Abomination (The Path to Redempton Book 1)

by Kimbra Swain

  “Tadeas, you shouldn’t be buying me anything.”

  “Oh please, open it.”

  I took off the ribbon and there was a glossy black coffee mug in it. I pulled it out and it had matte black jaguar spots on it. There in white vinyl script letters it said, “I love jaguars.” I started laughing uncontrollably. I almost dropped the mug. He had a huge smile. I hugged his neck. “I love it,” I said continuing to laugh.

  “I saw it online, and thought you needed one to replace the other one. Happy house, um, apartment warming gift,” he smiled as we still stood arm in arm. I hugged him again.

  “It’s my new favorite mug,” I said.

  “You ready to go?” he asked.

  “Yes, let's go,” I said setting the mug down on the counter. It was really great. For the first time in a very long time, I felt genuinely happy. It felt good. We rode the elevator to level #6 which was basically research and development. We went into the lab where Dr. Maki worked on experiments, and Ashley sat over at a desk typing on a laptop.

  She looked up to us and said, “Did you give it to her?”

  “Yes,” he said smiling.

  She looked at me waiting for my response, “It’s great. I love it.”

  “It was such a cute idea. I say you keep him Abby,” she suggested.

  “He’s useful for now,” I shrugged off.

  Ichiro decided to speak up, “We are just chopped meat, man.”

  “I see,” said Tadeas.

  “Abby, what can I do for you?” Ichiro asked.

  “Please do a DNA test on Tadeas, and cross check it with my DNA. See if we have any common ancestors please,” I asked.

  He looked shocked, and looked over at Ashley. “Why do you need to do that?” Ashley said.

  “A common form of soul bond that is a natural connection is between close relatives,” I said.

  “Gag, and you kissed him,” she said.

  I laughed, “Actually he kissed me, but I doubt any connection considering our racial differences, but you never know. You saw the racial diversity of the Six. Just want to rule it out.”

  “Yuck, yuck, yuck. You kissed her,” she said emphasizing it to him.

  “Oh Ashley, we aren’t related,” he said.

  “You hope you aren't! I've already picked out names for your children,” she said continuing to tease him. A dark thought washed over me. Ashley knew I couldn't have children. She just teased him, but it was a hurtful thought. She saw the look in my eyes, and I could tell she regretted saying it. I couldn’t be mad at her. I made a waving motion at her as to push it away. I didn’t want her to be upset over a slip of the tongue. She was just having a good time torturing Tadeas. I loved seeing the friendship between all of them bloom, and grow. We all needed friends in this business. I had forgotten that while isolating myself from everyone. I loved my team. I had missed my friends.

  Ichiro walked up with a small needle and drew a small amount of blood out of his arm. I put my hand on the bleeding spot and said, “Consano” and the small spot healed.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “No problem.”

  “It will only take a few minutes, Abby,” Ichiro said.

  “Okay, we will wait,” I told him. We sat down on the small couch near the desk where Ashley was, and she started going over some of the info she had gotten about those who were inquiring about the auction in Paris.

  Ichiro walked up with a serious look on his face. I stood up. “What’s wrong?”

  He said, “I can’t believe it, but he IS your brother.”

  Tadeas jumped up and shouted, “WHAT!”

  I felt light headed. “No, it can’t be.” And then I looked over to Ashley, and she tried to hold back a laugh. I turned around on Ichiro. “Ichiro Maki, I am going to kick your ass. That is not funny!”

  He died laughing, and Ashley couldn’t hold it a back anymore. I walked up and jerked the results paper away from him. No common ancestry at all. I wadded it up and threw it at him. He batted it away, and they kept on laughing. It wouldn’t have been bad to have a brother. But I did not want to be related to Tadeas in any way shape or form. Partially because when he kissed me, I liked it, and my name wasn't Lannister. I may not watch TV, but I do read books. I looked at Tadeas, and he smiled at their fun.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, relieved actually.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Okay, you two. Before I strangle you both, thank you, Ichiro.”

