“You never told me you’d been in Rome,” Nathan said.
“I met Silvanus there for the first time.” She proceeded up the steps. “He was afraid of me then, as many of the Deamhan there told him that I was cruel and strong. Yet we became best of friends and he trusted me.”
Nathan stepped forward, looking to a hallway to his right and another hallway to his left. He followed her to the top landing and down another hallway.
“Before the Great Fire, Deamhan came from all over America and lived here after he declared a Decretum,” she spoke softly. “Now, this place sits empty and there’s nothing left but memories.”
Kyra stopped near a candleholder and she picked up a small box of matches lying next to it. She lit the candle and proceeded to the next, lighting that one as well. They made it down the hallway and turned right to two large wooden doors that towered over them. Kyra opened the door and she escorted Nathan inside.
The room was bright with high ceilings and large draping, satin curtains. In the corner a piano sat, covered in a white sheet. On the left Nathan viewed a fireplace and a human girl in a white dress, tending to the crackling fire. She turned and stood up straight and smiled at the presence of Kyra. Upon seeing Nathan she lowered her head and whispered a hello.
“Is the room prepared?” Kyra asked. The girl nodded. Kyra turned and she placed her hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Please, sit.” Kyra pointed to a couch to the right and front of the fireplace. The human girl left the room and returned almost immediately with a platter full of snacks, appetizers, and water. She set them in front of Nathan on the coffee table and she left the room.
Nathan found the décor of her sanctuary pleasing to the eye. Kyra had exquisitely placed her collections of artifacts, paintings, and other collectables in perfect symmetry. It gave the room a relaxed feel and he felt safe. She sat next to him and rested her arm on the back of the couch. She stared into the fire and the orange hue reflected off her eyes, giving them a darker look.
“You are safe here, Nathan,” she said. “I can assure you that.”
“I don’t doubt that, Kyra,” Nathan replied. “Your home is just...it’s just amazing.”
Her lips pulled back in a wide smile and she lowered her head. “My home represents me.”
“Then you are, my dear friend, an extraordinary woman.”
They heard faint footsteps approach from the hallway and the door slowly creaked opened. A teenage male with dark hair and mesmerizing green eyes stood in the doorway. Staring at Nathan, he cocked his head to the right.
“Ayden, this is Nathan,” Kyra said. “Nathan, this is my dear friend, Ayden.”
Ayden stepped forward and stopped. Shirtless, he only wore tight-fitting blue jeans, which heightened his small and petite frame. He looked like a young Deamhan.
“He looks just like his father.” Ayden’s mouth slightly dropped open and his tongue curled in his mouth.
“You knew my father?” Nathan asked.
“Yes. When I heard that he had died, I mourned him.” His green eyes shifted to Kyra. “The sun will be up soon, Kyra.”
“Yes, but I won’t sleep,” Kyra replied. “There is so much that I need to explain to Nathan.”
Ayden nodded. “I understand.” He turned and left the room.
Kyra turned back to Nathan. “Ayden has been with me for over a hundred years. He has been very loyal to me. He protected me while I Hibernated.”
“He looks very young.”
Kyra shook her head. “Don’t let his looks fool you. His history is much more complicated than mine.” She repositioned himself. “I don’t have the right to tell you his secrets. He can tell you when he feels ready.”
Nathan blinked rapidly and agreeing, he decided to keep his interests about Ayden in the furthest reaches of his mind, for now.
“After Lucius was released from Limbo, Ayden became worried and woke me, telling me everything that had happened. Lucius has been the only Deamhan to escape Limbo and I wondered why. Now that we know his true intentions, we aim to stop him. However, we can’t stand up to him. He is too strong now. We are in strange times, yet again.”
“But you are the oldest Deamhan in the world, Kyra. Certainly you’re stronger than he is?”
