Branded (An Otherworlders Series Novel Book 1)

by Lena Moore

  Draven didn’t snap back at her. He did however squeeze her a little tighter and whisper into her hair that everything would be ok and that he wouldn’t leave her side.

  Her sight went fuzzy, tears streaming down her face. Aliyah knew she’d need to confess what she’d felt earlier to Draven. She needed to trust him with her darkness like he’d trusted her with his; but for now Aliyah only wanted to drown in the safety of his arms.

  Draven kissed the crown of her head and continued reassuring her that they would get through this together. Holding her snuggly against his hard body, he told her that they would save the people they loved the most and put an end to this mayhem. All Aliyah could think was: how could he be so sure?

  ~ Jadis ~

  What the fuck has gotten into this place? First my sister and boyfriend, wait, ex–boyfriend, were siphoning my magic, and now this fucking letter?

  Jadis turned the note over and over between her fingers hoping to feel any sort of magic, or at least a clue as to what the fuck they were up against.

  She read the words repeatedly in her thoughts: Branded, bound and blood won’t stop me from getting what’s rightfully mine. What does that mean? Jadis had admitted that there was a link between the pair, but was what they had more than she realised? Was Draven a part of the puzzle?

  She shook her head shaking off her inner ruminations. Dolph and Dany were still here. Jadis peered up at both of them, Dany was lost doing something on his phone, and Dolph was reading some book that he’d brought from Draven’s.

  Her heart ached for Dolph. He and his sister Laney had an intensely close bond, always had. Jadis remembered thinking they reminded her more of twins than just siblings, being they were eleven months apart in age and Laney the older one. Those two were there for each other no matter the problem, and Jadis had to admit she was slightly jealous of their bond. After all, she never had that with her own sister, Jada. The thought of Jada brought her anger to the surface and she knew she needed to tamper that down if she was going to focus on the task at hand. A couple of deep breaths later her eyes fell back to Dolph.

  He was still sexy as fuck. She’d reminisced—rather masturbated—many times at the thought of once again running her long fingers through his dishevelled black mane of hair since their separation.

  Jadis had never loved anyone like she’d loved Dolph. He was truly one of a kind. Her one true love. But she was robbed of that thanks to the elders. A pang of guilt and loss coiled in her belly as the memory of that dreadful day assaulted her senses; the day she had to say goodbye to the only man she’d ever loved.

  Dolph was her everything, the man she didn’t think she’d ever deserve, and the only being in this realm that made her heart beat erratically in her chest cavity. Jadis swore the damn thing would jump out her body and say hello each and every time both her and Dolph were in the same vicinity of each other. It was perfect. They were perfect. Key word being were.

  The elders had approached her regarding her relationship with Dolph. They didn’t appreciate or accept their connection to one and other. The elders wanted him out of her life so she could focus on being who she was meant to be. Jadis hadn’t asked for their presence or their gift. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a choice in the matter. It was just the way it was meant to be.

  The elders weren’t exactly in this realm, so to speak. They’d actually perished on this earth and it was their spirits that continued to speak to her. Before their demise, they’d been some of the most powerful witches and warlocks around. Their magic was now restricted, with most of it having been gifted to Jadis, making her the high witch of New Orleans and one of the most powerful witches in the entire world. Secretly she loathed the title.

  So much was expected of her when their power had been transported to her. So much that her shoulders were heavily burdened with all they asked of her. Eventually their auras had faded and Jadis was able to control when and if they could contact her. But back then she had to play their game.

  Jadis tore herself away from the horrible memory that had just consumed her. The thought of reliving it, especially right now with everything going on, was almost too much to bare.

  She looked over at both men again and couldn’t help the smile that breached her lips. Jadis could get lost in Dany’s sinful umber orbs, and she couldn’t deny that she’d started developing feelings for him; but it was evident that a massive part of her heart still beat for Dolph. It wasn’t something she could deny anymore.

