Curse of Soulmate--The Complete Series

by D. N. Leo

  He could let it get to that point.

  Creatures?

  Yes! They were creatures! Not humans. Not women.

  “I will not choose any of you. Don’t waste your time,” he said.

  “Oh, you can’t be so sure.”

  “Get off me, or you will regret it. I’ve given you fair warning.”

  “We only want to pleasure you.”

  They were all over him again.

  “Last warning. Get off me.”

  They kept coming.

  “You’ve forced me to do this,” he growled and wielded the blade in his mind.

  And his fury came forth. He could feel the force of the blade spinning in the room. It slashed, stabbed, cut, and tore at anything in its flying path.

  He opened his eyes and saw body parts, blood, and flesh raining down on him.

  The ropes were cut.

  He freed himself and stood up, tucking his weapons in place.

  On the floor, what looked like might have been human body parts had turned into robotic parts. The blood had changed into an oily black liquid which had pooled on the floor and now evaporated into thin air.

  Ciaran stepped around the room, avoiding the puddles, and approached the door to the next room. As he pushed the door open, the room exploded with colors and shapes which flew directly at him.

  Chapter 133

  Madeline drifted down. And down. She swam in a dark space. Then she landed on firm ground inside a very plain chapel. The place looked familiar—long hall, arched pillars, and altar at the far end.

  She approached a door, the only door in the room, and pushed it open.

  She was immediately pulled into the room and surrounded by several Madelines. The door slammed behind her—there was no way out.

  At the other end of the room stood Ciaran, covered in blood, gripping his daggers. He looked at her like she was a stranger.

  Hundreds of creatures in the room in female form flew at him. He slaughtered them before they touched him. But that wasn’t the problem.

  She could see the deadly problem.

  There were hundreds of creature taking her likeness. They looked identical to her. They approached Ciaran slowly in small groups. When they got close, and if he didn’t kill them, they clawed at him. That explained why he was covered in blood.

  He slashed at most of them with his daggers. There must be something in them that made him realize they weren’t her. But he let a few slip too close before he killed them.

  Even she couldn’t tell the difference between herself and the row of creatures standing next to her right now, waiting for their turn to approach Ciaran.

  She could attack them now and kill them, and then Ciaran would be able to tell it was her. She grabbed her daggers but realized they were no longer with her.

  No weapons for Madeline.

  She could see Ciaran grow angrier as more and more Madeline lookalikes clawed at him and bit him. He began to slash at them indiscriminately.

  She knew he would get to a point where he sent out the blade of fury from his mind, and that would kill all creatures in the room—including her.

  Doing that meant he would kill his true queen and lose this round of the test. But if he didn’t do something, they would eat him alive. It was already starting to look like that was going to happen.

  Madeline left the row of pretenders and started to approach Ciaran, like the other look-alike. She focused and tried to connect with his mind.

  She knew it wouldn’t work. But she had to try.

  “Ciaran! It’s me!” she called out to him in her mind.

  No reaction from him. He kept stabbing and slashing at the lookalikes. Hundreds of Madelines.

  Their attacks grew fiercer as they got closer. He slaughtered harder and harder.

  A chill ran up her spine when she looked into his eyes.

  He had grown used to slaughtering her image. The more he killed, the fewer injuries he had to suffer.

  She approached him. Closer. Closer.

  She had nothing with which to defend herself. Her psychic connection to him wasn’t working.

  All she had was herself and her love for him. She came even closer. So close she could smell the violence coming from him in waves.

  He swung his daggers left, right, and in all directions. The bodies of her lookalikes fell like tree trunks to the floor.

  He didn’t even look to see if they evaporated or lay on the floor in a heap of blood, flesh, and bones, meaning he had just killed the real Madeline.

  He just slaughtered.

  One creature after another.

  She approached. It was now her turn. She stood right in front of him.

  She saw a dagger swing at her, aimed at her chest. He was going to stab her in the heart.

