Stone Heir (The Kahlian Series Book 1)

by Aimee Hunter

  "It's ok, I get it. It's just going to take some getting used to. For now, can we just stick with verbal communication? Keep the.... telepathy for another time?"

  "Of course." Diana agreed.

  "Thank you." Rena sagged slightly with relief. She tentatively moved back to the couch and retook her seat, waiting until Diana had sat back in her chair before saying the words that were burning her up inside. "If what you say is true, that this is passed on from parent to child, I don't understand how I could have inherited it. As far as I know, my father is human."

  "What about your mother?" Mason asked. She had been on the periphery of the conversation until now, allowing Diana to take the lead as she was the eldest, and had done the most research into their race. She moved over to lean against the arm rest of Diana's chair, facing Rena.

  "I don't know," the Princess replied, shaking her head. "She died giving birth to me and my father never spoke of her." She frowned when the sisters all exchanged looks.

  "Rena, do you know anything about your mother? Anything at all?" Lana asked quietly, reaching over to gently grasp the other woman's hand as she spoke for the first time that night.

  "I know that my father loved her very much, so much that for most of my life he could hardly bare to look at me. The staff would sometimes speak of how beautiful she was, how the older I got, the more I looked like her. According to them, I have her eyes." The sisters exchanged another look. "What is it?" Rena wanted to know.

  "It's possible that both your parents are Kahlian, and your father just never revealed himself to you. It's also possible that you inherited it from your mother." Diana told her, "Which leads me to another ability we all have. It's one that comes at a steep price though." Rena stared at her for a moment, processing the fact that her mother might have been a shape shifter, before sitting straighter in her seat, trying to prepare for the next bomb shell. Diana glanced up at Mason, who inclined her head, telling her to proceed. "Rena, this is going to be difficult to believe, let alone understand." She began slowly, "As Kahlian’s, we are all immortal." The sisters all stared at Rena with bated breath, awaiting her reaction. Rena blinked, her brow drawing together as she tried to understand, before blinking again.

  "You're saying, that we can't die?" she asked

  "Not in the traditional sense, no." It was Mason who answered her.

  "Though each of us here has died once." Diana added. Rena was becoming very confused as her gaze bounced from Mason to Diana to Lana and back again.

  "Alright, here's how it is. I was born in 1910. I died in 1937, and I have not aged a day since." Lana tried to explain it in a more, straight forward way. "We can't die from old age or illness. Any injury we suffer will heal itself within hours. If it's a life threatening injury it might take a full day or two." Lana continued as she took off her sling that she had continued to wear and pulled her shirt to the side to show Rena the area of her shoulder where she had taken a bullet just days before. Rena was completely stunned, as she reached out to touch the smooth skin. She vividly remembered the hole that had been there, she had pressed her hand to it to stop the bleeding.

  "How did you die?" she asked without meaning to. Lana pulled her shirt back into place before answering.

  "Ironically enough, I was shot." Mason and Diana both chuckled softly, remembering why she had been shot and by who. Rena swung her gaze back to the two other sisters.

  "What about you two? Are you nearly five hundred years old too?" She asked, only slightly sarcastically. Mason shook her head in gentle amusement.

  "No, we are much older." she told her.

  "How much older?"

  "I was born in 1406 in an island country called Ireland. Diana was born in 942 in a country called Scotland, while Lana was born in this country when it was still the United States of America." Mason informed her, she could almost see the Princess' mind spinning with all she was being told, but she had to hand it to her, she was dealing with everything far better than she thought she would.

  "How did you two die?" At this point Rena figured she might as well hear it all at once. Mason looked over at Diana briefly, seeing her far off expression, knowing that she was lost to her memories.

  "I died at age 34, during a war known as the Hundred Years War. Diana was 37 when she died." Rena noticed how quiet Diana had become and wondered at the cause.

  "So if I'm understanding this correctly, you've all died, violently by the sounds of it." All three nodded in the affirmative. "Then how is my mother dead? If Kahlian's are immortal, why is she dead?"

