Legacy of Secrets 01-Cursed Secrets

by Lisa Logue

  “What exactly am I to do when we go?”

  “We can’t answer that. The Elders will determine what is to be done when they call for you.”

  “Then how do you know what to prepare me for?” I challenged.

  “Because, darlin’, I’m as close to The Council as you’re gonna get,” he retorted and my cheeks flushed.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I need to hunt. I’ll be back shortly. Will you be alright while I’m gone?” Christian shifted his focus to me.

  “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “He’s afraid you’ll disappear. Either that or you’ll like me better than him,” Austin winked and I stifled my laughter.

  “It’s okay, go,” I shooed him. He nodded and disappeared.

  “He’s too serious. He needs to lighten up, don’t you think?” Austin asked, pouring himself a very large drink.

  “He wasn’t always that way. Not until after Josiah showed up. You would think I was the one killing people from the way he treats me now,” I huffed and took a big gulp.

  “Well, he’s just a vampire. They’re incredibly emotional creatures, not to mention rather boring.”

  “Let’s not talk about him alright? I just want to concentrate on the information I need for this. So you were saying about Kalonice?”

  “She’s a devious one. The others can keep her in check when it comes to The Council, but her kingdom is another story.”

  “In other words, she’s not nice?” I smirked.

  “Not at all, no,” he smiled, “You really are quite beautiful. I bet you hear that all the time.”

  “Actually I don’t, but thanks. So moving on from the vampires, whose left?” I asked uncomfortably.

  “Alright then, there’s Nolyn the Trylle Prince. He’s sickeningly kind, but ruthless. Most trylle kingdoms live independently among humans now, but all have their own liaisons.”

  “What’s a trylle?”

  “Trolls. Not the type you normally think of. They’re similar to what Elves were. I guess you could say they are what the Elves used to be before they died off. Our scholars if you will.”

  “Trolls, huh? This is more in depth than I thought,” I rubbed my temple. The alcohol made me feel fuzzy and it was harder to control everything. The air started to fizzle and Austin’s eyebrows went up.

  “What?” I asked defensively.

  “Is that coming from you?”

  “Is what coming from me?”

  “It feels like I’m floating in seltzer water. There are only two of us here and I know it isn’t me. Do you mind if I come closer? I’d like to see if I can pin point the source,” he asked crossing the room to stand in front of me.

  “Alright, what do you need me to do?” I stood, too.

  “Just stay still and continue with the thoughts you had a moment ago. Put your hands up to meet mine, only letting our fingertips touch. Try to keep yourself as relaxed as possible.”

  When my fingers touched his, I felt a slight heat spread over me. It was nothing like when I touched Christian, but it definitely wasn’t a bad sensation. My heart beat a bit oddly as I tried getting used to him.

  “Your energy is much stronger than I anticipated. I should have known from the force of the manifestations, but this really is something else.”

  “Is that bad or good?” I peeked through one eye at his smiling face.

  “It’s good. You have potential,” another loaded response. I sighed and withdrew my hands.

  We stood a moment, staring at each other. What’s his purpose? Christian obviously trusted him, but I was afraid he may have chosen the wrong person. Austin was full of innuendos. He made me nervous. However, spending time with Austin would be refreshing, someone I wasn’t trying desperately not to fall in love with.

  “So, after the Trylle Prince who else is there?”

  “Last, but certainly not least, is my Queen Saina. She comes off a bit rigid at first, but her intentions are always in good favor. She doesn’t like to see the bad in people unless it is proven beyond doubt. It definitely helps that you are allied with two sects. You’ll have Saina and Cerdic fighting for your acquittal. It won’t make the others happy, but all you need are for three to vote your way. Majority usually takes it.”

  “I thought that you said Cerdic’s word was what determined the ruling?”

  “True, but they still must vote. Cerdic doesn’t cast his vote with the others. You will need for two of the others to vie in your favor. Once we figure out exactly what you can do, I’ll be able to judge more easily which way this might go.”

  “How long do we really have? This isn’t going to be a trial by fire is it?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “No of course not. The Elders trust that I will report back to them weekly until I’ve gathered intel on you. Of course, they haven’t a clue I’m helping. I’d be in big trouble. It’s our little secret, darlin’,” he smiled wide and it was hard for me not to smile back.

  Christian burst through the door looking wild. My heart raced. He’d been gone too long and I didn’t even notice. Something happened and no one was there to help him. I started hyperventilating. The inky blackness suffocated me beyond control. He grabbed me and rushed to the door, pushing me into the night air.

  I shook so hard my bones hurt as I vomited. I couldn’t think; couldn’t speak; I couldn’t even scream out as the bile burned my throat. I just sat there praying it would end.

  “Is this what normally happens?” Austin asked him.

  “Never this bad. Something was probably bothering her. What am I saying? Of course she was bothered. We’ve hit her with so much information over the past few days. I would be overwhelmed too.”

  “I’ve never felt anything like this. It’s almost like she sucks the energy out of everything. It’s like a vacuum.”

  “Yes, I feel it too. Could you grab something for her to drink?” Austin left and Christian continued rubbing my back attempting to soothe me.

