Invidia

by Keira Michelle Telford

  SILVER:

  Invidia

  Written By

  Keira Michelle Telford

  Copyright © Keira Michelle Telford 2013

  Venatic Press

  All Rights Reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination, or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Chimera & Cover Artwork by

  Kitt Lapeña

  www.facebook.com/scarypet

  scarypet.deviantart.com

  Other Books in the Series…

  The Amaranthe Chronicles

  SILVER: Acheron (A River of Pain)

  SILVER: The Lost & Damned

  SILVER: Entropy

  SILVER: A New Age Dawns

  SILVER: Quietus

  SILVER: Inamorato

  WWW.ELLACROSS.COM

  JOIN THE FIGHT

  “The die is cast.”

  -- Julius Caesar

  Amaranthe & Surrounding Area

  (Circa 2314 CE)

  Chimera

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ZERO

  The Lovers

  The Sentinel District

  Amaranthe, 2314 CE

  – Seven Months Ago

  Two bodies are locked together between the sheets in the small, modest bedroom of a Sentinel District apartment. Hastily shed clothes are strewn about the floor: a Hunter Division uniform and a summer dress, weapons buried within them and beneath them. Moonlight streams in through the window, and the clock on the bedside table ticks five past three a.m..

  Finding release inside her, the man smothers a roar against a pillow and catches his breath before rolling off his partner. He makes himself comfortable in the bed beside her while she, happy and content, closes her eyes and relishes the last echoes of sensation from their lovemaking.

  Her long blonde hair flows freely over the pillow, and a smile tugs at her lips as he presses a kiss against her cheek.

  “You’re exquisite,” he whispers, nuzzling into her.

  “Flatterer.” She smirks, flashing her deep blue eyes at him.

  Loralei Cross is twenty-nine years old and effortlessly beautiful. Her features are delicate and soft, and her cherry red lips entice more kisses from her lover, Gabriel Maydevine.

  He recently turned thirty, and should’ve been married with children long ago, but had stubbornly refused to conform to society’s norms. Flinging back the covers, he sits up on the edge of the bed and runs his hands quickly through his thick dark hair, then stretches his muscular shoulders.

  He craves nicotine.

  Snatching his Kevlar vest off the floor, he digs through the various pockets, finally pulling out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. He puts one to his lips, but before he can light it, Lora leans forward and presses a kiss against his shoulder.

  “No, Gabe.” She takes the cigarette from him. “You know better than that.”

  “Do I?”

  “Do you want J.C. to know you were here?”

  Gabriel considers grabbing the cigarette back from her and lighting it anyway.

  But only fleetingly.

  Without any word of argument, he accepts defeat and gets up off the bed, stretching his back and shoulders. Behind him, Lora hugs the bed sheets around her naked body and tucks her knees up to her chin, watching him dress.

  “I’ll leave him,” she whispers softly. “Just say the word.”

  Buckling up his pants, Gabriel looks over at her. “What word is that?”

  “Don’t be a shit.” She tosses a pillow at him.

  He deflects the missile and lunges playfully toward the bed. Pinning her down against the mattress, he locks lips with her once more.

  “If I could make you my wife, I would, but this isn’t as simple as either one of us wants it to be.” He reaches for her left hand and holds it up in front of her face, tapping his finger against her wedding ring. “You’re not mine to take.”

  “And yet you’ve taken me nearly every night for almost three years.”

  Gabriel hangs his head and pushes himself away from her. “I don’t need to be reminded that I’m a thief of your love.”

  He finishes dressing, gathers his weapons and walks out of the room, leaving her to pull on a silk chemise and follow him. She catches up to him in the kitchen, where he’s gathering his cell phone and house keys off the counter.

  “You’re leaving?” Her voice sounds almost pitiful.

  Gabriel checks his watch. “He’ll be off shift in an hour.”

  Silence.

  He leans against the counter, keeping his gaze averted from her. He knows that if he looks at her—if he gets even the faintest glimpse of her body beneath the chemise—he won’t be able to tear himself away.

  Lora senses his internal conflict and slinks up to him, slipping between his arms and pressing her body against his.

  Instinctively, he wraps her up in an embrace. “I love you, Lora.”

  “Do you?” She rests her cheek against his chest. “Sometimes I wonder if what you truly love is the thrill of toying with something that doesn’t belong to you, just to prove that you can.”

  “You know me better than that.”

  “I see the way you look at me across a crowded room, and I know your cock stiffens with anticipation at the thought of sneaking me away and slipping it to me while my husband laughs and drinks unawares in the room next door. I see how eager and frantic you are to possess me, and how quickly you peak. The secrecy is like foreplay to you. It excites you.”

  “You excite me.”

  “I want a future with you, Gabe.”

  “We’ll get there. I promise we will.”

  “Good, because you’re going to be a father.”

