“She moves well,” Sevrin said to Rion in a language that time had long forgotten. “Definitely like one of us. Have you told her who she is yet?”
“Some.”
“Well, there’s something I haven’t told you.”
“Oh?”
“That hair sample of Serena’s you uploaded into the continuum—”
“She’s Invicti, isn’t she?” Rion interrupted.
“Not just Invicti, Rion. Serena doesn’t just have some of our DNA, she has a lot of it,” Sevrin revealed. “Much more than I’ve seen in any Human before. Why she’s not a goddess already is a little beyond me. If she sleeps, it won’t be for long.”
“That’s good to know. It also answers why we were so attracted to each other.”
“My thinking as well.” Sevrin gripped his shoulder. “This could be a good sign for you––for all of us.”
“Oh, don’t you start now. Francesca’s bad enough.”
“Just tellin’ it like it is, Mr. Sentinel Master,” he mocked. “Your Serena could be the start of your race repopulating Aden.”
“Oh, gods, Sev,” Rion rolled his eyes. “I am not playing ‘Adam and Eve’ with, Serena.”
Sevrin looked at Rion. “You, my boy, may not have a choice,” he countered. “You are the last realblood, and she is who she is. Fate has somehow brought the two of you together. You are not the only one spoken of within the prophecies, my friend. She has a right to her own heritage as well, and her future.”
“Her culture is still very human, Sev. She hardly knows anything about me, nor all that much about us. If I expose her to too much too quickly, it might scare her off. The Seven have already made attempts on her life. That alone just about destroyed our friendship.”
“I think she’s a lot more capable of handling you than you are of her.”
Rion glared at him. “Huh!? She’s twenty-two!” he scoffed.
“So? Listen, Rion, courtship and acclimation is all fine and dandy, but the Seven have reemerged, armed and dangerous, in case your little entanglement over Utah wasn’t enough of a clue for you. We’re now at open war. The longer you keep Serena in the dark about us and who she really is––the longer she remains Human––you not only endanger her but the rest of us as well. We almost lost Beau and Ian. You do not have the luxury of an extended courtship, my friend. Not if you want to keep her alive.”
Rion sighed heavily. They watched Serena enter the great room smiling.
“She’s totally gorgeous. My money’s on twins.” Sevrin quipped, gripping his shoulder again.
Rion dropped an incredulous sigh, rolling his eyes. “You do know I hate you, right?”
Sevrin smiled. “I’ll get us some tea.”
* * * * *
Rion and Serena made their way up the log-carved grand stairway to the second floor terrace and then down a wide hall of rooms to either side. At the end of the hall Rion opened a large ornately hand-carved pine door that led into a rather cold but spacious corner suite with its own stone fireplace, corner widows showing the tail end of their plane along with snowy pines and meadow outside. Rion flipped on a wall switch which sent the room’s gas fireplace suddenly aflame.
He seemed oddly sullen now to Serena.
She closed the door. “Rion, you’re really quiet. Something wrong?”
“There’s just—a lot going on, Angel.”
She sat on the hearth next to the fire. “Here, sit next to me,” she patted the natural flat rock. He sat down and she began rubbing his shoulders. Serena’s touch was magical. Despite his worries, she was able to bring some relief to not just his body but his mind as well.
“You and Sevrin looked like you were having a serious talk.”
He sighed, “We were.”
“About?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Not nothing. You can’t keep hiding from me, Rion.” She continued to rub his back.
He sighed.
“It’s like you’re all protective. I’m not some little girl.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I guess Sevrin’s right.”
“About?”
“You and I. It’s a very dangerous world we live in now. And I’m dragging you into it. You saw that tonight. If it hadn’t been for you, the last of Masters would have been no more.”
“The last? Rion, how many of your people are there? How many are left?”
He turned to look into her eyes. “It’s just me now.”
“Just you?” She took hold of his hand. “Rion, are you serious? What about the newbloods you were telling about?”
“I’m not a newblood. The truth is, Serena, I’m not really one of the Reborn. I’m, kind of an anomaly. I was born to natural parents. Sevrin calls me a realblood.”
“But—I thought you were using the humans to keep your race alive?”
“We did. That’s where the newbloods have come from.”
“How? I thought the newbloods, the Reborn were both Human and Ra?”
“They are. I don’t know how I happened. Somehow, something about my parents produced a Reborn that didn’t include Human DNA. Sevrin thinks I’m part of one of the prophecies.”
“Prophecies?!”
Rion nodded. “The Books of Ra hold the history and prophecies of our people.”
“I guess I need to read these books of yours.”
“You will, once you’re awakened.”
“But these Masters you keep telling me about. You’re really the last?”
“I am.”
A look of deep concern flooded over Serena’s face. “Just you?” she asked quietly. “You’re the last one?”
Rion nodded, “Of the Sentinels. The Seven are still around, what’s left of them.”
“Then you weren’t kidding when you said that the war brought your race to the brink of extinction.”
“No. I wasn’t. The war ended eons ago. We’d finally removed the last nuances of our knowledge from the Seven. But when the dust cleared, and we looked around at the destruction and devastation, there were just seventy of the Sons of God left. Seventy elders. The Seven refused to have anything to do with us.”
