Callum shook his head. He was surprised to hear her familiarity with the yellow book and amused by Marisol’s cute habit of talking to herself. And right now, he could tell she was doing it again. He waited until she looked up again.
“So Valdo abused the sword?”
“Yes. With the friendship between him, Youven, and the humans broken, he led his clan in pillaging the villages, fed on humans, killed those who refused to obey him, and raped women. He believed he had the right to rob anyone of their lives. Valdo declared that immortals were above humans. To him, he became God. The power of Valdo’s sword poisoned his mind. The war gods didn’t like what they saw, what had become of the sword. So, they summoned Youven to give him the task of retrieving the sword from Valdo.
“They should have done it themselves and hung Valdo upside down.”
“Gods designate jobs, Mari, and then they watch to see you do it. Anyway, they also gave Youven the secret on how to heal the wounds caused by the sword.”
“Let me guess. The poultice?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. Nice gods. Very generous. How about a hundred magical swords to end Valdo and his cronies’ lives?”
“And end up having more Valdoses running around with a sword so powerful it can take over your soul? The gods were smart not to make that kind of mistake again.”
“Obviously, they weren’t smart enough. Some gods they are. They should have thought about the consequences first before handing out powerful swords.”
“Marisol, the sword’s history is what brought your mother and father together. Let’s say the war gods made a mistake, but without it you wouldn’t be here. Everything in the past happened for a reason.”
Marisol didn’t say anything, but her brows slammed down again and drew deeper together. Callum decided to continue with his retelling before Marisol started talking to herself again. “Youven had a soft spot for humans. After all, his wife was one of them. So he took the poultice. He and his wife Kurah and their daughter Kyra made more and distributed it to the villages. Valdo learned about the poultice and tried to put a stop to it. Youven refused. Cunning as he was, Valdo burned Kurah’s village. A trick to make Youven leave his home and his family. While Youven was saving the village, Valdo came into Youven’s house and raped, and killed Kurah.”
Marisol’s knuckles were white from gripping her coffee cup and her eyes conveyed the rage inside of her. “Bastard.”
“I can think of other names worse than that.”
“I take it Youven didn’t just sit and mourn his wife.”
“Right. Youven sought Valdo out. He found him and his wife in bed. The two fought. Rage consumed them both. Youven, being stronger and better, defeated Valdo. That night, Youven only meant to kill Valdo and not the wife. But he accidentally killed her when she threw herself around Valdo. Youven didn’t have the poultice with him to save Leanne. Both died, leaving their only son, Elam. That night was the beginning of an all-out war between the two clans.
“At his young age, Elam was already skilled in fighting. He took Valdo’s sword and challenged Youven in a fight. Stronger and younger, he inflicted a fatal wound on Youven. It is told that Arnulf, Youven’s second, along with other Arcus, came to save Youven, but it was too late. Youven was found dead on his wife’s grave. Everyone heard Elam swear that he would kill all of Youven’s family and would not stop until Youven’s blood dried. Elam looked for the sword, but it was gone, and so were Kyra and Arnulf.
“The war gods were beyond furious. Since both leaders were dead, they punished the following generations of shape-shifters by ending their immortality that night, giving them only five lives.”
“Five lives in exchange for immortality. That’s better than having only one life. Once we humans die, we stay dead. I didn’t realize this, but it sucks to be us. Too bad we have only one life. Dad would still be here if we had five lives—Mom, too.”
Callum wanted to tell Marisol that the war gods’ punishment didn’t end by ridding them of immortality, but he held his tongue. When the right time came, he would tell her what happened after a shape-shifter died the fifth time. Right now, the information about becoming a Cancer was inconsequential. “I suppose there’s good and bad about being human.”
“You suppose? You say that as if you don’t know what it’s like to be one.”
“Part of me knows. Anyway, Kyra disappeared with the recipe for the poultice, and the sword. Now the poultice has resurfaced, after hundreds of years.”
