Interra (Awakened Series Book 5)

by Harley Austin

  “Like a VP?” Serena asked, pulling a black pair of the same style of yoga pants from the shelf where Rion had taken his from. She dropped her towel and slipped on the pants. While not as snug as she would have preferred, the guy-style fit well enough. She then found a grunge-colored thick-cotton V-neck-collar B.U.M. sweatshirt and slipped it on. The shirt was a bit oversized, but fleece fabric felt nice against her skin.

  “Aren’t you cold?” She asked, pulling the sweatshirt around herself feeling warmer now.

  He shook his head. “I’m fine. It’s nice. I can turn up the heat if you like?”

  “No, I’ll be okay. I kind of like the cold.”

  Rion got up from the chair. “You should call your friends and let them know where you are so they don’t worry.”

  Serena found her phone by the elevator while Rion listened as she talked with one of her friends. “Hey, I’m at Rion’s place. How are y’all?”

  Rion grinned listening to her friend go off with excitement. It wasn’t his fault if he could hear both sides of the conversation.

  “Rion!” Serena moved toward him as he sat on one of the short couches in the living room. “You were right. The whole campus lost power!”

  He nodded.

  “So, what are you guys doing to keep warm?” she continued, taking a seat next to him and stuffing her feet under his thigh to keep them warm. “Uh huh,” she continued. “No, we still have power here. … No, Cel, I’m going to stay here tonight. We’re not going out into this storm.”

  When Serena had finally finished, Rion was just coming back into the room after tidying up the bedroom.

  “I put our clothes in the wash for tomorrow,” he began, taking a seat on the couch again. “Maybe we should start keeping some clothes for you here, you know, just in case,” he grinned.

  “I didn’t realize I was moving in?”

  “Well, you never know,” Rion looked away with a cute smile and a shrug.

  The thought of moving in with Rion, in such a fabulous apartment didn’t exactly leave Serena uninterested. “How long do you think this will last?” she asked, looking at the snow still blowing against the windows.

  “It might be another day or two, Serena.” He took up his phone to tap up a weather report. “We might be stuck here with each other for a while.”

  “Bummer,” she mused.

  “Yea, I was thinking the same thing,” he grinned, snuggling up next to her.

  It wasn’t long before Serena’s yawn finally got the both of them off the couch. Rion yawned with a stretch.

  “You can take the bedroom, Hon. I’ll crash out here.”

  “Ah, no.”

  “Hmm?”

  “I’m not going to make you sleep on the couch.”

  “You’re not making me. It’s just—”

  “I don’t bite.”

  “Serena.” Rion moved up to her. “I’m trying to stay out of trouble with you.”

  “I’ll behave myself.”

  “No you won’t.”

  “I have self-control. Really I do.”

  Rion rolled his eyes. It wasn’t her mind he was worried about, it was her body he didn’t trust being next to his. But after the hot tub, he was just too tired to try to explain it to her. “I’m not even sure I’ll behave myself.”

  “You’re sweet,” she said. “I think we’ll behave ourselves,” she grinned.

  Serena’s words didn’t exactly put Rion at ease. At this point Rion had no intention of going any further than he had already allowed himself to go in the hot tub. But he reluctantly allowed her to pull him into his bedroom. They pulled back the fine bedding. Serena slipped between the cool sheets followed by Rion. Both moved together as Rion wrapped his arms around her, spooning her warmly and tightly as the lights dimmed out.

  Feeling Rion wrapped around her under the covers in the cool of the room settled Serena’s shivers quickly. His warm body comforted her in ways she had never felt before. In the peace and warmth of Rion’s embrace, Serena sank quickly, deeply into sleep.

  Rion smiled to himself listening to the quietly sleeping Serena, his psionic tendril snaking slowly and invisibly from her mind. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Serena, he did trust her. It was their biology he didn’t trust. She had already seriously challenged his willpower in the hot tub. With the two of them snuggled together in bed on a cold stormy night and Serena’s hands likely all over him? The thought gave him warm shivers.

