Keeper of the Stars: Part Three

by Aliyah Burke

  “Unless Lian’s been drugging me.”

  She shook off that notion and began her walk back to the house, not rushing, instead taking her time, trying to make sense of everything. Avoiding the front entrance, Lana went to her room via the sliding glass door where she headed straight to the shower.

  Beneath the stream, she noticed a mark—which hadn’t been there previously—on her shoulder. The one Ala had touched. It created a black ring that contained little yellow dots in the shaded area. The centre wasn’t filled in at all. Great, now I have another mark. A ring. But what does it mean and why did it appear once that woman touched me? I know she knows more than she is telling but what does all of this have to do with me? I just want some answers and for people to leave me alone. Lord help me, I just want to be left alone.

  With a frustrated groan, she swiftly finished her shower. One towel around her midsection, she stepped from the steamy bathroom and drew up short. Anger, shock and fear lambasted her.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Chapter Eight

  Lian watched Lana enter the dining room. Slow and cautiously, like an animal unsure if it was the safest place for them to be. Her attitude didn’t change as she crossed to her seat on the other side of the table from him.

  “How was the rest of your day?” He hadn’t seen her since he’d had to leave her in the gardens.

  He saw her smile was forced. “Spent time in the forest. Everything all right with you? Your incident?”

  “I think I should show you that.” He gave her a smile to hopefully remove the fear she had. “After we eat.”

  She picked at her food more than eating and refused to partake in any dessert. The passing on the dessert didn’t concern him as much as her lack of appetite. If she’d been outside in the forest, she should have had a large spot in her gut for food—she normally ate well after being out all day. Overall she wasn’t a fan of sweets, other than butterscotch pudding. Chocolate wasn’t oft turned away, but butterscotch never was. Tonight it had been pie.

  He kept his concern to himself and led her from the dining room area to the wide staircase. Hand on the small of her back, he walked beside her up to the second floor then down towards his room.

  “In here,” he said at the doorway prior to his.

  Lian allowed her to go in first and hung back, watching and waiting. She entered and glanced around before she spied him. Her head whipped between him and the infant as though it sat on a swivel.

  “A baby? You have a baby?” Her tone, which had risen with shock, lowered on the last word.

  He approached, noting her body language. She didn’t touch the baby but stared at him.

  “Two workers found him today.”

  “Someone left him?” Her voice crescendoed.

  “Unfortunately. I figured he could be here tonight then I would call social services tomorrow.”

  She leaned over the small bundle. “What’s his name?”

  “Not a clue. There wasn’t a note with him.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “So what. What have you been calling him?”

  “Baby. Little one.” He crossed his arms. “What would you call him?”

  Lana placed her hands on her hips and rocked back on her heels. After a few moments of staring at the baby she said, “Mark.”

  Lian moved up behind her, settling his hands along her shoulders. “You can hold him, you know.”

  She furiously shook her head. “No. I know nothing of holding a baby. I never have. What if I do it all wrong and hurt him?”

  “What if you do it perfectly?” he countered. With a brief kiss on her cheek, he stepped to the makeshift barriers on the bed and lifted him. Once he faced Lana again, he passed the infant over, giving her only mild instruction.

  “He’s so tiny.” Lana walked to the rocker in the room and sat cautiously, baby Mark close to her chest. “I can’t believe anyone would leave him in a field. How could you be so cruel? He’s so innocent.”

  Lian studied her expression as she held him. Awe, sorrow and longing.

  “Come on,” he said as, outside, the skies opened up. “Let’s go sit in front of the fire.”

  She carefully rose and followed him to the door. Once on the sofa, they sat together. Soft classical music played in the background. Lian kept her close to him and she held Mark nestled between them in the crook of her arm, her head on Lian’s shoulder.

  Turning his head, he brushed his lips along her temple. The fire burned, eliminating most of the dampness from the air. Outside the rain picked up its intensity, slamming into the glass with increased ferocity.

  “Any problems today, Lana?” He broached his earlier concern.

  Had he not been so tuned in to her, he would have missed the millisecond of tensing. But he was, so he didn’t miss it.

  “No.”

  She had lied and he knew it. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  Thing was, he didn’t know if she’d lied to protect him or not. Not that he needed her to, but he couldn’t force her to do something. Or rather, he wouldn’t. When she wanted to keep her emotions locked away, she did an excellent job. It wasn’t something he faulted her for, not at all. In fact, quite the opposite. He understood. She’d had to just so she could survive. He pressed his lips to her head and sighed. If only she’d fully trust me.

  Within the hour, both Lana and Mark were asleep. He took the opportunity to get a few things done. And it was only a few—he continued to be distracted by the woman slumbering on the sofa with the infant.

  As he stoked the fire, he watched her over his shoulder then stood over them after he’d finished. “You may not know anything about infants, Lana, but your instincts are strong.” She lay on the outside and had Mark between her and the back of the sofa so he didn’t have the chance to inadvertently roll onto the floor and injure himself.

