by Emma Hamm
Not once did he appear to strain himself. He sat on that damned plush chair he had created and sat her down next to him. Wren didn’t want to admit that it was comfortable. She didn’t want to admit that the wine tasted sweet against her tongue.
Everything about him seemed like the most dangerous of poisons. He appeared reasonable, sometimes even charming. Yet a layer of darkness always seemed to be in every movement he made. His fingers would flex just so, or his eyes would darken in such a way that Wren knew how much he wanted to harm her.
It was hard enough that she was struggling to remain herself. Every creature inside her head was pushing and shoving to the surface. They didn’t want to harm her, E wouldn’t have allowed that. But the individual minds were something Wren had never felt before.
E had always seemed to be something that was one creature. Now that she knew that it was many, she could feel every mind inside her. They were constantly swirling and moving. Not because they wanted control over her body, but because they wanted to be close to her. They liked her. They wanted to touch her mind to feel what she felt like. To welcome her into the mind that was now both hers and not. They had never been given this chance before.
She could hardly think as so many emotions flitted across her mind. But she also knew that she was safe for the time being. There was so much love inside of E, and all of it was for her.
Malachi stroked the delicate glass neck of his goblet. The wine swirled as dark as blood while he tilted his hand back and forth. A low murmur grumbled from his throat.
While he was thinking, Wren had time to observe him. Her eyes traced over his form. He truly was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
He was strong in a manicured sort of way. Every muscle that flexed on his throat when he swallowed moved because he had willed it to be. His biceps were perfectly formed, as were the pectoral muscles she could see through his tight shirt. His slanted eyes were mysterious enough for her to wonder what combinations of race had created such a beautiful man.
The dark hair that was tamed in a braid didn’t dare to have a strand out of place. The darkness accentuated the alabaster tone of his skin and high cheekbones. No shadow darkened the line of his jaw, suggesting, perhaps, that he did not have facial hair at all.
Wren’s eyes trailed down to the V of his shirt. No hair on his chest either, or at least that she could see. He was beauty carved out of marble that glowed in the firelight.
In other words, he was dangerous.
“Have you looked your fill?”
Her eyes flicked to his dark gaze, which was now staring at her. “Might as well get a good look at the man who’s going to kill me.”
“Oh, I’m not going to kill you.”
“You’ve already killed part of me.”
He scoffed. “Now Legion is part of you? Your tune changes so quickly, human.”
“E has always been part of me.”
“Right.” He sat up. “Then this shouldn’t be a surprise when I say I’d like to talk to a part of Legion.”
“You can talk through me,” Wren said defiantly. She wasn’t going to allow him to kill yet another bit of Legion. The first death had been hard enough.
“Oh no, I’m not going to talk through you.” He stared down at his nails for a moment before spearing her with a direct gaze. “I can pull it out of you or you can step aside for a little while. The choice to feel pain or not is yours, Wren.”
She hesitated. The pain of losing one of her parts was so vivid in her mind. She would do anything to protect E from losing another bit of itself, but there was no choice. She was going to feel pain whether she took his offering or not.
The murmuring in her head grew louder as each soul inside of E started to talk all at once. Wren squinted her eyes and shook her head as her vision grew foggy. One voice eventually spoke louder than the rest, and it was a voice she recognized. Strong and masculine, it was the voice who had always protected her when she was frightened.
“Let him make a request of us, Wren.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered.
“And I don’t want you harmed. Step aside, Wren. Allow us to deal with this creature.”
Malachi was watching her with a critical eye. He knew she was speaking to E, just as he knew that he had won. Wren could see the glint of triumph in his eye as she let out a small sigh.
Letting the others that were in E’s mind take over was so incredibly simple. It was easy to melt into the crowd that was her mind and rest for a few moments. Her soul glided back into the mass of shadowed forms that enveloped her within their arms.
“What is it that you want, Malachi.” The voice that came out of her throat vibrated as more than one creature spoke at the same time.
A grin spread across his sculpted features. “There’s the power I was looking for.”
“If you wish to speak, then speak.”
“I just want a moment to enjoy you.”
“How quaint.”
Malachi reclined in his chair as his eyes took in the sight before him. “Your eyes are white. Not blue or black or gold.”
“Fantastic observation.”
“You’re different, just like me.”
“Not like you.” E’s voice seemed to deepen far more than should have been physically possible.
“No perhaps not like me.” Malachi sipped his wine. “But in a way, we’re very similar.”
“Get it over with, Malachi.”
“You insist upon rushing me, and yet I have never listened to your kind before.”
“What do you want?”
Even Malachi understood that he was walking a fine line. He stood then and sauntered in front of Wren. His clothing creased perfectly as he knelt down in front of her.
“What do you know of me, Legion?”
“Enough to consider you dangerous.” The reply was murmured as Wren’s body leaned further away from him into the plush chair.
