by KA Young
“Eli, there’s something you need to see.”
“Very well. Anna, Torch can reach me if you need me.” He turned to enter the room when the goatee warrior leaned around him and held out his hand to me.
“Hi, I’m Van, Eli’s younger, fitter, and exponentially more virile cousin. It’s lovely to make your acquaintance, beautiful lady.” He flashed me a movie star smile of perfectly straight, gleaming white teeth. I blushed. My God, I needed to get my hormones in check. I was acting like a horny teenager again.
Eli’s cousin! That explained the resemblance and, damn, was Van a charmer. I grinned like a stupid fool; I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t used to all this male attention.
Eli didn’t seem happy with our exchange as he intercepted Van’s hand as well as his gaze, “After you, Van.” Van laughed loudly before walking back into the war room with Eli following closely behind.
“I don’t have all day!” Torch barked at me, he had already begun walking to the gym. I hurried to catch up, still grinning from ear to ear.
The gym wasn’t what I expected. There weren’t any treadmills, exercise bikes, or elliptical machines. It had wall-to-wall padding. One of the walls held nothing except wooden rods as well as swords of different shapes and sizes. I was starting to get a little nervous.
Torch walked to the center of the room and sat cross-legged on the floor. He motioned impatiently for me to join him. I hurried over and sat beside him. He grunted and lifted me by my thighs as if I weighed nothing before setting me down in front of him.
“Wow, you’re really strong, huh?” It was a dumb thing to say. Of course, he was strong. Mental head slap!
He said nothing, but stared into my eyes for what felt like a long time. It reminded me of when my sister and I were kids, having a stare down contest. I blinked and looked away. I guess I lost.
Torch snapped his fingers in my face, getting frustrated. Patience was obviously not his strong suit.
“Concentrate. Focus on my eyes,” Torch all but snarled at me.
“What are we doing? I don’t see how this is going to teach me to kick anybody’s ass or prevent me from getting mine kicked!” I stared into his eyes anyway. He had nice eyes, a little small for my taste, but nice all the same.
“You’re not focusing. Don’t look at my physical eyes, look through them. I need to see if you are what Eli thinks you are.” Torch lifted my chin a little higher to get a better view of my eyes.
Okay, this guy was nuts. I would have to tell Eli it wasn’t going to work out. The best at what he does? Whatever, I hope-Whoa… His pupils enlarged and I saw a flicker of light inside them. I leaned in closer to Torch, our noses almost touching. It was a flame; yes, that’s what it was. No, not just a flame, it was a blazing bonfire and there were people inside the flame. As I focused on them, I was sucked into the flame and transported to a battlefield.
I stood in the heart of the battle where men were dying. They weren’t just any men, though, they were Nephilim warriors. I could feel every stroke of the sword against their skin; these warriors were a part of me. When blood ran down parts of their bodies, it ran down the same parts of my own Enraged from the sight of yetzer hara slaying us, I took a sword off a fallen warrior and began fighting alongside them. The warriors recognized me as one of their own and then Torch blinked, taking the image away.
“Wait! I wasn’t ready to leave. I can help them!” I was exasperated by having to leave the men.
“There you are. I see you clearly now. Fret not.” He patted my head. “That was a battle from long ago.” A genuinely sadistic smile spread across his face. “Now I can teach you to kick some serious ass.” He stood up.
I couldn’t describe what I felt at that moment. I had evolved into something different, something alive; something dangerous that laid dormant within me all these years. Lying back on the mat, I pondered this change. I was still me, but I wasn’t.
“You will settle into yourself in time. It will all click one day soon.” Torch spoke as if he knew what was running through my mind and then turned to walk away.
“So, that’s it? You forget that you were supposed to be training me today?” I raised a brow and stared him down.
“Oh don’t worry now that I know what’s inside you, I’ll be beating you black in blue everyday for weeks but today you need to focus on what you truly are, you’re going to need to connect with your inner warrior if you want if you want to survive me.” He smiled a sadistic smile that sent a shiver all the way to my bones.
