We spent several weeks sorting through the mansion and tower once belonging to Delistaire. Zane wasn't kidding when he said the man was hoarding gold. Zane's quite wealthy even though he gave away three quarters of the gold to charity. The mansion in Algora and the tower on Karina, along with many of the magical items within were given to Caleb and Hosea. Caleb is planning to convert the mansion into the Meliar School of Magic and is working with his companions to achieve his goal. Loki, having taken an immediate liking to the young magical prodigy, decided to stay to assist Caleb for a while. When I cried and told him I'd miss him, he laughed before reminding me he'd be checking up on us on a regular basis.
As he was walking away, he gave me a sly grin and said he expects pups from Zane and me in the near future. Well, I think he may have to wait awhile for a child!
Hosea disappeared and we finally located him locked up on the top floor of Delistaire's tower. He's so wrapped up in reading through the evil sorcerer's many journals; he hasn't left the ebony tower in weeks. Perhaps Hosea will find some good from the ghastly experiments documented in those awful records.
Shadow pads over and nuzzles my hand, bringing me out of my reverie. Freya approaches my other side, and I bury my fingers in her soft white neck feathers. When my eyes return to the vista before me, I notice we're nearing Palma. With a sigh, I leave my silent vigil, heading through the main door to the cabins. I ease open the door to the captain's quarters. It's now separated into two small bedrooms and a main living area. Zane's sitting on the black leather sofa set up by the window to take in the stunning panoramic view. I have a sneaking suspicion the only thing he was watching was me. With a smirk, I cross the room and drop down on the sofa beside him.
"We'll be in Palma within the hour," I say, snuggling into his waiting arms.
He kisses my lips, exploring my eager mouth with exquisite tenderness. My fingers entwine in his hair, holding him to me as I deepen the kiss and fight him for control. After a few minutes, I pull away breathless.
"I need to wake Taranis so he can prepare for arrival."
Zane releases me from his embrace with a low, unhappy groan. Rising from the sofa, I walk over to bang on Taranis's door.
"Hey, Pirate. Get your lazy butt out of bed," I yell through the closed door.
"Geez, Ashlyn!" Celeste complains when she opens the door. "I need my beauty sleep," she says, tossing her blonde curls with a slender hand. Rolling my eyes, I push my way into the room and shake Taranis's sleeping form.
"Get up you indolent sea dog!"
He cracks an eye open and glares at me.
"We'll be arriving in Palma shortly," I say much softer when he turns both blue eyes to me.
Once he sits up, I stride from the room. Celeste slams the door behind me. Racing back to the sitting room, I leap onto Zane's lap, snuggling up against his warmth. He puts his arms around me and we watch the town of Palma grow larger on the horizon.
"This is the life," Zane says with a sigh. "You and me, the open sea, new lands, new people. I really couldn't ask for more."
"It helps being filthy rich," I tease, kissing his nose.
"Yeah," he says chuckling. "The only thing my father ever did right was hoarding that ill-gotten gold rather than spending it."
"Is there really a continent beyond the island of Karina?" I ask, the excitement apparent in my voice. "Loki seems to think there is but he didn't have any details. I pulled some books from the library in Verdane telling of bizarre creatures from faraway lands. Do you think there's any validity at all to the rumors?"
"Didn't Loki once say most rumors and legends are founded in truth if you look back far enough? Besides, there's really only one way to find out. After a quick stop in Palma for supplies, we sail for lands unknown," he says, leaning in for another kiss, his hands wandering up my thighs. "Enough talking," he whispers against my lips, "I'm feeling a bit lascivious right about now; I think we should retire to our room for a bit, don't you?"
He wiggles his eyebrows in a mockery of Taranis, which makes my heart race in response. Leaping from the sofa, we bolt to the door of our room. We're about to enter when Taranis and Celeste emerge from theirs.
"Pretend we don't exist for a while," Zane orders, slamming the door in their surprised faces.
