Wings Of A Phranoy
Page 20
Chapter Fourteen
Drip-Drip-Drip
“Not again.” I mumble as I rush to my feet and lunge for the candle. Once it’s secured in my hand I turn my back to the cavern wall and scan the area for Raider. I thought once the bond had been secured with Xavier I would be done with this particular nightmare. I guess not.
Shadows dart from wall to wall across the open area of the cave making it seem smaller as the darkness closes in on me. For several minutes I stand there watching the shadows swell around me till only the light of the candle haloing me remains. I try to keep my breathing even and calm but the rapidly changing colors I see from the corner of my eye says my wings were giving away that I was anything but calm.
‘Xavier, please wake me up.’ I try to state it calmly but my voice shakes inside my head just as it would if I was speaking aloud. A movement more solid than the shadows catches my eye and I turn my head to meet Raider’s glare right beside me. He is leaning against the wall casually, putting his head even with mine, but his cold eyes say he is anything but casual at the moment. They scream of rage and condemnation. I am grateful to notice there isn’t any pull between us. The bond cured that problem at least.
“Well, if it isn’t my daughter-n-law.” His grin is mirthless. I steel myself not to react to him. “You may have out smarted me this time out of pure dumb luck, but you will never do it again. I can promise you this.” I bite my lip to keep the smart retort from coming loose. Antagonizing him has never been my smartest move.
“How are you still doing this?” I ask instead. He holds his hand up in front of my face, a silver chain with a blue winged Phranoy hangs from it. My necklace, the one the King gave me at age ten. On instinct I reach for it but he moves quicker than lightening pinning my hand against the wall with his free hand and throwing his forearm against my throat with the other cutting off my oxygen. The necklace still dangles from his fingers. My free hand grabs his arm prying at it, trying to get a grip. My nails rake across his skin causing blood to well on his arm. He hisses and presses down harder.
“You will never be free of me. I will be the one to finish you in the end, Evangelina. And in terminating you I will destroy that no good son of mine in the process.” He throws his head back and cackles, his grip loosening with the action. I feel a familiar sucking sensation signaling I was waking. I couldn’t leave without the necklace if that is how he was calling me here. Steadying my feet I kick out nailing him in the groin before grabbing the necklace in my free hand and jerking. It wrenches free of his grasp as I slip back into the darkness of sleep.
“Sam!” I sit up gasping and immediately look to my hand, the necklace sits safely in my palm. Clasping my hand over it I fall into Xavier’s embrace letting him comfort me. For the first few minutes nothing but Xavier’s arms wrapped around me matters, then things start to sink into my brain.
I was sitting on a bed, a shimmering dress similar to the one I was wearing the first time I woke up here has replaced my filthy clothes. Xavier to had changed into a clean pair of light weight pants, his body smelt freshly clean of soap and basil, the smell reminds me of the first day I saw him in the Great Hall. I crack my eyes open to scan the room with its deep blue walls, light tan carpeting, an old wooden dresser and mirror combo, a desk and three doors. One presumably leading out, another to a closet and the third was open to reveal a bathroom of sorts.
When my shaking has calmed down I gently push away from Xavier’s chest feeling uncomfortable sitting on a bed with him. My wings are a steady bright pink showing my embarrassment. His hand grazes my chin then applies pressure forcing me to face him.
“Why are you embarrassed?” He asks and by the emotions hitting me I know he is confused by my reaction.
“Damn wings.” I mutter to his chuckle.
“It has nothing to do with your wings, Samantha.” He places his other hand over my heart making my breath hitch. “The bond is complete. I can feel everything you feel and I don’t need the glasses or to look in your eyes to feel it. I’m sure you can feel me also?” It was stated as a question but it was defiantly a statement. Yeah I could feel him, I could feel so much of him my chest hurt. I only nod not trusting my voice to answer. “Now that we understand that, why are you embarrassed?” My eyes dart around the room not wanting to meet his gaze as I lie to him.
“Nothing, just not sure where we are.” I croak, I was a horrible liar. He sighs heavily letting go of my chin.
“Yes, you are a bad liar.” My head snaps up to his smirk. “I can not only feel you, I can hear you to.”
“Why can’t I hear you?” I mumble, my embarrassment growing. What all has he heard in my head in the last five minutes?
“Because I am better at blocking you. You don’t know how.” I glare at him.
“Well that isn’t fair now is it? Not only can you feel me and hear me but my wings tell on me to. Yet all I get are your emotions?” I cock my head and quirk my brow at him. He laughs.
