by Grace White
His eyebrow quirked up and I smiled. “What do you want Marcus? No overthinking it or considering the options. It’s a simple question. What. Do. You. Want?”
He leaned in capturing my lips. “Now that is simple. I want you.” Kiss. “Forever.”
~
“I wondered how long it would take.” Madam Dubraire smiled up at us from behind her desk. Marcus stiffened beside me but I reached for his hand, linking our fingers.
“We hoped you could explain things to us? I’m still not sure I understand everything,” I said.
“Of course, come in.” She came around the desk and went to the door, flipping the open sign to closed. “There, now we can talk without interruption.”
Madam Dubraire led us to her office and we all sat down. “I assume this about your situation?”
I nodded. “You said that for the bond to be complete, one of us would have to make a sacrifice?” Marcus stiffened again. This was all happening so fast, and I knew he didn’t fully understand.
“Yes.” She folded one leg over the other. “Now that you have found one another, you must complete the bond or risk great pain and suffering. One of you is immortal, the other a Human with a soul. The balance is not equal. It could upset the bond.”
I risked peeking at Marcus out of the corner of my eye. He sat rigid, mouth pressed into a thin line. My hand slid over his and squeezed gently. “Are you okay over there?” I asked.
His eyes slid to mine and I saw his uncertainty.
“Marcus, if you have questions or concerns, now is the time to ask them. I don’t want you to agree to anything you don’t want. This is a big decision.”
He turned his attention back to Madam Dubraire and ran a brisk hand down his face. “I don’t even know where to start.” He admitted.
Madam Dubraire gave him a warm smile. “Do you love her?”
“I do.”
“And you’d do anything for her?”
“I would.”
“Then let her do this for you. For both of you. As for the act itself, there are many ways to immortalize a Human, but first the bond needs the blessing of the King.” Her eyes settled on mine. “He must give his approval first, child. King Undaniosis must bless the bond.”
Father wouldn’t like it.
In fact, he would hate it—his daughter and a Human. But if Marcus chose to relinquish his Human soul, Father would have to accept him.
Wouldn’t he?
Madam Dubraire spent time answering our questions, reassuring us that everything would work itself out. But as we walked back to the housing dome, silence weighed heavily on both of us. Unable to bear it for a second longer, I pulled Marcus into a quiet alley off the main street and took his hands in mine.
“Talk to me, tell me what you’re thinking?” My eyes searched his, pleading, begging for him to tell me that nothing had changed.
“I… I don’t know what to say, Alora. Everything is happening so fast.” He bowed his head.
I released one of his hands and traced my hand along his jaw, resting it against his cheek. “Marcus, look at me.”
Slowly, he lifted his head and I drank in the lines of his face. Of eyes that had seen too much. “What do you want Marcus? In your heart of hearts, what do you want?”
“I thought I wanted death. I yearned for it, Alora. It’s more than I deserve.”
My eyes shuttered at his words. Although I’d only known this man for a blip in time, I felt connected to him. Imagining a life without him, pierced my immortal heart. Did he deserve to pay for the mistakes of his past, probably, but he didn’t deserve to die. Not when he had so much life left.
“There are other ways to pay for your sins, Marcus.”
“But you don’t know the things I’ve done, the things I’ve seen…” his voice trailed off and I felt his pain. It radiated from him like the warm air of the aqua zone.
“I want to know. I want to know everything about you. And we can spend the next eighteen months getting to know one another. But it won’t be enough, Marcus. No amount of time will ever be enough.”
“Alora,” his voice cracked and I leaned up, pressing my lips to his.
“Is the idea of an eternity by my side too much to bear?”
The corners of his mouth quirked up and he snaked an arm around my waist, pulling our bodies flush. “Forever?”
“Forever. Devin. Your parents. We will fix it, I give you my word. I will do everything in my power to make sure they are safe.” I pulled away enough to look him in the eyes. “I’ll ask you again, Marcus Denegred. What do you want?”
His mouth crashed to mine and I had my answer.
Alora
Today was the day.
Marcus and I had survived the Complex. Eighteen months of learning and loving. It hadn’t always been plain sailing. We fought and said things we didn’t mean and spent days, sometimes weeks not talking, but we always found a way back to one another.
Allegra blamed the Esse, preferring to believe that some higher power forced me to love Marcus, because she couldn’t accept that an Undine could love, let alone love a Human. And maybe, to a degree, she was right.
No one had an answer why, after all these eons, the Esse linked an Undine and a Human. Father had his best minds scour the galaxy for answers. Initially, I think he hoped to find a way to reverse the bond, but as our time in the Complex drew to an end, so did his upset.