  "Our immortality is triggered by the shock of a violent death, Rena. If one of our kind never experiences this, then they will age and die like any human. I would assume that is how your mother died in childbirth." Diana explained, having come back to the conversation. "All of us shift for the first time upon reaching puberty, but we only gain immortality if we’re killed. Once this happens, we stop ageing. However, you should know that even after gaining immortality, it is not absolute. There is one way to kill a Kahlian even then." Rena had thought that she couldn't be shocked anymore, how wrong she was.

  "There is?" Diana inclined her head.

  "Yes, and it is very gruesome. The only way to kill a Kahlian once they have become immortal, is to remove their heart from their chest and destroy it." Rena's mind stuttered at that revelation, at its sheer brutality. She thought about all that she had been told, all the secrets that had been revealed. A small part of her wanted it all to be a lie, but the larger part knew that it was true. She could feel it deep inside that these women had not lied to her. Tears gathered in her eyes at the cruel irony. Her mother could have lived, if someone had killed her first. As another thought occurred to her, she raised slightly suspicious eyes to the women before her.

  "Does this mean that I have to die? Are you going to kill me now?" she asked, unable to stop the fear that crept through her. Mason fell to her knees in front of Rena, grasping her hands.

  "No." she rasped, "Neither I, nor my sisters, will force immortality on you. No one outside of this room will ever know about you if you don't want them to. If you do become immortal, it will be at someone else's hand," she reassured her. "But we will protect you, and teach you about your abilities." She offered. Rena gave her a weak smile and let out a shaky breath.

  "You must think I'm ridiculous." she said, embarrassed. Lana grinned and patted her on the shoulder.

  "Not at all." She leaned forward, saying in a hushed voice. "In fact, I had a similar reaction when I was told about the living forever bit." Lana confided. Rena looked up at her, feeling a new kinship with the youngest Stone sister and shared a laugh with her. For the first time in the young Princess' life, she felt like she belonged. Her gaze swung to Mason, she felt like she had finally come home.

  Chapter Eight

  The next morning, the three sisters and Rena were in the practice circle. Diana and Mason stood on the sidelines while Lana and Rena stepped within.

  "So, what are we doing here?" Rena wanted to know. Lana began stretching while Mason explained.

  "We're here to teach you how to defend yourself. In case you find yourself in a position that we can't get to you. Lana will be your sparring partner today. Tomorrow will be Diana, and the day after that, will be me." She grinned at her, Rena looked at her skeptically.

  "We will show you what you need to know," Diana supplied. "Mason will refine what we teach you. You won't learn everything in three days, but you'll learn enough to stay alive, and these lessons can continue until you no longer need them. There's no real schedule to keep here." She finished. Rena looked over at Lana, then began her own stretching.

  "Oh." she mumbled, wondering how she had managed to get herself into this.

  "Begin." Mason said, looking at Lana pointedly. Rena spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon on her back or on her way to being on her back. As hopeless as it seemed, Rena kept getting up and coming back for more. Slowly, over the course of the afternoon, it b
ecame progressively harder for Lana to knock her down.

  Mason grinned and nodded approvingly when Rena succeeded in throwing Lana to the ground. To be honest, she was rather stunned at how quickly Rena had adapted and learned, then applied what she had been taught.

  "That's enough for today." Mason finally said when Lana sprung back to her feet.

  "That was amazing, Rena!" Lana exclaimed slapping her on the shoulder. Rena did her best to hide her flinch but wasn't very successful. She limped over to Mason and Diana, rubbing the back of her neck and grumbling to herself.

  "What was that?" Mason teased, cupping her hand to her ear. Rena glared at her.

  "You heard me." she said, limping away. Diana shook her head, laughing as she went to check on Lana. Mason jogged to catch up to the muttering Princess. She looked at her sympathetically.

  "You know, a long soak in hot water followed by a massage would help with those sore muscles." She suggested. Rena nodded thinking it sounded like heaven, but too tired to say anything. Mason smiled again before offering, "If you like, I can arrange for someone to come to your room to give you a massage. I'm sure there's a royal masseuse around here somewhere." Rena looked up at her hopefully.