  “I’m sorry, Abby, I had to do it. The looks on both of your faces was priceless.”

  “I videoed it with my phone,” Ashley said.

  “You what!” I exclaimed. We both walked around to the desk and she replayed it.

  “Good grief. Do not put that on the internet.” I said.

  “Oh, I won’t,” she said. “But I did send it to Aiden, Tommy and Tony.”

  “Dammit Ash!”

  “Tadeas, save me before she kills me,” Ashley played and used his body as a shield.

  “We should go,” he said laughing at her.

  “I will get you for this,” I said.

  “Oh, I’ll count on it,” she said. Tadeas grabbed my hand, and we went out to the elevator to visit Gregory.

  Gregory greeted us and complimented us again on a fine party and dance the night before, “Except for you slapping the west coast regent, I’d say it was a good night overall.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  “One day you will stop being hard on him. You don’t love him anymore. Fine, stop torturing him. Find a way to be friends.”

  “Yes sir,” I complied. I didn’t want to be friends with him. It was much easier pretending that I hated him.

  “Tadeas, have a seat.”

  I looked at him, and he was white as a ghost. Gregory slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. “I’d rather not sit, sir.”

  “You got something to hide?” Gregory asked, and Tadeas fell for it. He sat right down.

  “You dummy,” I said. He scowled at me.

  “What brings you two by here today?”

  “Soul bond,” Tadeas blurted out, and I giggled. “Shut it.”

  “Yes, what about it?” Gregory asked.

  “We would like to see if you could tell if we had one,” Tadeas said.

  “Yes, you do,” Gregory said.

  “Wait, don’t you have to look or something?” I said.

  “I did look. Last night while you were dancing. It is a very strong bond. It’s why I calmed my anger against both of you. I hadn’t realized your relationship had progressed to such a physical level.”

  “No!” we both said.

  “Grandfather, we haven’t, you know, done that,” I said. Talking about sex with your grandfather was the most epic form of uncomfortable. I remembered when he realized that Lincoln and I had been together. Awkward. I thought Lincoln was going to crawl under a rock.

  “That’s interesting. It seems very much like a sexual/physical bond. Let me look again.” He put his hands flat on the table, and his eyes turned completely white. “It’s there. It’s very strong. Son, have you done something to her while she slept? Did you drug her?”

  “What! No! I would never, sir,” Tadeas exclaimed.

  I bit my lip. It didn’t make sense. “Is it possible for you to show me what you are seeing?” I asked him.

  “We can try. I’m not sure you can see it the same way as I do, but you should be able to see something. Come over here and hold my hand.” When I held his hand, I felt him pull power. It was subtle and clean. Effortless. And when I looked I could see red and purple strands of light swirling back and forth between Tadeas and me. It was mesmerizing. I shook my head and let go of Gregory’s hand.

  “What is it?” Tadeas asked. “It’s like glowing red and purple ropes tying us together. They were moving and twisting around each other” I tried to explain.

  “Kinky,” he said. “I hate this damn chair.”

  Gregory roared. “You c
an get up, Son. The colors are significant. The red generally indicates unconditional love, Agape. I’ve never seen purple. I’m not sure what that is.”

  Tadeas jumped up. He clearly had reached his maximum level of uncomfortable, and said, “Well, we can talk about it more on the way to the tavern. I want to make sure we get a good seat before it gets too busy.”

  “Kinky, huh?”

  He shrugged. “What? I’m a guy.”

  I rolled my eyes and hugged my grandfather.

  “You two be careful out there,” he said. “Abby did you sign that paperwork?”

  “Ugh. No, I forgot. We will go down there, and see if I can find her.”

  We went down to the offices, and Aunt Lianne was nowhere to be found. I knew she didn’t live in the compound, so the paperwork would have to wait. We were waiting on the elevator when Meredith stepped out of the stairwell.

  “Hello Tadeas,” she said to him. She didn’t speak to me. I just ignored her.

