It was an offer she’d never extended before. An offer many in their shoes would leap to take.
“I’d rather not have to destroy you to gain your allegiance,” Livia added.
“No,” Quinn and Santi said in unison. They didn’t even need to discuss it. “You’re asking us to betray our own kind—our families. It’s just not an option. This….” Santi gestured to the whole of Soma. “This is not how you earn a person’s allegiance.”
Quinn nodded in agreement as he sat up, but his voice caught in his throat. Something oppressive crashed into him. A presence unlike any he’d ever experienced threatened to suffocate him. He couldn't seem to get back on his feet or catch his breath.
“What’s the matter with you now?” Livia said. “I couldn’t have hit you that hard … shit.” She turned toward the door. “He's here. Ummm … hide. Now!” She tugged her gloves off and dumped half the contents of the water bottle over her head. “On the balcony. Quick.”
She heaved Quinn up to his feet and ushered them toward the back of the gym and onto the balcony beyond the open glass partitions. She frantically shoved them against the brick wall.
“Here. Get down and keep quiet. He’ll take you from me if he senses your strength. You don't want that.”
“What’s going on?” Santi demanded.
“Please, Santi. Hide,” Livia begged as she broke Santi’s restraints, sending the chain retracting back into the wall.
It was so unlike her it startled Quinn. The silvery ice of her eyes warmed into green fire as she stepped back inside, returning to her punching bag.
He pulled Santi down to the cool slate floor, crouching in the corner. He couldn't fathom why Livia wanted them to hide from the Immortal who’d just entered the building and was on his way up to the penthouse. But if his ancient lifeline was any indication, simply hiding was not going to shield them from Livia's father. Quinn pulled an oversized wicker lounge in front of them, praying she wouldn’t do what he knew she was about to do.
"Won't he sense us?" Santi whispered.
"She has a plan for that and I'm sure it involves me," Quinn said. "Lay down here beside me, Santi." Quinn maneuvered their position until they were both laying on the floor behind the lounge, peering through the bottom of the glass partition. From their vantage point, they had a good view of the gym where Livia was busy beating the hell out of her punching bag as if she’d spent the afternoon working out at home alone.
“Stay quiet and do not fight me on this, Quinn. I’m honestly trying to help you,” Livia whispered as she backed away from the bag, glancing in their direction. Her power charged through him like a kick from a bull. Whatever control she’d exerted over him before was nothing compared to the force she pressed against him now.
“What’s happening?” Santi reached for him when he cried out. Her hands fluttered over his face, searching for something she could do.
“She’s using my gift to shield us.” Quinn managed to get the words out, but between his fear of Livia pushing him too far and the arrival of the oldest Immortal he’d ever sensed, he was a total wreck.
“Is it … her father?” Santi’s voice was almost inaudible as she shrank against him, pulling his arms around her, trying to make herself as small as possible.
Quinn nodded, holding on to Santi as tightly as she clung to him. Their lives depended on remaining silent. If Livia’s father sensed them, it wouldn’t bode well for either of them. If Quinn hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t believe it, but Livia was protecting them. She drew on his cloaking ability like a leech, taking everything she could from him to shield both Santi and Quinn, not just from her father’s sight, but from sensing their Immortal presence—something Quinn himself could not do with his own gift. He’d often suspected he would be able to do that eventually, but it was decades beyond his current ability.
“Where are you?” The curt voice reached them from the penthouse living room. Livia’s father didn’t deign to shout for her, but his urgency was clear.
“In here, Father,” Livia called in such a calm voice, Quinn would never suspect she was in the midst of using her power in such a way. “I’ve just been working out,” she said, dabbing a towel over her brow to mop up the “sweat” from her workout. “I thought we were meeting at the restaurant later. I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you.” Her tone was respectful and polite but there was no warmth there for the man who’d raised her.
“It’s urgent.” Her father marched into the gym like he owned the place—which he probably did.
Quinn and Santi peeked through the window, watching with bated breath.
“Can I get you a drink? You look like you could use one. Let’s go to my office and sit.” Livia tried to direct him out of the room and away from her two charges, but the ancient Immortal just sat on the weight bench in his Italian suit and waved his bodyguards away, gesturing for them to close the door behind them.
“This must be bad,” Livia said dryly, crossing her arms over her chest.
“She’s escaped.”
“Who? Mother?” Livia frowned.
“No, of course not. Your mother is safe at home.”
“Still in her gilded cage?” Livia sank to the floor opposite her father.
"I don't have the patience for that old argument, Livia. We have much more important issues to discuss than where I allow your mother to spend her time."
"You must mean the queen, then? She’s escaped?” Livia asked in surprise. “She’s been your most prized captive for two thousand years. How on earth did she manage it?”
Santi frowned up at Quinn in confusion, and he shrugged in response. They couldn't possibly be talking about the queens of Indriell. They all died ages ago.
"That is not important right now," Livia's father said, his voice like acid.
"Mother let her go, didn't she. What did you do to her?" Livia stood up like a shot, facing her father with a riot of emotions flitting across her face. Fear, intimidation and fury.