“Let me make a guess here. Kyra took the sword and poultice. Mom was a healer. Am I right to assume that Mom somehow got hold of the secret recipe for the poultice and the sword?”
“She didn’t just get a hold of it. It was passed down to her. Anna is Kyra’s descendant. That’s why Atos recognized her.”
Marisol’s eyes grew openly surprised. “Shut up!”
“I know it’s hard to believe, huh?”
“You sure about this?”
“I am.”
“Mom came from an ancient clan that used to be immortals. My God, Hollywood producers would go nuts on this story. But you’re not just telling me a story, are you?”
“No.”
“I want to believe you, but this is too much. Okay, say you’re telling me facts. Did Mom inherit the five lives?”
“No. Baby, Anna wasn’t a shifter. Because Kurah was human, her daughter Kyra was half-breed. By the time Anna was born, Youven’s blood had become diluted. There were more immortals that married humans and I’m sure their descendants still roam the earth. Some of them possess special powers that somehow stayed in their DNA, which they can’t explain.”
“Special powers like what?”
“Like the dreamers, foretellers, ghost seers, telepathists.”
Marisol stared at him. For the first time, she became quiet.
“Your mother knew all about her family’s past because she was one of the few that had a direct connection to Youven. Babe, Kyra kept Youven’s story alive. And like the history of Atos’s clan, it was passed down from generation to generation.”
“Including the sword and poultice.”
“Yes.”
“But you said that the poultice only resurfaced because of Mom.”
“Right. Kyra lived a long life, but when she died the poultice died with her, too. Her children and grandchildren tried, but somehow failed to produce it. History said she did. But whatever she told her family didn’t work. They couldn’t mix the kind that heals wounds caused by the ancient sword. It was a mystery to both clans. No one heard about the poultice again until Anna. Your mother found what was needed to make a poultice potent.”
Callum watched Marisol chew her bottom lip. It was obvious she was processing everything that he just said and it was apparent, just by looking at her furrowed brows, that she too was wondering about the poultice. What’s in that poultice that no one can figure it out?
“She found the secret ingredient. When I help make it... Can’t be. This is all so weird. Hard to believe. You know, Mom was adopted. She doesn’t have any relatives that I know of. Dad only had one sister. She died when she was fifteen. Kind of weird growing up not having cousins to play with.” Marisol drummed her fingers on the table. “Wow. I’m related to a shape-shifter.”
“Mark mentioned that your mother possessed the power to foretell the future.”
“I didn’t know that. Was she able to see my future?”
“Yes. She knew about yours and Mark’s. Except for hers.”
“She should have told Dad about Atos. Dad could have—”
“Babe, Mark knew about his fate, but the when and where—no.”
“What’s mine? Did Dad say? I bet he knew. Why else would he insist that I learn how to use the sword?” Marisol hugged herself, and then began rubbing her arms. “The sword of Youven from the clan Arcus.”
“Yes.”
“How come it took Atos years before he came after Dad?”
“Atos didn�
�t know Anna had a family.”
“Until he caught Dad.” Marisol’s eyes lowered and focused on the floor. “I was five when Mom died. Dad took over her job when I was ten. Dad waited five years before he started working as a vet again. I’m twenty-three now. It took Atos that long to find out about Dad?”
“Mark was careful. But spies and traitors are everywhere. Word finally reached Atos’s camp about him.”
“And one night this Atos tracked Dad? Because of his poultice?”
Callum nodded. He watched Marisol’s face. Although she kept her features deceptively composed, he could see that she was getting angrier by the minute.
“You said Atos belongs to the Blood Robbers clan?”
“Atos, now leader of the Blood Robbers, is Elam’s descendant. He’s full-blood.”
“Blood Robbers are the new Crom?”
Callum grinned. She was quick. “Yes.”
“And the Howl clan you mentioned. Am I right to assume they represent the Arcus?
“The Midnight Howl, yes.”
