Blood Stained Tranquility

by N. Isabelle Blanco

  “Help,” she cried out in a tiny voice, unable to move due to the ache slicing her body.

  “Evesse, breathe.”

  Impossible. Yearning hit her body, kicking her in the gut. Her body arched. Everything hurt, her skin hurt, her heart hurt.

  “Please . . . make it . . . away . . .”

  “We need to find Zeniel.”

  “He’s fallen off the grid. Even my own. For some damned reason, he isn’t meant to be here.”

  Eve inhaled with a broken sob. Logically speaking, she knew her reaction was more than a tad pathetic. She tried to do as she’d been ordered, but the deeper she inhaled, the tighter her ribcage seemed to be squeezing down on her lungs.

  She was heartbroken. Maybe she had every right to be, maybe not. Didn’t matter. She felt like she’d just lost everything in the world, and the memories of both her past and Zen’s were colliding inside her.

  “Evesse, please, we’re here. Try to calm down,” Ismini said, sitting on the bed and grabbing her hand.

  Eve shook her head, unable to explain.

  “I can imagine what you’re going through. It was painful for me, too. We’re going to find him for you.”

  “N—now. Need him now.”

  Ah fuck, she sounded like a whiny kid demanding its toy. Although this went much, much deeper than that. She was alive and Ismini was alive, even though they’d both died. She should’ve been happy, fucking ecstatic even. Instead, all she could feel was the gaping wound in her chest, the emptiness from all that was missing in her life.

  Her dad was dead. Her mother, wherever she was, needed some sort of freaking shock therapy. Her brother had been gone from her life for ten years.

  Zeniel was off the grid.

  A long sob left her, the tears multiplying. She ended up on her side, grabbing Ismini’s arms, her chest shuddering with each massive sob.

  “She’s heartbroken. It’s normal.”

  Evesse tried to listen to the conversation, hoping it would distract her.

  “I felt a little loopy days after being brought back, but this?” Ismini asked.

  “You weren’t exposed to a cosmic mindfuck and the awakening of your R’mannev all at once.”

  Oh, hell no. That’s so not what Evesse needed to hear right then. She needed hope. She needed a promise that this was going to get better—or that they were going to haul Zeniel’s ass to Enzyria right away.

  Ismini moved her arms so she could hug Eve. “So what do we do?”

  “She has to ride it out. I have to leave to take care of something important, but help is on the way. They’ll be able to alleviate her enough to give her relief.”

  “Nylicia, wait—”

  But she’d clearly left, leaving Eve stuck in her breakdown and with no way out.

  Chapter 7

  “I just want to go back to sleep.”

  Soleria scoffed, softly caressing Eve’s soaked forehead. “You were asleep for almost three weeks. Enough is enough.”

  Easy for her to say. She had no idea how unbearable it was. It was like going through emotional labor with no epidural in sight.

  Ismini was tucked into Dyletri’s side. He’d come looking for his mate a little while ago and stayed when he saw Eve was awake. “When it started hitting me, the pain made me near crazy. And Dyletri was actually with me when my symptoms began.”

  Thank you, Ismini. Thank you.

  She was trying to not be irritated by the way Dyletri kept kissing Ismini’s shoulder and hair. The idiot wouldn’t stop touching her.

  Just as Eve was about to lash out at Mr. and Mrs. Lovey-Dovey, the door to her room opened. Dimithinia sailed in, her black hair floating behind her, blue eyes wide, and a shell-shocked expression on her face. She looked like a war survivor just starting to deal with PTSD.

  The fuck?

  “Dimi? What the hell happened?” Ismini asked, her eyes following Dimithinia.

  Dimi? This was the ancient queen Ismini had to die for. And Ismini was calling her Dimi?

  Eve didn’t get it. She didn’t understand how both were standing here now. Nor did she understand why Ismini seemed genuinely concerned, and perhaps a little amused at her rival’s appearance.

  What the hell had happened after they were thrown into the vortex?

  “Dead, woman. I am so dead.”

  “Huh?”

  Eve looked at Soleria, then turned to Ismini just in time to see Vedlyl and Ianthen walk in.

