“But I have only just awakened. Won’t you spend some time with me like in the good old days?”
Peering over her shoulder at him, she couldn’t deny his handsome face when his eyes seemed so much like Michael’s. She gave a curt nod and a beautiful smile spread across his full mouth.
Arthemis straightened up and pulled her into a tight embrace. Then, he took her hand, leading her down the trekked path to the small river nearby. He sat her down on the soft grass. His arm draped around her shoulders, and he looked up at the clear sky above as it changed shades to darkness.
He pointed at the stars that were starting to shimmer in the blanket of the night and said, “Instead of thinking of our next lives, we should live out this one. Like those stars that are shining brighter than any gem in your collection, I wish for you to feel elevated and content with the world I will build for you.”
“I do not want the world.” She pushed his arm off. “I want the suffering of mortals to end. I wish for the blood to stop painting the streets we walk on, the fear to be gone from the humans we come across…”
His expression hardened. “You do not understand this world. Your blindness to reality has fooled you into believing that everything is well. In truth, this realm is riddled with wars, starvation, and disease. If I am not in control, someone else will be. Be it the greedy gods who believe humans and witches alike belong to them or the kings who wish to expand and conquer. You will be in the middle of it all. You will suffer the most for your gifts.”
“If a time like that comes, such will be my fate.”
“You are fate. You have shaped this world and the humans around us. After your life in the Angel Realm, you must know that fate is only a mechanism that can be manipulated.”
She shot up and glared at her son. “Fate is more than that. I did not play with it to gain something. I did what I thought would make the souls happy!”
“I was not talking about you,” he said in a soothing voice. “I speak of the gods who remain. What is stopping them from creating more fates and using them to do everything in their power to teach you a lesson?”
Her lips pressed together into a grim line. He was correct. Nothing was stopping the gods from joining their energies and creating more of her kind. The new fates would not know of the past and would obey the will of the gods without question. She, too, once was an obedient little girl who did as she was bid. “It is getting late, I must rest.”
Arthemis nodded and rose from the grass. “Would you like me to walk you to your tent?”
“No. I will walk alone.” She started to amble away and halted as a thought came to her head. “Tomorrow, your aunt will arrive. We have not seen her in a long time, and it will be good for you to spend some time with us and not your children.”
“As you wish, I will make time for family.”
“Good.”
She left him to observe the river that rushed by. Even now, she was on the edge of abandoning her plan and hoping that, with time, her son would see reason. Humans did not need to die or become like him for them to co-exist. Certainly, she and Arthemis would need to try harder to integrate into their society. But she was willing to move around every ten or twenty years to keep people from noticing that they did not age. Would that be enough or was she making yet another excuse to not go through with her plan?
That night, she did not get any sleep. She tossed and turned on the bed, making the linen sheets messily wrap around her body. As dawn neared, she sat up with dark circles under her eyes and ran her hand over her face. She was tired, restless, and wanted for her journey to end. It was the reason why she and Hartwin got along so well. He wished for his life to end also as the gift he possessed since birth had terrified him and brought him endless nightmares that twisted his memories. Runa, his blood-sister and the most recent addition to Arthemis’ close circle, was eager to rid herself of the demon that ate away at her sanity. To this day, Lilia found it fascinating how Runa could keep a demon at bay for so many years and not succumb to its slithering voice in her head. With two of Arthemis’ children on her side, she knew that she could complete her mission successfully.
In the next cycle, as her son had said, she would need someone to protect her; someone who willingly would give her his everything and ask for nothing in return. Without access to the Angel Realm, she couldn’t create a person like that, not without help from her sister.
As if summoned by the spirits, her sister glided into the tent with a smile on her sun-kissed face. “Lilia, how I have missed you!” She outstretched her arms and engulfed Lilia in a tight hug. “I thought I would surprise you while you slept, but I see that my scheme was pointless.”
“I am glad you have come to my aid,” Lilia replied, pulling away from her sister.
Diya looked around. Her long chestnut hair slid around her shoulders like the most expensive of silks. She lowered her voice and leant in. “Are you certain this is what you want? I will help if I must, but he is your only son.”
“It is precisely because of that that I must be the one to end this,” Lilia whispered back. She took Diya’s hand and led her to the table with fresh fruit that was arranged in a golden bowl next to a loaf of bread that the servants had baked for Lilia the previous day. “Are you hungry? Would you like some tea?”
“I am famished after the long journey from Pratisthāna. Thank you.” She sat on the carved chair by the table and called out to the entrance of the tent, “Come in and meet my sister, Malachi.”
Lilia stared at her sister with her mouth hanging open. “You brought him? I thought the two of you decided to end your love.”
Diya shrugged as a tall, muscular man with tanned skin and snow-white hair entered the tent. His pale blue eyes seemed to reach into the depths of Lilia’s soul and know her from inside and out. He strode to them and lifted Lilia’s hand to his lips.
“I have heard much about you,” he told her.
Lilia blushed at the velvety voice he used. She shook her head lightly, trying to shake his charm. “You lied to my sister! How dare you treat me as if we are on the same level?”
