by CJ England
Lucas lost his smile. “I am still forbidden to join with her.” His silver eyes met Kira's and there was regret and fear in them. “But I'm here. Maybe I can find something that will change Elijah's mind."
He looked at Danolas as if seeing him for the first time. He switched his gaze to Kira, and there was a touch of jealousy in his voice as he spoke.
"This witch. He's your Chosen too?"
Kira smiled and looked at Danolas. Walking over to him, she slipped her hand into his. “I am to join with him as I have joined with Gallegar. He is to become a part of the whole. We must bring our people together."
Danolas looked down at her small hand in his. With his magick, it was easy to sense the anguish in the men who stood next to him. They were all to share Kira and a part of each of them hated it. It wasn't an easy thing to swallow. They would do it because it was necessary. But since no one had all the answers as to why, it didn't make it easy.
It was all so sudden and confusing. Kira, not here yesterday, but here today, and in their lives. If they felt for her what Danolas did...
He looked into Lucas’ face. There was a longing there as the wolfman looked at the small woman, a thirst that might never be quenched. He wasn't master of his fate. He was bound to another. One who didn't want the joining to happen. Lucas’ frustration was palpable and understandable.
Then there was Gallegar. His feelings for Kira were more complex. Together, he and Kira shared something Danolas’ magick told him was stronger and more intimate than a simple allying of power. There were emotions involved that bound the two of them together more securely than any magick could.
As for himself, he knew he had been waiting for her. Whatever this joining was, he would experience it with her. It was preordained. For his society and for himself.
"I will join with you,” he said simply, meeting her golden eyes with his own.
"We must have privacy.” Kira's bald statement brought Gallegar's head around sharply. His eyes narrowed forbiddingly, as he looked at Kira.
"Why? What must you do, that I, who have already joined with you, can't know?” His voice was sharp.
Kira looked anxiously at him, then letting go of Danolas’ hand, walked to Gallegar and wrapped her arms around him. His arms came around her, almost crushing her with his strength.
She spoke into Gallegar's powerful chest. “It is necessary, my Heart. It is a special thing, a private thing, between Danolas and me.” She switched to mind-speech.
"It does not make what we feel for each other less important. You have my heart. We share each other's soul. No matter whom I join with, it will not be the same as what you and I shared. You must allow me to do this without fear. You will not lose me."
Gallegar closed his eyes tight as the truth of Kira's words speared through him. He was afraid of losing her. It was hard to believe they had met only hours ago. The need to claim her was as old as the hills where he had been born. He had hated the light that came in her eyes when she had met Lucas, and then later ... Danolas. He wanted the light in her eyes to be for him only.
He didn't want Lucas or Danolas to experience anything like what Kira and he had shared together. There was a part of him, he now realized, that was worried the Power didn't intend for them to be together. One that was afraid of the future.
But what if my jealousy limits her power? What if what I am feeling right now weakened her? He sighed. He had given up the hope of mating with her, of feeling her body beneath his, for whatever reason the Power demanded. If he now needed to conquer his jealousy, so be it.
She was the most important thing in his life. Now more important than his flock and his own life, he would give it to protect hers.
Gallegar looked over Kira's head and met Danolas’ troubled gaze. With clenched jaw, he gently pulled Kira from his arms and stood her before the high priest. Kira watched him the whole time, her own eyes filled with tears.
"A Ghra...” He took her hand and placed it in Danolas’ waiting one. “Take care of her,” was all he could manage to say.
* * * *
Danolas led Kira through another arched doorway to the left of the fireplace. The lights came on as they entered and she found they were in a large bedroom. A king-size bed made of the same crystal as Danolas’ desk stood in the corner. A couch and set of chairs bumped up against the foot of the bed. Through a door to the right of the bed, she could see a well-equipped bathroom, shimmering with more of the beautiful crystal.
He watched her take in the room. He smiled as she ran her hand over the crystal headboard. “This crystal is my stone of power,” he shared with her. “It magnifies the magick talent I have."
"Is that what you carry in the head of your staff?
He smiled at her. “Yes. I store extra power in there. Even though I am stronger than any witch in the city, there are times it is nice to have a little extra energy.” He pulled her gently to the couch at the foot of the bed.
"I do not understand this power you have. When I first met you, I thought you too were a witch. I know now that isn't true. But your power ... my magick can make no sense of it. Will it become clearer once we are joined?"
Kira bit her lip. She looked down at her hands, folded neatly together. She could feel such strength in him. And such a thirst for knowledge.
"I do not know,” she said hesitantly. “I understand very little about what I am doing. If you are looking for an all-knowing Power, you will not find it in me.” She looked up at him.
Sadness showed in her expressive eyes. “I know very little about myself at all.” Quietly, she told him the story of how she had came to be. From her first memory in the blue lit room to her adventures in meeting Gallegar and Lucas. She left out the private memory of her joining with Gallegar.
"You see ... every time I do something, I am haunted by the fact my knowledge is imperfect. Even if I am given a vision, there are times I cannot interpret it. I play it out moment by moment, and if I make a mistake, someone gets hurt."
