Haven (4 page)

LILIANA FOUGHT TO
KEEP PANIC AT BAY. They couldn't hold her here, despite what Leo thought. Her
eyes narrowed. "We're not in Legba, and I've been too long among the women
here in Adro to take any crap from you."

            His sinister growl
traveled along her spine and her body tightened in anticipation. She swallowed
to ease her dry throat. There was no way she would win against him if it came
down to it. Between her body's demands and the power he held, resistance was a
joke. She would just have to find another way out of this mess. She sighed and
sat in the chair facing Xavier's desk.

            "I want to know why
you've been skulking around my club, but first my question still stands, what
family do you belong to?" Xavier stared at her intently, his eyes broking
no argument.

 Her heart slammed
against her chest. "Marcolev." She flinched at the ripe curses that
came from their mouths.

"Not the
Marcolev daughter the queen has been screaming down my ass for us to
find?" Xavier's face went harder if possible. "The very same Marcolev
chick that I've had my hunters looking for, for nearly four years?"

Liliana looked to
Leo but his face was inscrutable. No help from that quarter.

"Please tell me
you're not that Marcolev." Xavier leaned forward, his eyes changing, his
voice deepened to a growl. "You don't want to be that girl."

Oh Gods, she'd heard
about Xavier, the leader of the Amanda, but nothing prepared her for the sight
of his anger. It was well known among the Demis that he didn't suffer fools
lightly. It was said gaining his attention ended in pain, or banishment. It was
the reason she'd saved this Haven for last. Fear and sharp panic stabbed
through her.

"There is only
one Marcolev daughter left, and she wouldn't be allowed to roam Adro without an
escort." Fallon raised an eyebrow. "You didn't strike me as dumb
enough to defy Queen Kaylin, Trouble." Unlike his brothers, Fallon was
calm, his gaze steady as he waited on her answer.

            She shuddered as she
thought of the hunters she'd barely escaped throughout the years she'd searched
for her sister. Her eyes burned, a lump forming in her throat as she thought of
Kita. "I came to the Earth realm not long after my sister went missing. My
father refused to do anything about her disappearance, I decided to try and
find her on my own."

            "Kita went missing
over four years ago," Fallon said incredulously. "The Queen has been
hunting for you for at least three of those years. You've been on Adro this
whole time?"

            "Do you know my
sister?" She restrained the urge to jump in excitement. She knew sneaking
in here would give her a lead.

            "Shorty, you're
swimming in waters way too deep for you." Fallon said in answer.

            "If you know my
sister, you can help me." A spurt of hope rose.

            "What we know, is
that you’re supposed to be promised to Kedric of the Eshu royal family."
Leo's speculative look made her nervous. "You, little Eshu, are in a whole
heap of trouble."

            Liliana lowered her head.
She refused to feel guilty. Damn it, but she felt so guilty. "Kedric was
promised Kita, if I can just find her..."

            "It doesn't work
like that." Xavier leaned back in his chair. "Do you have any idea
the little shit storm you've just tossed into my lap?"   

Obviously, she was
in over her head, but really she'd not been given a choice. Mating was never up
to the individual, it was always up to Fate. Or rather the Eminzu. The
ancestors had the final say on who mated whom. It’s not as though either she or
Kedric wanted the mating. Couple that with the fact the prince was…

No. She wasn’t going
there.

Nope, not letting
those thoughts escape her iron control.

            "Liliana, why come
to Adro yourself, why not go the Eminzu with your grievance? That's the purpose
of the council of ancestors, to settle family grievances." Fallon eyes
were compassionate.

            Her skin warmed and
started to glow in her anger. She pushed down on her power, praying for
patience. It was harder than normal to control her magic since she’d fed a few
days ago, but she wrestled it down. "It's your job as the Amanda to
protect the Demis. This isn't just some family grievance. My sister is missing!
She could be..." She couldn’t say it, couldn't put that into the
atmosphere.

            "It's our job as the
Amanda to protect the world. Not individual families. No one individual is put
above the fate of the world." Xavier corrected.

            "Don't talk to me
like I'm some dumb girl. I survived this fucking realm for four years by
myself, I’m not going to go away because someone pat me on my head."

            "And how far did
that get you?” Xavier sat up and braced his forearms on his heavy desk,
taunting her.

            "I tried to go to
the Eminzu they refused my query. Wouldn’t even see me. What the hell was I
supposed to do?" Liliana dashed tears from her eyes, pissed at the
injustice. No one would help her, her parents included.

