Amanda?” Xavier grumbled.

  She tapped her feet and stewed for a few moments. He raised his eyebrow. No way would she rush him on the decision. No matter the nasty looks she sent at him. He needed to find a way they could both live with to keep her safe and until he did, she was going nowhere.

  She shook her head. “There was another reason I came here. I can’t access some of the Oras from around the time Kita was here.”

  “Outside of the corrupted ones?” Fallon asked.

  “Right, they aren’t corrupted. It gives me some kind of clearance warning.”

  Xavier frowned and pull up the Oras. “You used Leo’s codes right?”

  Leo moved closer to his brother’s desk. “Yeah, I put them in myself.”

  “Show me.” Xavier ordered Liliana.

  She moved behind his desk and went through the screens as Leo showed her. Then she moved through them in the same way she had earlier looking for the clearance warning. After a few minutes of her moving around the screens a small buzzer sounded.

  “See.” She waved her hand in front of the message.

  Xavier’s eyebrows bunched in confusion. He gently pushed her aside and moved through three locking spells. “What the…” He moved through four others, murmuring to himself before finally, an image flickered to life.

  Fallon leaned over Xavier’s desk. “What happened?”

  His brother frowned over the image, pulling up and discarding spell screens. “Someone from the Eminzu locked the Oras around the time frame Kita disappeared. Remember how we couldn’t find anything?”

  His hands swept through the air as he pushed around images, and worked through spells. Holograms and images of Kita walking through the front door of Haven flickered and passed. Finally he settled on one image and the four of them leaned in to watch.

  Chapter 19

  LILIANA WAS RIVETED BY THE image of her sister. Kita looked so carefree, so beautiful, all the while not knowing she would disappear and leave her family in turmoil. But then Kita never worried about anyone or anything but herself. Life was always a party for her. Liliana shook her head, banishing the nasty thought, guilt making her contrite.

  She watched as Kita flirted with Fallon and strode into the club. The image faded out and shimmered back to life, this time with her sister in the middle of the dance floor. Liliana reeled in shock. There were people wearing dog collars, in varying color leather outfits, and that was if they bothered to wear clothes. Manacles hung from the ceiling of the dance floor, and devices she had no names for lined the walls.

  “What is this?”

  “There is a night at Haven to cater to all. Some beings feed off the energy of sadism.” Xavier moved through the Oras keeping track of her sister as she writhed along with the bodies on the dance floor.

  She watched, stunned as people were whipped, and some chained down for others to feed on them. Kita showed no shock at the events happening around her. If anything, the smile on her face indicated she was enjoying it.

  Leo cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with her reaction. “It’s not for dabblers. Anyone who shows up on Tuesdays is heavily into BDSM.”

  “Did you know?” Fallon spared her a small glance.

  She shook her head. “Kita never let me hang out with her. I never knew.” She turned to Leo, her face displaying her shock. Up until now, she’d never realized how sheltered she’d been. Yeah, she’d spent time by herself on Adro, but she’d never imagined a world like this existed.

  Her gaze flickered back to the Oras. “Who are all the people with the matching tattoos?”

  Leo frowned. “For lack of a better term, vampires.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Vampires?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  “Haven is just that, a haven for all supernatural creatures. So long as the rules are followed and the Ajo keep to the treaty, they’re allowed to be here.” Xavier explained.

  She put her hands to her cheeks, their heat warming her ice cold hands. Gods, what had Kita been into? Embarrassment took over shock as she watched her sister grab a vampire by his collar and lead him up a private stairwell towards the back of the club. They were likely heading to one of the observation rooms. Liliana’s heart thumped in her chest at break neck speed. She was surprised they couldn’t hear it. Kita had been betrothed to the prince her whole life. Did he know she cheated on him? The room was silent as they were all engrossed in the hologram. Kita and the Ajo reached the door to the room and the Oras dimmed before completely going out.

  Xavier’s loud curse made her to flinch.

  “Has to be some powerful magic to disrupt the Oras.” Fallon’s grim statement mimicked Leo’s earlier words to her.

  “We have someone working to reverse the spells on the others, but I didn’t even know these existed. I should’ve suspected something was wrong when I couldn’t find her.” Xavier squinted his eyes as he tried once again to get past the point where the Oras went out.