  “The cavalry has arrived. We should be able to get you out of that bed now.” Ianthen crossed his massive arms and smiled kindly down at Eve.

  Next to her, Soleria almost fell off the bed. “Cavalry?”

  Cyake waltzed in next, his trademark dimples flashing, followed by two men that were clearly his brothers. Clearly. Hell, there was no denying it.

  Why hadn’t anyone told her that Cyake was a triplet?

  “Holy shit,” Soleria whispered under her shaking breaths.

  Ianthen’s face hardened into a scowl, but Evesse couldn’t tear her eyes away from the three males now standing at the end of her bed long enough to pay him any mind.

  Three. There were three of them.

  For the first time since waking up, she was grateful that her mating symptoms were showing. She wouldn’t have survived what was in front of her otherwise.

  “These are my brothers. Zexistr and Keiros. Or, Existence and Time, if you rather call them by their designations,” Cyake said, motioning to the two next to him.

  “Which is which?” Eve asked, looking between the two. They were identical to Cyake, except their eyes were different colors, and they both had longer hair.

  The one in the middle was pure Goth, dressed in a long leather trench coat, and a black Nightmare Before Christmas T-shirt that looked like it was barely hanging onto his large chest. His dark brown hair was held back in a ponytail, just like Zen’s, and his eyes were multi-colored. Gold, metallic green, light blue and silver irises swirled from behind a sea of eyelashes.

  There was a row of metallic hoops running down his right ear, two in his left eyebrow, and one was hugging his pouty bottom lip. He had the same playful look on his face that Cy always carried, and she could see his lips twitch with a smile.

  “I’m Zexistr,” he said, nodding his head in greeting.

  Existence. He was the God of Existence.

  Did that make him the equivalent of the God? Holy crap. But why the hell was he so pale? Something about his skin tone seemed . . . dead. It wasn’t just his skin tone, either. She could sense the muted power in him. There was something about him that reeked of sickness. Wasn’t Existence supposed to be more alive?

  “I’m Keiros, God of Time,” the one in the black suit said. He had shoulder length hair, the same color as both his brothers, and green metallic eyes. Whereas his two siblings seemed good-natured and playful, he was all seriousness, his arms crossed as he stared down at her with a stoic look.

  “Father Time,” Evesse said. Because really? What else could she say to that?

  Cyake actually giggled, and Zexistr smirked behind his hand.

  “There are three of them,” Dimithinia whispered in that same shaky tone Soleria had used before.

  “Fucking three of them.” Soleria grabbed onto Eve’s arm with a titan’s grip, her whole body trembling as she stared wide-eyed at the three males.

  This time Ianthen growled, his glare focused on the triplets.

  Cyake froze, his eyes moving from Ianthen to his brothers. He swallowed, then slowly, very slowly, took one side-step away from his brothers. Then another, and another.

  “So you’re Existence,” Ismini said, tilting her head and studying Zexistr.

  Dyletri tensed, pulling her closer and looking at her, trying to see if she was as attracted to them as Sol and Dimi seemed to be. Both of their mating marks started to writhe, twisting and turning on their necks.

  “Relax, baby. I’m yours. Everyone knows this.” Ismini patted the large hand on her shoulder an
d turned back to the brothers. “Why are you guys here?”

  Cyake stopped mid-step, his nervous stare bouncing between his best friend and his brothers. He caught Ianthen’s stare and subtly shook his head.

  Ianthen shoved Cy, his scowl only growing.

  Zexistr caught his brother before he could barrel into him. “Ved is out of juice. Impotent, it seems. Never thought I’d see the day, but here we are to step in.”

  Vedlyl’s glare was almost as fierce as Ianthen’s. “This is a temporary situation, I assure you. Now do your thing and help her.”

  “Do what thing?” Eve asked, struggling to sit up.

  No one was doing anything to her without explaining what it entailed first. The last time she’d agreed to allow a God—or Goddess, as it were—do their “thing”, she’d ended up becoming a guinea pig in Nylicia’s experiment. Yeah, it had worked out and she’d ended up with superpowers, but that shit had hurt more than she’d expected.

  And Nylicia had warned her it would hurt like a bitch.

