"Yet you’ve transformed. You have the strength of a vampire now," Cain says from the windowsill he's leaning against. "There are some who prefer not to live in this changed form, who prefer to kill themselves, but that's not you," he says. "Embracing life in your changed form will be challenging but not impossible. Besides, you have a longer life to look forward to now."
His words bring me up short. He's right. Vampires live longer than humans, longer than even shifters.
My knees weaken, and I hold onto Leana for support. After guiding me to the bed, she sits down next to me, still holding my hands.
It's a sign for Mikhail to walk toward us. He sits down on my other side and puts his arm around me. "You are not alone." is voice is reassuring, his big body exuding comfort.
These are my friends, as close to a family as I'll have. Tears I can no longer shed prick the back of my eyes.
"I ruined your wedding," I mumble. "I'm sorry."
Mikhail chuckles softly. "I was her mate from the moment I laid eyes on her." I’m aware of him exchanging glances with Leana over the top of my head. "The ceremony was more Ariana's idea, a way to bring the species together, to give people a chance to celebrate."
"Look how that went," Cain snorts from the window.
Mikhail glances at him. A look I can't decipher passes between them, a clash of wills so typical of Alpha males.
"I take it you don't have much time for our mayor?"
"Or for the Council," Cain replies.
"So what are you doing in this city?" Mikhail asks, his muscles tensing. "Who are you?"
He, too, senses that the lion shifter is holding something back. There are secrets to Cain, something he's not telling us.
Ethan saunters to the door, his movements casual, but he doesn't fool me. He's standing at attention, making sure Cain doesn't go anywhere.
Cain doesn't pay any heed, though. "Have you forgotten I came to the rescue of one of your team?" He nods to me. "Not to mention driving away the rebel vampires before they caused further damage."
"You couldn't stop them from taking Kris?" I ask, voice bitter.
He hesitates. "It was a choice. And you were weaker; you wouldn't have held up to whatever the vampires would’ve done to you. Besides, they wanted him, not you."
"The sword," I say. "They were after the sword. They knew if they followed Kris that eventually they'd find it. That's why they attacked us. Is that why you came to our rescue?" I ask Cain in a flash of insight. "You, too, are after the sword, aren't you? It's why you appeared on the scene both times we were attacked."
Silence.
Whatever Cain was expecting to hear, it's not this.
Mikhail stiffens next to me while Ethan swears aloud by the door. "I thought you were too good to be true," he rumbles. "Tell us, lion shifter, is that why you came to our aid? Have you been stalking Kris all along?"
Cain inclines his head.
"I was stalking Ruby's brother," he admits. "And the sword. But I meant him no harm. I was sent to help him, and I failed.” He lowers his eyes. "I’m sorry I was too late to stop the vampire from hurting you."
"Who sent you, shifter?" Mikhail snaps.
"Brahma," he replies. "The seer rescued my grandfather from the tsunami. In return, he promised Brahma that when his grandchild came of age, he'd keep Ruby's family and the sword safe. I may not agree with everything the Council says, but I owe my fealty to this city's first family.” He walks to Leana. Pausing in front of her, he drops to his knee. Taking her fingers, Cain kisses them. "As long as I’m alive, I'll ensure you and your family are safe."
"Where have you been all this time?" I ask. "Why choose now to reveal yourself?"
Straightening, he meets my gaze. "I was only following orders. The seer predicted the exact time I should arrive in this city. I was late by a month, and for that I apologize. It took me this long to journey down from my home country of Namibia."
Mikhail whistles. "You’re a long way from home, shifter. Yet I can well believe that old seer put your family up to this."
Leana draws herself up to her full height. "While I don't trust you enough to accept you into the army of Guardians yet, we need all the help we can get to rescue Kris."
I tilt my head. "I must go to him. I must save Kris. Are you with me?" I ask Cain.
