by Lizzy Ford
“Yeah.”
An awkward quiet fell, and she sensed Traci was as reserved as she was. Linda returned with two hotdogs and handed one to each of them.
“You have to eat for three now, Traci,” she said cheerfully.
Sofi pitied the beautiful woman as a stricken look crossed her features.
“There goes that modeling career,” she whispered.
Pierre walked by and snatched Sofia’s hotdog. She was grateful; the scent was both nauseating and infuriating. Linda eyed him.
“She doesn’t eat,” he called over his shoulder.
“You’re not starving yourself, are you?” Linda asked, turning to her in concern.
“She’s blood bound,” Pierre supplied, unasked.
Sofia glared at him, her embarrassment deepening at the look the men around the fire gave her. Any hope she’d had of them not understanding how different she was died. Their looks ranged from amazement to surprise to Dustin’s look of disapproval aimed at Pierre.
“What does that mean?” Traci asked.
“It means, she doesn’t eat,” Dustin said, coming to her rescue. “Why don’t you all sit down? Grande, Lon, move.”
They complied, and the three women sat in lawn chairs.
“Do you eat s’mores?” Linda prodded, handing her the plate going around.
“Lin, we’ll talk about it later,” Lon told her softly. “Just skip the food.”
Did they think she was a freak? She couldn’t tell. Linda was too easy going to be affected by much of anything, and the men seemed more surprised than anything else.
It’s the greatest honor to be bound to a man like Damian.
Han’s words returned, and she forced herself to relax. No matter what anyone else thought, it was her reality. It must not have been totally unheard of if they all understood what it was.
“How long have you been a part of this insanity?” she asked Linda.
“Two years, or just under. It’s kinda neat to know we’re helping save the world from bad guys.”
“You seem pretty happy,” Traci observed. “Maybe in two years … “
Sofia saw her pain and couldn’t help but empathize.
“He loves you,” she said quietly. “I saw it in his face when he almost killed me for being anywhere near you.”
Traci’s gaze flew to her. There was turmoil in her pale blue eyes.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” she asked, one eyebrow arching. “I’ll make his life a living hell if so.”
Sofia shook her head.
“Jackass,” she muttered.
Sofia exchanged a look with Linda, and the chipper woman took the hint.
“You guys excited about shopping Saturday? I have a few places picked out already. This has to be my favorite time of year, and the one time Lon promises not to dissect our credit card bills.”
“Yeah, I can think of some places I’d like to go,” Traci said. “I’ve been living in the bachelor pad with the guys for three months now. I definitely need some girl stuff.”
“We’ll totally load up. Rainy will have to get used to pink stuff being everywhere.”
“That he will,” Traci said with a small smile.
“Are there more of us?” Sofia asked Linda.
“Naturals mated with Guardians?” Linda grinned. “Yep. We have our own support group. I’ll send you the link to our online forum. There aren’t many of us, and we’re all over the world, but we’re really close knit. We have to be. Who else can you tell about your husband beheading five vamps?”
Sofia gave a surprised laugh.
“I can’t believe all this,” she said. “It doesn’t seem real.”
“Hon, it’s as real as it gets,” Linda assured her. “You’ll have to make some sacrifices, but it’s worth it.”
Her adoring gaze went to Lon. Sofia exchanged an understanding look with Traci.
“Maybe in two years … “ Traci said again.
“Can you have cocoa?” Linda asked.
“Nothing.”
“I don’t understand what blood bound is,” Traci said.
Sofia took a deep breath.
“Well, Czerno’s henchmen killed me. Damian brought me back, but I can’t live without … his blood. I need it instead of food.”
“How romantic!” Linda exclaimed.
“I don’t really think of it that way,” Sofia said, eyeing her. “It kinda hurt getting killed, and it really sucks not being able to eat food.”
“It is romantic,” Traci agreed. “What a wonderful story.”
“You think so? You don’t think it’s crazy?”
“No!” they said simultaneously.
“Sofi, none of us are normal. Maybe in the human world, it’d be totally insane. I don’t mean that in a mean way,” Linda said quickly. “But you have a new family now, and it doesn’t sound crazy to me at all. It sounds like a fairytale.”
Traci was gazing at her intently. Sofia saw the tears form in her gaze.
“Excuse me,” Traci said, standing. “Sofia, is there a restroom?”
“We’ll be back,” she promised Linda
They walked towards the house, reaching the patio before Traci started crying. Sofia stood helplessly for a long minute.
“Traci … “
“I’m sorry. Maybe it’s my hormones. Or maybe I’m just not … this is so unreal!”
“Pierre, go please,” she said, knowing he’d be there when she turned. “I’m not going past the bathroom.”
He moved away without returning to the group.
“Come on,” she said, placing a hand on Traci’s arm.
She guided the crying woman inside to her library and dug through the small satchel near her favorite chair.
“I’ve been crying for a week straight,” she said. “I’ve figured out which tissues are the softest.”
Traci choked on a half-laugh, half-sob and accepted the packet of tissues. She sat down, sobbing her heart out, and Sofia sat near her. God how she understood the uncertainty and confusion Traci felt!