  “Hard to explain,” Zexistr said. “We’re three of the strongest gods in the Universe and with our powers united, we can push back anything. Even the symptoms of something as strong as your mating. You’re not in a Fieren, yet, but your body is obviously too overwhelmed to handle even the weakest of mating symptoms.”

  “You’re the three strongest Gods. I know you’re Prophecy, the voice of Fate, Cy. So that makes you Existence, Time, and Fate. Don’t treat me like I’m dumb, I know that means you’re the leviathans of the Universe.”

  Zexistr smiled at her, looking boyishly charming. “Well, not the leviathans, but I can’t deny you’re good for the ego nonetheless.”

  Cy rolled his eyes and slapped his hand against his forehead. “Great, if Zen was here, he’d be dying to kill me, too.” He turned to Ianthen. “This is not my fault, you hear me? I have nothing to do with this.”

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  Zexistr ignored Ianthen and Cy, stepping closer. “It’s going to hurt, as you know. We’re hitting you with a hell of a lot of power—”

  “How much power are we talking?”

  Zexistr looked like he didn’t want to answer, but Keiros stepped forward and did so for him. “One, maybe two nuclear reactors’ worth.” Eve was in the middle of sputtering when he continued. “I understand your friend here had to go through a lesser version at one point. She was fine after that, sort of.”

  Dyletri stared accusingly at Vedlyl. “I still wish you had fucking told me.”

  “It was not your R’ma’s wish that I tell you at the time,” Vedlyl calmly replied, not even turning to look at him.

  “Ismini . . . how much pain are we talking?”

  Ismini gave Eve a sympathetic look. “Not as much as you were feeling when you woke up. Not having your R’mann around hurts more.”

  Eve nodded, but Ismini wasn’t quite done.

  “Eve . . . I need you healthy. And our wedding party is a week from now. I can’t do it without you there. Please?”

  All righty, then. That settled it. Eve hadn’t been awake for Ismini’s “wedding night.” Everyone else had been there to help her get ready, except Eve. So fine, she’d allow the three brothers to work their mojo on her if it meant she could get out of the damned bed. “Fine. Let’s do this. But I get to kick each and every one of you in the cojones once it’s over. Only fair and all.”

  Zexistr threw his head back and laughed. Even Keiros seemed amused by that. Well, as amused as someone who seemed stuck-up could be. Cyake, on the other hand, was glaring at her.

  “The shit I do for my friends,” he grumbled.

  He moved around the side of the bed and came to a stop on her left side. Keiros came around the right, and Sol stared at him unblinking as she slowly inched off the bed.

  Both of the brothers knelt down, each placing their hands on Eve’s arms. She jumped as Zexistr sat on the end of the bed and grabbed onto her ankles.

  Oh, no go. No fucking go.

  If there was one thing Eve couldn’t stand, it was to be held down and kept defenseless. She’d fought Zeniel like a hellcat the day he’d tied her up to bring her to Enzyria, and she hadn’t given a rat’s ass that she’d broken her hand punching him, forcing him to have to heal her.

  Instinct took over and she tensed, preparing to defend herself by aiming at the God of Existence first.

  But her well-planned, perfectly executed kick never happened.

  Three pairs of large masculine hands tightened down around her limbs, vice-like, as a silent scream tried to wrestle its way out of her throat.

  Energy. Sheer fucking energy. The kind that could singe a human’s entire body if they got within twenty feet of it.

  It slammed into her with all the strength of Thor’s hammer. No mercy, no tact, and no freaking stopping. Her hands shot up, grabbing onto each of the hands holding her arms. Her fingernails became claws, stretching and pulling away from the skin, growing.

  A grunt came from her right. A hiss from her left. Good. Those SOBs deserved to feel something for what they were doing to her.

  She tried to kick as another wave of electricity scraped its way up her legs, heading straight for areas it had no business being in.

  “I’m going to . . . kill . . . all of you. Hard. And painfully,” she managed to grit out as her muscles began shaking and spasming out of control.

  A chuckle came from the vicinity of her legs, sending Eve into another round of “oh-hell-no.” She didn’t give a damn that he was Existence, that he might just be the ultimate god in charge of keeping the Universe together.

