by Stina
“Why do they want my son?”
“Because Adis is different from us all. He has a soul.”
Chapter 3
Dena told the couple all they needed to know at that moment. She would wait to tell them about the prophecy. She felt that they’d been overwhelmed enough for one night. She could only imagine how Adirah felt seeing a hooded figure holding her child. Dena just hadn’t been able to help herself. Although she had plans to present herself by knocking on the front door, she just wanted to see what Adis looked like up close.
She’d seen him many times from afar, and he was cute as a button. Still, that had nothing on what it felt like to hold his little body in her arms. He’d stirred in his sleep and even woken up, but one look into Dena’s eyes and he recognized her. Not her, per se, but her eyes. They were his mother’s eyes. He allowed Dena to continue holding him and even to put him back to sleep without causing any alarm. He was everything and more. She knew she would do anything and everything to make sure he survived the war.
After her talk with Kesh and Adirah, it was agreed that they would pack as many things as could fit into their backpacks and leave their new life behind. Dena waited patiently until they were done and Adirah appeared back in the living room with the baby in her arms. There had never been a doubt in Dena’s mind that Kesh and Adirah would come with her. In all honesty, they didn’t have a choice.
“Come,” she said waving her arm. “My car is outside.”
“You drove?” Adirah asked, causing Dena to chuckle.
“Yes, I did. We are not savages. We have actually adjusted quite well to the change in times.”
The night was still when they stepped through the doors and, sure enough, there was a black Mercedes-Benz G wagon parked on the street in front of their home. Kesh took Adirah’s bag once Dena unlocked the SUV, and he put both of their bags in the back of it.
“Here.” Dena reached for Adis and Adirah held him tighter, leaning back.
“I got it,” she responded and stepped around Dena to the open back door.
There was a red car seat back there that Adirah strapped Adis securely into, and she made sure that the seat belt was locked. Her guard was still up when it came to Dena. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her, because when she looked at Dena, she saw a piece of herself. Still, Adirah felt as if there was something that was not being said to her. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it just felt like there was an elephant in the room.
“I did not mean to frighten you,” Dena told her once Adirah was done. “I just . . . wanted to see him.”
Adirah nodded but said nothing. Instead, she opted to climb into the car and step over Adis’s dangling legs. Behind her, she heard a small sigh before the door shut. Kesh got in the passenger’s seat, and Dena got in the driver’s side.
Dena started the car, but just as she was about to pull off, she put her nose in the air, sniffing. It was faint, but the odor was something that she had never been able to miss. When she turned to Kesh, he was doing the same as her. Their eyes connected. They both knew that it could only mean one thing.
“Lykan,” they said in unison.
As soon as the word was out in the air, they heard sounds coming from the house, and the living room light flickered on.
“It must have come through the back door,” Kesh said. “Our scents are still fresh. It will be able to track us now. I have to kill it.”
“No. You take Adirah, and I will handle the creature.”
“You are the only one who knows the location of the Ancients,” Kesh said, shaking his head. “It is you who must take Dira and the baby.”
“Kesh,” Adirah breathed sharply. She too smelled the foul odor. It was one she’d never experienced. She’d heard from the stories Kesh told her how fierce those of Lykan blood were, and just knowing that one was in her home looking for them was unsettling to her. “No. Let’s just go.”
“It will follow us, Dira.” Kesh turned in his seat and placed a hand gently on her face. “This is the only way to ensure our safety for now. I will find you.”
He turned back to Dena and nodded, giving her the silent okay to go. He got out of the car and walked toward the house. He was dressed like the typical mortal man in a gray Nike jogger sweat suit, with white tennis shoes on his feet. He was able to move easily, and when he heard the car pull off, he made to open the front door. He could tell that the Lykan sensed him as well and there was no purpose in trying a sneak attack. He twisted the doorknob and stepped into the front hallway of the home.
“Well, well, well,” a raspy voice greeted him. “If it isn’t Kesh of the Sefu clan.”
