AETERNUS: The Immortalle Series Book One

by D. M. Shane

  The mug she held dropped to the hardwood and shattered on impact. Steaming coffee splattered in every direction. She jerked with a hiss of pain when the hot liquid streaked across her bare legs. She was wearing a pink camisole and shorts, not the t-shirt she had slept in last night, and her hair was damp. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  I jumped up from my chair and pulled her over to the couch and then grabbed a towel from the kitchen to dry her legs and clean up the mess on the floor. Her skin was red but otherwise unharmed. Her tears weren’t from the coffee.

  Aislin sat in complete silence, her silver eyes glued to the screen and swirling with sadness. I grabbed the remote to turn it off, but she stayed my hand. I sat down beside her, and she leaned into me, seeking support. The authorities were still calling the situation a robbery. They didn’t know if there had been any accomplices since the fire had burned everything beyond recognition, but they’d at least identified the bodies and announced when their services would be. We both knew better.

  When the story was over, I shut it off. The two of us sat silently together, Aislin wrapped in my arms with her head tucked under my chin. I held her, giving her the time she needed to process everything.

  “Arkkadian? I….” she started but stopped. I waited. “I really want to go. Please?” Her voice was small. Timid. And her messy hair drifted down over her shoulders as she dropped her head, looking at the floor. She hid her face from me, already knowing the answer.

  “I’m sorry, but the answer is still no,” I told her. “We still don’t know where Kane is. It’s not safe right now.”

  Aislin pulled away. “Arkkadian, please?” she begged. Her silver eyes darkened, and I sensed her anger bubbling up. “I just want to say goodbye. I n-need to say goodbye. Besides, I need more clothes. I only have a few days’ worth. I can’t keep washing laundry every couple of days. We can kill two birds with one stone while we’re in town.”

  “Aislin, I said no. My job is to keep you safe. And if you need clothes, you can borrow some from Sara or some of the other women here. They won’t mind.”

  She stood up, breathing slow and heavy, and I sensed the ire she was about to unleash upon me. If I didn’t curb the anger now, she’d end up over my knee again. Not that I minded, but I wouldn’t put up with a tantrum.

  “But you have a security team. Can’t you bring them?”

  “Aislin. Stop. I said no, and that’s the end,” I ground out.

  “Gah!” she screamed. “This is so unfair! I hate my life!”

  “Careful,” I told her, letting the Alpha warning fill the air.

  She stopped in her tracks and glared at me. “You wouldn’t.”

  I crossed to where she stood and put a finger to her lips in warning. I would. And she damn well knew it. Her eyes burned with pure fury at being denied.

  “Unless you want to find yourself over my knee, I suggest you settle down,” I warned again, deadly calm.

  Her eyes grew round and her face flushed before she shot daggers my way. With her breathing loud and ragged, I could feel her anger swirling around us, like Hades about to open the floodgates of hell.

  Aislin turned on her heel and stormed out of the den. She stomped her feet as she ran up the stairs, and then she slammed the bedroom door. Another scream echoed through the air. I didn’t blame her for being upset, but she also needed to understand the danger of the situation she was in. I’d thought she had as the days had passed, but apparently not.

  I let her be for now. We both needed to cool off, and I’d rather she excused herself than throw a fit.

  I busied myself making breakfast instead, and soon, the delicious aroma of sizzling bacon, potatoes, and eggs filled the air. I took two place settings from the cupboard and set them on the counter. Just as I turned off the burners, the door upstairs opened, as I suspected it would. I could hear Aislin’s bare feet slowly pad down the stairs and then she appeared in the doorway, fully dressed, hair braided.

  “Hi,” I greeted. “Feeling any better?”

  She nodded, keeping her eyes downcast. My mate couldn’t look any more sheepish if she tried.

  “Good. Let’s eat.”

  Without being asked, she set the table. We ate most of our meal in silence, Aislin preferring to spend most of her time staring out the window. Children played with a soccer ball out on the green, and occasionally, she let slip a half-smile while she watched. I waited until our stomachs were full to speak.

