Of Gods and Goddesses: Book 3 (Lords and Commoners Series)

by Lynne Hill-Clark

  “Will Elda allow vampires to take over the world?”

  Valentina nodded.

  “So you are telling me that the world as we know it is going to come to an end. That my friends are in danger and vampires will soon rule the world. And the worst part is that you expect me to sit here and do nothing. I get to stay here, in your sanctuary and raise a wonderful family ... while my friends fight for their lives — I don’t think so.” Val moved toward the door.

  Valentina appeared in front of her. “I know you’re brave. You have never fled from a fight. Please don’t think of it like that — you are not abandoning them. It’s the only way to save the human race and the vampires you love. Please don’t go.”

  The sheer panic in Valentina’s eyes caused Val to stop. “I can’t leave them. They’re the only family I have.”

  “You have us now and we’ll write to them and let them know you are well. We’ll watch over them from here.” Valentina pointed to the crystal. “Please trust me. This is the only way to fight Elda. It’s the only possible way to beat the servants of Aggadad. We have to ensure that your girls reach maturity. It’s the best way to help your friends and save humankind.”

  “What happens when they come of age?”

  “The Great Goddess has told me that this is my duty. I’m here to help you protect them until their thirteenth birthday. I have tried to look into the future beyond that point but we can only see what the Mother wants us to see.”

  “Your God speaks to you? You do realize you sound mentally ill — hearing voices?”

  “It’s a type of communication through meditation and having an open mind and heart. With practice most anyone can do it.”

  Something inside told Val that there was truth in what she said. All of this coincided with what Teller had told them of his encounter with Elda; she’d told Teller he had to die to ensure that the chosen ones could not come to be. The pieces fell into place. Elda also appeared to have magic of sorts and Valentina clearly knew more about this than Val. She could help Val understand what they were up against.

  Val went to the seeing crystal and removed the silk cloth. First she saw Teller; he was sitting in a tree outside their camp. She was relieved to see him alive and free. Then she saw Elijah; he threw her broken phone against the center tent pole, turning the device into a million pieces. He sat down hard in his chair and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and index finger. She ran her hand down the crystal. Val wanted to go to him more than anything. “I have to write to him,” she whispered.

  “Of course.” Valentina shoulders relaxed.

  She was truly terrified that I would leave, Val thought.

  Valentina placed the silk fabric over the crystal. “It is important that we keep the seeing stone covered when it is not in use.”

  “Why?”

  “Because others can see us through the stone as well. Sometimes the images are of events currently happening and sometimes they are of things that have not yet come to be. But as you have seen, Teller is fine.”

  Val could only muster a slight nod.

  Chapter 22 New York 2020 A.D

  Vlad — that name suits him better than Teller. He appears not to know where Vallachia is, Elijah thought. Teller had not strayed too far from camp. He is waiting for her to return as well. Elijah wished that he would go back to wherever the hell he had come from. Things had been perfect while Teller was away. It appeared that he was back for good. Vlad took her from me and now he remains as a constant reminder of why she is gone. Every time Elijah looked at Teller it ripped the wound open again.

  Riddick reported that they could not find any trace of Elda’s people in Pittman’s Laboratory, the site where Elijah had been held. Not surprisingly, she had vacated the building after Elijah’s escape. After all, she had been able to elude the Court for all these years; Elda had to be highly intelligent.

  This was where Samuel and Aaron’s expertise came in handy. They were the Court’s technology experts; both had been fascinated with computers from the time they first heard of them. They even wrote some of the early computer programs that were still in use. Samuel, especially, spent most of his time with computers. He was relentlessly investigating the case at this point. He tracked down the owners of the Pittman building and hacked into their computers to search for any information on the tenants. Yet he came up short, finding nothing of Elda. According to the owners, the floor where Elijah had been held had been vacant for years.

  “She’s good,” Aaron mused with a hint of admiration.

  Not long after Elijah’s return and Vallachia’s subsequent disappearance, Elijah entered his tent to find a large black crow standing on the desk. He looked around and found no one else. The crow cawed as if speaking to him. Elijah noticed what looked like a cigarette fastened to its leg. It must be a note. He slowly approached the bird. It anxiously jumped about, yet let him get close enough to untie the string holding the paper. It took flight and headed for the open tent flap as soon as he had the paper in his hand.

  Elijah stared at the note with apprehension. He desperately wanted news of Vallachia. Yet, he also had a sinking feeling, as he could predict what the letter would say — that she was not coming back. She would leave him with no way to try to change her mind.

  The letter was written in her elegant long strokes. He had no doubt it was from her.

  My Dearest Elijah,

  I’m truly sorry for everything! I want to be with you more than anything. I hope that someday you can forgive me and we can be together once again. For now, know that I cannot come to you to try to make things right. Though this is very much what I want, I must stay away for a time. This is bigger than you or me and I must do what is best for everyone. Please don’t worry about me or look for me. You will not find me. I’m fine. I love you more than anything. I will come to you as soon as I can — to find out if you will have me.