“Was that not a wide enough gene pool to keep your people going?” she asked.
“Not for very long. We made as efficient use of our bloodline as possible, but our numbers began to slowly dwindle. That’s when the Sentinels decided that we had no choice but to take humans as our partners. There weren’t many of the Sentinels left then. A third of the Sons of God. That’s all we had. The rest of my people continued to follow the Seven. They refused to have anything to do with humans; even if it meant extinction.”
“So the Sentinels married Humans.”
“Yea. With the Nephilim our populations soared into the hundreds and then thousands. But the DNA of a halfblood isn’t perfect. They were stronger and faster, but we were watering ourselves down, losing our skills, our intellect, the genetics that had made us what we are were becoming diluted.”
Serena thought about what Rion’s words.
“So the Nephilim were a watered-down version of your people? In the legends they were described as powerful heroes, even superhuman.”
“The Ra are very strong; fast, intelligent.”
Serena stopped to think. If Nephilim were superhuman, what must Rion be like? She remembered his rescue of her. How quickly he seemed to move in their combat as he had taken on her assailant. How he had sent that big man into the air and then knocked him with such force into the tree. She shook her head.
“So mingling with humans—it was supposed to save your people?” she asked. “It sounds like it didn’t work.”
“It did work. A lot better than we’d expected it would, in fact. Our genes buried themselves deeply into your Human genome. We knew at some point, thousands of generations later, our race would re-emerge. The newbloods will live on, Serena,” he admitted. But then looked away into the fire. “But the knowledge of the gods will die—with me.”
Se
rena thought about their meal back on the plane, how miraculously it had simply appeared.
“Rion we can’t let that happen. You knowledge is miraculous. How long do your people live?”
“Five, sometimes ten Millennia. When we’re not being murdered.”
“Then you’re practically immortal,” she offered. “You really are gods.”
“We’re not gods, Serena. We’re just people.”
“But the things you can do—you live like gods.”
“Do we? Gods don’t go to war; real gods don’t bring their civilizations to the brink of extinction.”
Serena thought back about what she had read about the Nephilim as a light went on in her thoughts. “In Genesis,” she began, “it says that Noah lived over nine-hundred years. Was that true, was Noah one of these Nephilim?”
Rion nodded. “He was. We have quite a bit of history between his family and our people; especially with Shem.”
“So the Hebrews had your DNA.”
“And still do; a lot of it, in fact. Our genes became rather persistent within the Shemites. That’s why they’ve been an almost constant target of the Seven for millennia. The Seven have been relentless in raising up governments and religions in an all-out campaign to eradicate our blood from not just the Humans but the sons and daughters of Shem in particular. The Seven have slaughtered millions. We’ve tried to be your protectors, but there’s only so much a handful of us can do at this point.”
“Your history is really astounding,” Serena admitted. Then another thought struck her. “Rion, how old are you?”
He didn’t look at her and he didn’t answer.
Serena took hold of his hand and stood up. “Rion,” she prodded looking at him.
“A hundred and thirty-six.” He said quietly; he didn’t look at her.
She lifted his chin with her hand. “You didn’t want to tell me this, yet. Why?”
Rion looked into her eyes. “Because our cultures are really different, Serena. It can take a while to even begin to acclimate. In the past couple of days you’ve been besieged with enough of my world. I didn’t want to scare you off with the thought of you sleeping with an old guy.”
Serena’s eyes met his light steel-blues. The twenty-something features of his face bore deep concern. She grinned. “I don’t scare easily, Rion.”
“So I’ve been told,” he managed a barely perceptible smile.
“You need to stop treating me like a kid. You of all people should know by now that Humans can be very resourceful, very adaptable. Especially this one. Were you afraid that I was going to get upset about your age?”
“That, and our longevity,” he admitted.
She thought for a moment. “I see. Yea, you’re right. I am going to have to think about that for a while. I’ll be old and gray; and you’ll still look like––this. I don’t know if I like that,” she admitted.
“You won’t grow old, Serena. You’ll be like me.”
“Huh?”
“Once you’re awakened,” he offered cautiously.
She looked at him, her thoughts shifting, “I’ll become one of these Nephilim?”
“No. You’re a newblood. What the prophecies call an Invicti. You’ll become even more powerful than I am.”
“How?” she shook her head. “How is that even possible? I’m Human.”
“No, Serena. You’re not. You’ve never been Human. The next time you and I make love, I’m not going to stop. You deserve to be awakened. It’s your birthright; your destiny. And,” his voice stammered with emotion as he stood, “—I love you.”
Her eyes began to water. She snuggled her arms around him. “I love you too, Rion.” Her lips found his and she kissed him next to the fire.
For long moments they just stood by the fire holding and softly kissing each other warmly.
“I don’t care who you are. I don’t think I could ever let you go, Rion.”
“I can’t bear the thought of being away from you, Serena.” Rion let a out deep sigh, “Sevrin’s right. In many ways, I guess I am afraid of you.”
