Paramount

by Nadia Scrieva

  “Why am I not surprised to hear that?” she asked. “First my dad, and now you.”

  He ignored this. “The other rule is even more ancient than the first. We had hoped you would never need to know it, as every parent foolishly wishes and expects that the younger generation will not have to face the same troubles that we did.”

  “What is it?” she asked, fearing what her mentor would say.

  “Si vis pacem, para bellum.”

  Pax used her prana to translate the Latin in her mind. She looked at him in surprise and spoke the words out loud, just to hear them a second time in English.

  “If you wish for peace, prepare for war.”

  Chapter 22: Deep, Dreamless Sleep

  Thornton had left Burnson Grove only after explaining the details to Raymond several times. The older man had healed Thornton’s wounds and requested that he look after Pax before mysteriously taking off. Raymond and Amelia seemed to have completely forgotten about everything that had happened before at the mention of Suja.

  Now, Thornton was returning to his bedroom, where he could feel Pax’s life force waiting for him. He temporarily assumed Ruby Form to increase his speed. When he finally entered the room, he calmed his flaming prana and stood quietly by the bed, listening to her breathing. She was lying on top of the blankets and resting on her side, since her stomach and back were both wounded. Thornton felt guilty that he had no more vials of Sakra’s water remaining. He levitated into the bed beside her carefully so that he wouldn’t wake her, and placed his hand gently on her hip.

  Pax immediately woke up and turned to face him. “Thorn,” she said softly. She moved a hand to cup his face for a moment before sliding her hands behind his neck and tangling her fingers in his blonde hair. She wanted to crush her mouth against his, but she felt the need to apologize. “I’m so…”

  “Shhh,” he said, pressing his lips against her chin. He kissed the corner of her nose, followed by the corner of her mouth. He circled her lips with kisses. He finally pulled her bottom lip into his mouth and gently nibbled on her skin. You don’t need to say anything.

  He caressed her hip and slid his hand over her thigh, but he felt her body jerk when his fingers came into contact with several deep cuts. You got some battle wounds, hot stuff. Let me clean those for you. He ran his fingers lightly along the cuts in her leg, using his prana to create a heat which would burn any bacteria out of the wounds. Pax exhaled slowly at the sensation.

  You should probably get looked after, Pax. We have doctors on staff in the K.T. infirmary. You should get stitches…

  Screw that, she told him, rubbing her cheek against his stubble. It was driving her crazy that his fingers were so close to her skin without actually touching her. She clasped his hand and pressed his fingers against her wounded thigh. I heal fast. I’m strong.

  I know, he said. He kissed her nose gently. But you still need to sleep.

  I don’t feel like sleeping right now, she told him, scooting closer to his body. She pressed her lips against his, but he immediately pulled away.

  Pax, he said with a warning tone in his telepathic voice. You are covered in claw marks, and you have serious burns from that explosion. You’re exhausted from teleporting and…

  Excited from a good fight, she finished with a smile. She lifted his hand to her face and wrapped her lips around the tip of his index finger. Missing you like crazy. She gently sucked on his finger, running her tongue along the ridges of his nails. Feeling glad to be alive. She kissed down the length of his finger, allowing her lips to settle against his palm. Wanting to make up for lost time. She released a warm breath of prana into the center of his palm, allowing her warmth to travel through him to the deepest reaches of his body. Pax looked into his blue eyes mischievously.

  Thornton stared with growing arousal as she kissed, nibbled and suckled at his hands. He finally caught both of her wrists and held them above her head to forcefully restrain her. Doesn’t change the fact that you’re wounded. Come on, Pax. We’ll have plenty of time when you’re better.

  She smiled and snaked her leg around his body. I’m not a patient girl.

  Your dad would kill me. He would kill me and mutilate my corpse.

  Please, Thorn, she begged, pressing her lips against his again. She closed her eyes and poured all of her pent-up desire into a sweet-tasting stream of prana she released into his mouth. The cuts and bruises just make things more interesting. It’s been so long and I want you so badly...