We fall on the bed, a tangle of limbs. Zane lowers his body to mine, the predatory gleam in his eyes my only warning before he captures my hands, raising them over my head and lacing our fingers together. He leans down, his garnet eyes holding my gaze. When his lips meet mine, I give myself over to his kiss, closing my eyes and moaning in pleasure. The ship sways and rocks as we lose ourselves in each other, utter contentment filling my heart and soul.
"I love you, Zane," I whisper against his lips.
"I love you too, Ashlyn," he murmurs. "Always and forever."
The End
About the Author
Kimber Leigh Wheaton is a YA author with a soft spot for sweet romance and is a member of Romance Writers of America. She is married to her soul mate, has a teenage son, and shares her home with three dogs and four cats. No, she doesn’t live on a farm, she just loves animals. Her house is filled with dragons, though she does lament that they are the porcelain, non-flying variety. Kimber Leigh is addicted to romance, videogames, superheroes, villains, and chocolate—not necessarily in that order. (If she has to choose, she’ll take a chocolate covered superhero!) Her debut novel, Shadow Fire, is the first book in The Light Chronicles series. Watch for book two, Stolen Moon, a standalone sequel, coming soon.
Also from Astraea Press
Chapter One
Samarra
"Where's he going with that stun gun?" Samarra mumbled when an armed guard barrelled out of his sentry post.
With an exaggerated battle shout, he leaped into a bed of flowers and aimed his weapon at a feral kitten chasing butterflies. He zapped his target without remorse as two guards cheered him on in the background. Samarra choked up at the sight. When the kitten fell still, he grabbed it by its tail and lobbed it over the estate walls. The guard spat on his hands in disgust and wiped them on his fatigues before he lit a cigarette and went back to his post.
"Tools." Samarra leaned against a tree and watched them from a distance as she waited for her brother to arrive.
Soon the all-terrain aircraft that transported him home would appear at the front gates of the Sairfang Estate. It would be like a scene from a movie she played over and over again in her head, every time Cassian came home from boarding school. A group of tough-looking guards would surround the vehicle and check that its passengers held proper clearance for access to the main grounds. Electrified wrought iron gates would be disarmed and swing wide open. Under the gaze of sensors lining the path, the vehicle would glide along the circular cobblestone driveway and idle at the front steps of the lavish mansion.
"Good afternoon, Samarra," came a mechanical female voice.
Flinching at the noise, Samarra turned around to see a cybot guard towering over her small frame. Closer to machine than organic, the guard, a female design, was also in uniform but more heavily equipped than the others. Her arms were reinforced with titanium and enhanced with Sairfang Cybotics artillery. Her legs had been redesigned for maximum speed and strength, and her bionic ears were fine-tuned to capture sound waves undetected by normal gaian hearing. Samarra smiled nervously. The cybot's artificial eyes flashed blue in response, and she headed for the sentry post. Wasting no time, Samarra ran back to the mansion.
"Weird." She sat down on the bottom step and looked up at the sky and around the horizon.
A transparent shield of channelled energy domed over the property and kept the ecosystem inside stable. Manicured lawns, ornamental flower gardens, expensive sculptures, and marble fountains were arranged meticulously throughout the landscape. In the distance, eight robotic sentinels marched in pairs on their rounds. Before long they would disappear into the woods and loop back along the artificial lake until they were programmed to d
o otherwise. There was also the faint sound of a running motor. Samarra tucked her blue dreadlocks behind her ears and straightened her clothes when a winged vehicle landed on the runway beyond the gates. Cass. She could barely contain her excitement as it made its way to the mansion.
"Cass!" Her cheerful voice rang clear above the hum of the engine. She rushed to the vehicle when it pulled up in front of her. She couldn't wait to see him.
Cassian opened the door and stepped out into full view. "Sammy!"
Samarra threw her arms around her brother and squeezed him tight. "I'm so happy you're finally home. It's been so boring here without you."
"It's good to see you too, big sister." He laughed and kissed her on the cheek.
"Wow!" She straightened the collar of his new blazer and took a good long look at him. "You've grown. You're as tall as me now."
