Elina nodded and watched Jane go back to the play yard. She briefly spoke with Danny, who squinted up at the sun for a couple of seconds and then shook his head. Something about the way he looked up caught Elina's attention. She frowned, trying to think what was eluding her. The tilt of his head reminded her of something she'd seen several times since she had been here. It was important . . ."El!" Liv materialized right in front of her, a mischievous smile on her face. She flung her arms around Elina. "I missed you."Elina's breath exploded from her lungs at the sudden sight of the little girl. Liv had endured terrible things in the underground city and that had bonded the two of them. At ten, she was years older than she should have been, her childhood ripped away from her. Elina closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the feeling of love she had for the little girl. To save her life, the ancients had converted her, bringing her wholly into their world, so technically, she shouldn't
"We'll find a way to keep him out," Liv said. "I hear things. I can learn fast. There's a healer coming, and he's supposed to be really good at what he does. And if he doesn't get here fast enough, I can see if Damonq can help."Elina shook her head. "No ancients. They would know.""Then I'll learn," Liv said staunchly. "I know I can learn healing."Elina found herself smiling. "You can learn anything," she agreed. "Thank you, my sweet girl. I appreciate that you want to help me.""I watch them. I always have. I remember everything, so it's easy to follow the patterns they make or say the words they do."A frisson of alarm crept down Elina’s spine. "Baby, you know you can't just go around repeating what they say. Some of their commands are in mysterious language and you don't understand that yet. You can't know what they're saying."Liv shrugged. "I know the results. Trust me, El.”"Honey, really, you can't just say things without knowing what they mean. It can be dangerous." Elina m
Daniel helped Lana onto the blue dragon. It was large and scaly, its tail long and spiked. Lana sat on its back, her knees gripping hard as she leaned forward to whisper into its ear while she patted the long neck.He picked up May next and placed her on the red dragon. Like Lana, she stroked and caressed the stone scales and spikes. Danny wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear. She nodded several times.Elina frowned. Something about his posture, the way his dark jeans looked leaning against the crimson red of the dragon, moved through her mind slowly. Something was there just out of reach, something she needed to catch hold of, but her mind refused to cooperate. The more she tried to grasp the memory, the more it eluded her.The wind rushed through the compound, stirring the leaves on the ground so once again they rose, this time swirling around the dragons and children. Danny leapt on the back of the brown dragon and Amelia the orange one. They mounted them as if
At the sound of Elina’s voice, Damonq found his eyes watering, burning fiercely as a kaleidoscope of colors burst in front of him, exploding into a whirling wheel of vivid brightness that nearly blinded him. Instantly he was sick and disoriented, his balance off. For a moment he thought it was a new weapon the dark one had thought out, and he stopped in mid stride, unable to function."It's too late to bargain now. Had you come to me any of the thousands of times I commanded you, I would have spared them. Not now. Now you need a lesson." The Dark one said to Elina.But she kicked him hard, driving her heel into his shin and following it with an elbow to his ribs. It had to hurt. He held her by her hair, but she didn't stop. "I won't let you," she bit out, still fighting.The words were like a dagger piercing right through Damonq’s soul, slicing it open so all the inky darkness poured out. At the same time, brilliant light rushed in, leaving him shattered. Emotions whirled through his
The monster shrieked his fury as the spikes opened his flesh and droplets of acid blood leaked out. He lunged toward the child, as if the dragon hitting him was her fault. Darkness had told Elina he would kill all five children and his servants wouldn't stop until his order was carried out. Damonq reached the child just as the two monsters simultaneously attacked her, coming in from either side of the dragon. The big beast swung its neck around, the wedged head rushing straight at the monster he'd already hit with his tail, mouth open, fire pouring out. The flames engulfed the monster and the undead screamed and plummeted toward the ground below.The second monster reached for the child, fingernails long and curved like the huge talons on a harpy eagle. The little girl screamed and screamed, the sound grating on Damonq as she threw herself to the opposite side of the blue dragon, away from the monster. Her hand slipped, and she shrieked again as she dropped into space. Damonq caught
“Liv, drop down now.” He gave the child instructions, knowing the monsters could also hear. At one time they had been like him, born into the species just as he was, yet choosing to give up their souls. That didn't mean they weren't able to hear along the common path.Liv's dragon followed him toward the ground. Damonq took one small eighth of a second to glance down. He'd been in the air three minutes acquiring both little girls, but thanks to the lesser monsters blocking Elina’s escape, Darkness had caught her again. Below him, he glimpsed the teenagers trying to pull Jane from the play yard bench. The boy turned toward the threat of the monster coming at them, shouting to his sister to run.Elina fought Darkness viciously, punching and kicking. There was blood on her neck, trickling down her arm and shoulder. Evidently, Darkness couldn't fully control her mind, or he would have stopped her from fighting him. The master evil had clearly taken her blood, thinking that would force his
