A low growl traveled across Des’ lips. His grasp tightened and he gently took her bottom lip between his teeth. Darcie released a pathetic whimper. She was unaccustomed to the onslaught of sensations assaulting her body.
Des stilled. His fingers loosened their hold.
No!
Darcie didn’t want him to stop; she never wanted him to stop. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him another long, impassioned kiss.
Des participated for a moment before groaning. Reaching up, he gently took her forearms and pulled them from his neck. With gentle force, he held them down by her side.
“Timeout,” he breathed into her face as he rested his forehead against hers.
She wiggled, trying to get her hands free. She wanted to touch him. She needed to pull him back to her. “I don’t want a timeout.” Darcie was so blinded by desire, she did not realize how wanton she sounded.
Des shook his head but kept contact with her forehead. “I didn’t come in here to make out with you on your bed.”
“What else is there to do on my bed?”
Alright, she heard it that time.
Mortified by her lack of filter, Darcie leaned away until their contact was contained to Des’ fingers wrapped around her wrists. The familiar sparks were hardly noticeable as his calloused skin met hers. Darcie frowned, wondering if their continued touching caused the igniting sensations to fade away.
I don’t want to lose them.
“I came in here,” Des began after a shaky sigh. “To see that you were awake and okay with my own eyes.”
The sorrow she witnessed in her vision laced Des’ words. She wanted to console him… to hold him to her until all of his worries disappeared. She hated knowing she caused him pain. It almost felt as if knowing he was in pain caused an equally debilitating pain in her. Darcie wanted to make it all go away.
But, before she could do anything, Des added, “You need to stop doing this to me.”
She stared at him. She didn’t understand what he was saying. “What?”
“Getting hurt. Being in pain. I cannot take much more.”
Darcie’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not like I did it on purpose.”
Does he really think I enjoy putting myself through all this crap?
She pulled her hands back and gave him a glare that would wither the most confident person.
He shook his head. “That’s not what I meant… You know I’m no good at this, Darcie.”
“Try,” she said. “Because right now you’re making me think you are actually mad at me for things that are totally out of my control.”
He ran a hand through his hair, momentarily distracting her.
How many times have I seen him do that? It must be his nervous tick. Focusing on the issue at hand, Darcie forced herself to resume her disapproving stare.
Des met her gaze. “I have bad luck, Darcie. The worst luck. The moment I admit how I feel, you fall under unimaginable pain. You cannot call it merely coincidence.”
She balked, her jaw dropping. “Yes, you can,” she snapped. “What happened to me has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with my mom being a freaking under-cover witch.”
He swallowed, looking pained as he stared at the bed. “You don’t understand. It’s as if the Creator has it out for me. Not one of my soulmates has survived long enough to… It’s like he enjoys throwing the new curve ball of you being a half-breed at me.”
Darcie chose to ignore the discomfort she felt when he mentioned his previous soulmates. She still needed to come to terms with that whole mess another time. Right now, they were discussing her.
“Are you upset that I am a half-breed?” she asked. She hadn’t contemplated the possibility before. “Is that like… a deal breaker here? Are your soulmates only supposed to be human?”
It did not escape her notice how easily they discussed the subject of soulmates, especially given that Des never really confirmed that is what she was. Sure, he implied it, but the term was never explicitly stated.
Des’ eyes snapped up to hers. “Of course not.”
“How do you know?” Now that the idea was in her mind, she couldn’t shake it. “Eshe and Bella were human. Maybe that’s the problem here. Maybe I would be a candidate if I was totally human, but I’m not.” Her throat threatened to close during the last sentence, but she pushed the sentence out.
Des leaned back, looking at her in disbelief. “Don’t be absurd. The problem is I am cursed… unlucky… whatever you want to call it.”
He stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. “How did we get so off topic? All I wanted to tell you,” his emerald eyes snagged her attention and her entire soul. “Is that I nearly went insane when I knew you were in pain. Then, once Alexander managed to relieve you of said pain, I almost became mad with grief and sorrow. I feared you may never get better, and that I lost the chance to be with you. That you might never wake up. I need you to stop doing that and just stay with me. Stay safe and healthy. That’s all I want.”
The hardness in her chest softened as she listened to the words. “I’m safe and healthy.” Darcie reached out and covered his hand.
Des picked it up and kissed the back of her hand. “Let’s try to stay that way. Shall we?”
Her heart swelled. “I’ll do my best.”
“I mean it, Darcie.” Worry was etched into every line of his face. “I need you to be careful. I-I can’t have something happen to you. I no longer believe I would be able to handle it.”
“I said I’d try,” she stated. She was touched by how much he cared, but she couldn’t help if someone or something tried to hurt her. “And I will. But like you said, I’m a half-breed. I have a feeling there is some inherent danger associated with that category... In addition to the other one...” She couldn’t bring herself to say she was his soulmate.
“I wish you weren’t thrown into this mess. I wish you had a normal life.”
Darcie frowned. “I don’t.” She meant it. Though the threats against her weren’t exactly her idea of fun times, she could not imagine not knowing about the immortal world.
