by Liza Probz
Heat spread through her as if someone had begun a forest fire that was soon to be out of control.
What was wrong with her?
He was everything she wanted and smelled so damn good, but really?
She pulled back and licked her lips. They were both panting, the attraction thankfully running both ways. Jazmine smiled as she touched the side of his face, loving the smirk she got in return. He was beyond anything she imagined herself being with, but honestly, love had never been a consideration with anyone. She had been too focused on finding Caleb.
What if he’s already dead?
No. He wasn’t. She knew the odds were against her, but somehow, she would have felt his loss. When he was first taken, she spent months trying to shut down the connection between them simply because she could feel his fear and all of his pain. Jazmine pushed her thoughts away, the need to crawl back in bed and weep throwing ice water on her arousal for the big guy in front of her.
“I need something to eat as soon as I’m done talking with your father. My stomach sounds like two cats in a back alley.” She rolled her eyes and reached for his hand.
He denied her the hand holding and she glanced toward him, trying to understand his actions. There were probably cameras everywhere. Marek moved ahead of her, obviously trying to get her to behave. She smirked at the thought and stopped outside of the large elevator at the end of the hall.
“My parents have the top floor of the palace, and there are guards everywhere. Don’t let them bother you. They are simply there in case of an emergency.”
“No problem. I’m used to lots of guards. I’ve been in my fair share of palaces.” She winked, knowing he would enjoy her sauciness. Her only time inside a palace was when she was stealing something of great worth.
He moved toward her as the door closed, pulling her closer and leaning down to press his lips to hers. The kiss was fast and penetrating, exhilaration rushing throughout every part of her as he pulled back.
“There are cameras everywhere but the bedrooms and the elevators. Keep your distance until we’re in one of these areas. I’ve yet to tell my parents about us.”
“Why?” Jazmine asked as the elevator opened. Guards lined the hall, the sight of so many of them shocking her.
“Just because I have a desire to hold on tightly to you doesn’t necessarily mean you have the same feelings, Jaz. I need to assess your plans before I turn my world upside down.”
She started to respond, but the sound of Nojan’s voice lifted behind them.
“Marek. Jazmine. I have information on everything.”
“She’s late for a meeting with father. Let me go with you.” He glanced back toward Jazmine. “That okay with you? My father is kind and benevolent. Just be yourself.”
“It’s fine. I have been in the presence of many kings. I know how to handle myself.”
“Yes, well, no sleeping with the old man and no stealing our family jewels. They are soon to be mine.” He winked at her.
“I never sleep with them. I just promise to.”
“None of that either. Eck.” Nojan shook his head, pulling at his brother. “Good luck. You’ll be great.”
Jazmine nodded, catching the concern in Marek’s eye before turning and walking toward the golden doors. She paused outside of them and looked at the guards on either side of her. Neither of them acknowledged her standing there.
She glanced at both of them again and finally cleared her throat, realizing that she was going to have to speak first. Typical.
“I’m here to see the king.”
The guard to her right lifted his hand and knocked on the door. A male voice called for her to enter. She took a shallow breath and pushed at the door, walking in and lifting her chin. She was the twin girl of light, a half-goddess, and the rest of her inheritance was royalty.
She could do this—it was in her blood.
Chapter 30
Marek turned from the room and walked with his brother toward the elevator. “Let’s not go too far. I want to be here when she comes out.”
“All right, well, the results are in the lab. I can bring them to you if you want. I had the processor send me a note when they were done. I just got it.” Nojan held up his wrist as if trying to prove his point.
Marek let out a slow breath. “Let’s just go together. Tell me about our plans to get the girl’s brother back. I assume you’ve spoken to father about it?”
“I have.” Nojan pressed the buttons for the elevator to take them back to the lab. Marek hated moving through the tunnels more than anything, the bumps and jolts from traversing the earth always leaving him slightly ill.
“What did he say? Who is going with us?”
Nojan glanced over at Marek as the elevator stopped. “You know good and damn well that Dad isn’t going to let the girl go.”
“It’s not his call on what she does or doesn’t do.”
“Right. Tell him that.” Nojan chuckled and walked to the lab door, typing in a few numbers. “He’s not letting either of you go, actually.”
“Fuck that. I’m going. I promised Jaz that I would find Caleb and I will. I’m not going back on my promise to her, Nojan. That’s half the reason she came here.”
“And the other half?” Nojan moved to a large printer in the middle of the room, tugging at the film flowing out of it.
“I would assume me, but who knows? When your life’s been laser focused, it’s hard to change that desire or projection. Maybe it all had to do with her getting a hand up on finding her brother.” He shrugged, wanting to know what the results were. Getting back to Jaz was at the top of his list of things to do.
“I get that. I’m hoping my trajectory of seeing titties before I die pans out. Dedication and drive. That’s what will get me there.”
“Idiot,” Marek mumbled and moved to stand beside Nojan as he flew through the images, his eyes seeming to pick up on nothing of interest by the sounds he made. “So who exactly is Father thinking of sending after the guy if not me and Jaz?”
“Me, Calabez, and Kara.”
