by Mikayla Lane
With a heavy sigh, Viper cleared his throat and spoke the words that he knew would crush his brother. “She told the truth about her age, parents and uncle. According to the information, her uncle was a known conspirator with the Relians. He used his lobbying company, to buy and sell votes away from the people and towards the Relian interests.”
Viper glanced nervously at his brother, who was deathly quiet on the couch and thinking all was ok for the moment, he continued. “She was expelled from fourteen boarding schools before finally moving on to a university in Massachusetts. At every school she attended, she was accused of bullying, and physical and emotional violence. She was forced to leave university when her bullying was linked to a suicide death.”
“As with all of the previous incidents, her uncle came in and bought the witness’s silence and ensured that she was never linked to anything and couldn’t be charged. A year after he brought her into his company, her uncle was killed under suspicious circumstances and she took over the lobbying business.”
“For the last ten years, she has been linked to the bribery of thousands of government officials in almost every government agency. The IRS, EPA and BLM are just a few that are heavily influenced by her company. The worst, is the list of politician’s that are on her payroll.”
Viper shook his head at how deep this woman’s influence ran. “It would take too long to list them all, but it’s a who’s who of both political parties. It’s no wonder that the people aren’t being heard. Their votes are being negated by the greed of the person they elected to listen to them,” Viper said shaking his head.
“She’s suspected in dozens of murders, kidnappings and intimidations of her rivals,” Viper cursed. “And their families. There’s plane crashes, disappearances, gas leaks in homes… damn if you can think it, she’s suspected of it. She’s a serial killer, for fuck…” Viper was cut off quickly by a bolt of energy from his mate, who glanced sharply at the stricken look on Drago’s face.
Viper closed his eyes and wanted to kick himself. He had forgotten that they were talking about the woman that Drago said was his mate. He moved back a few steps and Dread smacked him in the shoulder, hard, before he sat down on the couch beside Drago.
Drago’s mind was reeling. Everything Viper had said, was not the woman he had spent hours with the previous night. He just could not reconcile in his mind, the beautiful, intelligent and sweet woman he had met, with the vicious and horrible woman that Viper had described.
Drago looked at Lara, knowing she could help him. “I need you to help me understand. I can’t see the person you are saying she is. I can only see the person I saw her to be.”
Lara sifted through his energy and confusion and sent him a small spark that helped to dull his emotions enough for him to think more clearly.
Drago immediately felt his pain and anger fade and his head began to clear of his jumbled emotions and thoughts. Putting his elbows on his knees, he put his head in his hands and ran through what Viper had told him. Again and again and again.
Even his beast, Jinba, refused to believe that his mate and the person they were speaking of, were one and the same. He would have known. He would have felt something. Although, he may have been blinded by everything about her, his beast would not have been fooled as easily, Drago thought.
Drago looked up at Lara. “How is it possible to fool the beast? Jinba is always alert, always silent in the background. How could he have been fooled as well?” Drago asked, still not believing that his mate was this hideous, evil woman they were talking about.
Lara sighed, wishing she could fix this for him somehow. She could only tell him the truth and help him through the pain. “I think she’s working with Satalis and he’s using his illusions to help her. I need to go to the house to be sure. When were you supposed to see her again?” Lara asked, knowing that Drago would not have left his mate without making sure he had plans to see her again.
“Tonight,” Drago said roughly.
Lara nodded and turned to the door as Trick, Mir and Dree came inside. She couldn’t help but think how strange it was that they had entered so quietly and seemed so subdued. Nothing like the raucous and uninhibited friends that she remembered from her past. Even their energy was different. Like they were using illusions on themselves.
Vowing to find out what was going on with them later, Lara stood as they pulled off their outerwear and hung them up on the hooks by the door. Trick was the first in the room and he looked paler than normal, which immediately alerted Lara that something was wrong.
“What happened?” Lara asked, as Mir and Dree came in behind Trick, looking just as pale.
Viper and Dread helped them to sit and Mir was the first to speak. “Thanks. We had to have cleared hundreds of illusions and we still haven’t come close to the end.”
Dree snorted. “As powerful as the rest of them are, we may not be able to make a dent in them for days or weeks.”
At Dread’s curious stare, Trick explained, “We cleared the easiest first because they took less time. There were hundreds of others still there and a lot of them are so strong, I’m not sure we have enough days to chip away at them. We’ll need more time,” Trick said on a sigh, exhausted from the energy depletion.
It had taken a lot more out of the three of them than Trick had expected when they had first started deconstructing the illusions, surrounding the seemingly innocent home. They had never encountered anything so extensive and calculated before.
Each layer of illusions seemed designed to modify the previous one just enough to make it different, but not in an overtly obvious way. But the cumulative effect of the layered illusions created a vast difference overall.
Dread turned to Lara in frustration. “Is there any way that we can help them? Lend energy?” Dread asked. He wanted this over with as soon as possible so he could get Drago away from here. Away from the murderous mate that he would never allow his brother to claim.
