"Yes," Azaerlyn murmured with feigned sorrow, her black eyes flashing with unholy glee. The Queen held her breath, waiting for the initiate's next words. "It is a price I am willing to pay because I will survive and I will recreate the Apocritae in my image and I will no longer be beholden to anyone."
"No!" the Queen cried out, diving for the girl, the box that was their destruction, but it was too late. Blinding light spilled outwards, burning up their world. Screams rose into the evening sky and were suddenly silenced as the destruction swept up every Apocritae in its path, leaving nothing behind but a burnt shell of their existence. The human world returned to the primitive state it had struggled so hard to escape.
When the light faded the old Queen lay dying and the new Queen was triumphant. The only technology that was left of the world before was the gestation tank that held three small life forms. The Queen blew up the world to create her sons and reign supreme.
*****
Outside the curtained room, both Adam and Auberon felt the change as it crashed over the world, emanating outwards from Celeste. It was unexpected to say the least and they turned their heads and faced one another, “Oh, fuck.”
With no other thought but to extricate Celeste from the Adytum NOW, they entered the room and froze when they saw Celeste’s unconscious body lying there, the Calix hovering over her. There wasn’t time for this; the Queen was bound to have noticed the spike, even with the safeguards surrounding Celeste. Adam grabbed the Calix and pulled her from the bed, dropping to his knees and checking Celeste for signs of life. He let out the breath he had been holding when he felt a strong pulse beneath his fingertips, saw the rise and fall of her chest.
“I’m so sorry: there was no time and I had no choice. I gave the power back too quickly, it was too much….” The Calix’s voice trailed off as she forgot the words she was saying.
Auberon sensed the loss of what was left of Gloria the moment it happened; any sweetness she had possessed was forever gone. He watched Adam stroking Celeste’s hair, the concern and love etched in his face. Putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder, he said, “You cannot be seen with her.”
“Who is the girl?” the Calix asked, her voice dripping with sensuality as she reverentially ran her finger over the girl’s smooth cheek. Looking up at the two Apocritae, her eyes shining black, she breathed, “She’s beautiful; is she here to feed?”
“No!” Adam growled, scooping Celeste up from the cushions, holding her to his chest as if he was never going to let her go. As if he could protect her from the Queen.
Adam started to leave the room when Auberon grabbed his arm and forcibly stopped him. Holding his brother’s angry black gaze, he took the girl, cradling her in his own arms. Auberon had to protect themselves from his brother's protective instincts. Everything would be lost if Adam carried the girl through the Adytum; everything they had sacrificed, everything they had accomplished, would be for nothing if Mother and the Council lost faith in Adam. More importantly, he had to keep Adam safe for Celeste. “Adam, you have to shadow walk out of here; they cannot know that you were ever here.”
“Auberon, I can't let you do this,” Adam said through gritted teeth, his hands curling into fists.
“It’s for the best,” Auberon said reasonably. “The Council already has their doubts about me; we cannot allow them to question you, too.” He smiled wickedly as he nodded towards Celeste, “Besides, the new Queen will need her lover by her side; you don’t want to leave Celeste vulnerable, do you?”
Obviously torn, Adam squeezed his eyes shut, “But I am responsible….”
“She is the hope of all of the Apocritae,” Auberon said softly. “She is our freedom but it will be fruitless if she is to lose her soul. Protect her at all costs, Adam, even if it means sacrificing me.”
Auberon felt his brother's anguish; the choice was untenable: his brother or the savior of their entire race. Adam's hand hovered over Celeste's cheek and Auberon saw how it trembled. "It will be all right, Adamanteros; trust me, brother."
"Damn it, Auberon."
"Do you know how a person says, 'I love you so much I would die for you?'" Auberon asked softly, drowning in his love for the girl. At Adam's single nod, he lowered is voice to a rough rasp, "Love her so much that you'll live for her."
