Bianca De Lumière : High Suspense Urban Fantasy Romance (The Re'em Prophecy Book 1)

by Lisette Prendé

  “So they killed him out of revenge?”

  He nodded. “When you were born Re’em, your father knew that if the Skadhavar ever learned of your existence, your whereabouts, it would put you in great danger. He had to keep you secret. Keep you safe.”

  Sunder took a sip of tea. “Like you, Lars liked to run. He lived as a human but still felt the need to shift and run in his true form. Living so close to the vortex made this easier; he could slip into our realm, run wild and free as a centaur without fear of being seen by humans. We believe it was on one of these excursions that he came into contact with the Skadhavar.”

  My mother had said he’d returned home after a run looking terrified. Running into the Skadhavar could have that effect.

  “He made contact with the herd, explained that he had to return, that he feared he had led the Skadhavar right to you. We arranged a meeting point.” Sunder swallowed. “He never arrived.”

  My eyes felt hot. I had no memory of my father, but hearing how he’d been taken from me filled me with sadness. I longed for the memories I never got to make.

  Steam swirled up from my teacup like a tiny tornado. “Sunder, I haven’t told her yet. My mom. That he’s dead. I tried earlier, but I couldn’t do it. It will kill her.”

  “Veronica has never given up hope that Lars will return someday. I believe that hope kept her going, but it also hurt her.”

  I knew what he meant. My mom has always been beautiful; she has a sweet smile and kind eyes. But never once in my life has she ever been on a date. She’s always been waiting. Hoping. But hope can burn you out.

  Sunder swallowed his last sip of tea. “I’m sure, Bianca, that you will find a way to tell her when the time is right.”

  He cleared his throat. “But enough talking about the Skadhavar. What we should be doing is teaching you how to kill them.” He clapped his hands together. “Let’s train!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sunder sat crossed-legged on the carpet and patted the floor in front of him. “It helps if we are in a meditative position. It allows the energy lines to flow.”

  “Right.” I sat down in front of him.

  “Closer,” he said, “so our knees are touching.” He placed his hands on my legs and drew me closer. My heart flipped into my stomach as I slid towards him until my knee caps pressed against his. Warmth emanated from his body.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s close our eyes and go from there.”

  “Just close them?”

  He nodded. “Wait, your hands…” He took my hand in his. My chest tightened at his touch. “Are best like this.” He placed my hand on my leg palm up, closing it so that my thumb met my index finger, then he did the same with the other hand. “Energy lines,” he said with a smile.

  I took a breath and closed my eyes. Behind my eyelids, I saw nothing but fuzzy darkness. I took another breath. Now what? What exactly was the aim of this game? Then I heard it.

  “Bianca,” came his voice inside my head. It was faint, as if he were meters from me. Slowly, out of the fuzziness, an image emerged. Still blurry but unmistakable. A forest clearing, a figure coming towards me. A man with the body of a horse.

  “Bianca,” Sunder said, coming to a stop in front of me. “Take a step forward.”

  As I did, the image around me grew sharper and more lucid. There I was, standing in front of Sunder the centaur, in a forest clearing.

  “Well done!” he said, grinning. “It takes most people months to do what you’ve just done in minutes.”

  “What exactly did I just do?” I looked around. “Where are we?” Overhead, the sky was an icy blue. The same color as his aura.

  “You’ve just stepped inside my auric plane. My conscious space, you could say.”

  “Wow,” I muttered. “So that’s why you’re a centaur here?”

  He nodded. “And that’s why you’re a Re’em.”

  “I’m not…” I looked down. Sure enough, I was a unicorn. My pale hooves stood firm upon the grass. “Oh, I guess I am.”

  Sunder chuckled, then went on. “Now Bianca, why do you think you are here?”

  “Um…to learn how to kill the Skadhavar?”

  “Yes, but why didn’t I simply ask you to blast me with your white light in your living room?”

  “We might wake my mom?”

