Blood of the Infinity War (Afterlife saga Book 8)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him, I just wanted to be sure.” He quickly looked relieved.

  “The King does…not know,” he said confirming it with a sigh that caused half his sentence to come out as a whispered confession. I couldn’t help my reaction as I reached across the small space between us and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

  “Hey, it will be okay, no one needs to know, not if you don’t want to tell them.” He first looked down at my hand on his and then up at me in shock. Had this really been the first show of friendship he had been given by another?

  “I am not surprised he is in love with you, for I think he would have given his heart willingly even if you weren’t destined for him,” he told me giving me a small smile, one that reflected back in his warm coloured eyes.

  “You love him, don’t you?” I came out and said it. For a moment, he looked panicked until I said,

  “It’s fine and like I said, I understand and I am not angry or anything. It’s just our little secret… along with how handsome you are instead of pretty,” I told him with a smirk, one that thankfully put him at ease.

  “I am happy he found you, even if you do not think I would be.”

  “Well that’s what happens when you care deeply for someone, that despite who they choose, you at least find comfort in knowing they are happy…that is what real love means,” I agreed and he nodded, giving me the biggest smile.

  “Yes, I think you are right.”

  “Which comes to my next question, why are you down here hiding, Ranka?” This question looked once again like a difficult one for him to answer and he looked back at the door for a moment, as if it held the key. This was when I was transported back to that day when Pythia told me about Ranka and it quickly started to make sense.

  “You are regenerating your cells by eating their flesh so that you can get your old form back, aren’t you?” I said making him snap his head back to look at me in astonishment.

  “How…how would you know about such a thing?” he asked frowning and I gave him a small shrug of my shoulders before telling him the only name he needed to hear,

  “Pythia told me about you back in my own time.”

  “I see,” he replied sounding sad as if I must be sickened by the idea.

  “Hey, it’s cool…”

  “You are cold?” he asked interrupting me and I held back a giggle.

  “It means it’s fine, that I am not upset or anything about knowing this about you. It’s your nature and you can’t change what you are and nor should you want to. But I would like to know what happened, if that’s alright?” I asked and instantly felt bad when I saw him hang his head in shame.

  “I was not strong enough to fight him,” he said after a moment of looking uncomfortable and now I knew why as this was obviously not something easy to admit.

  “You mean Pertinax?” he nodded and told me,

  “Pertinax had spies in the city and on the day of your choosing he not only saw you but I also as I stepped up for you, when you decided to draw the King’s image. I believe it was then that not only you caught his eye, but I did as well.” I remembered back to seeing someone in the crowd that looked like he had been spying. This was when I started to understand the layers that me being here had added on top of the past that should have happened, not the one that mistakenly did happen.

  By me being here, well I had changed everything.

  “He attacked you?” I asked in a sympathetic tone getting back to my questions.

  “He found me, yes and then stole my form, leaving me bare and as you see me now,” he said nodding down to himself as if ashamed with the way he looked.

  “Well, if it helps I think you look pretty good as a man,” I told him making him blush and try to hide a small smile.

  “And I thank you greatly for the kindness you show me, for I do not deserve it, not when you know my reasons for preferring a female form over one birthed to me as my true vessel.” I gave him a small smile in return as I knew what he meant. Draven was only ever going to find a woman attractive being that he wasn’t gay and Ranka clearly was. I knew it was a deception and I should have been angry on Draven’s behalf, but looking at the utter shameful agony on Ranka’s face, then I could find only sorrow for such a lie.

  “I know why Ranka, and although I don’t think you should feel the need to live life as a lie, I am not going to judge you for your decision to do so,” I told him honestly and he nodded, accepting it for what it was, friendly advice.

  “So, you have been hiding down here since then?” I asked moving on and getting back to what happened.

  “Yes, until my strength is great enough for the change and of course the men that attacked you are helping with that,” he admitted with a smirk, letting me know who it was that was acting like a human protein shake. Well, I couldn’t say I was half as disgusted now, not knowing how those raping bastards ended up as a demon’s ‘all you can eat’ buffet.

  “Well, I am happy the assholes are helping with that,” I told him and he gave me a horrified look before saying,

  “By the Gods, I don’t eat that part of them!” Then he shuddered and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Then I grabbed his hand and told him chuckling,

  “Calling someone an asshole is just an insult, don’t worry, I never thought you would eat one.” Hearing this he too burst out laughing and I never thought in a million years I would be bonding with someone I once thought as a girl in love with my husband, discussing them possibly eating an asshole after just discovering they were really a man. Wow, I think even Jerry Springer would be stumped at that one!

  “Ah, I see,” he smirked and then looked above as if hearing something I couldn’t.

  “Come, we need to get you back above, as the King is searching for you.” I looked up, straining my hearing ability to try and listen but there was nothing.

  “Wait, I need to ask you something, it’s why I was in your room in the first place, trying to find you.” Ranka gave me a questioning look and nodded to a door behind me that was half hidden by a long hanging curtain that looked to be handmade Chinese silk print.

