Apocalypse the Blossoming (The Power of Twelve Book 2)

by Miranda Martin

  Rail-thin girls parade down the walkway in dresses that are even more revealing than the one I have on. They sway their hips, pout their lips, doing everything they can to be deemed worthy.

  Watching this display breaks the spell Tynan has on me. These women are displaying themselves in this disgusting show in the hopes that they will be chosen to be a “Darling.” The cutthroat nature of this competition is obvious. Food is scarce in the Apocalypse, but nowhere else have I seen girls so thin, almost to the point of being gaunt. I don’t know why, but it is obviously the standard of beauty here in Bunker 3. I’ve seen it among all the well-to-do.

  The last of the girls marches out and down the runway and then joins the others standing in front of the curtain. They’re trying to show themselves to best effect. The announcer steps back out on the runway and walks to the end.

  “Ladies and gentlemen there you have it. The competitors have shown you their stuff, and now it’s up to you, who will you put through? Remember, only the most beautiful can be welcomed into our ranks. Anyone less would not be worthy of being a Darling.”

  A soft murmur runs through the crowd as they mark their votes on tally sheets. Drab gray-clad workers make their way through the crowd gathering the sheets. The entire display is disgusting. I glance over at Tynan. He’s watching me, not the show.

  “Happy?” I ask, arching an eyebrow.

  “Always,” he says with an enigmatic smile.

  Desire wars with outrage, and I’m not sure which one is going to win. Silas sits on the other side of Tynan quietly watching. He makes no move to intervene or add to the conversation.

  “You know this is wrong, right?” I ask.

  “By whose standard?” Tynan asks.

  “Anyone who is sane?” I respond, and he laughs, loud.

  “The votes are in,” the announcer says, his voice covering over Tynan’s laughter.

  I look down at the show. Several guards have appeared on the stage standing behind the line of candidates. The announcer strolls along the walkway with a ridiculous swagger. He makes his way to the end of the line of girls.

  He looks the first girl up and down, a fixed smile on his face. The crowd chants, it’s too soft for me to make out the words. The announcer walks past the first girl to stop in front of the second. He shakes his head side to side.

  “Sorry,” he says smiling.

  A guard grabs that girl and pulls her off the stage. I’m on my feet in an instant, magic surging, as the crowd explodes with applause and cheers.

  “No!” I say.

  “Aviella!” Silas says.

  I whirl on my heel and confront Tynan.

  “You can’t let this be!” I say.

  “Can’t I?” Tynan asks, an easy smile on his face.

  “No, it isn’t right,” I say, righteously indignant.

  Those girls have put themselves through hell to get here. They don’t deserve to be treated like this. No human should be fodder for the amusement of a crowd. It’s not right.

  “They make their choices. No one forces them to do this,” Tynan says.

  “Sure they do! What choices do they have?” I retort, thrumming with anger which is burning out any hint of desire.

  Tynan smiles. “This is life in the Apocalypse. I do not create it or encourage it. This is what they’ve made for themselves. It is their game, not mine.”

  Something about his words stun me to silence. What am I supposed to say to that? They created it, not him?

  The truth in his words is undeniable. They ring through me, and in some way, I see what he’s saying. I was a kid when the Apocalypse started, but I saw a lot in my early years. Dad kept us on the move. He was prepared when the Apocalypse came. He always said Mom made sure he was on his path. He wanted me to see the world as it was and made sure I met all kinds of people. Then the Orphanage was full of cliques, none of which I belonged in. I was always the outsider.

  The world before the Apocalypse was full of classes, the haves and the have-nots. Could it be that is the way we create the world? Is that what I’m fighting to save?

  No. I’m not trying to save the world, I want to create a new one. A balanced world. A world that is fair, damn it.

  Unable and unwilling to argue with him further, I plop back into my seat and wait out the rest of the show in sullen silence, hating everything because I can’t argue with him.

  As the display comes to an end, Tynan rises. I follow his lead as does Silas, and we walk out of the area. When I step through the door, I feel the air around me change. It becomes electric, alive with power that almost crackles with intensity.