Liv and the injured dragons were swallowed and then Amelia and Danny with the girls and their dragons followed. The grate sprang back up, slamming the wall into place. The entire exchange had taken seconds. Damonq dispensed with both withered hearts, hurling them to the ground and incinerating them immediately. He turned his head to see Elina running for her house, with Darkness one step behind her.This had been her worst nightmare, the dream occurring over and over for the last month. Elina knew she shouldn't run to her house. If she did, the ancient known as Damonq would die. He always died saving her. She'd tried to avoid this destiny. She'd made certain not to meet him, never to speak to him, yet here she was, forced to make a split-second decision. If she didn't make it to her house, Darkness would have her again and there would be no stopping him."Don't follow," she pleaded, rushing up her steps. She knew Damonq would. He was one step behind Darkness. She knew coming after Da
The moment Elina was attacked by Levon, Damonq ripped his hand back, taking part of Darkness’ heart with his fist locked around it. The evil screamed, throwing his head back and then forward to crash into Damonq’s forehead. Damonq fell back, hitting the floor of the verandah. Blood poured from wounds in his chest and neck where the master evil creature had ripped at him. In his fist was part of the blackened heart and he kept his fingers closed tightly around the prize.Darkness, spraying acid-like blood over the flooring, rails and even the side of the house, staggered back and fell, landing almost in Elina’s lap. She dragged the ice pick from under the railing where she'd stashed it after her third dream. She rolled once, bringing her right against the master creature. He caught her head in his hands as if he might break her neck. Staring into his eyes, she thrust the ice pick into his heart, using both hands and every bit of strength she had. Simultaneously, Damonq tossed the bit
Storm could feel her heart pounding hard, but it was more out of excitement than fear. She should be afraid, the bird was a true raptor, but it was magnificent. It had black eyes! Round, shiny, very intelligent black eyes. She stared at it for two full minutes. That wasn't normal, she was certain. Very slowly, so she wouldn't startle the creature, she backed across the room to the desk where she kept her phone. Still looking at the bird, she googled the images of the bird, biting her lips intermittently as she waited.Strangely, the bird was observing her just as intently, an intelligence in its gaze as it watched the phone beep occasionally. When the page opened, Storm glanced at the image of the harpy eagle. The eyes were round and shining with intelligence, but they were not black. The eyes in the picture were a bright amber with a black pupil. She let out her breath slowly. Something was wrong with her bird.‘You aren't blind, though, are you?’ She sent the words, not even kno
After Storm was done eating, she thanked Kaden, and let him have the plates when he stretched his hands to collect them. To hold herself from jumping on him, and demanding that he put her out of her sexual misery, she stood up from the bed and sauntered to the window to look at the forest, and clear her immoral thoughts. He had joined her to eat, and for each time his mouth had closed over a morsel of food, she had jerked subtly, as if the mouth was closing over her twin orbs. In a large oak tree, plenty feet away from her, a bird flapped its mighty wings, drawing her attention. A smile swept past her lips when she became aware that she could sight its distinctive features. She was not the same Storm of a month ago. She was different now, considering the amount of trainings she had submitted too.The bird had a round facial disk with a very pronounced ruff. It wasn't an owl but it was large. Very large. The unusual bird could easily weigh at least twenty pounds. She stared at it
Storm walked into Kaden's treehouse and was immediately struck by how it seemed larger than usual. The wooden walls, which should be plain and simple, were adorned with colorful murals and hand-painted designs. One wall even showcased a sprawling mural of a sunset over a peaceful lake, with vivid oranges and pinks blending into each other. And another wall had a charming depiction of a forest, complete with playful animals like squirrels and birds, all brought to life with bright, cheerful colors.The room was filled with natural light that filtered through the large windows, which had been decorated with flowing curtains in soft, earthy tones. The curtains swayed gently in the breeze, adding a sense of movement to the scene. The wooden floor was covered with cozy rugs that added warmth and comfort to the space.A large, comfy bean bag was positioned in one corner, surrounded by soft pillows. Next to it was a small bookshelf brimming with colorful books, their spines lined up neatly
