The Pentagram Child: Part 1 (Afterlife Saga Book 5)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “Keira?” I turned round and saw the most perfect man stood there. He didn’t need to say anything else. Not one thing. Not one single thing.

  Because right now actions spoke louder than any words ever could have.

  He held out his hand to me and I…

  Took it.

  Chapter 27

  I Miss Your Wings

  “Oh Hell no! No, no way…not doing that again!” I said shaking my head enough that my plait snaked around me like a rope.

  “Keira, come now, it’s not that bad.” Draven tried to reason with me but I just kept shaking my head.

  “This coming from the man with wings… yeah right, give me a break!” There was no way, absolutely no way I was getting on a helicopter again, no matter how shiny, sleek and expensive it looked. I heard Vincent laugh behind me and my head shot round to give him the evil eye. He held up his hands in surrender but did so still laughing, the gorgeous bastard!

  “Keira it takes three hours to get from Milan to Venice by car but only just over an hour by chopper.” I growled at this and then said,

  “Fine I will take the train and meet you there.” Then I turned to walk away only I didn’t get far. Draven grabbed me from behind and started laughing in my hair.

  “Come with me, I need the company.” He teased.

  “You have Vincent and Sophia for that, I am sure they can keep you entertained.” I said trying not to let the feel of his arms around me keep me from being strong on this matter.

  “Now, now, little bird, you know there is only one divine creature I want entertaining me on a flight.” Ok so now not only did I have his arms around me to contend with but now I had the sexy lure of his voice whispering in my ear. Damn men!

  “I am not getting on that thing.” I said as sternly as I could with Draven now rubbing my belly in soothing circles.

  “You are.”

  “Why, did your dad call and tell you it’s snowing in Hell?” At this he burst out laughing and I felt his head fall back.

  “Alright my Keira, you are going to listen to me now and hear the depth of my words when I tell you this…” He leaned down further and this time I felt his lips graze my neck before they touched my ear. I knew what he was doing and damn him it was working but when he spoke next, it went from working to bloody worked!

  “…do you think I would let anything happen to you? Do you think you would be in any danger nestled safely in my arms because that is where you will be and that is where you will stay…I won’t let you go.”

  “You’d better not let me go.” I said vulnerably repeating his words.

  “I won’t let you go…ever.” He said and his words sounded thick with emotion. He also said this at the same time as giving my body a protective squeeze as if proving his words with actions. I wanted so badly to believe that there was a deeper meaning to the way he said that but I wouldn’t fully let my mind travel that path of hope quite yet.

  “Okay.” I said softly and as soon as I did I yelped in surprise when Draven scooped me up into his arms and carried me to the waiting helicopter.

  “I didn’t mean like right from this second.” I said laughing nervously the closer we got.

  “I did.” He said grinning.

  “Oh God.” I moaned as he walked us across the heli pad and ducked us both under the fast moving blades to the open door. I tried not to notice the details but I found myself scanning the body of the thing, suddenly wishing I was an engineer and able to detect problems on sight.

  “Well there looks to be no leaks, that’s a good sign at least.” I said using humour to hide my nerves. I wasn’t surprised that Draven could hear me over the loud noise of the engine.

  “Trust me, sweetheart.” Draven said stepping up effortlessly into the small cabin. It only had four seats, two that faced each other and Vincent and Sophia were already sat next to each other across from us.

  “Oh dear, she looks a little pale.” Sophia said looking worried.

  “Actually I think I might be sick!” I shouted and started struggling in Draven’s hold.

  “Calm yourself, you won’t be sick.” He said placing one hand over my stomach and the other over the column of my throat. I don’t know what he was doing exactly but the tingles that started tickling my skin and the warmth that spread out under his palm started to make me feel less nauseous.

  “There, do you feel better?” I nodded the little I could with still being held immobile in his hold. It was as if he let go of me for a second then I would bolt out of the door.

  “She will have to be strapped in a seat before we take off.” One of the pilots said before closing the door making Draven growl.

  “As you can see she is now seated.” Vincent said moving a hand in front of the pilot’s face reminding me of a Jedi.

  “Oh, my mistake.” He said before slamming the door.

  “I can’t do this!” I shouted but Draven just pulled me closer and cooed in my ear.

  “Ssshh, love, I have got you.” I settled but only slightly because I kept jolting in his hold with all the different noises that were going on around us.

  “Come here.” Draven ordered softly but he was obviously getting agitated at seeing me so scared. He cradled the back of my head and pulled my face to his neck, keeping me there.

  “Right, now I want you to listen carefully to my voice, are you listening Keira?” He asked, his voice becoming a gentle hum, lulling me deeper and deeper into his care.

  “Yes.” I murmured into his neck.

  “Good girl…now close your eyes.”

  “Draven?”

  “Close. Your. Eyes.” He said more firmly this time making me do what I was told.

  “Now the noises around you are going to fade into something else.”

  “Something else?” I asked quietly.

  “Yes sweetheart, they are going to sound like the rain hitting your bedroom window. You’re sat at home on your bed with a book in hand and it’s your favourite one, Jane Eyre.”