  Jadis averted her gaze from the hot as fuck men occupying her space and focused on the letter from Gorgon. This was more important at the moment. Jadis sensed the note held the answers to a lot of questions they’ve all been wondering.

  Thinking about the words again, realisation hit her like a punch to the gut.

  A life for a life. The grains of sand splinter through the

  glass. Will you succumb, will you make it and save

  them in time?

  Gorgon was going to sacrifice her, and he was using the only love she’d ever known as a child to lure the darkness out.

  If what Gorgon said about his blood pumping through her veins was true then Aliyah had demon blood inside her.

  Jadis was as sure of it as she was the forest green colour of her eyes; Gorgon was going to harness her darkness in hopes of fulfilling this prophecy bullshit. Jadis feared that it could be the end of humanity as they knew it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  ~ Draven ~

  This whole situation was beyond fucked up. First the shit at the front of Midnight Mayhem, then her parents being abducted, and now fucking this.

  Standing beside the bed, Draven’s eyes wandered leisurely over Aliyah’s sleeping form. The poor thing was absolutely spent. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, praying that he could save her from whatever onslaught they were about to embark. Draven wasn’t able to save Delilah, but he would slaughter every man, demon or whatever if it meant that his Snowflake would stay safe.

  Love—he snickered to himself—what a fucked up emotion. One that undoubtedly made someone do the most unspeakable things. He couldn’t fool himself any longer. Draven knew that he was in love with Aliyah. That awareness scared the absolute fuck out of him. There was no way he could lose her, no way he could ever say goodbye to her. And even through this acute situation he’d landed himself in, he thanked the Goddess for showing him Aliyah.

  Draven didn’t think he’d ever love again. After Delilah was murdered, all that was left of him was a sordid shell, a filthy, yet blank canvas of the vampire he once was. He’d done unfathomable things; things he didn’t like to dwell on; things best left in the past.

  Aliyah sparked something deep inside of him, and it wasn’t just the never-ending hard on she gave him. No. It was like the ash left from the fire that once blazed deep within his soul had ignited once more, the embers burning fiercer than ever before. All because of her.

  Draven wasn’t naïve. He sensed she felt the same even if she didn’t want to admit it. Adjusting the bulge in his pants from simply being in the same room as her, he ruminated some more. The bond they shared. The love they may feel for each other. None of this would matter. Not if they couldn’t work out what the fuck Neferity and this Gorgon fuck wanted from her.

  One sentence from the letter that Gorgon left her continued to haunt him.

  You were always a part of the puzzle, the

  only one to shine.

  The only one to shine, what did that mean? The blood drained from his body and he knew he was whiter than Casper the fucking ghost as the understanding smashed into him like a mallet to the head.

  Draven remembered the times she’d glowed; it had to be her faery magic. Something in the blood, perhaps? Branded, bound and blood. No, Jadis insisted that was more about Aliyah and himself than her blood alone.

  He just wanted to lose himself in her again and forget about everything. Vacate the shit storm that’d formed around them and immerse themselves in one and oth
er. Fuck, wouldn’t that be bliss, he mused.

  After pulling the duvet up over Aliyah’s body, he quietly exited the room, closing the door behind him to get some peace. He couldn’t concentrate with her dark chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon, whiskey scent constantly singing a tune to his balls. Draven wasn’t ignorant; he knew he was pussy whipped. Her blood, along with her body, was an added bonus and made it all worth it. He would never tire of her.

  In an instant, he sensed a difference in the room. Draven’s eyes flew to the exposed space where the steel door should have been. Jadis stood there, stark and her eyes fierce.

  “Don’t any of you fuckers knock?” he growled.

  “Fuck up, Draven. This is no time for dramatics.”

  “What have you found?”

  Jadis shook her head from side to side. “It’s isn’t really what I’ve found. It’s what’s been under our noses this entire time.”

  “Spit it out, Jadis. We’re not here to fuck spiders!”

