Unborn

by Natusch, Amber Lynn

  13

  “What is the meaning of ‘Unborn’?” I asked when I heard the collective gasp echo throughout the vehicle at the mere mention of what I was.

  “An angel who has not yet birthed its wings,” Oz said, pushing me away from him to speak to me directly. His gaze only faltered momentarily, taking in my state of exposed flesh. “There has not been such a creature earthbound in centuries,” he continued, zipping up the coat he had given me. He looked away as he did. “They cannot survive on their own. Without their own kind to protect and raise them, guiding them through their metamorphosis, they perish.”

  “So I am an oddity?” I asked plainly.

  “Not an oddity—an impossibility.” His tone was flat, but there was something in his eyes—a sadness. A disbelief.

  “I cannot be an impossibility, for here I sit in front of you, as real as anyone else in this vehicle.”

  “But the Unborn are children. You are not a child,” he said, his own confusion growing. “And they haven’t set foot on Earth in longer than I can remember, primarily because they evoke the response that the Breathers had toward you. To them, there is no tastier morsel.”

  “Inside,” Drew barked from the front seat, his unease with the situation growing. “I want her inside quickly. We can sort this out from there.”

  Without pause, Oz jumped out of the SUV and quickly disappeared around the side of the house. The others unloaded me from the car and whisked me through the front door, all on high alert for anything strange that could pose a threat. Oz was still nowhere to be seen.

  They searched the house, all calling out “clear” when they felt their area was secure. While they did, I stood alone in the middle of the living room, trying to make sense of what I had learned. The others no longer viewed me as Khara, but instead they saw me as a thing—one that required a label. This revelation only fueled their paranoia.

  Amid the ruckus around me, a lone low voice called out to the group, halting them all instantly with a single realization.

  “Her mother is an angel,” Casey said slowly. “And her father is Ares.”

  I watched as the four of them descended upon me, staring at me intently. They all turned a shade paler than normal.

  “Her eyes,” Pierson whispered, taking a fraction of a step closer to me. He reached out and cupped my chin in his hand gently, angling my face up to the light to analyze the emerald shade of my gaze. “How did we not see the resemblance sooner?”

  His question fell unanswered as they all gaped at me with blank faces.

  " alignTw the the rWe have to call him,” Drew uttered. “Now.” The four of them silently shared grim expressions at Drew’s words until Oz’s gruff voice broke the heavy quiet surrounding us.

  “The perimeter of the house is clear,” he reported, coming down the stairs. “The neighborhood is clean, too. I did a quick sweep just to be sure we were not followed . . .” His voice trailed off as he took in the sight before him: four solemn warriors staring deep into my eyes. “What’s going on?” he asked, stepping closer to me. “And who is it you have to call?” When no one answered him, he moved toward them slowly, coming to stand by my side, his arm grazing mine. “I don’t like having to ask twice, Drew. Who do you have to call?”

  He was unable to mask the growing irritation in his voice. I imagined he did not like being uninformed of things, nor was he used to being so. Yet there he stood beside me, his ignorance only fueling his anger until it was virtually palpable. He, like me, was in the dark.

  And he was not pleased by it.

  “Sean,” Casey finally replied after acknowledging that Oz would not let the issue go. Oz tensed at the name. “She is his sister. His true sister.”

  “Fuck,” Oz sighed.

  Casey smirked at his response, something about it amusing him greatly.

  “That’s exactly what he’s going to say when he finds out.”

  I took refuge in my underground sanctuary, not wanting to listen to the one-sided conversation that was taking place in the living room above anymore. I had only heard of Sean once, on the night I arrived in Detroit, but, even from that brief mention, I could tell he was highly esteemed by the others, if not feared by them. That thought weighed on me. I did not need another overprotective brother in my life, so I was less than enthused about having to potentially meet one.

  Stretching myself across my borrowed bed, I lay in the darkness and waited for the chaos to pass. Eventually my mind wandered off, wondering how Father was and if Persephone had indeed been taken back to him in the Underworld when I had been removed from it. Their relationship perplexed me—such passion and such hatred. It was impossible to make sense of his desire for someone who despised him so, and yet he pined for her desperately in her absence. If my abduction led to a breach of the agreement, she would be forced to stay with him permanently. He would be elated. She would be inconsolable.

  Before I could contemplate matters further, the basement door opened, spilling light into my shadowy home.

  “We need to talk to you before he gets here,” Drew said from the top of the stairs, his silhouette framed beautifully by the brightness behind him. “Prepare you, as the case may be.”

  “Prepare?”

  “Yes. There are things about the PC that you still do not know. I think it will help make your meeting go as smoothly as possible if we inform you of them beforehand.”

  “Smoothly?”

  Drew sighed lightly, descending a few steps before answering.

  “Sean can be . . . tricky, Khara. He is guarded, in much the same way as you are, but I imagine your reasoning for that quality is vastly different than his.”

  “Understood,” I replied, making my way up the stairs to join him. Before I could walk through the door, Drew stopped me by placing a gentle but firm hand upon my shoulder.

  shotoo “He gave nothing away on the phone, but I don’t think this news has pleased him. His tone was cool and unreadable, which is never a good sign with him.

