Stigmata

by L M Adams

  Tabari nods, “I think the fridge is still intact…”

  Jack looks to Lucien, “Don’t worry, I’m already getting work-orders together for a contractor.”

  Luey shrugs, “I can do the remodel, with the berserker’s help, and you… if you don’t mind messing up your manicure.”

  “I’d make a snappy comeback but, I don’t want you adding this to your plate, you’re already doing too much with the new house, the youth center and the refuge housing.”

  “I can handle it…”

  Jack cuts his eyes at Lucien, “I have an equal say, Lucien, that is what you said, that I have an equal say… and I say you’re already burning yourself out – would you like to discuss it further in private?”

  “In private, aye?” Lucien gives him a sexy grin, “I like it when you go dom on me.”

  To be honest, I’m relieved to see it as well… I need Jack to get back to being – Jack.

  Tabari groans, “Goddess help us all… let’s just get home so I can crawl under a rock and scrub that image from my brain.”

  “Don’t ruin the fun,” I smile.

  Tabari huffs and goes to get the portal started again.

  Goddess, I could spend my life on this little strip of nowhere and love every minute of it. If only I was a different woman, and this was a different world – a simpler world.

  I feel Lucien pick up on my feelings, making them deeper and more, intertwining them with his own wish – that he could take us to his home… at least once.

  A crack of thunder and the roar of magic fills the room the sound bouncing off the walls making my ears ring.

  “W-T-F, Tabari, we’re only going home.”

  “I’m sorry, there’s a lot of energy, the field is very active here.”

  “Probably the storm brewing.” He nods in agreement.

  I turn back to the quicksilver surface and give it a last sigh before walking forward, going in first. I’m followed by Jack and then Lucien. Tabari will be last to let the portal fold in behind him… everything feels normal… until it doesn’t.

  Act 2 – Return of the God-King

  61

  Jaevia

  I step into the portal and immediately know – something is wrong here. Something is very fucking wrong. I know this feeling, of falling into the cosmos, of having your thoughts torn apart like cotton candy, synapses firing with light and power. I know this feeling; it is the magic of time, and no good ever came from that.

  My eyes don’t want to work, or don’t want to accept. Blinding light fills my vision, the heat is almost unbearable. The air is different, smells different, tastes different… it drips with magic.

  “Luey?” I croak out, my lungs not used to breathing in… whatever this is.

  “I’m here, Wench.” I hear his voice and almost weep. I can hear.

  We’re definitely not in Kansas… or Baltimore. I push up to my hands and knees, there’s a ground, thank goddess there’s a ground. Scorching sun above, a bed of golden sand below. I know up and down.

  “Jack?” I almost whimper.

  “I’m here,” his voice almost sounding alien. The air not carrying sound like what I’m used to, “…I can’t, I’m here, but I do not know what here is.”

  “Did Tabari come through?” I work my jaw.

  “I do not know, Wench, I do not know.” I hear or feel Lucien closer.

  My vision fritzes again, a picture coming into focus, light flares filling the edges of my vision.

  I feel Lucien’s hand before I see him. As if my senses are putting themselves back together again and touch came before vision. But he is here, wherever that is. As large as life, I feel his aura roll over me.

  “Luey,” I reach up to cup his face, so unbelievably happy I can see him.

  “Aye, Wench, I am here.”

  “Find Jack.” I try to turn to look but the blinding light fills my vision again making me close my eyes against the pain.

  “Stay here, Jae, do not try to move.”

  I nod, “Okay.”

  He leaves me and my heart sinks with fear again. I try to open my eyes… slowly this time. If I just look down to the sand, I can see, it’s not until I try to lift my eyes that the blinding pain returns. There’s just too much light for my eyes to filter.

  “Come with you then, Bloodsucker.”

  “I can hardly see,” Jack sounds downright pissed off about that.

  “Then let me be your eyes,” Lucien, by far, sounds steadier than either me or Jack.

  I see their feet and relax. I reach up without looking and feel Jack’s hands reaching down to me. He falls to his knees beside me and we clutch to each other like small frightened children under the shadow of Lucien.

  “Keep your eyes down, it makes it better.”

  Jack nods, “What is this?”

  “I don’t know… I just don’t know.” I sigh. “Luey, can you see anything?”

  “Give me a moment, Wench. I’m still a bit disoriented myself.”

  I search inside of myself and I feel my power there, the succubus, the moon – the heavens, and the earths, and the hells – the eventide. But it’s unbalanced, it’s mostly sun… all Ra, I feel very little Neoma, there is no moon goddess here.

  Oh god.

  “Jack… Jack do you feel Neoma?”

  “Only a bit, it’s not enough, the blood Jaevia, it will call to me soon enough… Vayrá will call.”

  Jack needs the power of the moon to cool the bloodlust of Vayrá, he cannot be only one thing, he must walk the edge.

  “Lucien what do you feel? Your power?”

  “Aye, Wench, this is… it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The very air here, it feels… familiar.”

  He sounds so very lost. But now that he’s said it, I can sense the same thing. This feels like Luey, even the air, that what we breathe in is more power than oxygen, it all tastes and smells of honey and deep spice. He doesn’t need to search for his center of power, we’re swimming in it.

