Blood Stained Tranquility

by N. Isabelle Blanco

  Fruck, as Sol would say.

  The R’mannev could be a whining, inconsolable little bitch when it wanted to. This was worse than simple jealousy. Not that jealousy was a simple thing, but Eve suspected that it was going to take decades of Zeniel fucking her, and only her, before the images of him and Rhalira went away. Perhaps even longer.

  She refused to entertain the idea that they might never go away. She lived her life on the edge of insanity sometimes. She didn’t need to tempt Fate on that.

  Help!

  Eve twitched so violently that her elbow almost slammed into Zen’s face. He didn’t wake, but his eyes did move behind his eyelids. Her heart stuttered, stealing her ability to breathe for a moment. Lips parted, she struggled to take in air and sat up. She told herself it was nothing. That she was just imagining things.

  Help . . . me . . .

  A screech went off in her head, the sound reminding her of a speaker picking up interference. On its heels was the voice of Justice—angry, demonic, and mutated as it whispered inside her.

  Find him. Punish him!

  Him? Him who?

  But Eve already knew. The plaintive plea for help she’d heard sounded out again, and she recognized the tenor of the voice with every fiber of her being.

  Not caring if she awoke Zen, she jumped out of bed and dematerialized like a shot downstairs. She moved so fast that the air continued to whip around her long after she’d come to a stop in the basement, in front of that fucking Gnetica.

  Please!

  She clutched her head, groaning when the screech in her head went off. She needed to get in there. As much as she dreaded the thought of what was on the other side of the energy shield, the urge burning the top of her spinal column wasn’t going to go away on its own.

  She didn’t even care or remember that she was still naked.

  Suffer. He must suffer. More.

  “Damn it!” Eve bared her teeth at the shield, her fingers pressing into her head as she fought the pain. “Damn you, go down!” She hadn’t actually expected the command to work.

  Eyes wide, she watched the Gnetica disappear, the energy it was made of rippling as it separated.

  She didn’t even have time to be shocked. The voice she’d been hearing in her head immediately called out to her from within the basement. She rushed inside.

  No matter how much she’d suspected it, the sight that met her was almost enough to knock her off her feet.

  A swirling vortex of what looked like black and red smoke reached from the floor to the ceiling. Through the gaps in the dual-toned mist, a face she never thought she would see again stared back at her.

  “I killed you,” she said. Two tones—one shocked, one gloating—echoed behind the words.

  He resembled Nylicia, a see through projection, but he was no projection. He couldn’t be. Translucent blood and organs had spilled out all over the floor. His legs were missing. His hands were gone, too. His ribcage was cracked wide open. She noted his heart beating weakly inside it.

  The only thing that was left untouched was his face.

  Yes. Make him suffer. He deserves more.

  “E—Eve . . .”

  “Do not speak my fucking name!” she shouted, feeling like the powers of Justice had become an entirely separate entity within her. An entity that was taking control. She wanted to look away from the sight of his intestines spilling out of him. She wanted to run and get far, far away from him.

  Her body wasn’t going anywhere though. The other half of her was gluttonous for this sight. Hungry to inflict more damage. And damned proud of her mate and what he had obviously done.

  Shit. Is this how Zen felt when battling Mavrak?

  “Please . . . please . . .”

  “What do you want from me?” she asked, still speaking in that same distorted voice.

  “Save me . . . get me out of here.”

  “Never. You hear me? I will never save you.”

  Staring at her dead stepfather’s dull brown eyes, she could see and hear all the other girls he’d hurt before her. Before meeting her mother, he’d abused two other teenage girls, both daughters of his ex-girlfriends. She could also hear the pleas of at least eight more, begging him to stop. Just as she once had.

  “Send me . . . send me back to Hell. Send me there. I’d rather face that, than face him again,” her stepfather pleaded, his face contorting with sobs.

  She opened her mouth, taking a step closer.