            "I'm sorry for that,
Liliana." Fallon placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Leo snarled and
moved closer to her, shooting his brother a deadly look. Fallon lifted his
hand.

            "Come on now with
the tears, shorty. I don't wanna deal with that." Xavier growled, but
compassion tempered his tone.

            “Why come here Liliana?
Why this Haven specifically?" Fallon handed her a tissue from the desk.

“I was given
information that Kita was last seen at a haven. I checked all of them. This was
my last one. My last chance to find her.” She shook her head, pushing aside her
exhaustion. She wouldn’t give up searching for Kita. Not while the alternative
hung over her head.

Xavier sighed.
"And once you broke in to my Haven, what exactly was your plan?”

            "I didn’t have a
plan per se.” Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She
had
a plan, but
she didn’t think telling the head of the Amanda she planned to seduce someone
in his security room to look through footage would be prudent.

            “My gods Trouble, do you
not know who you are? You can’t be traipsing around Adro as though you aren’t a
noble." Fallon stared at her like she was crazy.

            “Do you have any idea how
many times your father has been in this office pacing the floor? How many times
the Queen has been in here chewing on my ass? And you’re walking around playing
Veronica fucking Mars.” Xavier leaned back in his chair with a look that sent a
shaft of mind-numbing fear through her.

            “You don’t understand.”
She swallowed down the rest of her tears. They couldn’t possible understand
what she had on the line. There was no way she could’ve returned without Kita.
She flinched as she remembered the night she left Legba. She still carried
scars from that night.

            She would do anything to
find her sister.

            “You have to go back.”

Liliana jerked.
Xavier’s words landed like a blow. She shook her head. “I can’t” the words came
out barely a whisper.

“It’s not negotiable.
You go home, to the Queen.” Xavier slid her wallet across his desk to her.
"Leo, take your mate to your room. Don't let her out of your sight until
we can figure out how to transport her without a royal stink. And for goddess's
sake, make sure no one sees her."

“I can’t. I won’t.”
Her throat closed as panic seized her. She whipped her head around to Leo.
"You can't make me stay here."

Leo grabbed her arm.
She jerked her arm fighting his grip.

            "Give it a rest,
Liliana. As you can tell, no one's happy about this little clusterfuck you have
us in." Leo led her from the room.

Liliana desperately
tried to keep track of their route, but soon gave up, as one hallway ran into
the next, becoming a blur until they came to a pair of steel doors.

            Leo entered the security
code and pushed her into his suite. The spacious room was airy. Daylights gave
the room a soft morning glow, despite the fact that the room was underground.
The living area was large, the plush sofas surrounding a large T.V. in the
middle of the room. They skirted the large entertainment center that cordoned
the room off from the foyer and headed to the dining area to the left. Liliana
whipped around and stared at him, anger, fear and frustration burning her
chest. Neither of them spoke, but continued to stare at the other.

            "I don't know why
you're so mad, it's not like you're the one being held hostage here." Her
chest heaved as she battled to control her temper and fight the tide of fear.

            Leo scoffed. "This
band around my wrist says otherwise." He held up his arm showing her the
dark red band that encircled his wrist with her name etched in the middle.

            "What's your
problem?" She threw up her hands. "You're not the one being mated
with a Cagyn, the least faithful race of all the Demis. " Of all races,
the reputation of the Cagyns as rogues and rakes was the most talked about.
Females whispered about it to their friends with lusty sighs, and males kept
tight locks on their wives and daughters. The look he gave her froze the air in
her lungs. She took a step back.

            "Don’t presume to know
anything about me or my race. Hell, you don't even know what I am."

            "I know what Xavier
is and he's your brother. I hear the stories, Cagyns change their appearance to
suit their lovers, hopping from one bed to the next, unleashing pheromones on
unsuspecting innocents, seducing them to get their way." She sneered.
"You said as much about your mother. You obviously know it to be
true."

            Leo's smile did nothing
to comfort her. "Then I suggest you keep your mate satisfied, and you
won't have that problem."

            "I'm leaving."
She tried to push past him. Gods, how did everything go so wrong? It should've
been simple: sneak into Haven, and find out if someone here had seen her sister
and leave. Now she was locked up downstairs with a jerk her ancestors had seen
fit to tie her to. And worst, she was headed back to Legba where her punishment
for leaving would make banishment seem like a vacation.

            "You're not leaving,
Liliana." Leo pulled her back to face him. "You rushed head long into
this situation and now you're stuck.”