“What? No fucking way. Kara is not going. She’s fragile and way too docile. The worlds outside of here are dangerous. That’s too many of us as well. There should be only one of us going.”
“Like you?”
“Exactly. Why in the hell would Dad send Calabez? I understand you going because of your ability to make anything work, anywhere. But what in the hell is our brother going to offer besides a sardonic attitude and an overactive sex drive?”
“He’s ballsy and willing to fight through every demon in hell to retrieve something that he thinks will bring him great wealth. He cares about two things and Dad has promised him a whole lot of one of them.”
“Power and sex?”
“Right. So he gets to start his harem early if he does this.”
“What? That only belongs to the king. He gets a special group of women just for himself?”
“He does and he can bring back one or two from various planets.”
“No fucking way. You’re lying now. I can’t believe I almost fell for that shit. There is no way in hell Dad would go for him bringing other species onto the planet and sticking his dick in them. Maybe the first part for studying them, but sex? No way. Just no.”
Nojan laughed. “Dad loves power more than any of us. Just because he’s getting old doesn’t mean that his love of power has diminished in the slightest. To have the other twin and the stone would be power beyond that of any other ruler in the universe.”
“But we don’t exist.”
“I think he’s hoping that this find will bring us into a new era. We were never meant to hide in the shadows, Marek. You know this. We are gods in our own right, and Dad just wants to reinstate that.”
“So we use Jazmine and Caleb as protection? Hell no. I would never allow that.”
Nojan rolled his shoulders. “I’m only speculating here. We were told about the trip to find Jaz’s brother this morning before
you arrived. Dad finally got Kara to agree. That’s the first step. What happens after that, I’m not sure.”
“This seems ridiculous. If you send me in there looking like an ass, I’m going to beat you senseless,” Marek growled at his brother.
“I’m being serious for once. I might be wrong, but you’ll have to take that up with Dad.”
“Fine. I’ll talk to the old man.”
“Make it quick. We’re leaving in two weeks. He’s going to talk to Jaz about getting into the library and helping us make a plan of attack. We need to have some clue of who might have taken him. We need to see if she has anything that belongs to her brother.”
“What? Why?” Marek reached out and stopped his brother, something catching his eye on the strip of film in front of them.
“Because Kara has been working on her gifting. She can sense someone from a million miles away, as if finding their essence in the farthest reach of space. She just needs a personal item and she will find him. She’s become something like a hound dog on Territh.” Nojan smiled and lifted the film to his face. Then he moved away from Marek and toward a large board of light that hung on the wall. The rest of the film dragged behind him noisily.
“Wow, this is incredible,” Nojan whispered reverently. He turned and smiled. “I want to check it against one other picture the machine took.”
“What is it?” Marek walked toward him but stopped as Nojan held up his hand.
“I’ll tell you in a minute. Just let me double-check it.” He paused as he moved toward his computer, glancing up. “How do you feel about Jaz? You played it off pretty horribly earlier. I’m your best friend, so no bullshitting me. Open up and be real with me like we always have been to each other.”
Marek took a long breath and let it out. The last thing he wanted to do was bare his soul to anyone, especially himself. If he spoke the words out loud, it only seemed to make them more solidified and would leave him crippled if something happened to the girl. She didn’t seem to feel the same and he couldn’t afford to fight for someone that didn’t want him nearly as bad as he wanted her.
But he couldn’t lie to his brother anymore either.
“I love her. I want her to be my wife and some part of me wants you to have found life, not an illness, inside of her.” Marek ran his fingers through his hair and met his brother’s gaze.
“You made love to her?”
“Yes. I mated with her. I know it was stupid, but she’s mine through and through, Nojan. I needed to mark every part of her, and I have.”
“Fuck. I should have realized that. I just thought you had more sense than that.” Nojan shook his head and walked to the machine, pulling out a long strand of cream-colored paper. He turned and held it up, a smile touching his mouth.
“Well, you might be king sooner than you wanted to.”
“Why is that?” Marek walked toward his brother, not understanding his cryptic message at all.
“Because Dad’s likely to keel over when he finds out that you’ve sired a child through the twin daughter of light.” Nojan chuckled and handed the paper to Marek, who stood in stony silence. “She’s pregnant. There are two lives inside of her.”
“Twins?” Marek choked out as tears filled his eyes. Everything was happening too fast, and yet the rightness that sat on him for the first time in his life was overwhelming.
“Twins, and look, there is a blue ring around both of them.” Nojan let out a long sound of excitement, his eyes brilliantly blue.
“Oh my God.”
“You have to tell her. Now.” Nojan shoved the evidence toward Marek.
“I can’t. Not yet.” He took it and held it up to the light, the small blue circles tiny but prevalent in the sea of darkness.
His offspring—beautiful and gifted. He couldn’t be more pleased.
“You have to, Marek.”
“I will. Just not now. I’m not sure she can handle much more.”
“I do believe her capable of handling just about anything you throw at her, brother.”
Marek glanced up and nodded, a smile touching his lips. “Perhaps. Guess we shall see?”