"Despite what you think of me, I only have your mother's best interest at heart. She means more to me than you will ever know, but yes. I did have to punish her for her transgressions against me."
"Where is she?"
"That is why I am here. You will lead the hunt for the queen."
"Not the damned queen! Where is my mother?"
"Porcia is fine, but you'll not see her again until you have returned Alísun to me. Your mother’s visitation privileges have been revoked for the time being."
"She isn't a child you can just ground to her room when she displeases you. She’s a powerful ancient and you treat her like her only role in life is to amuse you … and obey your every decree.”
"Livia, stay on point." His eyes flickered with impatience.
"Fine. You want my team to lead the hunt for an eight-thousand-year-old queen of Indriell? It's impossible." Livia took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and looking her father in the eye.
Most young Immortals in her shoes would cower and hang their heads in the presence of such an ancient. Her bravery in the face of her father's ire said more for her character than anything Quinn had witnessed from her since his arrival at Soma.
Livia continued to draw on Quinn’s power, pulling him into that dreaded danger zone—the imaginary line in the sand where he stopped using his power with care and started using it for pleasure.
We like her at the helm. She gives us a taste for freedom. The voice of his gift hissed in his mind. The voice he hadn’t heard in years. It was a warning signal that he was reaching the point of no return. He needed Livia to stop pushing him—now. Or it was going to be too late for Quinn.
“No,” he begged, trying to resist Livia, but she wasn’t having it. She took what she needed to shield them, sending him racing for the edge of his endurance.
Quinn groaned in frustration. The taste of so much power coursing through his body lured him in. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t in control—that she could do whatever s
he wanted with him. He wanted this.
Yes! That’s right, Quinn, his gift agreed. Just let go. Let us have this. It’s what we need.
No. I can’t do this again. But the more he focused on the power raging inside of him, the more he wanted to fall down the rabbit hole. He wanted nothing more than to give in to the urge—to use again. The temptation was always there. But no matter how far Livia pushed him before, he’d always fought to stay in control. But in that moment, he was more afraid of what would happen if he gave in to the addiction than what Marcus would do if he discovered Livia’s prized pupils.
Soft hands cupped his face. "Stay with me, Quinnton," Santi whispered in his ear, pulling him back into the moment with her. “You’re okay. Let her do what she needs to do. I won’t let you give in to the addiction. Focus on me.”
“Santi.” He pressed his face into her hair, too ashamed to meet her gaze.
“Look at me, Quinn.” She tilted his face toward hers. “It doesn’t define you and it doesn’t lessen the person you are in here.” She tapped his forehead. “I’ve seen power like yours before. I’ve seen the strength it takes to resist the temptations. You’re a rock. You don’t have it in you to fail. Focus on me and we’ll get through this together. One breath at a time.”
His lips found hers and he held on to her, letting her be the rock he needed in that moment.
"And how shall I find her?" Livia demanded. "I have nothing to go on and since you will not let me speak with Mother, I can't know what the queen might be thinking. Who she will seek? Where she will go? She has been a captive for two thousand years. This modern world will frighten her.”
“I’ve been told she plans to go back to where it all began,” her father said.
"What does that even mean? Where do I start? My team is good. But we’ve always focused on the younger generations. The best, brightest and youngest. That's what you've always wanted for Soma––an army of the most technologically advanced Immortals on earth. We rarely hunt anyone more than a few decades old. You're setting us up for failure. I don't do failure, Father. You know that. So tell me what I need to know."
“She will seek her Complement. Together they will ‘return to where it all began.’ That is the key to finding them.”
“Her Complement? I can't recall who he was." She frowned.
"Every Immortal on the planet knows of Alexander, but when asked, they can’t recall a single detail about him. Hunt for Alexander. When you find him, you will find Alísun."
"Alexander? The Scholar?" Livia gaped. "You expect me to find a man who refuses to be found? A man half our world is convinced is a myth and the other half believes is a joke?”
“The Scholar is a useless old loon with a flair for the dramatic. Find him. Find him before she does and he will lead you to her. They aren't smart enough to stay away from each other. Not after two thousand years apart. Their weakness is their bond."
"But isn't that the weakness of all Complements? In your estimation, at least?" Livia’s mocking tone could cut glass.
“The Complement bond is our greatest weakness, child. The need for that other person drives us to do stupid things. In Indriell we never recognized the bond. Not among the nobility. Until Alísun’s mother, Eiselynn, betrayed me and bonded with that commoner, Ian. That was the day our world began to fall apart. The royals messed with the natural order that day. It led to the Great War and sullied the power for us all, yielding the world to the mortal masses. I will see order restored. I will see the royal line extinguished. It is time.”
“As you have reminded me constantly for the last decade,” Livia muttered.
“My gift lives again, my child. I can feel it. The ancient royals have done everything in their power to shield their line from me, but I will find the boy from Alísun’s prophecy. I set the task to you more than a decade ago and you've failed time and again to bring him to me. He will be approaching his Awakening soon if he hasn't already. It is vital we find him before his gifts fully manifest. This setback with the queen must be resolved straightaway. I want you back in the field, tracking this royal offspring who had the audacity to be born with my gift."
