Cult of the Hexad (Afterlife saga Book 6)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “I heard voices whispering to me about the Hexad and how to stop them.” At this Draven seemed to breathe a little easier. He pulled me close and said,

  “I wouldn’t worry, soon we will be making plans to leave here and we will be dealing with them in our own way…you have nothing to fear in that.” I smiled up from where he held my head to his shoulder, embracing me in no doubt an attempt to sooth my worries. But as much as I relished being in his arms, I knew I had been given that dream for a reason.

  “Can I just ask though, has every one of your plans turned out the way you expected?”

  “In regards to you?” I nodded and he huffed out a laugh before saying honestly,

  “No, hardly ever in fact.”

  “Okay, then you won’t be offended if I come up with a backup plan…just in case of course.” I knew with the undemanding look he gave me that the next words out of his mouth would sound patronising but I didn’t take offense, as I knew he hadn’t seen what I had seen.

  “If it makes you feel better, then I can see nothing wrong in doing so.”

  “So getting back to the mirror?” I asked and I think I could hear him groan in his mind.

  “Do we have to discuss this…again.” I almost laughed at what a whiny teenager he sounded but after all we had spoken about today, I knew he had a weakness.

  “Alright, would you prefer to tell me how old you are?”

  “Fine. I came back into the room thinking you were still getting dressed or struggling to decide what to wear, as was often the case…”

  “Draven.” I said his name in warning as I knew he was trying to brush over what I wanted to know.

  “I walked in and as soon as my feet crunched on the mirrored shards, that’s when I knew something had happened. I found the empty frame and after searching everywhere for you for weeks, you had simply vanished. It was the first time I couldn’t feel you.” His pain ridden expression made me feel guilty for asking these things but I needed to know. I don’t know why but something kept nagging at the back of my mind.

  “What do you mean you couldn’t feel me?”

  “Ever since you came into my life I have been able to sense you and the closer we became the stronger the bond grew. But when you disappeared it was as if someone had severed that bond, slicing through the tie that bound together our souls.” The way he spoke about our destiny and fate bringing us together always sounded so magical and now was no different, which is why I hated asking,

  “Did you not then…uh…how do I say this…?”

  “Did I not think you were dead?” He finished for me and I winced at how gut wrenching it sounded for him.

  “No.” He answered sternly.

  “Why not?”

  “Because when I said I searched for you everywhere…I mean, everywhere.” I gasped as the penny dropped on what he was trying to tell me. He had gone to Heaven and Hell in search of me!

  “Besides, the mirror told me enough to know witchcraft was involved.”

  “How so?” I asked knowing he had definitely missed this part out when explaining the first time.

  “As soon as I picked up a piece of the glass it showed me only one vision and that was of you sleeping, calling out my name. I shouted for you and that was when all of the pieces of glass turned into dust. I tried to get it back but my powers were useless against it. In fact, it seemed the more we tried to find you with powers of our own, the stronger the resistance we were faced against. In the end it was surmised that we had unknowingly fed the contending force but of course by then it was too late, that damage had already been done.” I can’t imagine what it must have been like for him. To see the person, you love slip through your fingers and fade into nothing, knowing there wasn’t a damn thing you could have done. For a powerful being like Draven I can imagine this hadn’t been received well. No wonder he didn’t like talking about it!

  “So I left nothing behind?” He frowned, thinking a moment and then shook his head.

  “Nothing, not even your wedding ring.” He said lifting up my hand and kissing the finger it had been on for only a single night. This made me sad again thinking about it as I had shed few tears over hearing it the first time. How cruel was fate anyway, to give us only one night at being man and wife before ripping it away from us!

  “I have never seen it.” I told him wondering where in the world it was now. Yes, it was a sad thought indeed knowing the symbol of our love was stolen from me and the saddest part of it all was that I couldn’t even remember what it looked like.

  “Hey, don’t do this to yourself.” Draven said.