  Lian stared down at her and noticed the new mark on her shoulder. He knew this woman’s body extremely well and she’d not had that ring there before. Reaching out, he traced the black ring with yellow stars with his index finger. He wanted to wake her and see where she’d got it. He didn’t.

  Mark woke and looked up at him with wide eyes. Now I’m thinking of him as Mark. The baby blinked his blue eyes at him and made small mewing noises with his mouth. Lana stirred and woke.

  “What’s wrong with him?” she asked, lifting him.

  “He’s probably hungry. Let’s get him some food then to bed.” A slight pause. “With both of you.”

  After the feeding was taken care of and the infant put in his crib, he guided her to the hallway. As he shut the door to Mark’s room, he could feel her reluctance to leave the baby but she didn’t argue—Lana never argued. Lian walked with her to her space and paused at the entrance. He wanted to share this place with her more than anything but wasn’t about to push her.

  A soft glow from a lamp allowed him to see the rain as it hit the glass. He was moments away from leaving when she turned and looked at him, eyes wide with a perfect blend of innocence and desire.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything,” he replied.

  “Do you know a woman named Ala?” She pursed her lips. “I think she was a woman.”

  He stepped into her room and made his way over to her bed, where he sat on the edge. Lian ran the name through his memory but came up blank. “Ala? I don’t think I do. Where did you meet her and why are you unsure she was a woman?” Did this have to do with the fear he felt from her earlier? He hadn’t gone because of the baby.

  “She talked about you as if she knew you.”

  He racked his brain but couldn’t pull up her name. “Did she say where she knew me from?”

  “No, but with all the crazy stuff she was doing I didn’t really know when or how to ask her. I suppose I could have when she levitated me into the air with a swing of her hand. Or when she made flowered vines appear on the tree trunks. No, wait, perhaps it should have been when sh
e created a swing out of flower ropes that I should have questioned that.”

  Her voice smacked with heavy sarcasm and more than a teensy bit of jealousy. Lian wanted to grin over that last part but he was concerned. That there was someone seeking her out on his property meant they could get past his wards. There weren’t that many who could do that. Unfortunately the weaker he became, the easier it was going to be for this to happen.

  “She did all of this?”

  Lana looked at him, her eyes wide with distress. “And let’s not forgot how she appeared to me. Like a black”—she waved her hands around searching for the word—“wraith, with burning red eyes as she shot through the woods to me. That’s why I’m not sure she is actually a she. Then the dark shroud fell away and left me with a stunning woman in a purple dress, bare feet, and the apparent power to kill me.”

  “Kill you?” he croaked.

  She stood and approached him, steps deliberate. “Don’t you have that power, Lian Yang? Are you not able to kill someone?”

  Lightning jagged across the treetops in time with her question.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Well, if you can, why is it so hard to imagine that others can?”

  He didn’t like the direction of this discussion and tried to change it. “Is she the one who gave you the ring on your shoulder?”

  “I think so. That would have been right after she poured pain through me. Pain I’ve not experienced since escaping them.”

  She shook and he moved like the wind, gathering her close in his arms. Pressing her tight to him, he ran his hands up and down her back. Fury pumped through him at the thought of her having had to go through that. Why didn’t I feel her distress or pain? He beat himself up for letting her down.

  “I want to know who she is. She continued to assume I should know her. Although after a bit, she did say she understood why I didn’t know, and that memories and knowledge would come. I don’t need more memories to come back—I’ve locked them away for a reason. Can…can you help me figure out who she is?”

  “Absolutely. We’ll start pouring through my books to see what I have on a woman named Ala in the morning.” He couldn’t begin to express his pleasure at the knowledge she’d actually asked him for help. Her trust in him must be growing.

  “Thank you.”

  “You don’t owe me thanks, Lana.” He inched his fingers beneath the hem of her shirt. “Never think you owe me anything.”

  “Sleep here?” she offered.

  “Yes. Just let me get the monitor so I can hear if Mark wakes up. I’ll be right back.” He set her away from him only to pull her back close and kiss her. He needed this—her taste, her feel. Her.

  Lian went out of the door and peered in over his shoulder. She stood there, fingers on her lips as if reliving the feel of him there. He flashed to his room, grabbed what he needed, checked on Mark once more then returned.

  His heart nearly stopped in his chest. Lana walked naked to the bed and slipped beneath the blankets. It had been far too long since he’d touched her in the way he longed to. Once he’d set the monitor up, he stripped and slid into bed with her, gathering her close and sighing as her naked body pressed against his.

  * * * *

  Lana cried out, echoed by the rain, as Lian powered into her, over and over. The bench she was currently bent over, slicked by the falling water, offered very little purchase. Each time he thrust she skated forward only to be drawn back. The rain fell around them in heavy sheets. She couldn’t see very much at all around her with a few exceptions during the lightning strikes.

  She wasn’t cold.

  She’d woken from a nightmare and had taken a walk through the gardens like normal. Only this time, Lian had appeared. One thing had led to another and now she was bent over this bench, as his thick cock pounded into her.

  “Lian!” she wailed, fingers scrambling to find support as her back bowed.