  He slowly moved away to his side of the bed and listened to her breathe; listened to her heart slowly beating, smelled the scent of her body, and sensed the stillness of her feelings as she lay sleeping. He lay beside her in the dark just taking all of her in. He thought about their first kiss a few hours ago and how sweet she had tasted.

  Whatever Cardinal rules he had broken to be laying next to his sleeping Serena, he was glad he did. He replayed their conversations. So, tell me something about you. A secret. Her words made Rion smile. You have no idea who I am, Angel, he thought to her.

  With his side of the covers pulled away, Rion lay on a big pillow, his arms above him with his head resting in his hands; he stared at the ceiling in thought. He wondered what she would say when she finally found out about who he really was—and who she really was. He was all but certain she was like the others. Would she want to be awakened? It was her birthright. Still, Rion had known of others who’d refused to join the family—refused the infusion of the Ra genetics that would render them a god. It had never ended well for those people.

  One thing was for sure; he had never felt this way about anyone before. Whoever Serena was, he had really fallen for her. He had never been in love with anyone. He recalled what his mom had told him about women; what his dad had said to him about his mom. His parents were a couple truly head over heels in love. He wondered if he and Serena could ever have that kind of love. Yea, maybe, he thought as he slowly drifted off thinking only … about … her …

  13

  R ion awoke. The fuzziness in his head was fading slowly. The air was cold; really cold; too cold. Even the ring on his hand was silent. He frowned, lifting his head slowly. He had been stripped to nothing; his muscular arms outstretched and pinned tightly against stone with a series of banded restraints. He could stand but his legs were also similarly retrained. As his vision cleared he found himself in small stone room with wide steel bars that made up one wall.

  A heavy metal door just outside the bars of his cell opened. A man entered wearing a thick hooded parka and mittens, his breath visible in the still frigid air. He lifted off a knit face mask and smiled handsomely.

  “G-day, mate.”

  Rion had never seen the man before; his Aussie accent thick, unrefined, an outbacksman.

  “Who are you?”

  “Your benefactor, for now. I’m the guy keeping you alive.”

  “As a prisoner?”

  “Yea, well you could be in much more dire straits, I’ll tell ya that.”

  “What do you want?” Rion looked around his cell.

  “Don’t bother. Analyze it all day long. At this temp you can’t do anything about it anyway. Even your little toys stop working,” he said pointing at Rion’s hand.

  “What do you want with me?” Rion barely felt strong enough to stand or move. Even such thin restraints were able to hold him from escaping.

  “I haven’t quite decided yet. Depends on how cooperative you are and what we can negotiate.”

  Rion suddenly remembered. “I know who you are. I don’t negotiate with assassins,” Rion assured.

  “Assassin? Ooh, that’s a rather strong word.“

  “Is it? You murdered my parents!”

  “Murdered? Oh, you got me all wrong now Rion. I’m just protecting what’s mine. Truth is, they’d still be alive right now if they had just been a bit more reasonable. I just hate breaking up little families.”

  Rion angrily jerked weakly against the restraints, “You sick bastard! I’ll tear you apart!”

&
nbsp; “Simmer down now, Rion. We can settle scores later. We have bigger fish to fry at the moment.” He waited for Rion to stop struggling. “I just need a bit of information, that’s all.”

  “I’m not giving you anything,” Rion glared.

  “Yea, I kinda figured you’d say that.“ The man seemed to examine Rion’s face closely, as if looking for some telltale weakness. It was obvious the man didn’t really want to kill him; clearly he was after something.

  “What do you want?” Rion jerked.

  “Not much. Just the keys to the city.”

  “Go to hell,” Rion advised.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk; temper there now, Rion.”

  “How did I get here?”

  “I’m the one asking the questions. I’ve been to Olympus.”

  “You won’t get in.” Rion glared at his captor.

  “Yea, I sorta found that out already.” The hooded man winced a smile. “Truth is, I’m not really interested in your little town, Rion. It’s power I’m after—real power.”

  “What are you talking about?” Rion listened.

  “The tomb, Rion. The tomb of the ancients; the final ancient resting place of our ancestors.”