  She nodded absently, numb from the behavior she’d witnessed. Not only had her sister been into scary dominance games, but she’d also cheated on Kedric. Had she and the prince both participated in the BDSM scene? What she knew of Kedric, sure he would be into that kind of stuff, but her sister? What had the prince gotten her into?

  “I need to go lay down.” She whispered.

  Leo pulled her into his arms. “I don’t like your color, babe. I’m going to send a healer to meet you at our apartment.”

  She ran a hand through her hair, releasing the magic holding her in her human skin. “That won’t be necessary.”

  He guided her from his brother’s office. “I insist.”

  Arguing with him seemed too much work, so she dutifully trailed him to their room. Footage from the Oras played in her mind as she tried to reconcile the images with the memories of her sister.

  “There is nothing wrong with BDSM, ina.” It was like he read her mind sometimes.

  “That’s not…I’m not upset about that.” She bit her lip. “She was my big sister, it’s hard to realize I knew next to nothing about her.”

  He nodded. “That makes sense.”

  “Of course it does.” She snapped.

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “Sorry. I thought you were being condescending.” She pursed her lips in chagrin.

  “Thank the gods.” He muttered at the sight of the Kira healer standing at their door. “I will leave you in the capable hands of the healer, and I will go find out what else X is doing about the corrupted Oras.”

  He scrambled down the hallway, making his escape. Liliana sighed in impatience. His habit of running away for work was becoming annoying.

  “Please, come in.” She motioned to the Kira.

  “Thank you Lady Tegan. My name is Rosalia.” The female Kira was beautiful in a simple strapless shift dress. Her brown skin gleamed, the dark rings on her shoulders displayed in her dress. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, the branches in her hair trialing her back as with all the Kira. Their forested realm held the most peaceful magic, making Edin highly sought out by weary Demi. Their race was healers of both the mind and body and the Amanda employed only the best.

  Once inside, Rosalia declined refreshments and had Liliana sit down at their kitchen table.

  “Relax,” she told her. “From what I’ve heard, your body has been through a lot of punishment recently.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Liliana closed her eyes and fought to relax as the Kira’s hands roamed her body.

  Rosalia started at her head, humming softly as she massaged Liliana’s temples. She moved to the pressure points of her neck, her
touch soft and hypnotizing. Liliana was in a deep trance by the time the Kira reached her stomach. The humming stopped being musical, and turned introspective.

  “What is it?” She asked, popping her eyes opened.

  Rosalia smiled and pushed Liliana’s lids back closed. “Relax.”

  She cracked one eye opened. “Just tell me.”

  The Kira chuckled. “It's not good for the babe for the mother to be all over the place. You need to relax.”

  Liliana sucked in a sharp breath. “Babe?”

  The Kira nodded. “You didn't notice the change in your body?”

  “So much has happened that I didn’t…are you sure?”

  Rosalia’s smile was soothing. “I'm very sure, maybe two weeks old at the most. He is already a strong soul, you should be able to start your bonding exercises soon.”

  "Bonding exercises?" Liliana touched her stomach in shock.

  "Yes, meditations with you and your mate that allow you to bond with your child's soul. It will help reassure the babe, and certainly make labor easier. The more peaceful and secure the babe feels, the less he will fight you."

  "Fight me?" She felt as if she'd lost her wits, repeating after Rosalia.

  "Yes, babies never want to leave the warm safety of their mother’s womb, so they fight the birth. As strong as your son is, I'll wager he'll give you hours of a fight. You should start bonding exercises as soon as you're able. It’s new to you now, but you should start no later than three weeks into your pregnancy."

  Liliana was going to be sick. Sharine’s words circled her mind. Damn the woman. She was right. Lily was going to be locked in Haven raising a bunch of babies and no freedom. Between this and Rugaba saying she was a Kokoro soul, she’d be lucky if Leo allowed her on the roof to take in energy from the sun. She did the mental math and cursed. It had to have happened the first time they slept together on Legba. Once again, had she adhered to customs, she wouldn’t be in the mess she was in. Why hadn’t she felt the changes to her own body?