Well, um, I don't know if Viktor told you how we met ..." Pareios shook his head, his expression smooth and expressionless. "But you know that I worked with the Hegedunen for a while ..." She bit her lower lip, that was bad enough, unfortunately it wasn't all. She had to think twice about where to start in order to explain her motives at the time, then she decided to start over.
“Well, it wasn't always like this ... I was born in 1789 near Oberhaid in Bohemia. My sister Eliodora was born a year and a half after me. Like my mother, I was an Elevender, my father and my sister weren't gifted, but I only found out about all of this much later. ”She hesitated, but only briefly. She had jumped and now she couldn't go back.
“I don't think my parents expected to have children at all, especially not two!” In retrospect, she had often wondered that her parents had won the lottery twice, and in all likelihood it was possible convert to 'struck four times b
From then on he visited me more and more often and at some point he showed me his gift and revealed to me that I also had one, that I was different from the others, something special!" She paused for a moment. Bitterness filled her throat and spread like acid on her taste buds. “This thought naturally fell on fertile ground with me, the whole time I felt like I was in a prison and felt under-challenged. And I knew deep down that he was right. That there was something powerful slumbering inside of me, I just had never known what it was, but at that moment I was able to make the connection.And then he asked me to go with him! "It had been a dark night. Once again she had met Orcus on the gallery of the chapel and had given herself to him. He had never been particularly gentle with her, had always taken whatever he wanted from her, but at that time it seemed like a forbidden fruit in her chastened existence that she had only too gladly tasted.
DEAD !!!" Eliodora shouted, completely beside herself. "And you are just as to blame as he is!" She spat on the covers in front of Aurelia. “I've been looking for you for so long and planning my revenge and now the night has come! He's going to pay Aurelia, I want to see him bleed! ”Elli whispered with a wild, determined intensity and pulled the cock at the rear end of the weapon backwards. With a soft click she cocked the firing pin, the gun was ready to fire.All of a sudden, Aurelia felt angry. It shot through her veins like a wildfire and inflamed her muscles, putting her on alert. At that moment the monster came to life inside her. It struck its claws in her heart and soul, took hold of her and directed her thoughts and limbs. It raged inside her when she saw Orcus' life threatened. The dreamy amorousness, almost obsession, that she felt for him, screamed to protect him, to risk everything, to do everything just so that he survived. Together with the monster,
Pareios' tight grip brought her back to reality. He held her on his lap, a few inches away, and shook her lightly. His bright, concerned look fixed on Aurelia's face.“Aurelia, come on, what's wrong? Are you all right? ”His voice cracked and his hands now grabbed her face, ran over her cold sweat-covered forehead and tear-stained cheeks.“Take a deep breath, Aurelia! It's okay! ”He said soothingly. Aurelia followed his command dazedly, gasping for oxygen to relieve her stinging lungs!Again she pulled Pareios into a loving, gentle embrace and rocked her comfortingly to and fro. His warmth enveloped her like a radiant blanket in the darkness in which she had felt so lost. It had been terrible to confess all this to him, to reveal who she really was and what she had done, that she was living with a debt that she could never make up for. But now that it was out she felt almost relieved. A burden that had lain on her soul for so long, h
Even after he had put his shirt back on and they walked hand in hand back to the clearing where they had left Evrill, Jesper and the car, she could feel Pareios' arms around her. They talked little as they walked through the Dark Forest, but that wasn't necessary, right now nothing more had to be said between them. They were aware of each other's feelings, sharing them with the light touch of their hands or when they looked each other in the eye from time to time. Aurelia didn't feel the slightest remorse and he didn't show any signs of regret either. The three magical words that had fallen between them had created a bond that stretched invisibly between them and held them together. She just enjoyed the perfection of those last minutes before the stormy and uncertain tide that rushed down the path that lay before them had her again. Until the last moment before they entered the clearing, she concentrated fully on the man next to her, sensed his reliable heartbeat and observed his ve
After everything Svenssen said and thought and what was in the files from the laboratory, the second address is definitely a laboratory or a research facility."Evrill had hardly found anything on the owner of the building. It was a mailbox company based on the Camen Islands, no contact details, but a numbered account."Maybe we should stop by tonight and have a look around." Pareios finished his suggestion and looked at her expectantly. She played through her options for a moment, but then had to admit that it might not be a bad idea. Asking Aiden to hack into the Hegedun system and look for information about the mysterious address there was very tempting, but to deliver all these facts to Markus' doorstep put them off. Lately they had had to struggle more and more often without their usual aids and if they only looked around for a moment, it might not be necessary to involve the others. She agreed. It wasn't that they had many other options, and the sooner they