  Love always,

  Val

  Elijah crumpled the letter in one hand and yelled in frustration. She can’t do this! He had no way of talking to her. No way to get her back. She left him completely helpless. He was not used to this feeling and he didn’t like it. She must know that I forgive her. All I need is one chance to convince her to come back.

  The worst part was that he couldn’t influence her. He had always been able to do this before by looking her in the eyes. Or did she control me with her bright blue eyes? I suppose it works both ways — we influenced each other. Was that true love? Whatever it was, it was unbearably painful now that she was gone.

  Riddick heard the yell and came to see if Elijah was well. He was not.

  “Call off the search, pack up camp. We’re going home,” Elijah commanded as he left the tent.

  Teller appeared at Elijah’s side. “You can’t do this. We have to find her. What if she’s in trouble?”

  Elijah shoved Val’s letter, which was now a ball in his fist, into Teller’s chest. Elijah’s shove was a bit too hard as the force pushed Teller back a step. Teller caught the letter as it fell from Elijah’s palm. “Yes, I can call off the search and she is fine.” Elijah took flight for home.

  Once back in their bedchamber, Elijah gazed at the pictures of his wife wrapped in his arms. Their matching tattoos mocked him. He ripped the pictures off the wall and smashed them on the floor. Soon the floor was covered in glass. In the beginning she had left Elijah a couple of times but that did not hurt nearly as bad as this because she had not been his. At this point, he had had her for so long. “She’s mine!” he yelled. It felt as if he was drowning. Half of him was gone. He couldn’t breathe. I can’t live without her. He fell to his knees. The glass cut deep but he didn’t care. How could she do this to me?

  He was only vaguely aware of Mari and Samuel outside the door.

  “Go on. Go talk to him. He needs you,” Mari was saying to her husband.

  “What on earth do I say? This is beyond my expertise?” Samuel sounded utterly distraught.

  Mari moaned i
n frustration. “Very well. I will talk to him.” A soft knock came from the door. When Elijah did not answer she slowly opened it and inhaled sharply at the sight of the room and Elijah on his bloody knees. She walked gingerly across the glass as if it could somehow hurt her through her shoes. She pulled him up by his upper arm.

  Elijah pulled his arm loose from her grip. “Leave me alone.”

  “Elijah, please. Let us be here for you.”

  Elijah turned his head away, so she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. “Listen to me. Vallachia said she would be back as soon as she could. We must trust her. She knows what she’s doing. She will come back to us — to you.”

  Part of Elijah believed Mari or at least wanted to. This was what Val’s letter had said. He was suddenly tired. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept. Elijah swayed but Mari caught him.

  “Samuel, help me get him to the guest chambers. He must rest and this room will simply not do.”

  Together they carried Elijah out of that horrible room. Mari gave orders for the room to be cleaned and for the pictures — what was left of them — to be placed in storage.

  They laid Elijah in a guest bed and the last thing he heard was Riddick. …

  “They can’t see their King like this.”

  Then there was only blackness as Elijah slept — without nightmares. The nightmares were no longer needed, as he was living them. He was a King who had lost his Queen. He was nothing.

  Elijah woke to find Samuel seated in a chair not far from his bed. The glass had been removed from Elijah’s knees and they were bandaged. He ripped the bandages off, as he knew they were healed.

  Samuel opened his mouth to speak but Elijah spoke first, “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” He knew he had to pull himself together. He would move on without her … for now. He had to — for the Court, for humans and for vampires.

  The annoying caw of a large black crow came from the window.

  “Fuck,” Elijah said as he lay back down putting his arm over his eyes — perhaps this would make the bird disappear — somehow. But it only cawed louder. He could not handle any more heartbreak from her.

  “What is it?” Samuel asked with concern.

  “It’s another note from her. Untie the paper from the crow’s leg.”

  Samuel slowly approached the bird but it flew away and landed on the bed next to Elijah. It cawed right in Elijah’s ear and he resisted the urge to knock it away. Apparently, it only delivers messages to the intended reader. Reluctantly, Elijah took the paper from the bird’s leg and it flew out the window.

  “That was … odd,” Samuel said.

  “She can’t use a phone or we could track her. She obviously does not want that.” He held the paper in his clenched fist — not wanting to read it.

  “Maybe I should follow the bird. It might lead us to her?” Samuel said, as he peered out the window.

  “No. She wants to be alone and we will respect that.”

  Samuel continued to look after the bird. “You’re a better man than I.”

  Elijah slowly opened the letter.

  My Precious Elijah,

  I must warn you. You are all in danger. It appears that your blood worked for Elda and her followers. She will move against the Court soon. She is fighting us on a different front. Our armies will not help us this time. I wish I knew more and I wish I knew how to stop her but it may be too late now that she has obtained your blood. Please warn the Court. You must be on high alert for whatever she is planning. I wish I could be there to help and I wish we could be together!

  Take care of yourself and stay safe,

  Your loving wife

  Elijah reread the note to try to make sense of it. What is she talking about?

  Samuel looked even more worried. “What did she say?”

  “I have no idea. Apparently we’re in trouble.” Elijah stood and quickly dressed. This was good — there was work to do. “Call a meeting of the Elders.”

