“Lorelei, your gifts will not work on me I am immune.” With grace, he rose to his feet. “Your mother should have told you that.” He had wide shoulders and an athletic body that rippled beneath cream-colored button-up shirt and black slacks. Both were covered in wrinkles as if he had been wearing them for days.
“She didn’t tell me about you at all, much less that you would be immune to my voice.” My back hit the wall by the door. Blindly, I reached for the knob, trying to plot my escape as quickly as I could without him knowing.
Kaniul held his hands up as he took several more steps toward me. His voice was calm and controlled, his face peaceful as if a mask had dropped over his features. "Lorelei, listen to me. You are in great danger. We have to move quickly before more of The Syndicate soldiers arrive."
"I don't know who you are. I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Please, Iah, you have to listen to me." His eyes softened as he reached out a hand for me. I hesitated, looking from the outstretched fingers to his face and back again. Black ink peaked out from the sleeve of his shirt.
"Don't call me that," I whispered harshly, my eyes zeroed in on the tattoo, trying to make out the shape. It couldn't be what I was thinking it was. Was it?
The eye of Horus?
He had the eye, and I could see it, just like my mother's? Then he really was part of my family and I should trust him. Right?
The pounding in my skull started to intensify as I tried to rationalize everything that was happening in the small room. My hands covered my face as I slid down the wall and landed with a soft thud on my behind.
Kaniul crouched before me and took hold of my wrists. "Iah. We must go. I need to get you someplace safe." His large hands held my small one, his skin dark against mine. "Please, little one."
I shook my head as my eyes sought my mother again. She just couldn’t be dead. I had so many questions still.
“Kaniul!”
Goosebumps rose over my arms at the sound of the voice coming from downstairs.
That voice, I knew that voice.
Heavy footfalls indicated someone was trudging up the stairs. Kaniul sighed and shook his head. “I told him he shouldn’t have come. He is making this more difficult and will put you in more danger. Damn it.”
The door flew open, the handle embedding in the wood of the wall with the impact of the shove. “Where is she Kaniul? Is Morgana...” His words stopped abruptly as he saw Morgana laying in a pool of her own blood, body rapidly cooling and skin paling.
“Lorelei,” the strange man breathed and turned toward me. Red eyes with a center of black starburst stared back at me. His blonde hair was loose around a face that looked as if it was carved from marble.
A whimper left my mouth as I recognized him as the man from my dreams. The pounding in my head grew worse, and I had to clamp my hands over my ears to try to stop the ache. “Make it stop,” I screamed. My eyes burned, and I lowered my head onto the tops of my knees.
“Vincent, you shouldn’t be here. You are making it worse. We need to get her out of here and to safety. The wards are starting to break down in your presence,” Kaniul bit out, anger making his words sound harsh.
The man, Vincent, sighed, and I felt him as he crouched before me. My pulse slowed and the ache in my head dulled as his cool fingers traced along my cheek. “Theera,” he whispered reverently. “Listen to me. Open your eyes.” A gentle hand lifted my chin up as my eyelids fluttered open.
Entranced, I couldn’t look away as he began to speak. “You will forget Kaniul and I were here. Your mother died of cancer after a long battle. It devastates you that she died, but you know that you will be okay.”
“Vincent—" Kaniul tried to interrupt, but was silenced with a deadly look from Vincent.
“She loved you very much. There is no such thing as vampires, demons or Nephilim. Your mother was not from the time of Pharaohs and pyramids, but from Cairo. Kaniul is your uncle, but you have never met him because he lived in Egypt.” The pupils of his eyes contracted as he continued.
“You are a beautiful, special, young woman. There is nothing supernatural about this world. You must be careful with your voice, never put any power into it, it can be dangerous.” Kaniul cleared his throat and shot Vincent a harsh look.