  "Would you?" She practically begged with a little smile on her face when Mason indicated that she would indeed. "Thank you." The taller woman waved her on and went in search of a masseuse.

  Forty-five minutes later found a frustrated, and tired, Mason knocking on Rena's door but getting no response. She tried the door knob and found it unlocked, so she let herself in cautiously. Listening for any indication that someone was in the room. She heard water splashing and angry voices coming from the bathroom, she moved towards the slightly ajar door and listened, tensing angrily at what she heard.

  "Devon! Get out! What the hell are you thinking?" an angry Rena demanded.

  "You will be my wife, Rena. Even if I have to go through that bitch, Mason Stone to have you, I will." he threatened. He reached down, grabbing her arm, jerking her to her feet. His eyes raked down her naked, wet body. "You and I are going to have a lot of fun together, Rena." he told her, feeling himself growing excited just being this close to her nude form. He jerked her closer, throwing her off balance. He slammed his mouth against hers, kissing her cruelly, crushing her to him.

  Rena struggled against him until she could twist away, swinging her fist the way Lana had taught her, connecting solidly with the Princes already broken nose, causing him to scream in pain and clutch his newly bloodied, now twice broken nose.

  "Bitch!" he growled before back handing her across the face, causing her to scramble to catch herself as she tripped over the side of the tub. Before she could find her balance again, he grabbed her and pinned her to the wall next to the bathroom door. He'd just gotten his hand around her throat when he felt himself become airborne. With a bone-jarring crash, Devon landed in a heap in the middle of Rena's sitting room floor, where Mason had flung him. She stalked closer to him, reaching down to grasp him by the shirt and haul him to his feet. Spinning, she tossed him back against the wall next to the bathroom door that he had just flown through, on the opposite side from where he'd pinned Rena. A hard hand closed around his throat and began squeezing. He soon found breathing very difficult as he stared into Mason's murderous eyes. He was beginning to see spots when Rena's voice reached his ears.

  "Mason." she rasped, laying her hand on the furious woman’s tense arm. "Mason, let him go." She told her, "Mason, please. Not like this, not here." She kept talking, hoping to break through. "There's another way, please. Let him go." Finally, Mason's eyes swung down to travel over Rena's face and body, searching for injuries. When she didn't find anything more serious than a split lip, she finally spoke in a low voice.

  "Put a robe on, Rena. Someone probably heard the commotion." With that she reached back and delivered a hard blow to Devon's already battered face, letting him slide unconscious to the floor. She turned to see Rena tying the sash of her discarded robe and walked over to her. She reached out her hand and gently touched Rena's face, touching her bloody lip.

  Rena held perfectly still, not quite sure what was going on in the other woman’s head, but allowing her to touch her without a second thought. She gave a little yelp when she found herself swept up by strong arms and held close to an equally strong body. Rena was surprised to find that body shaking as badly as she was. Leaning back, she gazed into Mason's beautiful face then reached up and ran her fingers through thick mahogany hair, bringing her hand down to softly cup the taller woman’s cheek.

  "I'm ok, Mason. He didn't hurt me. You got here in time, you stopped him." She told her, somehow knowing she needed the reassurance. Mason nodded slowly, her eyes locked onto Rena's lips. A slight shudder shook Mason's frame as she slowly tilted her head down towards the shorter woman.

  Rena's breath caught when she saw the look in Mason's eyes and realized she was going to kiss her. She tilted her head up, inviting the kiss, feeling herself being pulled closer. Her arms raising up to encircle the brunette's neck.

  Mason suddenly froze, lifting her head, listening. It took a moment longer for Rena to hear people at her bedroom door. Silently echoing Mason's softly spoken curse, they pulled away from each other slowly. The promise that what had nearly begun, could happen again bright in their eyes as they took one last longing look at each other before reality came barreling through the door in the forms of two Captains, a King, and two sisters.

  "What the hell happened in here?" Xavier demanded, Alexander shouldered his way past his Captain and gasped, seeing Devon sprawled out on the floor. He rushed over to fall on his knees beside his unconscious son. His angry eyes turned to glare up at an unremorseful-looking Mason.