“You have so many other talents I don’t, I thought it was only fair.” He grins, I growl.
“No it’s not fair and besides doesn’t the bond give you my talents to?” I ask grumpily.
“Yes but we will have to work on that. I was surprised when you were able to take control of the wind and I was able to hold that power. It doesn’t normally work that fast.” My mouth falls open as I realize what he’s saying. I could have seriously hurt him infusing the power inside him like I did. My stomach sinks like a rock as all the possible outcomes of my actions run through me. He cups my face gently staring into my eyes.
“Don’t do that. It all worked out and no one was hurt. No sense in feeling regret or guilt now. We make a good team, that’s all.” His voice is so tender and soft I lose myself in it for a second instead of the dread filling me.
“So, where are we?” I ask pulling away from him, the nervous embarrassment back full force. I glance down at the bed then quickly, to quickly stand to my feet. My knees buckle under me, his strong grip on my arm the only thing keeping me from falling face first on the floor. He pulls me back down on the bed then stands and steps away from me. Relief floods me but so does emptiness from his distance. I wrap my arms around my middle rubbing my arms with my hands, this was so confusing.
“First, we are back at The Cloud. We flew straight home not stopping like on the way there. You have been out for almost twenty hours.” I gasp at his words but he continues as if he didn’t hear me. “As for where in The Cloud are we?” He waves his hand around the room gesturing to our surroundings. “This is our suite.” This time it’s his eyes that don’t meet mine.
“Our suite?” I practically whisper, that nervousness growing deep in my belly. Oh God, please tell me he doesn’t mean what I think he does. He clears his throat his face turning red as I feel a strong wave of embarrassment that isn’t mine wash over me.
“I informed the King of the bond. He gave us these rooms for living quarters, for now.” He rubs the back of his neck and begins pacing the floor before he steps to the door to the closet. He opens it revealing it wasn’t a closet but another room, a couch, table with chairs, a small coffee table and a recliner type chair was spread throughout. “I will take the couch for now.” I glance to the couch then back at him as he stalks quietly back towards me before sitting beside me leaving a three inch gap between us.
“I know you are young, Sam. I also know you are not ready for everything this bond includes. I understand and respect that. When you are ready, so will I be. You have nothing to worry about, Samantha.” His voice is quiet but reassuring. Curiously I feel no emotions from him as he speaks and I wonder if he can block those from me to. I glance back to the couch then to his strong, large frame. He would never fit comfortably on that couch; half of him would hang off one end or both. I take a deep breath before I speak, knowing he probably already knew what was coming but I had to say it out loud anyway, for me.
“Your right, I’m not ready, Xavier. However I can’t make
you sleep on the couch either. Do you think if we shared the bed that ….um….” I close my eyes trying to force the words past my lips. I could face hundreds of terrifying Ranoy but couldn’t talk to him about sleeping in the same bed. How lame was that?
“Can I sleep in the bed with you and promise to keep my hands to myself?” He asks humor lacing his words and penetrating my insides. I nod still not looking at him. “Yes, I can do that.” His arms wrap around me pulling me to his chest in a strong embrace. “I also promise the decision to kick me out of this bed at any time is also yours.” I puff out a laugh then relax into him feeling much better about this predicament.
“And how did the King take the news about our bond?” I ask casually. Well, I try to. He throws his head back and laughs.
“He had a few choice words about it but in the end knew the truth as much as I did. Fate chooses our Kindred and there is nothing we can do about it, even the King can’t change the order of things.” He drops a kiss to my forehead his lips curling into a smile with his words. “He wants to see you. I was with him when I heard you call. I took off so fast he was screaming at me when I left about respect.” He chuckles. “Axel was also in the room. The last thing I heard before leaving his suite was him explaining the dreams to the King. So hopefully he will understand before we return that I wasn’t being disrespectful and even if he doesn’t, you are more important than what he thinks.” I tilt my head up to meet his gaze a ‘thank you’ on the tip of my tongue when he lowers his head and takes my lips in a gentle kiss. My gasp opens me to him and he takes full advantage in a sweeping of his tongue that sends shivers through me.
It only lasts a few seconds but when he pulls back and wraps me tighter in his hold tucking his face in my hair at my neck, I feel like my entire life changed with that one kiss. Xavier was mine and I was his. For all eternity. The knowledge runs through my veins, solidifying in my brain and taking root in my heart. I slowly let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and relax into him. I know he can feel me as I can feel the emotions rolling off him but neither of us speak as we sit there wrapped in each other’s arms.