“You again.”
She turned at Rainy’s voice. His green eyes shifted from her to Traci. Sofia hesitated then stood. She left them alone and returned to the group, deep in thought. The growing night chill drove Linda into Lon’s arms, and she relaxed near the fire. The men spoke among themselves, swapping war stories and discussing the Tucson Sector’s influx of vamps. They ignored her, and she rested her head on the back of the chair, their low talk and the warmth of the fire lulling her into another trance.
Images flowed behind her eyelids, most too fleeting to catch. Damian’s home videos played, intertwined with those of others, until a wave of power washed over her. She jerked upright. The men had frozen in mid-speech and were looking towards the mansion.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dustin said, eyes locked on the house. “He’s had a rough day.”
Their gazes lingered before they returned to their conversations. Sofia glanced at Dustin and stood, concerned. Damian was not one to lose control. If he had, something horrible had happened. She closed h+er eyes, searching for the home videos. Visions of his brother.
Claire’s death.
Stop.
His command was so sharp she jumped. She felt more compelled to him now than ever before.
“Sofia,” Dustin called as she stepped towards the house. “Kiri, you’ve never seen him like this.”
“He needs me,” she said.
He searched her gaze and pursed his lips but lifted his chin towards the house.
“Pierre, stay,” he ordered.
“I’m not going in there,” Pierre assured him, earning him another look of disapproval.
The sense of power increased tenfold as she entered the mansion. The lights were on, but shadows crawled from the corners and choked the lights until they were shriveled, glowing orbs. The shadows clung to her as she stepped into the hallway. They moved like smoke, shifting and swirling as they crawled the walls. They formed
a fog at her feet and trailed her towards the stairwell.
She swallowed hard. Damian needed her. Shadows chased her up the stairs and flew down the halls, coating the floors and walls in shallow, black fog. The power swirling in the air around her grew as she neared Damian’s door, and she was reminded of the tension in the air before a thunderstorm. Only this was equal to a hundred thunderstorms.
She didn’t know what Damian was, but he was beyond Superman powerful.
Leave.
His command reached her as she opened his suite door. He stood on the balcony, visible beyond the transparent curtains rustling in the moving fog. She hesitated before moving forward again.
“Sofia.”
The warning in his voice was plain. His whisper reached her across the room.
“No,” she told him.
Fear unfurled in her breast, and she clenched her fists. Shadows crawled over the world around her, and the tension in the air made it hard to breathe. The hair on her arms and neck stood up. She’d never seen him not in control. His powers were quiet and exploring, crawling over the physical world.
The air around him was even harder to breathe. Her breaths quickened, and her heart pounded.
“You need me,” she managed.
“I need nothing from this world!” he said with an undertone that was purely inhuman.
His fury, pain, and sorrow choked her. Her eyes watered at the soul wrenching emotions. She’d never felt pain like his!
“Damian.”
He whirled and stalked towards her, his face a mask of fury. She retreated until the balcony railing trapped her. He planted his hands on either side of her and lowered his face to her level. His presence was overwhelming, and her body reacted with both terror and lust so strong it made her head spin.
His eyes were black, fathomless, the eyes of a god among men.
“Tell me, Seer, what do you See?” he rasped in the inhuman voice.
Her breaths came in short gasps, but she refused to back down. She belonged to his world as much as he did. She belonged to him.
“I see a man who just lost the last connection to someone he loved to his soul,” she whispered.
The burst of furious power shot through her, the shockwave rattling the windows of the house. She closed her eyes. An eerie quiet followed, and she expected him to be deciding her fate: would he shove her over the rail or kill her as he had Claire?
She opened her eyes when nothing happened, shaking from both cold and fear. Damian’s head was bowed, his tense body still. Compelled to him like nothing else in the world, she touched his face with a quivering hand. He was still for a long moment before he nuzzled it. She raised the other hand to his other cheek, sensing his resistance. A moment later, it melted, and he embraced her. She wrapped her arms around him, at home again.
“I was getting ready to destroy the world.”
Cold fear trickled through her. He wasn’t joking.
“Good thing I felt hungry tonight,” she said.
He whispered something in his tongue.
“You were right. I was a coward,” he said after a moment. “My brother loved her with all his soul. She was all I had left of him.”
She listened, struck by the sorrow in his voice.
“Such is the weakness of a man,” he added bitterly.
“You’re not weak, Damian,” she said, propping her chin on his chest to look up at him. “I’ve seen your soul, you know.”
“It serves me right. I’ve been spying on the thoughts of humanity for thousands of years. Guess it’s my turn.”
“I’m glad you didn’t destroy the world,” she whispered.
“For the record, you’re fucking crazy. I could have killed you.”
“It’s the least I could do. You’re there for me when I need you,” she said. “Even if your attitude sucks.”
He chuckled hoarsely and spread butterfly kisses across her forehead, hugging her against him even tighter. She loved being his arms!
“My sweet, pain in the ass oracle. Looks like it was a good idea bringing you back from the dead after all.”
