“Plainsboro, Iowa.”
“Iowa! Well that explains that. Your cell can’t be very big. How many get together at your Kinua gatherings?”
“Our cell has twenty people in it. Our gatherings are over one hundred and fifty strong.”
“One hundred and fifty is nothing. But,” he eyed her, “surely they don’t allow you to go to a Kinua.”
“No,” she said in a small voice. “They don’t.”
Felix huffed out a breath. “Well, at least they are doing something right. The idea of you breeding and putting more of your tainted blood into our numbers is appalling.”
“I know,” Viève said miserably.
“Hey, that’s enough of that!” Jackson said.
“I only speak the truth,” Felix said. “Look at her. She knows it’s true.”
Viève wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. She didn’t want to be there. She didn’t want to be anywhere near Felix. He was ruining this place for her. Here she had found a brief respite of acceptance. Now he was here polluting all those good feelings. And if more Wraiths came it would grow even worse.
“Perhaps I should go back to my cell,” Viève said in a small voice.
“If they’ll have you. Better to stay here where no one knows any better,” Felix said. “But if this peace is going to work, having a half-breed around won’t do you any favors,” he said to Jackson. “A lot of Wraiths will be offended.”
“Then they can go home,” Jackson said firmly. “We don’t need that kind of prejudice around here. We all accept one another. You better start doing the same or you can leave too. Viève belongs here. We like her just fine.”
Viève felt as though the whole world had suddenly brightened around her. Her heart swelled in her chest, and she had to take a deep breath. She had never had anyone stand up for her before. No one except Kamen. Now here was Jackson standing up for her and she hadn’t even done anything for him. Except be instrumental in breaking the curse. She had to give herself credit for that. She didn’t see Felix being the sort who would readily give himself over to the ceremony that had broken the curse.
But still, Jackson had said that he accepted her. Liked her. It was more than she’d ever gotten before. Maybe…maybe she had done something to deserve that. She had fit in with these people really well. She didn’t see Felix being able to do the same. In that she had advantage over him.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Felix said.
Kamen came back through the door and closed it behind him.
“He’s resting. I need to stay here. Some of his wounds have reopened. He will need a healing spell to close them.”
“I thought you were too tired to do more magic,” Felix asked suspiciously.
Kamen took the observation in stride. “The streak is far more taxing than a healing spell.”
“Well, make sure you get plenty of rest. I expect you to go back for more Wraiths tomorrow.”
“We will see about that,” Jackson said with a frown. “Space here is limited. There are a lot of people here.”
“I suggest you make room. You are going to need an army against Apep. All I see now is a piddly little cell of misfits.”
“These misfits can do a lot of damage,” Jackson said.
“Against what? Against each other? I saw the games you were playing. That is nothing like what the real thing will be. Apep laid waste to continents the last time he was incarnated into mortal form.”
“He hasn’t had time to grow that strong. Unless he gets the Wraiths to fight on his side, all he has are Templars and maybe a few misguided humans. The Templars are only a few hundred strong.”
“Well then, I suggest you keep us happy,” Felix said with a grin that bared his teeth. “You wouldn’t want us changing our minds.”
“Do that and it will go ill for you,” Kamen said ominously. “Not only will you be subject to the whims of a maniac, you’ll have made an enemy of every other Nightwalker breed there is. And there’s a lot of us.”
Felix took that in for a moment, sucking his teeth briefly. “Where will I be staying?” he asked finally.
“I will show you the way,” Jackson said, leading Felix down the hall toward one of the back bedrooms. Marissa followed and Kamen and Viève stayed behind.
“I was wrong,” Viève said in a small voice.
“About what?”
“We can’t trust them. We can’t forgive them.”
Kamen put an arm around her shoulders and drew her into his body for a hard hug. He kissed her against her temple. It was practically affection in public, something he had not done before then. It made her flush.
“Maybe not. You have to give them a chance though. Just like you’ve given me a chance.”
“I don’t see how such closed-minded people can possibly fit in well with such diversity,” she said.
“It is true, they are very closed-minded. I especially don’t like his treatment of you. But they will have to play by our rules or find themselves facing Apep’s wrath alone. And believe me, when he hears the Wraiths will have nothing to do with him, he will be feeling a great deal of wrath.”
He began to lead her down the hall toward their rooms. “Now I want you to stay in our rooms until I am through healing the Shadowdweller. This last time should be enough.”
“It sounded much worse when you…”
“A little bit of creative truth telling,” he said. “I don’t want him to think he can have his way in everything the moment he demands it. He has to answer to the needs of the household just like anyone else does; that means respecting the wishes and situations of others. Never fear, we will have him well trained before long.”
She gave him a doubtful frown. He laughed at her. “Don’t you trust me?” he asked.
“I don’t trust him.”
“You’ve made that very clear. But don’t let the personal pain you feel color your judgment. He needs to be assessed as an asset to this situation, not based on how he and his race treat their half-breeds. One is certainly telling of the other, but it’s not the whole story. That being said, I don’t want you alone in the same room with him.”