She shook her head. “I may be older but the dark magic inside him comes from the origin of Deamhan. Even I can’t protect myself or anyone else against power as old as that. Still I have a responsibility to stop this madness, which I did years ago.” She looked into his eyes. “That’s why I need you to talk to your researchers in The Brotherhood. We might have to work with them to stop Lucius.”
Nathan bit his lower lip. “Even if I tried, Kyra, they don’t talk to ex members and working with Deamhan; that doesn’t end up well.”
“No, they will talk to you when they understand the dangers Lucius brings to Deamhan and human alike,” she replied back. “Only then will our minds not waver too far from a promising conclusion.”
“Maybe I can talk to Lucius?”
“No. There is too much darkness to wade through.” She lowered her head in her hands. “I tried to communicate with him but he shunned me from his mind. That’s when I felt it.” She lifted her head. “I felt the power. It was power that I haven’t felt since I was sired eons ago. He blocked me, the oldest Deamhan on the planet, with just a thought.”
Curious on what this dark, strong power was, Nathan leaned forward. “Earlier you mentioned Pure Ones and a tablet.”
She nodded and her eyes widened. “You must promise me first, Nathan.” She placed her cold hand on his arm.
“Promise?”
“You will try and get in contact with the human researchers and warn them about what is happening.”
Nathan nodded. “I’ll do everything in my power, Kyra.”
“I could force myself into your thoughts to see if you’re lying.” She removed her hand and she gently placed it just slightly above her left breast. “But I don’t pry on my friends. I will never pry on your thoughts. You deserve that much and more from me.” Her eyes softened and she blinked. “Do you remember when I first met you?”
“Yes, how could I forget?”
“I was well past my prime then. Your researchers feared me.” She lowered her head. “But I knew that you would understand me.” She looked to the ceiling and her face drew a blank. “I knew that your father never told you much about me. I didn’t want him to.” She closed her eyes. “Deamhan are better than this, Nathan. I am better than this.” Kyra’s face drowned in remorse.
“Kyra, my own father once taught me that Deamhan have no conscience, no remorse and that they don’t have souls. One day he recanted and told me that all things in this world, evil and good, are here for a purpose. Now, even though he didn’t tell me much about you, when I first met you, I suddenly knew that what he said was the truth.”
“The last thing I would want in the world is for you to fear me.” She confirmed her own affirmation. “Are you not hungry?” She looked to the platter of food on the table in front of them.
“No, not really.”
Kyra closed her eyes then reopened them. Seconds later Nathan heard the door open and the human girl walked in with her head slightly lowered. She picked up the tray and immediately left the room.
“There is something you’re hiding from me and you don’t know it.” She stared at him with gentle eyes. “Your body is different...weaker.”
Nathan flashed Kyra a confused look.
“Any other time I would ask you but now, it isn’t important.” Her voice trailed off. “I must tell you everything now.”
Nathan smiled briefly, enchanted by her smooth blemish-free skin and her eyes that danced along with the flicker of fire in the fireplace. Even the way her voice carried in the wind and the way her lips moved when she talked reminded him of his own mother, a strong intelligent yet soft-spoken woman who was perfect in every way imaginable.
“I can sense the wrongs and I fear that it may be
too late.” Kyra’s sudden comment snapped Nathan from his thoughtful haze. “Lucius is almost at his goal.”
He watched as she repositioned herself and she rubbed her hands on her forearms.
Looking slightly uncomfortable, she spoke again. “What he is looking for is a tablet called the Dark Curse.”
Nathan nodded, unsure about what Kyra had just said. The name didn’t ring a bell. “I’ve never heard of this before.”
“Not many human have.” She clasped her hands together. “It has eluded both Deamhan and human for centuries. The tablet contains the words which cursed the Pure Ones to the dark and to Limbo. It also contains a spell to break them out of Limbo and a spell that could possibly take away our weaknesses.” A look of dejection filled her eyes. “If we have no weaknesses that would make us truly immortal and too strong upon this planet. We need these weaknesses to keep us balanced, Nathan. We deserve these punishments and the Pure Ones deserve to be trapped in Limbo for eternity.”
