Sacrifice of the Septimus: Part 1 (Afterlife saga Book 7)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “Would you believe I broke down?” I told him sheepishly.

  “For you, yes I would.”

  “Draven please, I…” I started to say after he lashed out at me again and once more he simply interrupted me.

  “You have her? Good. Stay there and don’t move Keira, I am coming to get you!” he ordered sternly and then hung up the phone.

  “That went well.” I said throwing my phone onto the dash and folding my arms over my chest in a sulk. Okay, I got it, he was pissed off and yes, he was worried and had every right to be, considering the time was late. But still, no-one liked being snapped at and with what Lucius had told him, then other than going to see the Oracle, what was he so mad about?

  Well it wasn’t going to take me long to find out as about ten minutes later a massive blacked out SUV drove up the dark road with headlights beaming. I grabbed my jacket, put it on and grabbed my phone, along with tucking Pythia’s necklace in my jeans pocket out of sight. Then I got out of the car to wait for the wrath of Draven as I stood at the front of my truck. The SUV came to a screeching halt, which if you asked me was a little over the top, and the driver’s door flew open. I was surprised to see Draven had been driving but not surprised to see the stern determination on his face as he stormed over to me.

  “Draven, let’s just calm down and Oomph!” I shouted out surprised as Draven didn’t say a word to me but instead bent slightly, put a shoulder to my belly and I was up and over and before I knew it, instantly finding myself upside down over his shoulder.

  “Draven, put me down!” I shouted at him but he ignored me. I looked awkwardly to the side to see Ragnar walking towards us after slamming the car boot shut and carrying a red gas can with him.

  “Fill it up and get it back to the club.” Draven commanded and Ragnar nodded respectfully, saying his usual,

  “Yes, My Lord.” And I didn’t miss the look of disappointment he shot me as he passed. I hated that look and couldn’t help but feel like a naughty child caught skipping school or sneaking out.

  “Draven this is ridiculous, put me down this instant!” I shouted, knowing that this statement really needed a foot stamp to go with it, but given my current predicament the only other thing to do would be to kick Draven and right now I didn’t think that would have gone down well. I heard a door being opened and the next thing I knew he was dumping me across the back seat like a sack of potatoes and slamming the door behind me.

  “Umpf!” All the air whooshed out of me as I landed and I pushed the hair out of my face as I sat up. Draven was getting in behind the wheel and I jumped at how hard he slammed his door. He put the thing into drive and we were soon off, speeding down the dark road. I didn’t think now was the time to comment on his speed so I remained quiet. Well, I did so until I couldn’t stand it any longer.

  “Draven this is stupid, can’t we just talk about…”

  “No.” And that was it! That was all he said to me and I was fuming because of it. I knew he was angry but this was just adding childish behaviour to that anger, instead of trying to deal with it by talking. So I did what I did best in situations like this, I pushed and made it worse.

  “Right, fine! Then you can take me back to Libby’s, because I am not going home with you when you’re like this!” At this he growled at me in the mirror and I wasn’t impressed.

  “You just go ahead and growl all you want, it doesn’t change a thing!” I told him, crossing my arms over my chest and staring out of my window at nothing. We remained silent like this until I saw him turn the wrong way, meaning we were going back to Afterlife.

  “You’ve gone the wrong way.” I told him and he continued to ignore me, which only managed to infuriate me more. I much preferred to be screamed at than ignored!

  “I swear to God Draven, you are one of the most pig-headed and the most stubborn ass I have ever known!”

  “I suggest you save your scornful words until after your justification for your actions.” Okay, so this really did it.

  “You know what, fuck you Draven! How’s that for justification for your dumb ass!” I told him and the shock in his eyes was easy to see. Right now I just wanted to get out of this asshole car, with its asshole driver and run from it all. I was fuming and in my rage at being treated like a child, I also had to contend with that same tingling in my fingers. I tried to rein it back, knowing if I let myself get beyond that point that I could end up hurting someone…Draven.

  He might have needed a good slap of reality right now but I didn’t want to hurt him. It was so hard with his cold behaviour towards me, one that hurt more than anything else and I think he knew this…I think this was his punishment.

  As soon as we got to Afterlife I tried to get out of the door only to find it was locked…again like a fucking child! I was almost shaking I was so furious with him and my heavy breathing was testament to that. I only just managed to refrain from demanding he open the door, having instead to wait for him to do so in his own damn time. He slammed his door shut again and opened mine, reaching out his hand to help me get down. I pushed his hand away and jumped down myself. He shrugged his shoulders and everything he did right now only managed to piss me off even more.

  I started walking away and when he grabbed me, I snatched my hand from his.

  “Don’t touch me!”

  “Now who is being pig-headed and stubborn?” he threw back at me and I spun on my heel to face him, pointing a finger his way.

  “Oh you’re talking to me now? What? Waiting for my justification because news flash, you will be waiting a bloody long time!”

  “You owe me an explanation!” he snapped back and I laughed.

  “Yeah, well maybe if you had dealt with this better, then I would have been happy to give you one, but because you have been a world class dick, I don’t owe you shit! Call me when you realise this for yourself!” I told him and started walking towards the road.