Standing exactly twenty feet away from him was a muscular man. He had coffee-colored skin and a black connected beard that matched the short hair on his head. His eyes, like all Lykan eyes, were the color of a phoenix’s fire. Although he was not in his Lykan form, his canines were naturally sharp.
“Long time no see, Willeth,” Kesh said calling him by his human name.
“Not since the last time we battled.”
“And I won,” Kesh reminded him.
“You got lucky that time,” Willeth said flexing his muscles in his black T-shirt. He studied Kesh, looking him up and down, and gave a laugh that was mixed with a snarl. “I never thought that I’d ever see you look so weak. So human.”
“Times have changed.” Kesh shrugged. “I have found that it is easier to endure this eternal life if I can fit in. Too many eyes on you can be a bad thing. Also, looks can be very deceiving. Now, Willeth, tell me why you are here.”
“I am here because you have something that we want.”
“My son.”
“Ding! Ding! Where is he?”
“You can’t have him,” Kesh growled.
“When I take him back to my master, it will be your fault,” Willeth taunted Kesh. “Don’t you know that? You have given birth to the first vampire ever to have a soul. Haven’t you ever read the prophecy?”
Kesh couldn’t hide the surprised look on his face.
“Well, of course you haven’t. Because if you did, I’m sure you and your precious lady friend would have thought twice before you brought the little slugger into the world. I’ll make this easy for you. If you hand him over, I will be sure to make the deaths of you and your lady friend . . . Adirah, right? I will make your deaths as quick and painless as possible.”
“You will not hurt my family. I defeated you before. I can do it again.”
“That,” Willeth said, chuckling, before throwing his arms to his sides and crouching slightly, “was before I drank the blood of an Ancient!”
He threw his head back and howled and began to transform right before Kesh’s eyes. Kesh could tell that he was different, bigger, fiercer. That wasn’t something that could just happen to a beast like him. Only a powerful magic could change a Lykan’s transformed body.
Kesh did the same thing. He quickly removed his jacket and the T-shirt that he was wearing. His transformation was quicker, and he felt his muscles grow bigger and his nails longer. His deadly fangs poked out from his mouth, and he felt every one of his senses heighten. He was at full power since he’d just fed, but still, he knew that battle was going to take something out of him.
In werewolf form, Willeth could not speak, but he didn’t have to. The thirst for blood in his eyes told Kesh all that he needed to know. Willeth was a sight to see. The claws on his feet bore down on the ground, and the long claws on his fingers were sharp enough to impale two bodies at the same time. He charged toward Kesh and swiped one of his hands at him ferociously, but Kesh jumped up onto the ceiling.
Willeth jumped and tried to grab Kesh; however, he fell to the ground behind the beast and punched him in the spine. The blow was a powerful one and should have sent Willeth flying in the total opposite direction; instead, he only stumbled a bit. Kesh followed through with his hand and swiped the beast’s face when it tried to take a chunk out of Kesh’s arm. It howled loudly and tried
to blink away the blood seeping into its eyes. Kesh tried to go in for another attack, but Willeth was ready for him that time. He grabbed Kesh’s attacking hand and flung the vampire so hard that he went through the walls of the living room and the bathroom. He crashed into the sink, cracking it and causing water to begin to spout.
With no time to catch his breath, he was up again on the defense as Willeth came plummeting through the walls as well. His howl sounded as he brought his claws down across Kesh’s chest and stomach, spraying blood on the tiled walls of the bathroom.
“Ahhh!”
Kesh had never felt a burning pain like that before. He didn’t understand, but it was like Willeth’s claws made him weak. As if they’d been dipped in the one thing that could poison him: holy water. He tried to fend off each attack, but Willeth had taken full advantage of Kesh’s weakening state.