  “I will answer your questions on the way,” he told me walking past and sweeping the beautiful silk aside. I got up out of my seat and followed behind, but jumped when I heard a roar of anger from above, one that even my puny human’s ears wouldn’t miss.

  It had me wondering what Sophia had told him as I doubted it was how I had been swallowed up by a stone slab. I don’t know what she had said but if it had been the truth then I doubt there would have been much left of Ranka’s hideaway, unless…

  “Is there some kind of magic on this place?” I don’t know why I thought of this but it was strange, as if I knew I was right. He looked taken aback and no doubt wondered how I knew this.

  “It is hidden from all my kind, which is why it only opened for you, although I am curious as to how you would know this?” he asked and I told him honestly.

  “I am not really sure myself.” Then I ducked through the low passageway, one that was pitch black until he lit a torch he first unhooked off the wall.

  “The King will not find this place unless he knows of its existence,” Ranka said and gave me a look over her shoulder. Once again, I found myself holding up my hands and saying,

  “Don’t worry about me, I am not going to tell him…but I do however need to give him some reason as to why I suddenly disappeared and got all bruised up. I know being with him makes me heal quickly but not quick enough that he won’t notice,” I said muttering ‘Unfortunately’ after it with a wince of pain.

  “I will think of something before I let you go up, now ask me your question.”

  “When I arrived in this time back in the desert, I lost something,” I told him putting a hand to my neck as if feeling it there for myself, the one I had put around my neck before stepping into the Janus Gate.

  I remembered when I found it, knowing for some reason it meant something important. It wasn�
��t like the other coins I had used before as it looked more like a piece of gold jewellery or large pendant than something we could have used to get here. Which was why I had never thought about it until out in the desert after finding Ari.

  But now, well what else did we have to lose. So, I told him,

  “It was something the Oracle gave me and I believe it is the only thing that could get us home. It is a large gold pendant that has a lion holding a curved blade sat inside the sun on one side and on the other is some kind of bird, with the head of a panther.” This was when Ranka’s eyes widened and recognition flickered in his hazel coloured eyes.

  “And what of symbols, does it also have these forged in its design?” he asked and once more I recalled that day, back in my broken-down truck that had ran out of fuel. It was after I had gone to the library to see if Pythia had any more answers for me. Instead all I had found was Lucius and a book, ‘The Time Machine’ by H. G. Wells. But it wasn’t the book itself that gave me any clues as what to do next but it was what she had put inside it. I remember picking it up by the cord, letting it spin around slowly at eye level and there it all was, symbols and all.

  “Yes! Yes, it did…but wait, how did you know that?” I asked and that was when he hit me with a ‘Time travelling’ sized bombshell,

  “The King is the one who gave it to her as a gift, telling her that one day she would need it to aid her in fulfilling the Prophecy.” Hearing this my mouth dropped open in utter shock. It was almost an impossible fact to face knowing that even back thousands of years the building blocks of destiny had cemented the foundations of what I must do by the Fates themselves. But then I had to ask, knowing that with his answer, I had my sign,

  “And who gave it to the King to give to her?”

  “Her Father, the God Janus.”

  Chapter 23

  Lost and Found

  After making my way through numerous narrow tunnels with Ranka, I finally found my way back up to the surface of the palace. Of course, it would have to be outside what Draven had considered the ‘safe zone’ and one he had forbidden me to enter. After cutting off his private wing of the palace I had to ask myself how I would get back in and just hoped that the guards would know who I was or what I meant to him. Well, I was no doubt just racking up the number of disapproving looks I was going to get from one angry king. I hadn’t even been able to give him one worry free day, like he asked for, I thought feeling guilty.

  The tunnels had led into a servant’s quarters, where people were busy preparing food and wine for the night ahead. I had told Ranka along the way where I thought the pendant might be and he promised me that as soon as it was nightfall he would sneak out unseen and go and look for it. He said that thanks to the blood he had consumed he would easily be able to home into where he first spilt it, back where I was attacked. It was crazy to think, but even that seemed to be part of the Fates, as I could only imagine what Draven would have thought if he had found me wearing it that day.

  So now here I was, trying to make my way through the busy palace thankfully covered by Ranka’s cloak, so at least I didn’t stand out like a sore thumb. I walked along the halls looking around and for the first time since being here, doing so freely. This was when it hit me, I could have probably walked straight from the palace and no one would have been any the wiser. Had I really just found my way out of the palace when the time came?

  I decided to try and test the theory and followed the others as they busied themselves with their chores. I heard one woman barking orders at a young girl, handing her a big basket and telling her to go to the market place. So, I followed her. She looked back at me and I smiled, trying to act like just some other friendly servant, going about her business. I don’t think I achieved it as much as I hoped as she was frowning at me. After this I thought it best to hang back a bit, keeping my distance until she reached a side door that I knew led to the Great Hall. This of course, was when I heard one very angry King issuing his masterful orders.