  “Here, drink.” Lucien orders holding down his wrists.

  “I don’t really need a snack right now.” I snap.

  “Do not be mule-headed, Wench. I believe my blood will help acclimate the two of you to… this.”

  Jack takes his wrist, “Any other ideas?”

  “No Bloodsucker, do what you’re good at.”

  “You must be the most irritating of all men I’ve ever had the misfortune to marry.”

  “Married many men then?”

  “No, you dipshit.”

  “Can you two stop arguing for one minute?!” I can’t think straight.

  “You’ve drunk my blood before…” Lucien leads… impatiently.

  I sigh, “How can we be sure this won’t make it worse?”

  “I have a feeling.”

  Jack curses under his breath. “Jaevia, my head is about to split in two, I don’t know how much worse it can get.”

  Jack’s good old practicality. Since I have no alternative, I take Lucien’s hand in my own, turning it so I can strike the inside of his wrist.

  Perhaps Jack and I will always be vampires first, before all else. We snap our fangs down in tandem and strike our husband’s wrists perfectly synchronized. The first gushing of the thick fluid fills my mouth quickly, tasting of honey and gold, rich and filled with power.

  A high whine rings in my ears and slowly… slowly begins to dampen. I break away from his wrist as my vision seems to come into focus sharply. Everything is still impossibly bright, but I don’t feel overwhelmed any longer. It takes Jack a bit more blood before he breaks off, breathing heavily, but seeming far steadier.

  I stand slowly, wanting to get my bearings. But there are none to be had.

  “This doesn’t even feel like earth.” I whisper.

  Lucien grabs Jack by the arm and helps him to his feet. “It is Jaevia… I know this place.”

  He nods his head to something behind me. I turn, holding up a hand to my fore
head to shield my vision from the sun a bit.

  “Goddess be,” I whisper as I finally see what we came through.

  A portal, but none like anything I’ve ever seen. There is no mirror, just two massive black pillars, rough, carved from the power of Gaia – not by any hand of man.

  Lucien told us of this place, this is how Henenu sent Lucien to Ra’suá… of the future, but so long ago.

  No gems, nothing to make it seem like anything magical, but I feel the power. I feel… time. This was made with the magic of time.

  Lucien pulls away to move closer to the pillars of obsidian stone. There is a different and ancient magic here, something that has not been seen for eons. With every step Lucien seems to both relax and tense. Like a beast that knows this land, loves this land… but remembers being hunted here.

  62

  Jaevia

  I glance at Jack. He shakes his head no. He doesn’t have a fucking clue either.

  Lucien stops and reaches down to the sand, when he stands, he has his sword and scabbard in hand. He looks up at the pillars.

  “That’s all we have? Your sword?” I shield my eyes and look around again, looking for… anything. But other than the rock formations behind us, there are only hills upon hills of sand, further than the eye can see, surrounding us completely.

  Lucien doesn’t respond, Jack starts looking around with me, searching for a landmark… anything that can tell us about what is happening.

  He sighs, “I don’t think the others came here… wherever this is.”

  I shake my head, “I think this is still Earth… it’s when we are; that’s the question.”

  Jack turns back to Lucien, putting his hands on his hips. “Lucien, I do not mean to sound accusatory… but something you did brought us here, can you take us back?”

  Lucien turns around slowly, his eyes glittering with so much gold I wonder if his tears would shine with sunlight.

  “I would not know where to begin… my studies, I had not gotten to the lessons of bending space and time, Capaneus. I do not know how I have done what I have done. I was only thinking...” he stops mid-sentence.

  “Thinking what, Luey?”

  “That I wished to show you two my home, not in our future, but from my past. That I wish I could share that with you both. I thought of the book you’ve been helping me with and that the answer may be in there. It was only a thought, Wench... I did not know...”

  He stops again, truly not understanding how he’d transported us here. There’s no use in pushing him over the matter, I don’t know how to use all of my powers either. But then I didn’t transport us all… somewhere.

  I dare to look up to the sky, I’ve never seen the sun so bright. “Supernatural or not… we can’t survive in this sun forever. Maybe you can Lucien, but not me and not Jack.”

  I can tell from Lucien’s face he doesn’t like the sound of that. Rule one of marrying Lucien. You’re not allowed to die.

  He looks at the stone outcropping beyond the pillars of stone. “There is nothing here but the pillars and few stone formations, nothing to offer much shade. There will be nothing for miles around… this is a sacred place. Even the wildlife would steer clear.”

  Jack nods, “Do we try to walk or stay put? Maybe Tabari will figure out a way to get to us.”

  That is always the question. Generally speaking, if lost – stay put and wait for rescue is usually the rule. But I’m not sure rescue is possible.

  “Tabari can open a portal, but he can’t travel outside of time, not like this. He can jump to Ra’suá, but that’s because he knows the coordinates. The likelihood of him finding Lucien’s book, understanding it, figuring out where and when we are… and then being able to dial in the correct space and time coordinates? Having the sheer power to do that?” I shake my head no; my brother is smart… but that’s just not feasible. “I don’t think there is anyone to rescue us. Which leaves our survival up to us.”