After flinging him around a few more times, Willeth finally grabbed Kesh by the neck in the hallway. Sliding him up the wall and cutting off his airway, Willeth roared in Kesh’s face spraying him with saliva. Kesh watched in horror as Willeth’s already-sharp teeth grew sharper, and more teeth grew around them. Just as it was about to go in for the kill, Kesh felt his neck be released, and he dropped to the floor. Willeth flew back almost as if the wind had taken him, and he landed with the whimper of a hurt dog. Kesh didn’t see it but, shortly after Willeth’s landing, he heard the sickening crack of a neck being broken.
Kesh heard something coming his way, and he tried to stand up to defend himself, but he was too weak. He fell back down, but before he hit the ground, he felt a set of arms catch him.
“Kesh, are you injured badly?”
Kesh looked up and saw that he was staring into Dena’s face. She held a look of concern and her brow furrowed at his still-exposed wounds.
“Why are you healing so slowly?” she asked. “This is why I told you to let me handle it. Now not only is your scent here, but so is your blood. You need to feed.”
“The garage,” he said frailly, pointing in the garage’s direction. “There is food there.”
Dena laid him down gently and hurried in the direction he’d pointed. When she returned, she carried on her shoulder a cooler that she must have gotten from the garage. It looked to be full of ice and every pouch of blood that was in the freezer.
“Here.” Dena placed one to his lips. “We must hurry. When he does not return with any news at all, they will send a whole fleet. We must go.”
She didn’t have to tell him twice. His animalistic senses kicked in at the smell of mortal blood, and he downed the entire pouch in seconds. It gave him just enough energy to stand up and walk without swaying; however, his wounds still had not healed fully. Dena helped him outside to the SUV. After storing the cooler in the very back, she then went back to the house once he was safely inside.
“Kesh!” Adirah cried when he got inside and she saw the shape he was in.
“I’m all right,” Kesh told her and tried to give her a weak smile. “Dena came right in the nick of time.”
“We had only gotten to the end of the block when she turned around. She said that you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into.”
“She was right,” Kesh said, thinking back to the strength of Willeth and the way his claws affected him.
“You need to feed!” Adirah said staring at wide gashes on his chest.
“I have,” Kesh told her.
“Then why haven’t you healed?”
“I am,” Kesh said. “It’s just happening more slowly this time.”
In his peripheral vision, he saw a flash of red, and he smelled smoke. He whipped his head back to the direction of the house and saw that it was going up in flames.
The driver-side door opened and Dena hopped in. “They won’t have your scent or be able to taste your blood now.”
“Taste his blood?”
“Ancient Lykans, like Ancient vampires, can see a person’s entire life just by one drop of blood. There are things in your mind, Kesh, and you may not even know how valuable they are until someone else has them. Now, let’s get you all to safety. There are many things left to tell you.”
Her eyes once again fell on his battle wounds. She’d had centuries to work on her poker face, but at that moment she could not hide the clench in her jaw. Time was not on her side; the full moon was only two weeks away. That was when the war would happen. The Lykans would be at full power, and that was when she was sure they would strike.
Chapter 4
Back in North Carolina
“What’s on your mind?”
Tiev almost didn’t hear the feminine voice speaking to him. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he had forgotten where he even was. It wasn’t until he moved his legs that he felt the warm silk sheets underneath them. He’d been lying on his back with his eyes closed, but he opened them when he felt the hand on his bare shoulder. The first sight to his eyes was the high ceiling; it wasn’t until he turned his head on the soft pillow under his head that he saw the beauty lying next to him. Her skin was so light that during the time of slavery she’d always been able to pass. Her long sandy brown hair hung with the ends damp from the sweat that had been on her shoulders. Her eyes penetrated him as if searching for the soul that he didn’t have, and her full pink lips offered a smile.
“You’ve never been this quiet after we made love. Did I do something to displease you?”
Tiev reached to caress her face gently. “No, Risa, you were perfect. As you always are when we make love.”
“Then what is it?”