"This boy you seek, Father … will you just take what belongs to you and leave him to rot?"
"I will drain him, and when given the chance, I will see him dead. The Indriell line will end with him and those bonded to him through birth or other means. A new order will arise from the ashes of their dead kingdom. It is long past time Immortals stopped hiding. Alísun gave our world away, but we will take it back before the mortals destroy it like the cockroaches they are."
"And Lord Teigan will rise again to take the throne for himself," Livia whispered.
"You mock me, but the world will know me as the Lord Teigan again when I shed the name Marcus Servius. And I will reward you for all your hard work, my daughter. See you don't betray me and you will rise with me."
"If things had gone the way they should have, you wouldn't have risen to power as Eiselynn's consort all those years ago. She was destined to be queen and ruler of Indriell and you were meant to be nothing more than powerful DNA to pass on to her daughter. Can't you let it go and … I don't know, live your life for once? Or let those around you live theirs?"
“Eiselynn was weak. I was chosen as her consort because I could rule in a way she couldn’t. The queen’s council was on my side and she swayed them back to hers. I will have what the Enlightened failed to give me. And this time I will win. You are part of my master plan, my darling girl. The world will be your oyster. I will lay it at your feet one day soon. See that you do your job. Find Alexander and you will find the queen. If you cannot deliver them both to me, collared and on their knees, bring me Alexander and I will use him to manipulate her.”
"Who is Alexander?" Livia asked, shaking her head in confusion.
"This will be impossible if you do not focus, Livia.” Marcus heaved a great sigh of impatience. “Alex is the Scholar. His gift will make you forget everything you know about him as quickly as you remember it. You have to resist his influence.”
"How do you expect me to find a man I keep forgetting exists?”
“He is a scholar. He is weak. You and your team can overpower him if you can get close enough. Get to him before the queen does. If she finds him first, I will be displeased. The queen is a prophet, a psychic and a warrior. You and your team have no chance against her. Get to the Scholar and she will show herself. She will sacrifice herself to save him the life she has known under my care.”
"And how do you propose I do that? Approach the Scholar when he can see me coming?”
"Jayesh will be arriving shortly to help. Let his gift do the work for you. But my sources tell me you have a talented young man with a gift for invisibility. I suspect you are shielding this boy from me even now. Your eyes give you away, my dear. I know how you keep your most difficult children close, yet the house is empty except for you and I––but you wield your power as if surrounded by enemies. Use Jayesh to stay a step ahead of Alex and then use the boy to trap him. She will show herself. Bring the queen to me. And then, for God's sake, finish breaking the boy. You're dragging your feet with this one and that girl you've insisted time and again is useful. Do with her what you will, but I'll expect you to either prepare the boy for market or train him to join my staff."
“I'll see him sold to the highest bidder before I'll ever hand him over to you."
"Still money in my pocket, my dear. Either way, it is your choice." He stood to leave.
"What of my mother?" Livia demanded.
"Porcia is at home where she belongs. Comfortable, surrounded with everything she could ever want."
"Except the freedom to come and go as she pleases?"
"Until I reunite with my gift, it is not safe for her to be out in the world. She will have her freedom one day. She understands that."
"She hates you for it, but she loves you enough to allow you to have your way. She will eventually tire of it." Livia shook he
r head in disgust.
“I believe you have a mission to plan, daughter.”
“Of course, Father.”
“Then I will see you when you get back. Call in any of the reserves you need. My resources are at your disposal, as always. Jayesh has just completed a mission for the Senate, in some godforsaken corner of Africa. He’ll be back home soon. You two can make quick work of this problem if you’ll stop bickering like spoiled siblings long enough to work together. I expect to see the queen back where she belongs. Immediately.”
Quinn and Santi sat in stunned silence for a long time after the ancient left the building, clinging together as they watched Livia resumed her stance at the punching bag. She drew on Quinn’s power until he was a breath away from losing control. Santi’s constant murmurs of encouragement kept him grounded.
With a last resounding kick, Livia burst the bag, the sandy contents running out like time from an hourglass, falling to the pristine white floor. Her shoulders sagged and she let out a deep breath, releasing her hold on Quinn for the moment.
His breath rattled in his chest, and Santi had to help him up.
“So now you know,” Livia muttered as they joined her. “I’m just as trapped as you are. But my father is deluded enough to think that because he doesn’t brand me with his mark that it doesn’t make me his slave. Come with me; we need to meet with my team to discuss our plan. I’ll need you both for this mission. We leave tomorrow night.”
~~~
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Sasha: Summer
The Chola Valley Temple
“Stubborn, arrogant ass!” Sasha paced along the edge of the fountain, waiting for Mother Raghavan to join her for their evening walk through her private gardens.
“What has you so frustrated this evening, Sasha El Sadawii?” the mother asked, surprising Sasha with her silent footsteps. “No doubt, Jayesh again?”
“The man is impossible to work with, mother.” Sasha sighed. “Every time it seems we are making progress, he pulls away and we’re back at square one again. I’ve tried, mother. I’ve really tried to make this work, but I’m afraid we’re just spinning our wheels.”
Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3) Page 15
