I nod.
“But how?” The words pour from her in a whisper, as they should, knowing Kordell’s power. From the people who bowed at his feet to the power he held to manipulate fear. Fear can make people do things they never thought they would. And Kordell was on top of the world because of it.
I’m cut off with Chris answering, “Ya brotha came here, asking us for help.” She plucks an obsidian pebble from the fountain. “All it take is one request, you ask, we give, and you give us something. Nathan handed over his future. There be dis prophecy over heem, and we wanted in.”
Taylor sighs. “So, he gave up his soul.”
“Pretty much,” I say.
“But this was when Nathan was a teenager,” Taylor argues. “Shouldn’t you be working for them now?”
“I should, but Tarleton paid my price.”
“A life for a life,” Chris jumps in.
“He felt as though he owed me for rescuing him and his family, but he didn’t. I helped him because it was the right thing to do, and I was capable of taking out Kordell. I had nothing he could use against me. And with their help.” I point to Jucenta. “I needed his trust. They helped me manipulate that, and I got close enough to take him down. But Tarleton felt he owed me freedom, so he came here, around time for me to pay up and traded his life for mine.”
“He didn’t give us a choice. We owed for some favas on the dark side and needed a strong soul to clear our debts. Heem it was. Boom!” Amelia exclaims, throwing her robe-sleeved arms in the air. “Nathan come thrashing through here like a tornado! Boom! Boom!” She throws her arms one way and then the other. “Busted up our house, mad heem friend gave up his life for his. Dumb boy.” Amelia slaps my arm. “Took us days to fix it.”
“Yeah. Whatever. Now that’s out of the way. Can you tell me if my father is still alive?”
“Pull his daddy’s stone from the fountain, Chris.”
Chris reaches in, digging so deep her chest emerges in the water. She pulls back, a black stone in hand. “Empty,” she says, examining the object. She tosses it to me.
I flip it over in my hand and hold it up to the dim ceiling light. “What am I supposed to be looking for?”
“If he were in there, you’d see his eye. When a person comes in and asks us for a favor on account of their soul, they’re assigned a stone, when they die it captures their soul, and we keep it around here until we need them to pay up.”
“You’re telling me I just stuck my hand in a fountain full of souls!” I wipe my left hand off on my pant leg.
“I’m bout to kick you out, boy.” Amelia snatches the stone from my hand. “I remember looking at this, seeing it filled. If it’s now empty, he ain’t dead no more.” She tosses the stone back in the water, uncaring. “Now, you got what you want. My price. . .”
I nod for her to continue.
“I get to have a glimpse at ya mate. I’m thinking she’ll have a lot to show us.”
“We’ll see. Keep my tab open.”
On my way out the door, Amelia calls behind me. “I don’t think ya died completely, Nathan. I think ya was hexed, ya died just long enough to break ya bound, but not enough to take ya soul. Brought ya back in the nick of time. Someone want damn bad to have ya without ya mate. Likely so they have ya and link to ya, without the interference. What ya is . . . Ya is somethin’ someone need, and maybe tha person did this know ya are leverage or very valuable.”
I give her a single nod and turn away.
“Don’t let them get ya, Nathan. Things be bad, they do.”
All You Ever
Nathan
My mother was a brightened moon on nights that left me hopeless. She might’ve been mated to a man I despised, but I loved him enough for her. I loved him enough not to kill him years before I mated, and when I did murder him, it was my only choice to keep my family and me safe, because he’d gotten too far out of control. But, maybe, she hated me for it. I stole her heart from her and left her to live on without the comfort. My mother would likely tell me I’m losing my mind for thinking she’d ever do anything less than love me, but it’s an active thought. Since remembering, the millions of thoughts coming to me by the hour, this one is killing me.
As prideful and proud as my father was, by now, he would’ve made his presence known. He would’ve stared me in my eyes and maybe smiled in my face, happy he’s found a way to outsmart me.