  Rion’s being was suddenly filled with dread. “It’s a myth. It doesn’t exist.”

  “Oh no? I beg to differ. You see, I think found it.”

  “So you found a tomb; big deal; why do you need me?”

  “Don’t play coy with me. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  Rion’s stare narrowed.

  “It seems the ancients had a nasty habit of locking up their treasure. I need a key.”

  “And you think the I have it?”

  “Oh you have it alright, only my guess is that you don’t know you do; because the ancients hid it from you. When the Sentinels broke away from the Seven, they took the key with them. I’m willing to bet it’s now buried in some repository, obfuscated or encrypted somehow.”

  “What’s in this tomb?” Rion probed.

  “Same thing that’s in every tomb––knowledge, wealth, power.”

  Rion shook his head, “You’re insane. Even if I had some key, you don’t expect me to just turn it over to a murderer like you. I’ll die first.”

  “Oh, I’m sure I could probably arrange that,” the hooded man removed a large blade and pressed its point up against Rion’s under raised chin. “Nice and slow, if you like.”

  Rion swallowed hard.

  The outbacksman slowly lowered the wide blade from Rion’s chin, sliding the cold flat steel down his neck. The cutting edge of the blade trailed against his skin, feeling razor sharp. The blade drifted down onto his chest and against his thick outstretched pectoral. He felt the bare metal bump along his abs. Rion quickly looked around the room for something, anything that might be used as a tool. But there was nothing, it was too cold, his mind would just not telekinetically grasp anything in the room.

  With his legs slightly spread, he felt his manhood now being lifted with the flat of the old trapper’s blade, his thick jewels pressed against the cold steel.

  “You got nicely packaged, here, ay, Rion? Be a shame if you couldn’t ride bareback with the ladies.”

  Rion turned his head to look away from what he felt was about to happen.

  “Nah,” the old trapper scoffed, looking wryly at Rion. “You’re makin’ this is too easy, Mate.” He pulled back the blade. “I have a better idea. Maybe I should turn my talents toward someone a bit more––interesting, like your Sheila for instance. Maybe that would garner me some cooperation then, ay Rion?”

  “BASTARD! If you touch her I’ll—” he struggled hopelessly against the restraints.

  Rion awoke suddenly with a start. He found Serena still deeply asleep next to him. A subdued early morning light flooded in through the windowed wall of the bedroom. Snow was still falling lightly outside. Wow. The dream lingered very vivid in his mind. You gotta lay off the hot tubs, Rion. But the dream was no joke. It remained fresh and haunting in his thoughts.

  He looked warmly, protectively, at Serena. Rion couldn’t help but watch her sleep. He marveled at her; how cheerful she always was and their little frolic in the hot tub the night before. He wanted to kiss her sweetly sleeping lips but resisted, not wanting to wake her. He instead breathed in the scent of her sleeping and then slipped silently from bed still in his yoga pants from the night before.

  Wandering out into the kitchen, he glanced all around at the blowing snow. The storm had still not subsided. Over the continuum he could easily see the frigid Canadian air mass that had stabbed deeply through the Midwest and pierced the normally temperate climate all the way to San Antonio including parts of northern Mexico.

  But the much warmer waters of the Gulf were fiercely rebuffing the harsh cold front, causing the snow to blow in small to heavy gusts from low clouds outside. He briefly surfed the continuum in a routine check of systems and messages. It was quiet. Good. He could actually relax and enjoy the little hiatus from work.

  A set of built-in couches next to the corner windows of the apartment sported a gas flame fireplace within a sunken floor that Rion had made into a library nook. He brought up the flames and sat relaxing with some fresh brewed coffee and sat back to mentally read the weather and news sites for what kind of havoc the storm had caused and estimates on how long it might last.

  Not surprisingly, a good chunk of their local area had lost power. Rion sipped his coffee while watching the flakes continue to fall. He smiled, hearing a certain someone yawn and stir in the bedroom on the other side of the apartment.

  It wasn’t long before Serena found Rion and stepped down into the glass corner reading nook, her eyes fixed on the snow still blowing outside.