  “Oh so that’s it, the Keira classic, I am going to run from my problems because I don’t want to face them!” he shouted back and I stopped dead, hating that he was right and hating that he threw that truth in my face like a verbal slap.

  “Fine! We will do this your way Draven, got any weapons or punching bags hanging around?”

  “Now you’re being ridiculous.” I shook my head at him and said,

  “Oh am I? Isn’t that how you deal with shit you don’t want to face? Or do you just force others to bury their head in the sand so they never get to find out the truth!” Okay, in the grand scheme of things I knew this wasn’t the smartest thing to say, but who said anger was always rational.

  “What did she tell you?” He snarled the question at me.

  “Ha, so that just confirms it!” I said, thankfully thinking of a quick way to save myself before I went too far.

  “Confirms what?!” he barked.

  “That you’re scared she got to me and told me something, which just proves you know something that I don’t and I’m thinking that it’s something that I should know!”

  “You don’t know what you are talking about.” he told me and it was said as a complete cop out, dodging answering me.

  “Maybe not, but there’s only one person to blame for that and I’m looking at him.” He looked so frustrated with everything I threw back his way and I could understand why. It was the guilt that was making him act this way as it was the same with me. Guilt can make you lash out at those you lie to or hurt because they are the cause of your self-inflicted grief. You want to blame them, when in reality all you want to do is confess and beg them for a forgiveness you aren’t sure if they would grant you. If I had never found out what fate had in store for me and about the choice I had to make, would I forgive Draven when the time came for me to find out? Especially if it was at a time when it was too late for us to change the world’s end?

  I don’t know if I would want to die beside a man I didn’t forgive, not one I would love no matter what. But would Draven feel the same way when I come back int
o this time, walking down the aisle knowing I was carrying his child from another time?

  I wasn’t so sure.

  And because of it I was scared and angry not knowing. Torn up by guilt and wanting to blame him, all at the same time. Love wasn’t a smooth road, it was one fought with fear, lashed with pain and raw to the heart of you. But the right kind of love was always worth the risk on the rocky road you faced. Because at the end came the kind of happiness that stands alone. There is nothing you could compare it to and knowing that you would still wake to thousands of new reasons each day why you loved them more, well knowing this, it simply lights up your soul. So it was worth every hard step you took, knowing the possible fear of loss, the pain they could lash upon you and the raw emotion that touches your heart.

  Yes, because,

  Real Love is always worth the Journey.

  And this was why I said what I did next.

  “I can’t do this anymore, Draven.” I told him and for one awful moment I know he took this the wrong way. So I just walked right up to him, reached up with both hands placing them on his cheeks and I kissed him. At first he didn’t react but then he pulled back a little and said,

  “If you think this is goodbye…” I put a finger over his lips to stop him and said,

  “No, never goodbye, it’s only ever going to be me saying I love you!” I told him and then moved my hand so we could crush our lips together in a deep and powerful kiss. He knew now what I meant when I said I couldn’t do this anymore and that was arguing with him, not walking away.

  “I’m sorry… you… worried.” I said in between kissing him and he pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me in a way that told me he never wanted to let go.

  “I’m sorry…I …was a…dick…to you,” he said in between his own kisses and after this we lost ourselves further into passion. I don’t know how it happened but I must have pushed him back against the parked SUV. I was trying to climb him again, anything to get closer and I started mumbling what I wanted him to do.

  “What is it, baby?” he asked me softly and I nodded behind him, kissed him again and then pulled back to give him a breathy order,

  “The back, get in the back.” He grinned down at me and then using his hand behind his back he opened the door. I started trying to push him inside and finally he got the hint. He heaved himself up and I started to climb on top of him, straddling him and pushing him down so he lay flat. Then I turned around and reached to pull the door closed behind us.

  “We could just…”

  “No…here.” I told him shutting him up by kissing him. We were lucky that it was pretty spacious back here considering Draven’s huge body took up the whole space.

  “Off.” I told him trying to pull his long sleeved t-shirt over his head and he got the hint, helping me. I decided to leave him to his own devices as I tore off my jacket, getting one arm stuck.

  “Let me help you, my love,” he said grinning with not only his lips but his beautiful eyes, eyes I could get lost in. He reached back and pulled the jacket all the way off and then sat up slightly as he lifted off my top.

  “Breathtaking,” he told me and he laughed when I pushed him back and said,

  “Enough of that, I want you…now!” Then I ground myself against his erection, feeling it hit all the right places with each roll of my hips.

  “Oh Gods,” he murmured as I put a hand between us, gripped him tight and rubbed the length of him. Then I felt for his zipper and was ecstatic to find he’d gone commando.

  “I love the feel of you.” I told him and he groaned, putting his head back as I gripped him even tighter. I loved seeing the strain in his neck as he endured the pleasure I gave him. So I lowered myself to his neck and nipped, bit and licked it, wanting to drive him as insane as he made me with wanting him.

  “Gods woman, do you wish to render me less than a man?” I think this was Draven’s way of saying making him come too quickly, which made me giggle.

