Prism (Awakened Chronicles Book 3)

by Harley Austin

  She shook her head, “I don’t recognize you; any of you. I’m sorry.”

  Brayden felt some fear rising within her. “Shhh, relax,” he calmed pulling her close. “I’ll help you. No need to worry.”

  She turned into his embrace nodding.

  “I’m Brayden,” he said to her, kissing the side of her head.

  “I guess all of you already know my name.” She looked at all of their faces again, her eyes finally settling on Lear’s.

  “We do, Cierra,” Lear reached out to touch her wrist. Romero took hold of her hand and squeezed it warmly. “We’ll help you through this, all of us will.”

  Parker could already sense her fear about all of them—all of them except Brayden. “Guys, how about we just let Cierra alone to get her bearings. This is not going to be fun for her.”

  “Or any of us,” Wynn frowned. She’d only briefly looked at him and then turned her attention to the others. She seemed most interested in paying attention to just Lear and the other awakened of the group. No one responded to his quip.

  “All right, people, let’s keep moving,” Wynn moved on ahead. “We need to put some distance between us and that army.”

  Romero looked now at Brayden. “Army—?”

  Moving deeper into the fantastic crystalline forest, the ceiling of the cavern grew to an unbelievable height and looked like clouds of mist had gathered high above them.

  “What did he mean by that?” Romero asked. “Put some distance between us and the army?”

  “We’re being pursued by Seven agents, Cierra.” O’Brien walked to one side of her. Romero had not let go of Brayden, her arm still around him as they walked.

  “That’s not good. How far back are they?”

  “Miles now, thanks to Parker, but they’ll regroup.”

  “And then what?” Romero asked.

  “I don’t think we want to know,” Lear mumbled over her shoulder.

  Romero watched the white-haired woman walking in front of them. She was beautiful. Romero left Brayden’s side and moved up to her taking her arm. “You’re not a goddess; you’re really different; I can feel it. Who are you?”

  “Brooke Lear.”

  “That’s not your real name, is it?”

  “Lyris. But here you can call me Brooke.”

  “Here—?” Romero’s memory might be missing bits and pieces, but her goddess mind worked quickly. “Where are you from?”

  “A different world …”

  “What did she say?” Parker asked. He’d seen Wynn talking with Romero for a brief minute.

  “She doesn’t remember me, or any of us.”

  “Tough break,” Parker consoled, their empathic conversation private as booth lead the others through the forest. The trees and flora had grown so large it seemed like all of them had shrunk while moving through it. “It’ll come back.”

  Wynn pursed his lips “Hopefully.”

  “I’m sorry, man.”

  Wynn looked over his shoulder at Romero chatting with Lear. Both were smiling, getting to know each other all over again.

  “Apparently she likes gods.” Wynn caught glimpses of her behind him.

  “Probably because she is one.”

  “I guess I’ll need to upgrade if I want any chance of seeing her now.”

  “I guess so,” Parker agreed.

  Wynn said nothing more.

  * * * * *

  “Oh, God! My head!” the lead agent lifted himself from the sands into a sitting position. Others were sitting up and slowly getting up around him.

  “What the hell was that?” someone else complained.

  “Psychic attack,” another offered.

  “It’s called a Synaptic Overload,” the Commander’s chief specialist in Psionic Sciences groaned. He struggled to get to his knees. “More commonly referred to as a ‘psionic blast.’ I’ve studied them. I just never thought I’d ever get hit with one. Jesus what a headache.” His forehead resting in his palm.

  “Tell me about it.” The commander pulled himself to a standing position. His head pounded, but not as bad as it had a minute ago. “Alright, everyone on your feet. Move around. It seems to help the hangover.”

  “I hope Command saw what happened,” the lead agent’s second in command pulled himself up onto wobbly legs.

  “They did, I’m sure.”

  “Commander,” the Lieutenant looked around. Not all of their men and women were getting up.

  “I see them, Lieutenant. Better collect some body bags.”

