by Heather Linn
“Cat, do you really believe that? Do you think that there is anything that you can't handle? You are the bravest strongest person that I’ve ever met. If you are the human in the prophecy, we will face it like we have faced everything so far, together and hell bent on having it our way. Here, I want you to have this and wear it for me OK? So no matter where we are, alone or together, you will have a little piece of me with you.”
Darien took off his survival bracelet and attached it to my wrist. “Darien, I can't take this. It belonged to your dad and you have never taken it off.” I couldn’t believe that he was even suggesting that I take it.
Walker had tried to take something from every set of parents that wouldn't be noticed, some small article, just so we had one thing to connect us to where we came from. He had managed to take a camping bracelet from Darien's Dad. It was really cool, made out of 20 feet of parachute cord weaved into a beautiful red and black pattern, and I knew it meant the world to him. That simple twisted bracelet was his prize possession and he wanted me to have it. I didn't feel right taking it.
“Darien I can't keep this. Please take it back? I appreciate it but what if I lose it?” I was really concerned. This was a big deal. I would never be able to look him in the eye if something happened to his bracelet.
“Nonsense, you are keeping it,” he insisted. “Yes, it’s important to me but it’s nowhere near as important to me as you are. I don't have much to give you, Cat. No money in the world. But Cat, my bracelet looks amazing on your wrist. I want it there. It would make me happy.” and with that, a tight hug, and a quick peck on the forehead, the disagreement was settled. The bracelet felt perfect and secure on my wrist. It made me feel connected to Darien more than I did the moment before. He had no idea how much better his few words had made me feel. The bracelet gave me the courage that I needed. For the first time since the Doc started this stupid premonition stuff, I felt OK and ready to take on the world if need be; because Darien told me I could do it, that we could do it, so I knew everything was going to work out.
Chapter Nine
When I opened my bedroom door to leave, Darien's hand in mine, I was ready. We were going to march up to Walker and demand to see the paper that could make or break me. I deserved to know what was in that prophecy, especially after living with the grief of killing my family when all that fault was on him. I was sure that if I chose to leave, Darien would follow me to the end of the world and back. Knowing that there was someone that would love you like that was empowering. Knowing that there was someone out there that trusted me just as much as I trusted them provided the motivation I needed to conquer my fears and that is what I was going to do. We were going to stand up to the man that still thought he was the boss.
When my door came open something stopped me in my tracks. Kira was standing there with her hand in the air ready to knock. God, she even smelled like him. I couldn't help breathe in a little deeper, trying to catch and keep the essence of him, or at least his scent. Her aroma was so much like his, a mix of danger and warmth and the tiniest hint of vanilla. I needed that smell on my skin, it was so hard not to go to her and take it. My cheeks reddened a little at the thought. Then Darien spoke up.
“What in the hell are you doing here Kira? I am not convinced that you are who you say you are, so you stay away from Cat until I have time to figure you out.” For once I was OK with Darien talking for me. It actually felt nice to let him fight this battle. It felt even better knowing that he could be mean to her because for some reason I wasn't sure that I could. I wanted to, don't get me wrong, but every time I looked at her, I couldn't decide if I wanted to run away from her or run to her and that was a really unsettling feeling.
“I need to talk to Cat. I need to see her alone to find out what she knows about my wealthy brother. I can't talk to her with you here playing knight in shining armor. I am not the bad guy here. I am as much a victim in this as the both of you are.” Something about the tone in her voice told me that she had no intention of letting Darien prevail on this one.
“And what exactly does that mean Kira? How do you figure you are a victim? Do yourself a favor and never compare yourself to either of us again.” Darien was getting impatient with the word games.
“It means that I am straight, she is straight, and you are madly in love with a woman that is pulled towards us monsters. Sounds like we are all pretty screwed up around here and that is why I don't understand why you’re fighting this so hard. Don't you want her to be free of us? Don't you want her to be all yours?” When I heard her put it that way I almost agreed with her
Darien’s hand tightened on mine, squeezed hard just for a second, and I wasn't sure which direction he was going to take. He was either going to tear into her, which I was secretly hoping, or he was going to step aside, seeing her reasoning and letting her have her way. It was so quiet, so tense between them, that I think that you could have heard a pin drop a mile away. She knew that the next move she made would depend on how he reacted to her statement. I could tell by looking at her body language that she was ready to pounce and fight for what she thought was hers. As soon as I realized that I shuddered. Was I hers? Did she own a part of me just like Akia did? Did I have any say at all who I really belonged to? Maybe Walker had been right that day in the cellar, maybe humans had always been an enslaved race.
Darien's voice broke into my thoughts. “Fine then. Talk to her, but you touch one hair on her pretty little head and I will hunt you down and kill you with my own two hands.” The anger in his voice could have moved mountains but she wasn't at all impressed by it.
“Hmm sexy, I am always up for a challenge, and I have always loved a good game of cat and mouse. It is lucky for you that I think it would kill me if I harmed her. I will be honest with you Darien. My life would be a lot more normal if pretty girl over there was dead.” I don't know if I should feel better about her reason for not draining me and ending her misery or not, but heck, I would take it. “So instead of being so hateful big boy, you should be thanking me. I am not sure how this connection between she and I works. I am not ready to die and ridding myself of the grief that comes with Cat might or might not end me, but I am not willing to risk finding out yet.”
