by Jaymin Eve
What can I say? It’s great to be me … I trailed off for a prolonged pause. If you discount the fact that billions of entities, seven worlds, friends and family are all relying on me to keep them from being dissolved into a mass of energy. And I have no idea how to do that. Yeah … it’s just great to be me.
Sigh. I couldn’t think about the responsibility. It was truly crushing. The fear. It coated my tongue and sent waves of an acid-type burn through my body. Here and now. I had to just focus on the here and now, or I’d be insane long before the last tether fell.
Brace took my hand and pulled me in to his side. You’re not alone, sweetheart. Never alone.
Damn, now all of sudden I felt like superwoman or something. And my surge of confidence was about to come in handy; we were going into the room. Our first steps were cautious, but knowing time was our enemy, we didn’t delay any longer. The five of us moved further into the area.
“What the hell is this room?” Lucy trilled, her feet just off the ground, her wings barely moving.
Brace, who had been staring hard at something on the left wall, was the one to answer. His voice bit out, laced with the kind of steel forged in the fires of hell. “This is where he kept his equipment. The devices used to bend us to his will. To break us.”
As I fully comprehended his words, a sudden burst of absolute fury rocked through me. I knew that Brace had suffered at the hands of his father, but something told me it was even worse than I had imagined. And I had a great imagination.
My mate left my side then, striding forward to that wall he’d barely taken his eyes from. That side of the room was composed of built-in ceiling-high shelves. There were at least a dozen strange devices slotted into each of the storage areas, and I could not have even told you what one was. Brace reached out – and I doubted that anyone else noticed – but I saw the slight tremble of his hand. I was so killing Que. Dude was a dead Walker.
Brace scooped up a metal object. It sort of resembled a toaster, but one that had about fifteen coat hangers attached to it.
Colton, who stood right behind me, did his wolf growl. “I remember that friggin’ thing; attacked me in my sleep one night.”
Brace wasn’t speaking. He simply stared at the device in his hands, and then I felt the shift in the air. Before I could speak or lurch forward to reach him, he shut down the connection in our minds.
Power exploded from him.
He must have clued Colton in on his plans, because a barrier was erected around us moments before the blast. Through the visible waves of energy I was relieved to see that another shimmery barrier surrounded the two tanks of Walker, which were about ten feet from us.
Brace! I shouted for him as I tried cracking through the wall between us. Brace had me locked out with a cold and brutal strength, which I had not even a fraction of power to dissolve. He didn’t want me to know his thoughts right then, and even though I wanted to know everything about him, I was sort of glad not to be reliving his torture with him. Brace might not have been in this room before, but the weapons clearly held memories. Unhappy memories.
I didn’t realize how hard I’d been pressed against Colton’s barricade until Lucy took my hand and pulled me back. I dropped my gaze and my heart warmed at the love that shone from her baby blues.
“It’s going to be okay, Abbs. We’ll rip the demons from their lives; we’ll make them whole again.”
Guess I wasn’t hiding my worry very well. I squeezed her hand, unable to speak when so much pain was engulfing Brace. When he was hurting, I was hurting. He was trying to shield me from it, but I could feel it. Tears pricked at my eyes, heat engulfing my throat as I tried not to lose it and cry like a big baby. The last thing Brace needed was to deal with my emotional breakdown too.
Colton turned his body to shield us. “Close your eyes,” he said, his voice a bite of demand.
I knew better than to argue. My lids fluttered down, and almost immediately I wanted to open them again to find Brace. Luckily I didn’t because another blast ricocheted outwards and even with closed lids the light was intense.
Then it was over. The power waned and I knew Brace was finished his cleansing of this place.
I took a deep breath. It was time to deal with this room, but first I needed to hug my mate.
Chapter 3
The room now held nothing but the two tanks; Brace had wiped out every other thing. Lasandra’s face was pinched, but a slight smile curved her lips. She seemed to be proud, and resigned to her son’s behavior.