“Torch, was I born to be a female warrior?” I sat up and waited.
“You are far more than just a female warrior. Anna, you are the last female warrior. You are the one who was predicted and today you have taken the first step in becoming what you were born to be. You, little one, will change our future.” He turned and strode out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
That night in bed, I closed my eyes and tried to find the flame in my mind again, however it wouldn’t come. I tried harder, yet again there was nothing; dammit! I threw the covers back, walked out of my bedroom and over to Elise’s room. I knocked on the door and when she didn’t immediately answer, I knocked harder and heard the shuffling of her feet against the floor.
She cracked the door open a bit, saying, “What? What could any sane person want at this ungodly hour?”
“I’m sorry to wake you. I just needed to talk. I’ll go if you want.” I made no move to leave, hoping she wouldn’t want me to.
“No, no, come in.” She pushed the door wide open. I walked in, shutting the door behind me. She turned on the lamp on her bedside table and crawled back into bed, patting the mattress, asking me to sit.
“I’m sorry, Elise, I know it’s late.”
She yawned. “It’s okay, talk.”
I told her about what happened today with Torch and how I tried to reach the flame myself without any luck. She sat up, her eyes widening with interest when I told her the part about battling with the warriors against the yetzer hara.
“No shit? Wow. Anna, if you ask me, I think you are handling this pretty well.”
“You think? ‘Cause I’m not so sure sometimes.”
“Hell, yes.” She patted me on the back. “You have to trust your instincts. Calm yourself when you seek your flame, it’s always there, available and waiting for you.” I hugged her, already feeling much calmer. She was turning out to be a real blessing in my life. Not wanting to overstay my welcome, I wished her a good night and left.
Eli was in my room when I returned. He grabbed me by my arms almost as soon as I walked in the door. “Where were you?”
“What?” I was startled by his aggressiveness.
“I was about to tear this place apart looking for you.” I knew he could track me; it was the only explanation to how he ended up everywhere I was; that’s how he found me at Joe’s funeral and my home, but it’s also how he finds me here at the compound. It was strange, but I could feel him at times, too; not always, but sometimes. Now I knew he couldn’t track me to an exact location, that would explain him waiting here for me since I was just next door. He felt me nearby; good to know. He leaned in and inhaled my scent.
“Don’t get all caveman on me.” I jerked out of his grasp. “What did you think I was doing? Fooling around with Van?” I gave that a minute to sink in. “He has a lot more charisma than you do; I’ll give him that.” His eyes began to glow, proving that he was getting way too possessive. I needed to put some distance between us.
“Calm down. I was just talking to Elise.” I crossed my arms over my chest and took a step back from him. “I think you should leave.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “No, Annabelle. I—”
“Leave! Now!” The muscle ticked in his jaw, but he walked out.
Eli avoided me the next two days, which was perfectly acceptable by me. I ate with Elise along with the other women and trained with Torch. I was beginning to get a better grasp on locating my flame. I ha
d even decided to attempt it again after my shower tonight.
When I got into bed, I calmed my nerves with a few long, deep breaths. Then I closed my eyes and focused on my flame. At first, nothing happened, but I stayed patient. Then, there it was, a tiny flicker. Concentrating on it, the flicker became a flame. I was doing it. It was working. I was almost on the battlefield, when someone snatched me by my arms. Everything was suddenly dark as something knocked me out. When I came to, opening my eyes was a challenge and my head was throbbing. I struggled for a moment, my head spinning, before I was finally able to sit up and look around.
I was in some kind of dungeon. There were chains attached to the wall and all sorts of torture devices. I began to panic. Leaping to my feet, I ran the length of the room, looking for a way out, but I was trapped; there wasn’t a door. I heard a horrible, wet-sounding laugh from above me, and saw a pair of red eyes peering at me from the metal rafters. It dropped down a few feet from me and I recognized it as a yetzer hara.