After visiting Madam Dubraire that day, we went straight to Allegra to request a presence with my father. I should have known he already knew. That his Complex spies had been reporting our every move to him. And although I never asked her, I had suspicions that Madam Dubraire was one of them. I was just glad she had been on our side.
After a rather heated conversation, Father blessed the Esse, but with a few stipulations of his own. Firstly, he demanded that Marcus remain Human for the duration of the Complex experiment. I think he wanted to give me time to realize what I felt for Marcus was some unexpected and strange effect of the Complex. Of course, I knew it wasn’t. And despite our ups and down over the remainder of our time inside the dome, I never once questioned my destiny.
Father also wanted time to research the Esse, and in our special case, the possible side-effects of an Undine and Human bonding. That had been awkward—explaining to my father, the ruler of Undines—that our relationship was already physical. But in true Marcus style, he stepped in front of my father’s apparition and declared that I was his. Mind, body, and immortal heart. It shocked us all, but none more than I. But the mortification in their expressions was a stark contrast to the sense of peace that settled deep within me.
Finally, Marcus had accepted us.
Me.
And our uncertain future.
“Are you ready?” I glanced back at Marcus and smiled.
He shrugged and I saw the worry lines around his eyes. Slowly, I went to him, taking his hand in mine. “He promised. We’ve done everything he asked. I love you even more than I did then, if that’s possible.” I looped my arms around his neck and tugged him down to me.
“What did I do to get so lucky?” Marcus pressed a soft kiss to my lips, stoking a fire in my stomach. I wanted him. I always wanted him. But someone cleared their throat behind us.
“Don’t mind me, I can turn around, give you guys some more time.” Kyan chuckled and I rolled my eyes, turning in Marcus’s arms so that he hugged me from behind.
“Kyan,” I said and the Human smirked.
“Alora. Looking as beautiful as ever. All set?”
“I think so.”
Marcus tensed behind me.
“And how’s our guy holding up?”
Over the last eighteen months, I’d gotten to know Kyan. He was fiercely loyal to Marcus, and a friend where I couldn’t be. I quickly learned that Marcus had few allies in the Complex, and when word started to get around about us—a Meta and a Human—I knew the men he worked with might cause problems for him. Thanks to Kyan, I didn’t have to
worry. He defended our relationship almost as much as we did. But as the months passed, prejudices slowly diminished. It helped that, after witnessing my powers, Kyan had the brainwave to ask the overseer to enlist the help of water species when necessary. Not everyone liked it, but if it meant getting the job done quicker, most were grateful for the help.
I brought one of Marcus’s hands to my lips. “Why don’t you ask him?” I said to Kyan, stepping out of my Human’s embrace, I turned to him. “I’ll give the two of you some space.”
Marcus nodded and stalked over to Kyan. He carried so much guilt and, as release day crept nearer, the more he pulled away. We still made love at every opportunity, but his kisses were harder, his thrusts deeper. Marcus used my body to chase away his demons and I let him. But there was no escaping now. In less than an hour, we would join the queue for one of the zippers to transport us from Lorn to Wreston, the Human planet Marcus inhabited.
I busied myself packing the last of Marcus’s belongings into the small bag, glancing over at the two men huddled together. Kyan hugged Marcus and I smiled.
“That’s me out,” he announced. “Alora, the pleasure was all mine. Keep an eye on this one for me and if you’re ever in Wreston, look me up. Safe travels.” Kyan winked and disappeared out Marcus’s small room.
I got on with packing when two strong arms slipped around my waist and Marcus’s chin dropped to my shoulder. “I love you, Alora. So much.” He spun me and stared down at me with cloudy eyes. “Whatever happens when we get there, I want you to know, I don’t regret a single thing.”
“Marcus…” the words lodged in my throat. “This isn’t goodbye. This is just the beginning.”
“I know,” he said but doubt swam in his eyes. “I just want you to know I love you.”
“And I you.”
~
The man beside me wasn’t the Marcus I knew. During the ride through the Seldova solar system, his whole demeanor changed, and I realized I’d underestimated just how hard it would be for him returning to Wreston. His eyes searched the crowd of Humans waiting for their loved ones to return.
“Do you see them?” I whispered, clutching his hand, thankful that I blended in. There were people everywhere. None I recognized.
“No.” He pulled me across the landing site toward the crowd, his grip on me as tight. We were both tense.
We almost reached the arrival area when a man broke away from the crowd and came toward us. “Denegred,” he said his voice devoid of emotion. “This way.”
I glanced around hoping to see a face I recognized, but there was none. With no other choice, we followed the man to a strange looking vehicle. It was neither zipper or glyder, lower to the ground supported by big rubber bands.
“Marcus, what is that?” I asked.