  “Listen. Let me talk to Gideon and my team,” I said. Honestly, with a security team on standby, there wasn’t a reason to keep her from the memorial service. Her ears perked up, but she continued to stare out the window. “I won’t make any promises, but if we can come up with a plan, then maybe we can make a trip to town. But don’t get your hopes up.”

  Her head turned, and her eyes drifted up to mine. “Okay. I can live with that.”

  “Like I said, no promises. I need you to understand how dangerous your situation is. In fact, we’ve put everything off long enough.”

  25

  Aislin

  An hour later, I waited in the den, pacing in front of the fireplace with my stomach full of knots. What else was there to talk about? Hadn’t I been through enough already? The past two weeks had only been a passing lull in the inevitable storm that was now my life.

  I stopped pacing when the front door opened. Sara’s head poked around the corner with a smile, and then she rushed in to greet me with a hug. Gideon and Arkkadian followed behind her. Gideon nodded hello, and I half-smiled in return. I was glad to see Sara again, but the trepidation I felt overshadowed seeing her. I knew Arkkadian had called them here for my benefit, which probably meant shit was about to hit the fan. Again.

  Great. I sat next to Sara on the couch. Gideon parked in the window seat overlooking the valley. All eyes were on Arkkadian. I steeled myself for what may come and gripped Sara’s hand. Arkkadian didn’t even ease into the conversation; he went straight for the kill. My family. The one thing I knew nothing about.

  “I know we’ve gone over this, but is there anything else at all you remember prior to the accident? Anything about your family?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No. Nothing.”

  “I’ve been doing some research, and this arrived yesterday. It affirms what I’ve long since suspected.” Arkkadian pulled two files from his desk and handed them to me.

  I opened the first one to find a printed copy of a birth record and a certified birth certificate I’d never seen before. I scanned both pages, finding my name and birth date easily enough. Listed at the bottom of the birth certificate were two names. Wren and Alaric Barrington. Like a dagger straight to the heart, a fierce ache struck me right in the chest.

  Both pieces of paper slipped from my hands and drifted to the floor where I continued to stare at them, frozen in place. Words escaped me. I knew those names. I’d never heard them before, but I knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, they were my parents. I scrubbed both hands over my face. I didn’t know whether I was elated at finding out their names, or angry they’d been taken from me.

  Sara picked the slips of paper up and placed them back in the folder. The movement snapped me out of my head, and I opened the second to find a copy of an old news article. According to the date printed in the corner, I’d have been just seven years old. My stomach flip-flopped as I read. I remembered it like it was yesterday. I read halfway before I had to shove the page back into the folder, unable to finish. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

  The dagger in my chest twisted this way and that, slicing my heart in half. My hand went to my side, brushing against the scars that marked my torso. I trembled as the memory of a fair-skinned woman with raven hair flashed through my mind. She was my mother.

  Arkkadian reached into his desk drawer one more time and pulled out a photograph. He handed it to me, face down. My hands shook as I took the photo from him. I stared at the back of it with apprehension, afraid of what I’d see. />
  “When you’re ready,” he said.

  With hands still shaking, I flipped it over and saw the woman I’d just imagined, and a brown-haired man next to her. Except for my hair, I looked like her, but I had his eyes. Silver eyes rimmed in black.

  My parents.

  “Yes,” Arkkadian answered. I hadn’t realized I’d spoken aloud.

  “What happened to them?” I asked, anxiously tapping my foot on the floor.

  He bowed his head, and I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. I’d sought answers my entire life, and now, sitting right here on the precipice, I feared everything I was about to hear. But I feared the unknown even more.

  “They were murdered. Presumably by the same man who did that to you.” He nodded at my hand, still upon my side.

  I pulled my hand away, thinking of what lay beneath the fabric. I listened with rapt attention as Arkkadian told the story and how the man thought to have killed them disappeared. How my grandfather, a Vamphyre, had ordered their execution. How they believed my existence was kept secret to keep me safe.

  “Wait. So not only are there shapeshifters, but now you’re telling me there are vampires? Like bump in the night, suck your blood, rip your throat out vampires?” I asked, unable to hide my skepticism. Wolves I could believe, but vampires? Fate was seriously fucking with me.

