Elder (2 page)

Prologue

“Let me get this straight. Your dad is Gabriel? As in,
the
Gabriel mentioned in the Bible?”

“Yep.”

“And he and I were once the equivalent of best friends?”

“Yep.”

“Holy crap.”

Clara Kate stifled a laugh as she watched Ini-herit process this news. His gray eyes were wider than she’d ever seen them. The only sound was of the rain pelting the roof of the large tree house located in the backyard of their human guardian, Mrs. Clara Burke. Despite the fact that they were eighteen and the tree house was meant for younger kids, it was a place they visited whenever they wanted some time away from everything else. They’d even camped in it a few times.

Now, they sat against one wall with their legs sprawled in front of them and their hands joined. He studied her for a moment. When she just quirked an eyebrow, he let out a long breath.

“Wow.”

Her lips curved upwards. “You believe me.”

He continued to look at her without responding. She knew his features as well as her own after these past few months with him on the human plane, but that didn’t make her less interested in gazing at them. His aristocratic nose, long-lashed eyes and full lips would have made him what others called a “pretty boy” if not for the rough, honed edges of his cheekbones and jaw line. He wore his dark hair longer than Mrs. B would have liked, but he usually pulled it back into a ponytail out of deference to her. At the moment, he had it unbound and it brushed his shoulders in beautiful waves.

“I do believe you,” he said at last. “Though heaven knows why.”

“Well, you’re the Corgloresti elder. It’s a class founded on faith. Even though your Estilorian memories and abilities have been suppressed while you re-learn human emotions, you retained your core characteristics.”

“So when I call you Angel, it’s not so much a nickname as a fact.”

Shaking her head, she nudged him with her elbow. “I told you we’re Estilorians, not angels.”

“What if I want to be an angel?”

“Oh, you’re no angel,” she said. He grinned wickedly, making her heart work overtime. “Angels are just one of the mythical creatures humans created based on their memories of Estilorians. When we separated the planes a couple of thousand years ago, humans documented their experiences with us in a variety of ways. Art, literature, music…you name it. In essence, we became human myths and legends.”

“Being a legend doesn’t sound so bad.” He paused, looking thoughtful. Then he asked, “And I’m how old?”

“Well, you were around before the separation of the planes.”

“Get out.”

“It’s true,” she said, laughing at his expression. “On the Estilorian plane, you’ll look about the same age you are now, though. Maybe a few years older. Estilorians don’t age, and many of the elders are the youngest in appearance.”

“You said I’ll look different when we transition. How different?”

She was pleased by his apparent acceptance of what she’d shared with him. They had been discussing this for hours, ever since she received word that they had to return to the Estilorian plane. She knew she wouldn’t be commanded back unless something big had happened. Maybe her mother had gone into premature labor or something. Whatever the reason, she couldn’t refuse the command.

“I don’t know,” she responded. “We don’t have photographs on the Estilorian plane, and you left before I was born. I’ve never seen your Estilorian form.”

“Well that kinda sucks.”

“Why? Do you think you’ll end up looking like Brent?” She batted her eyelashes at him.

He shoved her shoulder. “Ha. You can have that blond Viking with the IQ of a sock puppet. Who needs enough muscles to lift a car, anyway?”

“Yeah.” She sighed dramatically. “Who needs ‘em?”

He rolled his eyes and swung an arm over her shoulders. She felt the taut muscles there and knew he didn’t really have a complex about Brent’s steroid-induced physique. It was Brent’s unwanted attention toward Clara Kate that had brought her and Ini-herit closer together, so he was a frequent butt of their jokes.

“But you’ll look the same?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. She’d already discussed this, but didn’t mind reviewing it if it helped ease his worry. “I’ve been able to transition between the planes without changing forms since I was three. I’m the only Estilorian who can, actually. No one knows why.”

She didn’t bother describing the uproar she’d caused the first time she did it. She barely remembered the experience. One moment she’d been sleeping in her bed at home. The next she was in a hospital on the human plane answering a million questions from the humans who found her. As a result of her impromptu transition, the protections around her homeland had been strengthened considerably.

“You’ll look similar to how you do as a human,” she explained. “
Archigos
Zayna, the Scultresti elder, did her best to mimic your Estilorian features in your human form to make the transition less psychologically stressful on you. Your eyes will be more silver than gray, and you’ll have a bunch of silver markings on your body from past pairings with Gloresti. And I think your hair will be longer, based on what I’ve heard.”

“Based on what you’ve heard?” he repeated. He reached over and traced the line of her jaw, causing her to shiver. “You were curious about me before you ever came here, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly. His touch always did this to her. “I couldn’t wait to meet you.”

“And now that you have?”

