Cult of the Hexad (Afterlife saga Book 6)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “If we keep things hidden then we are only fighting against each other rather than fighting as one. To hear how you’re really feeling about all of this, when there was a door in between us was you shutting me out in more ways than one. And by you not telling me something I should have known the second you found it out then you’re asking the impossible when you ask me to trust you.”

  “I understand what you’re saying but you have to know that none of my actions were done to hurt you, but the opposite.”

  “I know, which is why I am not walking out that door now and never looking back.” He jerked back at just the thought of me doing this.

  “Look, I am going to be honest. Yes, hearing what you said hurt me but I also knew that you were angry, frustrated and you were venting it out when I wasn’t around because it had built up and up until you could take it no more. I get that people say things they don’t mean in situations like this.” I looked to him, lay my hand on his knee and continued,

  “But it wasn’t what you said that hurt, it was the fact you felt like you couldn’t talk to me about it that hurt. If I am going to be your wife then I need to be the first person you turn to when you are feeling this way, even if I am the cause.”

  “But how could I have said any of this to you, Keira? None of this is your fault yet I struggle with how I feel knowing what we lost. I didn’t want to hurt you, I didn’t want you to feel at blame, when the blame is all mine. I didn’t want you to know how ashamed I felt at letting you down.” He told me, finally being honest and it lifted my heart to know that he was finally opening up.

  “But that’s just it Draven, if you would have told me that to begin with I would have then told you in return, that the only people I do blame are the ones that did this to us. You saved me from them, you saved Ari from them and sacrificed our memories to do so, which if possible only makes me love you even more. I am still Keira in my heart and that is all that should matter because I hold you there.” He took my hand and raised it to his lips to kiss before whispering,

  “I know. As you are forever in mine.”

  “I’m sorry.” I took his face in my hands and told him,

  “I forgive you.” And with that our argument was over and now we could close that chapter on our lives and start over. Because I was looking forward to making new memories with him and it was time to get over the loss of what we now knew we could never get back. I understood that it was going to be hard for Draven as he knew exactly what he had lost and I…well, it was easier to get over something you didn’t know, a bit like mourning a person you never met but knew everyone loved.

  At first I had thought that I would never be able to live up to her memory and in some ways I still had this fear but just because I was scared of not being good enough didn’t make it true. It wasn’t going to be easy but as long as we walked this difficult path together, hand in hand, then I knew we would make it to the other side, the only question was time.

  Because that is all we had now. That was what we had been given. Time. Life. And now after this came the Truth.

  After this he pulled me into his lap and held me close like he needed this, like he needed me. Because I was his wife. Not any other version of me. Not my other self or some girl named Keira. Because now I knew…

  I was Keira.

  And there was only one.

  Draven stood and lowered me down to the bed before slipping under the sheets next to me. He wrapped me in his arms and whispered,

  “Good night, my Keira.” I smiled in the dark and whispered back,

  “Good night, my Draven.”

  I closed my eyes and started to drift off with the visions of what my life would be like from now on. I was nervous but excited about meeting my family for the first time which had me thinking about what it would be like. Times like birthdays and holidays spent together and I looked forward to learning different family traditions and quirks. Did we all sit round and play games whilst family Christmas movies played on the telly in the background. Did we listen to cheesy Christmas tunes whilst decorating the tree and getting the men to hang lights outside, moaning about getting out the ladder. Did we bake our own birthday cakes for our family members or did we know someone that made them?

  My mind was filled with silly little questions that would come to mean the world to me. Because it was the little things in life that you counted on to build the whole picture. And that picture was often the most beautiful thing in the world to you when it was the little things that made you smile.

  So that night I went to sleep with a smile on my face, just thinking of all the beautiful little things that I had to look forward to. And before I knew it my peace was shattered what felt like only minutes later but the sun coming through the windows told me otherwise.

  Sophia burst through the room and shouted

  “Ari’s gone!” My heart stopped as I tried to process what Sophia had said, quickly trying to think why, how or even who had taken her but if I thought these words were shocking then the next thing Sophia said was even more so…

  “Vincent took her.”

  Chapter 44

  The Hardest Word is always Goodbye

  “What do you mean she’s gone?” I shouted sitting up, happy that at least Draven had left my bathrobe on. So I grabbed the collar and pulled it closed just to make sure I wasn’t flashing her my girls.

  “Tell us!” Draven commanded getting out of the bed having no care that he was naked. He simply put on his trousers ready for this next drama.

  “Are you sure it was Vincent?” I asked panicked that it could have even been a possibility considering he assured me last night that he would give her time. Well waiting until my back was turned and then swooping on in there and taking her off somewhere wasn’t exactly something I would class as giving her time!

  “Well, who else could it be? He was keeping watch outside her room last night when we left you guys to um…well, you know. We saw her open her door and ask to speak with him. He seemed surprised but I left them hoping it was at least a good sign. Then when I went to check on Vince, he wasn’t there and neither was Ari.” I thought about this and could only hope they had decided on leaving together and that it wasn’t anything more sinister at play.