Kira sounded like she meant it. I knew without a shadow of doubt that if Akia ever found out that I was human, he would share the same feelings as his sister. However I wasn't certain that his control and willpower to not kill me would be enough to master the hit that his pride would take, if he knew that a human had tricked him.
I guess I should have been glad that she didn't want me alone to just off me. Then again, maybe letting her kill me would be a lot less embarrassing and humiliating than what she had planned for me. How was it that trouble could find me even when I was trying to behave myself?
Darien pulled me aside away from her. “Cat, promise me if she tries anything you will scream. I will be through the door faster than you can blink.” He was afraid. I wanted to tell him the whole thing was stupid, that I didn't want to be alone with her, that I didn't care what she wanted or needed. I wanted to grab his hand and pull him with me the rest of the way down the hall. I knew that if I did that, she would just be waiting around the next corner. I couldn't run away from her forever.
“I promise, Darien. Things finally feel right to me between us for the first time in a long time. I am not going to let anything take that feeling away from us.” He kissed me on the forehead. “She isn't going to hurt me. I can tell.” One last kiss from my new found happiness and I turned to face what could be the stone that shattered it.
Chapter Ten
My room seemed a lot smaller than it had a minute ago. This time I was sitting on the bed as far into the corner as I could get and she was the one pacing the floor. The waiting was killing me. If she didn't talk soon I was going to go crazy.
“I thought it would be easier if I talked to you alone. I hate to admit it but I am kind of missing your smart ass boyfriend. I can deal with anger
but dealing with you is completely foreign to me.”
Kira was a nervous wreck. My guess was a moment of anger had brought her here. Anger gave her the courage to stand up to Darien, but it is always a different story when you win the battle and get exactly what you want. Then you have a hard time trying to remember why you wanted it in the first place.
I felt myself flashing back to a conversation just like this one that I once had with Akia. At least I could take some solace in knowing that I wasn't the only one that got uncomfortable at a time like this.
“You can have my attention for about two minutes Kira, but not my trust, so don’t get too comfortable. Just because Walker says you are Akia's twin doesn't mean a thing to me. It isn't like he has been the most honest being lately. You could be some nut-job that is trying to ruin everything that Walker has built here. Hell, you could be a spy. Maybe you are reporting everything that you see back to some big bad Dominus base somewhere and they are going to swoop in and kill us all when we least expect it.” OK, maybe I was being a little irrational but I think I deserved the right to go crazy on my own time at least.
I was so wrapped up in my own mental tribulations that I didn't even sense Kira move. Before I knew what was happening she was on top of me in the bed. I had started out in the corner and she was using that to her advantage, pressing her body against mine so hard that I was trapped between her warmth and the wall. I thought for sure she was going to kill me. Apparently my flippant attitude outweighed the risk of her dying with me, and she was just going to tear out my throat. I should have screamed when her hand wrapped sensually into my hair, I should have cried out for Darien, but I didn't. I didn't because I didn't want her to kill him too, or maybe I didn't because if I screamed out, I would miss the excitement of what was about to happen next. Death was the last big rush, right? Why put off the inevitable? She pulled my hair so hard that she bowed my neck towards her. I went limp and closed my eyes. I felt her breath closing in. It was so warm, sending tingles everywhere, whenever it brushed across my skin. The bite never came. Instead her mouth crashed into mine pushing against my lips so hard that I felt them bruising. My world spun. The sparks, the pain, the need, the burn, it was all there. I tried to fight her off. I tried to keep her out, but her tongue was working against my lips, teasing them open and at the same time her mind was trying to break into mine. It was all too much; the familiarity of the situation, the trying so hard to keep him out, all the while knowing that I wanted to let him in. I wanted to feel him in my mouth and in my mind. I wasn't going to win this fight. The woman on top of me could have thrown a car across town if she wanted to so I gave in. I parted my lips and opened my mind. I didn't have to hide from her like I had to hide from Akia. She knew what I was and who I was and she was kissing me anyway. Her tongue felt so soft as it slipped over mine. Her lips swelled and her tongue moved so much more tenderly when she felt me give in. Everywhere her body touched mine, my skin was on fire. I was kissing her back. Pushing all the hurt and all the need left over from Akia into her, and she was letting me. She was willingly taking the memories and the hurt and they weren't breaking her. They were making her kiss me more passionately. I needed that and she knew it. I needed to be allowed to grieve over his memories and there had been no one in the world that I could do that with until now. I could see into her mind too. She was confused. She hated herself for how her body was reacting to mine. There was something else too, she was afraid of me. She was afraid because she knew she couldn't keep me, afraid because she knew that she couldn't compete with the two men in my life and wasn't sure that she wanted to. I was so sick of feeling that in everyone's kiss. As suddenly as she had started the kiss she broke it. My mouth gave out a whimper of protest. It was wrong and I hated myself for it, but I wanted more. I opened my eyes, expecting to see her right there, but instead, she was as far away from me as she could be, hovering in the opposite corner, pressed tightly against the wall. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were wild with want.