They crept quietly down the street, looking at the rows of houses. You were in an industrial area. Several large manufacturing halls stretched left and right of them, but the house they were headed for appeared to be one of the few administrative buildings. At least it didn't look like a warehouse. But there were no windows on either the first or first floor. Only further up were small, slit-like openings in the thick-looking wall.The area around it was fenced in and she could see cameras on the individual iron struts, but they didn't move, they seemed to be switched off. Lanterns were lit on the street but the building itself and the outside area were not lit. Otherwise the area was deserted, had it not been in the middle of the city, she would have expected a hay bale rolling through the picture.Slowly they circled the area, scurrying from house shade to house shade to hide from any observers and were looking for a way into the building. Even the fence was a proble
The cold horror clung to both of them like tar and accompanied them all the way back through the building. They had checked every horrible room and found no human soul, but instead a lot of atrocities that probably not even their worst dreams could have imagined.Who was capable of such a thing?When they were almost back in the entrance area, Aurelia was mainly preoccupied with the question of why they hadn't met anyone when all the access routes had been open. In the end, it could only mean they just missed the final cleanup by the time they circled the building. But most of it must have been done by now, they hadn't spent so much time on the other side as that they'd missed an entire motorcade. There was no vehicle in front of the house when they snuck up on it earlier.But when they stepped onto the sandy forecourt, she found that she was wrong.To their left a ramp had come out of the earth and now took up half the space up to the fence
At least we were on the right track!" Pareios pointed out as they climbed a metal ladder together that was attached to the back wall of a warehouse. They didn't know where to go until Evrill would reappear and had decided to wait on the roof of one of the industrial buildings, from where they would have a good view of the area in case something should still move."That really comforts me now!" Replied Aurelia ironically and swung her leg over the edge of the roof to pull herself up. Again everything didn't go as she had imagined and she couldn't deny that it was her own fault this time. After all, it was she who decided that Evrill should stay in the car and draw. But she had said 'draw', not 'chase down'!They stepped onto the elongated flat roof and sat down by a shaft at the edge of the roof, where they could lean on their backs and at the same time keep an eye on the street below.“So far, Evrill has turned out to be a clever mind. I'm trying rig
Dareon sprinted out of his room. As he walked, he tied the bow tie that went with the black tuxedo. He often wore suits when he went on his nightly jaunts and in his long life he had worn every kind of fine thread. Until yesterday he would have said nothing could surprise him anymore. But then Cat showed up and taught him otherwise.It had struck like a comet, into his halfway orderly world and now he had to grapple with unsettling thoughts. About the way she looked at him. How did her skin feel and how comfortable her lips?He hated the way he reacted to her and he wanted to just get in his car and sneak away. But what he said this afternoon was true. He wanted to fix what he had screwed up. And his sudden obsession with this woman had absolutely nothing to do with it!Determined to get tonight off the stage professionally, he turned the corner and reached the stairs to the foyer. His gaze fell on the assembled crew at his feet. Most were wrapped in the dark le
The swinging double door slammed shut and they were alone.Her heart pounded from the unexpected contact with him when he had freed her from Christian's grip. She could still feel the warmth of his body on her back, the firm arm around her stomach, the breath that had brushed her hair. She hadn't been able to classify his reaction and was paralyzed.She stood still now, too, but for a different reason than before. Though she was really determined to act confident, she just wasn't. She wasn't really afraid of Dareon, but the angry look that surrounded him earned her a good deal of respect. Like trying to get close to a cobra. Better not to make sudden movements.Dareon had his broad back to her and was staring at the door as well. Her eyes stayed on her strong shoulders, her fingers tingled. She wanted so much to touch him. But when he turned to her, he looked so upset that she decided to postpone the fulfillment of this wish. She nervously pushed back her hair,
A little later, Cat was on the way to Ceiling. Xandra and Blaise were also in the car, the former driving.“What's going on between you two? Did something happen today at noon? ”Xandra asked after a while of quiet harmony. Much to Cat's chagrin, there was no need to discuss who 'you two' were. Dareon's behavior in Ferroc's office had been conspicuous enough, and apparently Cat's quick approval of the deal confirmed Xandra's suspicions. Since she already knew that Cat was into the guy, she hardly had to add one and one together."I'd like to know that too ...", Cat only mumbled and that was the truth. She had no clue what was going on in the object of her desire. Why he'd acted like that and then treated her so dismissively. "Dareon behaved quite ... inconsistently ... I can't figure him out.""So there was more to it than his rejection?" "Slightly."Blaise appeared between the two front se