  He didn’t need another word of encouragement as he grabbed her hips and lifted her on top of him. He grasped the back of her head as he smashed his mouth against hers greedily. Pax Burnson, you drive me utterly insane.

  * * *

  Despite her wounds, Pax was experiencing what was possibly the most blissful sleep of her entire life when a familiar melodious voice clawed its way into her consciousness. She stirred against Thornton, hating to be disturbed from her warm and comfortable spot.

  “Hello, Pax. I thought we should talk.”

  Pax sat up abruptly, gasping and reaching to her side to wake Thornton. Her hand went directly through him. Frowning, she noticed that there was a copy of herself still lying in the bed. She was not corporeal.

  “You’re dreaming, darling.” The woman appeared sitting in a pale white lotus flower, completely naked except for golden strings of jewelry around her neck and hips.

  “I see you’re decked out in more ridiculous fashion accessories,” Pax said.

  “Yes,” Suja said softly. “You destroyed my beautiful palace, so I thought I would console myself with a pretty flower and some necklaces.”

  “I hope you’re feeling really consoled.”

  “Oh, I am,” Suja said, running her fingers along the length of her golden necklaces. She smiled. “There’s no use in holding a grudge. I want you to know that I see a lot of myself in you, Pax. There’s a lot we could learn from each other. I could show you true power, and you could teach me to be a good person—and learn this thing you call forgiveness. You’re the kind of woman I would value having as a friend.”

  “You used my closest friend like poker chips. Sure, let’s be best buds,” Pax said sarcastically.

  “You have spunk, child. But you also have more than that.” Suja’s flower floated closer to the bed and she stared at the girl curiously. “It’s impossible, you know. What you did should not have been doable. You don’t have enough deva blood coursing through your veins to launch an attack like that. You were magnificent! A sweet little volcano. How did you do it?”

  “My Grandpa Kaden always said I had a lot of heart.”

  “Heart. Yes, that you certainly do,” said the Asura queen. She smiled and transformed back into Pax’s mother. The lotus blossom beneath her morphed into a fluffy angelic cloud. “Do you know how your grandfather died, Pax? My husband was negotiating to end the war between the Asuras and devas, and Vincent Kalgren offered up Kaden as a sacrifice.”

  “Are you trying to turn me against Vincent now?” Pax asked, frowning. “He’s like a second father to me, so good luck with that.”

  “I’m just telling you the truth, child. You have been lied to so much by all the men around you, and I want you to know that when you decide you would prefer to be enlightened and liberated, I will be waiting for you.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”

  Suja clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “You needn’t use that sardonic tone with me. I have your best interests in mind. I feel your power is going to waste being joined with such inferior companions. Don’t you ever feel like the Kalgren girl is holding you back?”

  “Yes,” Pax responded honestly, “but she’s my friend. I’ll always be loyal to her.”

  “But she’s so weak. She’s so… blonde.”

  Pax sighed. “If you’re not going to attack me again, can I get back to sleep?”

  “Of course, dear,” Suja said, floating away. “Let me know if you ever would like a friend who can challenge you a
nd bring out the brilliant colors of your potential that you would otherwise never fathom. Not even in a dream like this one. Goodnight, Pax.”

  “Goodnight,” Pax said, bewildered by the concept of wishing a good night to someone with whom she had just waged a small war. Shrugging, Pax nestled back down beside Thornton. She was sinking back into the comfort of dreamlessness when the lyrical voice whispered into her ear:

  I didn’t use magick to seduce him, you know. There was no godly or mystical power at work when he betrayed you. I merely entered the human woman’s body and watched from her eyes—a front row seat to the fall of the Kalgren prince. I thought you should be aware. Sweet dreams.

  Pax tried to continue resting and ignore this voice, but after several minutes of going over this information, her eyes slowly opened. She was unable to close them again.