As we exited Colton’s barrier she ran straight up to Brace and wrapped her slender arms around his chest. She whispered something, and I heard the last part. “One of these weapons could have been important in the war.”
No way! Bitch had reprimanded him.
Brace shook his head. “I won’t take the chance that he ever gets his hands on anything in this room again. Besides, there’s nothing here which could turn the tides of this war. Red and her girls are our only hope, which you’d do well to remember.”
His tone was not unkind, but the warning was still there. He then untangled himself and strode straight to me. I sighed as I was wrapped in his arms. He held me tight, like he needed my strength, like he needed me to wipe the last vestige of his childhood demons from him.
I couldn’t get close enough. The bond between us flared to life, the golden aura of our melding washing across us and the room. We didn’t speak. There were no words right then, but this was enough. For the moment, anyway.
Eventually we separated and joined the others in front of the tanks. Without anything else to distract, I could do nothing but stare at the strange sight. Que and Josian were floating in some sort of high viscosity liquid, almost like a gel but not that thick. The color was clear, with just the hint of pink, like there was a drop of blood in the substance. I reached out a hand and placed it onto the glass of my father’s prison. While Que was still on occasion opening and closing his eyes, Josian’s remained firmly shut, his blood-red hair a splash of color in an otherwise very monochromatic room.
“Has anyone seen anything like this before?” I broke the silence.
Colton said, “Yep, they’ve been modified, but these are regeneration tanks.”
Brace reached out and captured my hand, entwining our fingers. “When Walkers went into battle or had clan wars, it would get bloody. Loss of limb was common, and in general that would put us out of commission for some time. Que used these to speed up the regeneration process.” He tilted his head to the left, looking around the side of the two massive glass cages. “Colt’s right, though, these two have been tampered with. This section is not normally there.”
He pointed toward a mass of tubes and wires attached to the outer side of both tanks. The wire contraption seemed to extend and then run along the floor until the cords exited out the wall and ended up – somewhere. I knew Brace would send someone to follow those and see where they went.
I was so anxious to get to my father. I knew Lallielle would be freaking out also. Shit! I had to let her know –
Mom. I lowered the protective energy around my mind and sent a call toward her. I was becoming quite adept at finding the person I was targeting. My energy hit a barrier. It took her a moment to let me in.
Aribella, do you have any news of your father?
She sounded terrible. Even her mental voice was laced with anguish.
I hurried on. We found him. The lalunas have him locked in some sort of chamber in Que’s house of horrors.
There was a stunned silence for a moment. I’m coming there, baby girl, I’ll see you momentarily.
Her barriers went back up and I shook my head. I still wasn’t used to the sensation of having voices jump in and out of my mind. Lallielle was not a Walker. She was from First World and couldn’t access the doorways to hop between worlds, but she’d been with Grantham, my father’s best friend and leader of the Relli clan. He would bring her here.
Does Grantham know how to get throug
h the securities here? I asked Brace.
Que had this world set up so that it was difficult to find the real Abernath community.
I’ll send someone across.
Brace had been following my conversation with Lallielle. Most probably he’d taken care of that before I even asked.
“Can’t we just smash Josian out?” Lucy was at the end of her patience. “Let’s just break the glass, get rid of that ugly pink goo and free him.”
Colton snorted. “I love it when you talk Earth to me … pink goo.” His white teeth flashed as laughter shook him.
Lucy elbowed him. She had to flutter higher so she could reach his ribs. “Shut it, wolf-man. Don’t forget I know exactly where you like to be scratched. Be a real shame if I stopped scratching that itch. You know the spot … your leg does that little kicking thing.”
Colton’s laughter died off. He narrowed his eyes before looking around at all of us. “My leg does not do that little kicking thing. I’m not a dog.”
Lucy and I exchanged glances before cracking up. “Someone is trying a little too hard to deny that,” I said. “Methinks that Colton loves a rub on the belly.”