  Samuel smiled and nodded as he left the room. He was glad to see that Elijah was doing better.

  It was for show but Elijah knew he had to keep up the façade … until she returned.

  Chapter 23 Northern Canada 2020 A.D

  Vallachia slowly adjusted to her new life. It was nice to live with humans — or semi-humans — whatever they were, as they spent a lot of time cooking. It had been ages since she had cooked anything. Val had forgotten how much humans eat and how much has to be done to sustain them. Valentina and her companions were not completely self-sufficient but close, if resources were rationed. Valentina would make trips to the nearest town from time to time for supplies for Angela and Sasha.

  A cooler full of blood bags was kept in the basement of the cabin. The cabin ran on a combination of solar and wind power and when those failed they used a gas-powered generator as a backup.

  There was endless gardening and food processing. Large amounts of firewood had to be gathered and stacked, just to name a few of the many chores that had to be done in order to survive this far north. Val was grateful for all the work to keep her busy. This way she did not have to think too much. There was a pain in her chest when she would think about Elijah. As always, no amount of rubbing would sooth it. It took all her willpower not to fly to him when the house fell silent and Angela and Sasha slept.

  Although, Val wasn’t sure how the two ladies slept at all. It was summer and the sun never set — it simply circled in the sky. Their hidden refuge was above the Arctic Circle. Like Northern Norway, this too was ‘the land of the midnight sun’. With twenty-four hours of daylight, Val often did not know what day or what time it was. There was only one endless day. Valentina warned Val of how the winter would be quite the opposite. They would have a period of time in which the sun would not rise. This was ideal for Vampires, though Sasha and Angela were not looking forward to the seemingly eternal darkness of winter.

  Val longed for her old friends. They had been by her side for many hundreds of years. It was odd not having them close by. She missed her life in the mansion full of spacious modern rooms. The only place for her in the small cabin was on the old worn out couch. She knew she had been happy but now that her old life was gone, she fully realized how perfect things had been for so many centuries.

  Val did not allow herself to believe, even for a second, that she could possibly be pregnant. It would be a dream come true. However, if these ladies turned out to be nothing but a bunch of crackpots — which was a distinct possibility — then it would have crushed Val if she had believed that she could actually have children.

  Val had been with them for three months. She sat by the lake with her mom— though she still had trouble calling Valentina by that title. Valentina was only about twenty when she had been turned so she looked as if she were only a slightly older sister to Val, not her mother.

  Val was about to give up on these odd ladies and head home. Part of Val wanted to go back and part of her did not want to face all the trouble that she had caused. The right thing to do would be return and try to fix things. She had been lost in her thoughts when Val heard something that would change everything. In the peaceful quiet she became aware of a different sound. She could hear something new and faint.

  “Shhh,” she said to Valentina who was about to say something. Val listened hard. “Do you hear that?” It was the faintest sound like a distant drum — no, drums — two heartbeats. Val put her hand over her lower abdomen. She could feel the slightest vibration of the beating hearts. Val jumped to her feet in shock and excitement.

  Valentina got to her knees and put her ear to Val’s stomach. She closed her eyes and a tear ran down her cheek. “Finally, heartbeats,” she whispered. In a flash Valentina ran toward the cabin yelling, “Heartbeats! We have heartbeats.”

  Val couldn’t move. It is true! I will have Teller’s children, like I always knew I was meant to. Her feet failed her. She felt as if she were floating helplessly on a cloud. In fact, she had never felt such joy. Everyt
hing seemed brighter. In that instant her entire world changed, as nothing else mattered but these new lives inside her. Everything else became a distant second. She was suddenly grateful that she had chosen to stay. These tiny miracles must be protected above all else. That means keeping them a secret. “No one must find out about you,” Val whispered as she gently rubbed her belly.

  “Darling, come here,” her mom called.

  It was as if Val had been in a trance. She managed to turn and head in their direction.

  Angela had been working in the garden — of course. “Oh, thank the Great Goddess! I was starting to worry because in humans we usually hear a heartbeat at six to seven weeks.” She then looked thoughtful for a moment and ran inside.

  “Angela is our resident mid-wife,” Valentina said.

  “That’s … convenient.” Val said.

  Angela returned with a planner. “Okay, you came to us on April second and that was the day of conception.” She flipped the pages, “and today we have heartbeats.” She marked this on the calendar. “It looks like your little angels may be taking twice that of the average human pregnancy. I will keep track to be sure. Now we will start to see that belly grow.” She looked as happy as Val felt.

  “I can’t wait. It will be fun to grow fat for once.”

  “Oh, it will be a pleasure to have children around,” Sasha exclaimed.

  Chapter 24 Northern Canada 2020 A.D

  After Sasha and Angela went to bed that night Val asked her mom, “How did you know that I was pregnant?”

  “We have unconventional ways of knowing things. Ever since I became a Servant of the Great Goddess, I have had a recurring vision. It was that the last of my grandchildren would be twin girls. I saw myself in their lives, helping to raise them. Not like my other grandchildren — your brother’s children — whom I only watched grow from a distance.”