by M. Street
“Yeah, I’m changing,” I said truthfully. There was no choice in the matter. It was impossible not to fall behind in moving waters more powerful than me.
“You must counter your actions with reason. There is so much you don’t know. Dangers you can’t imagine.” He stood his ground. I couldn’t argue with his protective intentions, but I still colored with discontent.
“I agree, there is a lot I don’t know. Let’s start with Junjari,” I retorted.
Dev let out a breath but remained open. A fossilized, yet tender, hurt settled in his aura. “There are more important things to learn and strategies to discuss than my past mistakes.”
“Nothing could be more important,” I insisted. The morning sun rose dousing Dev’s clinched face in a tangelo shower. His emotions arm wrestled before giving in. He positioned himself closer, taking my wrist.
“The story begins hundreds of years before your conception. The world was a much different place. All life blossomed during the Renaissance, especially for the Vampacoti. The birth rate among my kind exploded, multiples more than any other race. It was incredible. Pubescent Vampacoti require a lengthy time to mature. A strong connection to life must be fostered to balance possessing mind-controlling spells, superhuman abilities, and incredible senses. Nature delivers a powerful creature with an underdeveloped, malleable conscience. Why she gives maturity before reason remains an unsolved mystery.” His eyes fixed, conveying loss.
“By the end of the fourteenth century, there were more younglings than the prides could manage. It didn’t take long for my mother, Queen Fina, to ask Eli and the Arbitri Guardians to help maintain order.” Dev dimmed with tremors of remorse.
“It worked wonderfully,” he said regretfully. “Eli had a way of convincing others to follow like sheep. He was charismatic with an extraordinary ability to read emotions, tailoring his message to yours. Instead of observing the laws of nature, acknowledging our ancient ways, Eli instilled a sense of reverence to his will. It superseded traditions of spirit and generations of science.”
Dev shifted, lifting his lids. “A youngster roams great distances in time and space before settling into a pride, essentially picking a family. The isolated maturation leaves them vulnerable to pitfalls. Eli’s illusion rang true to the unsettled, naturally solitary Vampacoti,” Dev explained. “In a bizarre move, Eli hand-selected difficult, immature Vampacoti who had not yet joined a pride to be part of his personal cohort. The move was unprecedented, breaking centuries of historical practice. This was the first time a Guardian held the reins of a pride. The only thing the odd clan held in common was that they were heavy casters, capable of potent spells.”
Dev paused, running his nimble fingers over his face into his hair. “When Eli became more powerful than Esther, he began cultivating something very addictive: power. Eli granted his private pride the same abuses as his council. The immature Vampacoti, not fully connected, succumbed quickly to the narcotic, intense feelings. The intoxicating sensations drowned out the quiet sustaining energies of life. They turned, adopting his creeds with exuberant and irrational passion.”
Dev mixed with red, consuming the orange sunlight washing around him. “My mother was conflicted. She emphatically argued against his methods, but she couldn’t deny Eli’s effectiveness. He was restoring order to a large, wild force. He prevented many infant births. We didn’t know that were paying a big price forward.”
Dev grew silent, sitting up straight. “Eli’s pride quickly became known for using too much force executing his orders. They increasingly favored the ones who did their bidding. It gave birth to inequities, eroding histories of order.
“Unlike my mother, I knew what Eli was doing was against the best interests of the Vampacoti race. We were increasingly being used as his agents of wrath, breaking ancient agreements with every race. I increased my objections, openly arguing against Eli.” Dev trailed off into a blank stare before coming back sharply. His violet eyes reddened.
“That was when he introduced me to Junjari,” he said plainly, looking at me point-blank. “She was quite charming and had an amazing ability to distract any cause.”
I pushed my fingers into the ground, preparing for the story I asked to hear and hoped to forget.
“Eli discovered Junjari mid-fifteenth century wandering across India. She was destitute after outliving all her infant heritage. With an injured soul, she easily got lost in Eli’s religion. It didn’t take long for Junjari to claw her way to the top of his constructed pride. She was unique. The magnitude of her spells were second only to Fina’s and mine. Her silver naturally clouded, making her a mystery, and a crafted lack of guard made her easy to trust.
