Haven

by Dria Andersen

  “You had her change her form into yours. I spent the entire weekend with a person I thought was my mate. You didn’t want to spend time with your mate, so you sent your maid in your place. Don’t act all saintly because your pride was hurt. You were punished because of your part in the farce.”

  Liliana’s breath caught, her gasp breaking into their argument. Arian turned her attention to her, her eyes narrowing.

  “Yes, well no longer. I no longer have to claim that bitch’s child as my own.”

  Evan’s hand moved before either she or her mother could react. The slap on Arian’s cheek rang in the tense silence. “I will no longer have to stand aside while you disrespect my daughter.”

  “Father.” Liliana whispered. Shock at both her mother’s words, and her father’s actions froze her in place.

  “Where was the outrage for our daughter when your whore had her murdered?” Arian hissed.

  Evan turned his back on them. She remembered the video of Bea Xavier had displayed at the palace.

  “The queen forced her to help.” Tears clogged her throat. She didn’t know that for sure, but it was impossible for her to think of Bea having anything to do with her sister’s death.

  Arian drew a shaky breath, tears cresting her eyes. “Forced her? They were in on it together.” Arian’s acerbic laugh chilled her. “His whore, your mother, helped the queen kill my daughter. All so she could put you in her place.”

  “No.” Liliana backed away, her hand out warding away her mother’s words. “My mother? What are you saying? She would never.”

  Evan put his head in his hands.

  “Papa?” She had to be lying. Bea was her mother? She walked up to her father and shook his shoulder. “She’s lying, right? Bea would never do something like that. You wouldn’t lie to me about something as big as who my mother was. Tell me you wouldn’t, father.”

  “I’m sorry, baby.” Evan tried to pull her into a hug.

  “No!” She pushed at his hands. “She’s lying.” She whipped around to face her mother. “You’re lying to hurt me.”

  Arian crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t lie and I’ve never lied to you, outside of claiming you as my child. Your father and I have known for years that Kita was dead. But we weren’t told the circumstances of her death until now. And now Beatrice will pay for what she’s done with her life.”

  “Papa, tell me it’s not true.” Liliana expected tears, but none broke through her numbness. Her body was cold, her hands shaking as she pushed her hair out of her face. “Please.” She whispered.

  “Do you think I would allow you to take something which belonged to my daughter? Kita deserved to be queen. Not some servant’s bastard.” Arian waved a hand towards her.

  “That.is.enough.Arian.” Her father growled, his power saturating the room. He took a step towards his now former mate.

  “What, are you going to hit me again?”

  “You’re disgusting.” He whispered.

  “And you’re weak.

  Lily braced her hand on the wall for balance. She needed to leave. She told her legs that, but they stayed rooted to the spot as though cemented.

  Fallon cleared his throat from the door of the room. “Liliana, are you okay?”

  Her head lifted, her eyes meeting his. Compassion and worry swirled in his eyes. She didn’t know how to answer him. No, she wasn’t okay.

  “No one invited you into this conversation.” Arian put her hands on her hips.

  “Your volume invited the entire house, madam. Never mind the spectacle you’ve created on your front lawn.” Fallon mimicked Arian’s pose. “If you don’t want anyone to know your business, I would suggest lowering your voice.”

  “Don’t, Fallon.” Liliana whispered. “Don’t engage her. She’s like an Abiku demon, feeding off the misery of others.” Determination flooded her and straightened her spine. This woman was not her mother. She no longer felt obligated to take her shit.

  “How dare you?”

  “How dare I? How dare you talk to me as though I were nothing? How dare you sit over there self-righteous about a mistake you orchestrated? This house was bought with my father’s money, if anyone should leave it should be you.”

  Arian gasped.

  “It should be your shit on the lawn, not his. It was your punishment to raise me?” Lily scoffed. “Not hardly. I lived with you berating me daily, talking down to me, and slapping me around. It was I who suffered the punishment. So you know what? Thank you, thank you for releasing me from any sentimentality towards you. Congratulations on being released from your mating to my father. Good luck moving around society without his money to back you.” Her chest heaved as she sucked in air.