“It’s a hovercar.” He slipped his arm around my shoulder and pressed a kiss to my head. The man opened the door and motioned for us to get inside. When the door closed around, I searched the landing site once more, saying a silent prayer to the gods.
~
“Marcus, oh thank the galaxies.” A woman with his silver hair rushed over to us and hugged her son. I stepped back giving them space.
“Son, we have been so worried.” An older version of the Human I loved put his arms around his wife and son and the three of them held on as if it might be their last chance.
The hovercar had brought us to a derelict area surrounded by buildings ruined by war. It looked like a warzone despite P-Extinction ending years earlier. I counted three men plus the man who had driven us.
“Denegred. It’s time.” A man stepped forward. Dressed all in black with short dark hair and hard eyes, I knew this to be Devin.
Marcus quieted his mother, who had begun sobbing uncontrollably, and handed her to his father. The two of them huddled together watching as their son stepped up to the man that held his life in his hands.
“Devin.”
“You have the coin?”
Marcus nodded and my eyes darted around the area searching for any signs of hope. The exchange was swift. We didn’t have enough time, now Devin had the coin, he would want Marcus’s life.
“Wait,” I cried rushing to Marcus’s side. His mother sucked in a breath behind me while Devin didn’t flinch. Apparently, my presence meant nothing.
“Let me guess,” he sneered at me. “You’re here to beg for your boyfriend’s life?”
I rolled back my shoulders and met his severe gaze. “His life is no longer yours to do as you please.”
“Oh.” He tilted his head and pressed a thumb to his bottom lip. “It isn’t?”
“No, it’s mine.”
Devin barked a harsh laugh. “I’ve waited a long time for this day, girl, and you dare to try and stake claim on my debt?”
Marcus reached for my hand, but I shrugged him off. I would not show this man weakness. And I would not stand here while he threatened the man I loved. The man whose life was inexplicably entwined with my own.
“Alora,” Marcus hissed.
“Enough!” Devin roared, slipping a pistol from the waistband of his trousers. Sheer panic punctured my immortal heart. He trained it on Marcus and my body began to tremble with fear. “There is no salvation for a man like you, Denegred.”
“There is always another way.” My father appeared with his court.
“What the fuck is this?” Anger blazed in Devin’s eyes but he didn’t move as my father and his Undine soldiers formed a line in front of me, Marcus, and his parents.
“The Human is ours. I come to negotiate for his life.”
“And you would be?”
“Agamonra Undaniosis, King of the Undines.”
“You’re a Meta? What could a Meta possibly want with Human scum like Denegred?”
I winced letting Marcus draw me into his side.
“That is none of your concern. I am giving you a chance to walk away, it would be wise to take it.”
Devin’s eyes narrowed, the pistol shaky in his hands. “This is bullshit, Denegred is mine.” A shot rang out and a scream ripped from my throat as I squeezed my eyes shut. Then I felt it. The whoosh of water. I peeked my eyes open to find Devin and his men were imprisoned behind a wall of icy water.
“Alora?”
“Yes, Father.”
“There is a zipper waiting to transport you home. Get on it. Now. Take Marcus and his family with you. The rest we can work out the rest later.”
“Sir,” Marcus started but my father cut him dead.
“My daughter is Undine royalty,” he said. “I would feel much better knowing she is safe on our planet far away from this place.”
Marcus nodded. His poor parents looked so confused and terrified. I stepped forward. “Come, please, we have much to explain.”
They looked from Marcus to me and at our joined hands, and a small smile tugged at Mrs Denegred’s mouth. “I have waited so long for this day, to see my boy again. Knowing that it would be the last time I got to hold him. I don’t know who you are, what you are, but thank you. Thank you for loving my boy.” Her eyes glossed with tears as she croaked out, “Thank you for saving him.”
And just like that, I knew Madam Dubraire had been right.
No matter what the future held for us, or the outcome of the choices we were yet to make, The Complex had been exactly where I was supposed to be.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my novella from THE COMPLEX!
All reviews are appreciated.
If you would like to read more from THE COMPLEX series, please click on the link below:
The Complex Website
PLAYLIST
Hymnal – In The Valley Below
Come Here Boy – Imogen Heap
Smother – Daughter
Drowning – Banks
Deep Green – Marika Hackman
Holiest – Glass Animals, Tei Shi
Red Dust – James Vincent McMorrow
Arcadia – The Kite String Tangle
; E.T. – Katy Perry
Cosmic Love - Florence and the Machine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace White is the paranormal pseudonym of romance writer, L A Cotton.
She resides in the UK with her family, and lives for binge watching series on her Firestick, losing herself in a good book, and reliving her younger days through trashy teenage movies ... not necessarily in that order.
For all the latest news about The Lilituria Prophecy, you can follow Grace at:
www.authorgracewhite.com
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