“You don’t trust me with him?”
“I don’t want him to have the opportunity to spew poison at you,” Kamen said firmly. “You’ve heard more than enough of it throughout your lifetime and I won’t have you hearing any of it here. If he is an indication of how the others in your cell treated you…”
“He is exactly how the others treated me,” she told him.
“Then I am glad you are here. Glad it was you I ran into outside of your cell that night. On so many levels and for so many reasons, I am glad.”
Warmth infused her. She smiled at him. “I am glad too. More than you’ll ever know. If I’d had any idea what kind of an adventure I’d be going on…well, I don’t know if I would’ve been brave enough to embark on it knowing it was coming. But I’m glad it happened as it did. I’ve never met anyone like you before. No one’s ever treated me the way you do.”
He stopped before their bedroom door and turned her toward himself, reaching to brush warm fingers along her jawline. “And no one’s ever treated me the way you do. Even when I had a position of power and respect, no one was ever warm and kind to me just for being myself. And I was never able to be myself around anyone then. Not even with Odjit. She was a draining personality. She always wanted more. Even when I had already given her everything. You…you seem content with whatever I give you. This is a flaw of your self-worth, but at the same time it is somewhat relaxing to know you expect nothing of me.”
“I don’t expect anything. I just hope for things. Things like your time, your consideration, your touch.” This last she said on a whisper. He cupped her cheek and she turned into the caress, nuzzling him warmly.
“You may have all three whenever your heart desires it,” he said softly.
“I desire them all, especially the latter, as soon as possible.”
&nbs
p; He smiled at her. “I will come to you as soon as I am done with Sagan.”
“Thank you,” she said with a smile.
“For what?”
“For telling Felix you would throw away the peace accord if he didn’t stop treating me the way he was. I know you wouldn’t really do that, but he didn’t and he believed you. That might make things a little better, though I won’t hold my breath.”
He frowned. “I think you should know, I was entirely serious. I would break this accord in a heartbeat if he treated you ill again. But in the end it isn’t up to me. This is a joint effort. Inclusion or exclusion of a race is something that would have to be decided by all. But, as you said, he doesn’t know that so perhaps he will take it to heart.”
Viève didn’t think that he would, his behavior afterward when Kamen wasn’t around a fair indicator, but it was the gesture that had touched her. Deeply.
“Hurry back,” she whispered to him. “I would have you naked and in my arms.”
He smiled again. This time wolfishly. “A most favorite place to be,” he said. He dipped his head and caught her mouth against his, kissing her deeply. His tongue touched hers and she sighed with pleasure. He kissed her so deeply she grew dizzy…perhaps from lack of oxygen. Definitely from the intensity of the passion that swam between them.
He separated from her mouth reluctantly, and then pushed himself away.
“Go on.” He nodded toward the bedroom door.
She smiled and went inside the room.
Chapter 19
Apep pushed with a fury. The pain meant nothing, he told himself. He was a god. The pain would pass as soon as this was over.
What did not pass, however, was the rage he felt. His curse, his beautiful curse…ruined! Destroyed! The Nightwalkers had done the one thing that should have been impossible to do: get all twelve races together, form a circle of connected hands. They couldn’t even see each other, never mind be tangible enough to clasp hands!
And that meant the Wraiths had been a part of it. After he had gone to them specifically and told them they would be fighting on his side. That they were his minions and that he had created them just for that purpose. The betrayal infuriated him even more than the broken curse did. He would have to lay waste to the ingrates as soon as he was done dealing with that puny little gathering of Nightwalkers in New Mexico. That had to be where they were. Where that traitor Kamen had gone after resurrecting Apep to this world.
He had attacked them there once before but he had been unprepared that time. This time he would not underestimate them. He would attack them in force, bringing his army to bear, starting there in his obliteration of the Nightwalker races. His original intention had been to use his Templars to destroy the first half of the Nightwalkers, the half they could see. Then he would lift the curse and set them on the second half. The tactic would have been far wiser than facing them all down at once.
But he had to start eliminating them before more of these little cells of Nightwalkers began to form, creating what might be an army of resistance against him. Not that they could win; but it was best to nip it in the bud before it got out of control. Especially since they could potentially do him the worst kind of harm. They might even be able to defeat him if they but knew the way. What if they did know the way? What would he do then?
He couldn’t worry about that now. He had to push. Get this parasite out of him. Only then could he regain his strength.
He pushed with a scream and suddenly…brilliantly…the child slipped from his body. The doctor caught the baby as Apep lay back in the bed with a flounce. He gasped for much needed breath, his body feeling the relief of no longer trying to push a huge creature out of such a tiny orifice. Ugh! How did human women stand it? And to do it more than once? They were mad!
The doctor held up the child with a grin.
“Congratulations! It’s a girl!”
“A what?” Apep cried, sitting up to take a closer look. Sure enough, his son was a girl! How did that happen? He was a celestial being and he had wanted a son—that should have made it so! A daughter? What the hell was he supposed to do with a daughter?
