There were too many questions and not enough time to think about the answers. So I didn’t. I just stopped thinking and focused on the man in front of me.
And then he said my name and I shuddered at the sound of such a beautiful voice.
“Keira?” Such a bewitching voice, so majestic and alluring, with such a strength that one wouldn’t dare question it… ever. But most of all,
The voice of an Angel.
“Vincent?”
Chapter 14
Vincent’s Leap of Faith.
“Vincent, is that really you?” I asked so timidly that I wasn’t sure he would even hear me ask. He raised a perfectly sculptured eyebrow before gracing me with one of the biggest smiles I had ever seen on him.
“Keira!” He then ran at me from across the room but I scrabbled away on the bed I was on and put up my hands desperately.
“Stop!” He did as my shout ordered and then looked at me with something close to hurt.
“Keira what’s wrong, why don’t you want me touching you?” He frowned down at me and yes, he was hurt. That look felt like I had just swallowed a fist. Didn’t he know what happened when anyone touched me like this?
“I don’t want to go Vincent, I can’t leave….not yet, please don’t make me go…please.” I was shaking my head as the raw emotions took over. I hated feeling this weak, but right at this moment, knowing I couldn’t connect in the way I really wanted to was slowly killing me. So the tears came and I lowered my head in my hands trying to hide my weakness.
“Keira….Keira listen to me, I would never make you go. I. Don’t. Want. You. To. Go.” He said each word with such certainty and layered so thick with his own emotion that big fat tears came following the others.
“Keira, look at me!” I shook my head still cradled in my hands. I think I was sat on his bed as I remember seeing it once, of course it had been filled with beauties draped over his naked form but I still remembered his bed. Its frame was floor level, it was round and everything was white. And I was now sat on the edge of it crying like a child.
“Keira look at me now!” He demanded sternly and hearing such authority from Vincent was unusual to say the least. I sniffed a few times and looked up to find him looking so tall even with him knelt in front of me. His hand came out so slowly making me flinch back. He frowned and tilted his head to one side.
“Keira, do you trust me?” His question sounded so euphoric, like the words themselves could caress me. Could flow over my skin and wrap me in a warmth I needed so badly. But just being here was enough and I was terrified that one touch from Vincent would send me hurtling back down the rabbit hole and down there, waiting for me, was the King of no Hearts.
But Vincent had asked me if I trusted him and I couldn’t lie, not to him.
“Yes,” I said looking up into his incredible topaz eyes that shone with the same emotions that reflected my own.
“Good because…Gods I missed you!” Vincent said as though something in him broke. Something snapped and the words came out in a rush of hard solid truth. Then he grabbed me and yanked my whole body into his, crushing me to his chest. I gasped at the contact but then his skin started to glow and I was quickly engulfed in an intoxicating haze of bliss. The emotions that conquered my mind were such a heady mix of reassurance, hope, safety and comfort that I melted into his strong hold and let go of every other feeling other than the one he was supplying me with.
I felt one hand hold my head to his chest, stroking my hair and the other was wrapped around my waist, where he made soothing circles with his fingers.
“Sssshh, you’re safe here, no one will hurt you Keira…I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He spoke into my hair and then leaned back to kiss my forehead. I looked up at him and when he brought both hands to my face to capture my tears with his thumbs it was only then that I realised I was still crying.
“How is this possible Vincent? Every time Draven touches…” He held a finger to my lips to stop me from carrying on the sentence.
“I am an Angel Keira, I can touch anything so pure, even when you are like this, even when it’s just your soul sent to us.” I started shaking my head but then it clicked and I felt as if the next words were torn from me.
“Draven can’t…because…he’s half…Demon?” Vincent looked truly sorry in that moment but he nodded.
“I’m sorry Keira, but your body is still where they are keeping you. This form is your soul and that part belongs to us, not just to Dom, but Sophia and me too. That’s why you come back to us, although I suspect you have help because it is unheard of for a human to do this without some aid.” He looked at me a moment and then his eyes got brighter for a second and he gave me this look as though an idea had just come to him.
“Ah…of course!” He said smiling and shaking his head at the same time, all the while never taking his hands from me.
“What? What is it?”
“She is a sneaky little thing, your new friend…naughty little Imp!” He laughed and I pulled back further which I don’t think he liked but he allowed.
“What, Pip?” He nodded while he laughed.
“She’s the one doing this?”
“If I know Pip like I do, then it is her without a doubt. Think back, was you with her when it happened the first time?” He asked brushing the back of his hand down my cheek.
“I was on the plane,” I answered thinking back.
“And the second time?” He asked already knowing the answer to be something simpler.
“I woke and she was sat on my bed.”
“Of course she was!” He laughed again and stood in one fluid motion from being on his knees.
“Come Keira, I think there is someone you will want to see and I bet my wings he will want to see you.”
“Draven!” I said in a breath and grabbed his extended hand for him to heave me up. I started to feel almost giddy at the idea of seeing Draven again and then the depressing thought seeped in and I knew that I couldn’t yet touch him. But at least I could drink in my fill of him, which was better than nothing. My mind whirled at the thought that me being here like this was all down to Pip. I wanted to give her the biggest hug ever and tell how much it all meant to me.