“Scratch behind the ears,” Lucy trilled.
He straightened to his massive height. “Get a mate, they said; it will be fun, they said.”
Lucy and I lost it again, and even Lasandra cracked a smile, which for her was the equivalent of full-on belly laughter. Our mirth and teasing of Colton was definitely some sort of stress-related over-compensating. It was easier to laugh than deal with the fact my world was falling apart and my father was in a cage. I needed these lighter moments; they kept me from losing my mind.
“Aribella.” The low, shaky call from my mother washed away the last of my humor.
I turned to find her descending the stairs, Grantham towering above her as he followed. Their movements were graceful and smooth, despite the ravaged expressions both wore. As soon as she reached the halfway point, Lallielle’s eyes locked on to her mate, and the lines of distress deepened. Her steps quickened.
I crossed the room to meet her at the base of the stairs; she wrapped her arms around me and I held her tightly. She seemed fragile, like she would shatter in my arms. I had never felt her like that before and it scared me. The past year was the first time in my life I’d had my parents around. I’d idolized them both, painting them as larger than life and able to handle anything. The laluna thing with Josian had been my first reality check. I’d taken off the rose-colored glasses and started to realize that despite their powers and longevity of life, my parents were not perfect. They were real, and real meant fears and flaws.
Personally I wouldn’t have them any other way. Perfection was boring and totally overrated.
Lallielle pulled back to see my face. “What happened to Jos, baby girl?”
Grantham strode beside us, his cat-like green eyes resting on me. He dropped his hand onto my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.
“It’s some sort of Walker regeneration chamber,” I explained as we crossed the room toward the tanks. “From what we can tell Josian is just being held in stasis. Que’s tank, on the other hand, is actually regenerating him. With his own energy, and a few new additions.”
Lallielle and Grantham must not have even looked away from Josian long enough to notice that there was a second tank. As they shifted their gaze to the other container, a sharp intake of breath was audible from both of them.
“Like the originals,” Grantham muttered.
Walkers were incredibly intelligent; they clicked on to most things in an instant.
“Yes,” Brace said as the Relli princeps reached his side. “We think that Que’s been capturing any free original energy in the star system. His power is muted within the gel, but still, I can tell it’s changed.”
Lallielle lurched forward, her hands landing on the glass barrier that separated her from her mate.
“What about Josian? What’s this tank doing to him?” Her voice rose and broke on the last few words.
Brace reached out and looped his arm around her shoulders, offering comfort. He loved Lallielle, having spent a lot of time with my family when he was pretending to be a First Worlder. “As far as I can tell, Lalli, it’s simply keeping him in a sleep stasis. Energy flows into Que’s tank, but the opposite is happening with Josian’s. His energy is leaving the tank. They’re draining him to keep him from awakening.”
“Draining him!” she cried.
Brace’s arm tightened further, his features darkening. His rage was bubbling up again. Luckily he’d just gotten much of it out of his system. “We’re going to try and free him now, but I don’t want any of the females in the room. In case something goes wrong.” He locked me in the velvet of his eyes. “Including you, Red.”
I sucked in deeply. The urge to fight him on this rose in an instant, but I pushed it down. I just wanted my father freed, and we were wasting time.
I waved my arms and said, “Okay, let’s get out of the room. The men can do their thing to save Dad.”
The look on Brace’s face was almost comical. Come on, it wasn’t that rare an occasion I listened to him. That male was so dramatic.
Lucy didn’t argue either; she just fluttered her wings and followed me. Lallielle and Lasandra were with us as we crossed the room and went up the stairs.
Be careful.
I laced my words with both love and warning.
As I stepped into Que’s trophy room, I knew there was no way I was waiting in this disgusting and stomach-churning house. For freak’s sake, my mate’s arm was mounted on the wall.