“Well, we meet at last, my female warrior.”
It was different from what I remembered, though. I huddled in a corner, thinking that this had to be a dream. I shut my eyes. “This is just a dream. Wake up. Wake up. Would you wake the hell up!?!” It laughed again, sounding as if its throat had been eaten away.
Nope, not a dream. “What do you want from me?” I shouted.
It stepped forward. “Light!” it commanded. As torches illuminated the dungeon, I got an intimate look at it. Its throat was eaten away, along with the rest of its mammoth body; reminding me of pictures I had seen of leprosy victims. The odor it emitted smelled like rotting meat making my eyes water and I almost gagged.
“So they found you, my warrior, but you haven’t given yourself to him, I don’t think.” He examined me with his eyes. Afterward, seeming satisfied, he settled a bit. “I will not harm you. I wouldn’t want your life to end in the same fashion as that human you cared for.”
Rage welled up inside me, filling me as it never had before. I felt hot all over. Without thinking, I lunged toward it, wanting to kill it with my bare hands. It grabbed me by the throat and slammed me into the hard, dirt floor. I struggled to catch my breath while trying to remove its hand before it crushed my windpipe, yet I was unable to do so.
It got into my face and I was instantly accosted by its stench. “That was a test. You passed. I am called Nyoka. We will meet again, my warrior. Wake now!”
I woke up in my bed, drenched with sweat. Did I just have the mother of all nightmares? I touched my neck, checking; it was still sore. I clicked on the lamp and climbed off the bed to examine my neck in the mirror and it was visibly bruised. God, what was that smell? Searching for the smell, I realized it was coming from me, so I sniffed my gown. Yuck. It faintly smelled like that thing. Like Nyoka. Nope, not a dream, it was undeniably real.
I needed to talk to Torch. Something was terribly wrong. I could have been killed. He could have killed me. Yet, why didn’t he? I pulled my gown over my head, setting it aside to take with me in case he needed more proof that Nyoka was actually present, and rummaged through my drawers. I tossed on some cotton shorts and a tee shirt, not bothering with shoes. I power walked down the hall and around the corner.
I remembered from my tour of the place that the warriors’ quarters were at the end of the next hall. Ah yes, this was it.
Now which one belonged to Torch? I was contemplating knocking on each door when Van came out of the room I was standing in front of, wearing nothing but boxers. His movie star grin already beamed across his face and grew a little wider the moment he saw me.
“Lookin’ for me?” He reached out and stroked my arm lightly with the back of his hand.
I ignored it. This guy was a real piece of work. “No, actually, I am looking for Torch. Which room is his?” I threw my shoulders back and tried to appear confident, but his eyes were instantly glued to my chest causing me to realize that I forgot to put on a bra. As busty as I am, there’s no getting away with it; however I could’ve been killed tonight, so I deserved a pass. Van failed to notice my horribly bruised neck, though, concentrating on my breasts instead. Asshole!
I cleared my throat to pull his attention back to my question and crossed my arms, doing my best to hide my boobs.
“That’s his across the hall there.” He turned to leave, muttering something under his breath as he strode off. When I was finally alone in the hallway, I didn’t waste any time barging into Torch’s room.
The man was sound asleep and, when I called his name, he didn’t move. I walked closer to the bed and called it louder, yet still received no response. My God, he was a warrior; weren’t they supposed to be light sleepers? He’d already be dead if I wanted to kill him.
I shook him a little. “Torch, would you wake up!”
His eyes snapped awake and I was suddenly pinned beneath an extremely large, intensely angry, and devilishly naked warrior with a blade on my neck. His eyes narrowed with killer instinct.
“Torch, it’s me, Anna.” He relaxed, letting the blade slip from my neck.
“Anna what in the hell are…”
I heard a roar before a buck naked Torch sailed across the room, crashing into the dresser, and shattering the mirror.