  “Do what, there’s not a lot I can do when I don’t even remember saying my vows or even knowing what my first kiss as a married woman felt like.” This was when he gripped my chin and lifted my face to his.

  “It was beautiful, like every kiss we share.” He said before placing his lips to mine and kissing me so softly, it alone made me want to cry for it felt so close…oh so close, I could almost touch the memory for myself when he kissed me this way. Then he deepened the kiss and I felt myself being pushed back against the bed, quickly losing myself in his gentle touch. He pulled the covers from my body, baring my insecurities to him and silencing them once and for all with the adoring way he admired my naked form. Then without saying a word to each other he simply looked into my eyes and gave me that piece of him I needed to feel.

  I cried out silently as I felt his strength slip inside of me, touching that forbidden part of me that was only his to explore and conquer. He reached up, shackled my wrists and held them above my head as he took me to that secret place only two people in love can find together. Because up until now every time we had united our bodies this way I had been consumed by the intensity of it all but this…well, there was only one word to describe what this was, what this would always be was…

  Love.

  Later that day came the meeting take two, this time without me freaking out but this probably had something to do with the fact that I wasn’t there. Draven had decided it best not to push me too far when it came to my newly mastered skills at controlling my ‘gift’. He thought a more gradual intake of the world’s most powerful beings would be a wiser route to go down, and I couldn’t say I disagreed with him.

  Let’s just say that I hadn’t been chomping at the bit to get back in that room and face them all again. But like I said before, this hadn’t been because I was still scared of them all. No, it was because I was still ashamed of the way I had handled things and thinking back to how they were just trying to all help me at the time, didn’t make it any easier. And poor Sophia, she had been nothing but nice to me and the way Draven described our relationship before my memory loss was as if we were sisters.

  So this is why I told Draven to tell them how sorry I was until the time was right when I could say it myself. He told me in his ‘I am a man and I know best’ kind of way that this was not needed but I felt adamant that it was. Which was why I wouldn’t let him leave before he promised me.

  I also asked if it was possible for him to first get me some more clothes, as I still didn’t want to face that dressing room. The second was if he could somehow get my bag to me. I hadn’t seen it since I arrived and I was worried about Lucy as she hadn’t heard from me in a few days. I just had visions of her forcing Dex to call the FBI to get them to do a worldwide manhunt in search of me.

  Draven had given me a short kiss on the cheek after handing me another chosen outfit before leaving. He also told me that he would have someone fetch my bag for me and to expect it after I was finished in the bathroom. To be fair I don’t think he was anticipating me being in the shower for at least ten minutes longer than usual as I couldn’t fathom how you turned the bloody thing on! It was only when I fully walked in there and started patting the walls like I was Indiana Jones looking for some lost city, that the water scared possibly a little wee from me.

  Luckily for me though I was in the right place for potential embarrassing accidents a
nd thankfully had gone on my tap/lever finding mission in my birthday suit. So other than a high pitched girly scream, I had a very peaceful and more importantly, uneventful shower.

  Once I was finished, I towel dried my hair as I was always used to doing and wiped the steam from the gilded mirror. I looked at my reflection and little by little I was starting to change. To begin with it had been slight when at Lucy’s but now I was here you could really see how free I felt. The dark circles around my eyes had altogether disappeared and my hair now had more of a healthy golden colour to it. It was softer, along with my skin now that I was no longer forced to use that harsh soap on my face.

  I think looking in the mirror now was actually the first time upon seeing my reflection that I felt like a woman. I let the towel slip off one shoulder and decided to attempt the sexy look. I even pouted my lips and looking to the side over my shoulder, tried my best to look seductive. In the end I just burst out laughing at myself.

  “Ha! I think you need to work at playing the Sexy Vixen, Kay Bear!” I said out loud and walked back into the room in just my small towel, as I’d used the bigger one for my long hair.