  They were both naked. He repositioned his hands from her hips to her breasts, all without slowing. His grip had her moaning—her nipples were caught between his fingers and were rolled and tugged with each breath.

  Head down, she splayed her hands wide as another wave of pleasure crashed over her. Rain pounded over her skin and she screamed with bliss, shattering to pieces. Before she could recover, Lian withdrew, turned her and set her on his lap, his shaft once again buried deep inside her.

  “Lana.” He gripped her hips, fingers digging into the flesh.

  She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his rain-slicked neck. His lips lasered along her skin, causing her breath to sharpen even more. She hooked her ankles against his back, rocking on him, taking him as deep as she could.

  When he released his seed deep inside, she splintered and came hard on the shaft within her. Shuddering, she continued to hold him, unable to get as close as she craved.

  He moved her so they were face to face. His hands, strong and callused, cupped the sides of her face seconds before he dominated her mouth. He didn’t give her any choice, just took.

  Lana didn’t mind and accepted it all. This was what she needed. To feel him everywhere.

  On her. Inside her. Around her.

  He blazed a path along her jaw and down her neck. She tipped her head back, welcoming the rain on her face. Down between her breasts his kisses took him, followed by the thrum of the droplets. He hardened within her and soon, he was thrusting up inside her again as the rain streamed down the front of her body. She couldn’t get enough. Somehow, she wasn’t sure it would ever be enough.

  * * * *

  “You should have known you wouldn’t be able to get away from us, Lana. To be quite honest, I’m tired of chasing you down and bringing you home. I think this is going to be your last outing. I have a new room just for you. One you’ll never escape from.”

  The voice behind her sent blocks of ice through her veins. She wondered if her heart had actually stopped. Fear found purchase and took root, making it hard to breathe, much less move.

  She turned, slowly, to face the man who had been the most instrumental in her years of torture and pain. For him to be out of the lab meant they must be really after her.

  He still looked the same. Tall and willowy. It was deceptive, for he was incredibly strong. Erlik. She knew him by no other name. He was an older man with a well-built body, black eyes—which his eyebrows and tightly groomed moustache matched. He wasn’t known to smile and even now, he didn’t look all that pleased to have found her.

  Sort of an odd realisation given how hard they hunted her down each time she escaped. Then again, perhaps it’s the fact he has to leave his precious lab that makes him so mad. Of course he’d never smiled when she was stretched out on one of the many tables either, and she knew for a fact he enjoyed torturing her.

  “Erlik,” she whispered, more to herself than anything. “How did you find me?”

  A ghost of a smile appeared ever so briefly. “I have eyes and ears everywhere. Did you really think you would be able to escape me?”

  Yes. She had. Lana was far enough from the house that the baby wouldn’t be in danger and neither would Lian. That knowledge gave her a mild sense of relief. At least they would be safe.

  “Answer me, Lana.”

  “Yes,” she admitted. “I had thought I would.”

  “This freedom of yours has given you some bad manners, which I look forward to getting out of you.” While no smile, there was a perverse gleam of interest in his gaze.

  “Why do you persist?” She dug her toes into the dirt, well aware she may never again get to feel it beneath her feet. “I’ll never give you what you want to know.”

  “I think you will. I will admit you’ve held out longer than I expected you to, but no one can do that forever. You will break. And when you do, I will be there to collect the information needed to derail this prophecy before it can be completed.”

  “What do you hope to get from me?”

  He stroked his moustache. “I need
to know who is the one who will bring it out in you and how it fits. I can’t disappoint those who’ve chosen me for this task. Just like you can’t disappoint me.”

  “I can and I will. You may as well kill me now.”

  He blinked at her and shook his head. “You know me better than that. I won’t kill you, I have too much fun with you.” He beckoned with his hand. “Come.”

  She looked around. He’d not brought anyone with him, that she could spy. Shaking her head, she backed away from him. “I’m not going with you.”

  “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

  “I’ll never return willingly to the hell you put me through.” Pain spiked in her head and she cried out, nearly sinking to her knees as she saw, plain as day, before her him killing her family. The sadistic gleam on his face turned her stomach. “You,” she ground out. “It was you.” She’d known it had happened, but there’d never been a face to go with the action until now.

  “Even at such a young age, that didn’t break you. I thought for sure when I went to work on your younger sister, you would have broken.”

  Rage pulsed through her and she trembled from the force of it. “Why me?” she demanded. “Why did you come after me?”

  “Because you are the key.” His statement was so matter-of-fact. “You’d been chosen.”

  “By who?”

  Impatience showed now. “I don’t know. All I know is you were chosen and I have to get the information you know.”

  “Go to hell,” she snapped, backing up even more.

  “Why do you persist in thinking you can escape from me? Stop acting like a foolish child and come with me.”

  Her response was to whirl around and run. Not towards the house or the winery, but farther into the forest. Why? She wasn’t sure. His cry of anger reverberated in the trees around her. Her wrist and shoulder burned but she refused to slow down.

  As she pounded through the forest, she swore the trees lowered their roots and made it easier for her to run. One glance behind her showed they thickened as she passed, hiding her from him.