  He will be here soon. In the meantime, I need you to know that no harm will befall you.”

  “You have said as much before, Drew. There is no reason for me to doubt you in your promise. Your honor is plain. It is a part of who you are. Fear not, brother, for I feel none.”

  The smile that perplexed and pleased me grew wide across his face. Try though I did, I could not look away from him when he wore it.

  “Well then, sister . . . he will be here shortly. Let me give you a crash course in all things Sean.”

  14

  My brother’s words rang true in my mind the second Sean set foot in the house. Everything about him screamed power, danger, and vengeance. His soulless black eyes pierced mine, looking for something that I was not sure they could find. But that apparently would not stop him from trying.

  Kierson seemed agitated by his presence, fidgeting mindlessly beside me with the hilt of his dagger as the dark-eyed one approached. Casey and Pierson remained on the couch while Drew stepped forward to greet Sean—their brother. Their leader.

  “This is Khara,” Drew said, extending an arm toward me. I stepped forward so Sean could examine me more closely.

  “And how did you come upon her again?” Sean asked, still standing feet away from me.

  “I nearly killed her,” Drew admitted with a hint of sadness in his voice. “At first, I mistook her for an Empty. My surprise by her appearance forced me to action, but once I touched her I knew.”

  “An Empty? How interesting,” he said, his words devoid of emotion. “Remind me again, why this is the first I’m hearing about any of this.” His expression was pleasant, but it was a ruse. To me, it belied his true irritation.

  “I knew that things had been taxing for you out on the East Coast. I did not wish to burden you with something that we had under control for the time being.”

  “Implying that it is no longer under control.”

  “No. There seem to be some complications.”

  “I se
e,” he replied, turning his bottomless black eyes to me. “We can discuss your failure to report later, Drew.” Everything about his delivery of that statement told me that Drew was not likely to enjoy that conversation. “Now, Khara,” he said, looking at me. “Let me see if Drew’s words are true, if you are indeed one of us.”

  Without hesitation, I advanced toward him, stopping only inches away. I looked up into his eyes and watched as he reached for my arm, his gaze never leaving mine. The second we connected, I felt it, and it was apparent that he did as well. His eyes slowly but unmistakably lightened to the very shade of my own and his expression softened. He knew then that what Drew had said was true. I was his sister.

  “I can feel it. She is one of us . . .” His words carried an awe that I had only heard on rare occasion. It was beautiful.

  “I am,” I replied softly. “And above that, they say I am your true sister, both of us born of the same mother.”

  “And who is your mother, child?”

  “I do not know for certain. I have never met her. She left me as an infant in the care of another. Drew and the others presume that she did this aligneveto keep me safe.”

  Sean growled.

  “From Ares.” He looked to the others momentarily, his eyes distant and harsh, but there was something else in them as well—pain. The kind of pain that only unwanted knowledge could bring. Father had that look often. “And with whom did she entrust you?”

  “Demeter, goddess of the earth and harvest.”

  “And she has kept you hidden all this time?” he continued with dubious inflection. “How? How is that possible?”

  “I do not know how. Our brothers concur that, because I am a daughter of Ares, I should not be—that my death would have been swift had Ares had any knowledge of my birth. But why would he search for something that he did not know to exist? Perhaps it was far easier to keep me safe than you imagine.”

  “But where did she keep you? Surely she did not hide you in plain sight. That would be madness, and I know that I have never come upon you before at her home.”

  “The woods. Somewhere deep in the woods where others rarely, if ever, ventured. Her earthly magic proved helpful in camouflaging me there,” I explained. “And the rest of my time was spent in the Underworld.”

  His eyes blackened instantly.

  “The Underworld?” he spat, his jaw clenching wildly. “How did you come to live where the damned roam free and torment reigns?”

  “Through a transaction—a barter.”

  His nostrils flared.

  “Explain. Now.”

  “Hades agreed to take me in trade at Demeter’s suggestion. It was the only way she could see Persephone. She thought if she were to provide him with a savory alternative to her daughter that he would release Persephone from her imprisonment in the Underworld. Demeter’s plan did not work out as she had hoped, but Hades did agree to take me, for what purpose I still do not know. In bringing me to his realm, Demeter was granted six months of the year with her daughter. The other six she had me, a burden that she grew to despise over time. She always wished that Hades would have grown to desire me instead of her own child, and reminded me of that hope unrelentingly, but he did not. Persephone is his obsession, explainable or otherwise. He loved me as a father should love his child. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

  “Interesting that Persephone has never made that fact known,” Sean muttered under his breath. He was perplexed by what I had told him.

  “She could not have told you even if she had wanted to. Her knowledge of what had been done was not to be shared without great consequence, as I understand it.”

  “Fine, but then who would sanction such a depraved agreement? Surely it took more than Hades’ compliance in this trade to bind you to the Underworld and demand Persephone’s silence. An outside party would have been required.”

  “I do not know.”

  He exhaled with frustration. It appeared as though Sean was not used to being without the crucial information others were so often denied. A similarity he and Oz shared.