Sometime later after I enjoy a much needed bath Xavier leads me hand in hand through the corridors of The Cloud to the Kings suite. A large Phranoy, who I can only say had to be a guard, stands at the entrance to his rooms. A large sword hangs from his left hip, a dagger secured to the right, his pants were tighter than any of the other men’s I had seen presumably to help him in battle by not having the lose clothing as a distraction or weighing down his legs. His golden wings appear to be tucked behind him however they were so huge they still framed his upper body in shimmering gold. He stood close to eight feet tall making me have to practically bend over backwards to look him in the face. He was the biggest Phranoy I had seen yet, granted I hadn’t been up close to many but still he was also much larger than even the Drumon.
“Sam, this is Jordan, personal guard to the King.” Xavier grins at the man who doesn’t even flinch. “Jordan brought you here when the King and he were attacked after retrieving you from the human world. He is still grumpy that the King made him leave him to be taken in order to save you.” The hulking man in front of me cuts his condescending eyes to me, an unearthly sound rumbling in his chest. He obviously didn’t like the idea of saving me over the King. Xavier reaches for the door opening it.
“Thank you for bringing me here. However if I would have been in your place I would have left me for dead and saved the King. He was obviously the better choice than a nobody like me.” I shrug my shoulders and follow Xavier into the room but I didn’t miss the widening of Jordan’s eyes and the small amount of respect that flickered through them before they went blank once more.
‘You will always be the obvious choice, Sam. You are far from a nobody.’ Xavier’s angry voice flits through my head making me stumble for a brief second before I catch myself and continue following him. He doesn’t make a move like he just spoke inside my head, doesn’t acknowledge my faltering steps, he continues on as if nothing happened, opening a door to a study and allowing me to pass inside. The soft click behind me signals the door has closed and I glance back to see Xavier did not follow me inside the room.
A large desk takes up most of the area in front of me with two smaller chairs in front of it. The chair behind the desk is facing the other direction however the brilliant blue wings spilling out of the sides lets me know the King is seated inside it. I stand awkwardly where I stopped not knowing what to do. Am I supposed to curtsy, clear my throat to get his attention, wait patiently, which I am not good at by the way, what did I do? I wait.
After only a minute or two the chair spins bringing me face to face with the unearthly cobalt eyes of the King. Eyes that I have wondered about since my arrival, eyes that seemed so familiar yet not at all human. By the visions I saw in the desert I know this man has been in my life since my birth but who exactly was he? Was he really a doctor? Was he a friend to my mother? Or was he really my father as they told me when I arrived? So many questions yet the only thing I can do is stare into that unwavering glowing gaze. It is him that breaks first, standing to his feet and offering me a chair.
“Have a seat, Evan… Samantha. We have much to talk about.” His smile is warm and kind, his eyes soft as he takes in my features. Quietly I do as asked and sit not taking my eyes off him. “Welcome home, daughter.” I drag in a heavy breath as someone sits a weight on my chest.
“Home?” I ask quietly.
“Yes, home. This is where you should be. Where you should have been your whole life. Unfortunately I couldn’t bring you here till your death on earth. We, the Phranoy, can travel to your world but the humans do not survive transport to ours. Therefore I brought you over in the moments death claimed you only to revive you once the trip was made. For a few moments you had me worried though, you didn’t want to come back to me and I was afraid all was lost. Jordan, the guard out front, he was the one who finally was able to bring you back.” His smile softens as he glances towards where the big guard was positioned outside the doors was.
“How?” I croak.
“He has a very special talent among us. Let’s just say he shocked you back to life.” His grin is infectious and I find myself grinning back.
“I will have to thank him then.” He nods, pride swimming in his eyes.
“That would be kind of you. Now, I’m sure you have a thousand questions for me. Where would you like to start?” Wow, I didn’t think it would be this easy to get answers from the man since no one else had been forthcoming with any except Axel and that took some encouraging.
“The prophecy? What does it say?” His brows furrow deeply, a frown marring his face.
“The prophecy? With everything going on in your head, that is what you want to know?” I nod. “You aren’t curious about your mother or your life? I was told you couldn’t remember anything from your time on earth?” He sounds utterly confused with my choice of questions.
“The visions I saw answered most of that.” I state clearly keeping our eyes connected. Surprise flickers through him.
“Visions? What visions?” My own surprise is evident across my face and in the color of my wings.
“The ones you showed me in the desert.” I say carefully. His head begins to shake.
“Samantha, I didn’t show you anything. Why don’t you explain what you mean to me?” The soft smile from before is now guarded and calculating.