“A pretty name.”
“Pretty? The name is supposed to invoke fear.”
“Nope. Sounds like a title of a love song to me.”
Fucking eh. His brothers would go nuts if he told them their clan name was pretty.
“So, even when the war gods punished the two leaders and the following generations by taking their mortality away, war still continued between the two clans.” Marisol shook her head. “Why Midnight Howl?”
“When a wolf is on a lookout, they howl at midnight to warn the Blood Robbers that they’re watching. That they’re in a protective mode.”
“Protecting the humans, the rejects?”
“Yes. Baby, the Midnight Howl is your friend. The clan protects you from something that your military can’t see and stop.”
“Okay, you know what? What you’re telling me is giving me heebie-jeebies. I hate to think that the missing prostitutes, or those who were found dead, were victims of the Blood Robbers.”
Callum took a deep breath. Marisol would feel worse if she learned about the Cancers. “Would you like to stop? We can continue later.”
“No. Later won’t make any difference. Callum, shouldn’t we tell the police about the Midnight Howl and Blood Robbers? There are people sitting in jail because they’re accused of murder or rape or something.”
“We can’t.”
“We have to.”
“Listen, baby. Think about what would happen if you go to the precinct and began telling the police about who killed your parents. Most likely they’d pity you instead of believing you.”
“They need to know.”
“There are things that must be kept secret to keep the earth’s balance…harmony…peace. Think of the White House. You don’t know most of what’s going on in there or what they’re not telling people. I bet if the president released all the confidential records, there’d be riots everywhere.” She’d feel worse than getting the heebie-jeebies when he opened the topic about Cancers. He would be if he were a human finding out about soulless animals that wandered around, especially during sundown, hunting their own kind.
“All right, the Blood Robbers prey on animals and human rejects. Do they kill them the way vampires do?”
“If the vampires really drank blood, then yes. They kill their victims the way they did your parents.”
Marisol nodded. “They drink the blood.”
“Yes. Unlike the vampires—if they really exist—the Blood Robbers can survive without drinking blood.”
“What? Then why couldn’t they just capture the bad people and turn them into the authorities instead of killing them?”
“Good question. But you see, that’s not how the bastards operate. Like I said, the Blood Robbers hate humans. They think the humans were to blame for their not being immortal anymore. Since they can’t just eliminate the entire race, they kill the rejects, or the ones they think fall in that category.”
“Those people don’t deserve to be killed without being tried.”
“Exactly.”
“I’d like to think everything you said’s a crock of shit.”
Callum just smiled at her comment. “Nothing about what I told you is bullshit. Especially about Atos. He’s a full-blooded cunning shifter and he still has five lives.”
“Unless I chop his head off with a sword.”
Callum swallowed and touched his neck. “Yup.”
“Can an ordinary sword kill a shape-shifter?”
“If beheaded, chopped into pieces, skewered so that his vital organs are ruptured beyond repair, and wounded so severely that healing would be as impossible as stopping the sun from rising, then yes. Most of the time a shape-shifter will survive any injury because they can heal wounds a hundred times faster than humans. If wounded badly enough, a shape-shifter must change to his wolf form to sustain his strength. In human form, shape-shifters are like humans.”
“Do they age?”
“Yes. At the same rate as humans.”
“So they would die of old age anyway. Why have five lives?”
“Remember, it wasn’t our… I mean…the clan’s choice to have five lives. The war gods decided that. But I like to think that because the wolves don’t live like humans, they need more lives. The two clans are constantly fighting. They need more than five, if you ask me.”
“Okay, so when a shape-shifter dies, he’ll come back again unless he has no more lives left. If it’s Atos’s sword that cuts a shape-shifter, with or without spare lives, he could die because his wound, small or not, will never heal. This is too much. You know, listening to all this doesn’t mean I’m buying your entire story, even though you seem to know stuff about my parents. I shouldn’t even listen to you. You’re a total stranger, despite your claim that you’re my father’s friend.”
