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
One of the monsters waved his hand to remove the gun. She felt the pull, as if a great magnet had attached itself to the weapon and yanked, but in her mind, she countered the magnet with an opposite one, pushing the powerful compulsive drawing-away. The smile vanished from the monster’s face, and his two comrades looked at each other.She felt the one coming up behind her. His energy was evil, oily, a filth spreading across her porch and reaching her before he did. She turned and fired a missile right into his chest. Flames raced up his torso and he screamed, sprawling backward, rolling and then jumping off the porch to run. The wind fanned the flames as he raced away.She felt movement and tried to turn back around to face the double threat, but Damonq moved then, his arms going around her as he rolled, tucking her body under the weight of his, one hand smoothly removing the gun and firing at the monster closest to them. He staggered back into the rail and fell backward over it, clut
Damonq’s fingers settled around her ankle like a vise. "Elina, step back into the house. Leave the door open, but get inside. If they try to get to you, slam the door shut. They cannot enter without an invitation."She knew that. It made sense. She could save herself. Hide in her house. Watch Damonq die right in front of her. She shook her head and tried to take a step toward the waiting creatures, five of them. Far too many for an ancient, even one with Damonq’s skills, let alone one torn up the way he was.Damonq flowed to his feet. She had no idea how. None. He shouldn't be alive, let alone standing. He literally shoved her into the doorway. "Stay put. You try to leave and I will have no choice but to stop you."She glared at him. "They'll kill you. You can't fight them." She took one step toward him, determined to fight with him. If he was going to die for her, then she could do the same for him. Except, she couldn't move. Her foot ran into some kind of invisible barrier. She reac
"Invite me in." Damonq muttered to Elina."What? No." She shook her head. Jane, her friend, had told her it was never a good idea to invite them inside one's home unless one was prepared to let them use their powers there.He made a move toward the door, trying to drag himself out. She didn't want that, either. "Wait. Just wait. I need to think." She was in a state of full panic."No time." He reached up and wrapped a length of her hair around his fingers. "So beautiful. The color. So beautiful."He sounded delirious. He was bleeding everywhere, but she could see he was still trying to force his body to move out of her home."Stop. Stop moving," she demanded, horrified at the trail of blood."Going to have to shut down my heart and lungs. Can't do it inside." He said.Her mind was in complete chaos. She caught his shoulders, trying to keep him from moving back. His hand was still in her hair, connecting them. She felt that, as if a million strands bound them together, yet it was the o
STORMToday was the burial of my father. Looking at myself in the mirror, a ghost of a smile slithered across my lip, disappearing the next second as fast as it had almost arrived. Through the eyes of my mirror, I checked out my room which was empty as a snail’s dry shell. Justin and Lucy had been faithful with their commitments, and in the space of three days as I had agreed with them, they had managed to clear out all belongings from my room without any of the step family finding out.Lucy had also obtained permission from her parents to stay at the friend’s house till she was done with the class project. I had thereafter stolen my spare keys from Jess’ room so they wouldn’t have access to my room which I kept locked 24/7. At one time, Miranda had been suspicious of my coded activities, my always locked door too, and when she had asked me about it, I had always used either a Kaden driven insult or insinuated that I have never entered her room to throw her off the track. Talking
KADENSince Storm had saved my life and turned down all my ploys to return the favour and spend more time with her, I have been having problems sleeping. No matter how much I texted her, she never gave a reply. Was she this stubborn? I thought as I stood close to my friends, watching the burial procession with bored eyes. The only reason why we had come was because of our respect to Storm. Since that day, Lent had not managed to stop talking about her. Storm this, and storm that…but when he was done praising her, he would tell me to stay away from her. I was about getting jealous of his fascination with her but I knew none of them would betray me. They had not betrayed me seven to eight years ago, they won’t start now. But they all thought that she was something daring, that included Avery. She must not have noticed that I and Storm had almost had a thing. Well, I had done a great job of keeping a poker face whenever Storm was mentioned around her. I don't want her hounding Storm wh
CHAPTER 64STORMI bit my lips hard in anger and frustration as Curtis chose to sit near me in the almost filled banquet service to eat. What was wrong with this dude? I thought, witholding myself for the upteenth time for lashing at him. This was my father’s burial. I shouldn’t be going berserk over some boy's issues. It will definitely send off the wrong messages to the little crowd in the beautifully decorated hall. Well, I have to admit that my stepmother had really tried to give my father a decent burial and send off, and if I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought that she had loved him. But I knew better. And I knew that all these were for her self righteous image she was struggling to keep in front of her friends and business partners. Justin and Lucy, who were sitting two seats away from me, looked at me, pity in their eyes, obviously knowing the amount of anger I was holding in on having Curtis beside me, anger that swallowed up my fear of seeing my step brother, Ma
KADENI had stomped my foot on the floor many times softly, watching Storm and the new guy talk and laugh, anger coursing through my entire body. I knew when the idiot had done something stupid to upset her, and I don't know what she had done later, but the boy’s funny yelp made my anger fade away a bit, probably because I knew now that Storm didn’t like him, at least not anymore. I had seen that when she had stood up from the chair, eyes blazing with fury but lips thinned with a smile, and walked toward the direction of the restroom. Quickly, not waiting to see if the boy would go after her, I stood up too from my chair, not minding the glares that I was receiving from Lent, and stalked off toward the restroom. I needed to see Storm, and talk about..well, I didn’t even know why I wanted to see her. But I just wanted to see her. I could use the matter of her saving my life as an excuse. From the tail of my eyes as I walked, I was aware that the guy, whose affixation had been on Stor
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;