  "What have you done to him?" He ground out past a tight throat, "What could he have possibly done to warrant this?" he demanded angrily. Mason stared down at the kneeling King, remembering the rage that had consumed her. She grits her teethed and growls back.

  "He tried to rape Princess Rena." Alexander's face froze in disbelief, his eyes snapping over to Rena where she stood beside Mason. He looked closer, seeing her bottom lip bleeding from a cut. He looked down at his son, noticing the cut on his knuckles where he had smashed them against Rena's mouth. He closed his eyes against the evidence before him, wanting to deny it. Rena saw the pain in the King's eyes and sighed heavily. She moved over to the King, glancing at the two Captains, Lana and Diana before finally settling her gaze on Alexander.

  "Your Majesty," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder, feeling it tense under her hand. "Sire, it's true. He broke into my room while I was bathing, pulled me out of the tub and would have done far worse than give me a bloody lip if Mason hadn't arrived when she did." She explained. The adrenaline was starting to fade as shock settled in, her legs became shaky and her knees turned to rubber. She felt strong hands gently cup her elbows, steadying her. She looked back and saw it was Mason. Rena offered a shaky smile.

  The shocked silence was shattered when Devon moaned and rubbed his jaw. He opened his eyes to see his father beside him and Xavier and Jonathan standing behind him with cold expressions on their faces. Beside them stood the other two Stone women. His gaze settled on Mason, narrowing when he saw Rena leaning against her. He started to get up only to be pushed back down by his father.

  "Don't move, Son. You could have a concussion." He said stiffly. Devon frowned, why was he acting like that. He was the one on the floor bleeding, he thought, wiping his nose gently. His father was acting like he was angry with him.

  "Captain Dumas, summon the Doctor." Xavier bowed and went in search of the Royal Physician. Alexander then turned to Jonathan, "Question the staff, see if anyone heard or saw anything and bring me their names." Jonathan bowed and went to do as ordered. He then turned to Mason's sisters, "Would you ladies be so kind as to guard the door?" He asked, the two women nodded and left to stand guard.

  During all of this, Mason guided Rena to her bedroom on the other side of the
sitting room, leaving the King and his son alone, she knelt in front of her. "Are you okay?" she asked softly. Rena's slouched shoulders lifted in a weary sigh and she raised her hanging head to look at Mason.

  "Right now, I don't know how I am, but I'll be ok.' she responded. Mason placed her hand on Rena's leg, looking deep into the smaller woman’s eyes.

  Tell me the truth, Princess. She sent to her. Rena jerked, her eyes widening in shock. She had forgotten about the telepathy with all the excitement. Mason smirked and teased her. Sometimes being different can come in rather handy. Rena relaxed, and shook her head deciding to just go with it.

  Can you read my mind? She sent tentatively.

  No. Came the immediate reply. Only what you let me see. Rena nodded and relaxed further.

  I've never been so scared. She admitted, the fear and anger she had felt being transmitted to Mason through their mental link. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I don't know what I would have done. Rena told her, her relief and joy also sent through. Mason reached out, pulling her into a hug.

  You broke his nose again. She said out of nowhere, making Rena jump and yelp aloud.

  "What?" she shook her head, I mean, what? Sorry, I'm not used to this yet. Mason smiled and gave her a quick squeeze.

  You broke his nose again. She repeated, her smile growing bigger with Rena's giggle.

  "I did?" speaking out loud again. Mason simply nodded. Rena giggled again, shrugging.

  “That’s something at least.” She mumbled. Mason reached up to grasp the back of Rena’s neck, pulling her forward to rest their forehead’s together. Hearing the two men in the other room begin speaking, the women moved to the bedroom door. Alexander glanced up at their appearance, relieved to see Rena looking calmer before turning to glare down at his son. Devon’s frown deepened as he struggled to sit up.

  “Father?” he asked uncertainly. Alexander continued to look down at him coming to the most difficult decision of his life