“That’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to me!” she cried, offended.
She felt the tension within him melt, and the restless shadows wrap around her, cocooning them before retreating. She’d never felt a surrender like his. His guard was down for the first time since she’d known him. The idea of him being vulnerable to anyone floored her. From his home videos, he’d never lowered his guard to anyone, even Claire. Awed by the power she had over him, she began to understand the extent of his solitary existence for the millennia of his life. He’d known love and trust only in the earliest stage of his life, when he had a family before he entered the dark age of his people. He’d been alone since, except for his two adopted brothers. He’d never been able to share his pain with anyone else.
Her stomach growled.
“So you are hungry.”
“I’m always hungry,” she grumbled.
“Can’t get enough of me.”
Jackass.
He drew away from her, and she met his black gaze. Hot desire flowed through her and was mirrored on his face. His gaze was direct, just short of demanding. She took a step back.
He offered his wrist, and she knew he was offering much more. She shook her head, mouth too dry to speak. She wanted him, God did she want him!
“When I’m ready to destroy the world, you waltz in like it’s nothing. When it’s just us, you run. How does that work, Sofia?” he challenged in a husky tone.
It was one thing to offer her body, but her heart, her soul … he would take all of her, consume her completely, irrevocably. She stood on a ledge, considering a swan dive into the depths of the universe. As much as she wanted him, needed him, she was terrified to take the final step that would make her his for eternity.
“It’s ok, kiri,” he said, softening. He touched her hair. “Come to me tomorrow morning. I’m not yet in control of myself.”
She was more grateful to him in that moment than she’d ever been. She took his hand and kissed his palm, then ran to her library, mind racing with what she’d learned about him.
Damian listened to the door closed behind her, stunned by what he’d seen in her thoughts. Love. Pure, sweet, unconditional. For him of all things! He’d heard it in her thoughts even if she didn’t speak the words, and her ability to see through him as he did everyone else amazed him.
He’d never thought much of that talent, the ability to see into someone. He’d always found something wrong, something evil or bad, no matter how small the inclination. Except in her.
“Brother, come out of the shadows,” he said, weariness in his voice.
“I wouldn’t intrude.”
“Bullshit. You were making sure I didn’t hurt her.”
Dusty said nothing but drew abreast of him.
“Thank you,” he said and leaned again on the railing. “I hope you’d have kicked my ass if I did.”
“Puh-lease, brother. What makes you think I didn’t follow to make sure she didn’t chicken out?” Dusty challenged.
“Glad she passed your test. She probably doesn’t realize what happens to people who don’t.”
“We’ll keep it that way.”
Damian chuckled despite himself, unable to shake the negative emotions running through him. He felt both spent and wired, his head too full of memories to control.
“Are you ok?” Dusty asked.
He drew a ragged breath.
“I am now,” he replied.
“I don’t want a woman, but if I did, I’d want one like kiri,” Dusty admitted. “I saw the way she looked at you. Bro, I’m in love with her.”
“She’s a lot like you.”
“I don’t cry that much.”
“She’s got your lip.”
Dusty rolled his eyes. Damian regarded him, reminded again how fortunate he was to have friends like his. Dusty met his gaze with his clear blues, concerned and relieved.
“It’s been a good week. We found an oracle, executed some traitors, chased down bad guys, hosted the Quarterly, and are evac-ing soon.”
“Just when I start to get bored with life,” Damian agreed. “Jule’s missed most of it.”
“Serves him right. He forgot my birthday again.”
“What is it with you and your birthdays? Every year you bitch about it,” he said, enjoying the distraction from his dark thoughts.
“I like my birthdays,” Dusty said defensively. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“If you say so. I don’t even know when mine is.”
“July 27 on the current calendar. Jule’s is November 3.”
“You’ve got issues, bro.”
“Fuck you, man,” Dusty said in irritation. “It’s the little things that count.”
Damian shook his head, comforted by the little oracle and his BFF.
“You did the right thing,” Dusty said. “Give yourself a break and get some rest.”
He slapped him on the arm and disappeared. Damian gazed at the dark landscape. Sleep was as far from his mind as possible. He thought instead of Claire and Sofia. At one point after his brother’s death, he’d considered making Claire his queen. Respect for his brother’s memory stopped him. In hindsight, he wondered how he’d ever been fooled or why he’d settle for Claire when there was someone like Sofia out there, who’d love him for him and not for his title.
He spent the night deep in thought, forcing himself to face the dark memories he’d tried so hard to bury.
* * *
Two awoke from a dream. He sat up, sweating. He didn’t remember the dream, but he saw that kiri was crying again.
“It’s ok, kiri,” he said.
She’d been quiet for a day or two, going everywhere with him, a companion in his head who was beyond the touch of his angry master. She was his, and she brought him a sense of peace.
I’m scared.
It was the first time he’d understand the words she spoke to him. Two swung his legs off the bed, holding his breath in case she spoke again. Her voice was tiny and quiet.
I’m scared.
He didn’t know what to do.
“It’s ok, kiri,” he said again.
So much death in this world.
“We’re not dead, kiri.”