  She throws that out so nonchalantly, he’s not sure if she’s joking. Taking her firmly by the shoulders, he moves her away from him so that he can look down at her face, and just one look at those anxious blue eyes tells him that she’s not trying to make him laugh.

  Not even remotely.

  She’s serious.

  Nevertheless, he needs to hear it again.

  “What did you … ?”

  “I’m pregnant, Gabe.”

  Gabriel opens and closes his mouth, but no words come out.

  “You’re going to be a father,” she repeats. “Please say something.”

  “I thought you couldn’t … ?”

  “Apparently, I can. We can—we did.”

  “You and J.C. have been married for over ten years without …”

  She shrugs. “I guess I was never the source of the problem.”

  Gabriel turns away from her and rubs his palms over his face and through his hair, trying to process this new information without overreacting. He wanders into the living room, keenly aware that she’s following close behind him.

  With his back still to her, “How long?”

  “Two months.”

  He turns to face her. “Does he know?”

  Lora shakes her head. “I haven’t told anyone.”

  He looks relieved. “When did you find out?”

  “Several weeks ago.”

  “And you didn’t tell me?” Now he looks hurt.

  “I didn’t know how you’d take it.” Lora drops down onto the couch. “Can you blame me for being reticent? You’re not exactly jumping for joy.”

  Gabriel kneels before her. “Don’t you think I would be? If I were your—”

  She leans forward and cups his face in her hands. “You can be.” She strokes his stubbly cheeks with her thumbs. “If you wanted to, we could be married before this baby is born.”

  Resting his hands
against her thighs, Gabriel drops his head into her lap. “The timing of this is impossible.”

  “When hasn’t it been? You’ve been sidelining our feelings for one another since the day we met.”

  “You’re my best friend’s wife.”

  “And we wanted each other from the very first glance.”

  “I thought it was infatuation. I thought it would pass.”

  “It didn’t.” She begins to run her fingers through his hair. “I knew I was in love with you the first time I let you steal a kiss from me.”

  “I thought you hated me for that.” He smiles at the memory.

  “Hate you? I was the one who put the spider in the bathtub in the first place.”

  Three years ago, he’d come over to rid the apartment of a black widow that turned out to be a common house spider, and ended up locking lips with her in the living room. They’d tumbled onto the couch together, frantically clutching at one another’s clothes, releasing years of pent up longing. He’d been in the midst of unbuckling his belt when they were interrupted by one of Lora’s neighbors at the door.

  He’d apologized and immediately withdrawn from her. She’d felt self-conscious, and pulled back from him in her own way, retreating into herself, refusing to make eye contact.

  “I hated the way you made me feel,” she confesses. “I’d heard stories about your antics, dating all the way back to your Academy days: the loveable rogue who broke girls’ hearts like eggshells. I thought you were just looking for another conquest in me, and I loathed how my body responded to you so easily.” She hesitates. “I still do.”

  Gabriel looks up at her. “We have to wait. Please understand that we have to wait.”

  She withdraws her hands. “I’ve been waiting.”

  “This is scandalous.”

  “No shit. I’m a married woman and you’re a first line Hunter who’s practically promised himself to the daughter of the Governor’s chief aide.”

  “I’ve made no proposition to her.”

  “Doesn’t she think that’s odd? It’s been three years for god’s sake. She’s belonged to you since she was sixteen years old.”

  “She knows my reputation.”

  “So? She thinks you’re proving yourself to her?” Lora rolls her eyes. “You’re going to destroy her.”

  “I’m not sleeping with her.”

  “You’re still using her, Gabe. You’ve made her your trophy: a pretty little distraction to hold the attention of the city while you sneak away behind her back and into my bed. Everyone’s so busy fawning over her, they don’t notice you making eyes at me.” She leans back against the couch and places a hand lightly on her belly. “But that’s about to change.”

  “You can’t say a word. Not to anyone. Not yet.”

  Lora peaks an eyebrow at him. “And how long do you expect me to wait? Much longer and I’ll have to tell J.C., and then you’re fucked—I’ll have to say that it’s his.”

  “How do you know it’s not?”

  Thwack!

  She’s never struck him before, and the slap takes him completely by surprise. He doesn’t rebuke her, though—he deserved it.

  Silence.

  Then, her mood softens. “Do you remember when that Chimera took a chunk out of J.C.’s liver not so long ago?”

  Gabriel nods. “He was hospitalized for a week.”

  “Exactly.”

  More silence.

  He doesn’t need her to spell out the facts for him.

  “I’m on the shortlist for the Deputy General position,” he says at last.

  “And?” Lora sighs.

  He slides a hand across her stomach. “A transgression like this could cost me that promotion.”

  “This is more important.” She presses her hand over his.

  “Hold off until the decision’s made. That’s all I ask.”

  She brushes his hand away, sucking in her cheeks and pursing her lips. “That’s all?” She huffs. “That’s not such a simple thing. You have no idea what you’re asking of me.”