“You aren’t her.” His simple honesty came out harshly, but there was no other way to put it.
Risa, who understood what the situation would be when she got involved with Tiev, just nodded. Although his words felt like a blow, she knew from the beginning that she would have to work to win the love of a man still in love with a dead vampire.
“No, I am not Vila. I am Risa. Someone you can feel, touch, and who will love you back.”
Blow for blow. Tiev felt it in his gut. It was no secret to the entire Sefu clan that Vila had always been in love with Kesh. She was so focused on the king that she didn’t notice Tiev’s infatuation with her. For years they worked side by side and built a close friendship, but still, Vila only cared about Kesh, even after he bedded her and threw her to the side like a plaything. The only time she returned his attention was when she felt betrayed by Kesh. In a sense, Tiev felt betrayed by Kesh too. He was able to throw centuries of hard work away behind a mortal woman. He put the entire Sefu clan at risk by allowing her in their midst and, for that, he sided with Vila to overthrow him as king. Also, he couldn’t lie: he was very infatuated with the thought of being able to reproduce. A child was something he’d always wanted, ever since he was a mortal.
When Vila was killed, he vowed to avenge her death, but now he had an even bigger objective. He didn’t want to just destroy Kesh for her; he wanted to kill Kesh for his title. The Sefu needed a stronger ruler, mentally and physically. All he needed to do was feed from Kesh’s blood, as Adirah had, and he would be just as powerful.
“I apologize,” Tiev said turning to Risa. “You are right. Absolutely right. Maybe it is time that I let go of the past.”
“The past,” Risa said with wonder in her eyes. “We have come a long way from the coffin days. Haven’t we?”
“Yes,” Tiev agreed and pulled the comforter up so that his shoulders were covered. “After feeling these fabrics, I don’t know how I ever went without them for so long. Who wants a cramped coffin when I can have a king-sized bed?”
“The only kind of bed for a king. The future king of the Sefu.”
“I love the sound of that,” Tiev said.
And he truly did. Hearing those words come from her mouth aroused him. His thick, eight-inch member rose to attention, and he grabbed her forcefully, positioning her on top of him. She straddled him, and his strong hands rested on her wide hips. He growled in a low tone.
“You want me to fuck you again, King?” Risa whispered sexily down into his face.
The tip of his penis was at her wet opening, and he yearned to feel it completely inside of her. He nodded and moaned as she eased herself down on him, gasping from the pleasurable feeling.
“You fill me up, King. Do you know that?” she said as she began to bounce up and down on top of him. “I’m going to do you better than Vila ever could have, okay? I want to be your queen. Can I be that, Tiev?”
Tiev was in a blissful trance. At that moment, he would have given her anything she asked for. The feeling of her breasts pressed against his chest, mixed with the feeling he was getting down below, had him ready to explode. He allowed her to sex his thoughts away and, by the time he climaxed, Vila was the furthest thing from his mind.
Chapter 5
Young Lykan Cairo did not want to be the deliverer of bad news, but it was inevitable. As he walked through the dim halls of the Lykan mansion on the outskirts of Tennessee, he practiced the words he was going to say. It had been a while since he, or any of the others, had had a place they could call home: a place where they were able to walk around in their wolf forms freely, and a place where meals were not scarce. Six months prior, he himself had been homeless, wandering the world, not able to control the beast inside of him. The killing and feeding was all he knew for so long. Since he’d been turned the year prior, that was. His life seemed pointless until he got the call, until every Lykan in the surrounding five states got the call for that matter. An Ancient Lykan had been awakened.
Cairo had been one of the soldiers sent to scope out why Willeth had not returned when he was supposed to. When they arrived at what was supposed to be the residence of the king of the Sefu clan, all they were met with were the remains of the home and a Lykan skeleton. The vampires were long gone, and so was their scent. Since Cairo was the youngest, the other Lykans often treated him as disposable. They made him the deliverer of bad news, knowing what could possibly happen to him.