  Zen materialized into the basement. He was just as naked as she was and looked positively wild.

  “Do not lay your filthy eyes on my R’ma!”

  No, that wasn’t Zen. It was Mavrak.

  Eve watched, frozen, as more of the mist that kept her stepfather’s soul imprisoned began leaking from Mavrak’s red and black eyes. His face was monstrous in its fury, but it was the mist that held her captivated.

  It expanded as it got closer to his soul. Then, shadows resembling skeletons began to take form, their haunting cackles filling the basement.

  Her stepfather’s sobs grew louder.

  The bones on the skeletons popped into place as they approached their target. They didn’t stop. The mist didn’t stop. Both crept nearer until the wraiths fell upon her stepfather with obvious glee.

  It didn’t end there. Even as they began to tear into him, ripping any piece of him that was still intact, images came to life in a whirl around him.

  His victims. The same things she had been seeing within her mind’s eye were on replay in front of him now. The screams and pleas of the girls played on repeat in front of her stepfather. So that he would see the crimes for which he was being punished. So that he would feel the pain those girls had felt, too.

  Eve slapped a hand over her mouth and took a step back. She had known Mavrak’s powers had to be immense. But she had no idea that it was like this. This was everything he feared. This was what he could, and would, do to their friends if he were to face them in this form.

  She turned away from the raw truth in front of her, and came face to face with her R’mann. He had looked away from her stepfather as well, and was staring at her worriedly. Still, the mist continued to pour from his monstrous eyes, the wraiths kept laughing, and the screams of the girls echoed above it all. Her stepfather was barely able to whimper, sounding like he was choking on his own blood.

  Behind the malice in Zen’s eyes, Eve could see both his agony and great satisfaction. He enjoyed the damage he was inflicting, even though he was horrified she was here to see it.

  “I can’t stop it,” he said, shouting above the screams and the laughter. His gaze was pleading.

  Eve dropped her hand from her mouth, swallowing past the rock in her throat. “It’s okay, baby. Just come here. Come here, Mavrak.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut. Somehow, the mist continued to leak out. “Don’t call me that. I don’t want you to hate me. I told you. Everyone that knows Mavrak and what I can do hates me in this form.”

  Eve shook her head. His friends knew what he was capable of. They still loved him. And she had never loved him more than she did then, as he stood there bathed in self-loathing over something he couldn’t control. Something she appreciated, no matter how dangerous it was.

  “That’s not true . . . Zeniel, come here.”

  He opened his eyes, looking wrecked. “He deserves it for what he’s done to you.”

  Eve nodded. “You’re right. You are so right. And I’m grateful. But that’s enough, okay? Please come to me. I need you to hug me.”

  That did it. Zen materialized in front of her. He placed his large palms flat on her back and drew her in, pressing her naked chest to his. He shuddered against her, holding her gingerly until he seemed to deflate, curling around her and pulling her in tight.

  She tightened her hold on him, realizing that the mist had stopped. The cackling as well. She didn’t want to look and see what was left of her stepfather’s soul. She didn’t even care. Zen laid his head on her shoulder,
trembling, and all that mattered was him.

  His agony, his pain, and his indecision.

  He couldn’t exist like this anymore. She understood the consequences now more than ever. Through their connection, she was bombarded by a myriad of emotions; his love for her, the gratitude he felt that she wasn’t turning away from him, his residual anger at her stepfather, and the pain that resulted from exposure to sins from all over the planet.

  His agony was made worse by the struggle between his personalities. He might not be aware of it, but Eve could feel it.

  No individual being was meant to exist and be split in two. It wasn’t right.

  Merge him.

  Even before the voice of Justice spoke, Eve had already known that was what she had to do.

  We can control him. He is ours. Merge him.

  A small sob left her as she contemplated what she was about to do.

  Zen pulled her in tighter, cupping the back of her head and pressing his lips to her jaw.

  He apologized in that double voice, sounding on the verge of tears himself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to see.”