I looked at Vincent as he turned his back and saw him shrug on a dark brown leather jacket which was a military, combat style that zipped up to the collar. There were also zips up the forearms but both were left undone like the front. When he turned around I noticed he also wore a faded white T-shirt that had the word ‘Triumph’ Logo at the top that looked well worn. It looked quite retro and I remembered seeing the T-shirt somewhere before.
“Steve McQueen!” I blurted out and Vincent shot me a bad boy grin that was both sexy and typical of a Draven boy. I remembered my Uncle, Hilary’s dad, had a poster of Steve McQueen on a motorcycle in his garage.
“The very same, sweetheart!” He said still smiling as he took my hand in his and started pulling me from his room. Which made me wonder…why I had ended up in Vincent’s room to start with?
Vincent led me down a corridor that I vaguely remembered from the night I had come here, thanks to Lucius and his unforgettable touch. But then when we walked past the door that I knew led to Draven’s room I pulled back on the hand that was entwined with mine.
“Where are we going?” I asked feeling suddenly nervous.
“I thought you trusted me Keira?” His voice was honey dripping seductively over my cold skin and I found I could only nod. What was it about the Draven brothers that had you doing anything they wished of you. It wasn’t just their voice, it was everything, every tiny little supernatural molecule they possessed had you jumping to whatever beat they set. It was their sheer strength. Their inbuilt authority and their never ending power to use at will. And I was hooked like a junkie. I wanted it all and felt like I was losing a part of myself the longer I was kept from them. That’s what it was, I had finally found a word to describe what being around the Dravens was…it was, grade A, uncut and p
remium kind,
Addiction.
It felt like we had been walking through various hallways, tunnels and open archways for hours when in reality it was probably only fifteen minutes. I was so anxious to see Draven I was terrified that I was going to fade away before I even got there. I clung onto Vincent like he was the only thing anchoring me to this place and in a way I gathered he was. He didn’t seem to mind that, even though my hand was in his, my other hand gripped onto his jacket by his elbow until my knuckles were bone white.
We finally got to a large spiral staircase that seemed to go down so far that I would have been able to hear the Devil himself laughing from the bottom. I leant over the top and looked down the open middle section.
“Wow, you can’t even see the bottom, tell me we don’t have to go down all those steps,” I said still looking down.
“You don’t,” he said with a slight hint of amusement in his answer and before I could look around at him I felt my body being swept up, making me squeal.
“Wh…What are you…?” I asked, having a very bad feeling about this. He lifted me to his chest and seemed to test my weight with one arm under my knees and the other around my body.
“God’s Keira, have they even been feeding you?!” He sounded angry which was unusual in itself hearing it from Vincent. I didn’t have chance to answer him as he growled low and I jumped a little in his rock solid embrace. Then he walked us to the edge and every muscle in my body tensed before I started to squirm like a fish on the floor of a boat.
“Vincent! No…please tell me you’re not going to do what I think you’re going to…right…Please tell me you’re not!”
“Ssshh Keira, just relax. I’ve got you now.” He turned his back to the edge of the brick staircase and for one wonderful moment I thought I had it all wrong and he was just waiting for something. What I didn’t realise until it was too late was that, yes, he was waiting for something, he was waiting for me to take a deep breath before he twisted his body quickly and sat on the edge with his legs and me dangling over the middle section of the spiral.
“Take another one Keira!” Was he joking! I froze in his arms because moving might mean he’d drop me and my fear of heights wouldn’t permit any other thought than…Oh Shit!
“Take a deep breath now, Keira.” He said sternly and I did as I was told.
“Good girl!” He said and then… he jumped!
I felt the air whoosh up around us like we were in a wind tunnel. The speed was immense and I turned my frightened face into his chest. I opened my eyes for only a second and saw the word ‘Triumph’ rippling like it had been thrown into the restless waters. All the material from my dress was flapping around us like a useless parachute and I quickly closed my eyes dreading the inevitable impact.
Then BOOM! Vincent had landed, taking all the impact and only the sound echoing through the tunnels that lay ahead was the only indication that we had even landed. I wasn’t even jostled but that didn’t mean to say I didn’t have shaky legs as he set me down. He held me firm by the arms until he thought I was ok and when I thought he would let me go, he spoke,
“Wait!” He commanded softly and I froze under his spell. His hands left my arms but went to my waist and started feeling my sides, holding them and moving up and around. What was he doing? It was like he was looking for something but this dress didn’t exactly have any pockets!
He started shaking his head and I felt the heat invade my cheeks. He tipped my chin up to look at him and being over six foot I had to tilt it all the way back just to meet his eyes.
“You need to demand they feed you more Keira. This is NOT acceptable!” He actually shouted out the word ‘not’ and I flinched. Remind me never to piss off Vincent if this was only a glimpse of the fiery anger that lay buried deeply under the layers of angelic innocence. He flinched when his hands felt my protruding ribs and he fisted the loose material by my side.
“We’re lucky Dom can’t touch you ‘cause if he felt how much weight you had lost then it would only fuel his rage and I doubt we would have any of his men left.” He released me and I stood back. I held my arms around myself feeling colder now without his touch.