  “I’m sorry,” I choked out in between heaves.

  “Shh, don’t worry. It’s okay. We’ve been through this before.”

  I sat up, “No, I’m sorry for letting you go alone. I’ve been so mad at you I didn’t think about anything else. Something happened out there and no one was around to help you. He came back, didn’t he?”

  “He did. Don’t worry about that right now. You’re safe. We’re going to put up the protections tonight so he can’t get to you. I won’t let him hurt you,” he pushed the hair from my cheek.

  I turned away and hugged myself. It hurt too much when he acted that way. As much as I wanted to feel his tenderness, I was afraid of it. He didn’t want me because of what I would turn into. The problem was that I didn’t care that he was a vampire; I would have died a million times just to be with him for a day.

  “Here’s your drink love. Christian, would you mind if I took over from here? I want to see if I can get anything from this. I won’t do anything crazy, I promise,” Christian nodded and removed himself slowly. The air grew thicker with my sorrow.

  He hesitated at the change but I waved him off. It was useless to hide the suffering. He no longer held safety for me. I’d lost the happy feeling. Austin wrapped his warm arms around my shoulders and I leaned into him. I couldn’t hold back the sobs and buried my face in his shirt.

  CHAPTER 23

  Christian

  I stood at the window and watched him comfort her. The jealousy bit at me from every angle. I wished desperately that she’d understand. Didn’t she know how much it hurt to treat her this way?

  I paced the room, thinking of a plan. Austin will get a general idea of what she needed to learn, but no one could guarantee the outcome. It is very likely she would be sentenced to death, but it helped that she wasn’t turned. Still, there was no guarantee.

  I cursed every God I could think of for stealing her away. I hated shutting myself off. Letting my true vampire out wasn’t enjoyable. That Christian was cold and manipulative. I wasn’t onl
y hurting myself, but I was hurting her after I’d sworn not to.

  My hatred for Josiah ran deeper than the hatred for myself. If he’d just steered clear of Ft. Collins we wouldn’t be in this mess. Her shifter gene would have stayed repressed and no one would be the wiser. His words weren’t too kind to me either. He intended to steal her away, but I refused to let her go.

  I went back to the window and watched them again. He was speaking softly and I reached out to listen.

  “Lia, Christian is stronger than you give him credit for. He can handle Josiah.”

  “I won’t let Josiah touch him. He’s in this because of me. Now you are, too. I won’t stop until this is done. I don’t care if that means leaving with him at this point.”

  “If you give into him, he will turn you. He’s every bit a vampire as Christian. The difference is that he hurts people. Christian isn’t that way. If he wanted to turn you he would have done so weeks ago. Let us help you. I know things seem hopeless now, but trust me when I say you have more power than anyone I’ve ever seen…that includes myself,” he picked her up and carried her inside.

  “Thank you. I’m not as fragile as I look, I could have walked,” she remarked in annoyance. I smiled.

  I felt guilty, but it was necessary. I had to distance myself to sever our bond. What I wouldn’t have given to visit The Fates and ask their guidance, but that was futile. They would only grant me an audience if I agreed to their terms, which were usually next to impossible.

  I had to talk to her; I just wasn’t sure what to say. Probably I’d be overwhelmed by whatever she was feeling and it would be that much harder. Having Austin would provide a distraction and hopefully her feelings toward me would fade. That would be best for the situation.

  A knock at the door broke through my thoughts and I lumbered over. Austin stood on the other side, looking at me expectantly. I left the door open and walked back to the bed, falling onto it with a huff.

  “What are you doing?” he asked harshly.

  “Lying down, what are you doing?” I retorted.

  “No, what are you doing with her smartass? That girl is torn into a million pieces right now and you’re acting strange. For someone who is supposed to be a knight in shining armor, you’re acting like an ass in aluminum foil,” he stated.

  “I can’t be close to her anymore, you said it yourself. You know what they will think. I can’t put that weight on her, too. Don’t you think I want to fix this? I don’t know how to be nice to her without acting how I did before.”

  “Well, you might just have to figure that out. I said take things one step at a time, not take a giant leap. It’s going to be ten times harder to help her if she keeps breaking down. She would probably kill herself if anything happened to you. She’s clearly in love with you. Are you sure that you don’t love her?”

  “You’re joking?”

  “Do I look like I’m joking?” he planted himself in front of me and stared through me with his piercing eyes.

  “Whatever I felt before doesn’t matter now. This is my way of protecting her. If anything happened it would create a completely different mess of problems we couldn’t fix. Wouldn’t you do the same?”

  “No I wouldn’t, but it’s not my decision. Just don’t interfere with my training and I’ll leave your love life out of it,” he stormed out, leaving the door wide open.

  I sighed and moved to shut it when I saw her trying to make it up the stairs. She was still crying and shaking. I swallowed my pride and tried help her.

  “No, go back to your room. I don’t need you to help me. I’m not fucking useless you know,” she glowered at me.

  “I know. But you still need me. Let’s get you to bed,” I said softly, but she didn’t move.

  “What did I do?” tears streamed freely and my face fell. She was a mess.