“When I was healing you. I saw you at the hospital when I was born. The nurse told you about mother not making it. You promised me you would take care of things. Then when I was two, you gave me bubbles. There were more birthdays that flickered by but year ten was the one you stopped coming, your last visit before you watched me leave for prom and the day I died. You gave me the necklace that year. And told me over your shoulder that you didn’t want to stop coming.” I hold up the Phranoy pendant I had been clutching in my hand. The chain was broken but I had wanted to bring it to as
k him about Raider using it. He gasps when he sees it.
“Where did you get that?” He asks eyeing me carefully. I explain to him about the bond trying to form with Raider, the dreams, the cave and the most recent one where he basically said this was how he did it.
“So I took it from him right as Xavier woke me. It was in my hand when I awoke.” He draws in a ragged breath then lets it out.
“I see. Maybe we should start with that then. Raider took me to get to you. He knew I would be bringing you home eventually, that is why I had stopped visiting you. The visions were all true to life but I never spoke directly to your older self in any of them even if it might have looked like it. I didn’t know who was watching though I did know someone was. I have always thought it was Raider. Anyway, when I returned with you in my arms they waited till you were revived then attacked. Jordan was able to take off before me with you in his arms. I was never able to get off the ground. They managed to throw a net over me before I could fly and efficiently trapped me. But you were safe so I wasn’t worried what happened to me.” He stops to run his finger over the crease in his forehead while he takes deep breaths. Trying to calm down would be my guess.
“Until Raider explained why he wasn’t disappointed he only captured me, that is. You see he found an old scroll that told him how he could force a fake bond or a very real connection between two people. With an object belonging to the one targeted and the blood from them or a relative he could essentially tie you to him for eternity. It wouldn’t be like the Kindred bond but more like slave to master.” My body involuntarily shutters at the thought. Enslaved to Raider for eternity, no thank you.
“Like a Kindred he would be able to tap your powers, invade your thoughts, emotions and dreams but even worse you would have no choice but to obey him, even against your will your body would respond to his commands. All he had to do was get you to look him in the eye for one minute while, for lack of a better word, the ‘spell’ bound you together.”
“Can he still do that? If I hadn’t taken the necklace I mean?” He shakes his head.
“The Kindred bond takes precedence. If he would have completed it before you bonded with Xavier then nothing, not even the Kindred would have broken it. But because you have bonded he can no longer complete the ritual. You are safe from him in that way. Especially since you now hold his weapon in your hand.” He nods to the necklace.
“How did he get it in the first place? Wasn’t I wearing it when I died?” I ask him staring now at the pendant.
“Yes you were. I ripped it from your neck before Jordan shocked you so it wouldn’t burn you. Because I broke the chain I shoved it in my pocket to return to you when we returned home. He took it from me when I was captured.” His voice rises in anger on the last part obviously not happy with it. “Now back to the visions. This is not a normal Phranoy gift, but an extraordinary one. One that most people do not know about anymore because it has not been a given to a Phranoy in over a thousand years. Not since Queen Naomi, who was the one who gave the prophecy surrounding you.” My eyes widen with his words. “Do they come on their own, when you touch someone or only when you siphon energy?” His face is alight with curiosity now and I can see where I got this trait from.
“I believe all but once I have been siphoning at the time.” I say blushing.
“And the other time?” Obviously picking up on my embarrassment he eyes me hard.
“During the bond. I saw several scenes from the past week but I also saw one several years in the future. I didn’t have any energy inside me at the time.” He doesn’t say anything, only stares at me waiting, wanting to know what I had seen. With a frustrated sigh I give in. “Xavier, two little girls, twins with wings the color of yours, and me inside the Great Hall.” I look away from him suddenly interested in a painting on his wall. It was a distraction technique until I realize the painting is of me. I rise from my chair ignoring his chuckling and step towards the painting.
In it I’m roughly eight sitting in a chair looking over my shoulder at the artist. A wide smile of joy and a twinkle in my eye makes my features shine from the portrait. I wear a simple shirt that ties around the neck, my back and birthmark clearly visible as I am leaning up in the chair. The bright pink floral pattern sets off buzzers in my head, I’ve seen this before. One of the quick visions, my eight birthday, I was sitting in a chair opening presents with several girls surrounding me, the King was not far behind me watching. This would have been the angle from where he had been.
“Did you paint this?” I ask as I take in the fine details.
“Look at the artists name in the corner.” He says very quietly. I scan the portrait till I come to a hastily scrawled name in the right corner of the painting. I draw in a ragged breath as I read it.