  “Get out!” Arian shouted.

  “Gladly.” Lily swept from the room and out of the house. Fallon and his father were on her heels. The airlift they’d taken to the house was still there. She breathed out a sigh of relief. At least she hadn’t had to sit on her parent’s, no her father’s, pod waiting on a ride out of this miserable situation.

  They were all silent on the way back to the portal station. She was hollowed out. In the span of a day, she’d found out her sister was murdered, her mother was not her mom, and the woman who was, had helped kill her sister. How did a person react to all of that? How was she supposed to go back to life as though it were normal? She lowered her head into her lap. Fallon’s palm warmed her back as he rubbed her in soothing motions.

  “I’m truly sorry for what you’re going through right now, sister.”

  The tears that had been trapped behind her numbness leaked from her eyes, soaking her jeans. She choked on them, not wanting to completely break down in front of them.

  “You’ve a right to grieve, lass. Don’t hold back on our account.” Ranolph’s voice was gentle as he added his hand to her back as well.

  Strangers had shown her more compassion than the woman who’d raised her and didn’t that just sum up her life. The warmth of their touch sank into her skin and eased the cold knot of anger and confusion. While comforting, it made her wish for Leo. She wanted to curl into his strong body and be sheltered from the bad things happening. In the weeks they were together she’d come to rely on him, on his steady presence. Her communicator on her hip rang. She sat up and wiped her face. It was her father. Her breathing hitched.

  “Yes, papa.”

  “I…I wanted to check on you. I’m sorry, Lily, I don’t know how to fix this.”

  She sniffed. “It’s not…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence. She wanted to tell him it wasn’t her business, but she desperately wanted to know, to understand.

  He sighed, understanding what she needed. “I wanted a weekend out with your mother. We hadn’t been out alone since Kita was born and I thought we could use a weekend to reconnect. It intersected with a huge society event your mother wouldn’t miss. Cagyns can transform into any form, your mother convinced Bea to take hers. Long story short, we spent a weekend together and a month later Bea confessed she was pregnant. I went to the Eminzu, furious. We were all punished, for lack of a better word.”

  “So Bea really is my mother.” She put a hand to her forehead, an ache forming behind her eyes.

  “Yes.” He didn’t elaborate.

  “And the rest?”

  “You should talk with your brother in law. Perhaps he can better explain.”

  She nodded, though he couldn’t see it. The lump in her throat prevented her from saying anything else.

  “Can you forgive me for my part?”

  “Papa.” She sighed, she couldn’t answer that yet. “Where will you go?”

  “Well, your mother was right about the condo I have. It’s near market square, and makes it easy to manage all of my properties. There have been no women though. I swear it.”

  “Why does she get the house?” It was petty, but she hated to think Arian would get the house she’d grown up in.

  “Because she gets nothing else, Liliana. She’ll be abl
e to keep up appearances and I will be free of her and her sisters. Trust me, I got the better deal.” His small chuckle lightened her heart. “Will you visit?”

  “Of course.” She whispered. “You’re all I have left.” She ended the call, pocketing her communicator.

  Arian’s words about Bea being put to death hurt her. She didn’t want to think the woman she’d grown up loving had been complicit in something so heinous. The way Kita had died was cruel. No one had helped her. She’d died alone, probably confused and scared.

  Fallon touched her shoulder to get her attention. “We’re here. Let’s get you home.”

  She nodded and followed them through the portal station, her head down, avoiding eye contact. Had the news spread yet? She didn’t want to see the pitying glances, or smug smiles, so she kept her gaze on the floor. Fallon guided her through the station and into a portal, his hand never leaving her back. Ranolph parted ways with them once they reached Haven. Fallon walked her all the way to the front door of the apartment she shared with Leo. She looked up when someone cleared their throat. Paul and Roy stood like sentinels at her door.