He stepped up to her and compared their height. "Actually, I think I'm taller." His warm brown eyes sparkled mischievously in the afternoon sun. Samarra couldn't help but smile at him. She loved him with all her heart. Without warning, he picked her up and swung her in circles.
"Stop! Stop!" she begged in between laughter and hiccups. "I'm getting dizzy."
After Cassian set her down, Samarra stumbled quite a bit before regaining her balance. "Whoa…" She straightened her red hoodie and grabbed his suitcase. "Let's go inside. I've got so much to tell you."
Cassian reached for his things.
"Don't!" Samarra shooed him away. "They told me to take your stuff up to your room because the maidservants are busy. I don't want to get into trouble again today."
"Sammy, Mr. and Mrs. Sairfang won't be done with their meeting for another hour. Give me my suitcase." He sneezed into the crook of his arm. "It's too heavy for you."
"No it's not!" she said with indignation and pushed his fingers away from the handle. "In case you didn't notice, there are surveillance cameras everywhere — nothing stays secret here, little brother. Anyway, you may be as tall as me, but I'm a year older than you, so you have to listen to what I say. I'm taking the suitcase."
"Being thirteen doesn't mean you're the boss of me, but have it your way," Cassian said with a good-natured laugh.
The all-terrain aircraft revved its engine and sped back to the runway, leaving a cloud of dirt and pebbles in its wake. Samarra dragged her brother's belongings into the lavish mansion and up the marble staircase. An assortment of flowers decorated the halls and filled the great house with the spicy undertones of an exotic garden. Everything shone with a freshly polished gleam. Samarra heaved and pulled and had almost reached the top when she slipped and fell bottom-first all the way back down the steps. The suitcase tumbled down behind her and sprang open with a loud thunk when it hit the ground. Cassian's clothes spilled everywhere.
"Are you okay?" He rushed to her side.
Samarra wiped a scuffmark off the floor and stood up with her brother's help. The only thing bruised was her pride. "I shouldn't have waxed the steps." She crinkled her nose in disappointment. "It's nice and shiny, but way too slippery."
"Who in the world waxes marble stairs?" Cassian burst out laughing and ruffled her hair.
Samarra giggled in spite of herself and crammed everything back into the suitcase. "Mrs. Sairfang told me to polish everything, so I did." With two sharp clicks, the suitcase closed.
Cassian sighed audibly. "I hope they don't slip and fall when they come in, otherwise you're in for it."
"Maybe." Stubborn and determined, Samarra dragged the suitcase back up the stairs, all the way down the long hallway, and stopped at Cassian's bedroom. Two maidservants had finished turning down his bed. Samarra waited for them to leave before she ushered her brother into the bright and airy room. "You must be tired after all that traveling." She dropped his things by the door and took an ornate silver brush from the dresser. "Your hair is messy."
"I knew you were going to say that." Cassian had their routine down pat and sat down in front of the mirror.
"Are you hungry? Would you like me to make you something to eat?"
"After the soup you made me last time, no thanks." He made a face at her as she brushed his dark hair.
"But I've gotten better at cooking! I've even figured out the secret to making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich."
Cassian shook his head. "It's not your food... I just feel sick. All I want to do is sleep, but I have to leave again with Mr. Sairfang tonight. He's taking me to a dream lab first thing in the morning."
Samarra slapped her hand on his forehead and checked his temperature. "This is your first day home from boarding school, and you're feeling sick. How can he expect you to go for testing so soon? Can't he wait until you're feeling better?"
"He wants to do some mind mapping before I've been around you for too long. He said you were a disrupting variable, whatever that means." Cassian frowned. "I still don't know what he's trying to find."
"He's been trying to find something since we were this tall." Samarra's hand hovered two feet above the ground. "Haven't you had enough?"
"I don't have a choice. He told me he'd send you away if I don't do what he says. I guess it could be worse. Only happens twice a year."
"Poor Cass." She hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry."
"That's okay. It's not your fault."
Samarra spat on her hand and patted down the cowlick that sprang up like a crest in the middle of his head.