  She groaned at his comment. “The letter from Gorgon, do you remember the blood part: my blood viciously pumps through your veins like old wine?”

  “Yeah. And?”

  “She has demon blood, Draven.”

  He fell back on the couch in an unceremonious humph. Of course. Aliyah was part demon. Secretly Draven felt he’d always known, only he hadn’t wanted to face the fact she may harbour the same darkness he did.

  Draven thought back to the first time he’d witnessed her hypnotic eyes and the red speckles that rimmed her violet irises. At the time he thought her eyes were unique, not second guessing the warning bells that warred within his mind. Then there was the fight in the Quarter, where that male voice had mentioned that Aliyah was his. And the letter Gorgon just left her. Like a puzzle finally finding its grooves, it was all starting to slot in and make a fuck load of sense. Gorgon wanted the polarity between her dark and light—her demon and faery.

  He felt like a lemon was lodged in his throat as the acrimonious taste assaulted his mouth once he realised that Gorgon was going to kill her, one way or another. Not if he had anything to do with it.

  “Baby, talk to me.” Jadis’s concerned voice tore him from his thoughts. “You’re whiter than I’ve ever seen you before and it’s scaring me.”

  Draven propped his elbows on his knees. Bringing his hands up to his temples, he began massaging them.

  He let out a gravelly breath. “He wants her for her dark and light—her demon and faery. Fuck, Jadis, she’s more dark than light with vampire blood, isn’t she? I think he’s expecting her darkness to consume the light. Although he needs her light for something because it’s in that letter, and that was some Sylvia Plath shit right there.”

  “Unfortunately, I think you’re right. We need to figure out this prophecy revelation bullshit before it’s too late, D. And by how tight your body is wound, I dare say you’ll lose your head in the process. She needs you. I need you.”

  He met Jadis’s pleading stare and knew she was right. With everything that’d been going on and his desire to protect Aliyah, he’d failed to miss the tell-tale signs that his darkness was creeping in. All he could relate it to was the need to keep Aliyah safe and kill any fucker that tried to harm her, and that list was expanding like wildfire.

  “I need you too. But fuck, I can’t live without her, Jadis. She’s as much a part of me as you and Dolph are. Aliyah’s more me than she even realises. She’s dug under all these superficial layers and walls that I built up to keep my heart guarded and safe. Without her, I will be nothing, I am as sure as the blood pumping through my veins,” he confessed.

  “I know, baby. I see it. I feel it. However, you need to keep your head in the game, because without you I truly fear what lies ahead for her.”

  Draven was about to respond when he heard a creak. His head whipped up to look at the bedroom door; it was still closed. Still, something pulled him toward it.

  “Wait here. I’m just going to check on Aliyah.”

  He saw Jadis making herself comfortable on the lounge whilst he turned and walked toward the bedroom.

  Slowly opening the door, he breathed a sigh of relief. She was still cocooned underneath the duvet the way he’d left her. Gently closing the door until it clicked back in place, he sauntered back over to the lounge to finish the conversation with Jadis.

  “Is she ok?”

  “She’s still asleep. I’m going to have to tell her about all of this and I’m worried it’s going to be too much for her, that it’s going to send her over the edge.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. You have to be honest with her because she deserves to know. Keeping her in the dark could prove more harmful than good. ”

  Jadis was always fucking right and sometimes it really grated his nerves. Although this time he knew she was looking out for everyone involved.

  She issued Draven a sad smile before talking again, “I best be getting back to the boys. Call me if you need me.”

  She stood up and beckoned Draven over for a hug, then she was gone.

  With Aliyah asleep and Jadis no longer there, he was left with his own thoughts. He sighed deep and heavy because this was his own special kind of fucked up hell.

  ~ Aliyah ~

  Sensing the heavy and thick tension in the air, Aliyah crept over to the door and caught a glimpse of the conversation between Jadis and Draven.