By the look in her eye, Danolas could tell she was thinking of when she had spoken the Words of Death over Lucas. Her guilt at giving him pain showed in her face.
He followed his instincts and put his arm around Kira. “You speak as if you are in this alone. You have Gallegar to lean on and soon you will have me. As these things happen, there will be the three of us to work them out. You are not alone and naked in a bare room. You have us now."
She stared at him and she felt tears well up in her eyes. She was afraid of being alone. Gallegar and Danolas’ understanding would be a warm shield against the storm of fear and insecurity she felt. She still wasn't used to leaning on anybody. She had known them for such a short time, and she wasn't yet used to talking things over with them. It was almost impossible for her to believe she had just met them. There was a sense they had always been a part of her.
She knew a part of her also feared the dynamics of one woman in a relationship with two men ... three counting Lucas. Her biggest fear was hurting one of them.
"How can you know so clearly what I am thinking?” she asked in amazement. “It is as if you can read my very mind. Like you have always known me."
"I have known you in dreams for almost a year now. It does not matter that we just met. We have been together for a long time."
"I want to feel I am not alone,” she whispered. She laid her head on his shoulder. “Help me understand. Join with me.” Kira loosed her power and it slowly moved over them both.
Danolas felt her power glide over him. He opened his magick to it. Her power slid inside him as softly and as gently as an intimate kiss. He heard himself groaning in delight. It was a closeness he had never felt before in any type of magick, with any person.
In response, his own magick merged with hers and swirled up out of him and into the room. It circled above them madly, wildly, before bursting in a fireball of sensation that came showering down in a shimmering, color-filled rain.
She gasped and spread her arms out
to her sides to receive the full weight of its glory.
He found himself matching her motions, breathing in the mingling forms of their magick.
Kira swayed with the emotions that rocketed through her. Danolas’ magick had opened up a part of her inner spirit she didn't know even existed. The colors of his magick poured through her, a glittering rainbow of power. She stretched her arms out wide to embrace the feelings that danced in her body. She sensed, rather than saw him, do the same thing.
Their powers met and blended into a new power—one that encompassed both of them. She strained toward Danolas as the newly formed magick pulled their bodies together.
He felt her breasts press against his chest. They both slid off the couch, kneeling together on the floor. Their bodies came together, her softness against his male hardness. Their arms outstretched, their hands together, their fingers intertwined. The new magick poured into and through them both. The feeling was so intense it was painful.
Danolas felt his body arch as the powers became almost too strong to hold. The colors became clearer, more vivid. He heard Kira sobbing his name as the magick filled their bodies to bursting.
Her psyche was swamped with color and feeling. The magick was almost too great to be borne. She heard herself cry out, then sob his name. She heard him answer, but his voice was carried away in the sweeping stream of magick. Her knees gave out, and Danolas caught her as she fell.
He pulled her into his lap, and she buried her head in his chest, waiting for the tumult to pass over her. Slowly, gradually, the magick calmed. It went from a raging waterfall of colors, to a lightly skipping stream.
After a while, Kira lifted her head and her gaze met Danolas’ eyes. His eyes swirled with the rainbow of power they had just experienced, and she knew by how he looked at her, that hers were showing the same thing.
They stared at each other for a long moment before Kira spoke.
"The power now in us is a new one, created to dream clearer dreams and understand visions. Through joining, we have become a part of each other. We have shared a psychic bonding, now we must share the physical."
Kira reached up and placed her right hand near the hairline of Danolas’ left temple, and waited patiently.
Danolas frowned, but then his eyes widened as he felt an outside Power drop a suggestion in his mind. At Kira's encouraging smile he reached over, and picked up his staff from where it had dropped. He gently rested it against the soft skin high on her cheekbone, near the outside of her left eye.
By unspoken agreement, he sent his magick though his staff and into her. At the same time, he felt her power blast sharply into his temple. His shout mingled with Kira's scream in the magick-filled air. The pain was terrible and sweat broke out all over his body. The sickly sweet smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils.
Kira lay panting against Danolas. Her hand was still burning against his temple. Slowly, she removed it and it fell limply into her lap. She felt the staff slip from her cheek, and fall to the rug beside them.
Weakly, she said the power words, finishing the joining.
"I give you sight. You give me understanding. Together we will see the future."
Danolas widened his eyes, as the words whispered in his head. Kira had mind-spoke him, just as she did with Gallegar.
"You give me sight. I give you understanding. Together we will see the future."
He repeated them back to her in the proper sequence and was rewarded by a shaky smile. Her heavy eyelids lifted, and for the first time, he could see the love in her eyes.
"I am for you, Danolas. You are for me.” Her eyes closed again, then opened a moment later. Her eyes cleared and focused intently on his. The colors faded and the golden glow returned to them.
"I see a vision for you, Danolas. I know you are confused about the emotions that swirl around us, but know this. I was never intended to belong to you. One is being sent who was created just for you. Look for someone with eyes as purple as a violet, and hair as red as a flame. She is your true mate. Our joining can not compare with the pleasure you will find in each other's arms."
He went still as he listened to her words. The new power within him showed him she spoke the truth. It was a true vision. He stared down at her, able to see her on both planes of existence. Her beauty was an inner one as well as an outer physical one.