22
Kris
Dense black laps at the edge of my conscious mind, sinking into my skin like a heavy fog that attaches itself to every pore in my body, clogging me until I can't breathe. The weight on my chest is so heavy it drags me down, down into myself.
Into the nightmare that haunted my growing years. I’m back to that boy trapped in a building destroyed by a terrorist attack.
Dust fills my lungs. Around me everything is black.
I cough and try to move. Blocks of stone and cement hold me down, bringing the sharp taste of panic. Fear. The feeling of being trapped sinks into me and pushes the adrenaline to spike through my blood. Then, muscles bunching, I grab the block over my chest and heave.
It doesn't budge.
The effort sends agony slicing through my body. The darkness pushes in further, sending another surge of panic through me.
It propels me to grab the slab of concrete with my little fingers. Blood seeps from the scratches, running down my wrists, my arms.
I can't do it, can't get out of here. I’m going to die. Muscles screaming in agony, I heave again.
It rolls off this time.
I don't question how I, a little boy of five, had the strength to push away the debris.
Right now, all that matters is to survive.
Live!
I must.
Gasping, sweat running down my body, I stumble to my knees through the dust that sinks into my skin. I’m surrounded by debris, but there's a small gap between the pieces. I manage to crawl through it, toward the faint glimmer of light. All the while my breath comes in short gasps, the dust filling my lungs, making me cough. Reaching the tiny opening in the debris, I put my face against it and draw in huge gulps of air. I collapse there, sweat running into my eyes, making them sting.
Behind me a groaning sound echoes as the building shifts, and pieces of stone and plaster fall on my legs.
Heart thudding again my chest, I grasp the stone jutting out of the opening and push at it. It. Doesn't. Give.
Nothing.
Crying out in desperation, I collapse. Behind me more stones and dust rain down. Pulling my little legs in, I double into myself. I shove my face against the small opening and scream.
"Help!"
My voice is torn out by a gust of wind. I stop, panting, breath coming out in short gasps. I'm going to die.
Tears rain down my cheeks, and I bite my lips. Ruby told me never to cry. She said I’m strong enough to face anything that comes my way. I was never as brave as her. She was fiery, my sister. Her voice echoes in my ears. Don't give up, Kris. Never give up. When things get tough, remember you are tougher. You just have to keep trying. Once more.
I grip the stone jutting out of the hole. This time, even when it bites into my fingers, I don't stop, not until it gives a little, widening the hole…only for more of the debris to fall in, undoing the work I've done.
Crying in frustration, I continue to push at the debris. When I manage to get my arm through, I place my face against the opening and yell again.
No response.
Nothing except the warm air brushing against my skin.
Then a hand grasps my forearm.
"Hold on!" says a man's voice. His touch disappears, only for the stone blocking my way to be shoved aside. Grabbing my arm again, he pulls.
"Give me your other arm," he pants. Already I’m shoving it through the wider hole. My hand is caught and held in a reassuring grip.
Then he pulls again.
With a shower of stones and debris scattering behind me, I’m yanked out. The next instant I'm on the ground, in the open, beside the man who saved me.
B
ehind me there’s an overwhelming screeching sound as more of the building collapses on itself.
"Come on, boy." He jumps to his feet and pulls me along. We run, chased by a cloud of dust and stones pouring over us. We keep running and don't stop, not until we are out of the grounds of the hotel building and on the promenade before the sea, to the very edge. Only then does he let go of my hand.
When I turn around, my jaw hardens. This time I don't cry out. I just take in the destruction. Where there once was a hotel bustling with people, there is now a cloud of white dust.
The same dust that coats the face of the man who turns to me.
"You all right?"
I nod, my throat too full of dust, too choked with emotions, to answer him. I survived that?
"Why me? Why save me when so many are dead?" My voice comes out harsh, strange, as if I’m speaking through a mouthful of broken glass. I don't realize it then, but this is the moment I became a man. Just five, and already I faced death and survived.