  She shifted her weight and the floor creaked. Hearing Draven say he was going to check on her, she ran back to the bed, crawled under the covers and peered at the clock: twenty past eleven. She’d only been passed out and an hour or so.

  Aliyah heard the door click. Sensing Draven’s aura, she hoped she looked as he’d left her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the door close quietly.

  Her heart swelled a little too much for her chest cavity over the words she had heard. He really did care for her. Truly and utterly wanted to keep her safe even at the cost of his own sanity. Aliyah wouldn’t have that, no fucking way. She wasn’t a little girl and she certainly didn’t need to be sheltered. And when she grew the balls, she told herself she would storm out there and demand to know everything he knew because she wanted to be his equal, not his side piece.

  Sitting up in the bed, she picked at her chipped black nail polish until it was scattered all over the duvet. A result of when she was nervous or anxious.

  Scolding herself internally, Aliyah jumped up from the bed and barged out of the room.

  “We need…”

  She silenced herself when she laid eyes on Draven. His sad yet still mesmerizing eyes found hers. He looked defeated.

  Rushing over to him, she kicked his legs open and crawled between them. She cupped his face with her hands and urged, “Talk to me.”

  His voice came out strained, like he’d swallowed cement. “How am I going to keep you safe if I can’t even keep myself in check?”

  “Oh Shrek.” She nestled between his legs, laying her head on his thighs.

  “Someone once told me that I don’t need to do this alone, so I’m relaying the message back to him. Draven, you don’t need to do this alone.” She stroked the hard denim on his thigh.

  Draven laced his fingers through her tousled hair, and whispered, “Snowflake, you have demon blood as well as your vampire, angel and faery blood.”

  Swiftly, Aliyah removed her head from his thigh and looked into his hauntingly beautiful gaze. “What?”

  “Jadis and I made the connections, just in different ways. Your eyes, haven’t you ever wondered why they’re laced with red speckles? It’s the letter that finally solidified the speculation, although I feel like I’ve always known.”

  The feeling from earlier still simmered in her belly and she knew now was the time to tell Draven what she’d experienced.

  Cutting her off from spilling the beans, Draven spoke again. “I think he wants to use your dark and light, at least that’s my assumption from the poem he left you.”

  Aliyah thought back to the let
ter and she wanted to kick herself for not seeing it earlier. He was right. The only light that’d ever shined and my blood pumps through you like old wine. Gorgon had subtly given her the answers to her questions, but one still remained. Who the fuck was he and what was he to her?

  “What are you thinking about, Snowflake?” He wiped the tear that trailed down her cheek.

  “How stupid I am for not making the connection sooner. There’s something I need to tell you.” The shame that conjured up within was deep seated.

  “Anything. You know that.”

  “I feel the darkness inside of me, Draven,” she whispered. “I’ve always known it was there, and it scares the shit out of me.”

  Draven yanked her up into his lap and cradled her in his arms planting kisses at her temple.

  “I can only speak from my experience, Aliyah. Mine has always scared me. When I finally cave and allow it to devour me I don’t even know who I am anymore. I don’t sense that in you, and I believe I would if you inhabited it.”

  Aliyah sensed he was attempting to assuage her fears. Maybe for ten seconds it actually worked. It was short lived.

  “Maybe I haven’t manifested my darkness yet? What if I don’t know how to control it?”

  “We will do this together, just like your stubborn ass told me moments ago. We are in this as equals.”

  Could he read my mind? she thought. His statement mirrored what she’d been coming out to bust his balls about: being his equal.

  “What are you scared of, Shrek?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I saw how defeated you looked when I stormed out. What are you hiding from?”

  He let out a strained laugh, then said, “Ever so vigilant, aren’t you? My darkness—that is what I’m hiding from.”

  The front door flew open, with Jadis, Dany and Dolph interrupting their intimate moment. Aliyah had heard a creak whilst she and Draven were conversing, but she was focused intently on him and didn’t realise the trio were eavesdropping on their moment.