  “Commander. There’s no way we can subdue something that powerful. It’ll be suicide to even try.”

  “I don’t intend to subdue, it at this point, Lieutenant. That whole group of gods is fucking dead now, as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure Command will agree.”

  55

  M iss O’Brien,” all of the gods heard the audio of the high-flying drone as it began descending through the crystalline trees from high above them. Bryn recognized the voice immediately but said nothing as the larger drone now hovered in front of them. A crude life-size holo image of Rigel appeared from the communication drone’s projector. Parker stood in front of all of them with Wynn coming up beside him.

  “What do you want, Rigel?” Wynn glared.

  “Just a brief word with Miss O’Brien, if you please. It’s not meant to be a private conversation.”

  Bryn moved beside Parker.

  “Ah, there you are my dear. I just wanted to remind you of our contract. Apparently, you want it to be null and void?”

  “So help me, Rigel if you touch my family!”

  “I believe the agreement was that as long as you worked for me they would be kept safe. Has that now changed?”

  Parker’s mind worked like lightning. He stepped in front of Bryn. “She’s my prisoner,” Parker declared. “If you want her back, come and get her.”

  The drone suddenly imploded into junk and fell with a thud into the sand.

  “Prisoner?” O’Brien raised her brow.

  “He wants leverage. If you’re my prisoner then your agreement still has value and he won’t hurt your family.”

  “You don’t think he’s honestly …”

  “… going to buy that nonsense?” Brad quipped.

  “Good Heavens, no. I wasn’t born yesterday. But the newblood god, this Parker, buys her time. He’s very clever. Perhaps too clever.”

  “What are you going to do? My teams are still regrouping.”

  “Yes, I can see that. Your people are the closest to the situation, Brad. I hate to waste the assets, but, do as you must. We cannot have these renegades falling into the hands of our adversaries. They’re already more irrepressible than we’d anticipated.”

  “Some of them are still Human. They won’t be a problem. The four gods—”

  “Of course. You will be well compensated. I assure you. But if you do manage to capture any of them alive, you would have the utmost gratitude of the Seven.”

  “I see.”

  * * * * *

  She found Wynn standing on a wide crystal that had grow out over the water’s edge of large steaming pond. She could feel his sadness, his disappointment, his conflicting emotions. Without any of the great crystals in the middle of the small lake, it looked darker, as if ringed by lights. She made some soft noise so he’d hear her coming up behind him.

  He turned to see her moving with a new elegance toward him. He wanted to turn back around and ignore her, but—God she was even more beautiful now than she was when they’d first met.

  “Hey.” Was all she said walking up.

  “Hey.” He watched her looking out over the water. He wondered what she could see those beautiful purple goddess eyes of hers now.

  “We missed you at dinner,” she offered.

  “I wasn’t hungry.”

  “You’re in love with me.” She turned her head to look into his eyes, “I can feel it.”

  “Not any more.”

  “You are. You shouldn�
�t lie to a goddess.”

  “I meant ‘we’,” he corrected.

  “I’ve been talking with the rest, trying to piece back together the memories I lost. You could help me.”

  He nodded.

  “I know it’s painful,” she touched his arm. “You’re in love with someone and they don’t remember you.”

  “I—don’t know that you actually were in love with me. We never really said that to each other.”

  “Parker said I wanted you to awaken me.”

  Wynn nodded. “You did say that.”

  “There must have been a reason.”

  “I’m sure at one time you knew it.”

  “The others really respect you, Dade. They look up to you. Even Parker.”

  “Parker? Really?” Wynn was honestly astonished.

  “I guess you don’t see that.”

  “I’m noticing lately that I don’t see a lot of things.”

  “Everyone thinks you’re really brave. Especially Chase.”

  “Chase is a smart guy. He likes you a lot.”

  “I know how he feels about me.”

  Wynn nodded. Both stared out over the waters watching the subtle reflections of the illuminated trees on the far shore.