  He laughed again. “No. I have brought you into my auric plane for two reasons. Firstly, here, we have access to all my knowledge of the Skadhavar. And secondly, so that you don’t kick my ass!” He smiled. “The fact that you managed to bring a bully to her knees and fight off three Skadhavar implies that your powers are already strong. You could cause me great harm by accident.”

  “Wouldn’t it be more dangerous to train here? Couldn’t I like, damage your aura and leave you brain dead or whatever?”

  “No,” he replied. “Because I have welcomed you in, I have the most control here. I say what goes. See?”

  My hair blew across my face. I looked down again. In place of hooves stood my sneaker-shod feet. “You changed me? How?”

  “I think it, it happens.”

  “What if I think it?”

  “Try.”

  I used all my energy to think myself back into my unicorn form. I thought it, I visualized it, but no matter what, my human, denim-clad legs remained. Something was fighting my thoughts.

  “See?” he said. “If there’s a conflict of opinions here, I win. Every time.” Sunder trotted around in front of me, his hooves thudding softly upon the grass. “Right,” he said. “You know Skadhavar make a sound as they approach. What else?”

  I cast my mind back to earlier, in the forest. I remembered the blissful peace. Feeling the vibrations of nature all around me. Then cold. A sickly hollow place. A black hole where nothing lived. “The aura of the forest changed.”

  Sunder smiled. “Yes. So you know what their presence feels like, as well as the sound of their call. This means you’ll have warning, which gives you an advantage. Remember that,” he said. “Knowing it will give you confidence. Another thing to note is that Skadhavar hunt by sensing the aura of their prey. So while they may not see you, they know you’re there.”

  I smiled in understanding but the thought gave me chills. No matter where I hid, the Skadhavar could find me.

  Sunder took three large steps away from me then turned to face me again. “Okay,” he said. “Hit me.”

  “Hit you?”

  “Focus your energy. Like you did at school with Sheena. Like you did in the forest today, and hit me.”

  “Okay.” I took in a tug of air. I directed my gaze at him and focused my mind. I tried to summon the rage I’d felt in the hall with Sheena; the perfect recipe of hurt and anger. I stared at his icy blue eyes. His lips were pursed in a delicate smile. I sighed. I didn’t want to hurt him. I wanted to kiss him. I let out a small groan of frustration. “I can’t focus!”

  “Yes you can,” he said. “Find the fury. Search it out. Use it.”

  I tried again.

  “Hey Snow White!”

  “You look like a Snowman!”

  “Do you have to wear sunglasses when you change clothes? So you don’t blind yourself?”

  I remembered Camp White Fern.

  “This is a camp for albino kids! Not a camp for freeloaders.”

  I remembered Sheena. Eighth grade. The time she stuck a giant maxi-pad to the back of my school bag. The worst part was that she’d colored it in with a red magic marker. I’d walked around the school all lunchtime followed by hoots of laughter and insults.

  “You on the rag, freak show?”

  “I’d have thought you bled blue or something!”

  Finally, Fae discovered it and peeled it off for me.

  Anger burned in my stomach. Sheena. She’d tortured me for years. And she’d enjoyed it. I pushed
the anger into a ball of rage. My vision started to blanch. I breathed into my stomach, tense with fury, and I pushed. I pushed it with all my force, straight towards Sunder.

  I gazed at his blue eyes, his strong muscular torso, his powerful equine body. The ball of white-hot fury melted. I couldn’t do it. My mind would not let me hurt him, or even try to. “Argh!” I groaned. “I can’t do it! Not to you!” I folded my arms in front of me in frustration. I didn’t want to disappoint him. But I also didn’t want to hurt him.

  Sunder smiled. “Just as I suspected.”

  “Suspected?”

  “You are a pure one, Bianca. The Re’em rarely attack without fear for their own life or the lives of others.”

  “So you knew I wasn’t going to be able to attack you?”

  “I suspected. But as you are the first and only Re’em I have ever met, I could not have known anything. And remember, we are inside my auric plane. There’s a chance my subconscious is blocking your attack. Protecting me.”

  I narrowed my eyes. I felt like his guinea pig. “Okay,” I said, dryly. “So how are we going to train if I can’t even attack you?”