Malachi was about to reply when Diya stepped in front of him and linked their arms together. “He is my eternal love as Michael was yours. We both made mistakes in the past, but we have found happiness together once more.”
“The ritual requires sacrifice,” Lilia began. “If we wish to complete it, we both will perish in this cycle.”
“I know. Malachi promised to wait for me to be reborn.”
Lilia studied the demon who possessed what seemed to be a mortal’s vessel. “How many souls will you devour to stay among the living in that time? It could be thousands of years before the next cycle. Will you be able to wait that long and not stop loving my sister?”
“I do not need to devour souls to remain in this realm,” Malachi replied smugly. “This vessel is half-demon, an offspring from my predecessor and his human woman. My sustenance is that of life energy.”
“You are the same as your daughter then!”
Malachi did not react to Lilia’s anger. He gave a shrug of his shoulder and sat at the table before popping a grape into his mouth. “I will make certain Yakshi does not get out of line while Diya is not here.”
“You care so little about my sister’s passing. Do you even love her?”
Diya pinched Lilia’s arm. “It is always a spectacle with you. If I did not know any better, I would think the world in your mind must be ending each day.” She crossed her arms over her ample chest and sat on Malachi’s lap. “We have talked much on our way here. I will do what I can for you, Lilia. My life and yours were forsaken the moment we were forced out of the Angel Realm anyway.”
Lilia lowered herself into the seat opposite them and rubbed her tired eyes. “I am sorry if I spoke out of line. I cannot bring myself to sacrifice two mortals for this ritual.”
“It is your selfishness that is pulling your sister into this mess,” Malachi said, wrapping his arms pos
sessively around Diya’s middle.
“I know. I will never be able to apologise enough for this,” Lilia mumbled.
“Oh do not look so forlorn.” Diya reached over and massaged Lilia’s hand. “Death is a path to a new beginning for us. We will return and live carefree lives we were supposed to have, away from these troubles and gods’ interferences.”
“When do you plan on doing the deed?” Malachi asked, still appearing unhappy.
“Tonight. We will host a celebration for Diya’s arrival and isolate Arthemis away from his children. Runa will distract the other vampires while Hartwin and I will weaken my son. You and Malachi will have to prepare the ritual in the meantime.”
Diya nodded. “Malachi will oversee the ritual and protect us if anyone tries to intervene.”
“There is one other task I need your help with,” Lilia said, intertwining her fingers on her lap nervously.
Her sister took an apple from the bowl and bit into it. “Do go on.”
“I need your help in creating a man’s path for when we are reborn in the next cycle.”
Malachi and Diya stared at her with round eyes.
Once she finished chewing her food, Diya poured herself some wine and drank from the golden mosaic bowl. “You wish to create a mortal? To sever a soul from their original path and repurpose them to your will?”
“I may need a protector in the next cycle. We do not know what world we will awaken in…” Lilia said.
Malachi snorted. “And here I thought you would be the reasonable sister.”
“That is unheard of, Lilia. The magic you speak of is forbidden and could create something dangerous. If fate becomes irrelevant to a being, they can carve their own path in life. They could become a god if they so wished.”
“You are right,” Lilia replied. “It sounds dangerous. I may not be able to control them in the next cycle.”
Diya slid off her lover’s lap and pulled Lilia to stand next to her. “It sounds fun! We must do this and create a wonderful being. What shall we name him, or do you wish for it to be a woman? What about their features? Oh, the endless possibilities!”
“The witch I made a pact with will take my soul into her bloodline when I die. I have arranged for a demon to awaken me when the time for the next cycle is right. But, my vessel will be that of a woman. Only women in the witch’s lineage possess their powers.”
“Then a man it will be,” Diya gushed. “And the name? Achillas? Augustus? Julius?”
“I like the name Lucius.”
Diya bounced up and down in her excitement. She linked hands with Lilia and closed her eyes. A prickle of her sister’s energy met with Lilia’s mental shields. Allowing for her sister to unite with her, Lilia closed her eyes and focused on the vast fates of the mortals who were yet to be born from the Well of Souls. What the gods in the Angel Realm did not know was that fates could connect with the well from anywhere. They were created from its waters and had a deep connection with it regardless of whether they were in the Domain of Fates or not. It had allowed them to continue their work on a much smaller scale, so the gods would not notice their involvement.
They focused on the way the Well of Souls looked, visualising everything from the sparkling blue waters that brushed their ankles and the dazzling lights of soul orbs that danced beneath the surface to the mist that surrounded them and created a barrier between the Angel and Human Realms.
“There are millions of souls waiting to be reborn,” Diya said. “Shall we merge a few into a new one?”
“No. It would break their cycle. I will find a suitable soul. Give me one moment.” Lilia took a stroll around the waters, thinking hard about the soul she wished to find. They had to have strong determination, courage, unconditional love, and a desire to protect. A few souls heard her call, rising from the waters and hovering above them.
“They’re beautiful!” Diya shouted from across the way.