  Draven fished out his phone and had it to his ear in seconds.

  “He’s not answering.” He complained and then walked over to the hotel suite’s phone. He was on to the front desk in seconds and asked them if they had seen his brother. I wasn’t shocked when Draven didn’t need to describe him as it wasn’t like management would forget what the Draven triplets looked like, not considering they had hired out the entire hotel.

  “He definitely took her. They said that the both of them came to the reception and asked for a cab.”

  “Did they say where to?” Sophia asked and Draven scoffed and said,

  “The nearest bike dealership.”

  “Uh, figures.” She replied dryly.

  “What does that mean?” I asked as the both of them seemed to know more than I did about their brother.

  “My guess, a long distance road trip.”

  “But where would they…wait a minute…does Vincent know about the article?”

  “Yes.” Draven said definitely already knowing where I was going with this.

  “Then I know where they’re headed.” I said getting out of bed and grabbing my bag on the way to the bathroom.

  “What are we going to do?” Sophia asked and I turned to face her and said,

  “We’re going on our own road trip.” And it only took one look to Draven to tell him how much I needed this. Because there was no way I would let Ari do this by herself, even if Vincent was there with her. I knew there was only one other person in this whole world that she needed by her side who would understand exactly what she was going through.

  And that was me.

  I wasn’t there for her once but I would be damned if I wasn’t going to be there for her in this. Not when she saw it for the
first time.

  No, we would face our death together.

  By the time we arrived in what was supposed to be my home state of Minnesota their head start on us meant nothing when you had a private jet. Draven knew exactly where to go having read the article himself and when we got there he finally received a phone call from his brother just as we were pulling up through the gates.

  “We are here now.” Draven informed him and I heard his single reply before the phone went dead,

  “As I knew you would, Brother.”

  The second the car stopped I was out of the door despite the pouring rain.

  “Keira wait!”

  “Let her go, Sophia.” I heard Draven say gently just before I started running. I saw Vincent sat leaning against a motorbike with his arms crossed and I pushed myself harder to get to him quicker. I didn’t know how long they had been here already but just the thought of my sister upset and facing this alone was enough to have me in tears already.

  “Where?” I asked him as soon as I reached the top of the path. He nodded straight on with drips of rain falling from the end of his nose and his hair plastered to his head. I looked to where he indicated and sucked in a sharp breath when I first saw her.

  A lone figure stood in the rain holding two white roses hanging down from her hand and this time I walked slowly towards her. Every step was one that took me closer to my death and it was near terrifying to understand the concept of what we faced. But Ari needed this and looking at it now so did I. Because this was the closure we both needed to witness in order to move on.

  I was soon taking my place next to her and I didn’t say anything but simply took her hand in mine letting her know I was here with her. Looking down at the two gravestones and seeing our names there was a feeling that was almost impossible to describe. Ari passed me a single white rose, keeping one for herself and together we both lay them down over two young girls that were taken from this world far too soon.

  Then we just stood there staring at the grass as all our memories sank into the ground as the rain washed away all the lies, cleansing us from the Heavens above.

  “Vincent told me that white roses stand for innocence, purity, Heaven and last of all silence.” I closed my eyes as more tears fell for the life we had shared and lost with these two girls.

  “It also means ‘I’m thinking of you’”.

  “That’s sounds about right.” I told her.

  “I never thought it would be like this.” I shook my head and said,

  “Me neither.”

  “I thought we would get out and build a life together. Work at some crummy diner somewhere, moan about our feet hurting and save every penny to buy our own place.” I grinned and squeezed her hand.

  “Can’t say I’m sad about the feet thing.” At this she finally laughed. This was when I pulled her into me and hugged her.

  “It will be okay, Ari.” She burst into tears and sobbed,

  “But I’m not Ari…am I?” She asked me this by pulling back and looking at me.

  “She was Ari, and you’re Keira, not Katie. And we’re…we’re…not…”

  “Don’t you even say it! Do you hear me…you are never to say that! Because we are sisters! Like I said, maybe not by blood but we survived as sisters Ari, I only survived that world because of you! That counts, it counts…it counts!” I repeated this over and over after pulling her to me so we could cry together.

  “You will always be my sister, no matter what…promise me, Ari, promise me you will always be there for me. Because I need you Ari…I need you.” I whispered to her holding her tight and not letting go until she told me all I needed to hear.

  “I promise. I will always be there for you…

  I promise you, my sister.”

  After this emotional farewell to our pasts we left the graveyard and Draven suggested we talk somewhere warm as we were both soaked. Which brought us to now and we smirked at each other when we both picked the crummy diner as we drove past.

  “So where do you think you will go?” I asked Ari, who thankfully had decided to keep her name for now.