“What do you mean?” I asked, but instead of answering me he held his hand out for me to take. I did and only when his fingers held my hand secure did he speak.
“You will see.” At this I shuddered. Draven’s rage was something never to be taken lightly and right now, it wasn’t the Draven I wanted to meet.
I put that thought behind me and continued following Vincent through the underground tunnels that led Angels and Demons, only knew where. I felt like an intruder whenever coming down here. Not that it had been more than that one time but still, it even felt like the stonework itself didn’t like me and I couldn’t help but hug myself a little tighter around the middle.
“Penny for your thoughts!” Vincent’s voice was that craving honey tone again and when his hand tightened a little on mine I couldn’t help but smile up at him.
“I was just thinking that it doesn’t feel right, me being down here.” He gave me a reassuring smile and tugged me closer to him to wrap an arm around my shoulders. There he tucked me under his arm and I found myself nestled into his side.
“Keira, that could not be further from the truth. You feel uneasy because you’re the first human these old walls have ever seen. There are a lot of souls that find this to be their place of rest, so no doubt you can feel their left over energy. But never fear your position among us.” He turned his head over mine and I could have sworn he had just kissed me there.
“What do you mean…my position?”
“Keira, do you doubt us or even the Gods themselves? You know what you are to us.” He seemed to be teasing and also reprimanding at the same time.
“You mean about me being this Chosen One…don’t you?” I couldn’t help but frown at the term everyone had classed me as.
“This Chosen One? The Chosen One, you mean.”
“Vincent please understand, I am just me…just Keira. Someone who’s terrified of heights, drinks way too much tea and barely has anything but shades of black in her wardrobe. What makes everyone think that I even have it in me to be this…this Chosen One? I don’t even like spiders and freak out even if I get a ten year old web on me.” He laughed heartily and spun to face me so quick I had to blink a few times.
“What did you expect the Chosen One to be Keira, Xena warrior princess?” He asked laughing again and I couldn’t help but smile back, I also elbowed him in the ribs.
“Hey! Cut that out Xena.”
“Don’t you dare start calling me that! Anyway, what’s an Angel like you doing watching that cheesy show…fancy a bit of what Xena’s dishing out do ya?” I said teasing and I went to punch him playfully in the stomach. His hand whipped out and grabbed my wrist before I could make contact. He pulled it to him and placed it low on his back which forced my body to take a step into him. I looked up and noticed a new mischievous grin that I hadn’t seen on him before. He lowered his head to my ear and I felt the rush of blood to the surface when his breath fanned out and over the tender skin by my neck.
“Nah, I prefer blondes!” He whispered and when I met his eyes he winked at me. I gulped down the lump and the time we kissed erupted into my mind’s eye. I must have blushed like I had spent far too long on the sunbeds ‘cause he laughed at the sight of my cheeks.
“Cool it down sugar, I promise to behave.” He ran all four fingertips down my cheek before kissing me there. He then dropped his hand to mine and took it in his strong hold. He turned and my other hand had to let go of the material of his t-shirt I had surprisingly clung onto.
We didn’t speak again until the end of an arched hallway brought us out to a huge open space. As we walked past the open arch I jumped at the sound of a voice at my ear,
“Ssshhh...” The willowy voice spoke and Vincent pulled me nearer to his side.
“Don’t worry, it is only the watchers…look!” He
pointed to the side of the arch we passed through and as the room lit up with flaming torches I could then make out the two stone figures of cloaked women on either side. They faced each other and had their grey fingers positioned at their lips. They were very, very creepy and if they weren’t bad enough I turned to take in the room we had just entered.
There were arched recesses around the walls, each with its own female form either side in a different position. Stone enticements were all positioned seductively holding an offering of some kind. One held a bowl full of fruit that also held her cold naked breasts in. Another played a very long flute-like instrument, although I had never seen one the length of your average person. Two others each had their bodies half covered with gold coins and the orangey yellow shone brightly against the dull dead grey.
As I walked further into the room I heard stone moving against stone behind me and when I turned the two cloaked figures by the door had moved into a new position and no longer had their cloaks covering their breasts. They also now had their head thrown up to the ceiling and looked to be silently howling.
“They moved, Vincent they just moved!” I said twice but he just shrugged his shoulders and continued onwards.
We passed a number of provocative statues that made up the base of the pillars in the vast room. It looked almost like a cavern with huge tree size arched pillars each with three naked figures stretched up with their arms outstretched to the ceiling and then when we were walking past one I noticed the reason for their positions, they were chained this way. It was only when inspecting each one again I noticed they all were chained in some way, like frozen sex slaves.
At the end of the room stood two of the biggest pillars I had seen down here so far. They must have been at least ten foot wide and made of thick stone blocks that were a reddish colour, almost like oversized bricks. Past these was a door to match their size made from dark wooden panels that were crisscrossed and held in place by thick black iron strips all with shiny metal studs hammered along the centre in a line. It looked truly impenetrable and completely intimidating. Only a fool would try and attempt to get in through these doors without a personal welcome.
The Triple Goddess Page 20