“Ugh!” he cried in disgust. “Take it away from me!” He snapped his fingers and two Templars hastened into the room to do just that.
“What shall we do with it, mistress?”
“Throw it out! It’s of no use to me!” Apep watched them take the child and the doctor stood up and mopped his brow.
“Surely you don’t mean…throw it out. It isn’t trash after all,” the doctor said as he fumbled around in his bag and gathered up a syringe and a vial in shaking hands. He pulled a large dose of the liquid into the syringe. Then, stumbling once over his own feet, he went to the IV and put the syringe in the port.
“Yes, I do mean throw it out! Find a dumpster and be rid of the thing.” Apep glared at the doctor. “What is that? What are you doing?”
“V-v-vitamins,” the doctor stammered. “T-to help with the healing.”
“I don’t need vitamins! I need a son! To think, I went through all of this for nothing.” Apep reached for the IV and ripped it out of his arm.
“No!” the doctor cried.
Apep narrowed his eyes on the doctor. “What kind of vitamins?” he asked.
He held out his hand and the vial the doctor had used floated out of the bag and into his palm. He read the label. Succinylcholine.
“This isn’t vitamins,” Apep said dangerously. “This is poison. You were going to poison me.”
“N-no I wasn’t!”
“You were!” Apep laughed. “I didn’t think you had it in you. And here I thought you were just a sniveling little cowardly, good for nothing human. Of course, I can’t possibly trust you, but I do admire you for having big brass hanging balls. Throw him out too!”
Apep used the power of his mind to bash the doctor against the wall, the floor, the ceiling, and then the wall again. Spots of red splattered against the surfaces, and finally Apep released the doctor and his broken body crumpled to the ground.
“Well? Go on! Do it!” Apep roared at the Templar minions who stood frozen in place. Then one of them went to fetch the doctor’s body while the other carried the baby out of the room.
Filomena, the Templar woman who held the baby in her arms, felt her heart pound and her stomach turned sick. The baby was screaming and crying, but it was so small and wrinkled and helpless. How could anyone wish harm on an innocent little baby? She hadn’t signed up for this. Not for any of it. Their mistress had clearly gone out of her mind. Kamen, their mistress’s most beloved pet, had disappeared and ever since that day she had not been the same. She had changed in appearance, her size and stature having enlarged considerably. Ever since then the woman who had once been cruel alone had become vicious and intractable. Nothing seemed to please her, and when she was displeased she usually ended up killing something. Or someone. Usually someone. No matter how hard they struggled to serve her, it was never enough. A life could be forfeit just because the wind blew the wrong way in that moment.
No. It was not what she had signed up for and there were many who felt the same way. Only they were too frightened to do anything about it. Odjit had caught Templars trying to defect in the past and had made examples of them. Oh, she had not caught all of them. Some had escaped unscathed. Most since the pregnancy had grown heaviest on her; almost as though her power had waned the more she had quickened with the child. Filomena had been too afraid to try escape before this, not willing to risk her life.
But to obey her mistress now meant she would have to kill this baby.
If there was ever a time to escape, now would be it. But she would have to leave right that very instant, no packing of her belongings, nothing of the kind. Her heart pounded with fear. Fear for herself and, mostly, fear for the life of this child.
“I…I’m going to dispose of this baby in a dumpster in the heart of the human town not far from here. That way no one will find the body here and call it i
nto question,” she said.
It was lame and it made no sense but it was all she could think of.
“Make sure you break its neck first before you leave it,” her male counterpart said as he hefted the weight of the dead, slightly obese doctor. “We don’t need some human finding it and getting all sentimental over it. If the mistress wants it dead it better be dead. And you know she’ll know.”
“Of course! Do I look stupid to you?” she snapped.
“Just do it!” the Templar huffed and puffed under the weight of his burden.
Filomena hurried away and headed straight to her room. She hastened to put only the smallest bag together in as quick a manner as she could, then she looked up the location she wanted on a map.
Without another thought she stepped into a streak.
—
Viève felt like she was hiding out in her room.
She didn’t mean to, she was just afraid to go out and face the possibility of running into Felix.
Okay, so she did mean to. But she had to stop. Other Wraiths would be coming soon and they’d all have bad things to say about her. The only way she could countermand those bad things was to go out into the house and prove to everyone that she had some kind of value. Besides, she wanted to keep an eye on Felix and any other Wraiths that came. She didn’t trust them at all.
She finished putting on her makeup and looked in the bathroom mirror. She wasn’t going to do this. She wasn’t going to hide.
She touched a pinky to her frosted pink lip at the corner, tidying up her lipstick. Satisfied with the way she looked she checked her braid to make sure her hair was all tightly bound within. If they played capture the flag today she wanted to be able to move without her hair getting in her way.
She turned away from the mirror and taking a deep breath she left the bedroom. She headed down the stairs looking for Kamen. He had woken up earlier than she had and been gone before she’d even opened her eyes.
She probably should have checked Marissa and Jackson’s room. Maybe the Shadowdweller was still there and he had gone to heal him some more.
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