I blinked in confusion as my mind clouded. “But, Mama, she is a Neph— Wait.” I paused, not knowing what I was talking about anymore. “Who are you? Why is there blood on my hands?” I looked down at my hands, trying to piece together the memories of the last few hours and coming up with nothing but empty thoughts.
“Lorelei, it is ok. You were just playing with some paints. It isn’t blood, Theera.” The man in front of me smiled. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place his face. Where was I? Why did my head hurt so much?
“Lorelei, this is Kaniul, your uncle from Egypt. He is going to take you to your new home.” The voice was soothing. It made me feel at peace. My sadness returned as I thought of Momma. She had died yesterday of cancer. I was sad about it, but I knew that I would be ok. My uncle Kaniul would take care of me now. That’s what Mama said.
“Iah,” Uncle Kaniul held out his hand for me and I grasped it immediately. I tried to look past him as something caught my eye at the far end of the room, but he tugged me closer to his side.
“Momma called me that,” I said innocently, my voice far away as I grasped at faded away memories.
“That’s right, Lorelei, she did. Iah means moon, and you were her moon.” The man was still kneeling before me as Kaniul gathered me into his arms.
My head cocked to the side. “Who are you, Mister?” He had such beautiful eyes—I felt like I was falling into them. Drowning in their red and black depths.
“No one, Theera, I am no one,” he whispered as he faded away right before my eyes.
Chapter 2
Lorelei
3 years later
I snapped up in bed with a scream lodged in my throat, the remnants of the nightmare fading from my mind as I blinked into the darkness. It had been the same for the past few nights, I woke in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, screaming. Flashes of blood, my mother, and a man with red and black eyes were all that I could remember.
Running my fingers through my tangled hair, I blinked away the final tears and threw the sodden covers away from my body. I placed my feet firmly on the cool floor and rested my elbows on my knees for a moment. A long sigh left my chest. It had been months since I had gotten a decent night of sleep.
My dreams were either haunted with nightmares, or fantastical creatures that I knew couldn’t exist, but felt so very real. Monsters with fangs drinking blood, demons with glowing red eyes and angels with wings? Yeah, if I told my teachers about that, they would think I was insane.
Realizing that sleep was out of the question, I looked over at my alarm clock. I cursed when I saw the red glowing numbers read 3:30 am. Too early to play my violin, I would wake up the entire house and that was not something that I would want. I rubbed at my upper arm, the purple of the bruise fading from the last time I had said something out of turn still aching.
This was my sixth foster home since my mother died. At least it was better than an orphanage. I didn’t have my own room here, but I did have my own bed with clean sheets. They were harsh on discipline in this home, hence the bruises. My foster father was a real jerk. It had been three years since my mother died, leaving me alone and angry.
My uncle was supposed to take care of me, but he left just like all the others did. Then I was left to the system. Bounced from home to home. No one wanted to deal with a quiet teenage girl who hardly spoke and just wanted to play her violin. My voice was dangerous and so I only spoke when necessary.
“Lore, shut up with all your shuffling around. Go back to sleep,” Alexis murmured from the opposite side of the room. A pillow sailed across the room, colliding with the back of my head. I threw it back at her.
“Sorry, Lex,” I whispered. Alexis was one of the n
icest foster siblings I’ve ever had. She was twelve years old and has severe social anxiety. Her mother was a crack addict that kept trying to regain custody of her so she could collect support from the state to support her habit. Alexis had been a part of the system since she was three years old and had seen her fair share of messed up shit. I adored this girl, and I would protect her with everything that I had in me.
“Another bad dream?” I heard her soft footfalls, and I lifted my blankets so she could crawl under the covers with me. I protected her from the horrors of the house and school, and she tried to give me what comfort she could when the nightmares plagued me.
I nodded as she snuggled up next to me and immediately fell back asleep. This girl could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I envied it. I could barely get a few hours of sleep a night. Alexis could be in dreamland as soon as her head hit the pillow. Chuckling softly, I closed my eyes and prayed to get a couple more hours of sleep.