"Because you need to live,” he says. "You're different, Kris. You’re not like other humans. Perhaps you already knew that, hmm?"
I tilt my head, looking…really looking at the man for the first time. He's taller than my father. Broader too. His face is hard, but his gray eyes are…kind.
Ruby always told me you only had to look at someone's eyes to know who to trust.
I can trust this man.
I nod, a quick jerk of my head.
"Who are you? How do you know who I am?" I blurt out.
"I'm Brahma. I've been searching for you. Are you ready to find out the reason you were born?” He pauses, and I nod. “You must live to undo the wrongs that will be done by Ruby, your sister. Are you ready…Ascendant?"
With that last word, Brahma changed my life. Gone was the boy. In his place was an immortal, one commanded to follow a mission.
Brahma gave me a purpose, a reason to live this long life. I never looked back after that, not as a child. I was young; but even then, that part of me inside that was different from the other kids knew this was my way out, a way to fit in. I could live apart from the humans and yet be among them.
Or so I thought.
Later I realized I paid too heavy a price for it—losing my connection to my family. They thought I died in the destruction the terrorists wreaked on the hotel that day.
Brahma had seen his opportunity in the ruins of that hotel. A very opportune way for me to be taken yet not missed, a chance to take my place among the Ascendants at the hermitage.
Since then, I’ve followed my missions and defeated evil in different forms in many countries.
Now I’m back in the city where it all started.
A feeling of weariness grips me. Maybe it’s time to stop fighting, to give in. I’ve lived many lives in this one lifetime already, and now it's time to go.
Go!
The urge to leave this body is so strong, so real. I can reach out and touch it. Hold it. Flow with it.
Go!
A sigh ripples through me. I turn toward the light at the far end.
Then…a whisper brushes up against my mind. The scent of green apples on a cool dawn breeze ripples over me.
Tara.
Kris.
I hear her voice.
How did she find me? Why do I feel her in my head? We don't really have a connection, do we? Yet, I sense her. I feel her in my heart, my head.
I was always aware of her, but now her thoughts sink into me. Surround me. Become me.
It is her. No one else draws me like this. No one else can feel so…right.
Her presence is no intrusion. It's a seamless melding and a swirling of our thoughts, a pull. Doubt makes me pause.
I can't go now. I can't leave her alone.
And yet I push it away.
How can I let myself accept Tara's presence? For I don't deserve her. I don't…deserve to be happy, not when I pushed Fia to her death.
Even as I think this, the insistence grows. The connection I feel with Tara is strong. It demands I acknowledge it. Embrace it. Become it.
I can't ignore it.
I know then, Tara is my today, my future. The bond with Fia never completed for it was never meant to be.
It's Tara who I want. She's my mate. The one with whom I bonded when I pushed my life force into her to help her fight back the vampire venom. She's the one I feel in my heart, my soul, for she's part of me now. I must protect Tara. I must use the sword to rid the city of the evil which threatens its citizens. I’ll make the place safe for my mate.
Beneath it all is the sense of things coming full circle. I’m back in my home city with my ancestor's sword, and I must fulfill the mission I've been sent for.
With a last look at the light, I turn away.
Falling back, I let the darkness consume me. The weight of my physical body drags me down, anchoring me to the earth, to this city, to my body…My eyes snap open.
All I see is black.
Years of training kick in, propelling my muscles to move. At once, a sharp pain pierces me, and I groan. I try to identify the source but find I can't.
For as awareness spreads through my body, my entire skin feels like it's on fire.
My hands are pulled to the side and chained so tight I can't feel them anymore. Chains bind my ankles, pulling my legs apart, locking me down.
When I try to move my head, my neck almost snaps. I'm collared! Rage runs through me. A feeling of helplessness grips me, and I clamp down on it. It won't do to let anger cloud my head, not when I need to find a way to get out of here.
She needs me.
The images come rushing back, the scent of blood tainting her scent. Tara! She's hurt.