“I met Junjari on a spring evening at one of Eli’s solstice soirees. She was captivating.”
I gulped.
“Despite mothering Eli’s pride, her spoken beliefs were the same as mine. She did not align with most of Eli’s ways. Intrigue and desperation for change confused my reason. I fell for Junjari out of a misguided need, letting the seduction happen.”
I pushed my toes into the ground, touching a baobab root. I needed Lisa’s strong and soft shoulder. Dev sensed my creeping insecurities. He canvased me in reassuring lime pink, perfuming the air with his mint scent.
“Initially, I used the relationship to peer into the Arbitri motives. All the races protested the change to restrict counsel positions to be held only by Guardians. Weirdly, Junjari was part of Eli’s personal cohort. She had a direct line to the king and the council. With an unbalanced Guardian royal line, millenniums of consistency no longer held true. Everyone watched as Eli became unstoppable and the world spun helplessly into uncharted territory.
“The travesties committed by Eli and his regime continued to grow, becoming more malicious. At the time, I thought Junjari’s hands were clean. Despite her close position, she appeared be on the outside. She voiced her discontent to me. At strategic times she showed whisperings of sadness with the realness of a true heart. Her flawless performance cemented my fate.” Dev’s aura moved faster, heating.
“My mother was adamantly opposed to my union with Junjari. She didn’t trust her. Junjari broke tradition not leaving Eli’s pride to be with ours. Instead, Junjari insisted I make another unprecedented move on the eve of our wedding night. Junjari wanted me to leave the royal pride for hers. I stalled on the decision, compounding disapproval and bitterness from both sides. The situation came to a head when my mother, the real Vampacoti queen, openly confronted Junjari and me. My mother argued the throne should stay independent of Eli’s behest. It was a bitter winter’s night when I left the royal pride for Junjari. I shattered my mother’s heart, igniting regret that would always burn.”
Dev dropped his demeanor, succumbing to the unresolved memories. Locked away feelings resurfaced, causing him to gasp with fresh pain. I held his wrist, feeling silly about being jealous. My simple gesture brought slight comfort to his hurt-filled face.
“Did you love her?” I asked, trying to understand his choice.
“I thought I did, but it was all a lie. It didn’t take long for Junjari’s inner light to shine through her deception. Eli’s pride of misfits was held together by their thirst for power, not family unity. He cultivated a taste for control, individually giving hollow promises. Unbeknownst to anyone, Eli was training them.” Dev breathed heavily. “He was preparing the pride to keep Nubia permanently sedated, indefinitely holding the Avian spell making Esther barren.”
My insides pained with talk of Mom.
“Cowardly, I went along with it for a while,” Dev said with throbbing guilt, fouling the air. “But then Junjari wanted something I was unprepared to give her. She wanted the Vampacoti throne. She wanted to be queen. Her desire for power was all-consuming, drawing in the darkness and opening my eyes. I refused to sire a princess, which would bestow the throne to her. She grew agitated, losing control of herself. She was far too immature to cradle a child and mother a race.
“I kn
ew in my heart it was not the right time for my mother to step down nor for me to start my reign as Vampacoti king. The escalating magnitude of Junjari’s anger went into the absurd. The more the throne eluded her, the more her underhanded plots became clear. Junjari never loved me. She used me in her lust to rule.” Dev dropped his head. I caressed the nape of his neck. The vastness of his hurt abolished any blame.
“Becoming aware that I had gone astray was very painful.” Dev stopped. “I left her.” His quickened light trembled with sadness, but not from the loss of the relationship. Although he collected himself, shadows continued to darken his silver.
“Junjari took matters into her own hands. I did not know the depths of her madness. With Eli’s consent, she assassinated my mother and her pride. She ludicrously anointed herself as Vampacoti queen.” Dev’s words gutted the air, leaving a solemn silence. My heart cracked experiencing his lasting remorse, burdensome sorrow, and unquenchable regret. I shed tears that had run dry in Dev long ago. He laid his head against my chest. I gently stroked him, surrounding us in waves of loving pink and healing green. Spent, we drifted into a temporary peace that only sleep can bestow.