Malachi reached forward to grab a ringlet of her hair that had fallen in front of her face. His fingers were longer than she had expected. Lean and strong, they held no calluses or scars that would have labeled him a working man. Wren was not surprised nor were the others inside her head.
The minds that controlled her body seemed to pull back from his hand. Malachi chuckled at her flinch.
“You do not like me touching you.”
“I don’t think many would.” Wren’s voice sounded aged as a far older woman spoke with her tongue.
One of Malachi’s eyebrows raised. “So you know that I am dangerous. What else?”
“You are a Void. A swallower of souls and magic.”
He nodded.
“I know that your kind was considered to be dangerous. I did not know that any of you had managed to survive the culling.”
His eyes flashed dark at her mention of the culling. Wren’s mind was flooded with memories of a dark time that was filled in blood and screams. One of the creatures that had been absorbed by E had been there.
A memory burst in front of her like a bubble. The image of a sword being drawn down upon a creature who stared up at her with black and red eyes. Blood spurted towards her and left Wren’s soul weak as she experienced the moment as if she had drawn the sword down upon the creature’s neck herself.
“You’re forgetting something very important,” Malachi murmured as he leaned closer to her.
“What am I forgetting?” the aged voice replied.
“That a Void always lies.”
His hand speared forward to smack against her forehead. She was pinned to the chair as he rifled through the countless souls in her head. He was looking for something, that much was clear.
She could feel every time he snagged a new soul and tossed it aside. Each soul that was flung backwards into her mind caused her unbearable pain. Her back arched, and her hands clutched at the chair as her mouth opened in a silent scream.
Her mind had turned into a book, and he was careless in his treatment. Her p
ages were not just flipped but torn as the souls experienced agony for the first time in centuries. Again and again, he bruised the fragile edges of her mind until finally he found the darkness he sought.
His hand drew back from her forehead, and with it, a very old soul. This soul had been long buried beneath the many layers of Legion. She was not a voice or an image that Wren recognized.
A long breath escaped from her lips as the soul experienced a body once more.
“Ramana.” The name fell from Malachi’s lips with the distinct taste of reverence. His tongue shaped the word like the slow glide of flesh against flesh.
She blinked her eyes a few times and looked upon the man she had not seen in many centuries. “Malachi?”
“I have searched for you for many years, ancient one.”
And she was ancient. She felt every year of her life in her very bones. Yet she was not ancient in this body. Ramana was like him, yet not. She remembered the Void that called to her endlessly. She remembered generations of swallowing creatures whole.
But now things were different. Her power that once swelled with the tides now was little more than a puddle. She had no power just like the creatures that shared her mind with her.
Unlike the other that Malachi had brought to the surface, Ramana welcomed the minds of the others. They gave her knowledge. Knowledge was power.
In the back of her mind, she felt the girl stir. The girl whose body she currently had control of and the girl who had saved them many times. The girl Ramana and the many others had chosen to protect.
“I am not the same as I once was,” she murmured.
Malachi gathered her hands in his. Long fingers covered hers, and she savored the warmth they brought with them. She had not experienced touch for herself in many years.
“You do not have to be,” he murmured as he brought her fingers to his lips. “We are the last. Together, we will be strong again.”
“Strong again?”
“Of course. We will continue the work of our people.”
“The work of our people?” she repeated as she slowly pulled her hands away from him. His lips slid against the skin of her knuckles. “The work of our people was destruction and death, Malachi.”
“Yes.” His brows furrowed. “I do not understand. You disagree?”
“I have been provided a unique opportunity to experience the minds of others. I know what our actions have caused. I have felt their pain and sadness. I was first absorbed with all the others that were dying. I have felt their pain and reconciled my actions long ago.”
“Darkness is our purpose. We were meant to wipe the humans from this earth.”
“I remember those days.” Ramana remembered it well. She shared her memories with the others that were part of Legion. They all felt the blood wash over them and the screams of pain. They had lost one of their own today and knew all too well the power that a Void wielded. “The world has changed since then.”
“But our purpose has not.” He stood then. His fingers tunneled through the long locks of his hair. “You of all people should understand. I have created the road, you must only walk down it.”
“I wish to walk a different path.”
He paused in his pacing to stare at her in disbelief.
Ramana could hear then the soft sound of the human girl speaking. She was so quiet that Ramana would not have heard her if she had not been listening.
“He cannot kill the humans. We house the magical creatures. Without us, everyone is dead.”
All the souls in Legion felt great pride that the human had come to this conclusion. It was the only solution to this problem. Malachi had fallen into madness, but perhaps one of his own kind would be able to explain to him the flaws in his plan.
“Humans must be the host for all creatures,” she murmured quietly. “Malachi if you destroy them, then you destroy the world.”
“So be it.”
His words seemed to echo in her head.
“That is your answer?”
