As was the girl at the grotto.
The goddess’s curse had hit him once again.
Cass knew it had. Because it wasn’t just Aodhan who’d mated with her cousins, her sister. No wonder he’d felt so abandoned by his friends. So betrayed. Time sped up around them, and there he was again.
Nalik watched Cassandra from the window of his family sitting room. He always watched her when it was this late in the day. When the males under his command were inside and she had little defenses against whatever threats may still lurk. He watched her every night until she was inside and safe.
His mother stood at his side. “I know what she is to you. Filthy whore.”
“Do not ever call her that again.” He didn’t even look at his mother. “She is much more than you will ever understand.”
“She’s filth, like the rest of her family. Deserves to die. They all do. And they will. They will get what’s coming to them. In the end. For what they did to your brother and sister. You should be the one to kill them.”
Nalik turned then. His hand shot out and he wrapped his fingers around his mother’s throat. It was the first time he had ever touched her in anger. “You will never speak such ill again. Especially of my Rajni. She is no more responsible for her grandfather’s evil than I am my grandfather’s.”
“Your grandfather wasn’t evil. He was a good man. A noble and famous one. He made you what you are. You should be proud of him!”
“Every Kind has its evil. Dardaptoan or human. Do not forget that.” Nalik released the bitch who’d whelped him. “You do anything to any of the Taniss females—especially mine—and I will have the skin flayed from your back nine times over. The way your noble and famous father did mine before I was old enough not to piss my pants. I will kill for her without blinking.”
“Even your own mother?”
“Especially my own mother. Because I know what you are capable of. You will never harm Cassandra. In any way.”
“So you protect them then? They killed your brother and sister! You dishonor them!”
“Then so be it. She is my Rajni and everything that is good in this world. You will not take that from me!”
Cass hurt for him so badly. Why had his mother hated him so much? How could she not look at him and see what a good man he was?
“She is vain, spoiled, and sanctimonious. She hates living amongst the peasants. But she likes the prestige this tribe can bring. Her old one is still stuck in the past ways. Very primitive.” Aureliana was still there. “Nasty. I’m glad I don’t still live there.”
“He watched me every night, didn’t he? I could feel him sometimes. Why didn’t he come closer? Say something?”
“He was afraid to. He’d lost everyone he’d ever loved, and to this day I think he still blames himself. He’s never forgotten Kindara’s words, her curse. I don’t think she realized how powerful those words were. I didn’t know, until recently, what had happened between them.”
“I am so angry with her right now.” Cass felt compassion for Kindara, but had Kindara none for Nalik? He’d been hurt that day, too. Didn’t anyone see that? Or care? “They could have grieved together. She didn’t have to push him away.”
“I know. But she was hurting in that moment, and blaming herself, too. It was her idea to go that day, you see? And Nalik had always protected everyone. That was the one time he’d failed. I don’t think she even remembers what she said to him. They’ve not really spoken to one other more than casually since that day. He is afraid to get too close to her. He doesn’t want to hurt her more now. Even now. Especially now that she is finally happy again. He was bringing toys of Iavius and Erastine’s that he’d saved from their infancy. He was going to give them to Kindara’s babe.”
“Was?”
“There was an attack on the dharanlji. It’s a special life force that the goddess used to make our people. I don’t know how she did it. Nalik, Aodhan, Rydere, and your father and uncles were there. Nalik saved them all. But he was hurt.”
Cass needed to get to him, see how badly he was hurt. See it for herself. “Are we finished here?”
“I don’t know. Are we?”
Cass took a deep breath. Stood. “I think I am. I think I understand now.”
“I’m glad one of us does. Let’s go back to Phaenna’s cottage. We are finished, but I’m not sure Nalik is. And we cannot get out of here without him. We do have one more stop to make, I think.”
Cass blinked, and then they were back in her room at Rathan’s castle. She could see herself sleeping in the bed. She was naked.