  “I will see what I can do.” I told him winking and then before he could respond I lowered myself down on him suddenly, being more than ready for him.

  “GODS!” Oh the Gods were getting it tonight I thought on a breathy sigh.

  “I love that you’re always wet for me but when you are soaked it tells me my girl needs some quick attention,” he told me as I kissed up his neck, giving myself time to adjust to his size.

  “I always need your attention.” I told him and then I started to ride him. He put one hand to my hip, gripping it tightly as the other hand went exploring. His fingers found my clit and I screamed as he started rubbing it faster and faster. This was when I went crazy, riding him as my orgasm built, needing to explode around him in untamed and unrestrained passion. I placed a hand flat to the roof over us and used it to steady myself as I rode him faster than I thought myself capable.

  “Fuck! Yes, yes, yes!” I don’t know who shouted what as we both couldn’t hold it much longer and in that beautiful, unexpected moment we came together, holding nothing back. He bolted upright, banding an arm around my waist and holding me to him. My head fell forward onto his shoulder as I gasped for breath and for long moments we stayed this way allowing our bodies the time they needed to calm once more.

  “Okay so I am thinking that pissing each other off should become a weekly thing, whatcha say?” I said making him laugh and just before he could respond the door suddenly opened, making me scream at the sight of the giant axe held high.

  “Oh shit! Ragnar?!”

  “Ragnar!”

  “My Lord, I… by Odin I swear I thought you…she…both…attacked.” Then he slammed the door shut and I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing. Thankfully so did Draven, especially when we heard Ragnar walking away saying,

  “It’s not funny.”

  “Well on the bright side, at least we had finished.” I told him and he grinned at me. Then I got closer and whispered a naughty thought in his ear,

  “Because I wouldn’t have stopped.” He pulled me back, nipped at my lips and said something equally naughty and beautiful…

  “That’s my girl”

  Chapter 27

  All on Board

  The next day was a blur of activity in the Afterlife household and I suddenly became one of those people who wished I was more organised than I was. For starters I hadn’t even packed and I woke in a panic, tearing myself from Draven’s arms at stupid o’clock, much to his dismay.

  “Keira, what are you doing?” he asked in that gorgeous sleepy, husky voice of his and if I’d had the time that would have been enough to get my ass back into bed.

  “We are flying to England today and I haven’t packed a damn thing! I haven’t even got my passport, and shit, my wallet is …I don’t know where my wallet is…and I wanted to get new trainers, and then there’s which coat to take, ‘cause it’ll probably be raining. Bugger did anyone check on the weather forecast for the day of the wedding?” Draven burst out laughing and I looked up at him from my bag that I was currently squirreling through.

  “What?”

  “Come here,” he said in that soft amused voice of his. I went to him and when I was close enough he lifted me back up onto the bed with his hands under my arms. Then he pulled back the covers and wrapped us both in them. I sighed, feeling his comforting warmth envelop me and I inhaled his intoxicating scent, one that I remembered from the first time I ever saw him in that enchanted meadow.

  “The only thing you need to do is relax and let me take care of you,” he told me and I snuggled deeper and closer into him, soon fast asleep back in his arms, as he knew I would.

  That brought us to now and on a plane on the way back to my homeland. It was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. I was excited to be going home and seeing my family for the first time…well, since I was taken and became a different person. So I knew that this was going to be hard and it was going to be emotional, two things I was hoping to hide. But it was different from my folk’s perspective as th
ey had seen me a few times, with Draven of course and they had also spoken to me frequently, again thanks to Draven.

  I was just thankful that, like Libby, they hadn’t had to go through any unnecessary hurt due to my disappearance. Sometimes it was hard keeping this side of my life from my family as it was such a big part of me and a life I was marrying into. But I knew it was for the best as it wasn’t exactly the type of thing you could expect the people you loved to accept.

  “You look deep in thought, sweetheart.” Draven hummed in my ear as he walked back through from the cockpit. I was just thankful that when he did this it wasn’t when he should have been flying the plane. I looked up at him and instantly he knew something was wrong. He got down on one knee, putting himself at the same height as me and he gently tucked my hair behind my ear.

  “What’s wrong, love?”

  “Just thinking about my family and…stuff.” He gave me a warm smile and asked,

  “Stuff? Is this the kind of ‘stuff’ I should be worried about?” I smiled back at him and put a hand to his face when I shook my head telling him no.

  “Ah, your family.” I nodded not trusting myself to speak. Because it wasn’t just seeing them again that had my stomach in knots, no, it was seeing them again and knowing that it could be the last time. That was what I was struggling with the most. It was imagining the pain they would have to endure of losing me, and no parent should have to go through losing a child before they themselves said goodbye to the world. It was the most unnatural thing to happen and one that broke the hearts of too many good people, and soon I knew that would also include my mum and dad. But I couldn’t say this to Draven. So when he swiped away a single tear, I couldn’t tell him that it was a tear filled with guilt.

  “I will be with you, always.” he told me, thinking the most likely reason was because I hadn’t seen them for a long time. I nodded and hugged him, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my head in his shoulder.

  I didn’t cry but inside I was sobbing.