Serena gently pulled away, a smile creeping across her lips. “Rion Steele, you? Afraid of lil’ ol me? You’re not really afraid of losing me. You, mister, are afraid of having me.”
“Now that sounds like something Sevrin would say. I don’t know. Maybe I am afraid of having you. Afraid of the commitment. Afraid of losing you. Afraid of the responsibility of carrying the torch for my people. Afraid of pushing that kind of responsibility on to you.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Rekindling your race has a certain amount of allure to it. Like a modern Adam and Eve, don’t you think?” she grew a wry smile.
“Ohh, you did not just say that,” Rion rolled his eyes. “I just got done chastising Sevrin for saying the same thing.”
“So that’s what you and Sevrin were talking about––the two of us getting together, and having kids,” she mused. “That’s why your family is so interested in you finding a wife. It’s all making sense now. There’s a lot riding on you finding your ‘Eve’, Rion.”
He nodded. “More than you know.”
“You, mister, are just having cold feet about starting a family.”
“If only. It’s not cold feet, Serena. Believe me, I would awaken you right now in a heartbeat. I just don’t know what that would do. You’re really powerful. And once you’re awakened, there’s no going back. You need to be the one to make that decision. Not me.”
Serena nodded. She pulled him close feeling his arms around her and his feelings all over within her.
24
T he clock read only 3:00 a.m. when Serena awoke. She lifted her head softly to see Rion sleeping deeply and peacefully next to her. She wanted to reach over and touch him, but he looked so beautiful just sleeping so soundly, she didn’t want to disturb him. She quietly slipped from the sheets, pulled on some warm pink long johns that Rion had conjured for her earlier in the evening and quietly left the cool room in search of something hot to drink.
She quietly wandered down the hallway and then down the wide log stairs. Through large glass windows of the great room she could see snow falling heavily outside. The big fire was still burning itself out as Serena walked to the tall windows, thinking about the events of the past several weeks. She walked slowly, pensively, in front of the windows, thinking about all that Rion had told her; what she was, who she was; and who her own ancient people were.
Mostly, though, Serena thought about Rion. What an epic life his was, his family, their ancient history; and how tragic it all was becoming; and how no one on Earth even knew about it, cared, or even gave a damn.
She was not so much unsettled and unsure about Rion; she could easily spend the rest of her life with him. There was no denying they were attracted––but was it just genetics? Were they also naturally in love with each other? Natural. What did that even mean now that she knew the two of them might be part of some ancient prophecy? Maybe at some point they would be married, or whatever that meant in his world. In a way, she felt they already behaved and carried on as a couple, she already felt married to Rion. Would a ceremony just be a formality? She frowned. She always thought she had have a big wedding. Now she was discovering marriage didn’t mean that much in his culture.
But being with Rion meant more than just fitting into an ancient legacy and culture and family she still had very little knowledge of. The first time Rion actually made love to her, she would be changed. That thought alone raised bigger questions than she even knew how to deal with. She didn’t know if she even wanted to be “awakened” by his family’s genetics.
Still, she reminded herself, those genes were already hers, already within her and part of her, just dormant somehow. All Rion would be doing was just kindling something—something she already had, something she already was. Would she become superhuman like the old Bible stories told? Maybe what she needed to do was meet more of Rion’s family; to learn more about what it was like, what it meant to be no lo
nger human—but a goddess.
Ughhh. Goddess. How sacrilegious was that conversation going to be when her family found out she wasn’t really Human, but a real-life ‘goddess’. Would they ever actually find out? Of course they’d find out at some point. But would they be able to accept her? Goddesses didn’t exactly fit into their religion.
Serena turned from the windows looking around the big fire-lit space. The big house felt empty—but still, the big space was warm, even cozy somehow. She went to the kitchen and found a stash of flavored instant hot chocolates and made herself a hot cup. Holding the mug in her hands to keep them warm, she moved once again toward the big stairs. She noticed a light on at the top third-floor loft. Was Sevrin up this late?
The upper floor appeared to be an open loft den and library of sorts. Rows and rows and shelves and shelves of all kinds of books lined the loft, floor to ceiling. Serena ascended the main stairs and then the smaller loft stairs. As she rounded up the steps, she found an older man she had never seen before sitting on the sofa, an open book in his hands with a small stack of them next to him on the table.
She watched him quietly for a minute, turning pages one after the other, as if reading each page quickly. She watched him reach the final page with a deep, heavy sigh and short smile.
“They just don’t write them like that anymore,” he offered in a weathered Texas accent, not taking his eyes off the book.
There was no one else in the loft. He was obviously talking to Serena.
“What were you reading?” she asked.
“Oh, a tale of two brothers. Long time ago. Both falling in love—with the same girl.”
“Oh no!” Serena smiled, amused by the tale. “How does it end?”
“That is for you to find out, one day. After you’ve learned to read. Powerful story. With a powerful ending.”
“Read? Ra?”
“Yep.”
Serena walked into the room. “I don’t think we’ve met.”
“Oh, we haven’t,” he offered with a kind smile. Serena sat down on the couch opposite from his. She watched him carefully as he closed the old book, setting it aside.
Interra (Awakened Series Book 5) Page 24