  “Vamphyre is their true name, but yes,” Gideon answered. He pronounced it like “vam-fear,” correcting my pronunciation, surprisingly without sarcasm this time. “But most of them aren’t the killers you think they are.”

  “Do I have any other family?”

  “Yes. You’ve two uncles, Rhett and Rafe Vane. Rhett is a lot like your mother. The two of them were very close. We suspect he’s the one who saved your life. Rafe is much like your grandfather. Neither he nor Arden will hesitate to kill you. To the two of them, you’re an abomination. Your existence directly violates First Law as the descendant of both Lycan and Vamphyre lines. Fortunately for you, we don’t think they know about you. Alaric’s father, your other grandfather, is Mathias Barrington. He’s the current Alpha of the Pacific Rim Pack out of Vancouver. Rain wolves,” Arkkadian explained.

  “Does Mathias know?” I asked.

  Arkkadian shook his head. “No. At least we don’t believe so. If he does, then he’s hidden the secret well, but I can’t foresee him having left you in foster care. It’s not his style. My security team knows you’re here, but we’re keeping this on the down-low for the time being. Arden Vane will kill you just for existing. He’ll see your existence as a failure to stamp out his daughter’s betrayal of the Coven. Others could seek to use you against us and you already know what Kane is capable of.”

  I pulled my braids out and ran my hands through my hair, scratching my scalp. Staring at the floor, I rested my elbows on my knees and let my hair fall down around me, hiding my face from everyone in the room while I tried to make sense of everything I’d just heard.

  This was too much. How did my life come to this? A few weeks ago, I was just a girl working two jobs, eking through life as best I could. Now I was being thrust into a supernatural world I never knew existed, a world where my own flesh and blood wanted to see me dead and buried simply for being born. All I could do was sit there and shake my head. Just when I thought things were finally returning to normal, my world came crashing down again.

  “What now?” I asked.

  “That’s what Arkkadian and I have been trying to work out,” Gideon said from the window seat. “We can’t keep you a secret forever.”

  “I can’t stay here. I can’t. I need to go.” Saying the words killed me. This place had become my home. Arkkadian was home. But me being here… I was putting everyone in danger.

  “Aislin, you know you can’t leave.”

  “I know, I know. It’s not safe.” Fidgeted in my seat, I ran my hands through my hair, flexing my fingers before curling them into fists. “Well, it’s not safe for me to stay either! What about all these people? If my grandfather’s as dangerous as you say, what’s stopping him from hurting everyone here? It’s already my fault Paige and Carter are dead. I won’t be responsible for more deaths. I can’t do this, Arkkadian. I can’t deal with any more death!” I let out a scream through clenched teeth and stomped a foot on the floor, willing myself not to cry.

  Arkkadian came around the desk and pulled me up to face him. He pulled my hands down from my face and tipped my chin up. His glowing eyes, no longer shocking, showed a warm resolve and the desire to protect me.

  “Stop. None of this is your fault, Aislin.”

  “But—”

  He stopped me with one look. That Alpha look he was so good at. God! Why wouldn’t he listen to me?

  “Listen. At some point, we’ll have to break the block in your memory. It won’t be pretty. In fact, it’ll probably be pretty horrifying, but it’s the only way I know to find the truth of what actually happened to your parents. We need to know what we’re dealing with,” he said.

  “No. The last time you did your weird shadow trick thing, I spent hours vomiting up my insides. I’m not doing that again,” I told him vehemently, shaking my head forcefully. Just the thought of it made my stomach want to retch.

  “Relax. I don’t mean right now. You’ll need the strength of the bond for that,” he said. “Fewer side effects. And I won’t mate with you until you decide you’re ready.”

  I let out a small sarcastic laugh. I couldn’t stay, and I couldn’t leave. I was an unwilling prisoner to the fates. Then a thought occurred to me.

  I could run. Leave the state. Go east. Canada. Mexico. Anywhere but here. Shapeshifters. Vamphyre. Immortals. Mates. No, no, and no! The next time I was alone, I was packing my bag and getting the hell out of Dodge. Though Arkkadian had paid off my credit cards, I was reluctant to use them. I had enough emergency cash in savings to get by for a month or two, at least until I found a new job somewhere. I couldn’t stay here.