Chapter 15
The shock of an initiate's arrival took the Queen’s breath away, forcing her to grab onto the edge of the chaise to keep from falling off. Her other fingers curled into the flesh of her abdomen as the aftershocks coursed through her thin body. Pained, she took deep breaths to keep from screaming as the world around her convulsed, turning on its head as a new power emerged, a threat to her throne.
This should not be possible; she had taken extreme measures to prevent any and all competition! That damn wrinkle; it was her only warning. Clenching her jaw, she searched through the fog and a smile formed on her red lips. While the upstart teemed with power the girl was very young and very inexperienced; there was still a chance to destroy her before she was strong enough to make a play for the throne. She just needed to discover the girl's location and annihilate her and all of those who aided her.
Tapping her long nails against the arm of the chair, she narrowed her eyes in thought. The Queen-initiate was young, no more than an infant, otherwise she would have felt the threat long before now. Perhaps it was a recent pregnancy, which would explain the wrinkle and the sudden surge. Her sons would locate the threat and eliminate it at once, their loyalty unquestionable. They would deal with the pregnancy with cool efficiency and the Queen would once again be without an equal. As if the initiate would ever be her equal.
The thought almost made her smile.
“SLAVE!” she bellowed at the man who had entered her lair not two minutes before the event occurred. She opened her eyes and was pleased to see that the slave had no color left in his face as he trembled where he stood. “Tell me something I will find useful or I will drain you of your blood and leave your carcass to rot in a trash heap.”
“Your M…Majesty,” Stephen stammered, trying to reconcile his decision of giving her his daughter with his guilt of doing so. But it was his only chance of rescuing his beloved wife. “I believe we found the source of the… the wrinkle.”
Her lips curved upwards slightly, her black eyes sparkling with pleasure; the man's timing was perfect. It is what she expected from her servants. “Tell me.”
“We… we took her blood recently,” he managed to pull out the fourth and final vial of Celeste’s blood, holding it before him with shaky hands. “It… it has some unique properties that you might find interesting.”
“Tell me,” she demanded, growing irritated with the slave’s procrastination. Then the smell of the blood in the vial reached her nose and her nostrils flared; it was the blood of a powerful Queen. Powerful but young, very young.
Standing up, she sauntered over to where the white-haired man stood. Running a finger down the lapel of his lab coat, she smiled derisively at him, letting her long fangs gleam in the bright light. When he flinched, she moved her mouth closer to his rapidly pounding jugular. Her breath was hot against his neck when she whispered, “Tell me her name.”
He swallowed, closing his eyes and taking a blind leap; it was his only chance. “If I give you her name, I want something in return.”
So the slave had a bit of spine after all. Tilting her head back, her black eyes searched his expression, noting not only the fear but the determination as well. It amused her, so she decided she would play along. For now. There was always time to destroy him later, when he came to the end of his usefulness. Letting her eyes drift over his tense features, she offered a dark smile, “What do you want in return for her name?”
“My wife,” he said firmly even as his heart pounded rapidly in his chest and beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, even though the room was cool. His tongue darted out and he nervously licked his dry lips. He forced himself to meet the Queen’s frozen, gleaming blac
k eyes, the alien-ness doing nothing to calm his nerves.
The Queen laughed, cold and harsh, “I will never take a human as a mate.”
“No,” he shook his head. “My wife was… she was made into a… a Calix over twenty years ago. I want her back; I would do anything to have her back.”
Her laughter rang through the room once more, this time with incredulity. “You expect to save a twenty-year-old Calix? It’s impossible.”
“I don’t care,” he said, raising his chin, his fervent hope making him bold. After all of this time, he was so close…. “I want my wife back.”
“Fine,” the Queen waved her hand. It made no difference if she had to sacrifice a Calix for her goal; she had sacrificed far more throughout her life time. There was nothing the slave would be able to do for the vessel; it would never consent to being with a… human. “Give me a name.”
“Gloria,” he murmured with all of the love and devotion left in his heart. So close….