  “Are you here to watch me?”

  Paul shook his head. “We’re here to say thank you. You saved our lives.” He pulled a bouquet of flowers from behind him.

  She took the flowers with shaking hands. “I’m touched. Thank you.”

  Roy saluted her and pulled a tray of pastries from behind his back. “I had Marta make them. I’m told only one other person in all seven realms knows how to make them.”

  Tears gathered in her eyes. “Thank you, Roy.” She whispered.

  He nodded and opened the door for her. Fallon took the tray from him and waved them off. They each touched her shoulder and left. Fallon took the flowers and tray of pastries into their small kitchen. He manifested a glass vase and filled it with water. She marveled at the finely etched vase he’d wrought. That someone so big could make magic so delicate. She smiled.

  “It’s beautiful, thank you.”

  He cleared his throat. “Leo is…he had to take the queen to Azreal. Time moves differently when he’s ‘traveling’, so it could be hours, or it could be days.”

  “I understand.” It was a part of his job. She’d better get used to it. While Rugaba had banned him from hunting, he would still be…traveling. It was the life of an Amanda soldier. No time like the present to start learning how to deal.

  “If you need anything, and I mean anything, Lily, both Xavier and I are a phone call away, okay?”

  She nodded. “For now, I need some alone time.”

  “Right.” He kissed her forehead and left her in peace.

  Once the front door closed, the adrenaline holding her together faded and with it her strength. She sank to the floor sobbing, her grief a living, and breathing monster on her back. Everything she’d thought she knew about her life was a lie. Would she ever get back her sense of normalcy?

  Chapter 27

  BRIGHT LIGHT FILLED THE SPACE AS FAR as the eye could see. The first level of Azreal was the easiest to cross, but nonetheless his skin heated, burning with the intensity of the realm. Bea’s wail of pain and the queen’s screams were the only noise in this light realm. And even still, the sound of their caterwauling was muffled as though there was cotton in his ears. Leo released them in order to open the second gate. Both women tried to run, and Leo shook his head as he went through the intricate spell. Once the portal opened he turned his attention to his prisoners. Both fought through the dense atmosphere to run, getting no farther than an arm’s length from him.

  If he could laugh he would, but no sound would leave his mouth once he entered death’s realm. He was as good as a ghost, intangible, mute. It had taken him a while to get used to that. Using the power bestowed to him by Azreal, he lifted the women with his magic and pushed them through the next portal. If the heat from the first one was bad, the cold of this one stung. Like blades flaying off skin, the punishing temperature stole the air from his prisoner’s lungs, their eyes wide and darting with panic.

  Dropping them again, Leo went through the pattern for the third and final portal. This time slower, not because of the intricate nature of the spell, no, the power of Azreal was strong, slowing his movements, trying its hardest trap him here in this hell where it could feed off his soul. Many candidates for Death’s messengers were lost here. As he went through the spell he could see them in his peripheral beckoning to him, beseeching him to help them.

  Only he in centuries had been able to get through this final gate. The cold was getting to him though, stiffening his fingers as he fought to complete the spell. The women didn’t try escape, their bodies wouldn’t allow it. They stood stiffly at his side, each second it took him to finish the spell, curling their bodies as pain dragged them down. He knew the discomfort he felt was amplified by one hundred for them. He breathed a sigh of relief once the spell was finished and the final portal opened. He stepped through first, using his magic to drag the others behind. Remembering his promise to Liliana, he pulled Bea through first, letting the queen linger a bit in the punishing cold. Her body had nearly folded in on itself by the time he pulled her through.

  Azra’s servants stood at the gates of Azreal, both nodding to him in greeting. The screams of his victims renewed as they realized this was the last leg of their journey. Silently each guardian approached the women. Leo hated this part, but couldn’t leave until the deed was done. He watched as the guardians grabbed each female by the throat, their dark nails piercing their skin. They forced the women’s mouths open, closed their jaws over their mouths and inhaled, deeply. Leo saw the moment their souls left their bodies. Their corporal forms went limp. The guardians dropped the bodies and they immediately turned to dust. They pivoted towards the gates, and blew out their breaths, releasing the souls into Azreal.

