Immortals of Indriell- The Collection

by Melissa A. Craven

  “I was adopted. I’m no natural born.” But the vague memories and dreams that tormented her sleep were proof that what he said was true. What had Marcus robbed her of? What might her life have been like if he’d never taken her from her … family?

  “You remember a woman with hair like mine, don’t you? You said it the moment you laid eyes on me in that warehouse last year when I was the one behind bars. I remember her too, just vaguely.”

  “The necklace … let me see it,” Livia demanded.

  Allie tugged a chain from under her coat and held it in the light.

  Livia did the same, removing a long chain tucked under her jacket. The pendants were nearly identical. The serpentine figure around Livia’s necklace was more clearly an ouroboros than Allie’s, but the pendants were eerily similar. And eerily like the Soma brand, except the serpent curved into a figure eight rather than a circle.

  Allie’s mortal mother, Lily, had given Livia the necklace when she’d visited her in New Zealand more than eighteen months ago. Along with a story that didn’t seem quite right. That trip was the catalyst that started all of this—Livia’s obsession with Allie.

  Livia hadn’t discovered the answers she sought that day, only more questions. Questions that led her back to Allie again a year later.

  “It makes no difference.” Livia lifted her chin. She couldn’t let these people see how shaken she was. “I was raised by the man I call father. That is all that matters.” Livia turned her back to them. She couldn’t look into Allie’s eyes for another second. She was too ashamed of all she had done. There was no way this girl could ever understand that Livia did it all to keep her mother safe.

  Do I really have a sister? A little sister that needs more protection than she realizes?

  “I don’t know you. I don’t know who you work for. I don’t know anything about you, but you’re my sister,” Allie said.

  Livia closed her eyes, swallowing back her emotions just as she’d been taught all her life.

  “She isn’t worth the effort, little one,” the big blond man said. He was right.

  “She’s my sister,” Allie insisted.

  “You saw what she did to Ming and Jin?” he said.

  Livia wished she could take it back. Her gift was an abomination, but it was the thing Marcus loved most about her—her ability to sever the Complement bond. It made her physically ill every time she used it. Taking a life that way … ruining another life at the same time … it was unbearable.

  “She broke their Complement bond. And to make it even more unnecessarily tragic, she murdered Ming Lao in front of their daughter.”

  “To be fair, I was aiming for the other one.” Livia whirled around, masking her fear with defiance. “It’s usually easier for the woman to survive without her Complement, especially when she has natural children. I was trying to be nice.” Livia let as much venom and sarcasm into her voice as she could.

  Allie’s eyes crackled with green fire and rage, her fists clenching at her sides like she wanted to wrap her hands around Livia’s throat.

  “Little sister.” Livia sneered. “What a joke. I’ll get out of this hellhole of yours and, so help me, I will take you with me. I’ll break you just like I did your buddy Quinn. I’ll wear your gifts like a cloak and then I’ll hand you over to my father. He’s been looking for you for thousands of years.”

  The hurt on the girl’s face told Livia she’d won. She didn’t need Allie thinking they could be real sisters. It wouldn’t be safe for her.

  “That’s enough for tonight,” Gregg said.

  “What will you do with her?” Allie asked as she turned to leave.

  “She will be treated kindly, but we can’t let her go. Not yet.”

  “I-I’ll come see you again,” Allie said.

  Please don’t. I don’t think I can bear it. She couldn’t bear the hope surging within her. Hope that she could ever actually have a family of her own.

  “Don’t bother. Go live your little charmed life and forget about me.”

  Allie whirled around with a look that could make the ground quiver, and marched right up to the magnetized bars like they didn’t faze her. “I don’t know anything about what you’ve been through, Livia. But you don’t know shit about me and what I’ve been through either. You and I can be enemies, or we can learn to work together, filling in the gaps for each other. There’s a lot I could tell you about our parents. It’s up to you which way this will go. You can bend or you can break, but something tells me you’re too strong and too smart to break. I know I am.”

  With that, her little sister turned and left.

  Livia watched her go, feeling a sense of pride for the sister she’d never known. Marcus would come for Livia, and when he found Allie, he would discover what he’d been looking for since the moment he’d discovered that damned prophecy.