“Not the Calix’s name you idiot!” she hissed, turning on him. Her black eyes flashed with wrath, her razor sharp fangs glistened with moisture. Snatching the glass vial from his hand, she held it in front of his face. “Whose blood is this?”
“What do you plan on doing with her?” Stephen asked, suddenly horrified by the vitriol in the Queen’s beautiful, deadly expression. The hostility removed the beautiful mask for that moment and Stephen knew bone-curdling fear. Maybe he should have thought this whole plan through before he came to her. But it was his only chance…. The Queen squeezed her hand and the vial broke, spilling Celeste’s blood and making Stephen flinch. Her hand opened and the glass fell to the floor, the red liquid spreading outwards.
“I will ask only one more time,” she said, her voice cool, calm, and filled with the promise of death should he fail to answer. She continued to glare at him as a male Apocritum silently crossed the room and took her wounded hand in his. “Tell. Me. Her. Name.”
“Give me time and I will deliver her to you myself,” he murmured, staring at his daughter’s blood staining the Queen’s pale hand. He needed time to set his plan in motion; he needed time to get more of Celeste's miraculous blood.
Stephen's mouth fell open as he watched the Apocritum swipe his tongue across the blood, removing the evidence of his betrayal. The Apocritum lifted his head, the black eyes gleaming unnaturally in his preternaturally beautiful face. Stephen’s breath caught; he would be condemning his daughter to hell.
“I could kill you where you stand,” the Queen coldly smiled, dismissing the Apocritum servant and running a long finger from Stephen’s temple to his chin. “Give me her name."
"If I tell you her name what is to prevent you from killing me anyway?"
"True," she smiled with a hint of approval. Sitting back in her throne, her posed relaxed as she stared at him with fathomless black eyes, she bowed her head, "Very well; bring me this wretched girl.
His throat moved but he couldn’t swallow, not after what he had just done. Nodding once, he asked in a hoarse voice, “My wife?”
“Bring me the girl and I will give you your wife,” she smiled frostily, her attention already drifting away from the mad man. “You have a week to bring her to me. And if you should fail….”
Stephen watched her shrug a delicate shoulder and he knew she was giving him an ultimatum: his life would be forfeit should he fail. But he would not fail, not after coming so far; not after what he had done. Besides, he still had a card up his sleeve: Auberon, the man who had betrayed the Queen. He had witnessed it with his own eyes not a week before when the leather wearing Apocritum surprised Celeste, looking at the girl with blind devotion as she smiled up at him.
Bowing, he backed towards the door, “As you wish.”
His eyes darted to the Apocritum who stood in the corner, his black eyes narrowing as he continued to stare at the Queen. Stephen blinked slowly, not sure he was seeing what his mind was telling him: the Apocritum was glaring at his beloved Queen, glaring with such animosity Stephen could almost feel it. The Apocritum turned his head and their eyes met from across the room and Stephen forgot how to breathe; he could see a ring of white surrounding the black.
Quickly, he turned and ran from the room; hope rising in his chest. If his daughter’s blood could do that to a full-blown Apocritum, he could only begin to imagine the effects it would have on a Calix. On Gloria. He could no longer think of Celeste as his daughter; he had to remain focused. After all of these years, he was going to find success; he was going to have his wife back!
There was so much to do but first he had to prepare his house for his wife's homecoming….
*****
Celeste’s eyes fluttered open and she knew at once that she was in her and Adam’s bedroom back at the estate. The meeting with her mother made her want to cry in sadness and joy and absurdity; she buzzed with power but she had no idea how to use any of it. Her hand automatically went to her stomach, protecting the life that grew within her as she thought about what her mother had gone through. Gloria had willingly agreed to be a host for a new Queen, to become a Calix and be at the whims of a cruel race, to drink human blood and be used in return.