  “You know that?” I asked surprised and I heard Sophia giggle at the fact that I obviously wasn’t playing Draven’s game properly.

  “I do. Now concentrate on where I am taking you, Keira.”

  “Sorry…AHHH!” I shouted out when I felt the movement of us lifting.

  “It’s not working, I can feel her fear.” Vincent said and I wanted to shout ‘Well durr genius I’m terrified!’, however I was too busy with being terrified to do anything but shake in Draven’s hold.

  “Yes thank you Vince, I gathered as much.” Draven snapped.

  “Please, can I get out now?” I asked whimpering the higher we went.

  “No love, just listen…”

  “It’s not working.” Sophia said interrupting her brother making him growl again.

  “Right! Keira, you are going to let me into your mind.”

  “No, I can’t, I…”

  “Now Keira!” He shouted and I caved. I instantly let down my guards and felt him swoop on in there. He entered my mind in such a way, it was like trying to fend off a stampede of wild horses. It made me feel fuzzy as if drunk for a few seconds before I heard Draven whisper sweetly,

  “Open your eyes.” I did as he asked, happy that he no longer shouted at me. I opened my eyes and saw my old bedroom as it first was at Libby’s. The bedroom where I first fell under Draven’s spell and was now back to doing so once again.

  I was being carried over to my bed and the sight hit me like a memory shaped sledge hammer. I remembered the nights like this and the times when I believed my life couldn’t be or ever get any more perfect. Because being in the arms of the man that you love and feeling that same love projected back at you was like nothing else in the world. Being carried to the bed knowing that love would only spread out like wild fire the second our bodies connected was the stuff dreams were really made of.

  Draven lay me down so gently it was almost as if he was worried I would crumble away like dust.

  “Are you going
to sleep for me, my precious girl?” He asked and looking up into his eyes was like finding the meaning of life written there. It was like finding your purpose for being born. Like finding out that nothing else mattered but having those eyes looking down at me now. So of course I said,

  “I will do anything for you.” This made those perfect dark eyes glow before he had to close them, as if savouring a deeper feeling within him my words had put there.

  “Then sleep and find peace in my arms…I will protect you, always.”

  “Yes.” I mumbled already feeling the weight of exhaustion seep into me, coming at me from what seemed like nowhere. But it wasn’t coming at me from nowhere at all, it was all Draven. So before I could let this moment pass, I placed a limp hand at the back of his neck and used the last of my strength to pull his head closer to mine. He came to me willingly and there I gave him the unguarded truth with four words,

  “I miss your wings.”

  I woke up not in my own bed like my mind was prepared for but in another lavish hotel room. I looked around the masculine space and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I was surrounded by solid wood furniture that was dark and very Draven, which quickly informed me I hadn’t been put in my own room. This thought had me squirming under the satin plum coloured sheet that had been placed over me. In fact the more I looked around the less and less this actually looked like a hotel but more like an actual home.

  “Oh dear.” I said out loud thinking I was in so much trouble, as once again being back in Draven’s bed, what other words were there.

  “You’re awake.” My eyes quickly found my trouble at the door grinning at me. I must have looked dwarfed in the space, sat up in another one of his monster sized beds. And what was it with four posters for him anyway…probably an old fashioned thing.

  “Old fashioned uh?” He said causing my mouth to drop.

  “You have woken an open book, sweetheart.” He informed me with a small smile that at least looked somewhat coy.

  “Well I guess I should thank your mumbo jumbo this time.” I said stretching my arms out and yawning.

  “You know you really do have the most flattering ways of describing my talents.” He teased making me grin.

  “Yep, that’s me!” I said in reply and bounced out of bed. Then I walked up to him, reached on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek before saying,

  “Thanks for making me pass out handsome, but can you feed me now?” To which he laughed.

  “I think I could do that…” He said but then leaned down closer to my face and finished with,

  “…but only because I like you.” Which he had no idea, but in cartoon land my toes would have curled up like the witch from Wizard of Oz. However he caught my blush no problem. So with half his lip tipped up to one side he took my hand and led me through the house.

  “Oh wow!”

  “You like it?” He asked and I could hear the pride in his voice, one I could understand why.

  “It’s stunning and very you.” At this he laughed but still gave me a look that silently meant he wanted me to explain that comment.

  “It looks like a palace.” And boy didn’t it just! It was all highly polished marble floors, pale walls that had heavenly figures painted into what looked like the plaster and elaborately carved wooden ceilings. The furniture all looked pristine as though it had been plucked right out of the past. Even the glass chandeliers sparkled as if they had only been cleaned no more than hours ago.

  “I have had this place since the 16th century and it is one of the most impressive Grand Canal palazzi in Venice…if I do say so myself.” He added smirking down at me.

  “Palazzi?” I asked.

  “It is Italian for a large splendid residence or public building, such as a palace.” He winked at me for this last bit.

  “It’s strange thinking about you living anywhere else but Afterlife.” I said being honest.

  “And why is that?” He asked in that smooth voice of his that was bordering on teasing and seduction.