Do I let him walk? Do I ignore this and focus on the true obstacle?
I wake Tracey when I get in and tell her about my visit. We run through our theories; who my father could be and where he could be hiding, but nothing sticks strong enough for me to pursue. She thinks maybe the Qualms and my father are in cahoots and it’s because of him that they know so much about us. This makes sense, but who is he. . . and how do we find out?
Tracey has the day off, and I drag her with me to see my youngest brother and the rest of my family I want to catch up with. She refers to it as the family house, and though I say I’m dragging her with me, she’s ecstatic to be joining. She’s embraced my family the way a newborn does its parents. It all should be overwhelming for her, being around so many people, but she loves it. Always has, it seems.
I push open the door, calling, “Nick.”
He comes racing around the corner. I snatch him up. “Man, you’ve gotten bigger!”
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” he tells me, hugging me around my neck.
“You have sore eyes?”
He laughs. I put him down as he sadly says, “Next time you leave, take me with you.”
“If I leave you again, I want you to come find me and bring me back yourself.” I bump his shoulder with my fist.
“Yeah, like my sister.” He looks over his shoulder at Tracey. “Good thing she didn’t give up on you.”
“How bad of a mate would she be if she gave up on me?”
“A terrible one. Good thing you love her, and would never let anything bad happen to her.”
“Yeah, Nick. A good thing.” I stand from being squatted as he and Tracey share a hug. “Where is everybody?”
“Everywhere,” he sighs. Dimples, narrow eyes, and tall as my waist, he’s growing up. And I’ve missed it.
Nick and I run through the house. He catches me up on things I’ve missed, and it’s my passing that’s taken a toll on everyone. Tears of happiness stream down shocked faces as they look upon me as if I’m accomplishing the unthinkable.
During my absence, my grandfather has passed, but my grandmother doesn’t seem too distraught by it. As though he were still sitting beside her, she updates him, saying, “Nathan’s come home, finally. You were right, Roseland. Oh hush, look.” She raises her palms in my direction, as her ability to see is with her hands. I take them in mine and lean over to kiss her cheek.
“Love you, Mima.” Maybe, when life is lived out and a mate passes by nature, they do live among the other half. Everyone I’ve ever known either died or their mate was murdered far before they’ve had the opportunity to live out their life.
My Burdened flashes, yet another, memory before my eyes. This is getting so old. You have to stop with this, I tell him regretfully as he slaps me with them, ramming memory after memory to the front of my thoughts, and crowding my vision. I find a wall to lean against as I wait for it to stop and the dizziness to lessen. The next one slowly comes to me, Tracey telling me that Lunis stopped by our house one day with the barrier shield around him. And then he shows me another of Laine, dedicating his loyalty to us, but him working for Lunis.
I can’t remember why I’d allow Laine to live with us with him being a Nemanite, but at some point, he must’ve proved that he could be trusted. Remembering this, I realize I forgot to tell Tracey about seeing him, being the one responsible for stealing my memories. He did this to me, and he’s been around my family all this time, knowing all this.
My brother, Roseland, ambushes me. He can’t stop hugging me, claiming he knew I was alive. With him and Taylo
r, I hang in the kitchen, helping make lunch. Burgers and fries. We take long strolls down memory lane, recalling days our family was whole and when we lived for each other instead of against each other.
For the past two years, I was forced to believe I was an orphan, that my mother died and my father didn’t want me. While that’s partially true, I was also forced to believe I was alone, and I had no one to love me or return love to. I hated the idea of meeting the people who turned their backs on me but craved for a family, for something or someone I could belong to. But my reality is that I have two homes full of enough family for Tracey and me.
Lucky fucking bastard.
On the kitchen table, Roseland lays out piles of paperwork, excited to give me updates on the business. He’s happy about being able to manage the company and the steady business we’ve had. This is great and all, but I need to see it for myself.