Chapter 31
“Come, child. No need to hesitate. We’re more than pleased that you’re visiting us.” Marek’s mother reached out and beckoned Jazmine to come into the room fully.
Why hadn’t she forced Marek to come with her? Nojan’s news, whatever it was, could have waited. Jazmine had been in front of the greatest of kings and part of the royal crowd on many planets, but this was different. She wasn’t trying to steal a jewel or find a treasure but earn respect. Her tongue felt like it clung to the roof of her mouth. Her words lodged in her throat as she nodded toward the queen and walked into the room.
“Marek tells me that he found you on Vanfia. What on earth were you doing there?” The king moved toward her, his long red robes silky and labeling him as important.
Some part of her wanted to make up a story as the truth was far from something she would ever share with anyone but Marek. He had treated her rather poorly when finding out she was a thief, or really, assuming correctly that she was. The reasoning behind her decision to take something that wasn’t hers didn’t matter. Most people believed each creature had a choice, and she did as well. Her choice was to find the bronze jewel of Gillum or to let her brother die.
Seemed like an easy answer, no matter the cost or danger involved.
“I was searching for an object that would save my brother, Caleb.”
The king’s eyes widened slightly and he motioned for her to join him at a large ornate table. The top of it was etched from a large sapphire stone, from what she could tell. The value of the table alone would feed a small planet for years. She brushed her fingers along the shiny surface and glanced up as Marek’s mother set a small basket of grapes on the table before taking a spot beside her.
“Zuch loves to grow various fruits and vegetables, but my favorite is grapes. They grow up the side of the castle. You can see them there, just out of the window.” The older woman pointed, and Jazmine turned to catch a view of the healthy vine that swayed softly with the wind.
Marek’s mother was pretty in her own way, but her features were much more subtle, nothing about her catching the eye. Her chest was completely flat and she didn’t have a very feminine shape. Perhaps that was the way of the Vartik women. Marek had mentioned it, if she wasn’t mistaken.
Jazmine turned her attention back to the king as he began to speak.
“Well, Marek tells me that you’ve lost most of your memories. I think we should be able to help you regain some of those. I know quite a bit of what myth will label as history where you are concerned, but the facts should be substantiated. There are a few volumes in our library on your mother and her people.”
“Her people?” Jazmine tilted her head to the side, not sure she understood his reference. “She’s supposedly a goddess. How does she have people?”
“She wasn’t always a goddess, child. She was once a woman, a Territhian. Through great sacrifice, she was granted the right to become a deity. No one knew that she was with child when the transition happened. It supposedly changed the composition of you and your brother to mimic her ability, but your bloodline will always be that of your father.”
“Interesting.” Jazmine reached for a grape, wiping it off with her fingers and putting it into her mouth. The sweetness burst across her senses as her stomach growled loudly again.
“What were you looking for on Vanfia? Zuch interrupted you, I believe. I’d like to hear the rest of the story. I believe in fate. For Marek to be there at the proper time when you needed someone… well, I think the gods brought you here. I’m eager to learn why.” Marek’s mom leaned back in her chair, her fair skinned hands wrapped together in her lap.
“My brother, Caleb, was taken from me a while back late one night. He wasn’t as good at hiding his blue ring, and I suppose someone knew the myth of the light twins and thought he might be one. I slipped o
ut for a few minutes, and when I returned, he was gone. I received word a few days later that he would be held captive until I produced a certain trinket.”
“What trinket, and who has him? Zuch is sending out a few of our children to find him and bring him to safety here.”
Jazmine glanced down at her hands as sadness rose in her chest. “It’s useless. They need the jewel to approach these creatures. There is no way they would be willing to negotiate his release without it.”
“Who are they?” Marek’s father leaned in.
“I don’t know exactly, but if I had to guess, I would assume the Kanula. They have vocal patterns that sound like a million bees buzzing at once. In all my studies, which aren’t many mind you, they are the only creatures I have found matching that description.”
“You’ve heard them speak?” Silvia, Marek’s mother, reached for a grape, her brow pulling tightly.
“Yes. Just that night in making their demands.” Jazmine glanced between Marek’s parents. A warmth that she hadn’t experienced since being with her brother rolled over her. Her eyes filled with tears and she tried to wipe at them without drawing attention to herself.
“There, there, child.” Marek’s mother handed her a small white cloth and moved closer, rubbing her back softly. “We’ll figure out where your brother is and get him back. We’re the brightest and strongest creatures ever created. My boys will find him and he will be with us by the end of the month.”
“I need to go with them. I can’t stop searching. I can’t give up.” Jazmine glanced toward Marek’s father, trying to get someone to validate the fact that they knew that she wasn’t sitting idle while Caleb was possibly being hurt.
“We’ll see what your test results show, sweetheart. After we know that you are well, we will beckon to your desires. Silvia and I are only here to help you. The gods delivered you to our door and we will honor them, and you, as best we can.”
“Zuch is right. Feel comfort in this place and know you have found an ally in us.” She patted Jazmine’s back before pushing the grapes toward her. “Eat a few more of these and we’ll have Marek come take you to the dining hall for something more filling shortly.”