"And what did he say?"Cat had barely stepped off the elevator on the third floor when Xandra was already attacking her. Less enthusiastic, she reported without going into details, only that Dareon had refused. Especially the fuck off she left out.An arm came comfortingly around her shoulders. “Oh, that'll be fine. Give me a little time and I'll find someone else who can help you. I promise you, I won't leave you alone with this. "Cat looked into the sincere eyes and she almost came to tears. She couldn't believe that an almost stranger wanted to stand up for her like that. Besides, the idea of honing her gift with someone else didn't make her particularly happy. It should be Dareon. She couldn't get him out of her head and the need for his presence hadn't subsided despite his rejection."No. I'm ... just doing it with him ... "she mumbled to herself, lost in thought, while she thought of the pressure of his hands on her waist. The Elevender at he
Dareon stood in front of a group of Elevender and tried to bring them closer to the benefits of close combat. He had put the people in pairs and was now watching them repeat the exercise he had shown them. It was about contact, because one of the basic rules of this technique was: Once you are close enough to the opponent that he can hit you, you have to forestall him. Therefore, he trained his students to seize control of the fight at this moment, to internalize the techniques in such a way that they forced their will on the opponent from this point on. He was not allowed to play again. At least that was the ideal. Of course it would be a while before his students were ready and he would teach them many other things that could save them from sticky situations.But for today he ended the lesson. He wasn't happy with the results they'd gotten, but wasn't sure if it was due to the ineptitude of his students, or maybe more to his miserable mood.More and more Elevenders h
The next morning came too fast for Cat's liking. The rays of the summer sun cheated through the gaps between the curtains that she had drawn up the night before. One of the bright spots of light finally blinded her when the golden ball in the sky had moved a little further, which put an end to her cozy doze. Sighing, she heaved herself out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom to freshen up. In the morning she slept for a long time and could also get a bit bitchy. She took her time and put on makeup again, as she used to wear with her goth look. She found the mascara and cajal she needed behind the mirror over the designer washbasin.In this way she regained a bit of her identity, which had been taken from her again yesterday. She wistfully wished for dark clothes, but then, resignedly, pulled on the forest green sweatshirt dress. It was long, but the length seemed fine. The hem came up just below her knees. She didn't even want to try the jeans, she would have needed a belt
After an hour in this tiny office, he couldn't take it anymore.Hard to believe, but the room was really losing size. The walls seemed to get closer and closer, it got darker and darker. But maybe the latter was just his eyesight. When a panic attack loomed, he got tunnel vision that was announced by a dark and blurred field of vision. The other signs of it were also raised. His neck felt like an elephant was sitting on it, and his hands and feet went numb. He figured he had about fifteen minutes before snogging the carpet. All the emotions in the room made him dizzy, he had to swallow hard as his stomach rebelled.Roman's inner fear billowed through Slater, his subliminal agony crashing against him like waves in the ocean. They tugged on him and he had to put both legs firmly into the ground to brave the onslaught. If Roman was around, it was worse. Then every smallest nuance of the Puerto Rican's emotional world spilled over to him and the more intensely the other fe
Cat looked around the large room. If that was a hotel, it was probably five stars or something. She was standing right next to the entrance and to the right of her was the bathroom. Then the small hallway opened and widened into a huge room, the sand-colored walls of which were lit by soft skylights. The opposite front of the room was almost completely taken up by a frameless window, only the balcony door at the left end had room.The bed stood with the headboard on the right side, the wall behind it was covered with upholstered fabric in a pale gold tone. Two magnificent reading lamps hung down from above and enabled the separate lighting of both beds in the seductively comfortable double bed.Cat walked over and dropped into the chocolate-brown blankets. She landed face first on heavenly scented, soft pillows. A real boon after she hadn't slept or allowed herself to relax for a while. The exhaustion was not only physical but also mental and left her no peace even now
Xandra granted the young woman's wish. She had thought Catlynn Campbell was a fragile, withered branch, but today the young woman had shown amazing strength. After that day that would have blown even the toughest cop, she was still standing upright in Ferroc's office. Although she looked tired and had dark circles down to the back of her knees, her long, thick hair was tousled, the expression on her face was determined. The hand that held out the glass to Xandra did not tremble.After handing out vodka again to everyone involved and each taking a sip, Xandra decided to speak."Listen, Cat. You don't have to decide now whether you want to believe us. You can rest and maybe stay for a while while we try to get to the bottom of your gift. You can move around freely and watch Blackridge and how we live in peace. ""We have more than enough space!" Agreed Ferroc.Cat looked around, then gave them both a quick look. Finally she took a deep breath and nodded. "O