  “Brother,” Alaric says to Tynan.

  Alaric and Shen, Tynan’s brothers and two more of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. My stomach sinks. Great.

  Chapter Thirty

  Alaric and Shen scan me, their energy passing over in waves. It’s a heady feeling, like being drunk. It makes me light-headed and spinning. It’s an effort of will to not stumble backwards.

  “Brothers,” Tynan smiles.

  Swallowing hard, I struggle to maintain some semblance of composure. Every nerve in my body feels alive, burning with need and desire. Their attention is a drug that leaves me quivering, craving more. My skin tingles under their attention.

  “We thought we’d join you... for the show,” Shen says, his eyes never leaving me.

  “An excellent idea,” Tynan says. “Will you join us?”

  Tynan gestures towards a hall to one side, and his eyes are on me. All their eyes are, like they can’t get enough of me. It’s strangely empowering and yet disconcerting. It’s a long moment before I realize his question was for me. Flushing with embarrassment, I scramble for an answer, having completely lost my train of thought.

  “Oh, uh, yeah,” I say, nodding.

  Only after I say it do I think of Silas, but when I turn to catch his eye, he’s nowhere to be seen. Thanks Silas, way to be my hero. He was the one control factor I knew I could count on in this situation. I know, with the absolute certainty of the hormones raging in my body already, that my judgment is going to be crap.

  Tynan leads the way and Shen and Alaric flank me. Their energy caresses me as we walk, twisting and combining with mine. It’s the strangest, most erotic, daring walk I’ve ever taken. Outside nothing is happening. Four people walking down a hallway, but on another level it’s a different story.

  Every nerve tingles. I’m hyper-sensitive. The feel of the air we’re walking through almost sends me into an overload. None of us say a word—they’re unnecessary. Extraneous. I’m the center of their attention, and yet not one of them is looking at me, with their eyes anyway.

  Licking my lips, I try to work moisture back into my mouth, as I believe it is being drawn to one singular point of my body. Am I doing this?

  Images flash through my thoughts in a blur, so fast I’m not sure what they are. My heart pounds and I’m breathing in short, quick bursts.

  Tynan opens a door and stands to one side, letting me walk in first. I half-expect to walk into a bedroom, and I’m not sure I’d turn away if I did, but fortunately that decision isn’t the one I face.

  It’s a sitting room, with three couches, two love seats, and four chairs arranged strategically to face each other. A massive fireplace on the right wall has a bright, crackling fire burning cheerily in it. The far wall across from us is floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the lake and its gorgeous views. It’s nighttime outside, but the moon is mostly full, casting soft silvery light that shimmers across the surface of the water.

  I walk to the window and stare out. It’s a breathtaking view, but more than that it gives me a moment to collect my thoughts and try to get my body under control. I’ve been riding on the edge for a long time now. There’s been no release for the deep, aching need of my body since all this started. It’s the worst possible time for me to be thrown into this situation.

  A hand touches my lower back and I jump, fire racing across my skin from even th
at simple contact. Tynan is on my right, staring out the window too. Alaric steps up on my left, and then his hand rests on my back just above his brother’s. Shen stands behind me, so close I sense his body, but he’s not touching me, not quite.

  I can’t catch my breath. My head spins as my heart pounds harder. This isn’t me. I’m not the girl anyone wants, least of all three men who are this incredibly sexy. They’re the Horsemen! What am I thinking? What am I doing?

  No one says a word, standing in silence that over the span of time becomes comfortable. They don’t move, they don’t talk, and then it hits me. I’m in control. They’re letting me have the lead, not pushing their agenda, but offering themselves to me. Blood rushes to my head making me sway.

  The hands on my back increase their pressure, steadying me. Turning my head towards Tynan, my lips parting, words fail me when I see the desire in his eyes burning like a beacon in the night. He moves in, and his lips claim mine.

  Moaning, I return the kiss, giving myself over. Hands touch the bare skin of my shoulders, causing a thrill to run through me at the first contact of skin to skin.