A tear slid down her cheek and she rolled over onto her side, trying to escape the thoughts that kept plaguing her. She flinched when she saw Kim sitting in the chair, staring at her with zealous intensity; she looked like an alien wearing a Kim mask. Shaking her head, she smiled, realizing her best friend was finally awake. If her experience was anything like what Celeste had gone through it was no wonder that Kim was still shell shocked. “Kim, I didn’t know you were there.”
“I have been standing watch over you all night, my beloved,” she said. Even her voice was different; smooth, with a soft cadence. Her blond hair was perfectly curled and her eyes were… they were enigmatic pools of blue. She was unnaturally perfect, her beauty cold and distant.
“Won’t you miss work?” Celeste pushed herself up into a sitting position, resting her back against the headboard and regarding Kim with curiosity and bewilderment. There was shell shocked and then there was complete personality transplants….
“You are my only devotion,” Kim said in the eerily beautiful voice.
Celeste’s brows drew together, “But what about Harvey….”
“You are my only devotion.”
Her best friend was acting so strange. Is this what was intended when she remembered being an angel? Celeste wasn’t sure she liked it; she preferred the old Kim, the irreverent Kim. “Where’s Adam?”
“I forbade him from intruding upon my beloved’s slumber,” Kim answered in that bizarre manner of hers. Celeste really hoped that it was an act but she had the sinking feeling that it wasn’t. “Does my beloved wish to see him?”
“Please.” God, more than anything! She had no idea who this stranger occupying Kim’s body was and she needed to see a familiar face. She needed to see Adam’s face.
“As you wish.” Kim bowed her head in acquiescence, standing and walking over to the door to allow Adam into the room.
Celeste let out the breath she hadn’t even known she was holding; did she really think Kim could keep Adam away from her? She glanced at the girl in question and had to admit that the possibility was there; Kim was a Guardian Angel. What kind of powers did Guardian Angels have, anyway? Could she truly keep Adam away? Apparently, since Adam was not with her when she awoke.
Adam rushed into the room and she cried out in relief, holding out her arms to hold him in her embrace. He was on the bed next to her, surrounding her, and she could finally breathe, “Adam.”
“Celeste.” His voice was ragged as he blindly found her mouth with his, sinking his fingers into the silken strands of her dark hair.
“Does my beloved wish for me to remain?” Kim’s angelic voice floated between them and Adam let out a low growl.
Holding Celeste to him, Adam looked over his shoulder and growled, “Leave.”
“My beloved?” Kim asked, search
ing Celeste’s face and ignoring Adam completely.
“Please, Kim,” Celeste said, biting back an inappropriate smile at Adam’s dark expression. Her emotions were royally screwed up if she felt like laughing when she needed to be serious.
“As my beloved wishes,” Kim tilted her head to the side, stepping out of the room. Before closing the door and leaving them alone once more, she offered, “Should my beloved wish anything, I shall be on the other side of this door.”
“All right,” Celeste murmured, waiting until the door closed completely before laughing. It was either that or give in to tears. What happened to her best friend?
“It’s all right,” Adam murmured, lovingly stroking her hair, pressing kisses to her temple. “The angel has been dormant for so long that it is over-powering Kim for the time being; things should return to some semblance of normality.”
“When?” Celeste asked, wiping a tear from her cheek. Wasn’t laughter supposed to prevent the tears from falling?
Adam shook his head, looking at her with a lopsided smile, “I don’t know.”
“Everything is so strange now,” Celeste sighed, snuggling further into Adam’s warm embrace. Listening to the strong rhythm of Adam’s heart, lightly running her fingers over his chest, she sighed, “Who knew falling in love could change the world.”
He kissed the top of her head, hugging her closer, “You love me?”
"Of course I do." Tilting her head back, she reached up and cupped his jaw, “How could I not?”
“Celeste,” he mouthed, his voice strangely absent as he looked down at her. Softly, tenderly, he bent his head and slowly moved his lips over hers. Their bodies drifted down until Celeste’s back was pressed into the soft bed and Adam’s hard body covered hers.
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