Nalik was at the window. It was that night, then. He was outlined by moonlight and stood naked. So strong. His muscles bulged where he braced himself on the window sill. The tattoos were just dark patches on his skin.
The scars of her grandfather’s torture shown white in the moonlight. She’d seen them, of course, but the somehow they seemed worse now than they had then.
He turned and walked back to the bed when the sleeping version of Cass shifted beneath the blankets. He slipped in the bed beside her and pulled her against his chest. He kissed her hair. He held her for a long time; Cass was vaguely aware of the sky lightening outside the castle, though only a few minutes had passed for her and Aureliana. Finally, he looked to where she and the other woman stood.
The tears down his cheeks had matching ones rushing from her eyes. He was holding the her in the bed so tightly it surprised that she hadn’t awakened. He lowered his head to her forehead and mumbled something. Cass stepped closer to hear it.
With every breath I possess I will breathe in your soul. I will love you always.
Cass was vaguely aware of Aureliana putting an arm around her shoulders. “He doesn’t just want you because you’re his Rajni, Cass. He wants you because he loves you. Don’t forget that. And please do not hurt him; the man has been hurt enough.”
Cass nodded.
The next time the world around them spun they ended up back in the cottage. Aureliana placed a plate of cookies in front of her. “Eat. Babes need food. Cookies are always good.”
Cass hadn’t allowed herself to think about that. She would later. Now she was just focused on finding the baby’s father. “I understand why you showed me all of these things. But why were Nalik and I chosen to come here? I still have so many questions.”
“Don’t we all? They’ll be answered. Probably not today. I still have so many questions of my own, as it is. It’s hard to accept, but we all have a destiny that hasn’t happened yet. But it will. We just have to prepare ourselves. And others. Because it is coming. And we must be ready. Or it will consume us all.”
Chapter 54
It took him a moment to realize that he wasn’t frozen in that damned paralysis any longer. But he also wasn’t in any world that he was familiar with either.
He walked at the woman’s side. She was about the same size as Cassandra, possibly a little shorter. A lot curvier. Just as beautiful. Her skin was warm brown and flawless. Her eyes were as green as Cassandra’s. When she smiled at him she had perfect white teeth and two dimples beside her mouth. It was hard to tell her age, but she was without defect.
Who was she?
“I am Phaenna. Have you heard of me?”
“No. Can’t say that I have.” But he had an idea who—or what—she was. “Laquazzean?”
She beamed at him like she was pleased with a dimwitted child. “That knowledge saves us some time, then. Come on.”
“Do I have much choice?”
“We always have choices, Nalik Arus Black. Even you.” She picked up speed. Nalik kept pace. “Your female awaits.”
“Where?”
“Well, we have a few places to go first. They will be hard ones, can you stand up to the task?”
Could he? This woman was stronger than any of the deities he had met so far. More powerful than any creature in any realm. And she wanted to show him something? He honestly didn’t see where he had a choice. “I can.”
>
“You weren’t cursed, you know? Just so you don’t go on thinking it. Everyone played out their destiny because of their choices, not yours.” She clapped her hands and in an instant they were in the basement of Taniss’s laboratory. “This is ten years before you were taken. Recognize that male there?” She pointed to a male in discussion with Taniss. Nalik remembered him as one of the doctors Taniss had used when he tortured him. “He sold his family out for a million human dollars. He’s a Druid. His sister’s blood flows in your Rajni. Taniss kept her as a brood mare. She birthed him four children before she died. They are in their twenties and thirties now—you will need to help your Rajni’s father find them. They each have destinies that will need to be fulfilled someday.”
Nalik studied the five men around the table as they discussed blood types of the early process of DNA matching. They discussed it so coldly—and referred to their test subjects as rats. Because that’s all the people in the basement were to them.
Nalik turned and walked out of the lab. He knew the way—it was the same place he’d been kept. He’d never wanted to see that hall again, but now it didn’t matter. “Where’s my Rajni?”