  “Hey Mere, did you have a good time last night?” I believe he asked genuinely. He hadn’t figured it out yet that she would never be a true friend to him again.

  “As a matter of fact, I did. Mr. MacCormack is a very interesting and delightful man. I’m supposed to meet him tonight. Where are you two heading?” “We are going out to grab some food in Boulder,” he said.

  “Well, you two kids have fun,” she smirked. I figured my best option was to keep my mouth shut. The elevator door opened, and I stepped in. I put my hand up and held the door open for Tadeas.

  “One minute,” he said.

  “Okay,” I said and put my finger on the open-door button.

  After a minute he came back, “Did you listen to that?”

  “No, I didn’t want to intrude.” “I’m just worried about her hanging out with him,” he said.

  “You should be worried. I would worry if you took up with Aunt Lianne. Same danger, different person,” I said. His concern for her was legit. The Fae, especially these particular ones, should not be taken lightly.

  “Did she listen to you?” I asked knowing that she probably hadn’t.

  “No, of course not, she just said some rude things about us and stomped off.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No, it’s okay. I’ve kept her at arm's length for too long. I thought maybe there was something there between us, and I was just afraid. But I know now that I just kept her around because she did like me. Maybe it was an ego thing. I’m ashamed of that.”

  “No need to be, Tadeas. We all make bad calls on relationships whether it’s just friendships or more. It’s part of living life. I’ve made quite a few bad choices in my life.” I admitted.

  “I’d like to hear about that,” he said.

  “You want to know about my bad relationships?” I asked.

  “If you made a mistake and did something wrong, yes, I do,” he grinned.

  “I should smack you,” I said.

  “See, I knew you wanted to kiss me again,” he said.

  “Keep thinking that Romeo,” I returned.

  “Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again,” he laughed quoting Shakespeare.

  “Thus, with a kiss I die,” I returned and made a gagging motion.

  “That’s not the next line!” he protested.

  “I wasn’t going to compliment you. Your ego is already larger than life,” I said knowing full well the next line was “You kiss by the book.” I’d already said too often that it was a good kiss. We needed to move on. The banter was fun, but underneath it all there was a red strand of soul bond between us, and that could be very dangerous.

  “You know how to cut me, Abby,” he sounded hurt, but his eyes laughed.

  The elevator doors opened, and we walked off to the right side of the building where the parking garage was located. As we approached where the Mercedes usually sat, he stopped in his tracks.

  “You have got to be kidding me?” he exclaimed as he looked at the car sitting in the parking spot. He turned and looked at me with a huge grin. I held up the keys to my fully-restored Mustang. He grabbed them and kissed me on the cheek, and took off running to it. He stopped at the passenger door, “Come on let's go.”

  “Slow down. Do not wreck my car,” I warned.

  He helped me in and jumped in the driver’s seat. “Oh hell, yes!!”

  He drove it wide open on the road from the compound to the outskirts of Boulder. He smiled and was enjoying himself completely. I loved watching him acting giddy. I thought about the bond between us. Obviously, I was overlooking something within myself when it came to him. I probably built the bond myself or partially just by following him closely for the past two years. I put all of my hopes for the future in him, in us, and because of it we were intimately connected.

  “Yes, I understand,” I said over the phone to Mwenye. “I will make the call immediately. This is a perfect opportunity. Goodbye, love.”

  Somehow, he had gotten information that Tadeas Duarte and Abigail Davenport had left the compound together and were heading into Boulder for the evening. I supposed he had contacts on the inside as well. I would call my contacts and set up an interruption to their plans. I dialed another number. A man answered the phone.

  “Hello sexy!”

  “I’ll be damned if it isn’t the black mistress herself. How are you Vanessa?” he said.

  “I’d be better if you were in my bed,” I retorted building his ego.

  “There is only so much of me to go around,” he said.

  “And you do get around,” I returned.

  “What can I say? When it’s good, it’s good. What can I do for you Vanessa?” he asked.