“Do you believe me now?” she panted, tracing her lips with the tips of her fingers, trying to wipe away something that neither of us could see.
“I-, what the hell was that all about? You can't just do stuff like that to mess with my head Kira. You are not him, damn it! It isn't right that you can make me feel the way he does.” I knew somewhere deep down I was being way too harsh with her, but I couldn't stand how wrong I was feeling.
“Trust me, I don’t want to. I could have gone my entire life without doing that. I promise you that it just made everything 100 times more complicated for me, but I needed you to believe me. And face it Cat; you are more stubborn than any other being on this planet. If I hadn’t done it, we would have the ‘I am a fake’ argument for the next ten years.” I hated to admit it, but she was right. “Cat I need you to promise me something here and now.” She just kept talking like what had happened meant nothing.
“I can’t promise anything until I know what it is you are going to ask of me and I don't make a habit out of making deals with demons.” The last comment was intended to hurt her, but if it did, she never let it show.
“We are both smart women,” she continued, “and we both have the same goal at heart. I know that there are a lot of weird emotions rolling through your head right now, and yes we are going to have to deal with them as much as we don't want to. I need you to go to Walker with me and prove to him that you are stable enough to see the prophecy. The truth is, time is running out Cat. We have to get moving and take action or the human race is going to die out, just like the races from the other planets.” I was trying to listen to her words instead of watching her lips form them. The thought of those lips were giving me chills. “Cat, are you even listening to me?” I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. She had caught me! Damn, this was fast becoming annoying.
“Yes I am listening. Please don’t tell me that you think I am the girl in that prediction. I really want to believe that you are smart and level headed Kira, but if you think that that stupid piece of paper is real, then I am wrong. I am not her; I am not the girl that man was writing about, and who knows if that man even existed?” I told her the truth. I really did want someone 100 percent on my side.
“I need you to come with me to find Walker and I need you to read what the prophecy says before you disregard it. You owe it to yourself and to Darien and Jaden. You even owe it to Akia.” I balked at the last thing she said. She shouldn't be allowed to say his name.
“Disregard it? Why in the world does everybody keep talking about this prophecy like it’s a good thing? I don't want it to be about me; I have enough problems and more keep showing up knocking on my door.” That earned me a smile and a wink from her. My heart fluttered. For crying out loud! How do I get control of this?
Chapter Eleven
After fixing of my hair, a little calming of my pulse and a lot of argument from both sides, the three of us were sitting in Walker's office. I was in the middle and something about that felt right. I was sure that both parties would disagree with me, but we would fry that fish when we got to it. Walker was about as pleased to see us as I thought he would be. I liked that he was pissed. Walker pissed was easier to argue with than the cool, calm, phony scientific Walker.
“I think we have the right to see this magical piece of paper that you have decided to rearrange everyone's life for.” I was being rational and mature; two things that I am not very good at.
“What do you all hope to gain by seeing it? It isn't going to change a thing if you see it.” Walker was determined to keep his secrets and his attitude had to be changed. I couldn't spend the rest of my life wondering what big secret he was going to throw at me next, and evidently neither could Darien.
“Look Doc, the days of you controlling our every move are over. You lost my respect when I heard that it was you pushing boundaries that led to losing the people that I considered family. It’s as simple as showing us everything or Cat and Jaden and I walk.” Darien seemed to have gain
ed self-confidence and courage in the last 24 hours. It was good to see his old self coming back again. Then it was Kira’s turn to chime in.
“Walker, if they go I go with them and I take the rest of my team with me and then you will have nothing left but your notebooks and you’re your thoughts. Your life time of work will be useless. Is your stupid prophecy worth that loss?” While I didn't like the idea of her and her team going anywhere with me, Jaden and Darien, her strategy seemed to work on Walker. With a very, very, noticeable sigh, Walker got up out from his chair and disappeared for what seemed like forever.
He returned with what was a very impressive treasure chest looking box, making sure that each methodical movement he made signaled that he was not at all happy about the fact that he had to show us what was inside. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe I expected the box to glow and all the sins of the world to come flying out, or maybe I wanted a scroll seated on a red cushion with laser beams all around, but for whatever reason when the lid was opened, I felt nothing but disappointment. There it was, just a piece of paper rolled up tightly laying on the bottom of a wooden box. That simple little rolled up paper could change my life forever?
My stomach flip-flopped when Walker stopped moving. He sat the box on the desk, took the paper in his hands and started to unroll it. He was doing it ever so carefully and slowly, like he had done this ritual a thousand times before. I knew he wanted us to stop him; to tell him that we changed our minds and we didn't want to know the deep dark secrets the simple piece of paper held. Hell, maybe we should have stopped him. I was kind of hoping one of the two other people in the room with me would stop him but that didn't happen. When none of us spoke, Walker cleared his throat and prepared to read. It was so hard to keep quiet. I didn't want to know. I was holding my breath and didn't even realize it.