  “I don’t know why, maybe just because I love Afterlife so much, that’s the only place I want to see you.” The words were out before I thought about what it would mean to Draven to have me saying this.

  “By the Gods woman, you are killing me!” He said stopping me and pulling me solidly into his embrace.

  “I… am?” I asked in a shy, unsure voice that wavered. I couldn’t look him in the eyes as I asked so he tipped my chin up with his fingers curled so I had no other choice.

  “Yes, you are.” He said and there was not one thing in his look I could fool myself into saying was anything other than lust. The purple ring intensified and just as his head lowered they quickly transformed into a blazing inferno.

  “Draven?” Upon hearing his name he ceased his decent to my lips and closed his eyes tight as if in pain.

  “What is it…why does that keep happening?” I asked but when he stepped away from me I knew I had lost him. It was obvious he took a few seconds to calm himself enough that when he opened them again, they were back to black.

  “You must be hungry, come and let me feed you.” This wasn’t snapped at me but there was something that wasn’t right with Draven. It was the same as when someone puts on a fake smile when inside you know they are freaking out about something important. So instead of pushing, which I had every right to do, I decided to do what was best for Draven and that was to smile back and nod my head.

  After that strange moment we shared in the grand looking hallway I soon found myself sat in a less formal kitchen nook. But even then it still looked as if it had just jumped from the pages of a rustic homes magazine. All thick butcher’s block counter tops and hand carved cabinets, with panels and wrought iron hinges. There was a big island in the middle with a massive black slab of marble which broke up all the wood in the room.

  Draven had led me into the kitchen and before I spoke a word on its beauty he had picked me up by the waist and sat me on top of the island like I was its new centre piece. My legs just dangled from the ground making me feel tiny.

  “How hungry are you?” I looked out of the window and noticed it was only now just going dark, so I knew I must have slept a few hours.

  “Snack hungry.”

  “Right, baguette, cheeses and meats it is then.” He said turning to open the huge stainless steel fridge door.

  “Sounds perfect.” I said still finding this action from Draven an odd one. Then he started to get out packets of sliced meats, quarters of cheese, olives, butter and some baby tomatoes. Then with his arms full he carried them to a table by a bay window, where a half moon shaped bench was carved from the stone wall.

  “I must say you look very domesticated right now.” I said once I was sat in this little nook. This was of course after he had stepped up to me and hooked me with one arm around my waist, brought me down from the counter before sitting me in said nook. Now he was walking back over to take his own seat with the baguette in one hand and bottle of wine in the other.

  “Well I don’t cook as you know, but I can raid a full fridge with the best of them.” He said as he popped the cork and poured me a glass.

  “So I see, does this mean your next Christmas present from me should be a frilly pink apron?”

  “I don’t know, do you like getting spanked?” He asked over his glass before he took a drink. I on the other hand nearly choked on a cherry tomato!

  “So this ball…you know I was in a bit of a rush and well…I didn’t have time to bring anything with me, not that I had a ball gown stashed in my case or anything…” I said talking none stop to try and hide exactly what his last question had done to my girly parts.

  “It’s fine.”

  “It’s fine?” I repeated as a question.

  “You don’t need anything whist your here and tomorrow evening has been taken care of.” He replied tearing into the bread with his hands and handing me a piece first.

  “Taken care of how?” I asked but then thought it odd when I saw Dra
ven roll his eyes as if listening to something else and that something else wasn’t me.

  “You’re about to find out.” And after less than a second the doors burst open and he wasn’t wrong.

  I found out and I found out in the best way ever…

  “Tootie cake!”

  Chapter 28

  Girl Madness

  “Pip!” I screamed and launched myself at her, which wasn’t an easy feat, as shimmying out of a nook is never a graceful thing. But I didn’t care and why would I? This was Pip we were talking about. I think I would have belly flopped over hot coals to get to my Pip.

  “Whoa Tootie pants, you miss me or what?!” Pip said as I grabbed her tiny frame and yanked her to me for a fierce hug.

  “You’re really here!” I said stating the obvious making her laugh.

  “Well it’s not every day an Imp gets the royal invitation.” She replied winking at me but wait, it wasn’t at me at all, it was at Draven. I turned my head to watch as he unfolded himself out of his seat and only had eyes for me.

  “You did this?”

  “I did.” Was his simple reply.

  “You did this for me?” I asked again only this time clarifying the specifics. This time he only nodded and that was all it took. I left Pip’s arms and ran at Draven. I registered his shocked face for a split second before he caught me and I started raining little kisses all over his face for what he had done. He seemed to keep himself immobile for my assault as if he was afraid any sudden movements would cause me to stop. So he just let me show him my appreciation.

  “Aww, well isn’t that just the cutest sight you did see baby pop, pop?” I heard Pip say, smacking her lips at the ‘pop, pop’ bit. I pulled back to find Draven grinning as big as I had felt it with my lips pecking at him.

  “You’ve made me so happy!” I told him.

  “Then it’s definitely worth all the extra noise and colour invading my home for that very reason alone.” This answer made me smile big and I looked back round to Pip to find her being held from behind by the handsome Adam. Then I turned back to Draven and whispered over his cheek,