Dree refused to meet Lara’s eyes and blurted out, “If we can get someone in the house, where the illusions are originating, we can ride their energy inside.”
Mir nodded without thinking and added, “Yeah that would be best. We can see the construction of them from the inside out for once, instead of the outside in. We can not only see how it was done, but dismantle them faster as well.”
Trick got a wide grin on his face and nodded his head excitedly. “That would work! We can…” Trick was cut off by another energy bolt from Lara, who ignored the angry glares of the three siblings when she did.
“I’ll do it.” Drago said wearily. The heaviness in his heart and soul felt like it was crushing the energy out of him and all he wanted to do was sleep for a little while.
“Fuck no!” Dread said angrily. He refused to let his emotionally wrecked brother anywhere near that psychotic bitch! She’d already put him through enough and they’d only met a few hours ago!
Drago mustered his remaining energy, stood and faced down his older brother. “I know you wish to protect me, but I will be fine once I have rested. I am the only one who can get in there without it looking suspicious and I intend to do so. Besides, what better excuse than that she’s expecting me?” Drago said with snort.
When Viper looked to argue, Lara stood between the brothers and laid a gentle hand on Drago’s arm. “Go get some rest. We can talk about this later.”
Drago looked in Lara’s gold flecked eyes and nodded. A part of him felt her compulsion to go to bed and he didn’t care. He knew he needed the rest and he hoped like hell that Lara had done something to make sure it would be a dreamless sleep.
Dree and Mir stood as Drago passed them and Dree grabbed hold of Drago’s arm. “Hey, you can show me where our rooms are too. We traveled last night through the portals and after the illusions, I could use a nap,” Dree said softly to Drago as he leaned on her.
Mir gave a nod to Trick and followed his sister and Drago up the stairs, watching the large man carefully to make sure he would
make it up all right.
Dread was furious and erupted through the Shengari’ at Lara the moment Drago had left the room. “You are not going to let him go back in there! Can’t you see how devastated he is? He’ll never be able to hide what he knows from her and the murderous bitch will try to kill him!” Dread said, pacing the living room as his anger rolled from him in waves.
Lara looked at her mate and knew when Viper shook his head that he agreed with Dread and would not help her with this at all. He loved his mate, but he would never put his brother into a situation that he felt would end in pain or his death. Viper had read all of the details about the bitch and he wanted his brother nowhere near the merciless, evil woman.
Lara was given a brief reprieve when Trick spoke up. “That is the darkest, most powerful energy that we have ever encountered. What looked to be simple illusions, turned out to be much more complicated than they first appeared to be. There are so many illusions created on top of more illusions, that it’s hard to determine what is real and what is conjured around that house. I need to know what’s going on and what we’re facing here.”
Trick continued. “My concern is that if the creator of the illusions is dangerous enough, we can inadvertently set off an alarm while deconstructing them that will rain down hell on us and I’d like to know the risks in order to protect my family appropriately,” Trick said, looking to Dread, who was the oldest of the fle’ te’ Trugh, House of Death.
In the Tezarian society, when the head of the family was not present, it was up to the eldest of the children, male or female, to take over the responsibilities and safety of the family. And Trick was taking the safety of his siblings very seriously after seeing first-hand what they would be dealing with.
They all looked up as Dree and Mir came back into the room. Dree sat heavily where Drago had been sitting earlier and looked to Dread. “He’s in bed. He wasn’t asleep yet, but I created an illusion of the Shlaneegian Brook for him. Hopefully, the familiar sound of the relaxing waters from our home world will help ease him into the realm of sleep.”
Dread nodded his head at Dree in thanks. He was grateful that she had thought of the healing and meditative waters. Drago had always loved to go there when he felt overwhelmed or needed more clarity.
Mir sat on the ottoman and leaned his elbows on his knees, head down, hiding the deep lines of exhaustion etched in his handsome face. “I sealed the room. If he leaves, we will know. I haven’t seen him this upset since…” Mir silenced himself before he said Kinara and looked up at Lara apologetically.
Viper nodded his head in respect. “Thank you, my friends. I appreciate the care that you took with him.” He then turned to Lara and said, “Tell them everything or I will.”
*****
Satalis sat at the opulent dining room table and toyed with a lock of long auburn hair as he read through some of the files that he had ordered retrieved for him. The slight whimper from his side, drew his attention to his latest entertainment.
He looked down at the once beautiful, auburn haired woman who had awakened and was bleeding on the floor next to him, a lock of her long hair in his hand. He grinned pleasantly at her.
“I am so glad that you have awakened! I was becoming concerned that I would not be able to appropriately tame you, but I think I found a wonderful way to continue our friendship without your pathetic attempts to escape. I think you’ll be pleased to see that you won’t be able to bite or claw me any longer.” He watched eagerly as the naked woman raised her bound hands and cried as she saw her nails had been ripped from her fingers. She pressed her knuckles to her mouth and felt where all of her teeth pulled, leaving her gums raw and bleeding, like her fingertips.