∞∞∞
The next day at school I clutched my violin case close to my chest as I made my way across the parking lot that separated the high school from the middle school. I always walk over and wait for Alexis before we walk home together. The day could not get any worse. The school had informed us that they were cutting the orchestra program due to funding and that we would have to find a new elective next semester to cover the missing period.
Then, the most obnoxious group of bullies in my class had decided that they were going to make it their new mission to pick on the poor little music nerd foster kid dressed in hand-me-down clothes. They had started by putting gum on the seat of my desk in homeroom. Then they somehow got the combination to my locker and ripped up all my textbooks and gym clothes. By the end of the day, I was on the verge of tears.
Alexis’s screams distracted me from my inner pity party and I sprinted to the open field where I saw the boys. Marco, Billy and Robert had gathered around Alexis. She was crying as they were pushing her from boy to boy.
“Little freak!” they kept chanting.
“What are you going to do, little freak? Call for your big bad band geek to come save you?” The boys all started chuckling at that remark.
Robert grabbed her from behind and whispered in her ear. I couldn’t make out the words, but the look of pure horror that flashed across her fast had me pushing my legs even faster toward them. As I approached the circle, I tossed my backpack and violin case to the side and tackled Robert to the ground and threw a punch directly to his nose.
Blood splattered onto my face as he cried out in pain. Rough hands grabbed me by the arms and pulled me from him and held me down with my face in the dirt.
“You are going to pay for that you stupid bitch,” Robert snarled as he swiped his hand beneath his nose, trying to staunch the flow of blood.
Billy and Marco shifted, each holding one of my shoulders down to the cold ground as Robert’s shoes entered my line of sight. “Alexis get out of here,” I said forcefully. She scrambled to her feet and ran to safety. The breath that I had been holding in my lungs exploded from my mouth on a loud exhale.
Laughter rang in my ears as they watched Alexis fade into the distance. “Just us now, geek. I’ll make you pay for breaking my nose.” Pure malice stained his tone as he swiftly kicked me directly in the ribs.
I cried out in pain as blow after blow rained down on me from each of the three boys. Tears stained my cheeks as I screamed for help that I knew wouldn’t come. I coughed as I tried to breathe through my mouth, my lungs desperate for air.
They flipped me onto my back and Robert sat on my chest while Marco and Billy pinned my arms to my sides. “You will get what you deserve now.” His smile was evil. Blood still ran down his face, staining his teeth and dripped down his chin. Strong hands wrapped around my throat as I bucked and thrashed, trying to free myself.
A tingling began in the tips of my fingers as lightning arced up my arms. A calm presence washed over me, familiar, yet foreign. Warm and safe, the phantom arms wrapped around me and cocooned me in their warmth, as my power and strength rose from within.
“Let me go.” My voice was calm and even, lyrical and smooth. The ache in my head started, but I ignored it as I reached further down within for more power.
“All of you let me go and step away.” The air crackled around me as clouds gathered in the sky and electricity sizzled. The boys took robotic steps away from me, horrific expressions etched on their faces.
Wincing, I slowly rose to my knees and then finally to my feet. The pain was fading fast, the aches of the ribs I knew were broken, lessening and the blood flow from the splits on my face slowing. Wind whipped my hair away from my face as I turned the full force of my voice on the boys.
“You are going to run home now and tell your parents exactly what you have done. You will tell them that you are vile little monsters and you are going to spend the rest of your lives making up for the wrongs you have done to the poor kids of this town.” I paused, forming my next words very carefully.
“Never again will you raise a hand or your voice in anger toward someone smaller than you. You will defend those that cannot defend themselves and you will turn your lives around.”
Slivers of pain began to drive through my skull, and I dropped my compulsion. “Now go!” I screamed and collapsed to the ground, holding my head between my hands. Blood began to pour from my nose as I rocked back and forth, humming a familiar melody to ease the agony. Several minutes passed as I tried to regain some composure over myself.