Nathan sat back in his chair. Nowhere did The Brotherhood tell him the origins of the Deamhan. Even his father, if he knew, kept the details of the Deamhan’s origins a secret. It angered him slightly and at the same time, he wanted to know everything there was to know.
“The tablet was broken into two pieces so that the spells would not be used,” she sighed. “Selene and Lucius seek to put them back together.”
Nathan thought for a moment. Why would Lucius and Selene want to free the very first Deamhan ever to exist? What was in it for them? And if they were looking for the two pieces, why decimate sanctuaries along the way unless they were looking for someone.
He glared at Kyra and said in a whisper, “You have one of the pieces?”
“No, I don’t.” She leaned forward and her eyes gazed into his soul. “Lucius and Selene have already required one piece.”
“Where is the other one?”
“The Brotherhood had the other piece until your father took it.”
“My father?” Nathan shook his head. “When?”
“Before the Great Fire,” she answered. “How lucky we were that he stole it before The Brotherhood headquarters in Chicago burned to the ground. At that time he and I both agreed that it was best for him to take it and hide it.”
“He never told me any of this.” Nathan remembered reading his father’s journals several times and he later boxed them up in the basement of his home. Some of them were caked full of information about Deamhan while others remained blank and unused. He tried to remember anything from what he read; something that could remind him of the piece his father stole, but he came up empty. He saw it in her eyes that she remained confidant in what she revealed to him. Somewhere, along the line, he must have skimmed over vital information.
“He didn’t tell you because he wanted to protect you,” she said. “But you know your father as much as I do. He encrypted his writing. Somewhere, in his journals, is the location of the missing piece.”
“All of his journals, his writings, are at my home,” Nathan replied. “If you want me to find them, I have to go back.”
“Not yet. You and I are the only ones who know that your father took the piece and you need to keep it that way. But you must tell The Brotherhood about Lucius and Selene.”
“The Brotherhood can’t handle them.”
“Yes, I know,” she replied. “But it will give you some time to find the piece and take it away or destroy it.”
“I don’t know which one of my father’s journals has the information you’re looking for or if he wrote it in his journals to begin with.”
She forced a weak smile on her face. “Your father was a smart, brilliant man Nathan. He had his secrets and kept them hidden from you. Not because he didn’t trust you, but because he knew the dangers it would bring to you. If Lucius and Selene find me, they will yank the information they need from my mind and then kill me. It’s up to you to find a way to stop them if I can’t.”
Nathan cocked his head to the side. “What information?”
“I stole it from the mind of the only living descendant of the Kashshapu who created Deamhan,” she replied. “I’m the key to unlocking the Dark Curse. Selene and Lucius will do everything to get that knowledge. Without it, the Pure Ones will remain to rot in Limbo where they belong.”
1
DARK CURSE. DEAMHAN CHRONICLES #2
CHAPTER TEN
Wake up early if you want another man’s life or land. No lamb for the lazy wolf. No battle’s won in bed.
Kenneth closed the book and stared at the old worn leather cover. “From the words of Odin, the high one,” he read out loud with a snicker. “Yeah, right.” He tossed the book onto the couch and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. Being at The Brotherhood headquarters in San Diego brought back memories from his early years. He remembered sitting in this very same office, strenuously working day and night while going over documents sent by researchers from the western part of America. He worked closely with Mr. Austin, verifying specific details and recommending what actions The Brotherhood needed to take next. He spent hours peering outside the office window, watching the sun set, and dreaming about the day when he would become president of the Midwest Division.
Now the office he sat in felt small in comparison to his own back in Minneapolis. But he assumed that, because of his status, he would never have to sit in a small office again. Mr. Austin’s offices in both cities were cozy and spacious. Lavishly decorated, they contained artifacts from around America and the world. He wanted an office just like the old man’s office located on the top floor.
One day, soon.