  She did nothing. She just looked at him.

  Then the dagger stopped right in front of her. The sharp point of the blade had sneaked into her flesh and cut loose a drop of blood.

  Ciaran looked into her eyes.

  “It’s you!” he whispered in disbelief. “My queen.” He dropped the daggers and pulled her into his arms. He squeezed her so hard it knocked the breath out of her.

  He didn’t care what was happening around him. If this was the wrong choice, if she was a creature, she could have turned around and ripped out his throat.

  He didn’t seem to care. His body vibrated with emotion. He buried his head in the crook of her neck. The he lifted her face up and kissed her.

  And then it was her turn to not care what was happening around them in the room.

  When the best kiss in the cosmos had finished, Ciaran released her. They looked around the room and saw that all the creatures—dead and alive—had vanished.

  He had made the right choice.

  He held her hand and led her to the next room where she had seen the altar before.

  The room was now lit up with thousands of candles. Soft ceremonial music chanted from somewhere in the air. He looked at her.

  His face, the face of a dark angel, was looking at her with love. She would trade anything to remain in that world and hold that look for the rest of her life.

  They kissed again.

  After a while, he asked, "Can you ever forgive me for what I did to Juliette? Will it ever come between us?"

  Madeline cupped his face and immersed herself in his intense gray eyes. "Juliette was a part of your life. You will always carry the guilt of her natural death. We can't forget that. But she has never—and will never—come between us."

  He kissed her again.

  "I killed an innocent man. Will you be able to live with that?"

  Ciaran looked at her. He rubbed his thumb on the dimple on her left cheek. "You'll kill more men. Whether good or evil, innocent or guilty, you will make a just decision of whether a life is worth preserving. You have an important role right now. People depend on you. You don’t have to ask me that anymore. I’ll answer it, once and for all. I love you, and I respect your decisions. Nothing else matters."

  Madeline smiled.

  They held each other for a long moment, swaying with the flow of the air. They swam in pleasant thoughts and happiness. Madeline did not know that happiness flowed like a current. It had frequency and rhythm. When she paid attention and reached out for it, she could actually feel it.

  In that quietness, they heard each other's heartbeats.

  "Will you marry me?" Ciaran asked.

  She looked him in the face so that he could see her eyes.

  "Yes,” she said.

  There were no tears on her face, not even happy ones. She was entitled to this happiness. She loved him. At this moment, she made a vow to herself that she would do whatever it took to protect her happiness and the love they had for each other.

  Ciaran took her to the altar where a fire was burning on a reddened stone.

  "This is the eternal fire, the fire of purity."

  Ciaran pulled out his dagger and rested the blade in the flame.

/>   "By the fire of God, I, Ciaran LeBlanc, ask Madeline Kelley to be my soul mate. I ask her to be my wife. I am the Red King, and she is my Queen. I vow to love and protect her for the rest of my life.”

  He used the blade to cut a ring line around her ring finger. Then he gave her the dagger.

  "By the fire of God, I, Madeline Kelley, vow to be Ciaran LeBlanc's soul mate. I vow to be his wife and take him as my husband. He is my Red King and I am his Queen. I vow to love and protect him for the rest of my life.”

  She cut a blood ring on his ring finger.

  They were now husband and wife.

  In the absolute quietness, surrounded by nothingness, at this astronomical moment, all the dust in their minds was wiped away, and love enlightened them.

  Their experience was complete. They were one. They had unified.

  They consummated their vows. Their bodies, their souls, and their life forces entwined into one perfect essence of purified love.

  Then and there, they heard a cooing sound. They looked up and saw a magnificent phoenix flapping its wings, flying away.

  "My Queen, I'm glad to announce that we have passed the Red stage and the Daimon Gate test,” Ciaran said.

  Chapter 134

  Madeline resurfaced in the castle first. Tadgh and Zach darted to the bed.

  "You got him?" Tadgh asked.