  “Find her and bring me the head of anyone who dared try and take her from me!” I groaned aloud letting my head fall back against the stone wall I was leaning against and thinking this didn’t look good for me. Sophia had obviously informed him of my disappearance, no doubt being worried about what had happened to me herself. The only chance I had left was that he clearly didn’t know about that secret trapdoor into Ranka’s private hideaway, so we might still have a chance at getting out that same way when the time came.

  Of course, what would help me now was to speak to her first, so that I could get my story straight. Ranka had at least been helpful enough to speak of hidden tunnels that had been closed off and could have made it easy for me to slip into the unknown after the battle only days before. After all, the Earth had certainly shifted after Pertinax’s destruction and I was sure it wouldn’t be too farfetched to believe it enough to make these hidden access panels to become unstable. Well that was the theory we were going with anyway. So, I took a deep breath and forgot about the girl I was following to go in search of Sophia…or so I thought.

  I had only just turned my back when the young girl I had been following dropped her basket and ran into the Great Hall screaming about being followed by who she thought they were all looking for. Well so much for my stealth skills, I thought wryly. I decided I couldn’t exactly put it off forever so was just about to step out into the Great Hall when suddenly I was grabbed from behind.

  I was just about to fight against it when I felt something I was unfortunately becoming accustomed too.

  A blade at my neck.

  “Come quietly and you won’t be hurt but make yourself known and I will slit your throat.” A voice hissed from behind me and I wanted to actually roll my eyes at this fool.

  “Listen up buddy, if you think for one minute we are getting out of here without being seen then you are so wrong, it’s almost funny.” I told him in a tired voice but then I felt the blade nick my skin and I sucked in a painful breath at the sting.

  “Now that got your attention,” he told me with a snigger and then just as I heard the commotion coming from the Great Hall I felt myself being pulled back before being pushed hard against the wall. The man wasn’t exactly what I would have called a kidnapper’s lackey as he was annoyingly handsome…in fact, stunningly so.

  He wore a turban that had a long length hung down so that it could conceal half his face, leaving just his unusual light olive-green eyes on show. They were incredible and unlike any I had ever seen before. It just made me want to get closer to him to see if the emerald green and orange star that seemed to burst into lighter shades around his pupil was really there. Added to this he had a strange shadow around his eyes that gave him an exotic hard edge to his serious glare.

  “Now stay,” he told me sternly, pulling the large blade back and waving it in front of my face as an obvious threat. Then he turned his attention to the wall next to us and I had to wonder why…what was he waiting for? Well, it turned out that I didn’t have long to wait as he started to reach out to the wall and I looked on in amazement as it started to move. I narrowed my eyes as if what I was seeing wasn’t possible and by all mortal accounts it shouldn’t have been. But there was no denying the truth of my situation as the wall in front of us started to liquify.

  A sandstone droplet started to drip outwards as if defying gravity and being drawn to his fingertip. Then I looked at his eyes and saw that the olive-green starburst was no longer there as his eyes had seemingly caked over with what looked like a cracked rock iris. It was the strangest thing, as if he had somehow mimicked the substance in front of him so that he could control it.

  My head suddenly snapped back towards the hall to see soldiers coming around the corner and I could hear Draven’s commanding voice with them.

  “Where is she?!” he snapped obviously speaking with the servant girl that had alerted him to my whereabouts.

  “In…in there… my Lord,” she stammered out fearfully.

  “Ti
me to go,” the man said and suddenly I found myself being yanked back to a place that should have been impossible to travel…through the wall. At first it felt as though I was drowning in sand and I was just thankful that I had at least had the good sense to take a deep breath before I felt myself falling backwards. I closed my eyes the second I felt the sand burying me alive.

  “Ahh!” I shouted finally opening my eyes and mouth, as I felt myself about to land, only it never came. The man had grabbed me with a fist full of my cloak at my chest, stopping me just before I landed on the unforgiving hard ground.

  “What the hell?!” I shouted after he yanked me to my feet. I was looking around and saw that we seemed to be in another room in the palace, one that I hadn’t been in before.

  “Quiet girl!” the man snapped, swinging me around and once again manhandling me into another wall, this time the one opposite to the one we must have just passed through. It gave me a chance to take a good look around and I was at least happy to see that it looked to be an armoury. It was a long room and further down from where we stood were lines of spears and swords. I knew I couldn’t just take a skip and jump over to one of them so that I might defend myself, but that didn’t mean I had nothing to work with where I stood.

  So, I lowered down ever so slightly and reached for one of the baskets that was only a hairsbreadth away from my fingertips. Thankfully, where we stood were thousands of bundled arrows all piled ready in baskets and all I needed was one. I kept my eyes on what the man was doing now and this time I couldn’t help but flinch as I saw him pulling a long thick needle from his turban. It looked just as deadly as the blade that he had thankfully just tucked back in its sheath attached to his leg.

  All I could hope for was that one, that lethal looking pin wasn’t for me and two, I could reach the only weapon to hand before he remembered I was still there. Thankfully when I saw him stabbing his own hand with it, I knew that I was in luck but unfortunately for me, it was short lived. I saw him tighten his fist around its length before letting it go so that it was dripping crimson.