  I’m the one who is sorry. Please don’t hate me. I have to.

  “I don’t care about that . . . I . . . I love you. You know that right?”

  The groan he gave was pure torture, a reflection of what was doing within him. He pulled her even closer, plastering her to his form.

  “I love you, too.”

  “You can’t be like this any longer, you know that as well, right?”

  His muscles went rigid beneath her fingers, turning into the kind of stone that worried her. “You are . . . right. That is why I have been trying so hard to get rid of this side of me—”

  “No!” Eve hated how it always went back to that for him.

  She understood why, but . . . she hated that he could see no other way. Hell, it wasn’t just Mavrak’s powers he had to fear. He had the memories of five hundred years’ worth of flesh-ripping, eye-burning, gods-knew-what-else-kind-of torture waiting for him on the other side. The details would be hell to consume. They might just break her R’mann further.

  No. He needs this. He needs to be one.

  She hated the fact that her powers were right.

  “I know,” he murmured against her hair, surprising her. “I know now I can’t get rid of it. Zeniel . . . he wants us as one.”

  Her stunned gasp was piercing. “What?”

  “I want us to be one now, too.”

  “What . . . why?” She couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

  Forehead pressed to his chest, she closed her eyes and prayed that it was true. Her knees turned to rubber. She was so scared of what she was about to do that she could barely function.

  “Because you want us to be one. You want us both.”

  There went her legs.

  He lifted her off her feet. “I just don’t know how. He fears the memories.”

  Eve’s voice was tiny. “They’re that bad?”

  He nodded against her hair.

  Eve started crying. She couldn’t help it. Her tears fell onto his skin as she fought with what she had to do, and how she felt about it.

  “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry for me.”

  She hiccupped, shaking her head. “I love you so much. I don’t want you like this. But I don’t want you to hurt anymore, either.”

  “I do not care about any of that. I have you now. You’re all I need to be happy.”

  She loved him for that. God, she did. But if he ever hurt any of his friends, she knew he would never be able to live with himself.

  We can control that.

  That hadn’t occurred to her. Justice gave her some much needed hope.

  Although she couldn’t control the memories, she might be able to stop him from hurting his friends—at least, she hoped so.

  Her nerves were shot, and her heart was broken, but it had to be done.

  “Evesse, don’t cry. I don’t know how, but we will find a way to become one.”

  She wrapped her hands around his neck, and pulled his ear toward her lips.

  Don’t think. Just do it.

  Pressing her lips to his ear, she shut her lids tight over her eyes and opened her mouth.

  “You can’t be like this anymore.” The power behind her voice rose.

  “I know that. I just said—”

  “You will remember. I . . .” She pushed past the hesitation, forcing herself to continue. “Zeniel, I command you. You will merge with Mavrak. You will become one.”

  He stiffened, then his entire body gave a powerful jerk before he pulled back and smiled at her. A small, grateful smile that sliced her open and left her raw.

  “Yes, my R’ma.”

  He pressed his lips to hers in a soft claim, bringing the taste of her tears into himself as they continued to flow. Then he was gone, and so was her stepfather’s soul, along with the mist and any remnants of what had occurred there.

  All that was left was a long, thin black ribbon secured to the wall behind her.

  Alone, Evesse crumbled to the ground and sobbed.

  Chapter 31

  -Earth. Astoria, Queens, NY. (USA)

  Night had come, and still no sign of Zeniel. Eve had called Ismini, but no one had seen him in Enzyria, either. Ismini asked what was wrong. Somehow, Eve couldn’t imagine confessing that she had commanded her mate to swallow five hundred years of torture and give into a primal power that was clearly out of control. At least not until she knew he would be okay.

  Besides, Ismini was going through enough shit with her powers fluctuating all over the place.

  She had heard Cyake yelling in the background, pissed off because he’d bumped into Ismini and his hair had gone pink.

  Annoyed, Ismini was refusing to touch him and turn his hair back to brown.