His glee at her pain and horror quickly turned to anger when he saw and felt her spirit began to rally to fight again. He was getting really damn sick and tired of these mongrels and their inability to bow to his superior presence.
Satalis saw her draw her leg back to kick him and waited until she almost made contact before he conjured a tree in front of him. He erupted in laughter when her leg snapped when it hit the tree trunk instead of his groin, where she had aimed.
He stood and continued to laugh as he watched her writhe on the floor in agony, clutching her leg with her bound and bloody hands. He leaned down and stared into her clear green eyes, with dark swirls and shook his head at the fire still inside them.
“I told you. I control life. Yours and every other living thing on this pathetic rock you call a world. I am your GOD!” Satalis said the last loudly as he raised his arms to the ceiling and spun around the room cackling with laughter. With a wave of his hand the tree disappeared.
The woman had stopped whimpering and had straightened out her badly broken leg as best as she could. She glared at the psychopath reveling in his power, no longer caring if she died or not, as long as she could take him with her.
Satalis could feel her life energy brighten, her pulse kick in more strongly and knew her stubbornness had kicked back in as well. He sighed dramatically and walked over to stand in front of her. Kneeling down a safe distance from the tenacious woman, he studied her face. She was still beautiful, she just looked odd without any teeth and covered in bruises that were in various stages of healing. He may have to correct that imbalance, he thought as he considered the possibilities for a moment before continuing.
“What you are failing to realize, is that even though you are a little more evolved that the ape-like creatures that cover this planet with their foul presence, you are still nothing,” Satalis said as he stood again, his eyes blazing with power.
“The human and animal vermin on this rock will learn to bow to their new God. But your kind… your kind will be my special project. See, I have plans for your unique talents. And you will all learn to become what I expect you to be, or you will die very painfully in the process.”
Satalis walked casually over to the liquor laid out on the buffet table against the wall and poured himself a hefty glass of amber liquid. He took a large swallow and enjoyed the slight burn of the expensive liquid before he turned back to his captive.
He hadn’t needed to be watching her to know that she had been scouring the room with her eyes for a weapon. He grinned and shook his head as he walked back over to her. As much as he hated the stubbornness of these mutants, he loved the fact that they could take a lot more abuse than the weak humans.
The constant pain that vibrated through their energy fed his own and he reveled in it. He needed it like air, to fuel the dark energy that swirled throughout his body in strong, throbbing pulses. Power was the finest drug and Satalis knew he was a willing addict.
He looked impassively at the young woman who was stupidly trying to hide her pain. Still not giving up on the thought of escaping him. She, like all of the others, would learn to bow to him. Like Devon Sinclair had. They were meant to serve him and he would gladly teach them how, he thought as he walked closer to the woman. He grinned evilly when he noticed her slight flinch. Not as brave as she’d like to be, he thought.
Without slowing his stride, Satalis grabbed the woman by her hair and began dragging her across the floor, out of the room. He ignored her feeble attempts to get out of his grip and continued down the hallway. To his special room. The one where they would truly have fun. Well, he thought with a sick smile, at least he would be having fun.
Satalis knew the moment when she saw the door. His power surged from the fear that poured from her energy as she increased her efforts to get away from him. When they reached the door, she screamed in fear and he laughed as he pulled her into the room.
Chapter Five
Dree sighed and held up her hand to stop Lara before she could start speaking. “Drago is coming,” she said simply, before they heard him walking down the stairs and saw him come back in the living room.
Looking at their curious faces, Drago said, “I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I would save you from having to explain this twice.” Everyone looked at him s
adly as he grabbed a chair from the dining room and pulled it up next to Dree before sitting down.
When no one spoke or would meet his eyes, Drago sighed. “I can feel the pity in your energy. Stop. We have only part of the information right now and as Grai would say, ‘nothing is ever as it seems’. I accept the fact that my mate may not be who I wish her to be. Just as I accept the fact that we may not know everything about this situation and we are making assumptions.”
When Dread looked to speak, Drago held his hand up to stop him. “I know that those assumptions may be correct and I will accept it, if that is the case. Right now, Devon is not a mate, but a suspect. I am not a fool and will not allow you to treat me like one. I will go back in that house and I will do what must be done to ensure the safety of our people and the humans.”
Drago looked around the room at each person until each one of them met his gaze. “If there is one thing you know you should never doubt is my loyalty and my integrity. I am stronger than you are currently giving me credit for.”
Dree nodded her head at him in respect and squeezed his hand. Looking him in the eyes, she said quietly, “I have always trusted you and I will do so now. I have no doubt that you are strong enough to do whatever must be done and I will walk by your side.”
Drago couldn’t stop the rush of tears in his eyes at Dree’s words. That was another thing that must be corrected, right now, he thought as he squeezed Dree’s hand gently. He looked around the room at his family and what used to be their best friends and longtime neighbors on their home world and cleared his throat before trying to end the emotional standoff that had been going on for over a hundred years.
Making up his mind, Drago stood and faced Trick, the head of the Brazar and placed his right fist across his chest to the opposite shoulder and bowed his head in respect.