  “Wow.” She moved to the window to watch the snow continue to fall heavily.

  “It’s not letting up either,” he remarked. “It’s being fed by really cold Canadian air. The weather services are saying that it’s going to be tomorrow before we see any hint of sun.”

  “I should call Celeste; make sure they’re alright.”

  Serena found her phone and got through.

  “Hey,” she greeted warmly, her voice still a bit sleepy. “How are y’all doing? … Really!?” Serena’s voice picked up as she listened to her friend on the other end. “Hold on … Rion, half of San Antonio has no power!”

  Rion nodded. “That’s what I’m reading too,” he acknowledged, holding up his iPhone, but not showing her the blank screen.

  “But you guys are still okay?” Serena continued with several of her friends now on the phone, “Uh huh …”

  Rion listened to the conversation in amusement. It was fun listening to Serena talk to her friends. She wandered into the kitchen and made herself a mug of some hot cocoa half filled with coffee while they all talked.

  “No, we did fine up here. Our building still has power. … Uh huh, we do.” Serena made her way back to the nook. “Rion, did you know that all of downtown has no power?!”

  “That’s what I’m seeing, Hon.”

  She folded herself into the couch next to him. “How do we still have power and everyone else is out?” she asked.

  Rion shrugged. He wasn’t going to tell her the tower had its own Reflex power cores. He was pretty sure she didn’t know what yottajules and petarads were anyway.

  “… Fine. We had homemade pizza and then sat in the hot tub … Yes, Celeste, he has a hot tub. Really?! … Cel-este!” Serena scolded and frowned, rolling her eyes at her friend’s sordid banter. Rion smirked as he continued to listen in on both sides of their conversation.

  “It looks like we may be stuck here for another day at least, maybe two, I don’t know.”

  Serena talked for another few minutes with Rion watching and listening. Finally she said good-bye.

  “How are your friends and everyone doing on campus?”

  “Oh, they’re fine. Everyone’s camped out in the main hall where the backup generators are.”

  Rion
nodded. “Celeste giving you a bad time?” he chuckled.

  “Yes. She’s just jealous. She thinks—well, never mind. It doesn’t matter what she thinks. Aren’t you cold without a shirt and socks?” Serena bristled. The apartment was warm, but it wasn’t that warm. The gas fireplace of the nook at least warmed this spot in the apartment.

  Rion shook his head, “No, it’s nice, actually.” He stood up from their couch to stretch.

  “I’m not complaining, mind you,” she said ogling every square inch of him in the skin-tight yoga pants.

  He chuckled, sitting opposite from her now on the couch and slipping his toes gently under her tush. He didn’t really need to keep his feet warm, it was that he just wanted to be touching her. “How did you sleep? You fell asleep really fast.” He grinned over the top of his mug.

  “Hot tubs always do that to me. And then I sleep like a baby all night.” She sipped some cocoa. “How about you?”

  “I laid awake for a while watching you sleep and thinking about things. Once I finally did get to sleep I slept really well. Only, I had this really vivid dream about the two of us last night.”

  “Was it fun?” she smirked.

  “No, it wasn’t that kind of dream,” he said, becoming serious all of a sudden.

  “What happened in it?”

  “I was some kind of prisoner. It was really cold. They wanted to use you to get to me, and make me do their dirty work.”

  “That sounds ugly.”

  “I know. But it feels like there was more to it than just a dream about being stranded in the snow. It was really vivid.”

  Serena’s own thoughts pondered what Rion was saying. “You’re not the only one with vivid dreams. I haven’t told you this before, but—I’ve seen you in my dreams. Believe it or not.”

  “Oh? Good dreams I hope?” He sipped his coffee with a smile.

  “I don’t know. The last one wasn’t. You were out in the desert, riding a fast bike.”

  Rion’s brow lifted. “Oh? What was I doing?”

  “There were a lot of bad people shooting at you, trying to kill you.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a good dream.” He frowned behind his cup. He wondered what her genetics were capable of revealing about himself. Newblood women were often much more sensitive than men when it came to premonition. It often seemed like Lisa could all but write the future before it happened.