Storm’s mind kept conjuring up provocative images, as she and Kaden walked hand in hand around the clan. The kiss they had shared in her room still tingled on her lips, still kept heat in her blood, still made her hunger for more. She inhaled sharply when Kaden turned and stared at her, his eyes brimming with the emotions that she was sure was playing out in her own mind. For a second, she feared that he might have peeked into her dirty mind, but then she remembered that they were not bonded yet, not in that sense. It brought her swift relief which came with a coating of abashed-ness seen in the coloring of her cheeks and necks, something that wasn’t lost on Kaden who was battling to hold on to his honor. He cussed at himself for closing her lips with his earlier, knowing what could happen from there. But she had been speaking, and her luscious mouth had been like water in a desert land; he had been parched so much that he couldn’t have been able to help himself. And now, the stirr
All through the week, Storm only concentrated on the books Kaden had given her, or rather on the first book she had collected from the pile. Jutul had done the same, concentrating on the second book he had picked. Both had only taken breaks when they wanted to eat or when they wanted to train with Casper for an hour. To assuage Kaden’s caveman jealousy, all the reading had been in the dining downstairs, and yet they weren’t close enough to whatever the books were on about. They weren’t close to the end either, and the transcribers were doing a poor job, despite Jiraq’s input sometimes. It was then that Storm had learnt that Jiraq wasn’t done with the book either. ‘What are you doing with one of the hardest books in the pile?” had been his first question when she had solicited for his help. He had gone ahead to pick up a smaller book, written in English, for her and Jutul to start with, but she had declined—she had grown attached to the old book. And she had vowed to bring it to a fi
Storm groaned tiredly; under the full weight of the knowledge she had been absorbing for the past four hours. Kaden had been true to his word, and with the help of Jiraq, had bundled more than thirty books which smelt of oldness into her room this morning, just before she dressed for school. “For those written in old language, Jiraq was kind enough to let you have his transcriber, so that you can better understand it. You can check them out after classes today.” Kaden had said, when he had stepped into her room with a fellow whom she knew went by the name, Micheal, Liam’s younger brother. She had found out right after Liam’s recuperation weeks ago, about the wicked action on the young fellow who didn’t look a year older than her. The first book on the pile had gotten her attention after the duo had left the room, and picking it up, she had decided to peek at a page, then return to her preparation for school. But a page had turned to two pages, and then five pages, until school was
Storm was chatting with Lucy and Justin, in their phone group , around a time when she should be sleeping, when she heard her name being droned in her ears. “S-t-o-r-m” She furrowed her eyebrows, and looked around the room she shared with Kaden sometimes. There was no one. The voice sounded familiar, and until she felt the eeriness in the room, she didn’t know who it was. The vampire.She got up from the empty bed, and sauntered toward the door, needing to get to Kaden as soon as possible, but the door wouldn’t budge. She stamped her foot on the floor out of frustration, as fear suddenly took root in her mind and body. Where was he when she needed him? Why hadn’t he spent the night with her? She wondered, never minding that she had been one to ask they sleep on separate beds tonight, after he had returned from his meeting with his people, after she had returned from seeing her friends off with Lent. The voice called for her name again, and she shuddered before she could help it, h
There was a stark naked silence in the room after Jutul’s declaration. So stark was it, that Storm felt her ears ringing with deep silence, deep silence and an unclothed unbelief. They were lying? If she didn’t know of Jutul’s gifts, she would have berated him for speaking against her friends. But she knew. She knew he was telling the truth—there wasn’t a need to lie. And she still was finding it hard to believe. Lucy and Justin had planned a lie, and had come to convince them of it? All for what? To gain information on what was going on in the clan? Was their school even on break? Then, the silence was broken by Kaden’s voice which had descended to a certain chillness that informed Storm that her mate was angry, very angry, at being made a fool of. “Lent, place a call to the school’s authorities, and find out if the school is really on break…” Lucy’s dark laughter interrupted his statement, and brought Storm’s attention to her. “So y’all would rather believe Storm’s newest friend
Of course they wouldn’t. Storm thought, looking at Lucy squarely for the first time since she had entered the room. Her friend was still bubbling in age-old anger, and was still carrying a grudge against her.And since, Storm knew she couldn’t do much about it—because what Lucy was demanding was unattainable—she let the latter think that she wasn’t bothered by it. It would help with them leaving earlier. Having seen what exactly was at play here, what evil forces were at play here, she wasn’t about to risk the lives of her friends. She wasn’t about to have their blood on her head, because she wanted them to be included in every facet of her life. It was better they thought she was against them; it was better they believed that she didn’t value their friendship.“So, why are you here, Lucy?” She schooled her face to a cold aloofness, unfazed when Justin let out a cuss word, whilst darting a glance between Lucy and her. There was a minute silence, where Lucy scanned Storm’s features;