by Isabel Wroth
Satesh would never move to imagine he could separate the bond between Aley and Ilaria, or to come between them, but it was moments like these Satesh treasured most.
It hadn’t been long ago that Satesh feared he had nothing but his ships, his men, and his cock to offer Ilaria. How foolish he had been.
Aley never told her no. He never disagreed with her. He always gave his opinion but promised he would follow no matter the path Ilaria set.
Satesh argued. He told Ilaria no frequently. He gave his opinion and promised he would always be there to help in whatever way he could.
Sometimes he noticed the disapproving frowns Aley gave, but Satesh dismissed those glares in favor of the relief he could see in Ilaria’s eyes, grateful to know she did not bear the burden of her mission to resurrect the Matavei alone. When Ilaria leaned on him, she needed him and no other.
“I have you, and I have Aley, my people are safe, yours have a home. I completed my mission. Now what, Satesh?”
Her wistful question made him smile, his gaze rolling out on the desert. The light of the moons made it seem as though the sifting, swirling sand was in truth an ocean, glittering silver, ever moving on a rolling tide.
“We keep going. We pave the way for all who come after us and spend every moment we have loving one another. Will that satisfy you?”
“Beyond words.”
Satesh had no power, no magical abilities to harness the winds or bring life back to the dead gardens of this world, but he felt like he had finally come home. He felt like he belonged.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Ilaria~
Everywhere Ilaria looked, all she saw were dark tangles of vines and leaves as big as her bed.
It was nighttime in the jungle, and the only light came from the eyes of the predators that lurked, and the wink of illumination that came from flying insects.
She had no idea where she was, or why she was here, but this was no normal dream. Ilaria could feel the pull in her cells, the energy that drew her forward, curiosity that drove her to find the source.
Her footsteps made no sound as she followed the unseen path, her passage through the jungle was silent, though the world around her was anything but.
Ilaria heard the buzz of the insects and the constant chatter of birds, the groan of the trees and vines rubbing against one another as they shifted in the wind high above her.
In her dream state, there was no warmth or smells, no physical sensations at all except the tug there beneath her sternum.
She could have walked straight through the thick growth, but it seemed to be second nature to duck beneath the thicker branches that blocked her path, carefully stepping around enormous yellow, lantern-shaped flowers even though she couldn’t crush them.
Ilaria followed the pull along an indiscernible path until she was running, a sense of urgency nipping at her heels.
Finally, she came to the roots of the biggest tree she had ever seen. The earth had been pulled away from the roots, perhaps by a flood of water or by hand, and Ilaria was able to walk beneath them to the heart of the tree where the roots all met the enormous trunk.
So lost in staring at the intricate beauty of the underside of the tree, it caught her by surprise when she was physically tugged forward a few steps, underneath the roots and out the other side to where a spear of unnatural stone shot up through the branches as though reaching for the stars.
Ilaria was able to make out the towering shape of the building simply because it was the only thing for miles that didn’t sway in the wind.
It was an immovable shadow, and waves of sinister energy poured off it with enough force to make her shudder. She had no desire to go inside, but the pull was undeniable.
Once past the threshold, into the deserted makings of what looked like some sort of barracks, Ilaria sank through the floor to a subterranean chamber.
Right away she could tell this place was the source of all the malevolent energy causing her so much discomfort.
To her left lay the worst of it, but thankfully the pull she was following led her toward the right, although, the hallway to the right wasn’t by any means, ‘good.’
In fact, it was absolutely dismal and heartbreaking.
Cages lined either side of the corridor, but only one was occupied. Ilaria passed through the bars of the cell, softly calling out to the tiny creature curled up in a tight ball in the corner of a cradle that held only one dirty blanket.
At first, she thought he couldn’t hear her, but soon he lifted his head from his protective huddle and bright, vibrant purple eyes searched the darkness.
The little one made the tiniest sound, a wordless chortle so soft and full of fear, Ilaria could barely stand to hear it.
Voices echoed from somewhere behind her, and the baby gave a garbled whimper. He cried out when light suddenly flooded the cell but fell so silent Ilaria worried he had fallen unconscious.
A Sarazen male and female entered, each speaking of testing and arguing over the baby’s health if they took much more blood.
“It will be a wasted experiment if the subject dies before we’re able to complete our work.” The female said coldly, completely unmoved by the sight of a child in such squalid conditions. “We have enough blood for now. I want skin and hair samples. Feed it. Wash the filth from it’s skin and let’s move forward.”
The male with yellow markings gave an impatient huff, reaching in to unkindly yank the baby from the dirty cradle.
Ilaria watched helplessly while the monstrous scientists lay the tiny boy down on a cold, unforgiving surface in a room filled with horrifying machines, measuring, scanning, yanking little tufts of hair from the baby’s head and using a sharp blade to scrape skin from the bottom of his foot.
Ilaria screamed and railed at them to stop, using every ounce of etheric energy she possessed to scramble their computers and erase the data they had collected.
Sparks showered throughout the entire lab, machines failed, alarms blared, and for a moment chaos reigned.