12
A Dangerous Kiss
A
damp breeze weaving through my toes woke me. I found myself wrapped in the gigantic paws of a black-and-white super tiger. My mind didn’t waste one second, re-boiling the cauldron of current trials and tribulations. The brutality of the mature, refined world sadly rivaled that of the infant world. My inherited life was hitched with too many problems that were impossible to solve. I crawled out from under the warm, soft fur.
Although I was wide awake, the sun pulling beneath my feet put us in the depths of night. We bathed in swirling yellows, oranges, and blues of the baobabs auras, still hidden in saturated clouds of color. After continued use, my aura beamed with strength. I trickled into the Neptune-blue night like a light behind a rickety fence. Safe convalesced, crunching with knees close to his chest in a fetal position. His plus-sized feet were placed against the trunk of a grandmotherly tree. The angry slash on his back was markedly healed. The wound was crusted and cracked like baked dirt.
Dev formulated human in a dazzling display of silver. “Good morning.” Dev kissed the back of my neck. The recounting of Junjari’s killing his mom was fresh, occupying my thoughts. Feeling his deepest pain had changed me. The sharing had opened a chamber and depth in my heart that I didn’t know was possible. His rusty but tender hurt kindled my affection. He let me behind his violet eyes. Beneath all the layers, we hurt the same.
“Hey,” I replied stretching, feeling Saturday-morning rested despite the sunless sky. “How are you?” I asked, forcing my thoughts to quiet.
“Ok, now that you’ve stopped trying to get us birthed,” Dev joked, sitting up. I felt him relax, but his senses remained razor sharp. Despite being in human form, his ears were long and pointed, flittering in different directions. I stretched, rising into the night.
“First priority is to get you to a secure place,” he said, watching my light bend around the edge of the trees’ auras. “Then we have to complete your mask. We’ll move when Olo heals.”
“Where?” Although I was able to map any distance, I was lost and clueless. “I can help with Olo. I could leap both of you, now,” I said, knowing I was stronger by the burn in my aura. I pulled Dev closer to me.
We chuckled, sending light flakes rushing all around us. “I should help Safe,” I said, backing down my brave and forward heart. I was both excited and afraid of what was next if I kissed him. Not knowing what the next second would bring made Dev all that more incredibly gorgeous and our time infinitely more precious. I had dropped my guard knowing he let me in first last night.
I knelt down, putting both hands just above Safe’s body. Filtering through the layers to his core, I charged his body and light. The crusted scabs stuck with hibiscus flowers dried up, falling off his back like freeze-burned autumn leaves. Safe grew younger. The seared cut faded into a shooting star across his broad back. I slowly backed away feeling his good health. By the size and swarms of the lights whizzing around his head, I knew he was in a healing dream.
Abruptly, an ice-cold trickle ran down my spine. I jerked back several yards, trying to shake the ill feelings. It was Eli. He was looking for me. Whispers of his rage shivered through me. I kept my fear in check, keeping my light motionless, and let his web pass through me.
“What is it?” Dev grounded me with his arms.
“Eli.” I shook off the passing chill.
“With more exposure, you’ll be able to sense one another more clearly.” Dev placed his hand on my back. “Completing your mask is imperative.”
His intense, protective touch elicited an involuntary exhilaration like the first fall in a towering rollercoaster. Being with Dev under the caroling stars, baobab auras, and chromatic night induced temporary amnesia. With no present dangers, I warmed from the inside out. All I cared about was touching his lips with mine.
I rose, arching upward, reaching for his kiss. We tilted our heads back and forth, kissing in multiples. Cascades of passion ballooned into my being. His desires caused my wanting of him to gush. Like a swollen river to the sea, my pearl spilled into his aura. Vibrant pinks engulfed us, dissolving boundaries. I clutched his bare chest with hypersensitive fingers, rapid-firing my heart. Breathing hard, I ran my hand through his course, dark hair, discovering more of him.
“My lady?” The question doused my passion like a flame thrown into the sea.