Not only did Kenneth want Mr. Austin’s office, he still wanted the old man’s position. Gaining the position meant moving the Chapter back in the right direction, hoping the rest of the organization would follow. He vowed to stay far away from the squabble between Mr. Austin’s dysfunctional daughter and The Brotherhood. In his current position as Region Leader, he had to not only deal with Veronica, but he was on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while training the thirty new and young researchers under his supervision to not do their rightful duties.
He felt helpless, sitting here while waiting for Mr. Austin to show up. He also felt anxious, wanting to tell him about the information Selene wanted and at the same time watching his plan in motion. Whatever the Dark Curse was, he wanted it and needed it to gain the upper hand.
He heard a gentle knock on his door and he looked up, seeing JoAnne standing in the doorway. “I’ve arranged for our flight back to Minneapolis. We leave tomorrow morning.”
“Good.” He smiled and motioned for her to come in.
JoAnne pushed her glasses from the bridge of her nose and up to her face. She walked in, her head lowered, carrying a stack of papers in her hands. She set them on Kenneth’s desk and she stepped back. “This is the only information I could find that comes close to what you’re looking for.”
Kenneth looked over the documents. Most of the information was blacked out, giving him nothing of importance.
“And access to the Archives?”
She shook her head. “It was denied.”
“I’m not surprised.” Kenneth huffed and pushed the documents away.
“Do you think they have it, Kenneth?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Selene seems to think so.”
“Maybe we should—”
He raised his hand to interrupt. “That’s all JoAnne. Thanks.”
She smiled briefly then left the room.
Kenneth drummed his fingers on his desk. He knew where she was going with the conversation. Since Selene walked into the Minneapolis Chapter, she continuously grew nervous over what she wanted him to do. Several times JoAnne tried to persuade him to tell Mr. Austin about the visit and each time he refused. He needed to find the clay tablet first to create necessary leverage but finding it seemed harder than expected. When he first walked into the headquarters, he asked the few researchers who had the unlucky duty of working o
n the weekends about it, but no one knew what he spoke about. Before he left Minneapolis, he contacted the presidents of the West and East Division in the U.S. to get access into the Archives, only to be denied. Even if he told them everything, he knew how they’d react. All of them were selfish, pompous. They wouldn’t move a muscle, thinking The Brotherhood had nothing to fear when it came to Deamhan.
He heard the sound of an object hitting the floor just outside his office door. Kenneth stood up and straightened his jacket. He replayed the incoming conversation in his mind; feed Mr. Austin lies about the deal he made with Selene and plead to get access into the Archives.
The deal Mr. Austin made came with a price. Sure, Selene came through on her end and the city of Minneapolis was no longer under Kei’s shaky rule. However, freeing Lucius wasn’t part of the deal nor was the killing of many Deamhan (not like he cared.) He felt that Selene was in no position to ask or demand anything from him or the organization.
His office door slowly opened. Three tall, muscular males dressed in black and wearing black trench coats walked in through the door. Behind them, standing in the doorway, Kenneth saw Mr. Austin, wearing a thick wool jacket and dark rimmed glasses. Kenneth forced himself to smile and he stood up from his desk. Mr. Austin looked older than the last time he had seen him. He was slightly slumped over and his face was cut with flaccid wrinkles. He didn’t acknowledge Kenneth’s presence. Instead he walked around the office and the bodyguards positioned themselves near the back. Mr. Austin rubbed his finger on the shelves of his bookcase and on top of a picture taken of downtown San Diego at night.
Kenneth waited humbly with his eyes alternating from Mr. Austin’s bodyguards to Mr. Austin himself. He didn’t want to speak first.
Mr. Austin started their conversation with one word. “Selene.” His voice cracked.
Kenneth affirmed by nodding. “I believe we have a problem.”
Mr. Austin continued his examination of the bookcase. “How is Veronica?”
Dark Curse (Deamhan Chronicles Book 2) Page 11
