by Nikki Landis
“Don’t leave me,” I half moaned, half pleaded, “not ever.”
“My beautiful darling…Rhiannon…” His lips were at my neck again. “I won’t.”
His hand dropped from my waist and slid down past my hip to my thigh where he grabbed my bare leg, the dress shoved to the side, and placed it around him. His hand slid back up my thigh to my waist again and I gasped. I pressed myself against his chest as both of our heart rates picked up. My fingers traced up the muscular lines of hard abdomen, then his chiseled chest, and rising higher, until I twisted my hands around in his hair as he whispered my name.
“Kellen,” I whispered back.
I would have done anything right then. It didn’t matter if I thought I was ready or not. I was completely lost in the passion of the moment. I think that’s why he suddenly stopped. He pulled himself back quickly and rolled over beside me. We both lay there panting and gasping for air.
“I’m sorry Rhiannon. That was completely out of line.”
“I’m not sorry,” I said. And I wasn’t.
He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at me with a smirk.
“I have a hard enough time staying in control without kissing you. I nearly wasn’t able to pull away just now. You certainly weren’t helping any,” he accused.
I sighed. “I know. I can’t help it. It’s your fault, you’re just too good of a kisser.”
He laughed. “I think we need to agree that things are moving a little too quickly in the uh, physical aspect, and we need to cool it down a little.”
I stuck my lower lip out and pouted. He laughed, lifting his thumb to my lip. He leaned closer and then seemed to catch himself. I felt his body tremble next to mine.
“I don’t trust myself at the moment. We need to leave this bed and go back into the living room.” His breathing was accelerated as he continued to gaze at my mouth. “Now.”
His eyes were burning with passion again, a mesmerizing liquid green, and I understood.
“Um, Rhiannon, please compose yourself while I go out there and wait for you. If I don’t get up I’m going to lose control again.”
He glanced briefly at me, his eyes roaming from my head to my feet, and then hopped up and left the room quickly.
I glanced down at myself and realized that my dress had bunched itself up around my upper thighs. I was dangerously close to exposing my lower half. I giggled momentarily at the thought. Then I sobered up, certain that temptation was a heady intoxicating feeling, and I needed to avoid it altogether. Or next time I might give in.
I jumped up and shook out the dress. I smoothed it down all around me. Then I shook out my hair and composed myself. I put a smile on my face and skipped out of the room. He was waiting for me on the couch.
“How’s this?” I asked, twirling around in front of him. My laughter floated around us.
He stiffened. “Ugh, awful. This isn’t helping my control at all. Your hair is all wild, your cheeks are flushed, and your eyes...You couldn’t look more alluring if you wanted to.”
I smiled. “You’ll be fine.”
“I’m dangerously close to dragging you to the nearest justice of the peace. Marriage doesn’t sound half bad right now. At least I would keep us both honest.” He folded his arms across his chest and scowled at me.
I was completely in shock though. “Did you just say marriage? You would want to marry me?” I asked.
He looked at me very seriously and his scowl disappeared. Then he stared at me incredulously. “Why wouldn’t I want to marry you?”
“Um, I don’t know. You took me by surprise,” I answered sheepishly.
“Rhiannon, I would marry you in a heartbeat,” he smiled, “just to prove my heart is yours.”
I think I fell in love with him even more when he said that. Was I breathing? I felt light as a feather. How could my heart contain such a declaration?
I sat down. “Wow,” I whispered, “is it only because of, you know, just now?”
“Silly girl,” he admonished, “I would marry you because I love you more than anything in the whole world. The other part is just an added perk.” He grinned mischievously.
“Oh,” I said, slightly in awe, “good.”
“We have more urgent things to discuss right now. I promised your Gran. Now, can you behave yourself?” He asked.
I winked at him. “I’ll try.”
“I promise to try to control myself as well. Now, how old do you think I am?” He asked.
His question took me by surprise. I just looked at him for a moment.
“Um, eighteen like me right?” I didn’t sound sure even to myself.
He grinned. He knew that was what I was going to say.
“Physically, yes, I am about that age. Maybe a little older. I’m actually in my nineties. I’m still in the prime of my youth.”
My jaw dropped open. He was seventy years older than me. He was almost a hundred years old and still young. Wow, I really didn’t know what to think about that.
“How long are you going to live?” I asked.
“My father is three hundred and fifty one. He still isn’t old yet.”
“Wow,” I told him. It was the most I could think to say. I remembered when I thought my Gramps should have lived longer. He did pass away way too young. If Guardians lived to be hundreds of years, then my grandpa should have too. Why was he taken? What happened?
Kellen did not notice my distraction.
“How long do you think you will live?” He asked me.
I looked at him questioningly. “In my eighties or nineties, I hope.”
He shook his head slightly. “Rhiannon, did your Gran tell you about your bloodline?”
“My bloodline? Not much.” I had no idea what he was talking about.
“I’ll take that as a no then. My mother and father are descended from the same bloodline as your parents. My mother has angel descendants the same as you but not as strong. I can’t fly. My father is descended from the Nephilim, as was your father. Have you ever heard the story?”