  I have to protect her from him. And Livia knew the best way to do that was to get as far away from the girl as she possibly could.

  ~~~

  “Would you just go, Allie?” Livia paced across her cell, trying not to let the girl get under her skin any more than she already had. Allie insisted on visiting every day. For the last four months Livia had both dreaded and looked forward to her sister’s visits. She really wanted to hate her—part of her did. But the other part of her saw how special her little sister was. She’s so powerful and so humble about it. Allie reminded her a lot of Lennox. A prime example of how the people Livia cared about always got hurt. If it weren’t for Quinn and Santi taking matters into their own hands, Lennox would be well on her way to her new owners by now. Instead, she had a new family of her own with a full life ahead of her.

  Livia wanted to resent Allie for the life she’d had and the family that loved her. For all the things Livia never had. But there was still so much she didn’t understand. Things her instincts told her she didn’t want to know.

  “If you’ll just listen, I can tell you what I know about our parents. There are things you need to know.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you I don’t want to know?” Livia turned on Allie, her palms itching to use her power, but the magnetized cell left her helpless.

  “You must have so many questions,” Allie insisted.

  “Get out.” Livia pointed to the entrance of her cell. “Before I rip every strand of that ridiculous hair from your head and hang you with it!”

  “Fine! And people say I’m stubborn.” Allie stalked from the room, clanging the bars shut behind her.

  Livia crossed the room to the fully stocked bar and poured herself a drink. Liam had brought in everything she could possibly need, turning the cold prison cell into a richly appointed cave. He treated her well—better than she deserved. She didn’t know what was worse—being held captive against her will after all the years of doing it to other people—or having a kind jailor.

  If she were honest, Livia was relieved to be away from Soma and all of her responsibilities there. This place was quiet and comfortable. In a ridiculous way, she almost felt free. If it weren’t for the separation from her power, she would gladly stay here and rot.

  “She’s just trying to get to know her sister.”

  Livia turned at the sound of a familiar voice.

  “I should have known you’d end up being behind all of this.”

  Livia wasn’t as surprised as she probably should have been to find the last queen of Indriell entering her cell. She’d known Alísun all her life as her father’s most prized captive. For most of that time, she didn’t really understand who the ancient was. She came to realize it in time and hated her father for it. Alísun was regal and powerful. She deserved his respect and admiration.

  “You can’t really blame me for escaping, can you? Now that the tables have turned on you, surely you must understand?” Alísun stood at the center of the room, watching Livia intently. Her long blond hair had faded almost entirely to silver and she’d aged during her years in captivity. The stress of the constant torm
ent took a toll on her. But she was still beautiful, and radiated a strength and vitality Livia couldn’t fathom in one so old. She was a queen to be reckoned with.

  “Of course I understand the desire to escape. It still doesn’t change the fact that I’ve always had a job to do, with no choice but to do it. You were friends with my mother. You know everything I’ve ever done was to keep her safe.”

  “Porcia has always been capable of taking care of herself. She never needed you to do it for her.”

  “She’s also so blinded by her love for my father that she can’t see him for the monster he is.”

  “She sees,” Alísun said as she took a seat on the leather sofa. “But she loves him anyway. And it torments her. That’s why she let me go.”

  “I know.” Livia sighed, taking the seat opposite the queen. “And she’ll take whatever punishment he gives.”

  “You don’t know, do you?” Alísun leaned forward, her silvery gray eyes darkening with the dim glow of her power. No matter how hard Marcus tried to sever her power, the magnetic sickness never took the queen completely. “Porcia and I escaped together. She is no longer under your father’s control. She left him.”

  “What?” Livia shot to her feet. “This whole time? He’s been refusing to let Mother have visitors as punishment for helping you escape.”

  “He’s been lying to you, dear. That should come as no surprise. That’s all Marcus knows how to do.”

  Livia sank back to her seat, her hands shaking with fury.

  “He is a monster. I’m glad she’s rid of him.” But it cut Livia to the core to think her mother had left her behind. “Where is she? Is she here?”

  “She is safe. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “I need to see her.”

  “She needs to disappear for a while. Let Marcus exhaust his attempts to find her. She will come find you when the dust settles.”

  “You mean once you all figure out if I can be trusted?” Livia clenched her fists in frustration.

  “Can you blame us? You are his right hand. We have no idea where your loyalties truly lie. Until we know that for sure, you will have to stay here.”

  “How could you think I would be loyal to him?”

  “Your actions, dear. The way you’ve pursued Allie every chance you’ve had. You knew who she was and you sought to deliver her to your father. We have to take that threat seriously.”

  “That is not what happened.” Livia leaned forward. “You of all people know how much I loathe him.”

  “I want to believe that you’ve only ever done his bidding to keep your mother safe. Trust me, I want to believe that more than anyone,” Alísun said.

  “I didn’t know she was my sister. I only suspected she was the child you spoke of in your prophecy.” Livia glared at her. “I was trying to protect her. To get to her before Marcus realized he was looking for a boy when he should be looking for a girl. If he gets his hands on her.…”