“You’re everything I ever dreamed of and more. You know that by now. I love you, Harry.”

He leaned down and kissed her. It was every bit as potent as the first time. She reached up with her left hand and wove her fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck. Her tongue pressed eagerly against his as he deepened the kiss. Bliss such as she had never envisioned coursed through her.

Eventually, he pulled away from her. They both had to catch their breath. His eyes were dark with passion.

“I love you, too, Angel.”

Her heart soared. This wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but it never got old. She caressed the side of his face, enjoying the feel of stubble beneath her sensitive fingertips.

“What will we tell Mrs. B?” he asked.

She sighed. “We’ll have to tell her some form of the truth. She won’t see you again…at least, not in this form. She went through this nineteen years ago with my parents. She’ll understand.”

“I’m worried about her,” he confessed.

“I know,” she said. “Me, too.”

They’d both observed how tired their guardian seemed lately. She had told them that she was retiring once they left for college in the fall. She’d been a foster parent for nearly forty years, ever since her beloved husband, Henry, was killed in the line of duty when she was twenty-eight. She’d been unable to have her own children, so she decided to raise those kids who needed a good home. But the time had come, she said, to hang up her hat.

“She’s been going to the doctor more frequently,” he said, running his fingers through her hair. “She won’t tell me what they say.”

“We’ll get some answers after we transition,” she promised. “We have contacts in the human medical field. My friend, Quincy, will probably be coming back here soon to harvest more souls. He usually transitions after the Kynzesti are born. I’ll ask him to look into it.”

“Okay.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Clara Kate rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “We have to leave soon,” she said eventually. “Within a day or two.”

“That soon?”

She nodded. “There’s something going on. They wouldn’t tell me what, but we’re both needed right away.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Lifting her head, she looked again at his lips, then caught his gaze. “Harry, when we transition…things might be different. We’ll both have responsibilities, and I’ll have my family around me every moment of the day. And, well…I’ve decided that I want our last bit of time here on this plane to be memorable.”

He lifted a dark brow. “Memorable?”

“Yeah.” She shifted and ran one hand slowly up his chest, following the lines of his well-toned midsection through his T-shirt. When he drew in a sharp breath, she smiled. “Memorable.”

Before he could say anything else, she rose up and turned to face him, straddling his thighs. Then she kissed him, long and deep. His hands soon began to roam, causing unbelievable flares of pleasure.

What she wanted was reckless. Foolish. Unlike anything she would normally do.

But she wouldn’t be swayed.

“I don’t—” he managed to say as she pulled away from his mouth and ran the tip of her tongue along his sensitive ear lobe. “I’m not prepared for—” he stopped again when she bit down lightly on his neck. Then she reached under his shirt, producing a tormented groan. “My wallet’s—in the house.”

“Do you want this?” she asked, pulling back so she could catch his gaze.

“Dear Lord, yes.”

“So do I. This feels right, Harry. I haven’t ever, you know, menstruated.” She blushed after that confession, but purposefully ignored it. “I can’t get preg—”

He reached up and gently touched her lips. “Thank you. I promise you, Angel…no matter what occurs when we transition to the other plane, I’ll never forget this moment. You’re everything to me. Whatever happens, we’ll always have each other.”

Part I:

PROMISES

Promise [
n
.
prom
-is]: A declaration that something will or will not be done, given, etc. by one; an express assurance on which expectation is based:
promises that an enemy will not win
.

Chapter 1

“Clara Kate. Wake up, Clara Kate. C.K.?”

Blinking away the memory that haunted her dreams, Clara Kate responded to the prodding of her cousin, Sophia, with a low moan. She’d only slept for a couple of hours. She felt like she needed to sleep for a couple of months.

“It’s time to get up,” Sophia said, rubbing Clara Kate’s arm. “Tate and Ariana need us.”

That had Clara Kate pushing herself into a sitting position and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She realized it was still hours before dawn. Her breath floated in a white vapor around her head as she tried to get her bearings.

“
Archigos
Sebastian is preparing some food for everyone if you’re hungry,” Sophia said. She reached over and removed a dead leaf from Clara Kate’s hair. “And I’m sure we can get him to help you feel more…refreshed before we go.”

“I look that good, huh?”

“You look like you traveled almost three days without sleeping. Oh, wait. You did.”

“Hah. Guess that explains this persistent headache,” Clara Kate said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “It’s been nagging me.”

“We’ve all pushed ourselves hard these past few days.” Sophia reached over and touched Clara Kate’s forehead with the back of her hand. “You do look a little pale. Maybe you should have Ini-herit—”

“I’ll be fine,” Clara Kate interrupted. She offset her rudeness with a small smile. “I’m just exhausted. Using my abilities to imbue so many weapons and then fighting all of those Mercesti really took it out of me. The lack of sleep leading up to that sure didn’t help.”