  Dyletri had come on the phone and suggested that she go to Ianthen. As God of the Hunt, he could track down almost anyone, anywhere. Ianthen was with Soleria at her restaurant because Sol refused to close it down and stay on Enzyria until things were calmer.

  Eve couldn’t blame her. They had no clue when that would be. Things were escalating with the Aviraji and it looked like it was only going to get worse.

  Ianthen was there because Sol needed protection, and according to Dyletri, he refused to let anyone else guard her. Especially any of the triplets. Or Crius. Apparently, Ianthen wasn’t too happy with Soleria’s “hormonal response” to them.

  That last part was entirely Dyletri’s opinion, but Eve suspected he was right.

  She opened the door to Soleria’s restaurant, and froze. It’d only been a month and a half since she’d last been there, but it felt like forever. An eternity of life changing events stood between her and this place. Shaking off the feeling, she took another step inside and was hit with another feeling entirely.

  Fucking déjà vu.

  At the back of the restaurant, cleaning a table was a short girl with long black hair. Light hazel eyes met Eve’s for a second then looked away as she continued with her task.

  Eve shook her head, telling herself she was imagining things. But no. It was there. One of the creepiest things she’d seen since meeting Spari.

  “You just gonna stand there?” Soleria asked from the cash register.

  Evesse turned and walked to her, pointing at the girl in the back. “Tell me I’m not the only one seeing this.”

  “Nope,” Soleria said, counting through a stack of bills at top speed. “I’ve been seeing it for a week.”

  Eve stopped next to her. “Answers. Please.” She stole another look at the girl.

  Holy fucking shit.

  “I don’t have any to give you.”

  “She looks almost identical to Nylicia and Spari,” Evesse hissed under her breath.

  “Well, I haven’t officially met Spari, but the moment Izabella walked in asking for a job I saw the resemblance to Nylicia. I’m not blind, Evesse.”

  Eve crossed her arms.
<
br />   “We’re looking into it.” Soleria turned to her and propped her hands on the counter. “We know that Nylicia’s sister is human, but as far as we can tell, Izabella isn’t related to Spari’s current human family. And before you ask, we looked into that, too. Izabella is pure human, no godly lineage that we can trace.”

  Turning to stare over her shoulder, Eve scowled. Goddamn it, those cheekbones. There was no way there wasn’t a connection.

  “Ancestry. Looked into that?”

  “We don’t have a sample of Spari’s DNA to do so, but we’re working on it. Apparently, she has gone into hiding because Cyake is a Neanderthal with the voice of Fate locked inside him.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Eve muttered. “I was there.”

  “So I heard. Did they tell you about my own ancestral DNA results?”

  Evesse turned back to Soleria. “No . . .”

  Oh shit, there went the gloating look. Sol’s baby blues were practically sparkling. “Your husband is my uncle.”

  Eve blinked, staring at Sol’s huge smile. “Uh . . . come again?”

  Sol sighed and rolled her eyes like Evesse was the dumbest person in the world. “Zen had a brother on his dad’s side, thousands of years ago. I came from that bloodline.”

  “You have fucking war Erencei DNA in you?”

  Soleria beamed. “And Vy’shi. Apparently, demons and witches don’t mix. I’m an unheard-of combo. All my ancestors have been. Told you I was fucking awesome.”

  Holy shit, it made sense now. Evesse had always teased Soleria about her burgundy strands looking chemically processed even though she’d known her hair color was real.

  “But you’re mostly human.”

  Moving her hair behind her shoulders, Soleria scowled at her. “Duh. There’s eleven hundred or so generations separating me and your man. But we’re working on speeding up the process of bringing out either one, or both, halves of me. Immortality, bitch. I needs it. I am eight years older than both you and Ismini and you cunts already got it. I have everyone on a must-do timeframe. They have two weeks. It’s not done, and I’m jumping off a building and forcing their hands.”