  “Be patient, please.”

  “Have I not been thus far?”

  Clutching her thighs, he drags her forward and pulls her into a kiss.

  She’ll do whatever he asks—she always has.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Death

  The Sentinel District

  Amaranthe, 2314 CE

  – Present Day

  Loralei, her purse slung over her shoulder, leaves her apartment to fetch some groceries for dinner. As she closes the front door behind her, it locks automatically.

  It’s fast approaching the end of August, and the air is muggy and uncomfortable. Wearing flip-flops, yoga pants, and a flowing summer tee that drapes elegantly over her round belly, she takes a deep breath and prepares to face the summer heat.

  Not that she’ll ever make it that far.

  She takes no more than a few steps down the tenth floor hallway when another door opens adjacent to her apartment, and a small six-year-old boy appears in the threshold. He’s skinny, with dark hair and chocolate eyes, and he’s transfixed on her stomach.

  “Good morning, Alexander.” She smiles at him.

  He says nothing.

  His eye-line doesn’t even flicker.

  She kneels down to be at his level.

  “Do you want to come closer?” She beckons him over.

  He takes a step, but stops abruptly when Lora winces and presses a hand just below her belly button.

  “It’s okay,” she assures him, urging him nearer. “She kicked me, that’s all.”

  “She hurt you?” Alexander asks, bridging the gap between them.

  “She wriggles a lot.” Lora reaches for his hand. “Do you want to feel her move?”

  He’s obviously nervous.

  “Here”—she places his small palm flat against her stomach—“can you feel that?”

  Alexander nods.

  “She’s been doing gymnastics all morning.”

  “It’s a girl?”

  Lora nods. “Her name’s Ella.”

  “Who will help you take care of her?”

  “Her father. My husband.”

  Alexander is too young to detect the separation in her words.

  “Can I help, too?” He beams at her.

  “Would you like that?”

  He nods fervently.

  “Then of course.” She beams back at him. “I think I’ll need all the help I can get.”

  Just then, she feels a sharp pain. A frown creases her brow and she flinches away, leaning against the wall for support. With a gasp, Alexander retracts his hand and stumbles back a few paces.

  “It’s okay, Alexander.” Lora tries to calm him. “Don’t be frightened.”

  She digs through her purse, but can’t find her cell phone.

  “Shit.” She presses her palm to her forehead, stifling a squeal at another twinge of pain. “Alexander”—she locks eyes with him—“I need your help. Can you do something for me?”

  He hovers a few feet away, unsure what to do, and watches with tears in his eyes as Lora slides down onto her bum and tries to make herself comfortable.

  “I need you to go inside and call for an ambulance, okay?” She tries to control her breathing. “Do you know how to do that?”

  Alexander nods.

  “Good.” She closes her eyes and tilts her head back. “Go do it, please. Do it quick.”

  Without hesitation, Alexander runs obediently back inside his apartment.

  *************************

  Gabriel burns through the doors into the maternity ward of Western Point Hospital.

  “Where is she?” he demands of the receptionist. “Loralei Cross. What room is she in?”

  The receptionist points to a door less than fifty feet away, and Gabriel doesn’t wait for a proper invitation. He swings open the door and barges through into Lora’s private hospital room.

  “Lora!” he calls frantically.

  The sight of he
r lying in the hospital bed, her legs spread, is both thrilling and terrifying. She’s about to have their child, but that child’s about to be born with another man’s name.

  He dug that grave for himself.

  He never thought he’d actually have to lie in it.

  “Gabe.” She reaches out to him.

  He pulls a chair up beside her bed, takes her by the hand and kisses her fingers. As he moves closer to her, she notices something about his Kevlar vest.

  It’s new.

  It’s different.

  She slips her hand out of his grasp and traces her fingers over his embroidered name.

  Hunter Division

  Deputy General

  Maydevine, Gabriel

  “You got the job.” She smiles up at him. “And just in the nick of time, you jammy bastard.”

  She grits her teeth and bears the pain of another contraction.

  Gabriel scoops up her hand again, squeezing it tight. “I told you everything was going to be okay.” He presses his lips against her fingers. “We’re going to be together. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.” Her voice is so quiet—so weak.

  Another contraction.

  She begins to bleed.

  More pain.

  The lab coats in the room begin to panic.

  “Lora …” Gabriel strokes his fingers over her cheek.

  She doesn’t respond.

  She passes out.

  “Lora.” He taps her cheek gently, trying to coax her back.

  It doesn’t work.

  All of a sudden, there’s a gush of blood.

  The room becomes a blur of voices and movement, and Gabriel is ushered out by someone in a white coat.

  Emergency.

  Uterus.

  Ruptured.

  He doesn’t understand.

  He doesn’t argue.

  It wouldn’t matter anyway.

  *************************