The calculating female scooped the baby up, holding him to her breast protectively while outside the sealed doors screams and the sounds of weapons fire rang out.
“Containment breached! She’s out! We have to flood the facility with gas!” the male with the yellow markings shouted frantically.
“You can’t! We’ll lose the queen!”
“We don’t have a choice! It’s us or her. Put your armor on, make sure the brat survives.”
Ilaria felt a tug near her navel, heard a high-pitched whine and knew her time was running out. Her Awakening was upon her and she didn’t have enough time.
The black-eyed female hissed in fury, but the baby didn’t make a sound. He looked straight at Ilaria until the silver armor rushed over the female scientist’s body to shield him from the white fog that exploded from the vents.
The dream immediately changed and Ilaria was alone in the dark, naked, cold, the sounds of screams and childlike whimpers surrounded her, and her own voice shouting at someone to find the boy.
Blood pumped through her veins in a hard, pulsating rhythm, jarring her so violently from sleep Ilaria felt the ache of it in her bones. Adrenaline fueled her as she slithered out from between her Chosen, hopping from one foot to the other in her haste to get untangled from the bedsheets.
Satesh groaned, Aley sat up and rubbed the heel of his hand against his eyes, both of them looking at her in concern.
“Ilaria? Whazwrong?” Aley slurred, looking sexy and rumpled from their earlier bed play.
Her hands shook with the remnants of the dream turned nightmare, “I remembered something important. How far away is the Mayhem?”
Satesh sat all the way up and frowned at her, raking a hand through his hair to settle it,
“A day, two at most. Why?”
Fear lay like a thick coat of ash on her tongue, the memory of the baby’s bleak, beautiful eyes staring at her so hopelessly, helplessly, it made nausea spiral through her
belly.
Was he still alive? Still huddled in the dark with only a dirty blanket to warm him? She sent up a fervent prayer, asking the universe to make it so. The alternative was more than she could bear.
“I must contact Cassie, immediately.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The Pride Fortress of S1~
~Cassie
Falken should have been beside her sharing his warmth instead of prodding her gently awake, but his beast was a creature of habit and rose with the sun.
His genetics bred true with his son, and Cassie snuggled deeper into the blankets, groaning in protest, wanting a few more hours sleep before Fionn woke up and started tearing through the fortress with Lyrala and Tristan, looking for trouble.
~My heart, please. You are so lovely when you sleep, and I know you’ve had a hard few days, but you need to wake.
~Fionn will wake up in ten minutes, and I need nine to prepare myself to chase after your hellion of a son.
Falken’s laughter echoed gently in her mind as his lips spread a trail of exquisite bliss up her spine.
~He is a little hellion, isn’t he?
~Like his father. So go away, nine more minutes.
~There is someone who wishes to speak with you.
~Whoever it is can wait.
He raked his teeth across her nape, relentlessly pulling her into consciousness with his wicked nibbles.
~I suppose you’re right. It’s only Ilaria and—
Her mate was laughing as Cassie leaped out of the bed as though she’d been electrocuted, barely throwing a gown over her head before she was running for the communication bay.
Her heart was pounding not from the exertion of her mad dash, but with a crazed jumble of emotions. Elation, worry, eagerness, even anger.
It had been two years of silence. Two years fretting, trying to figure out that last cryptic warning Ilaria had given her before vanishing.
The beautiful boy Cassie needed to find. No clues, no leads, no nothing. For two years it had driven Cassie to the brink of sanity, feeling the burden of having to put the search for the unknown boy on the back burner in favor of having to constantly battle the small factions of the Original Council, using her skills with information to thwart them.
She had a file among her many thousands of files and programs with no face, no name, no information other than the label ‘Beautiful Boy.’
Falken often caught her staring at it and chastised her in his gentle way to not be so hard on herself. Cassie could not find one beautiful boy when she was surrounded by so many, he said.
Falken meant himself and their son, of course, which was irrefutable logic, yet the fact remained. Ilaria’s last act had been to frantically demand Cassie find a beautiful boy in need of saving.
Cassie cursed the thousand and one steps her bare feet slapped at as she ran, nearly out of breath by the time she slid into the darkened communications room, gaping at the face that filled the screen.
Vaguely Cassie noted there were two men also present, but the unfamiliar female claiming to be her friend captured all her focus.
The Ilaria Cassie remembered had silver curls and bright silver eyes. This female had thick, inky black tresses and vibrant, multi-faceted purple eyes.
As before, Ilaria appeared to be human, but there was an otherworldliness about her that suggested there was little to no humanity in her bloodline.
“Cassie,” the kind, smiling face murmured, “it is very good to see you again.”
Thrown for a loop, Cassie gracelessly blurted the first thing that came to mind, “You don’t look the same.”
The female tilted her head, accepting of the suspicion Cassie hadn’t been able to conceal from her tone.
“The form I took when I first appeared to you was much different, but I was your friend then, and I am now. We spoke of trees and their likeness to humanity what seems like only yesterday, but in truth, I am uncertain how much time has passed between then and now.”