“She’s safe now. With Aureliana. But someone harmed her today. Eaudne and Aureliana were prepared and protected her. You will need to thank them for that.”
“I will.”
“Your female will change today. You won’t.”
Nalik stopped walking and spun toward his companion. She had a smirk on her lips; one that told him she knew her words bothered him. “Have questions, don’t you? You are used to being in control. And thirty years ago aside, you always have been. When it counted. Can you give up that control to someone else?”
Somehow he doubted it.
“Not even to a half-Druid human girl more comfortable in the dirt than the dining room?”
“That’s different. She is my Rajni.”
“Not really.”
He grabbed the woman’s arm and jerked her to face him. “Explain. Now.”
“You are no longer a Dardaptoan. Therefore you do not have a Rajni.”
“You’re saying she’s not…mine?” He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
He couldn’t lose her. Not his Cassandra. “She has to be.”
“She’s not your Rajni, Nalik. Because you were Laquazzean long before you met her.”
“So why did my soul tell me she was mine, then? Was it all a lie?”
“Oh, she is yours. And your goddess did give her to you. But when you were together you were not Dardaptoan. And she never will be. Neither of you will be. Nor will your son be.”
“What will she be?” Would she be harmed by whatever this Phaenna had orchestrated? Was she safe now? Was this all a lie? How was Aureliana involved?
He could say with absolute certainty that his cousin would never let anything happen to Cassandra while in Aureliana’s care. That was the only reassurance he had.
“Different. Not like you’re different. More like Aureliana different. In fact, Aureliana has decided to adopt her as if Cassandra was born of her. It’s what Aureliana will do as a Laquazzean.”
Nalik felt himself relax. If Cassandra became as Aureliana was, she’d be whole and safe—and damned near indestructible. “What purpose is there in a young human girl ascending to the Laquazzeana?”
“Because only that young human girl can check you. You’ve not just been a Laquazzean for thirty years, Nalik Arus Black, you’ve been one that was altered in an unnatural way. Your strengths are growing. Strengths like that can eat at a man’s soul. There must always be balance. Always. Cassandra was picked to be tasked with the protection of your soul. There will be other tasks of her soon, but keeping you in check will be her primary goal. Think you she can handle such a task?”
He closed his eyes and thought about how he felt when she touched him. Good, clean, honorable. “I pray she can.”
“She will.” Phaenna grabbed his hands. “Now. For the rest of what you need to see. Come.”
She waved a hand.
They were back in a Taniss Industries laboratory. There were people screaming and crying. But it wasn’t the same people Nalik had watched die. “When is this?”
“Ten years ago.”
Nalik studied the faces of Taniss’s victims. “Did Rydere not find these people?”
“No. There are thirteen more Taniss laboratories out there. Still operating the same way as the one your brother and sister died in. People are still dying because of him. Now his eldest son—his true eldest son, not Cassandra’s father—runs the experimental facilities. You must find him. And you must stop him. Promise me you can and will do this.”
“I will.” He wouldn’t quit until the man was stopped and punished for what he had done.
“He’s the one who offered the price on your girl’s head. Jealousy runs so deeply in that man that it has eaten away at his soul. And I am not sure that he is human. But I do not know what he is. It has not been shown to me.”
Nalik listened to her words as he watched the beings around them. Some were obvious Dardaptoan, some Lupoiux, and some demon. Even a Druid. Three witches were naked and chained in a cell that was open and exposed except for one wall.
And in a far dark corner sat a lone man.
Nalik drew in his breath and stepped closer, certain his eyes were playing tricks on him. The male kept his head lowered, but if he were to move, Nalik was certain it would be a male he’d known for centuries.
And one thought dead fifty years. “Thas. Why is Thas there? I thought him dead.”
Phaenna stepped closer. “Another of Taniss’s captures, I believe. You know him, Nalik?”