  “Good girl. You figured it out.” Alísun smiled. “I recorded that prophecy myself, back when we used to have scribes for that sort of thing. Changed a few of the details so it wouldn’t be clear without the assistance of the prophet who spoke it.” Alísun stood and crossed the room to pour herself a drink, and refilled Livia’s empty glass. “That’s what your father has been trying to torture out of me for over a thousand years.” Alísun handed Livia a fresh bourbon.

  “And you never cracked.” Livia often wondered how Alísun had survived for as long as she had without succumbing to Marcus’s will. But the ancients had a power the younger generations could never truly understand.

  “Marcus has never had much respect for women. That was one detail I knew he wouldn’t question.” Alísun returned to her seat, knocking back the amber liquid with a grimace. “I knew he would never stop to consider that one of the most powerful and most important Immortals ever born could possibly be a woman.”

  “It’s never crossed his mind.”

  “He must think he’s getting close to tracking down the boy.”

  “He’s been obsessed with him for the last decade,” Livia said.

  “Marcus believes the boy is Greggory’s son, Aidan,” the queen said. “We must continue to let him think that.”

  “The boy will need protection,” Livia said. “Marcus will lose his patience soon and he will act on his suspicions.”

  “Aidan is protected. More than he could possibly realize. His parents have sent him to a school in Germany with a horde of security to guard him. He will not return until it is safe.”

  “And you will provide Allie the same protection?”

  “We will keep them both safe. Safe and separate. The true prophecy speaks of them as one. She is the child born of the Indriell line. She is the key, but Aidan is her equal in every way. He is just as integral to our future as she is. But they are young. They do not need to know everything yet.”

  “So we protect them both?” Livia chewed her bottom lip, thinking it wasn’t enough. If anyone knew the lengths Marcus would go to reach Allie and Aidan, it was Livia. They needed to take every possible precaution. “They should be kept down here, far away from Marcus’s reach.”

  “They deserve to have a childhood. Neither of them has had much of one as it is. We will protect them, but we will also give them a chance at life.”

  “Do you trust me now?” Livia asked.

  “I do.” Alísun nodded.

  “Can I leave this cage?”

  “Not yet. You need to win over our hosts. Talk to Liam. Let him get to know the real you and in time you will be free of this place.”

  “It’s no more than I deserve.” Livia sighed.

  “This is your one and only chance, Livia. This is your chance to make a change and become the kind of woman we all know you are on the inside. It speaks volumes about your character that four of your former slaves have stepped forward to speak on your behalf.”

  “All of them? Even Quinn?”

  “Quinn has been the most adamant in his belief that you can be rehabilitated if only given the chance.”

  Livia didn’t even know what to say to that. The thought that they would all speak for her … after all she’d done to them … it was too much.

  “You know, when Marcus took you from your family … it was a horrible thing to do to a child.” A tear slid down Alísun’s face. “Our children are our greatest joys in our long lives. But I was secretly grateful. He kept you close. Let me see you—my beautiful granddaughter.”

  “No.” Livia sucked in a breath. “That’s not possible.” She squeezed her eyes shut tight, not wanting to believe it. “When you said Allie was born of the Indriell line … I thought you meant in some sort of remote way.”

  “You are blood sisters. My natural granddaughters. Direct descendants of the first queen. Allie is my heir only because she is more powerful than you despite being a second-born child. But do not think for one moment that you are any less important than she is. You will play an important role in future events. You will be her champion. But it is up to you to decide if you will take on that role. You can have a bright future if you learn to shrug off the horrors of your past and leave Marcus behind. He was never your father. Your father loves you. Has thought of you every single day of your life.”

  “No. I don’t want to hear this. It’s time for you to leave.” Livia gestured for the queen to leave. She didn’t want think about what any of this meant.

  “It is time for you to face who your family is, Alivia,” Alísun said softly, reaching across the coffee table for her granddaughter’s hand.

  Livia shook her head. “Do not call me that. Please.” She’d heard echoes of that name in her dreams. Long-forgotten memories that never made any sense to her. Flashes of silvery blond hair like Alísun’s and vivid red hair like Allie’s. Green eyes. Silver eyes—like the ones staring at her now. Memories of the family she’d been torn from.

  “It is your name. It is the name my daughter Kassandre gave you whe
n you were born of her body.”

  “No.” Livia shook her head, fumbling with the cut-glass tumbler in her hand. Anything to avoid the queen’s penetrating gaze. “I didn’t know. I swear,” Livia whispered.

  “We know.” The queen’s voice was full of pain and sympathy.

  “Does Allie know?” Livia finally met her grandmother’s gaze.

  “That your parents are Ashar and Kassandre? Yes, she knows. It’s what she’s been trying to tell you. What you’ve been refusing to see.”

  “No.” Livia dropped her gaze again, tears falling on her hands. “Does she know?”

  “Know what, Alivia? Say it. It will help.”

  Livia lifted her head, tears blurring her vision and burning her throat. “Does my sister know I killed our mother?”

  ~~~

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  Keep reading for Emerge: The Assignment (An Immortals of Indriell Novella)

  She has devoted her life to training with the elite Immortals of Soma.

  For nearly a decade, Tessa St. James has sacrificed her life with her family to live, train and work behind the safety of Sterling Tower, waiting for the day when she will receive her first assignment.

  With Soma at her back, her days of working the Amrita circuit are numbered. As soon as her trainer deems her ready for an assignment, Tess will be one step closer to a world-class career within the Soma agency.