            She attempted one last
appeal. She’d heard of how males spoiled their mates, perhaps if she softened
her tone. "Look, I can't stay here. The queen's hunters will find me, and
I'm not leaving until I find my sister." Gods, please help her find Kita.

            "You mean to tell
me, that after you were told your sister disappeared from here, you thought it
was a good idea to follow in her footsteps? Did it occur to you that something
could’ve happened to you?"

            "You can't possibly
understand." Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I need to find
Kita." Her knees weakened, exhaustion finally caught up with her.

            "Damn it.” Leo ran a
hand over his face. "Why Liliana? Why risk your life for this?"

"She's my
sister. What would you if one of your brothers were missing?"

He flinched, but the
anger left his face. He stared at her for a moment. "Arguing will get us
nowhere. Are you hungry?"

The abrupt change of
subject threw her off, but she understood the olive branch he'd extended. At
her nod, he went to the phone and ordered them a late lunch. When it arrived
they ate in silence, neither of them sure what to say to the other. Once they
were done, Leo cleaned the table and set the dishes into his sink.

            "Don't even think
about trying to leave. You would get lost in the catacombs and having to look
for you would piss me off." He left the threat in the air and went to take
a shower.

            So much for their truce.

Liliana's heart lurched in fear as she finally realized what
kind of trouble she had gotten herself into. She wandered into his living area
and took off her sneakers. The cherry wood floor was surprisingly warm beneath
her feet. Plush microfiber was soft as she ran her hand across the arm. She sat
and stretched out on the sofa at a loss. How in the name of the Gods was she
going to get out of this? She closed her eyes for just a moment, she told
herself.

COOL AIR WHIPPED
AROUND HIM, moist and carrying the scent of forest life. Tendrils of sunlight
fought to reach the bottom of the lush canopy of trees. Rugaba strode through
the thick vegetation, his footsteps silent. Movement in his peripheral
confirmed the natives knew he walked through their land. He paused at the
center of the forest, a centuries old tree, the largest one in the forest
loomed, its power intimidating. He watched dispassionately with only a trace of
impatience as two knots on the tree bark opened and blinked at him. Brown eyes,
ringed with the barest trace of gray stared at him warily before mist from the
ground gathered and surrounded the tree. Moments later a form separated from
the tree, joining the mist.

“Rugaba, my lord,
how may I serve you?” The thin, musical voice floated to him.

“Take your form,
Aleah, I need to confer with you.” Rugaba’s gaze flickered to the trees
surrounding them.

The forest held its
breath, the Mina inhabiting the trees hoping to catch a bit of gossip. For a
race of people able to foresee the future, they were obsessive about gossip in
the here and now. They constantly sought validation of their visions, observing
others as lab rats. Rugaba narrowed his eyes and shook his head as the leaves
rustled and shifted with their curiosity.

The mist that was
Aleah firmed into a rail thin body, translucent and pale. Her brown eyes
dominated her thin face, surrounded by thick lashes, blinking lazily. Hair the
color of a stormy day floated around her body, its tendrils sweeping the forest
floor. Her tapered fingers moved nervously through the air, her thin pink lips
moving silently in a spell. Fallen leaves gathered, circled her body at her
command, until they formed a strapless gown, covering her naked form. The
corset like top hugged her slender waist and small breasts, while the rest of
the gown flared around her hips, falling to her ankles.

“If you’ll follow
me, my lord.”

Rugaba inclined his
head in agreement and followed the Mina deeper into the forest. The foliage
became dense, the trees closer together, the gnarled branches lower as they
walked. Almost as if the forest tried to stop their movement. He ducked through
hanging moss and pushed aside wide leaves until they came to a clearing. The
log cabin where she led them was the only structure in the entire realm. Used
as a meeting place, it kept prying eyes and ears from observing their
conversation.

A quick flick of her
wrist opened the door, and released the stale air of the cabin into the forest.

“How may I serve
you, Rugaba?” Aleah’s voice firmed along with her body, gleaming brown skin
covering her translucent form. She sat at a scarred wooden table, and waved him
into one of the hard back chairs.

“War is coming.” He
settled into the narrow chair, eyes scanning the room. The bare walls and floor
made him feel as though they were in a cardboard box. He noticed how the inside
stretched to fit his tall stature.

Aleah shuddered.
“The elders have seen it, and confirmed it with Oya. What do you need from me?”

Rugaba sat silent a
moment. There were many things he needed to know, but this small female could
not answer all. Though she occupied the centuries old tree, the position of
seer had just passed to her some decades ago. He worried she would be too young
to give him the information he needed. But there were few options.