Delicate arms wrapped around me and Alexis sobbed with me as the rain started to fall. “It’s ok, baby. They won’t bother us anymore.” My voice was hoarse and crackled, barely more than a whisper. I took her chin between my thumb and forefinger and wiped away her tears with my shirtsleeve. It was covered in dried grass and dirt, but the gesture was one of comfort.
She just nodded and buried her head in the crook of my neck as I rubbed her back. We were both starting to get soaked, the rain picking up intensity. “Let’s get home. Zach and Leah might actually wonder where we are.” I gave her one final squeeze before helping her to her feet.
Colors swirled and my vision blurred around me. My hand shot out to Alexis’s shoulder to steady myself. I let out a silent groan as I waited for the vertigo and dizziness to subside. I retrieved my bookbag and my violin, thankful that nothing had happened to my prized possession. The pain in my head was not as intense as it was minutes ago—having faded to a dull throbbing—but it was still enough to cause me to feel uneasy as we made our way through the open field towards our foster home.
∞∞∞
Leah and Zach questioned us as soon as we walked in the door. Taking in our bloody faces, clothes, and beaten demeanor, they immediately went to the conclusion that I had started a fight. I was too exhausted and in too much pain to try to argue with them. Alexis tried as best as she could to explain what happened, but she ended up having a severe panic attack that almost caused a trip to the ER.
Finally, after two hours, I had gotten Alexis calmed down enough to fall asleep. I closed the bedroom door behind me and made my way down the hall to take a shower and clean myself off finally.
A bruising hand grabbed my bicep as I was about to close the bathroom door. “You little brat, you are always causing trouble for us.” The alcohol on his breath was foul enough to make me gag. I tried to jerk away from him.
“You are hurting me,” I whimpered.
He just laughed. “You are hurting me,” he said in a mock falsetto. “You are such a burden on us. If we weren’t getting so much money to take care of you, little brat, you would be gone.”
His eyes narrowed as he got closer to me, his hot breath fanned over the side of my face. The stench of alcohol making me gag. “You are getting to be so pretty.” He raised his hand, beer bottle grasped between two fingers and ran them down the side of my face.
Fighting the strong urge to lose the contents of my stomach, I closed my eyes and wrestled with my voi
ce again. I had never tried to use it twice in one day and I knew I was going to be hurting badly after this, but I had to get Zach away from me immediately.
Signature warmth filled me as I dug deep within myself. “Remove your hands from me and back away.” This time the voice did not sound like my own. A presence took over my body and filled me with power, commanding my limbs and spoke through my mouth.
“If you ever touch me again, you will die a most painful death. I will cut you open from balls to throat. Do you understand?” I didn’t speak like this. These were not my words, but they were spoken from my mouth.
Glass shattered as Zach dropped the bottle to the tiled floor. “I understand.” Monotone, vacant eyes. He was under my control.
“Good. Now, clean up your mess and then get out of my sight. You are never to speak anything negative toward me again.”
These were definitely not my words.
What was going on?
Zach moved robotically, cleaning up the spilled alcohol and glass and quickly scurried away to the other side of the house. I turned and looked at myself in the mirror. The bruise forming right below my eye was going to be ugly if it already looked like this after just a couple hours. Other than that, nothing looked any different. It was the same gawky awkward blue-eyed black-haired teenager staring back at me.
Yet, it felt as if there was someone watching me.
Waiting.
But for what?
My eyelids fluttered shut, and I caught a glimpse of red and black swirling irises. Echoes of a memory long forgotten tried to surface and then were gone in a flash.
Shivering, I finished my routine. I lingered in the shower as I watched the blood run from my face and tinge the water pink before swirling down the drain. The tears that mixed with the water on my face joined the dirty water being swept away. My ribs still ached and I could feel the bruises on my face rising to the surface.
Into The Shadows (Shadows Ascending Trilogy) Page 2