  “Ahhh! Holy shit! What are you doing in here?!” I shouted at the sight of Lucius stood in the door frame. I quickly tugged down at the bottom of the towel that barely covered what I considered south of the indecent border. I also tightened the top without flashing him my girls. And Jesus, did he have to look so bloody composed, cocky and freaking handsome! I mean he was King of the Vampires for sucking blood sake!

  He held up a canvas bag hung from one finger and said,

  “I got to play errand boy…Vixen.” He said smirking and flashing a bit of fang. I rolled my eyes and tried like holy hell to act like I was immune to his charms. Of course this was easier said than done, considering who was I kidding, was there a human on the planet immune?

  “Well thanks for the bag…oh and please don’t call me that.” I said thinking it felt weird coming from him and not Draven. I mean ever since I had found out how he felt about Draven’s wife Keira, not me because let’s face it…he didn’t know me…or thinking about it like that neither did Draven.

  “That’s some hard thinking you’re doing over there, Kay Bear…do you need to take a seat?” He said and this time I went right in for scowling at him. No surprise when he started laughing, taking me about as serious as a papercut.

  “Funny, isn’t it time for you to turn into a bat or something?” I said trying to keep a straight face when teasing him. This time he was the one to roll his eyes.

  “Yes, right after my fight with Van Helsing, I can pull the stake from my heart, pick my teeth with it and wash my mouth with holy water, before bedding down for the night in my coffin.” He said in a serious tone that I suspected was him still teasing me. However, I was still suckered in enough to ask,

  “You sleep in a coffin?”

  “Fuck no! I sleep like a freakin’ starfish!” I burst out laughing at this and nearly lost my towel.

  “I think I should go change.”

  “Don’t feel the need on my account sugar, I am quite enjoying the view.” He said and I don’t know why but his bad boy grin made me look down. I gasped at the distinct shape of a rather large erection pressing against the tight black leather pants he wore.

  “Oh God!” I said hiding my eyes and I ran off into the bathroom after grabbing the clothes off the arm of the sofa.

  “It’s all the extra blood I suck, remember!” I heard him shout before I slammed the bathroom door shut. I could still hear him laughing as I was pulling up a pair of stone wash jeans. These were more of a boot cut and didn’t fit so tight to my legs this time but like the other pair they were just as soft. I don’t know if it was daft or not but I found myself wondering if I would be allowed to keep these clothes once everything was…well I don’t know…said and done maybe?

  It was strange even thinking about it really. Would Draven and I date? I mean I know we were married but did that still stand considering it hadn’t been me that had said my vows? Where would I live? I know Draven had started to tell me about my other family but I had to stop him before he’d begun. Thankfully he had understood why quickly after explaining my fears about losing Ari. Of course that didn’t mean I wasn’t near bursting with curiosity and the idea of having another family was both an exciting and terrifying prospect.

  But I told Draven that when I find out about them would be the day that I would want to meet them and to first do that I would have to relearn everything about them. This was obviously something that needed to wait until I saved my sister and for more good reasons than not. But it didn’t mean I didn’t wonder what it was going to be like.

  “You still alive in there? By God’s Asshole, you’d better not have been kidnapped again, because I swear to fucking…”

  “Calm down. I’m a girl remember, we have more shit to do.” I said after quickly pulling the burgundy long sleeved shirt over my head.

  “Well you never know with you. Even mirrors are hazardous to your health.” He said and this time when I frowned at him, I really frowned.

  “That isn’t funny.”

  “Oh trust me sweetheart, it is. Although looking for you for eight months wasn’t, so my grave apologises, my fair maiden.” He said bowing, making it hard to stay angry at him.

  “You said grave on purpose didn’t you?”

  “You got me…oh but come on, believing all that TV shit about Vampires and what did you expect.” For some reason I had switched off and quickly blurted out,

  “Can you swim?” He gave me one of those ‘What now?’ looks and said,

  “Okay, I must have missed that movie. You’re gonna have to help me out with this one pet, because I have no…”

  “Did you ever save me from drowning in a frozen lake?” I said and for some reason I needed to know.