“Um, I think so. Angels? From the bible?” I asked, remembering Gran saying something along those lines.
“Yes, the Nephilim was a race that was created by the joining of human females to the sons of God, basically they had children together. It is believed the sons of God were a super race of men, like angels, enhanced with special abilities. They reproduced with the daughters of mortal man and had children who were called the Nephilim.”
“Wow, that’s your bloodline?” I asked.
“Our bloodline, Rhiannon,” he corrected. “You are also descended from them. The Nephilim were believed to be giants. Many cultures and races have stories similar to this. However, the Christian view is the most accurate.” He paused and took a breath. “My world, our world really, is the dimension that we reside in. Our home. It breathes life into us, sustains our abilities, and prevents the aging process.”
That was it then. The reason my grandfather passed away. He left home, left the security of a long life with Gran, left everything, to give me life. To save me. A flicker of guilt ran through me. It was my fault. Gramps died because I needed to live. How fair was that?
Before I had a chance to wallow in those feelings I let them go, releasing them into the back of my mind, saved for another time, when I could consider the implication in more depth. For now I glanced back at Kellen.
“Wow,” I whispered. Did that mean I was going to live a long time too?
“What are you thinking?” He asked.
“I was wondering if that meant I was going to get to live a long time too,” I told him truthfully.
He laughed loudly. “Rhiannon, you never cease to surprise me. Yes, it does. In fact, you will probably outlive me.” He grinned wider.
“Cool,” I told him, “then we get to spend even longer together.”
When I told him that, his smile disappeared, replaced with a look of heat that sent a wave of lava through my veins. His eyes star
ted to smolder green fire again, and my pulse quickened in response. “I promised to be good but you don’t make it very easy on me,” he said huskily.
He had moved right next to me, his lips at my ear. I shivered slightly. “Your beauty staggers me.” He kissed along my jaw. “It makes my heart skip a beat.” Then against my lips softly. “Makes me weak.”
“Kellen, please, I…” My voice trailed off as he placed another kiss at the base of my throat.
“Yes?” He answered.
He was teasing me now but he straightened up. We went back to our discussion but I had a hard time concentrating on everything he said after that. Oh my how his kiss, his heat, made me forget the world around me. I literally melted at his slightest touch.
We were talking about the bloodlines again and what that meant. I focused on his words.
“So, with all of that comes enhanced abilities.” He was saying.
I looked at him. “Enhanced abilities?”
“Yes, take me for example. You know I am a Guardian. What you may not know is that it makes me a great warrior because of my strength, agility, and speed. But I am also a quick healer and I don’t get injured as easily.”
“That’s awesome,” I told him.
“We are like two sides of the same coin, forged under the same steel, but different. I think you have some enhanced abilities as well. You have the ability to manipulate gravity and air and control some of the elements of nature, of course, which is super cool. Your Gran told me you have truth dreams. I believe it may be more, I think they’re premonitions.” He grinned and winked at me. “You also have your angel dust, for lack of a better name, which has a lot of uses and special powers you don’t even know about yet. I think…” His voice trailed off as he looked at my face.
I was shaking. My face was frozen in surprise. Something he had said just now about the premonitions had clicked it all into place for me. It was all related.
“What Rhiannon? What is it?” He sounded worried.
It was all related; the feeling of being watched, the attacks on my life, the stories, my special abilities, everything. Even Kellen. I shook my head. It was so simple. Why didn’t I see it before?
“It’s all related,” I whispered.
He looked confused. “What’s all related?”
“Don’t you see?” I asked. “The attacks on my life, the stories, the feeling that I am being watched all the time, my abilities. It all goes together.”
He seemed to be thinking it through. “Yes, ok, but what is it that has you so scared?”
“Something is coming Kellen, something big. Bigger than just that demon. And it’s not good.”
“We don’t know that Rhia, it could be something else.” He was trying to keep me calm.
I finally understood the feeling of being watched all of the time. I had mistakenly thought it was because of Kellen. I was horribly wrong. It was the enemy. They were watching me, probably tracking me and waiting for the right moment to pounce, like a cat pursuing a mouse with deadly accuracy. This was bad.
“Then why are you here Kellen? Oh, Oh,” I said. Now I got it. It all made sense.
He was watching me closely, not saying anything. He was letting me figure it out.
“The council, the one that sent you and dispatches the Guardians, knows already. That’s why you’re here. But there is something more, something sinister, something big, that is going to happen. Like a battle,” I shook my head and heard him gasp, “I keep having weird dreams. The feeling of danger won’t leave me. We have to be careful. You know what I’m saying.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes, I do, but the council doesn’t know everything. I think we should inform them of the current situation. We need to go to my father. He needs to know what has transpired. They must be warned in our world.”
I nodded. I would go with him wherever he wanted, plus I was too chicken to hang out by myself right now. I felt the cold breeze of a premonition dance on my skin, raising the flesh, sending goosebumps along my arms. Danger. It was coming, lurking, growing closer.