  Alaric kisses his way from my shoulder down my right arm. Shen presses himself against my backside. His manhood digs in against my ass, impressing me with its size and stiffness.

  Tynan’s tongue presses against my lips, tasting me, then in a rush, he drives it past that fleshy barrier. It enters my mouth as a raging invader, claiming all that lies before it. My tongue battles with his, fighting his claim.

  Shen’s hands are on my ass, squeezing, stroking, and rubbing. Alaric’s tongue traces delightful lines around the bare skin of my arm while his hands stroke my thigh, moving higher and closer, but stopping before he reaches my core.

  Tynan pushes forward, forcing me harder against Shen. I’m sandwiched between them, their raging hard cocks digging into me, pronouncing their desire and dominance. But they’re not dominant. I am. I’m the center, I’m in control, and I know it.

  Alaric kisses lower, across my forearm and down, lowering himself to his knees next to me. His hand roams up my legs, and at last comes to rest cupping my mound. I groan as he applies pressure, pulling up. He makes a circular motion, eliciting another groan.

  Tynan grabs my lower lip between his teeth, gently tugging as he nibbles. Darting my tongue out, I taste his lips which are sweet and musky at the same time. It’s distinctly manly. A heady combination.

  My dress slides higher until cool air is on my ass. Shen slides my panties down so his caresses are now on bare skin. His cock presses hard between the cheeks of my ass, so I grind back against it while Alaric rubs harder on my mound, applying pressure to my clit.

  Pleasure courses through my veins.

  I’ve danced on the edge of release for so long, unable to get relief, and I can’t hold back. Can’t stop this.

  Their kisses cover my body. Hands, six of them, cover my body, touching me everywhere. My heart races, breath is ragged, an orgasm builds.

  My dirtiest fantasies, the most wrong thoughts I’ve ever entertained, are coming true.

  Three incredibly sexy, perfect men focusing all their attention on me.

  I’m the center of their need and it is need, more than lust. Their energy, twisting in and out of mine as soon their bodies will enter mine, tells me the truth.

  They need me. Together we’ll make a whole.

  Tynan grips the top of my dress, and in a single motion he slides it down, exposing my breasts.

  Cool air hits my nipples, and I gasp, but Alaric places his mouth over the right, and Shen reaches around, covering the left with his hand.

  The three of them press against me, encapsulating me from three sides. Leaning my head back, I rest it on Shen’s shoulder, breaking my lips away from Tynan. Shen’s lips seek mine, pressing against them.

  I drive my tongue past his full, hard lips, seeking his tongue. He catches it lightly with his teeth, nibbling. Sensation is carrying me away.

  Hands, touches, kisses, everywhere.

  A hand, I don’t know whose, slides up my right thigh, while another hand continues to rub me.

  The hand up my thigh touches my stomach, and it quivers at the touch.

  Fingers slide under my panties, passive over my mound, pushing the hand already there aside.

  Parting my lower lips, exposing my wetness for the first time, it explores my secret folds. Groaning I thrust my hips forward, driving it in deeper, wanting to fill the aching emptiness.

  Everything flashes white.

  “AVIELLA!” Dad’s voice echoes, calling to me.

  The room is gone, replaced by silvery white light. He’s in pain. I feel it deep in my bones.

  “Dad?” I call, my voice quavering.

  I turn and the silver-white shimmers. Outlines of images almost form, shapes that I almost recognize before the strange symbols I don’t understand replace them.

  Ghostly apparitions surround me. Suddenly I realize they’re the Dragons, or the outlines of them, here with me. Where ever here is.

  “Avi…” his voice is cut off.

  I run towards it, sort of. There is no here, there is no there, exactly, but as I move, the light shifts and changes as if I’m moving past things.

  Ahead I spot a darkness, so I head towards that.

  “Dad!” I yell.

  “Aviella,” he says, his voice tight and high.

  The sounds of cracking whips break the air, then there is a sizzling sound and the scent of burning flesh fills my senses.

  “NO!” I scream.

  Images flash fast before me, and for an instant he’s right in front of me. He’s on a rack over an open fire being burned alive. His skin is peeling back, his mouth open in a scream, demons look on, laughing, as they turn him on a spit.