  “Ah, so I guess this means that not all memories are lost to you?”

  “So I guess that means a yes.” I replied back, knowing I was fixating on that because of what the girl in my dreams was trying to tell me. That was why I fell through the water to get to her…she was drawing the memory out of me.

  Lucius looked like he was trying to get a read on me and I felt a strange sensation, like something nagging and pulling at my mind. Long intruding fingers were trying to pick their way through the void and I frowned at him wondering if this was his doing.

  “Sorry Love, it was worth a try.” He said shrugging his shoulders like trying to pick through someone’s brain was like forgetting to put sugar in their coffee!

  “Yeah, well it doesn’t work, trust me, we tried.” He knew I was referring to Draven and I and I could also tell he hid a lot of reactions so that he wouldn’t give away his feelings…feelings that had already been admitted in front of everyone. At some point we would need to talk about it but it didn’t feel like my place to do so…it was Keira’s.

  “Alright sweetness, in answer to your question yes, I did save you that night but it was also through my mistakes that landed you there in the first place, so don’t go making me out to be a hero here because I’m…”

  “But you are!” I shouted interrupting him as I wasn’t willing to listen to him say otherwise.

  “Look, I know I may not have all my eggs in one basket here…I mean Christ, it’s probably not even eggs I’m looking for…”

  “Losing me here, love.”

  “The point is I may not remember everything between us Lucius but I know what you have done for me and…I. Know. You. Don’t ask me how or why but that day on the bus I trusted you and in that bathroom you proved me right. You saved my life I don’t know how many times but I have a feeling its becoming a habit…am I right?” I asked and he laughed before saying,

  “Habit…Hell, with you girl, it’s a fucking hobby!”

  “Alright, no need to be dramatic it about it…pussy.” I muttered the insult so he could hear it and I couldn’t believe it had come out of me. His wide eyes flickered bri
ghter and this told me he thought the same. He took the few steps that were between us, coming so close I now had to look up.

  “Now there was my Little Keira girl.” He said fervently looking down at me. I couldn’t help but blush as I felt the heat coming off him, knowing that right now he was looking at me the way he looked at her and I had to wonder…

  What was it about this Keira?

  “I uh…” I didn’t know what to say but thankfully he took the lead, as most of these supernatural men seemed to do.

  “Don’t worry beautiful, I am learning swiftly on how to behave, but hey, if it slips and I feel like kicking ass again, then you know where I will be before it.” He said winking.

  “Kicking ass?” I said questioning him on who really kicked whose ass, teasing him once more.

  “Hey what do you know, you missed most of my good hits freaking out. And you call me a pussy!” I had to laugh as he had a point.

  “Speaking of pussies, then I’d better get going before there’s a dog fight.” He said and I now knew from my conversation with Draven that he was talking about Jared and his crew.

  “Well, you be careful if you have to break one up.” I said and he scoffed before saying,

  “Who said anything about breaking it up, I just said I wouldn’t want to miss it…after all, it’s been a few years now.” Again around Lucius I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, of course trying to fight a smile whilst doing it.

  “And thanks for this…” I said pointing at my bag but then I quickly frowned down at it.

  “Oh wait, but this isn’t mine.” I told him but when I looked back up I found he had already left.

  “Okay, so not big on goodbyes then.” I said to no one and then stared down at the canvas bag that still looked familiar. So I wondered, could it have belonged to me…before?

  I plonked myself down next to it and for some reason poked at it. I don’t know what this was supposed to have achieved exactly but neither did it explode or did anything gross pop out of it, so I took these both as good signs. I wanted to open it as much as I didn’t. For a start it belonged to someone else’s life and that was something I knew wasn’t the time to be opening that can of discovery but what if it held something important in it. What if Draven had forgotten that this was something I left when they took me…what if it had the clue I felt as if I had been looking for?