  Sunder placed two fingers on his temple and closed his eyes.

  A gust of wind blew through my hair. With it came a shrill whistle; a high-pitched howl. I shuddered.

  Sunder’s eyes opened again slowly. “Now you have someone to train with,” he said, smiling wide.

  A large shape flew from the trees and dashed towards us. My heart flew into my gut; I wasn’t expecting this. My legs ached to run, but I couldn’t leave Sunder there. The point wasn’t to flee but to stand and fight. I dug my feet into the ground and held tight, fighting my body’s flight response. My skin prickled all over. I felt myself growing taller and stronger. I looked down and sure enough, my form had changed. Gone were my human feet. In their place, hooves.

  The Skadhavar slowed as it neared us, baring its ugly teeth, black slime dripping from its mouth, releasing a putrid stench. It was as I remembered: Thin and emaciated, bones jutting out of its decaying dark flesh, raw wounds in patches across its body. And the hooves splayed like claws.

  “Now, Bianca! Focus!” boomed Sunder over the snarls and spits of the Skadhavar.

  I steadied my mind and focused again on the feelings of rage. I summoned the memories: Sheena. The laughter and taunts. The unnecessary hate that had been lumbered upon me, just for being different. The snarling beast in front of me had taken my father from me. That beast, if I let it, would turn everyone I cared about into an evil being like itself.

  The hot ball of rage grew; I tasted the heat of it on my tongue. My teeth clenched in anger and I pushed. I pushed the hate and loathing and pain away from me. My eyes flickered with white reflective light and still, I pushed. I crouched, standing strong on my four legs. I tilted my head and with all my might, I pushed it all back. The loneliness. The pity. Never going to parties. Being last picked for gym class despite being a good runner. The sniggers and the lovelessness. The first kiss I’d never have. The life I’d live alone. The rage roared in my ears. My eyes filled with pale blindness. There was a hiss and a shriek as the light burned around me. A wailing croon filled my ears; the beast was down.

  That’s when I ran. Without warning I found myself galloping at speed. But not away from the fray as I would have expected, towards it. With my head bowed and my horn extended, I ran towards the dark crumpled shape on the grass. I hit with a sticky thud against the creature’s torso. As my horn slid inside its body, the Skadhavar released a screeching cry. The darkness slipped away. The hole the creature had created in the aura of the forest closed. Life flooded back in.

  The gruesome wail of the Skadhavar subsided, giving way to a gentle sob. I looked down to see a girl not much older than me. She lay on the forest floor, thin and emaciated. Her skin scabbed, her hair covered with dirt.

  “Thank you,” she managed, then closed her eyes and lay like a stone upon the grass. As her last breath left her ruined body, she turned to dust.

  My eyes snapped open. My chest heaved in a gulp of air. I was still sitting in my living room, Sunder across from me. He opened his eyes, his blue irises staring into mine.

  “Fantastic,” Sunder whispered. “What you have just managed to do would take one of my kind months, if not years, to achieve.”

  His praise was lost on me. All I could think of was the girl I’d seen on the forest floor. The way she’d emerged from the dead beast. “I, I didn’t realize,” I managed. “The Skadhavar were all people once.”

  Sunder’s face hardened. “In the loosest sense of the word, yes. Not simply human people, but many beings from many worlds.” He sighed. “And if we are not careful, human beings will be next.”

  I chewed my bottom lip for a moment, still very aware of Sunder’s knees pressed against mine. “Where did they come from?” I asked. “The Skadhavar. How did they begin?”

  Sunder exhaled. “In the other realm, there are many dark creatures. Many more than just the Skadhavar. Dark magic is outlawed but still practiced in secret. When a dark witch or wizard is discovered they are outlawed. Exiled. They are sent away to live in the dark lands. In these lands, we are told, the first Skadhavar were created by their Master, many, many years ago.”

  “So they have spread, like a virus?”

  “Yes. A virus that can only be defeated by extermination. There is no cure. The only way to free the beings trapped inside the creatures is by death. There are other methods, other theories, but death is the only proven method to date.”