"Don't." He smacked her hand away. "You remind me of Mother. She does that all the time, and I hate it. She's more polite about it though, none of that spitting."
"I'll stop doing this—" Samarra licked her fingers, "—if you stop calling her Mother. Has she been making you call her that again? She's not our mother. Our parents are dead, and they have been since we were small. The Sairfangs are only our guardians."
Cassian stared at his new sneakers. "Sometimes I like to pretend. I feel sorry for her when she tells me that she's always dreamed about having her own son."
"Stop pretending." Samarra pointed the brush at his face. "Blood kin is you and me. Don't ever forget that!" She sat down cross-legged on his bed. "So are you going to tell me about your time away? I heard you got chased by a savage bush pig."
Cassian spent the next hour recounting his adventures at boarding school, but instead of cheering her up, his stories from away made her retreat wistfully into her thoughts. Though she was grateful that she lived on the safe side of the estate walls, Samarra often dreamed about a different life, a more exciting life than the one she had with the Sairfangs, but her possibilities were limited.
For years, the natural environment on Gaia had been destabilizing. Dangerous levels of toxins in the sea and air had led to the collapse of entire ecosystems around the world. As the population had exploded, food crops had become scarce and prices had skyrocketed. Water wars and food riots had broken out everywhere. Only a lucky few were able to survive happily through increasingly long seasons without harvest. The others were left to live in a world that was falling apart all around them. Samarra knew she was more fortunate than the rest of the world, but she also felt like a wild animal whose cage had become too small to contain its wild spirit.
They were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Mr. Sairfang ducked his head into the room. He had a strong jaw, a full mouth, and piercing blue eyes under heavy brows. His perfectly styled blond hair was beginning to show traces of grey. Despite his handsome exterior, Mr. Sairfang was ugly on the inside. Samarra flinched at the sight of his crooked smile.
"Son!" he exclaimed. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to welcome you on your arrival. Our meeting ran late — nothing to worry about. We'll catch up at dinner before we head out later this evening. The journey ahead of us is long, but we can't miss our appointment with Doctor Runaghan. She might be the one who can figure you out." He looked out the window at the setting sun and checked his watch. "Mrs. Sairfang has planned a special meal to celebrate your return. After dinner we'll take a walk throug
h the grounds, and I'll show you the changes I've made to the surveillance system. I'm sure you'll be impressed." He ran a hand through his hair and leaned against the doorframe. "The best news is that the cybots have finally been upgraded. They're more intelligent and much faster now." His expression brightened considerably at the mention of work. "I'll let you see the new generation for yourself afterwards."
"Can't wait!" Cassian looked excited, but Samarra knew he was faking it.
Mr. Sairfang glanced at Samarra. "Your help is needed in the dining room." He shut the door behind him and the room was still.
****
Samarra had rearranged the logs in the fireplace and busied herself straightening chairs. Dinner with the Sairfangs was usually a sombre affair, but now that Cassian was back, everything would change until he left for school again. The antique table that lined the length of the dining room had been set with glistening silver and the finest porcelain. Mrs. Sairfang had taken out her best crystal and a silver candelabra draped in wildflowers provided a beautiful centrepiece. Samarra waved at Cassian when he entered the room.
Mrs. Sairfang was breathless. "My darling boy!" She wrapped Cassian in a delicate hug. "I've missed you from here to the moon and back." Her expensive perfume wafted through the air. Her flowing red hair scattered painful memories in its trail.
Making his appearance moments later, Mr. Sairfang gave his best smile to Cassian. His eyes went numb when he saw Samarra. "Have you finished cleaning the attic?"
Samarra couldn't move. She gripped the back of the closest chair, expecting him to start shouting at her at any minute. "Not yet, Mr. Sairfang." She looked at everything in the room but his face. "I… I've been helping Cass unpack."
Mr. Sairfang's face softened at the mention of Cassian. "Well, you better get to it right after dinner." Blond strands fell out of their slicked position, and he brushed them back with a frown. "Or I'll have to break the promise I made to your mother before she died."
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