“It’s been just over two years since I last saw you.”
“Two years,” Ilaria echoed, her gaze going far away for a moment.
“But you’re safe now? You’re alright?” Cassie asked quickly, feeling Falken’s arrival long before his palm settled on her waist to draw her against his side.
“My Awakening was…unpleasant, but yes. I’m safe.” One of the males behind Ilaria shifted his focus to her, compassion and concern flooding his rose-gold gaze.
Ilaria tipped her chin down to briefly reassure him with a glance, and the tension Cassie hadn’t realized had such a tight hold of her eased on a shiver.
Ilaria’s smile was beautiful, slow and sweet as she introduced the two males with her as her Chosen, and as Ilaria explained what had happened to her after her Awakening, Cassie couldn’t help but feel the crushing sense of guilt. Of being helpless to do anything that might have spared Ilaria from such a miserable fate.
~You take responsibility for too much. There was nothing we could have done, and it seems all has happened as it was meant to. Unburden yourself, my One. Ilaria is safe, happy with her mates.
Of course, Cassie knew Falken was right, and though it dissipated some, the ache remained.
“I wish I could have done something to help you, Ilaria. After everything you did for us,”
Ilaria gave an enigmatic wave of her hand, “There was nothing to be done. My path was set a long time ago, but you and I have unfinished business. Do you remember the last time we spoke?”
Cassie’s heart dropped to her toes, her fingers clenching around a fistful of Falken’s tunic as her hope of ever finding the faceless boy became as tangible as Ilaria’s etheric form.
“You came to me in a dream. You said less energy was required to reach my subconscious, but it was like we had a bad connection.
“I could see your lips moving, but all you were able to tell me was something about a beautiful boy in danger, and that I needed to find him. I’ve been trying, but with nowhere to look and no idea who he might be…I haven’t.”
Ilaria's smile was strained, but there was understanding in her expression. “As you said, the connection between us was too unstable. I’ve tried for the last two days to travel from my new homeworld to Saraz, and each time I try to pass into your realm, I’m thrown back into my body.
“I don’t know why, but it doesn’t matter. Before my Awakening, I remember I was searching for conspirators of the Original Council. I felt a pull to somewhere else within the solar system and from one moment to the next I was in a jungle beneath the roots of the biggest tree I’ve ever seen.
“I passed beneath the tree and found a spear of stone, a building in the darkest part of the forest. Until then, I hadn’t ever felt such malevolence, and when I entered the building, there were two levels. A barracks above a hidden chamber where the most unspeakable experiments were happening.
“The boy I told you to find. He’s there, in that facility, but I can’t do anything except describe to you in detail what I saw to lead you there.”
A pit settled in Cassie’s stomach. Her concern echoed in the look she shared with her mate.
“You don’t have to, Ilaria.” Falken rumbled ominously, “Four days ago, a squad of warriors was sent to the jungle planet of S4 to track down a lead we have on a council outpost.
“Upon reaching the outpost, the warriors made their scheduled check-in. The communication array was damaged, and we haven’t heard from them since.
“Commander Brennaugh and a second squad landed not long ago. They haven’t reached the facility yet, but when they do, we will be certain to tell them to search for the cub.”
Ilaria’s expression mirrored Cassie’s feelings of impatience and helpless frustration. The Matavei pressed her hand to her chest, leaning on her men as her eyes focused on something unseen.
Ilaria’s whisper raised the fine hairs on Cassie’s arms. “I will never forgive myself if he perished down there, alone in the dark.”
AUTHO
R’S NOTE
Yes.
I know.
I KNOW!!!!
It’s never my intention to leave y’all hanging, but too frequently, these moments come where I have two choices:
Write another hundred and fifty-thousand words to explain everything, tell you what happened, answer all your questions and give you only one book—
OR
Continue the series.
If your opinions and answers in my FB groups (JOIN HERE for World of Wroth, which is everying in one, or for Sarazen Saga related stuff ONLY, JOIN HERE) are to be believed, you’d rather have more stories, and quite frankly, I’d rather write them.
Yes, Zillriane will have her own book. It’s called, Beguiling, and is in the beginning stages.
Yes, Jalu will also get his own book. I haven’t decided on the title or in which order we’ll get to read all about his travels, but it’ll be cool.
I’m about 75% sure most of the “mutated” travelers will get their own books, and in an effort to release more than two or three books this year, I’m going to do my level best to keep all these little spin-offs under fifty-thousand words.
I do have a newsletter, so if you’d rather not join yet another FB group and want to get the latest and greatest info directly to your mailbox, SIGN UP HERE.
Awakening has been such a long time coming because it was seriously difficult to write.
I had this specific idea in my head, a vision of Ilaria's future, and I wanted everything to flow in this particular fashion.
Yet the more I worked on it, the more frustrated I got, and nothing seemed to fit together or sound right.
It took me about eight months to realize the characters weren’t cooperating, because I wasn’t writing their story correctly.
Call me crazy, but once I give my characters a name and a face, they seem to take on a voice of their own and get pissed when I don’t listen to what they have to say.