Sickness twists my gut.
Taking a deep breath, I push aside all feelings, forcing myself to get to that place where I can think.
As my eyes adjust to the gloom, I make out my surroundings.
I'm in an empty room. Water drips, echoing around the room. There's a window in the wall opposite me, through which I can see the sea in the distance.
The sweat runs down my forehead and into my eyes, stinging them. I become aware, then, that I’m bare-chested. I try to look down, and the collar jerks me back, sending another pulse of pain through me. Liquid runs down my chest. Blood? Sweat? I’m not sure. Either way it stings my cuts and bruises, explaining why my entire skin seems to be on fire.
Under my bare feet is smooth stone. It's only then I realize my sword is gone. They took it.
Is this the reason I'm here? Why Noah hunted me over the years? I came up against him and defeated him on every mission in the past. This is the first time he’s captured me.
The door swings open, the hinges smooth.
Noah's bulk fills the doorway. He walks in and swaggers straight to me, a look of satisfaction on his face.
Before I can draw a breath, he punches me in the side, so hard a rib cracks. The scent of blood is heavy in the air, on my tongue. Tensing my muscles, I brace for the next blow.
"We meet again…brother," Noah snarls.
Leaning close, he peers into my eyes.
In his, I see my death. Will I live through this?
23
Kris
I reply, weighing my words, "You chose your path all those years ago Noah. You were one of us and now—"
"I was never one of you," he snarls. "Brahma never had time for me, his own son. He favored the rest of you, over me."
"You're wrong," I insist. "He was harder on you because he loved you, he only wanted you to do well—"
His fist slams into my face so hard my neck snaps back. Red-hot pain tears through me. It only hardens my resolve. I’m not going to let him get the better of me. I’m going to find a way to get out here alive.
Grunting, I plant my feet on the ground. Each breath feels like I'm drawing it in over broken glass.
"You always did act first and think later," I bite out through the blood and spittle that dribbles down my chi
n.
"Oh! Yeah?" His jaw hardens, nostrils flaring. He slams me in the stomach before kicking my legs out from under me.
For a moment, I hang suspended from the chains, my neck taking the brunt of my weight. This time I black out.
When I come to, Noah's standing in front of me, arms folded over his chest. Seeing my eyes open, he uncorks a bottle of water. I don't want to look at it, yet I can't resist, not when my entire skin feels like it's on fire, lips throbbing so hard I've almost lost all sensation.
He sips from it, letting some of the water dribble down his throat before turning it upside down and pouring it out.
"Cheap tricks, Noah?" My voice comes out hoarse. Straightening as much as my chains allow, I snap, "I'll never do what you want. I’ll never willingly harness the power of the sword to help you."
He smiles, a pull of his lips which lights up his face. He looks almost angelic.
Strange how someone whose looks are so filled with light can carry so much hate inside.
Brahma liked to say we were opposites in that sense.
He had no idea how black my heart is, how similar to Noah I am. If he had, he wouldn't have said I was an angel with the face of a devil. No, I’m but a human who happened to discover he’s immortal, one who's never wanted to use the full extent of his abilities. One who would never be able to face the consequences if he did.
But Noah knows.
"Oh, but you will," he says. "Not only are you a powerful Ascendant, you also carry the bloodline of an ancient queen. You're the only one who can harness its power."
"And then what?" I ask. I want to keep him talking; anything to buy me more time.
"You still don't get it, do you?" He asks. "Brahma may have been wrong on many counts, but he was right about the future of this city. It is the epicenter of new economy. This very earth we are standing on will be worth billions in the coming years. I plan to use the power of your sword to control the city." He chuckles. "I am going to use you to break into the psychic network of the Ascendants. Then I’ll use the power of the sword to amplify the network until it extends to the minds of the entire populace of this city."
Claimed: Paranormal Romance (Immortals, Vampires and Shifters) (Many Lives Book 4) Page 9