  “So we need to destroy them before they can infect any others?”

  “Yes,” Sunder said. “And you Bianca, you have the ability to do that. What you’ve just done proves that. I am confident that you can stop them. Only you.”

  I felt a weight of responsibility rest upon my shoulders. It was up to me. I was the only one who had the power to kill the Skadhavar before they penetrated the human world. Before they managed to infect the human race. I swallowed.

  “Let’s go again.” I laid my palms upwards again and closed my eyes.

  “Bianca, we’re done enough for tonight. This training is complex. While I am astounded at your abilities, I do not yet know your limits. I do not want to use up your energy.”

  “Sunder!” I snapped. “We have to keep working. We don’t have time to be cautious.”

  He stared at me for a moment, his aura twirling in contemplation. He blew out a sigh. “All right. But let’s try something different. This time you will let me into your auric plane.”

  “Okay. How?”

  “We will start much the same, but this time I want you to focus on your aura. See its color, feel its texture. Really focus on it until you feel it all around you.” A smile formed on his lips. “I trust you will be able to do it with no trouble.”

  I shrugged. “I’ll try.”

  I closed my eyes and released a long breath. Again, I was aware of my knees pressed against Sunder’s. His warmth melted into me, traveling up my thighs. I pushed the longing out of my mind with another deep breath, turning my focus to my aura.

  Behind my eyelids, a glowing white light began to shine. It shimmered and rippled like a sheet of silver satin. I reached out to stroke it but my fingers slipped through it as if it were smoke. I tried again. My hands and then my arms disappeared through the shimmering curtain of light. I stepped forward, closing my eyes as it caressed my face, feeling it tickle the nape of my neck. I opened my eyes to see the white smoke giving way to images of green.

  The scene cleared. I was standing in the forest like I had in Sunder’s aura. But this time it felt different. The air around me caressed my skin. The sweet floral aroma of lavender and rosemary tickled my nose. Birdsong filled my ears. I looked up to see a flock of parrots, with bright rainbow plumage, chortling in the tree above me. I smiled. “Sunder?” I called into the trees.


  “Bianca, over here!” he called.

  I started walking along the tree line, trying to locate his blue aura. There he was, standing under a tall pine. His image was blurred. How did I see him? As centaur or a man? A man, definitely a man. As my mind decided, his image strengthened.

  “Welcome to my aura!” I laughed and walked up to meet him. “Have you seen the parrots? I bet you’re wishing you’d had parrots in yours now, huh?”

  Sunder smiled and shook his head slowly. “Bianca,” he said. “This is incredible! Your skill blows me away.”

  Without warning, I threw my arms around him in a hug. I tried to stop myself but it was too late; my mind had already decided.

  Sunder hugged me back. “At this rate, the Skadhavar won’t stand a chance!”

  I could feel his arms around me. His warm cheek brushed against mine.

  My heart rate quickened. Slowly we released each other. I caught his gaze. His ice-blue eyes peered into mine; even in my aura, they were majestic.

  Sunder spoke. “Bianca I—”

  But his words were silenced by my lips, wet and soft against his. He kissed me back, his hands in my hair. I pressed myself against him. I needed him. All of him. A fire raged inside me. I kissed him harder, running my hands across his back and his bare chest. I looked down with a gasp. We were both topless. My mind was moving too fast!

  “Bianca,” Sunder panted. “I can’t fight this. I’m in your aura, it’s too hard for me to fight this.” He pulled me towards him and kissed me firmly.

  My eyes snapped open and I stared straight into Sunder’s shocked face. My heart thumped in my chest and my cheeks burned.

  I jumped to my feet. “Oh my god! I…” But I had no idea what to say, so I ran away.

  I ran to my room as fast as I could, shut the door behind me, dove onto my bed, and buried my face in the pillows. I was never leaving that room again. Ever. And I was never, ever going to be able to see Sunder again either. I would spend the rest of my life in my room dying of embarrassment until the Skadhavar came to finish me off.