  “You didn’t do anything, Lia. You’re not being punished. It just has to be this way now.”

  “I don’t believe you. You’re punishing me for something that’s not even happened; that may never happen. How is that fair?”

  “I told you I would protect you and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’ve never judged you. I don’t care what you are, Lia. Haven’t I said that from the beginning?”

  “Yeah, among a million other things that seems extremely hypocritical right now. I will stay here tonight, but I’m going home in the morning. You don’t want me here. I apologize for being such a problem,” she brushed past me but I cut her off.

  “No, you’re staying here. I can’t protect you at your house. I won’t get in your way. You probably won’t even see me. That’s my way of helping. Once it’s over, you can do as you choose,” I affirmed.

  “We’ll see,” was all she said. I watched her walk into her room and silently shut the door.

  Austin whistled, “Damn, she’s a viper. This might actually be fun.”

  I growled and retreated to my room, slamming the door. A shudder rippled through me. I felt numb inside for the first time in decades. I couldn’t take the time to worry about how I made her feel. There was too much at stake to turn back. Whatever future she had wouldn’t include me and I had to make sure it stayed that way. No matter how much it killed me.

  CHAPTER 24

  Lia

  The dream racked my mind again. I woke up screaming; my hair wet with tears and sweat, and forgot where I was. Austin busted through the door. No doubt he could feel my terror and assumed the worst. Christian didn’t bother to check on me. My head throbbed immensely and I massaged my temples.

  “What happened?” he asked groggily.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I snapped, cradling my head in my hands.

  “Would you at least like some help with the headache?” he yawned.

  “That depends, what’s your definition of helping?” he chuckled.

  “Here, let me,” he sat on the bed and placed his fingertips to my temples. The pain disappeared almost instantly. I sighed in relief.

  “How did you do that?”

  “It’s part of dealing with energy. You learn how to transfer good energy and it usually pushes away the bad. It’s temporary, of course, but maybe you can sleep now,” he shrugged.

  “I’m sorry for being rude and that I woke you,” his hands were still at my temples and the warmth washed over me again. It left goose bumps on my skin, but in a good way. I couldn’t help but think he did it on purpose.

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s not every day I get woken up in the middle of the night by a beautiful woman,” he winked.

  I sighed, “Well you’ve successfully killed that moment.”

  “That’s what I do best, darlin’. Are you going to be alright by yourself? I could camp out on the floor if you want?” I gaped at him.

  “I think I’ll be fine. Thanks again. By the way, cute boxers,” I winked and tucked myself under the blanket with a smile.

  I awoke again around mid morning and felt surprisingly alert. The sun was warm through my window and I decided to go for a swim. Hopefully, I could wade through the information in my head as well.

  I bounded downstairs and both men looked at me expectantly. I ignored them, towel and robe in hand, and hit the dock running. I sprung from the edge, diving perfectly, and swam to the middle of the lake. The water was chilly, but warmed as the sun rose higher.

  A plan formed as I glided through the water. The first thing I needed to know was what happened when a person was changed into both a vampire and a werewolf. I wanted to understand the mechanics. Then, Austin would need to tell me the most important things to learn. Avoiding Christian hurt so badly, but I just couldn’t let it go. So, flaunting my best assets would help him realize what he was missing. I smiled as I thought about his face when I wore my lace nightie.

  The last thing on my list was to talk to Josiah before everything was over. I needed to know the truth about him and my mother. If he loved her, how could he have killed her? There was simply nothing I could think of that woul
d make me want to kill Christian, not to mention it was practically impossible anyway.

  Devious ideas snaked into my head as I left the water. Removing the bikini top, I slipped on the robe and left the tie undone. Christian needed a wakeup call. Of course Austin would get a free show, but he didn’t bother me.

  I stepped into the cabin and felt the oxygen leave the room. Christian stood in the kitchen clutching a carton of milk so tightly it leaked through holes his fingers made. I took the milk, licking his fingers seductively, and placed he carton in the sink. I wiped the corner of my mouth and left to change.

  Austin gaped as I walked from the kitchen and I winked. He shook his head and smiled widely. I giggled as I climbed the stairs to find the sexiest outfit possible. I sauntered back downstairs wearing a white buttoned down shirt, opened at the top, exposing a black laced push up bra and the matching boy short panties. I passed the boys in the sitting room and retrieved a glass of wine from the kitchen. I heard footsteps behind me and smiled innocently at Christian as I turned to greet him. His expression was torn between lust and anger. I ate it up.

  “What are you doing?” he asked sarcastically.

  “Getting some wine. Would you like some?”

  “No. You know what I mean. What’s with all this?” he waved his hand over me and I played dumb.

  “If you want me to stay here I am going to make myself at home. That means I act as I do in my own house. Does it bother you?”

  “No,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Good, because if I have to deal with being here, you’ll just have to get used to it. Would you rather I leave?” I asked with eyebrows raised.

  “No, but is this necessary? You don’t want to give Austin the wrong opinion of you.”

  “If he were to come to my house it would be no different,” I stepped close enough my breasts pushed into his arm, “You remember how it was at my house? You didn’t complain then,” I whispered and brushed past him.