  Once done, they turned back to Leo. He arched his brow in surprise as one of the guardians stepped to him. He held out his wooden staff, a necklace on a leather thong draped from the end. A small black stone dangled from the leather.

  ‘You’re to wear this from now on when traveling the portals.’ The voice came from his head, the guardian’s mouth did not move.

  Nodding his understanding, he grabbed the necklace and put it on. The guardian stepped back into his place. They spun their staffs simultaneously until the symbols for the Eminzu glowed. This was the only realm where he could not open a portal. There was no escape from Azreal unless these two beings allowed it. He tensed and stepped between the staffs, expecting the pain that normally accompanied his travel through the guardians’ portal. There was none and he was surprised. He landed on his knees, his energy all but sapped. He stayed in the kneeling position to regain his senses and catch his breath.

  Xavier cursed and slid on the floor next to him, grabbing his shoulders. “Are you alright?”

  Leo didn’t answer. He was busy relearning to breath. It was one of the reasons he never let his brothers know where he would be when he hunted. He knew the shape in which he returned to earth and he knew they would worry. He was always sent back to exactly where he opened a portal and he never wanted his brothers waiting for him.

  “I’m fine.” He was able to finally croak out.

  “I’m taking you home.” Xavier grabbed his arms intending to help him stand.

  “Give me a minute.” He gasped as the air he breathed continued to burn through his lungs. Getting back was always a bitch. Again, the pain was less than he normally experienced, but coming back to the Eminzu’s realm and not the oxygen rich Adro was probably the reason why.

  He swallowed after a few more shallow breaths. A small drop of blood dripped from his nose. “Lily can’t see me like this.”

  “Is this why? Why you never gave us an extraction point for you, why you never told me…” Xavier stopped speaking as worry and fear for his brother overwhelmed him.

  “It’s my job, brother.” Leo whispered.

  Xavier shook his head and helped him t
o his feet. “You can recover in my office, Lily won’t see you there.”

  He opened a portal and they walked through it and into Xavier’s office. X put him on the sofa and left. He came back a moment later with a glass of water. He nodded his thanks and grabbed the glass from his brother. A sensation much like what divers called the bends overtook his body as he breathed in air from Adro. His joints ached, his skin crawled and dizziness had the room spinning as he clutched the cold glass. Three deep breaths in and out and his body fought to regulate and accustom itself to the Earth’s atmosphere. He sipped from his cup, knowing from experience not to gulp down the chilled water. He peeked up at his brother, noting the frown marring his face.

  “I’m fine, X. It just takes a minute.”

  “Every time?”

  He nodded.

  “You’re a bastard for hiding this, Leo.”

  “I know.” Leo said quietly. He didn’t bother explaining it further. Xavier wouldn’t want to hear it anyway. He would never understand Leo sparing him the stress of knowing the details of his job.

  Xavier sighed and left him on the sofa breathing hard.

  No, his brother wouldn’t understand the lengths he and Fallon went to take some of the harsher parts of their existence from his plate. He lay flat on the sofa to wait on his body to recover. He briefly wondered how long he’d been gone this time as time on Adro moved much faster than both Death’s realm and the ancestors’ realm. Hopefully Liliana wouldn’t be too worried. Thinking of her, brought a smile to his face. He closed his eyes, he couldn’t wait to see his mate.

  He opened them as a shadow covered him. Ranolph was shuffling side to side, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

  “I’m exhausted, baba. What do you need?” He sat up on the sofa, groaning as him muscles protested.

  “I can’t figure out where to start.” Ranolph avoided his gaze.

  “Can it not wait?” He crossed his arms over his chest, curious despite his exhaustion.

  His father shook his head no. “I’ll likely not have the courage to do this another time. I’ve been waiting nearly a week since you’ve been hunting.”