“Yeah.” Sophia lifted one corner of her mouth, but her eyes continued to reflect her concern. “Some food will probably help, too.”

“Sure. I’ll get some in a minute. I’ve got to find a bit of privacy first.”

“Okay.”

Clara Kate got to her feet, fighting back a groan of discomfort. She seemed to hurt everywhere. She staggered as a wave of dizziness hit her. Sophia reached out and offered her a steadying hand.

“Hey…I know we tease you about your lack of grace and all, but don’t go trying to earn extra credit,” Sophia joked. After a brief hesitation, she added in a quieter voice, “You know, Quincy could always do a little checkup, just to make sure—”

“Thanks, Soph, but I’m really okay. I’ll join you shortly. Save a piece of bacon for me, okay?”

Sophia nodded. “Sure.”

A twinge of guilt struck Clara Kate as she watched Sophia turn and walk back to rejoin Quincy, who stood conversing with a number of other beings near a small campfire. The pair had only just avowed themselves to each other. It had been many years coming, even if the timing was odd, what with them in a race to save Tate and Ariana and recover the pieces of the Elder Scroll stolen by the Mercesti, Eirik.

She was thrilled for Sophia and Quincy, though. They should be off celebrating, not dealing with all of this.

Sighing, she moved deeper into the forest so she could attend to her personal needs. She made sure to stay where she could see some Waresti scouts through the trees. Their group had made camp within a thick forest not far from the ancient Estilorian library, which meant there was always a possibility that some of Eirik’s followers skulked about in hopes of taking one of them unawares. Clara Kate was far from defenseless, but after everything that had occurred over the past nine-plus weeks since she returned from the human plane, she knew all too well to expect the unexpected.

Once she finished relieving her full bladder, she rose to cleanse her hands and face with a cloth Sebastian had provided. Just standing up made her entire body hurt, including parts of her that had no business hurting. As she told Sophia, she was sure it was her extreme exhaustion that had worn her down.

Her cousin’s concern was thoughtful, but Clara Kate knew that if Quincy did examine her and decided she needed treatment for her exhaustion, he would tell her to have Ini-herit heal her. That wasn’t an option. She truly couldn’t bear the thought of Ini-herit touching her.

Even if he did have the power to heal, it wasn’t worth the pain of enduring a touch that was no longer filled with love for her, but with no feeling at all.

From a discreet distance, Ini-herit watched Clara Kate collect herself and then make her way back to the center of camp. He followed, taking care to remain far enough from her that his surveillance would go unnoticed. Although he wasn’t sure why, he’d felt a powerful need to see to her safety ever since he met her. Maybe because he hadn’t even known her a few days before she had almost fallen off a cliff.

Whatever the reason, he often found himself trailing after her like this. He was careful to keep his distance, having learned that she didn’t welcome his presence. Not understanding why, he’d asked her about it not so long ago.

“Do you really want to know?” she had asked.

He nodded. She had intrigued him from the moment he first saw her after his transition. He couldn’t say what it was, exactly. But her reaction upon meeting him for the first time had struck him as odd, and he caught her staring at him quite often.

She had taken a deep breath and said, “Okay. We were in love on the human plane and you forgot me when you transitioned back.”

He hadn’t known what to say. As if sensing that he wasn’t going to reply, she added, “So, since I’m still in love with you and you don’t know me at all, it’s been a bit awkward.”

Awkward. He wasn’t sure what that meant. Still, he could acknowledge that he wished he hadn’t caused Clara Kate what was obviously negative feelings regarding him.

Since then, she had done her best to avoid him. He hadn’t pressed her, not seeing any need. But he did allow himself to succumb to this strange compulsion to protect her.

As he neared the group around the campfire, she glanced up and caught his gaze. The firelight reflected off her arresting features. He’d realized upon meeting her that she was a blend of her parents in appearance. Her shoulder-length brown hair had the wavy texture of her father’s. She also had his strong chin and lopsided grin. The dimple in her left cheek and her full, heart-shaped mouth mirrored her mother’s. But her compelling, deep blue-green eyes, accented by the deep blue-green estoile markings symbolizing her second power, were all her.

Those eyes now reflected more of the negative emotion she held toward him as she quickly looked away. Sophia glanced between them and then reached out to link her arm with Clara Kate’s.

“I sent scouts across the mainland to spread the word about Eirik,” said Derian, the leader of the Mercesti allies who had escorted Sophia to the library. His words rolled from him in what humans called a Scottish accent. “If anyone catches sight of him or Tate or Ariana, we will hear about it.”