  Jack blows out a breath and nods, I don’t think he had much hope in the Tabari rescue possibility.

  I turn to look at Luey, “You could fly…”

  “I am not leaving the two of you.” He nips that in the bud before I finish my sentence. “There should be a village two, maybe four days walk… I think.”

  I sigh. Not the resounding confidence I really wanted, but it will have to do.

  “Then we walk.”

  Jack shakes his head no, “How long can we survive in a desert with no food, no water and our only sustenance Lucien? Even two days of walking, at best case, it would be impossible under these conditions to keep our bodies going.”

  “Have you ever tried to survive on blood only?”

  He nods. “It would be possible for me to go some time without food and water… if this was earth… my earth. I could pull on Vayrá to make up for any deficiencies. But…” he shakes his head.

  “What?”

  “I don’t feel Vayrá… not my Vayrá. Something is off… something isn’t right, and I cannot drink blood alone. It will not sustain a vampire without a tie to Vayrá.”

  I know intimately what happens to vampires who only feed on blood, they become murderous monsters. The single thing that separates a pureblood and a crow is the ability to tie to Vayrá… to their souls. We could try to balance it all with power from Neoma… if that was available, it’s not.

  Lucien walks towards us. “We can make it to a village that sits along Phiaro.”

  “Phiaro?”

  “What humans call the Nile river, or the black river. We can make the walk, we’re fit. At worst case I shall carry the both of you. We should make use of the early hours; we do not want to be exposed when the sun is at its apex.”

  “It gets worse?” I ask in disbelief.

  “Aye, Wench, it gets worse,” he shrugs a large shoulder, “or better, if you are a child of Ra.”

  “Goddess be.”

  Jack shakes his head, “I can’t believe this is our plan.”

  Lucien gives him a look, “I’m all ears if you have a better one.”

  A moment of silence and Lucien steps forward taking the lead, setting our course into the harsh lands of what I assume is the Sahara Desert.

  We’re not even dressed appropriately for this. I’m wearing jeans and a tank top, nothing to shield my skin from the sun. At least I am wearing tennis shoes. I’d be in a world of hurt if I’d been wearing a pair of flip-flops.

  The gold sand is loose and it’s hard to walk in, especially up the large dunes. Even fit, my thighs begin to burn with effort. But nothing makes me as miserable as the sun does.

  The sun is unrelenting, unforgiving… unnerving. No one thing should be this powerful. The sky is crystal clear, so blue it almost seems white. There’s not a cloud in the sky, let alone a bird.

  Soon I feel we may be the only living things left upon the earth.

  If this is where the ancients banished Set to – I can kind of understand why he ended up being so pissed the fuck off.

  I know from the Book of Thoth – that after the battle was done between Horus and Set, Horus was given rule of Atum and all the lands of the deep dark earth, where growing things could flourish. And Set was given domain of the sands upon the earth, where only the things that slink beneath the surface could live – feeding off of one another.

  The question I wish I’d asked of Azazael; when I’d had the chance – how did you go from being the loser, the banished, the hated – to being the champion of the same gods who damned you?

  At his core, Azazael wishes to set the old gods free. He wishes to see his kind let go from their prison of time. The same gods that turned their backs on him.

  Is it possible for me to go from being the one that the Kindred used, abused, damned to pain eternal – to wishing in my heart to be their savior?

  How had he made that journey, and do I have the same journey before me?

  A couple of hours of pondering in the baking sun, and I stop caring who did what to whom; and who�
�s the god of this or that – I’d suck Set’s dick for an ice bath right now. This sun is draining me like nothing before. I’d be soaking wet with sweat if the sun wouldn’t instantly dry it. My tongue feels swollen in my mouth, like a dried-out sponge. My lips are cracking with dryness and my lungs are heaving with effort.

  Goddess be, I’m the fucking Eventide! Shouldn’t I be handling this better? Half of my power is from Ra. Lucien looks like he’s out for a fucking stroll, he’s not even breathing hard.

  But Jack… it’s easy to see he’s doing the worse. His smooth and milky skin is burning, burning badly. His cheeks and forehead a glaring and angry red. He’s slow, even slower than me, and often Lucien has to pause to give us time to catch up to him.

  Right now Jack is slowly making his way up a dune, both Lucien and I have made the summit. I look back towards the pillars of black obsidian. We haven’t made it so far that turning back is no longer an option. But what would we be going back to?

  Jack struggles up the dune, his legs sinking into the loose sand, every step an effort.

  “He’s not going to make it much longer, Luey.” I whisper breathlessly.

  “Aye, but I will not damage his pride by offering to carry him. He will ask when he is ready.”

  “Is this a stubborn bro-code thing?”

  “Bro-code?” He raises an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, like a man-to-man thing.”

  He crosses his arms over his chest. “No, it is a pride… thing?”

  “Pride?” I ask confused.

  Lucien nods, “He is insecure about being my sexual bottom in intercourse. He believes accepting my penis inside of him made him less of a man. No matter how often I demonstrate his ability to have me in submission.”