“Oh, Safe.” I dropped to the ground, giggling away the awkwardness. Love had drugged my thoughts, making it difficult to remember where I was or what was happening.
Suddenly, a loud, frigid vibration passed through all of us, silencing the moment. The Arbitri were close!
“What are you doing?” Safe spoke sharply to Dev, rising to his feet. “You broadcasted her position!”
Dev dimmed in remorse. Safe shot upward, disappearing into the thick baobab aura.
“What? How?” I asked Dev, utterly confused.
“I should have known better,” he said. “You possess a queen’s magnitude. Our affection announced our location. It’s likely Eli picked it up. Stay close to the tree.” Dev flipped into a soldier, casing a 360-degree view.
Safe slammed down from above. “The Arbitri are sweeping the area.” His aura frayed. I couldn’t see anything through the opaque tree energies. Soft pressure changes echoed from above, sounding like wet snowflakes hitting the ground. Something was going down. Both Safe and Dev spiked in fear. It seemed absurd that a simple kiss could bring such danger.
“Let’s leap to the redwoods,” I said, reacting to their cornered feelings. The ancient trees felt like a security blanket.
“We cannot. They are casting nets.” Safe reached into his pocket, pulling out a three-karat diamond and the two emeralds with surrounding black pearls. “We must hide until they pass.” Dev went infant pale, wrapping his collar with the silver barrel around his wrist. He kept his hand on my skin, allowing me to feel his warmth in the dark tenseness. Safe swiftly put the diamond in his left ear, blanking his aura.
“I hope we have enough of your mask.” Safe floated the emerald and pearl pairs to me like a last offering.
Our lives on the run had turned into a deadly game of hide and seek. Like a Hail Mary pass, I snatched the gems out of the air. From the instant I touched the emeralds and pearls, my aura wildly transformed. I went numb, like ear plugs had been jammed into my hypersenses. Dev’s heart jumped in hope looking at me. The mask worked covering everything except my brightness. My pearlescent aura colored to a heavenly Pacific blue but felt as empty as a ghost.
“Whoa,” I said, looking at myself.
Platinum twinkles with long, thin tendrils riddled the distant horizon, cutting the attention to my new shade. “Hurry, into the baobab auras!” Safe ordered, grabbing Dev in belts of light and shooting upward. I followed without question.
; We vanished into the opaque yellow fire, stopping just above the scenting flowers. The cloudy, swirling colors erupting from the tree flowed around us, concealing us from above and below. My aura formed a blue bubble inside the massive rivers of blanketing yellow-orange, looking like we were hiding inside fire.
“Be very still,” Safe said, barely audible. “We should be imperceptible.”
I vaguely felt the Arbitri pass overhead like tiny taps on spider silk.
“We are running out of time,” Safe added quietly. Dev and Safe’s tense faces read through their masks. “The emeralds and pearls are working, but we need the ivory to dampen your brightness and fade your color. It’s taking all thirteen baobabs to cover your charge.” Safe touched my shoulder. I felt a wonderful optimism spring inside him. “You are nearly undetectable.”
“Our best chance is the Sagano forest. The place was created for this very moment,” Dev suggested softly. He touched me. His heart beat wild with the favor of destiny. My mind jumped across the equator to Japan. With the muffling effects of the mask, I could not detect the spirit of the bamboos.
“Agreed. But we must remain quiet until it’s clear,” Safe ordered.
We treaded midair, waiting for the silent but deadly taps to fade completely. I hadn’t been masked in a long time. I forgot how deaf infant life was compared to reality. My inherited ultra-senses were dulled, leaving me on edge.
Dev and I kept touch, making me strong. We both had to watch our passion for each other. Together we ignited something amazing, something that went beyond definition, words, or boundaries. I would never be alone. It felt wonderful, like remembering something that had always been. Chaperoning my nervous heart, Safe took my hand and delivered an unyielding look. With the cold threat swirling around us, I quieted my toasty thoughts.
Safe waited twenty-three minutes before the soothing sounds of nature let him breathe easy. “Leave your masks on until we leap.” It was impossible to reach the frequencies required to leap while dampened by a mask. The instantaneous travel required total concentration and a maximum weight exertion.