The male turned, and Nalik shook his head. “I do not think so. For a moment, maybe…it is not him, is it?”
Phaenna shrugged. “More questions. There will always be more questions. Find this laboratory, Nalik Arus Black, and maybe some of your questions will start to be answered.”
He nodded. “There will be more to come for us, won’t there?”
Phaenna’s eyes were filled with sadness. She clapped her hands and they were on a cobbled road. “Yes. There will be a great deal to come. Nine times. Remember that nine times will be the answer. I know it’s cryptic, but it is all I can give you. Nine times, and you and Cassandra are only the second.”
“Who is the first?”
“You already know.”
Aureliana. “Who will be third?”
“That won’t be known until it happens. I only know of a few. I do not know the rest. I am sorry. There are some things that a Laquazzean does not know.”
Nalik nodded. “Where is she?”
“She waits up ahead. Send Aureliana out when you are finished and she and I will take the two of you home.” Phaenna dropped to her knees in a small flower garden. “In the meantime, I shall tend these flowers. I do not wish Cassandra to think me a poor gardener.”
Nalik didn’t listen, just picked up his step. The door opened, and Aureliana stepped outside. She held her hands out to him. “Nal. Good to see you in this place, I think.”
“Where are we, Auri?” It was the one thing he couldn’t recall asking Phaenna.
“The nineteenth layer. And not hell like you’ve always thought. Apparently there is one more than we’ve known. Laquazzean can live here comfortably, I think. Something to keep in mind, if the other worlds get to be too much for Cassandra. I think she would like this place, with its wildly growing flowers and such. Go. She waits inside. I will help Phaenna; I have more questions for her.”
He hugged his cousin. “Thank you. For protecting her. For bringing her here.”
Aureliana nodded. “It was part of my destiny, Nal. We are forming a new Kind. Those of us who come to this place. Not Dardaptoan, not demon. Not even fully Laquazzean. Our babes will be these new beings. And we will all be blessed because of it. Remember that—this is a blessing as well as a burden.”
Aureliana smiled. “I love you, cousin.”
<
br /> “And I you.” It was the first he’d ever said it to this woman he’d known most of her life. But he meant it. Meant every bit of it.
“Your female awaits.” Phaenna called from behind them. “Don’t dawdle.”
Nalik didn’t need any more reminding.
She was sitting at a table playing with a ball of yarn, of all things. She looked up at him, her eyes shrouded and mysterious. “I can’t knit, Nalik.”
She had the yarn knotted around her hands. Nalik grabbed one hand gently. He started untangling her fingers. “I can. Do you see a need for it?”
“Where are we going to live?”
“Where do you want to live?”
“A place called Thrun. There’re plenty of plants there. Interesting ones.”
He recognized the name of the city where the Dardaptoans were relocating. “Already have it figured out, do you?”
“Not really. Just hoping.” She held her other hand out to him. “I’m very confused here.”
A slight bit of panic was in her words, in her eyes. He solved that by pulling his female into his lap. “Any particular reason you’re knitting?”
“Trying to.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “I don’t know what babies in this world wear.”
He stilled. “Cassandra…?”
“We’ll need things for a baby. Blankets and booties. That kind of stuff. And apparently this baby is going to be a bit on the magical side. What do we do if he—and Aureliana said the baby is a boy—levitates out of his crib or something? I’m not sure I can handle that.”
He closed his eyes at the depth of what he felt in that moment. Her, a babe, it was more than he had ever thought he deserved. “What if he decides to plant carrots in his pillow? That’s just as strong a possibility.”
“I guess it is.” Her fingers curled in his hair. “I’m afraid. Of everything.”
“I know.” And he did. And his biggest fear was losing this woman in his arms. “So am I.”
“I don’t know what to do. What to think.”
“No. I don’t think either one of us do. We shall have to find our own path.”
“I won’t do it alone. This whatever it is.”
Out Of The Darkness Page 22