He felt a pang of sweet regret she wasn't to be his mate. But the love he felt for her was no different. He would guide her and help her interpret the circumstances around her. She was his to protect. He let his magick flow over her and sensed he could now hear her thoughts and read her emotions.
For the first time, he felt the pain from the brands he and Gallegar had made. It was stronger than the pain at his temple. He smiled. These he could heal with a simple spell.
He placed his hand directly over the wound on her cheek. He whispered a short spell, then kissed his fingers and gently pressed them to the wound.
Kira sat up with a gasp. “What did you do?” She reached up and felt the brand. “It doesn't hurt any more."
"Just a simple healing spell. It is one you can learn as well. Since our magicks have intertwined, I sense you may be able to do many things I can."
"Show me again!"
Danolas moved his fingers back over her face.
"I can't see what you are doing,” she complained, as he repeated the spell over the brand on her cheek.
He gave an amused chuckle and with a twist of his wrist, he made a mirror appear in her hand.
She smiled, dimples showing briefly. She raised it to where she could watch him. Kira listened carefully as he spoke the magick words, then kissed his fingers and touched her cheek. She looked closely. The brand was in the shape of a crystal prism.
Reaching down, Danolas broke a small piece of crystal off of the glowing head of his staff. “I would give you something to celebrate this joining.” Wrapping it in his hands, he closed his eyes and massaged it gently. He blew on his hands and when he opened them a necklace lay cradled in his palm. The crystal itself swirled with the same colored power created between them.
"Oh, thank you.” Kira lifted her hair as Danolas fastened the jewel around her neck. It lay perfectly in the hollow at her throat.
Kira's eyes glowed. “You have given me this gift ... now allow me to heal you.” She bit her lip in concentration. Placing her hand over his temple she followed his directions. After a quick kiss of her fingers, his pain was gone as well.
Kira handed Danolas the mirror. His brand was a small “K” just below the hairline.
"I must call Gallegar in here.” Kira yawned. “His brand hurts him terribly. Vampires do not react well to burns."
Danolas nodded, watching Kira with some concern. Now the joining was over, he could sense a great tiredness stealing over her. She lay almost limp in his lap. He used his magick to check Kira's aura on the psychic plain. What he saw was frightening. Her aura—he sensed it should be a bright golden color—was muddy and weak. He checked her shields next and what he saw staggered him. His voice was grim as he answered her.
"Call him in, my Lady. It is time we talked. It is time we all talked."
* * * *
Lucas sat brooding on the couch before the fire, and watched as Gallegar paced in great sweeping motions in front of him. Danolas had taken Kira through the doorway only minutes before, and already Lucas himself could feel the strong need to go after them. Not that he would try. Jorad stood at the bedroom door protecting his master's privacy. A token thought, but Lucas would allow it.
Lucas could sense the other two vampires waiting with utter stillness at the office door, as Gallegar had bade them. Only Gallegar stayed in motion, as if by pacing he could outrun whatever demons chased him.
"How soon until dawn?” he asked the vampire. Gallegar stopped and scented the air with the same practiced ease a human man might check his wrist watch.
"Two hours, maybe a bit more. We still have plenty of time.” He resumed his paci
ng, glancing distractedly at the door.
Lucas saw the pain in his eyes. He couldn't sense anything from Gallegar, but thought the vampire was probably shielding himself tightly, so his emotions wouldn't affect Kira and what was happening inside the room. If his eyes were any indication, the Vampire King was hurting badly.
God, I'm as jealous as hell and I'm not even joined with her. What he must be going through right now. For the first time, Lucas was thankful he hadn't joined with Kira. He wasn't sure he could handle what he was sure was a mind-numbing pain. He spoke before he thought.
"Is it worth it?"
Gallegar jerked his head toward Lucas and actually took a step, his eyes glowing green in anger, before pivoting away to lean on the crystal mantel above the fireplace. He took a deep breath, fighting for control.
"If you were joined with her, you wouldn't ask me that."
"Then how can you stand it?” Lucas asked. “You were the one she came to first. How can you take her searching the rest of us out?” Lucas was the one who stood up now and began to pace.
Gallegar turned and looked intently at the younger man. “I take it because I have no choice. To love Kira is to accept who and what she is. To accept why she has come. I can do nothing else. It doesn't mean I like it. It just means I must live with it."
Lucas shook his head. “I don't know. I don't know if I can do it. Our lives are changing so fast.” He walked over to the window across from the desk. It was shaped like a turret, and was spelled to give the impression the person who looked outside was five stories up and looking over a moat into a summer meadow.
"Have you thought of joining with her anyway? Without your leader's permission?” Gallegar's question came out of the blue, and he saw Lucas’ back stiffen in response.
"I have thought about it."
The words were nonchalant, but Gallegar could sense Lucas had thought about it a great deal.
Lucas leaned his head against the cool glass of the window as he spoke his thoughts aloud. “I'm afraid of her. But I am even more afraid of living my life without her. Hours ago I didn't even know she existed. How could she become so important to me so fast?” His voice was bewildered.