“You should listen to me, Mari, for your own safety. Anna and Mark wanted you to be safe, babe.”
Marisol nodded, the pain of hearing her parents’s wishes reflected on her beautiful face. “Why didn’t I hear about all of this when Dad was alive?” Marisol’s frown deepened. Her face clouded with anger and hurt.
“You’re angry.”
“Wouldn’t you be if you were left in the dark about the truth? If, indeed, what you said is all true? Dad knew about Mom’s history and the shape-shifters and didn’t tell me anything about it.”
“For a reason.”
“My mother came from an ancient powerful clan, but she wasn’t pure bred. Her blood was already diluted. And my parents died because of a sword and poultice,” she recited the new facts aloud. “God, mixing my clay is a lot easier than this. At least when making terra-cotta, I know what I need—twenty-five percent ball clay, twenty-eight percent kaolin, thirty-two percent quartz, and fifteen percent feldspar. Not so hard on the brain. But shape-shifters and ancient clans? I thought it was a myth.”
Callum listened. He wished he could have softened the blow about her family, but there was no way around it. He knew this was all too much to take in, but Marisol must know everything, the sooner the better.
“Baby, brace yourself. Mark wore a locket the night Atos caught him.”
“The locket’s been missing.”
Callum noticed the worry on Marisol’s face. She was biting her lips again. “Atos has it. Anna inherited Kyra’s features. Just as you shared Anna’s.”
“Atos now knows I exist.”
“Yes.”
“Callum, there’s only one sword in this house. Mom’s. She gave it to me when I was five. If the sword belonged to Kyra’s father, Youven, and then Elam was after it. And Atos is after the poultice. Tell me. Is he after the sword, too?”
“Yes, baby. He’s been looking for it.”
“He’s after me.”
A loud rumble of thunder followed by a flash of lightning. Marisol glanced at the window, her eyes searching, fearful. Callum left his chair to squat in front of her. He took her hand in his and rubbed her knuckles.
Her indrawn breath told him that his touch surprised her. Perhaps even more than it did him. Gad, her skin was so soft, her fingers long. Neither of them said a word for several moments, staring at each other.
He wondered what was going on in her head. Did she have sinful thoughts, like he did? Did a sudden burst of desire course through her veins the moment he touched her? Callum suddenly felt uncomfortable. Mark’s pants felt even tighter now. Damn it. Marisol was, without a doubt, one lovely woman. His growing erection proved that he was attracted to her. But heck, she wouldn’t be his first choice if presented with his choice of beautiful women. Just look at her. Too tall, with creamy skin, and perfect breasts. She also had a bad habit of chewing her lips until they resembled a sunkissed strawberry. Worse, she talked to herself. And…aw, shit. Who was he kidding? He could sit here all day long staring at her and feel contented. The way he’d done in the past month while in wolf form. Marisol was too appealing to give him peace of mind. With her, all he wanted to think about was how it would feel to be inside her, what she would taste like, how she’d react when he sucked her—
Marisol twisted her hand, saving him from the erotic thoughts bouncing through his head. Damn it. He was one fucked up wolf. Here he was having a boner while fear coated Marisol’s eyes. He let out a deep breath and concentrated on the topic at hand.
“Baby, Mark told me that Anna foresaw a vision—”
“So that’s the reason why Dad insisted that I practice wielding my sword? Because a shape-shifter, a full-blooded descendant of some god, wants me dead?”
“And he will fail. I’m here to protect you. Baby, I won’t let him come near you. I won’t let them take Youven’s sword. Your sword.”
Marisol leaned back against the chair, as if trying to put more space between them. Her unblinking eyes focused on his face. “You said earlier that you can do magical things. You can read my thoughts, you talked as if you’re not human, spouted about two ancient clans and how you know about my family history. You know things that a normal human being would never know. You’re one of them, aren’t you? You’re a shape-shifter.”
Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set Page 298