“Besides,” she added. “Even if I didn’t know about you guys, my life wouldn’t have been normal. Witch mother, remember?”
Des responded with a shake of his head. “I still cannot believe your mother is Jennifer Bane. What is that human saying? ‘It’s a small world’.”
“That’s her last name? Bane?”
“Yes. She is a descendant from the warlock who founded the Nightsbane clan.”
“Do you know her?” Darcie almost didn’t ask the question. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for any more surprises that day, but she was unable to resist in the end.
“I know of her,” he answered. “From Alexander.”
Once again, the vampire was tied to her mother. How is he always connected to her?
Darcie scrunched her face. “I wish I knew what happened in the meeting.”
Des’ reply surprised her. “You could know.”
“What?”
“If you are Jennifer’s daughter, which no one can deny if they looked at the two of you, then you aren’t only a clairvoyant, but a cognizant.”
She remembered Alex using the unfamiliar title when speaking about her. She believed the two words were synonyms. “What’s the difference?”
“A clairvoyant can see things to come. Whether it be in seconds, minutes, hours, or days. A cognizant, however, is able to see any event they wish. Including events that happened in the past.”
“Are you serious?” she asked. “That’s… that’s crazy.”
“Crazier than your visions?” He lifted his eyebrows and tilted his head meaningfully.
He’s got me there.
Darcie leaned back against the pillows, but kept her head forward to continue looking at Des. “What else can I do?”
“Now that, I am not entirely sure of. You will need to talk to someone more knowledgeable about your half-breed gifts.”
<
br /> My mother.
Though Des did not say it, she knew that was who he meant.
“But you are saying I could revisit the meeting and listen in… because I’m a cognizant.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“But how am I supposed to do that?” She was never able to control her visions. What made Des think she could control mental trips to the past.
“Close your eyes and try?”
She rolled her eyes. “It isn’t that easy.”
“How do you know?” Des countered.
She withheld a sassy reply.
“Here,” he took her hand, scooting closer to where she lounged against the mound of pillows. “I was in the meeting. Focus on me. Close your eyes and try to picture me in the ballroom. Once you do that, attempt to change your perspective to mine. View the scene with my eyes.”
Once he finished, Darcie could only stare at him. He sounded mad. “Are you serious?” she asked. “How do you know that will work?”
“I don’t.” He shrugged. “But there is no harm in trying. Now, close your eyes.”
Darcie gave him one last disbelieving look before she finally obliged. Shutting her eyelids, she let herself relax into a comfortable position and released a slow, steady breath.
“Good,” Des encouraged. “Now, picture me.”
That was easy enough. Darcie’s brain pulled up the memorized image. Once again, she admired the formal and pristine outfit. It only enhanced his natural good looks.
“Once you see me. Switch perspectives.”
She wanted to give him an exasperated look. There was no way seeing the past would be that simple. The chances of her being able to control the cognizant ability without any training was pretty much impossible.
But before Darcie could tell him as much, an unseen force seemed to wrap its invisible hands around her mind. She gasped as a mysterious pull yanked her back in time.
15
Everything looked the same. The fancy ballroom remained vastly empty. The only occupants were the immortals and the seven cloaked individuals in front of them.
Up close, Darcie noted the warlocks and witches did not seem as intimidating as before. They were shorter than she believed, and their dark purple cloaks lost the otherworldly shimmer from her terrifying vision. The subtle creak of a door hinge reached her ears.
Her view turned to one of the side entrances. Gregory strolled in and immediately stood at Alexander’s side. The vampire whispered something into his superior's ear. Whatever he said, it was not welcome news. Alexander stiffened and gave Darcie one quick look before turning on his heel and following his second-in-command out of the ballroom.
Her gaze traveled back to the entourage in front of the stage. It was then that Darcie realized she was seeing things from Des’ perspective. She remembered where he stood relative to the other immortals around him. Also, it seemed she had no control over the view. Wherever Des looked was what she saw. While she wanted to turn back and look at the woman she hadn’t seen in over ten years, his gaze focused on the warlock addressing him and his brothers.
Master Ben started to ramble. “Jennifer Bane is our strongest clairvoyant. She was able to sense something was amiss with the girl,” he answered someone’s previously voiced question. “Due to their obvious connection, she was able to trace her location.”
“Explain yourself, Charmian,” Thane said in anger. Des’ eyes flicked down and Darcie saw Thane’s fists clench. “Why were we not informed?”
Charmian lifted her head high, not at all frightened by the immortal’s furious glare. “I suspected the girl may have some of my blood in her,” she revealed, shocking Darcie to the core. The teenager remembered all the times Charmian seemed to watch her… observing her every move. It was almost like she knew something. Her instincts regarding the immortal had been right.
“But,” Charmian continued. “I was not sure. Nor did I suspect Mistress Jennifer was her mother. Not until the vampire king approached me on the subject, that is.”
Des cleared his throat. “Alexander identified Jennifer Bane as Darcie’s mother to you?” It sounded weird for Darcie to hear him while she was in his head.