  “Dammit,” Pax said softly. Thornton’s muscular arm was wrapped protectively around her, and she reached down and brushed her palm across the golden hairs on his skin. She never wanted to move from that spot. She also wanted to get as far away as possible. She wanted to know, but she also could not bear to know. There was a high probability that Suja was making it all up, but there was also a high probability that she was completely correct. Pax’s mind could not stop racing with the heaviness of the bad memories. She saw the woman in his office again, and ran over the scene in her mind. She felt his hand slipping up Para’s skirt. She felt him kissing Para in the dressing room.

  Grasping his arm gently, she lifted it so she could slip out from underneath his embrace. She levitated off the bed and moved across the room to get her purse.

  “Where are you going?” Thornton asked sleepily.

  “Bathroom,” she said as she duly changed direction. She had been heading to the window.

  Run, said a little voice inside her head. Run as fast as you can. She frowned at the voice. But I’m happy here. For the first time in weeks, I’m happy. Her head ached as it spent several minutes at war with itself. There’s only me in this body! I shouldn’t be so confused. She opened the medicine cabinet to check for painkillers, but there were none. She picked her purse off the countertop and began rummaging through it for any sort of pharmaceutical relief. Surely there were still some of the sedatives she had used to weaken Para? She found the little pillbox and hastily swallowed a heavy sedative. Miserably, she prayed it would help her get back to sleep. As she returned the pillbox to her messy purse, she was distracted by her phone lighting up amongst the mayhem of small but useful items.

  Withdrawing the new machine, she found a text message from Thornton which simply said: Hi.

  Pax smiled suspiciously, thinking that it was kind of clingy for Thornton to be texting her only a moment second after she exited the room. A second text messaged arrived while she still stared at the phone in puzzlement: How was your day, Medea? Her smile disappeared. The text hadn’t been sent to her.

  He was messaging Para.

  Reaching out to pick up the phone tentatively, Pax frowned. She stared at the letters in disbelief. She bolted to the bathroom door and flung it open, half expecting to see Thornton lying peacefully asleep and Suja or some other demon messing with his phone. But to her dismay, Thornton was sitting up with his phone in his hands, awaiting a reply.

  “What are you doing?” she asked him sharply.

  “Just texting a friend,” he answered, putting his phone aside a bit too quickly. He patted the empty space beside him. “Come back to bed, hot stuff.”

  Pax’s tongue moved. Her first instinct was to ask whether it was a male or female friend to test his honesty—but she immediately pressed her lips together. Pride. Have a little pride, Pax. She moved back into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror with determination. I won’t let him turn me into a nagging, jealous, distrustful woman. She hastily shoved her phone and sedatives back into her purse.

  He hasn’t learned anything. He hasn’t suffered. He’ll do it again in the future. He’ll do it once a week. He hasn’t even told me about Para—there could be other women in the future and I would never know about them because I wouldn’t be lucky enough to be them. What am I doing here? Why did I fall back into this so easily?

  “Where are you going?” he asked as she headed for the window.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Pax. What’s going on?”

  “I… I might drive around for a while,” she answered.

  “Let me come with you,” he said, sitting up. “Antarctica, Venus, anywhere. To every corner of the omniverse.”

  She hesitated. “No. I need some time alone to think.”

  “You’re not coming back, are you?” There was a frantic look in his eyes. “Pax, don’t leave me. You can’t…”

  “Shhh,” she said, crossing the room and pushing him back down onto his pillow. She smiled and leaned forward to press her lips to his forehead. “You’re everything to me,” she said against his skin. She simultaneously released a wave of prana with her breath, amplifying the sedative she had just ingested and using it to tranquilize him. Once he was knocked out, she pulled away from him. For several minutes, she sat on the side of his bed looking down at him.

  She reached out and grasped his hand, squeezing it gently before she fled from the room.