“You know she’s off limits!” Eli shouted at Torch as he punched him in the face. I hopped off the bed, then back onto it when I realized the two warriors were now pounding away on each other.
I was always taught never to get between two dogs fighting; well, these men were far more dangerous than any breed of dog, so I kept my distance.
Eli slammed Torch against the wall, pinning him there with the blade that was previously on my neck, now laying on his.
“What is she doing in your room? And know this, if you lie, I will kill you.”
“I have no fucking idea what she’s doing in my room. I woke up and she was standing over me.”
Eli pressed the blade deeper into his skin and, as I noticed a trickle of blood running down his neck, I decided that was enough.
“Eli, he’s telling the truth. Something happened to me tonight and I needed to talk it over with Torch.” I stepped off the bed and walked closer to them.
“What the hell could you need to speak with Torch about at 3:30 in the morning? What was so damn serious that it couldn’t wait till morning and in another location?” Eli growled, maintaining his hold on Torch. He was furious and his eyes were glowing, which was a dead giveaway as to how high his emotions were running. In fact, both men were now glowering at me.
I pulled my hair back from my neck, revealing my injury. “I met Nyoka tonight.” I announced hoarsely. It was my turn to glower.
Both men stared at me for a moment before Eli released his hold on Torch. Torch shoved him further away and proceeded to pick up his pants that were lying on the floor. As I tried not to stare at him, failing miserably, Eli moved to stand in front of him.
He was still incredibly angry, so I decided it was best to get right to it. “I was attempting to focus on the flame in my mind’s eye the way Torch taught me, but something horrid happened. I was dumped into a dungeon. At first, I was alone and it was cold, damp and black as night. I was searching for a way out when this disgusting creature showed up. I thought it was a yetzer hara, but now I’m not sure it was. It looked like one, but the eyes were wrong. They weren’t soulless. I almost puked when he got near me because his odor was revolting.”
Neither one of them spoke, so I continued, “He provoked me into attacking him. I didn’t know it then, but he was toying with me. He told me that I passed his test, and then he let me go. When I awoke, my gown smelled like him.” I presented the gown to Eli that I had clutched in my hand. He took it and brought it to his face. “I have the bruises as well.”
Eli took my hand, leading me out of Torch’s bedroom and down the hall to his own room, which looked exactly like mine. Eli closed the door and started pacing the floor. I could feel the anger radiating off him as I eased mys
elf down on his bed. His teeth were clenched tightly together when he stopped and glanced at me before slamming his fist into the wall.
Startled, I jumped at the sound of impact as pieces of plaster and cement went everywhere. Breathing heavily, he braced his arms on both sides of the hole he had just made.
I thought about leaving, but didn’t. I knew he needed me now, I could sense the turmoil churning inside him. Call me crazy, but I wanted to help him. I watched him push off the wall and come to me in two long strides.
“You have no idea what it did to me seeing you underneath Torch and then to find out you were in the clutches of Nyoka.” He sat next to me and pulled me into his lap. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say.
“Why didn’t you come to me? Why did you go to Torch?” He rested his head against my cheek. I was about to answer him when he lifted his head and glanced down at my nipples that were quite visible through my thin shirt. “Tell me why you went to his bed dressed this way?”
Van failed to notice my horribly bruised neck. Asshole! “I didn’t go to his bed; well, I guess I did, but that was only because that’s where he was. I thought he could tell me what I did wrong and how I ended up in that dungeon. Furthermore, I’m dressed this way because I was scared out of my mind and just threw on the first thing I found!”
He rested his head back against mine and closed his eyes, seeming satisfied by my explanation. He began stroking my back to calm me.
“Torch should have told you not to seek the flame of warriors until you were stronger and could control it better. I’m not sure how Nyoka found you, though. You should have been safe under the protective wards we have in place here. I’ll have to find out where the weak link is.” He kissed my cheek. “Nyoka is unpredictable. We have to be extremely careful until we find out what he is after.”