“Thanks, Roseland. But I need to get there right now.” I built this thing from the ground up and need to walk through the office, sit behind my desk, and process something. I’ve left the idea to rest in the back of my mind while I’ve been trying to get back in the groove of things, but with him bringing it up I can’t ignore it anymore.
“There’s nothing you can do now, Nathan. Everything will wait until Monday.”
“No, it won’t.” I head for the door and shout to Tracey that I’m leaving, but don’t get a response. Tracey, I’m going to the office. I’ll see you later, I think to her, hoping she’ll hear me.
‘Kay. I’m fine sticking around here.
In Over My Head
Nathan
Roseland’s word is good, but I need to confirm for my own sense of comfort that everything is running smoothly. Our building here in Vermont is smaller than the one in Washington, it’s our first, and we never needed to move the office space, just enlarge our inventory storage. The other is in California and it’s about the size of Washington’s. That one is my uncles. He thought of the name NCB Industries, Manufacturing Company of Metal and Steel.
Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to own my own business. I went to school and made a lot of mistakes to make it happen, but once I figured it out, I’d built a well-oiled machine. We distribute metal and steel to our clients per their institutional or contractual needs, whatever they require it for, may it be; cars, electronics, construction, sky’s the limit. I linked up with a lumbering company to double my enterprise ten years ago, and things have been running smoothly for the past fifteen years, here. Washington was opened for expansion. Have Roseland tell it; best decision I could’ve made. He wants that building, I know. He’ll move up there with Ann and the twins and have that office as his own. Because of the recent events, I’ve likely put a hold on his plans, but seeing he’s successfully managed both offices for the past few years, solo, I wouldn’t mind handing that office to him.
Depending on what this ‘prophecy’ Tracey’s brought up and my irregular life has in store for me, I may be stepping down to do whatever it takes to fight it. Whatever that ‘it’ may be.
My flirtatious receptionist has been going on and on since I walked in. “Yeah, Kathy, I understand the joke.” She giggles obnoxiously. If she didn’t do such a good job, I’d fire her, but she’s good at what she does; more than tripled my clientele in the last six years and doesn’t take shit from those snobby pushovers who think money will get them the world and the people in it to wipe the shit from their asses and be happy about it.
“Where you headed when you leave here?” she asks, sitting back behind her desk.
I stand beside her, looking through a stack of files she’s set aside. “I’m going to find my lady, take her out, and watch her as she watches me,” I say, looking at a dark brown folder that’s different from the white and manila ones. My name’s scratched over the left corner of it.
“I don’t want to hear that. You should take me out one day. I’ve been around here shuffling papers and answering phones for almost seven years and not once have you winked at me.”
“You weren’t hired to be winked at, you were hired to shuffle through papers and answer phones.” I show her the folder. “How long has this been sitting here?”
She shrugs, not looking at the folder or me as she polishes a nail yellow. “I don’t know, awhile. Maybe it showed up five months ago.”
“How do you know? You didn’t even look.”
She lifts her gaze. “Oh, that! Okay, about three days ago this guy, maybe twenty-six, my height, cutie, coffee brown hair, and gray or blue eyes. He was dressed in black jeans and wore a jacket. It was . . . a brown color and he had on boots. He came in and dropped that off. Said make sure Nathan gets this. He threw it down on the desk right here.” She points to the upper area of the desk. “He said if I didn’t he’d come back for me.”
I cock a brow. “What’d you say?”
“Um hum, leave it, he’ll get it,” she says with the wave of her hand, imitating herself. “He sounded serious, but they all do. I was calling you, and as usual, you wouldn’t answer the phone. Why have you been hiding from me for so long, anyway? Roseland tried to sell me some mumbo jumbo about you dying. I just knew that wasn’t true. Not my man,” she adds, rolling her neck.
The phone rings as the buzzer for the front door goes off. “Answer the phone. I’ll get the door.”
“Avoiding my question, I see.”
“Do your job, Kathy,” I say lightly, chuckling. I look through the envelope as I walk to my office, where I have the monitor for the surveillance system.