  Chapter 23: Beloved Metal Box

  Pax pushed on the door to enter the Burnson Grove home, but before it was even fully open, her grandmother was pulling her into a hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay, sweetie,” Amelia was saying. “Thorn and Ash told us everything. Your father felt so horrible and he’s gone back to India to speak to Sakra and get some healing water. He’ll be back before morning. You have to talk to him—poor Raymond feels so guilty. He thinks that his friendship with Sakra is what caused Suja’s anger and…”

  “Grandma,” Pax said gently. “I really don’t want to talk about the fight right now, if that’s alright with you.”

  “Sure. Of course, sweetie—would you like some tea?”

  “No, thanks. I just need to lie down.” Pax forced a weak smile and moved into the house, but she paused at the foot of the stairs. “Grandma. What should I do about Thorn?”

  “What do you mean, dear?”

  “I am kind of… scared.” It was hard for her to admit such a thing. “Do you think I should try to get past this and be with him again?”

  Amelia was silent in consideration for a moment. “He’s a good boy,” she said finally, “but you deserve better. You deserve the best.”

  “There isn’t anyone else,” Pax said.

  “Do you mean devas? Well, that may be true. I know there are only a few devas and their children left in the world. But honey, there are worthy human men out there…”

  “No. I didn’t ask about other men. I didn’t ask about humans or devas,” Pax said, turning to look at Amelia desperately. “I asked about Thorn. It’s him or no one.”

  “Darling, you’re a young woman with your whole life ahead of you,” Amelia said with a small smile. “You shouldn’t shut yourself down to the world just because of one bad experience. Why, did you know that a co-worker of yours named Michael calls the house positively every single day to check on you? Sweetie, you should be open to…”

  “Sorry, Grandma. I need to lie down.” Pax tried to keep the anger from her voice. She moved so quickly that her body was a blur as it travelled up the stairs and entered her room. Once there, she shut the door behind her and began to pace. Even though her power was spent, she could not force herself to lie down. Her head ached more than her open wounds. Pax considered chewing her nails to ease her stress, but she had never found that habit enticing. Dragging herself over to her bed, she positioned herself horizontally.

  She lay on her scorched back and levitated off the bed until her nose touched the ceiling. Finally she lowered herself until her hair began to pool on her pillow. Pax repeated the procedure of vertical pacing before she abruptly dropped herself back to the bed. “Ow,” she muttered. She re
ached over to her night table drawers, and pulled out an old photo album. She turned onto her side and began to flip through the photos. They were mostly kiddie birthday photos where her mom had been present. The Burnson family had stopped taking photos regularly after the death of Bridget Burnson.

  Pax barely had any recollection of most of the images, but she drank up the images of her mother’s smiling face. I wish you were here right now, mom. I wish I could talk to you about this. She began searching photos for the Kalgrens. In every photo where Bridget was pictured with Thornton in the frame, Pax tried to search her mother’s face for approval or disdain. Give me a sign, mom. Tell me what to do. She fingered the photos desperately, using her prana to try and determine the opinions of a dead woman.

  When Pax started thinking about calling upon Suja and asking the demon woman to assume her mother’s form just so she could feel a sense of comfort, she knew that she had ventured too far from reason. Abruptly closing the photo album and stuffing it in her drawer, Pax exited her room through the window. She flew through the night sky drowsily, with her eyes closed half the time. Luckily, her route was a familiar one that she could navigate without vision.

  When her feet finally touched down on the ground, she was at Amara’s oceanfront home where her jeep was parked in the driveway. Pax felt a smile come to her lips as she put her arms around the car and pressed her cheek to the glass fondly.

  “It’s just me and you now, old friend,” Pax told her beloved metal box on wheels. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” She was digging into her purse for her keys when she noticed that a light was on in Amara’s house. It was her master bedroom. That’s odd. I thought Mara was staying under her father’s watch at the Kalgren Compound.

  Pax levitated up to the window, and could not see inside due to the curtains. She lifted the latch and slid open the window so that she could crawl inside. When she saw a familiar dark head of hair peek out from Amara’s bed, she frowned.