  “You . . . first . . .” she said, managing to open her eyes long enough to glare in his direction.

  He gave her an apologetic grin, shrugging in a way she would have considered adorable had it not been for the next blast of power that lifted her off the bed and slammed her back down. She almost went through the damn mattress that time!

  “Enough with . . . this . . . shit . . .” Eve choked, eyes freezing wide open. Titanium claws, recently dipped in lava and dripping hot sludge, slammed around her rib cage like a corset. Her chest felt like it collapsed in on the R’mannev itself, and beneath it, the fire spread through her heart, jackhammering the organ into overdrive.

  “Please. Please stop.”

  Fuck it all. She’d rather die. She was damn close to begging them to just end her suffering so that she didn’t have to go through one more second of what they were doing to her.

  “Gods damn it. She’s strong. They’re both fighting back,” Zexistr grunted, bearing down on her ankles.

  Both of them? What the hell was he talking about?

  “Evesse.” Vedlyl stepped forward, his pupils switching back-and-forth from blue to yellow so rapidly that it actually distracted her. “You need to focus on controlling the R’mannev. If you don’t fight it, it’s not going to obey you.”

  “I went through it. Not as much as you are right now because I was human, but I was still able to do it. Fight back, Eve,” Ismini said in a small voice.

  Fight back. Right. She was good at that. Barely knew how to do anything else.

  “Focus on how much you want to kill us once this is done,” Zexistr said with a good-natured smile framed by those damned dimples.

  “Stop giving her ideas,” Cy grunted.

  Too late. She was already focused. Was already planning exactly how she was going to rip off their eyebrows, then move onto their eyelashes.

  “Anyone else getting a mental image of what’s going on in there?” Keiros asked, sounding strained.

  “I told you not to give her ideas, she’s fucking vicious!” Cy cried above the roar of the next energy wave that hit her.

  This time, the covers beneath her became nothing but dust, and the mattress nearly followed suit. Eve bore down, clawing into the hands holding her, cracking a tooth that instantly began to heal as she clenched her jaw. She kept the mental image of ripping off their eyelashes front-and-center, even squ
inting to keep it in focus.

  Cy growled next to her, the sound low and potent, full of warning. Clearly, he was seeing what she was seeing and he didn’t like the view. Too bad. Had he been feeling what she was feeling, maybe then she would have given a fuck.

  Breathing had pretty much stopped at that point, but she didn’t care. She clenched down, pushed back, and alternated between imagining herself harming the brothers and seeing herself kicking the fire inside her into submission.

  She could do this. She had to. She didn’t know the meaning of giving up.

  The moment she remembered that, a surge of her own energy detonated from deep within her, an epic-scale blast that rushed forth and went on the offensive against the weakness in her.

  Because that’s what the mating had officially become. A weakness. And there was no way in hell she would let it overcome her.

  “There we go. Now she’s fighting.”

  Eve had no idea who muttered those pride-filled words. She couldn’t really see anymore, and her hearing was beginning to abandon her, too. All she knew was her determination not to give in—along with her desperate need to hurt the three beings holding her down.

  It all came to a stop so suddenly, that Eve was left jerking like an epileptic on the bed.

  Her hearing returned, the pain tightened into a tiny ball inside her chest, and pure strength surged through every one of her cells, infusing them with the need for violence. An animalistic hiss left her mouth, like something straight out of the wild, as she jumped onto the bed, balancing on the balls of her feet with her knees bent and her claws ready to strike.

  As one, everyone within three feet of her shot back. The brothers, smart boys that they obviously were, began inching their way toward the door.

  Cy threw his hands up, speaking to her nice and slow, as if that would help shit. “We were just trying to help you. And obviously, we did. Leave my nuts alone.”

  “It hurt,” she growled, not recognizing her voice, barely recognizing herself within the psychotic, out-of-control behavioral and mental patterns that were emerging.

  “Evesse,” Vedlyl placed his hands on the edge of the bed and leaned in to nail her with his hypnotic stare. “Now that your strength is returning, your instincts are magnified. You need to breathe and relax.”