“Yes.”
“And yet you did not retrieve her?” Des let his anger seep into every word. “You must have known we were searching for her. Alexander would have mentioned it.”
Charmian did not bat an eye. “As Master Ben has told you, Jennifer only recently returned to the Nightsbane clan. I am not in regular communication with my offspring, so I was unaware of the change in her clan status.”
Darcie did not believe her, and it sounded like Des didn’t either.
“And what status is that?” Des finally turned his gaze to her mother. Jennifer stood with her hood down, but her head tilted forward in a respectful show of submission. “Active?”
“She has repented for her abandonment and resumed her role on the council,” Master Ben answered for the witch.
Repented? Darcie wondered how domineering the clan must be if a witch had to “repent” for leaving. If she had control over Des’ body, she would have turned his lips down in a frown.
“And then she came here?” Lome spoke up. Des turned and saw the younger brother cross his arms. He was just as upset. “But she waited until Darcie was in the worst pain imaginable before doing so. I’d like to know why a mother would delay a reunion with her daughter, especially since she must have heard all the talk surrounding Darcie. She has to know of the dangers she is in.”
“Yes,” her mother’s smooth voice finally unveiled itself. Des looked back at her, drawn to the sound which sounded eerily similar to Darcie’s.
Jennifer’s head was no longer tilted forward. She met Des’ gaze. “I heard the rumors surrounding your alleged connection with my daughter, but I heard nothing about the emergence of her powers. Not one word.”
Des continued to stare at the witch, allowing Darcie the chance to study her mother. She was smaller than she remembered. Darcie bet she would tower of the petite woman. Their hair was the exact same color, as were their eyes. All of her features, aside from her height, came from the woman whom she hadn’t seen since she was a child.
As she watched the woman’s expression, Darcie found herself believing her mother’s words. She had not known about her abilities, or that they were beginning to reveal themselves. But how is that possible?
Des, apparently, had the same thought. “Surely you knew her powers would come to fruition by her eighteenth birthday. You left her to cope with them on her own.” The accusation was not subtle.
Jennifer lowered her gaze. “I did not believe she would have powers.”
What? Why on Earth would you think that?
“This is not the time or place for such a conversation,” Charmian interrupted. She waved an arm, and Darcie’s mother dutifully stepped back into formation with the hooded figures.
“When the vampire king contacted me, he said this meeting would be in regard to our clan’s assistance with the search for the missing immortal,” Master Ben said. “Was that merely a ruse to lure us here to discuss the girl?”
“No,” Des stepped forward. His posture projected authority and strength. “You were called here to assist in the search for Bella. Will you help us?”
“We do not normally like to get in the middle of immortal feuds,” Master Ben stated. “But King Alexander is an ally, and he portrayed the situation as being near-dire.”
King Alexander?
It wasn’t until the warlock connected the title with the name that Darcie finally registered the newest piece of information.
Alexander is a king? What the hell…
Before she could further contemplate the outrageous news, the conversation continued.
“He is correct,” Thane spoke up and matched Des’ step until the two were standing side by side. “We are growing desperate in our attempts to find my wife. What will it take for your clan to join our cause and help the alliance against Adir
?” Darcie’s head spun.
Hadn’t Thane been adamant about not including half-breeds in the search?
A nagging sense of unease hit her stomach. Things must have gotten worse for the manic immortal to change his tune so drastically.
Master Ben shot Charmian an uneasy look. “As I said before, we do not aim to come between you and Adir. Our clan cannot afford to make an enemy out of one so powerful.”
“No,” Des replied. “What your clan cannot afford is to stand on the sidelines in this fight. If Adir succeeds in his efforts to overthrow The Council, no human or half-breed will be safe from the repercussions. He and his band of lesser immortals will run this world ragged to gain power until there is nothing left but shells of empty people and destroyed civilizations.”
The warlock’s face drained of color. “I-it cannot be as bad as that,” he sputtered. Once again, his eyes landed on Charmian, the immortal whose bloodline gave his clan life.
“I am afraid it is,” Charmian responded. She moved her hand in some signal which instructed all of her offspring to stand. “It is why I insisted you heed Alexander’s warning and comply with Thane’s request to meet. The Nightsbane clan cannot afford to stay out of the conflict.”
“Mother Charmian,” a bland voice called out from the back of the formation. “Why not request another clan’s involvement. Nightsbane is growing smaller with every generation. We cannot afford to lose any more members.”
Lome scoffed. “As if you would be doing any fighting,” he condescended.
The witch lowered her head, unwilling to challenge the immortal and his frustration.
“There will be danger,” Charmian said, giving Lome an irritated look. “Make no mistake about that. But Nightsbane is the strongest clan, and the one with the most clairvoyants. If anyone has the ability to see Bella’s location, it is one of you. You know the other clans will not take the risk. And even if they did, they do not have the abilities of Nightsbane.”
“I propose only three of us contribute to the alliance,” a masculine voice called out from behind Master Ben. “The rest of us need to return to the clan.”
Envisioned (Immortal Chronicles Book 3) Page 10