“Kellen, this is serious. The enemy is watching me. They have a plan.” My voice trembled. “We need to get out of here as soon as possible. It’s not safe.”
“Yes,” he agreed, “we must hurry now.”
“I’m so afraid. What if it comes after me again?” My voice squeaked a little and I could not hide my fear.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I need to make preparations. We will leave before night fall. We have to cross the portal before the sun sets.” He kissed the top of my head. “I’ll be right back.”
I watched him disappear, certain my life was in the greatest danger it had ever been in and I had no idea how to process or handle it. I sat there waiting for him to return, anxious and chewing my nails. I looked at the clock on the living room wall. It was already after three in the afternoon. We only had a few hours before the sun set tonight. Not a lot of time for preparation.
I heard a noise and looked up, shaken to my core. Darn. We were not fast enough…
Chapter Seventeen
The enemy had found me. Or more accurately, the demon. Black as sin, dark shadow in the night, it called to me, beckoning, pulling me forward. I felt the clawing fingers as they descended on my sensitive flesh, lightly scraping, enticing, alluring. The demon wanted me. It sought me, my soul, my acquiescence, my light, my very existence.
For the first time I felt a sense of desperation. The demon was on a timetable. Only a small window was available where it could steal my being, capture and imprison my soul. I felt the urgency as it reached for me again. It was conniving, trying to deceive me. I felt its hunger. I knew its desire. All of the demon’s effort was concentrated on my obedience.
I felt the first clutches of its evil intent inside my head. It searched, running along the corridors of my mind. Frantic with need, pulling and yanking on the doors of my memories, searching, grasping for something to use against me. But they were locked tight against intrusion.
I was not so innocent and foolish now. I blocked the demon and smiled, the corners of my mouth lifting in triumph. In one swift thought, I pushed the demon out of my head, causing it to cry out in frustration and anger. I would not give it an enemy to fight me. I would not give it the means to destroy me or the medium to use and make into flesh. I understood now how it attacked me before. There was no longer the element of surprise.
For a moment I thought I had won. It screeched and bounced around me, almost smoky in the dim light of the living room. In anger it pulsed and all the light bulbs in the room exploded, sending sharp shards of glass spinning in the air before crashing to the ground. Terror gripped me momentarily and a laugh, sardonic, deep, cruel, filled the room.
A single light from the kitchen flicked on, sending an eerie glow into the dark space. The shadow began to shift and take human form. At first I scoffed at the demon and rolled my eyes. Whatever it was going to conjure, I was certain, positive, that I could destroy it with ease. I knew it sought to deceive me. The demon excelled at that, the art of deception and lies.
I’m not certain what I expected to see. In my naivety I thought the demon would conjure another monster to attack me, but no. It was much more determined, much cleverer than that. It sent a person this time. A single individual. Someone to torment and torture me, someone to test me, someone to break my resolve with a finality that would probably kill me.
I felt the demon’s triumph, its sick and twisted delight as the shadow took on flesh. I gasped in horror and agony as the person in front of me smiled with an evil grin. The flesh now real, fully present, they took a step forward in my direction, the shadow and the man. Oh God, no, anyone else, please.
“Gramps,” I whispered, shock and fear rooting me to the spot.
He smiled, a dark shadow covering his face, and took another step.
“No,” I whispered, “don’t come any closer.”
A blade appeared in his h
and, a thick serrated hunting knife, gleaming in the low light, and pointed out toward me.
“Oh God,” I called, “help me.”
The demon shadow screeched from inside my grandfather, walking with purpose in my direction. I took a few steps back and held up a hand. “No, you are not my family. You are a deception.”
An evil laugh filled the air. I thought, mistakenly, that it would change tactics and change its form. It did not. Perhaps I could have remained strong, maybe I might have been able to persevere over the specter of my Gramps, but when he opened his mouth and spoke my name, I was unable to do anything.
“Rhiannon…” He called. “Rhiannon.”
How? How was it his voice? Not the demon, not an impersonation, but the actual voice of my grandfather.
My hand clutched at my heart. “No,” I shook my head, “that’s not possible.”
“I’ve come for you, my Rhiannon,” Gramps sneered, “you will meet your fate.”
“No!” I screamed.
Gramps ran in my direction, the blade a blur as it gathered speed, and raised his hand to plunge it down and into my broken heart. All I could do was stand there, immobile, frightened, devastated, and refusing to believe reality.
“Ahhhhhhhh,” the demon screeched, rushing toward me, anticipating my death with delight.
Seconds, a mere breadth of a moment, before the knife plunged into my body, Kellen’s sword sank into the flesh and evil incarnation of my Gramps. I screamed, over and over, my body shaking with the terror and the gruesome reality of his demise. I couldn’t stop screaming, my breath coming fast and shallow, and my heart racing in my chest, my mind grasping for some small measure of sanity and finding nothing. Nothing…
The sword had penetrated the darkness of the shadow and it dispersed, sending the form of my grandfather back into oblivion, destroyed, forgotten, buried in the night. The same as his physical body. Gone forever. I fell to my knees, my hand still clutching my heart. Oh God, not like this. I had lost him all over again.