What the hell is this? I flip through a dozen pages that all read the same. ‘Time can only spare for what controls it.’ The fuck am I supposed to do with this?
I sit down, slamming the folder on the desk. “Do I not have enough weird shit going on?” The buzzer to the door goes off again. “What?” I bark, looking at the computer, checking my surveillance cameras. “Hmm.” Just the guy I’ve wanted to see. “Kathy, hit the buzzer please.”
“Yes, Sir Nathan, as you wish.”
“Hush. I said please.”
Laine casually strolls through the front door of my office building. I stuff the folder in a drawer and lean back on the chair as I monitor the screens.
“Hi, Kathy. Can I see Nathan?” he asks, leaning on the desk.
“I’m sorry.” Kathy pokes his arm with her pen, pushing him off her desk. “Who did you say you were?”
He knows her name. . .
“I’m Laine, a friend of his.”
My Burdened throws another memory at me, of a conversation Laine and I shared. I almost find it pointless but then notice the absence of the Australian accent that laced his voice in the past but is absent today.
“Hmm. Let me see if he’s available for friends.” My desk phone rings. I answer it. “Mr. Newcomb,” Kathy says professionally. She can flip her attitude like a coin. “There is a Laine here to see you. He says he’s your friend.” My computer dings with her instant message, ‘he’s tall with white-colored contacts and bright blond hair and doesn’t look like someone you’ve associated with.’
“Okay, Kathy, thank you. You can send him in.”
Laine ambles through the door, entering like he owns the place. He stops, stands, and admires my office. “Nice, Nathan.”
“Un-hun, what do you want?”
“I will be heading out soon, on a more permanent basis, and wanted to make sure you were ready to take care of your mate. Now that you’ve started to remember, you can properly watch her back.”
I sit forward, managing my control to a minimal extent. “Excuse me?”
“Nathan,” he says steadily. “Tracey is such a lovely girl, and I am happy you have her. I only want her to be . . . happy, and I know that with you . . . remembering everything, she will be. Having Tracey at your side should help with that.”
Tracey is such a lovely girl. . . Why does that sound so damn familiar?
“What’s wrong, Nathan?” He leans back in the chair, crossing his legs. “I�
�m sorry. This isn’t about Tracey, this is about you.” He crosses his arms and arches his neck. Piercing eyes survey me as if he’s read me a riddle and is awaiting my answer.
A series of thoughts race through my mind as my Burdened works through our memories, trying to pinpoint where we’ve heard this before. I rub my hand back and forth across my chin.
It hits me. Oh. . .
I nod slowly, never tearing my gaze from his. I get it. . . Fucking Laine. . . This entire time.
“How long?” I ask. He’s played me . . . He’s played me real good. He’s played us really good. “You know what,” I cut him off. “I don’t care about how long you’ve been stalking us. Tell me what you want.”
“A warning. If you don’t stand down, Keith, there’s going to be a worse ending to this than you may have interpreted.”
“Stand down from what?”
He analyzes me and snorts. “Well,” he sings, astonished. “You really don’t remember.”
I cross my arms. “Enlighten me.”
“Somewhere on you, there should be a marking that reveals something you’ve feared your entire life. It’s happening, Keith. What your mother and I warned you about should you take the leap and mate. Now, you’re changing into the death you’ve always feared becoming, and the Qualms want you for it. They’ve eliminated your enemies and if you’re not careful and do what they ask, they’ll take out your loved ones. You know what’s to come. And when they come, if you don’t stand down, it is not just going to affect you, but this entire world. Sephlems, Mulens, even the humans are at risk.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you, why? You of all people should know I don’t give a shit about everybody else’s ending? You, being back here, is where my care lies.”
His face relaxes. “Like I told your mate, you can’t kill me.”
I’m coming to realize that. Shrugging, I flip the subject, “Where’s he?” I point to his body.
Finite: A Dark Paranormal Romance (The Sephlem Trials Book 4) Page 27