  “Fucking Persephone,” he growled, clenching his fists tightly. “Trouble is never far when she is involved.” After exhaling slowly in an effort to calm himself, Sean continued. “It matters not. Not at the moment, anyway. I am more interested in sorting out who your mother is and how you came to be here.”

  “Agreed,” Drew concurred, still by my side.

  “How can we be certain that cether is anshe is my true blood? Ares has only once mated with the same female twice to create particular progeny: Jerzyr and Jaysen. It would be uncharacteristic for him to have done so again. Do we know that you were born of an angel as you were told?”

  “Khara,” Drew prompted. “Let him see the markings.”

  I nodded, pulling my shirt up over my head while I turned to expose my back to Sean. I felt him delicately brush my hair aside before his fingers lightly traced along the silvery white lines etched into my skin.

  “The Unborn,” he whispered. I was not certain he knew the words had escaped until I answered him.

  “Yes. Oz said that is what I am.”

  “She said I must find you,” he continued without pause. “That you were not safe now. You, Khara. You are whom she spoke of. She was warning me about you.” His voice was thick and heavy when he spoke, and I turned to see him staring at me, green eyes nearly glowing. “You truly are my sister.”

  “Who, Sean?” Drew asked softly from beside me. “Who said Khara was not safe?”

  Sean’s eyes softened in the slightest way.

  “Her mother. Our mother.”

  “But I thought you’d never met her,” Kierson inquired, confusion lacing his words.

  “And I still have not, but I received her message nonetheless through another channel. A channel that I would never question. There was little doubt that it was her at the time, and there certainly is none now.”

  “So you do not know her either,” I asked plainly.

  “No. She abandoned me to Ares right after I was born.”

  A voice called from the stairs as Oz sauntered his way down to join the group. Sean bristled at the very sight of him.

  “Well isn’t that interesting,” he drawled as he descended the last step.

  “Ozereus,” Sean uttered with utmost disdain. “I am uncertain what it is you find entertaining enough to drive you from your typical sullen solitude.”

  “And I am uncertain as to why you are devoid of emotion at the news of your twin. Not even an embrace for the newest member of the family? For shame . . . I guess some beings never change. You’re just as cold and monstrous as ever.”

  “What did you say?” Sean asked. His voice was not tainted by anger as I would have expected it to be, given the warning I had received about his temper. Despite Oz’s taunting, Sean’s tone held nothing but disbelief.

  “I said you’re just as cold and—”

  “I heard that part,” Sean interrupted. The hostility that had been absent a second earlier found its way into his words.

  “Oh . . .” Oz replied, a smug look of satisfaction overtaking his face. “You guys really don’t know anything, do you?” His eyes drifted from Sean to me and then back again, scrutinizing us. “I’d say it’s pretty clear you’re siblings, but just how many angels do you think Ares has bedded? Do you think that’s an easy task? He may have his charms, but I know for a fact that he has only screwed one in his lifetime, and she managed to only let that happen once. Not twice. So . . . that would make you twins, would it not? I’m surprised you couldn’t tell, Sean; you like to think your powers of observation are above reproach. I guess you two lack that ‘twin bond’ thing that the boys have.”

  “How could you possibly know such a thing?” Drew asked, unable to wrap his head around this revelation. Judging by the brief silence Sean and I shared, we, too, seemed disarmed by the claim Oz had made.

  “Because I’m as old as time,” Oz sneered. “Older than any of you and privy to
knowledge that you are not.” He scanned the room, his eyes eventually falling on Sean. “Even you.”

  “If you know so much, then why did you not know of her existence?” Sean countered heatedly.

  “Because even I do not know everything. I knew of their mating. I knew it produced a child—Ares’ invincible pet.” Oz spat his words as though the information they held had soured in his mouth. “But what I did not know—what none of us could have known—is that somehow your mother hid Khara away. For the life of me, I cannot imagine how she was able to accomplish such a task without being exposed.”

  “That is something we need to ascertain as soon as possible,” Sean grudgingly added. “But there is still something off about this—something that does not add up.” Sean’s brow furrowed at something while he spoke, as if he couldn’t quite piece the mystery together. “If it is true that Khara and I are twins, then she should be dead. Ares would have seen to that.”

  “That is what the others have said,” I concurred, trying to assess Sean’s expertly masked expression. “They said that if Ares had laid eyes on me, I would not have been permitted to survive.”

  A loud, hollow sound rang out through the living room when Sean slammed his hand through the wall.

  “That lying bastard,” he enigmatically growled, running his other hand through his dark waves. Agitation drove his movements, though I felt at a loss as to why.

  “What is it, Sean?” Drew asked, stepping toward Sean, his body creating a barrier between my twin and me.

  “Ares has always maintained that the second I left my mother’s womb, she thrust my unwanted body into his arms. That she was horrified by what she had birthed. I may not have fully believed his story at the time, but any alternative scenario I conceived in my mind was just unfounded speculation. But now,” he started, eyes fully fixed on mine. “He was lying. I know that because Khara is irrefutable proof of it. What she said is true: If Ares had laid eyes on her, she’d be dead.”