“If I must destroy the world, then I will.” Frenzied anger and grief marred his handsome face. “We are the last of our kind. Humans destroyed our people, our homes, our children. And you expect me not to wipe them from the face of the earth?”
“There is another way. There must be another way.”
“You will help me.” He whipped around to jab a finger in her direction. “You have to help me. You are a Void.”
“No, Malachi. I am Legion.”
She watched as he seemed to shut down. All emotion was wiped from his face and his spine slowly straightened. In that moment she realized just how ruined this creature actually was.
Malachi was strong; that much was true. But he had fallen into the depths of madness because of his pain. E knew just how difficult it was to be alone in this new world. It knew the heartbreak that Malachi must have felt. But those feelings would never excuse the other creature’s dark desires.
He ran his hand once more over his hair. A long strand had escaped the braid and fell in front of his eyes.
“Then you will die with them,” he said quietly. “But the last. You will be the last.”
His murmuring made her all the more uncomfortable.
Wren tried to take control over her body again, but found that as she attempted to push through the crowd she could not find her way to the front. Her mind had become a labyrinth that she had never wandered through before.
“You will regret this,” she angrily said.
“No, I won’t regret anything.” He stalked towards her and placed a hand roughly against her forehead once more. “But now, I need to know what else you have to offer me.”
He flipped through the many creatures in her mind once more. As she bowed into his hand and clutched the chair, Wren accepted the pain that was her fate. He categorized everything with her and strained her mind to the utmost for his own pleasure.
The creatures inside of her protested as each soul was weakened by his touch. The turmoil was so overwhelming that none of them noticed the human soul that grew dim within their ranks. Wren could feel herself losing all sense of self until she nearly blinked out of existence within her own mind.
CHAPTER 11
“God damnit, it’s been a week!”
Burke punctuated his words by slamming his fist down onto the table. Around the edges of the worn wood were the Five and the others who were supposed to be helping him find Wren. All of them watched him with carefully guarded expressions.
They had done their best to find a way around the harsh restrictions that required them to stay in the area designated by M.O.M.’s rule. There was nothing they could find that would grant them the necessary papers any sooner. There didn’t appear to be any way for them to rush the rescue mission.
“Burke, I understand that you are concerned about her safety-” Gaia began to speak.
“More than concerned! I find all of you lacking in concern for her safety when we all believe her to be the first piece of the prophecy.”
“I really think you should try to calm down.”
“I really think you should be more upset!” he mocked.
“Burke.” Gaia slowly stood up from her seat. “Sit back down. We’re all aware of the dire circumstances. But Malachi would never have kidnapped her if he intended to kill her.”
“You have no way of knowing that.” His brows furrowed in confusion, and his words rasped from his throat. “You would give her up that easily.”
“If he wanted to kill her, he would not have left a portal for her to stand on. He’s had many chances to kill her. He has not. Malachi wants her alive.”
“All the more reason for us to find her. We have no way of knowing what he’s doing to her.”
“We have a few ideas.”
At the troubled expression on Gaia’s face, Burke sank back into his seat. He had barely listened when the Five had explained Malachi’s species to all of them. It made sense why he would want Wren at his side.
&nb
sp; She housed thousands of creatures inside of her that were incredibly powerful . If he could get her to cooperate with him, all she would have to do is feed him the souls. He would be invincible if he had all the powers of magical creatures at his fingertips.
And the worst part? Legion could be recharged. Burke had turned pale when he discovered that if Malachi killed other magical creatures in front of her then she would absorb their souls. It was a harsh reality, but Wren could become a never ending fountain of magic for him. If they did not take her back from Malachi then they would lose this fight.
“Where is Lyra?” he muttered. “She’s been gone for God knows how long.”
“Easy there, Burke,” Jasper said from across the table. The severe expression on his face warned that Burke was walking on a fine line. Jasper would always protect Lyra even if she was wrong.
“If these Harpies really can help us, then we are arguing for no reason.”
“We know they’re real. Lyra said she remembered them.”
“That means very little,” Burke grumbled.
Jasper in turn was quick to stand. His fists pressed hard into the table and sparks flickered to life. “That means everything.”
The two men glared at each other in such anger and concentration that they didn’t notice the door had already opened and closed. A muffled sound was ignored as they both tried to consider what would be the best shot to fire next. Burke was going to tell Jasper that his fascination with the Siren woman was far too unusual. Jasper was going to prod at Burke’s desperation to reach Wren. Both men worried the other was not focused on the fight at hand.
Neither got the chance to say the angry words that they would likely regret. They were both snapped out of their red hued world by a bubbly giggle.
“You two are really something else,” Lyra said as she bounced into the room. Everyone in the room was relieved to see that her hair was dry.
Lyra’s tell tale signs kept everyone at ease.
“Well?” Burke asked.
She didn’t answer him. Instead, she hopped up onto the table and crossed her legs. Her head cocked to the side, and she leaned back onto her arms. “Well what?”