“Thank you,” Zachariah replied. The polite phrase was new for him. Ini-herit wondered if that had anything to do with his recent avowing to Clara Kate’s cousin, Tate. As if sensing his thoughts, Zachariah’s red gaze turned to him. “We have been studying your medallion,
archigos
. The map that Saraqael mentioned doesn’t make any sense to us.”

Ini-herit had also studied the medallion that he had worn around his neck for as long as he could remember. Just after they lost Tate and Ariana in the library, a manifestation of Saraqael appeared before him, Zachariah, Sophia, Clara Kate, and Tate’s twin brother, Tiege. Saraqael had informed them all that they were among the eight beings required to activate the powerful Elder Scroll, news that Ini-herit hadn’t expected. He’d been one of the nine elders who created the scroll, after all, and they hadn’t intended for the elders to be the ones required to activate it. The line from the scroll that supposedly pertained to him did seem rather fitting, though.

One with too much self-control
.

He looked again at Clara Kate, but she refused to meet his gaze. Then he glanced at the medallion, which rested in Zachariah’s hand. Saraqael had also revealed that the medallion bore a map to the last scroll piece. Although Ini-herit had hidden the piece many centuries ago, his memory of that experience had been erased for the safety of all Estilorians. Apparently, he had decided to keep a map to it. That map did little good, however, if it couldn’t be read.

“I have not been able to remember anything about the map,” he said at last. “Have you reconnected yet with Tate so we can go in pursuit of her and Ariana?”

He didn’t recognize the expression that passed briefly across the Mercesti’s face, but he knew that Zachariah’s responding, “No,” was issued in a quieter tone than he had previously used. Ini-herit realized that he had somehow upset the other male.

“Ini-herit,” said the Orculesti elder, Malukali, “Knorbis and I would like to scan your memories. Perhaps with our combined efforts, we can uncover information about the map.”

Seeing no reason to object, he responded, “Of course.”

“Good.” Malukali waved at a nearby fallen tree. “Why don’t you come over here and sit?”

Once he moved to comply, she and Knorbis stood on either side of him. The married couple had the most powerful mental abilities of any beings on the plane. If anyone had a chance to retrieve this particular memory, they did.

“Try to relax,” Knorbis instructed as he and Malukali placed their hands on either side of his head. Dark green and dark purple light glowed as they exercised their powers. “Do your best to focus on the medallion. Try to visualize the symbols on it as well as the scroll piece. Maybe it will jar something loose.”

Ini-herit nodded. But as he felt them invade his mind, his gaze wasn’t on the medallion. It was on Clara Kate.

“I didn’t expect to have to hike up a mountain when you told me about this transition,” he said.

They stood in a small clearing holding hands. The northern lights glowed in the sky above them. A light sheen of perspiration coated them both.

She laughed. “If I had, you wouldn’t have come.”

“Truer words were never spoken.”

“Well, we’re here now. No harm, no foul.”

“So you say.” He grinned. “All right. Now what?”

“Now we’re going to transition. I’ll wait until you’re gone before I go. It’ll be quick and painless for you.”

“That’s a relief. I’d hate to reach the other side and have you see me crying like a girl.”

She gave him a light shove, but her lips curved into a smile. “Yeah, yeah.” Then her expression sobered. She took a deep breath. “Look, Harry—”

“I’ve already promised you that I’ll get through this,” he interrupted. “I won’t forget. I’ll have your love to see me through.”

Her smile wavered, but she nodded. “Okay.”

“Might as well have a grand send-off, though,” he said.

He pulled her close and kissed her. Then he kissed her again. When he finally parted from her, he reached up and brushed her hair away from her face. The look in her eyes had his heart dancing a jig in his chest. He smiled, sensing the time to transition had come.

Taking her hands in his, he asked, “You said the most significant way that Estilorians can bond is through an avowing, right?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Okay. Then here’s my other promise to you: the first chance we have when we get to the other plane, I’ll avow with you.”

Returning from the memory, Ini-herit glanced around at everyone staring down at him. The green and purple light faded. When he looked up, he saw Malukali and Knorbis exchange glances over his head.

“Did you find out anything about the map?” Quincy asked.

“No,” Malukali replied, shifting her gaze to Ini-herit. “I’m afraid not.”

“Why don’t you try again?” Tiege pressed. He shared equal concern for his twin and the female Lekwuesti, and Ini-herit knew he was anxious to get to them.

“Not right now,” he said, getting to his feet. “I need a moment to…recover.”

Ini-herit turned and walked away from the group, the remnants of the uncovered memory swirling through his mind. There had been moments in that memory when he felt things that he’d never before experienced. Now, those feelings had lost all context.

He knew only one thing for certain: he had failed to keep more than one promise to the female he had claimed to love.