  “Travis, grab that little girl friend of yours and the two of you get to Boulder. I have information that Duarte and Davenport have gone out that way for the evening. Locate them. Interrupt their little date or whatever it is. Get as much info as possible, and keep tabs on them until I can get people in position to take them out,” I explained.

  “Is that all?” he said. “Because things are getting out of hand here, we can’t just keep parading around here. We are drawing too much attention.”

  “What are you parading around? Your dick? I told all of you that this was my plan. Putting you there, getting you inside. Do not fuck this up! I will have you, Travis Reed. Quit fucking around and get the job done!” I yelled through the phone.

  “Oh, Vanessa, you are amusing. Get over yourself. It’s handled,” he said.

  “I’m going to handle you. Get to Boulder! Now!” I said and hung up the phone. Travis exemplified the ultimate robust man. He had it where it counted in all the right places. I never saw a woman that could turn him down. Not all of it was natural though. He was one of the sons of Asmodeus. Over the years the bloodline has thinned out, but those men in this world with perfect eyes, abs and dicks, are generally sons of Asmodeus. The demon Asmodeus walked the earth as the most sexualized beast known to man. He had a thing for Sarah, the Angel of Vengeance, Raguel’s daughter. She would not have him. He managed to kill off seven of her husbands before she could bed them. I think she ended up killing herself. But over the years he had many offspring, and in modern days, the sons were the captains of the football team and porn stars and men that reeked of masculinity. Travis was a specimen. I’d had him myself a few times, but I generally had whatever man I wanted.

  I picked up the phone to make another call. I needed to get the players in place to take out Abigail and her pet once and for all.

  I finished that call when Mwenye came in. “Did you arrange it?”

  “Yes, my love, tonight she dies,” I assured him.

  “Perhaps you should have gone yourself,” he suggested.

  “Oh, I can’t my love. I’m off to Paris tomorrow, and I needed you one last time before I go,” I built his ego.

  “I’ll see you when you get back. I have things to do tonight. If this plan fails Vanessa, I’m holding you responsible. I’ve given you
far too many chances. This is it. You better hope it works. I can find someone else to go to Paris for me,” he turned to me with his black eyes. Evil rolled off of him and choked me. “Do you understand, my love?”

  “Yes, of course,” I softly replied. Maybe I should have gone myself.

  He walked over to me and touched my face. “Vanessa, I have taught you much about magic and wielding it. Yet you sit back and let these incompetent fools do your bidding. Sometimes you have to do things yourself. You have yet to eat a soul, because of a strange infatuation with that woman. I admit she is exquisite, but you were born for a much darker cause, and I will teach you no more until you start becoming who you were meant to be. If you can’t move forward, then our time together has come to an end.”

  I thought of sweet Cassidy sleeping in the other room. Perhaps Mwenye was right. I needed to move forward in my development, and while Cassidy was an ideal. Killing her would most certainly be the death of me by Donovan’s hand.

  “You are right, my love,” I said. He kissed me on the cheek, and walked to the door.

  “Don’t come back if this fails,” he said.

  “See you soon,” I replied. And he went out the door. I sat down on the couch and stared out into the night. It was time to act, or I would lose him forever. Maybe that is exactly what I needed to do. I went back to the bedroom, and put on dark clothing. I grabbed a few items from my dresser in the room where Cassidy was sleeping. She stirred a little with the noise I made in the room. I slipped out the bedroom door and loaded the gun with elemental bullets I had acquired at an underground shop in Cleveland. I pulled out a dark obsidian crystal and spoke a few words, and a black smoke surrounded me. When it cleared, I stood in the dark night, and the Rocky Mountains loomed over me to the west. In the distance, I saw the flickering lights of Boulder, Colorado. I waited on the call. I would do this myself.

  Driving that car was a dream come true. It handled like a boss. I looked good driving it. Abby just smiled at me while I took it all in. I needed to forget about what Meredith had said to me. I told Abby that she had said things about her, but she said them about me as well. She called me weak. She called me a toy soldier. I was glad things were settled with Abby and me. It was time to move on, and be a better self.