  It’s gone as fast as it comes.

  Silver-white surrounds me, and a calmness comes with it. A brighter light forms, shimmering and coming closer. Peace comes with it, a certainty and calmness that makes no sense.

  “Save him, Aviella,” a soft, womanly voice says.

  An ache forms in my chest, and sadness causes tears to well in my eyes. I know that voice.

  “Mom?” I ask, choking on tears.

  “Save him,” the voice says but now it’s like it’s coming from a long distance away, down a tunnel, barely there. A whisper on the wind.

  “How?” I sob, knees refusing to hold me up, I drop.

  Tynan catches me, sweeping me off my feet and carrying me to a couch. As he lays me down, Shen covers me with a blanket, giving me back a sense of modesty.

  The mood between us is broken, and they know it, for which I’m thankful. Looking at the three Dragons circling me, my cheeks burn hot.

  “I’m sorry,” I say, unable to meet their eyes.

  The three of them look at each other before Tynan speaks.

  “We saw it,” he says. “With you.”

  My heart stops. Can’t get a breath in. Time doesn’t move. Staring into Tynan’s eyes now, I scan him and feel the truth in his words. They saw my vision, with me.

  That’s never happened. That can’t happen. Yet it did.

  Swallowing, I blink rapidly as time resumes and my heart finds its rhythm again.

  “Seriously?” I ask, still doubting.

  The three men nod, their faces grave.

  What does this mean? It changes everything, doesn’t it? If they saw it, then that has to mean they’re connected.

  Whatever it is I’m facing, God knows I need allies. Three of the four Horsemen, Dragons to boot, would be very powerful allies to have.

  “We will help you find your father,” Tynan says.

  The universe clicks when he speaks, and something shifts. Something so fundamental, so central, that it makes me feel like everything has changed. It’s nothing I can point to or put into words. It’s a feeling. A strange, wonderful feeling, and I’m certain I’ve taken the next step on my path.

  Fate’s hand. That’s the feeling. Fate has moved a
piece on the board, and it’s shifted the game.

  Weird. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and nod. Rising to a sitting position, I do my best to right my clothing under the blanket. Strange, a moment ago I was all ready and couldn’t care less how much of me they saw—I wanted them to see me—but now I’m demure.

  Don’t think about it. There’s no time for carnal thoughts and pleasures. My dad is in trouble. I must save him. It’s on me.

  Sliding my dress back into place over my chest, I look at the three of them. I don’t know what to do next. An awkward and uncomfortable feeling settles on me as I struggle to meet each of their eyes. Their gazes are intense. Apparently, they have no problem switching gears from sex to action. Unfortunately, I don’t have this skill.

  “Thank you,” I say, finally, unable to find better words.

  Tynan smiles and a tingle runs down my spine. My God, how can he be interested in me? He’s so damn sexy, it’s stunning how good-looking he is. Blinking, I push those thoughts aside.

  “We need to make a plan,” Tynan says. “Those symbols, I’m not familiar with them.”

  “I have some thoughts,” Alaric says, moving to sit beside me on the couch.

  He touches my shoulder with his fingertips, tracing idle patterns on my skin.

  “We have some texts we could consult,” Shen says, taking my other side and doing the same.

  A shudder racks my body, I try to suppress it, but I can’t. Their touch is too… enticing.

  “Brothers,” Tynan says, soft but commanding.

  The two Dragons look at him and something passes between all of them. It’s not words or anything I understand exactly, but instinctively I know, feeling it in their energies.

  Alaric and Shen take their hands off me and the air around us changes. The sexual desire is gone as fast and as easy as if they flipped a light switch. I gasp in surprise, left with an empty feeling where it was.

  “There is much to do,” Alaric says. “We should go, Shen.”

  “Right,” Shen says, rising to his feet.

  Shen turns towards me, and takes my hand in his. Slowly he raises it to his lips, his eyes locked on mine, his lips soft and wet as he kisses my hand then gently places it back in my lap. My heart skips a beat, and desire sends out one lone flare.