  Madeline put on a smile Tadgh had never seen before.

  "What’s with the smile?" he asked.

  She revealed the blood ring.

  "Holy . . .”

  Madeline gestured for silence. She kissed Ciaran and shook his shoulders. "Ciaran, darling. You need to get up."

  Ciaran opened his eyes. He was groggy, but he registered the reality instantly. He grabbed Madeline’s hand and kissed her blood ring finger.

  "Thanks for sharing,” Tadgh mumbled.

  "Great stuff." Zach grinned.

  Ciaran flew out of the bed and slumped to the floor, vomiting in the corner of the room.

  Zach jumped aside. "What's the . . .”

  "He does that all the time. Keep it in mind before you feed him sedatives,” Tadgh told Zach.

  The prince and the princess rushed into the room. The princess darted over to Ciaran. "Are you sick? I'm so sorry? The inducer was too strong."

  Ciaran shrugged away from the princess's supportive arms and stood up. Madeline came over and stood next to Ciaran.

  "Thank you for your hospitality. But I'm afraid that we have to leave now,” Ciaran said.

  "You don't remember me at all, do you?" The princess's eyes filled with tears.

  "No, I don't. Please refresh my memory."

  "She is the princess of this castle. She saved you when you were half dead on the beach,” the prince said.

  "We're supposed to get married." The princess started crying.

  "I beg your pardon?” Ciaran nearly jumped out of his skin.

  "You're supposed to marry me. You are the Red King, and I am your Queen. To pass the Red stage of the Daimon Gate, you have to connect with your Queen. I am she. How can you not remember?" the princess wailed.

  Ciaran shifted. Madeline sensed his movements, and they stepped closer to the door where Tadgh and Zach were standing.

  Ciaran held up Madeline's hand.

  "This is my Queen. We have married and consummated. And we have passed the gate. I am sorry if there was anything I did that caused you to misconstrue my intentions. We are only passengers here. We are not supposed to engage with the gatekeepers."

  The princess wailed more.

  "Gatekeepers!" the prince growled. "You Eudaiz passengers. You used us. You were supposed to fight for the Inducer. A fight for your life. Very few pass it. But my sister just gave it to you. So you passed through the transmutation process the easy way and married another queen. What sort of king does that make you?"

  "Had I known, I would have been more than happy to accept the challenges and fight for the Inducer. I cannot reverse the process. What would you like me to do to repay you for your help?"

  "Our help? Don't even say that word. It's going to cost us our heads,” the prince roared.

  The princess reeled and fainted to the floor. The prince raced to her side and held her up. "Oh, my poor trusting sister. I'm so sorry. I should have taught you better. I should have been a better brother."

  Then he looked at Ciaran. "All her life, all she wanted was to be a White Queen. Many leaders from other universes have been through our gate, and she could have married any one of them. But she wouldn't. It had to be the future King of Eudaiz. It had to be you."

  "Why?" Ciaran asked. He approached the prince. "Because you fed her with fairy tales about Eudaiz? You've been telling her about a perfect world that doesn't exist, have you?"

  "Eudaiz doesn't exist?" The prince was astonished.

  "It does. I've never been to it, but I am quite sure it's not a perfect world,” Madeline said from the door.

  "But Eudaiz is happiness. It means happiness. True happiness is perfect. What else would one would live for?"

  Ciaran shook his head. "You're responsible for screening people's spiritual purity and their worthiness before they get the Inducer for the final transmutation process, am I correct?"

  The prince nodded.

  "What the princess did was the equivalent of cheating and smuggling people through the gate. Yes?"

  A tear of fear made its way down the prince's face. He looked at Ciaran. "If you married her as planned, things would be different," he said. "I guess you're not going to do that."

  "What's the punishment?"

  "Death for me and for her. Sanction for the castle and my territory. We will have no more passengers. Everything will be cut off until the area dries out."