Lilia was about to reach for the soul in front of her when she stilled. Her attention was drawn to a red soul that burned brighter than the sun. She made her way to it and studied the man she was ready to choose. He had fought many battles in both of his previous lifetimes. He had suffered great loss and wished to be loved for who he was and not the bloodstains that brought him glory. She took a peek at the cycle he was due to be reborn in. He would become a powerful political figure who would bring ruin to the world if he did not find his soul-mate to balance out his need to possess. She could not let such a soul become a monster.
“I think I have found it,” Lilia called to her sister.
Diya waded through the waters to her and studied the shimmering orb. “I never thought you would choose someone so…violent.”
“He must be strong in order to defend me and my goals,” Lilia countered.
“I see. If you have chosen, I will not question your decision. Let us shape his life together.”
They linked hands again with the soul floating between them. Placing their left hands on the sphere, they separated it from the flow of fate that it was destined to follow. They raised the orb above their heads, and Lilia blew out a breath before pushing her energy into the soul.
“You are my creation, Lucius. You will suffer pain, loss, and be feared in your next cycle. You will keep your devotion to the cause, your honest heart, and your thirst for love. When I am reborn, I will grant you everything you desire if you follow the path of my protector.”
Diya quickly added, “No gift comes without sacrifice. You will grow in power and learn to control it, but the lives given for such boon will never leave you.” She looked at Lilia and winked playfully. “Do not be afraid of defiance. Your path is no path. You are beyond fate, beyond the will of the gods. Such is your journey.”
They finished the ritual by releasing the soul back into the water. Lilia turned to Diya with a scowl etched on her face. “Why did you add defiance? What if he defied me?”
“What is the point in being obedient? He might not have a will of his own if you manipulate him to that extent. Let him live his life, Lilia. He may be your protector, but he is also in need of being loved. I do not see you giving him that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your love for Michael has not faded for a thousand years, and I fear that it never will. Your protector’s soul desires to be loved unconditionally. If you cannot give him that, someone should.”
“Are you implying that I should share a body with a mortal?” Lilia demanded.
Diya draped her arm across Lilia’s shoulders and kissed her sister on the cheek. “It wouldn’t hurt.”
Lilia woke up in the bedroom Ben had assigned to Helena. The memories of her sister made her miss Diya. Without her liveliness and bubbly personality, it was hard for Lilia to keep on this journey.
When she could not kill her son in the last moments of the ritual, she had promised herself to not involve Diya in her problems from then on. Her sister had already sacrificed her immortal body in the previous cycle for Lilia’s cause. Being weak of will and heart, she cost them both their immortality for the sake of trapping her son in the portal gate to the empty fourth realm. From Helena’s memories, she knew that Reaver had gone through the gate and was on the other side. One day, he would return. He was not a man without a plan. And when that day arrives, Helena would need to be prepared for whatever evil he had planned.
Lilia shook off the melancholy that was consuming her and left the room. For the place they were in to remain secure from the supernatural creatures, she needed to put wards around it. In her search for Ben, she had passed two male hunters. She did not care for banter with the others when work had to be done. At the same time, she had sensed their distrust and dislike of her. Helena was much like Lilia in her early years. She wanted to bring peace and balance to the world around her. After living for an eternally long amount of time, Lilia had learned that once in a while comes a time when being docile and bending backwards to please others will do more harm than good. History and
life were a cycle. The world sought its own destruction by planting seeds of rebellion within people. If they pursued their selfishness and greed, the realm around them would ultimately suffer.
There was no way to stop it without controlling every soul and taking their free will away. It was why the matter or reshaping souls was taboo in the Angel Realm. Toying with the essence of a soul could destroy the balance of the world around them. On the day she had reshaped Lucious’ soul, she had not considered the consequences of her actions. Though, if he perished on the night they had opened the gate to the fourth realm, it may be for the best.
Arriving in the kitchen, she found Ben talking to the female hunter, Freda. Their conversation came to an abrupt end, and she didn’t wait for them to resume it.
Lilia sauntered to Ben. “I need materials to put wards around this building.”
He cleared his throat and said to the woman, “We will finish our conversation later.”
The blonde begrudgingly left the kitchen, leaving her and Ben alone.
“Why do we need to ward this place? It’s far from the city centre and the new Council building. It would take vampires a while to find us.” Ben rested his hip against the counter as he crossed his arms. “And when did you take over Helena’s body?”
Lilia pursed her lips. Had her protector not abandoned her and done his job correctly, she would not be listening to pointless questions. Diya’s meddling with Lucious’ soul in the past had given him too much freedom. She should have listened to her gut and kept him as a servant and not a man her vessel was in love with. “I took over when she fell asleep. Her spirit grows weaker the longer she fights me. I, on the other hand, am perfectly capable of waiting for her to lose control.”
Ben blew out a heavy breath. “What would we need to kill Arthemis?”
“What about the ward materials?” Lilia pressed.
“I will ask Otto to shop for them when he has the time. Right now, we have bigger problems. The chatter on the streets is that Arthemis has claimed a body of a Councilman and is summoning Class 5 vampires from across Europe to come here.” He raked his hand through his dishevelled brown hair. “That’s not the only thing he’s been up to. Homeless people are going missing in large numbers. We believe they are turning them.”
Fated Origins: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 4) Page 19