“Xavier?” I turn back to the King who is nodding.
“Duncan took the picture. I had it on my desk for about six months when it disappeared.” He laughs. “I was so mad. I tore this place apart searching for it. I was only able to transport to see you once a year. Duncan always sent me home with a picture of you to last me to the next year. Of course I could have placed the older picture in its place but it wasn’t you anymore. That one was what you looked like when I saw you last and I wanted it found. One week passed with my temper steadily getting worse. No one came near me by choice and were scared to do so by command.” He laughed again this time with a twinkle of mischief in his eye.
“Xavier braved the temper to ask me to his quarters one evening. I grumbled and moaned the whole way there. You have to understand that when Raider left us in such a way we all took Xavier in as a son. So I would never have questioned why he, a young soldier, wanted me, the King, to go to his room. I just went thinking he needed to talk. When I walked in the painting was on an easel in the middle of the room. I almost cried when I saw it sitting there.” He runs his eyes over the painting obviously remembering the day Xavier gave it to him.
“So he had taken the picture?” I ask with a smile.
“No. We never found the picture actually. Xavier did this by memory. He knew what it meant and as soon as he heard the picture went missing he began the painting, working mostly at night after training and his jobs to finish it as quickly as he did. I didn’t even know he could paint till he gave me that. Now I have several of his pieces hanging in my suite here and at The Mission. Actually I have three more of you he did for me. Nine, ten and sixteen, prom night. You were so pretty in that blue dress.” He steps forward and kisses my forehead then like he can’t hold back any longer he crushes me to him in a long, hard embrace. When he pulls back he clears his throat before he begins to speak again.
“You will probably, with time, be able to fine tune the visions to do as you want. Being new at it the siphoning helps bring them forward, giving you a boost in energy to control them. We will work on that along with your Ambieanic abilities. It seems you are bringing several old talents back to life again.” His smile is one of pride, one of a father. The weight finally lifts from my chest allowing me to breathe.
“And the prophecy?” I ask stubbornly. He blows out an exasperated breath.
“Very well. Come with me.” We step from the study heading for the door Jordan was guarding. Xavier immediately falls in beside me taking my hand. When we enter the hall I pull him to a stop and turn towards Jordan. He may be a large Phranoy but he saved my life twice in a matter of minutes. I drop Xavier’s hand and encircle the man’s waist in a hug; I was too short to reach his neck. He stiffens but doesn’t push me away. When I pull back I look up to his face.
“Thank you for waking me up.” I can’t bring myself to add ‘from death’. His nod and a twitch to his lips let me know he understands what I meant.
“You welcome, Samantha.” His deep voice bounces off the hallway, echoing in my head. He immediately returns to his statue like place by the door and I turn back to follow the King accepting the dismissal. Xavier gives me a wide smile before he secures my hand again. The King
leads us into a large room filled with scrolls and books, a library. An old library from the looks of it.
There is a podium at the front of the room, an ancient looking piece of paper spread out across it. The King motions towards it prompting me to step forward. Written on the crumbling paper are words I have never seen before, words I cannot read. I glance to Xavier who has stepped up with me. He scoots in behind me wrapping his arms around my waist and reads from above my shoulder.
“Born of blood both Human and Phranoy
She must die to find her way
When the king is taken by the Ranoy
She will enter the fray
When the Blood Moon rises for the third time
The Ranoy will strengthen their number
If the bond is not in its prime
The world will be split asunder
A betrayal will leave her raw
A love will be there to console
A friend will catch her fall
She, by herself, will assume the role
With war demolishing the lands
Her strength will make them unite
For it will be by Evangelina’s hands
The enemy will be taken out of the fight.”
Oh boy! I’m so screwed!
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Thank you for reading the first book in The Cloud Riders series. I hope this four book journey will be as fun for you to read as it is for me to write! Please remember to leave a comment at your favorite retailer. Feedback is what keeps us going!
Book 2, Bound Together is now available for purchase!
Thanks and happy reading y’all!
About Stacy Lee
Stacy Lee has lived in a small town in South Texas her entire life. She is a professional photographer and spends her days with her husband and three children, and her nights reading or writing. Her passion began with writing stories for her growing children in order to get them interested in books and it grew to a hobby she enjoys and loves. As the kids get older and two out of three still refuse to read she has found that writing for herself heightens the experience.
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More YA by Stacy Lee
The Cloud Riders Series
1-Wings of a Phranoy
2-Bound Together
Book Three - coming soon
Book Four - (After Book Three! :P)