  “I don’t know but Vincent mentioned some Oracle who he seemed to think might be able to help.” She said shrugging her shoulders and then she shouted,

  “Oh my God! I’m getting the pancakes! Do you remember the last time we...?” She quickly trailed off realising her mistake. I grabbed her hand and said,

  “Yes I do and because I always will remember, to me it happened…I thought you were gonna puke that day!” I added and her smile told me this was what she had needed to hear.

  “So you’re really going then?” I asked trying not to show her how sad I was about her decision, one that I knew hadn’t been made lightly.

  “Yeah.” She said sympathetically.

  “It will be okay, you’ve got so much stuff about to happen, exciting stuff and I… well, to be honest, I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

  “You would never get…” She stopped me by saying,

  “I know you wouldn’t think so but I would. Vincent told me about your family…don’t give me that face, I asked okay. I am happy for you, and I want that for you, I really do but I also might have it out there somewhere for myself and not even know it.” I understood what she was saying and I really couldn’t blame her as I knew I would be doing the exact same thing. And if you think about it I kinda did go in search of my family when finding Draven, without even knowing it.

  “I understand and I would do the same thing. So is Vincent going to go with you?” At this she blushed and sipped her coke, probably needing it to cool down. I raised my eyebrow at her and she laughed saying,

  “What?”

  “Okay, okay well I am not going down that road yet, but he is helping me.” She said after I gave her ‘The look’ but I had to admit that hearing this made me feel miles better. Even though I knew she still had a lot of stuff to sort out in her head at least I could say she was now on the right path after finding her closure.

  “So I guess this is goodbye.” I said trying to be brave and stuffing my hands in my pockets from fear of grabbing on to her and never letting go. In my mind that month we spent apart was the first time we had ever been separated and even though it was a life of lies, it was still all we knew. But more importantly, it still felt real, which was why saying goodbye now was so hard.

  “Only for now, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” She said and I could tell I wasn’t the only one trying not to break.

  “Why is it Goodbye is always the hardest word to say but there’s nothing good about it?” I asked swallowing down my emotional lump straight after. She shrugged her shoulders and then we both turned to the Draven brothers and said at the same time,

  “Take care of her.”

  “Take care of her.” We laughed feeling like old times.

  “I give you my word.” Vincent said then pulled me in for a hug and whispered,

  “My sister.” I nodded knowing my voice was too thick to say more.

  “As always I guard her with my life.” Draven told Ari and she patted him on the arm in that awkward way someone does when they don’t really know a person.

  “No more battling monsters?” Ari said and I chuckled saying,

  “No, I am thinking about taking up knitting, I hear it’s nice and safe.” She laughed back and then came the inevitable final hug goodbye.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you more.”

  She rubbed her face free of tears before she put on the helmet Vincent handed to her and Draven tucked me under his arm for comfort. I thought it was sweet the way he made sure it was on properly before starting up the bike, kicking it into action.

  And with that, they were gone. So the rest of my tears were soaked up in Draven’s t shirt all the way back to the airport…

  As it was time to go home.

  Chapter 45

  Troubled Skies

  “I will tell ya something Tootie pop, and that is y
ou don’t make life boring, that’s for damnerdy cricket!” I smiled at Pip from across where she was sat stuffing cheese balls in her mouth and washing it down with some toxic looking soda.

  We were all travelling back in one of Draven’s private jets after getting back to the hotel and saying goodbye to Jared and his men and also Lucius and his. Cryptically during this farewell Draven added,

  “Until you receive word.” I would have asked him what he meant by it but Draven had a way of distracting you with a simple caress or in this case a mind blowing kiss as soon as I started to speak.

  It had been two days since the battle and the end of the Hexad’s destructive reign on humanity. But even though we had won the battle we were yet to win the war as Aurora had escaped and no-one really knew the outcome to the forging of souls.

  But if there was one thing I had learnt through the short time I had been with Draven and that was, face it when it comes and only worry about it when it does, not before. I had said goodbye to Ari, but it was only the next day that she was ringing me from Vincent’s phone telling me about all she had seen. I had asked her about Vincent and she murmured that he was right there and did I know that they had super powered hearing?

  I laughed and told her I felt her pain, making her laugh. I think she had rung me not long after our goodbye just to let me know she was thinking about me and that even though we weren’t together, we were never really that far apart. Draven was just happy to see the smile it put on my face and before hanging up with Vincent he said,

  “If you could make this a regular thing I would appreciate it.” This then made my smile grow to cheek aching proportions.

  Now we were on our way home and I was laughing and joking with Pip and Adam, who had decided to come back with us, for reasons I still didn’t know. Not that I was complaining as when you had Pip and I in the same room I found myself snorting with laughter and time simply ran away with us. So I was looking forward to that and simply getting back to start my new life with Draven. I think after our turbulent night back at the hotel he finally understood what it was I was asking of him because he started opening up more and we had a long chat about my family. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was meeting them for the first time and I was nervous about it, even after Draven tried to reassure me. Because the problem remained that I still felt like some kind of imposter.