  "If you knew this disastrous outcome was possible, why did you let her do this?"

  "I didn't let her. I wasn’t quick enough to stop her. I can't let her die in this castle. The Host can chop my head off or do whatever. But she's just a child."

  "How would the Host find out about this?"

  "He already knows. When you received the Inducer without going through the challenges, the system expected a marriage between you and the princess. You must have seen the Phoenix?"

  Ciaran nodded.

  "The Host has now been informed that the marriage was between you and a different queen and that my sister cheated the system. She's doomed."

  "How can I fix this?"

  The prince smiled bitterly. "There is no way to fix it. Although, as a first time passenger, you have a chance to take a challenge. If you win, you will receive an invitation to meet the Host—and a privilege. With the privilege, you can ask for a pardon for my princess."

  "Then I shall take the challenge,” Ciaran said dryly.

  The prince shook his head. "I should give my congratulations. You passed the Daimon Gate. Your transport is waiting for you at the gate. This will be my last chance to take any passengers through this castle. Bon voyage."

  The prince sat still on the floor, leaning against the wall and holding his sister in his arms.

  “What’s your name?” Ciaran asked.

  “Brandon.”

  “Brandon, I’ll find a way to help you and your sister. I promise," Ciaran said firmly and headed toward the door.

  Ciaran, Madeline, Tadgh, and Zach left the Red Castle, but just before they did, Madeline’s psychic mind kicked in. She heard a loud and clear thought. “You’ll never pass the gate alive, Ciaran.”

  She looked around. She didn’t know whose thought she’d heard. The princess was still out, and the prince was still crying and stunned by the consequences of what they had done.

  Chapter 135

  Four horses raced across a field of roses. Madeline had never seen so many wild roses in her life. Beautiful and mysterious. Ciaran, on his white horse, led the group like a true king. In her mind, he had always been more a warrior than a king.

  She’d had no idea riding a horse for the first time in her life c
ould be this easy and fun. Zach and Tadgh seemed to manage it easy enough also. They raced as fast as the wind.

  Snow-topped mountains fenced in the valley, leading them to the magnificent opening of a canyon. There was no need for Ciaran to say a word—they all knew that in front of them was the way out of the Daimon Gate.

  Ciaran turned around. "Ayana and Pete will be waiting for you outside the gate. I'll be right behind you."

  "Did you forget something back at the Red Castle, Ciaran? I know the mermaid princess was hard to let go,” Madeline said.

  Ciaran smiled. “Yes, I forgot my four wives and the dozen children I created when we were in the gate."

  Madeline rubbed at her tummy. "Well, that saves me from doing the hard labor."

  "Seriously, man, what do you need to do?" Zach asked.

  "I promised Bran I would get the invitation,” Ciaran said.

  "Promised? When?" Tadgh raised his voice.

  "When he was trying to give me the training."

  "You mean the subconscious training session that almost killed you? The one where I had to dive into the ice water and yank you out? The one where you were hooked to a TV screen and almost died in front of us?" Madeline’s voice raised in pitch.

  "Didn't the prince say that you have to take a hard challenge to get the invitation? It's not a freebee, Ciaran,” Zach said.

  "Why did you promise Bran?" Madeline asked.

  "He promised to give me information about Mother."

  "How do you know he wasn't bluffing? She might be out there, on Earth, looking for us,” Tadgh said.

  "Knowing that it might be a bluff, do you expect me to say no to Bran's offer, Tadgh?"

  Tadgh shook his head.

  "I can't do anything until you are all safely out of the gate. Off you go. Please.” Ciaran gestured toward the opening.

  "I'm married to you. I don't want to have to handle another wannabe queen lurking around. I'm staying,” Madeline insisted.

  "Yeah, too bad. I'm your brother. If I let you find Mother yourself, you’ll bad-mouth me to her for the rest of my life. I can't let that happen. I'm staying, too." Tadgh rubbed the neck of his horse.