  “Mates,” I said, shaking my head. “Arkkadian, your people aren’t safe with me here. Don’t you get it?” I had to leave. I needed him to listen. I needed him to understand.

  “You know it’s true, Aislin. Instinct doesn’t lie. You feel it every time we’re together. Every time we touch. You can fight it all you want, but eventually, the fates will have their way,” he told me. “I will protect you, and I will protect my people just as I’ve always done.”

  “How are you so sure?” I asked, even though I knew he was right, despite my misgivings.

  “Because you and I, we weren’t written in the sand. We were written in the stars.”

  Why did he have to say such beautiful things? The words cut through my already torn heart. It only made it that much harder for me to do what I needed to do. Fuck the fates. I would not cause more innocent deaths.

  Tears stung my eyes. I couldn’t sit here any longer. I couldn’t let my desire or my feelings for Arkkadian get in the way, so I left everyone in the den and went upstairs. I needed time to think and time to plan. I knew full well it would break his heart. And mine. But two broken hearts were better than a few hundred dead.

  26

  Arkkadian

  Later that night, a small whimper pulled me from sleep. Aislin’s body trembled in my arms. I watched and waited, hoping it would pass, but the trembling and whimpering continued. She was dripping in sweat. I laid a hand on her forehead and was shocked to find her burning up. As immortals, we never got sick. We didn’t get viruses or catch diseases. We didn’t get cancer. This was highly unusual.

  I barely had any time to ponder what could be wrong, when unexpectedly, a mass of images flooded into my mind the moment our skin touched. Aislin was in the midst of a dream so vivid, I felt like I’d been sucked through a time warp. Instantly, I was there, seeing everything through her eyes. Through the eyes of a small, terrified child.

  A raging inferno filled my vision, and terror flooded me. Everywhere I looked, flames roared around me, destroying everything in sight. The curt
ains shriveled under the onslaught. Paint bubbled and peeled off the walls, crackling as it split. Windows shattered from the searing heat. Snarls and growls leaked through the wall of fire, but I couldn’t see through to the other side.

  “Mommy! Daddy!” I screamed, but no one answered. It was so hot. I didn’t know what to do. Sweat dripped down my face and neck. My hair and clothes stuck to my skin and made me itch.

  A shout sounded over the crackle of flames. “Run! Aislin, run!” And then the voice was gone.

  I spun around to flee and smacked into a giant of a man looming over me, a wicked smile lighting up his face. No, not a man. A monster. His glowing eyes were as red as the blood dripping down his arms and hands. He grabbed a handful of my hair and dragged me kicking and screaming down the hall, leaving the fire behind as he kicked a door open and threw me onto the floor. Large hands tore at my clothes, shredding them to pieces. A knife flashed, and I knew excruciating pain. Felt the biting sting as it sliced through my tender skin. Slice. Slice. Slice. Over and over it cut. I begged for help, but none came. The monster laughed sadistically as he cut away at me. He was pure evil, wretched and unfettered.

  I lay there bleeding while he stood over me, laughing and licking my blood off the knife. Out of nowhere, a fist burst through his chest. Blood sprayed, raining down upon me. In its grip, a bloody heart still pumping, the red viscous liquid squirting out of it in pulsing spurts. His glowing eyes widened in shock.

  Then the hand pulled away, taking the fist-sized organ of life with it. The monster’s scarlet eyes went dark, and he crumpled to the ground, his mouth ajar in a silent scream. Uncle Rhett stood in his place, and the still-beating, bloody heart dropped from his hand, landing with a sickening squelch on the carpet. I watched it, unable to take my eyes off the bloody muscle until its uneven pumping slowed to a stop.

  I blinked, and I was instantly back in the comfort of my bed beside Aislin, my skin dripping with sweat. My t-shirt was soaked. Aislin thrashed beside me, eyes open and unseeing, screaming into the night. What had started as a dream had now become a full-blown night terror. Was this what she saw every time she dreamed?