I kept moving until I was outside. The other three followed me. Stepping out into the balmy air of Abernath, I knew a fair amount of time had passed since we’d first entered the glass house. The suns were fully in the sky now. A weariness pressed down on me as I sank to rest on the front step. The people of Abernath were out and about doing their thing. Plenty of glances came our way, but no one approached. I was sure no one ever went near Que’s house. He had been a leader who ruled with fear. Not with friendship.
I rested my elbows on my knees, cradling my head in my hands. I’d barely slept in the last few days and, while I wasn’t feeling great, I wasn’t as exhausted as I should be. Thank you, Walker genetics.
What was happening inside? All of a sudden I couldn’t sit any longer. Jumping to my feet, I started to pace. Would they be able to free Josian? Or had the lalunas anticipated this? Who knew what protections those crazy-ass faeries had on that tank?
I’m going to shut down the bond for a minute, Red. I need to focus.
Damn, I’d been relying on the bond to keep me updated. Okay, but you be careful. I’m going to be really annoyed if you get hurt.
Understatement of the year.
He chuckled. I love it when you talk badass, baby. I love you.
I love you. I was all warm inside. His caressing words of love always did that to me.
He cut the bond off, and I had to stop myself from marching back into the glass building and finding my mate. I hated being cut off from him. Hated it like Lucy hated bras. Couldn’t blame her; they were damn uncomfortable.
I was slightly distracted as green glitter started to rain off the pixie herself. “I can’t stand it when Colt blocks himself from me.” She was darting around, her wings moving rapidly within her cloud of pissed-off glitter. “I have no idea how you survived when the lalunas severed your melding bond.”
I almost hadn’t survived.
My mind was now in that dark place, the place I’d existed in when I’d been separated from Brace. Lucy was not melded; she couldn’t really understand the intensity of our bond. The pain had almost crushed me, and I wasn’t sure that I’d ever fully recover. Still now, there were ragged edges between Brace and me. We were trying to smooth them over, but the lalunas had warned us that what was broken might never be the same again. Right now I was going to just be grateful that I had him back, that the endless gulfing ache of
loneliness which had crushed my soul was no longer there.
You doing okay, Red? Even with the shield between us, Brace still sensed my distress.
I pulled myself together. We had shit to deal with. All good. Is everything okay in there?
We’re still working on it. There were a few little … traps, he said. All good now. We should be out in a moment.
I felt a surge of joy. I couldn’t wait to see my father; I needed a big bear hug. Walkers were the best at those, and Josian’s were amazing.
Lucy seemed calmer now; at least we could all finally breathe without inhaling lungs full of pixie dust. Lallielle and Lasandra were still, silent, watching the world around them. Most of these ancient beings had limitless patience. They had long lives and didn’t rush about trying to fill in time. Lucy and I still reacted like humans, losing our shit and fidgeting with nervous energy. A thumping sound drew my attention. Something heavy was pounding along the stone path.
A familiar lumbering gait came into view and a broad grin spread across my face. I took off and practically threw myself at him. Twin heads wrapped around me, and the scent of his fur filled my nostrils. Cerberus, my sacred animal and friend. He had sensed my distress and was here for me.
I soaked in his comfort for a long moment before pulling back. Both of my arms shot out and I scratched him behind the ears. A purring rumble shook his chest. I wondered for a moment if any more of the other half-Walker females had found their animals. Talina already had Apollo, the stunning, blue-and-silver water dragon. Delane had Lina, the majestic black unicorn. And Fury had Crete, a tiny fluffy kitten, which to her disgust was the cutest thing ever. She wanted large and fierce. Although, something told me that kitten would not have left her arms since she’d found him.
Ria and Sapha had no animals yet, plus our unknown Earth half-Walker. Crap. I really needed to get going and find her, but I just couldn’t leave until I knew Josian was okay.
Voices drew my attention, and I hurried back to the group, Cerberus right behind me. Colton had emerged from the glass building.