  “Who do you like?” Wynn finally asked.

  “Still sorting that out. You’re all nice. I think I like Brooke the most.”

  “That figures. I’m mean—”

  “I know what you mean. She awakened me. It’s okay to feel pain, Dade; losing someone you love. I know how you’re feeling.”

  “But you don’t feel the same about us anymore.”

  “I’m getting to know everyone else all over again. It’s odd, but it’s kind of fun at the same time, living among people who know so much about you. Making new friends all over again. If we fell in love once, it could happen again.”

  “I don’t know that ‘we’ were really in love, Cierra. Maybe well on our ways-or something like that.”

  “You are in love. I can feel me all over within you.”

  “What’s not to love about you? Especially now that you’re a goddess.”

  “You can’t let your pain stand in the way of rebuilding our friendship.”

  He nodded.

  “You’re a little stubborn, Dade Wynn. You know that?”

  He looked into her eyes. His arm moved around her slender waist, gripping the top half of her ass and pulling her warmly against himself. God she was beautiful. His fingers moved her hair away from her face. “I would follow you into hell and bring you back, Cierra Romero. Just so you know.”

  Surprise filled her eyes. “Oh—” suddenly left her parted lips.

  * * * * *

  Wynn pressed his shirtless body against the god’s own bare pecs, holding him against the flat surface of a tree-tall great crystal spire while his lips folded between Parker’s. Damn, the guy could kiss. Parker’s cock was the size of his own now that he’d been awakened. He’d been watching the god-guy, his rounded ass above thick muscled thighs looked unbelievable in the uniform tights all of them wore; and up front, the stretch material did little to hide a now abundant length that even flaccid bulged long to one side while his jewels filled the contoured front of the guy-version of their pants. But right now, Parker’s cock wasn’t laying to one side and it wasn’t flaccid and neither was his own. Jesus he felt nice with the hardness pushing out from the front of his tights sliding and bumping against his own.

  Parker’s hands slipped under the material of Wynn’s pants to grab his bare ass and pull them more tightly together. Wynn whimpered into Parker’s lips, the feeling was building his emotion. Wynn felt his tights being pulled down around his own thick thighs, the warm air hitting his straight-up huge cock that slipped against Parker’s tights now. Parker left his lips, slowly dropping to a low squat that put him at eye-level with Wynn’s throbbing bare spire. His cock gripped in Parker’s fingers, Wynn loosed a breath and then drew a rippled one as he felt his foreskin slip back and warm lips slip over his wide helmet. Wynn pressed his palms against the flat crystal to keep his balance while Parker filled as much of his mouth as he could with Wynn’s huge male.

  “Ohhhh. Ghhhod, Parker,” Wynn whined softly. He couldn’t help but buck his hips with what the guy was doing to his cock. Damn! Uhhhh, he was good! Not even Cierra had teased him like this before. Wynn tired to spread his legs wider, but the material of his pants around his thighs kept them mostly together. Parker’s other hand had found Wynn’s ample glands. He teased and cradled them pulled up taunt next to the base of his rock-solid shaft. With Parker’s lips on his tip and his fingers delicately kneading his jewels, Wynn had no choice but to bow to the building urge of Nature. He rocked his head back, his mouth wide open as his thick cock pulsed and erupted with a powerful surge of ecstasy! The massive release rocketed through his body. But Parker’s lips didn’t stop. Wynn erupted over and over between his lips as the guy drew down hard and pulled every last ounce of seed Wynn was capable of giving.

  “God—Parker.” Wynn felt himself saying as he awoke. His head lifted off of his sleeping bag to see the others still sleeping around him in the dim light. His tights were around his thighs and his chest and abs were soaked with his wet dream’s excitement. Worse yet his jewels were half aching he’d come so hard. He sighed quietly to himself just laying there waiting for his body to settle back down. Thank God he’d not woken any of them around him.

  As his body settled he looked over at Parker not far from him. He wasn’t dressed at all and his cock was tall and hard, reaching up to his abs. Wynn watched the guy sleeping. He wondered if the wet dream was natural or if just being around Parker’s awakened body had caused it somehow? Parker’s chest wasn’t wet. But he sure looked hard. He watched Parker stir on his bag. Wynn’s eyes traced the outline of his thick member down to his wild dark bush between his bulky thighs. Jeeze the guy was beautiful. He didn’t know if what he felt was attraction or something more natural. Either way, he found himself wondering what it would be like to have his lips around a guy that big?

  Wynn sighed; he quietly cleaned himself off with his shirt, pulled his pant’s back up, and drifted silently back off to sleep.

  56

  N ow what do we do?” Brayden looked out over a vast body of water that all of them now stood on the shore of. As far as even the awakened eyes could see, it looked like a vast dark ocean. The streams they’d been following now all emptied into the warm sea.

  “Brooke?” Parker met eyes with her, “any ideas?”

  “Great lakes are common in the prisms. The cavern may dead end here, or there maybe a shore on the far side.”

  “This water looks deep,” Tyler offered. “How do we cross it? I’m pretty sure these crystal trees don’t float.”

  “We could just walk across it,” O’Brien offered.

  “We can do that?” Brayden asked.

  O’Brien stepped out onto the surface as the water obeyed her will and didn’t allow her to sink into it. Brayden felt what she was doing. It took him a couple of tries to feel exactly what he needed to do, but it wasn’t a difficult exercise for his mind. In another minute both Parker and Romero were doing the same thing, standing on the surface of the waters.

  “What about us?” Wynn asked.

  Parker thought for a moment. The last time he’d been around a body of water it had been he and Brayden plunging into the frigid depths off the coast of Alaska. But as long as Bray was touching him, the ring had kept both of them warm. Parker moved toward him. “Here, give me your hand.”

  Wynn took hold of Parker’s as Parker pulled him out onto the surface. Wynn was now standing on the surface like the other four.

  “How are you doing this?” Wynn pushed his foot down against the surface. It wasn’t exactly hard, but rather felt more like he was walking on a very firm surface tension, like a gym matt.

  “The water obeys our will,” O’Brien offered.

  The rest of them stepped out onto the water. Then a
ll began walking away from the shore.

  “I hope this this thing isn’t too big,” Wynn cautioned. “Because in about a week, the rations run out.”

  “Then what do we do?” Romero asked.

  “Pray for some manna—” Wynn frowned.

  * * * * *

  “Their tracks end here,” the ranger knelt down at the shore.

  “Where’d they go?” the Lieutenant asked, looking down either side of the shore.

  The ranger pointed out into the lake. “I guess they found a raft or a boat of some kind.”

  “You’re not serious?” the lead agent grumbled. “They’re gods! Hello? They don’t need a boat to cross a body of water. Jesus—”

  He just looked at his commander but said nothing.

  “More delays, Commander,” his second in command already had his communications tablet out.

  “Yes, dammit. Get us some pontoon skiffs, Lieutenant.”

  “Already on it.”

  “They already have a couple of days travel on us,” the ranger looked out over the massive pristine dark lake. “Those skiffs will take another day at least.”

  “Do you walk on water, Captain?”

  “No.”

  “Then I guess you and your teams better get on the double and get me those skiffs.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  56

  Y ou guys are sure quiet.” O’Brien could see Parker’s feelings within Wynn’s. “Everything okay?”

  “Yea, sure. Just—talking.” Parker pulled his feelings away from Wynn’s.

  O’Brien didn’t press the conversation. She let the two of them alone and joined another private conversation the other two gods were having.

  “Hey, Bryn,” Brayden greeted. She could feel Romero’s feelings within his as well.

  “It’s really quiet out here. It’s so dark. It’s a little creepy. Everything okay?”

  “Fine,” Brayden assured. “Just trying to figure out the best way to awaken the rest of us.”