 “Oya has released
the Kokoro souls. Have you seen them?”

Aleah pushed her
hands through her hair. “I have seen them.”

Rugaba swallowed his
frustrated sigh. The Mina would only answer the question he asked, no
elaboration.  Patience was needed in spades when dealing with them. “Are they
active?”

“No.”

Rugaba growled.

Aleah blinked, her
owlish expression not wavering.

He stood and paced
the room. As a sun god, he could create life, he ruled the skies, but he could
only see the future, as he affected it, not before. Even the smallest action
from him could alter the natural course of someone’s fate, so he’d stepped back
from the Demis, gave them over to his councils. The Amanda and the Eminzu
policed them, advised them, and in most cases punished them. He only interacted
when there were problems that affected the world in its entirety. And war,
certainly qualified. Someone was trying to unleash the ultimate evil and though
he couldn’t interfere, he’d make sure the scales were balanced.

 “Who…” he stopped.
She wouldn't give him a name. That he had to find himself. “How soon before one
is active?”

“Soon.”

“What exactly does
that mean?” He ran his hand over his head in frustration. What was soon to
immortal creatures? Soon could be anywhere from a day to a decade.

 “The one prophesied
to change the tide of war has found the one which will influence that decision.
Soon they will mate and shortly after the Kokoro soul will activate.”

“Aleah, I need more
to go on. I cannot help with these half-assed answers.” He stood and paced the
room, rotating his shoulders to push way the trapped feeling.

“My Lord, I can only
answer your questions. I can't interfere any more than you can. We’ve given
you, and anyone else seeking, the prophecy. It’s all we can do.” She was right.
The Minas were the closest to the gods, they were bound by the same rules.

Wait…

Rugaba stopped
mid-stride. “Someone else has asked for the prophecy?”

Her shoulders
slumped in relief. “There have been two who’ve come to us for the prophecy.”

He frowned at her
answer. No longer succinct, it sounded like a warning. Her eyes beseeched him
to understand what she could not use words to say. He lowered his mental
shields, probing her aura for impressions, information. “Who?”

“I can’t give you a
name.” Aleah held up her hand to halt his anger. “It’s because I do not know,
my lord. They didn't come to me.”  Frustration played across her face and
tickled the edge of his senses. The admission was rare, as puzzling and
troubling to her as it was him.

“Who did they see?”

“It’s shrouded.” Her
form wavered, her anxiousness evident. She wiped her brow with shaking hands.
“Much about this war is shrouded. We were given the prophecy, but anything to
do with Ofeeree, is…”

Rugaba nodded.
Hidden. It was how Ofeeree worked. Those who followed him kept his secrets.
“Are those of the Kokoro protected?”

“All three will be
protected, my Lord.”

“By who?”

“Their mates.”

Rugaba frowned.
“Mates? They are female?”

“They are female.”

“All three?”

A small smile tilted
Aleah’s thin mouth. “Yes, my lord.”

“This amuses you?”
Females. It explained the smug expression on Oya’s face as she told him of
their release. Protecting them would be a nightmare.

“Your confusion is
amusing.”

 “Females are
vulnerable, would you rest the fate of the world on their dainty shoulders?”

“Females are the
reason this world is worth fighting for, my lord. I would rest much on our
capable
dainty shoulders.”

He smiled ruefully.
This new seer was a feminist. Who would’ve thought? “Now that I've been put in
my place, I’ll leave.” He ducked under the cabin door and strode back through
the clearing.

For the moment, the
souls of the Kokoro were safe. He’d warn Xavier, and have the Amanda protect
the women as soon as he found out their identities. That was paramount. He
glanced back at the log cabin, an odd sense of unease trickling down his spine.
His head started a dull throb as a vision flashed before his eyes.

He hissed in
impotent anger and rushed back into the cabin.

It was too late, the
Mina’s form wavered as her life force diminished.

“Demis…
helping…searching for his corporal…” The Mina died, her form fading away and
blowing from the cabin on an unseen wind.

“Damn it.” The cabin
was empty, no signs of her killer or how she died. He opened his senses, but
felt nothing. There should have been some trace of the energy left behind.
Great pains were taken to hide the killer’s trail. He knew only one group
capable of hiding their magic. He said a quick prayer for the Mina’s soul,
sending it to Alafia, and left. Earth’s war had started and earned its first
casualty.

***

LEO WRAPPED A TOWEL
AROUND his waist and pulled another out of the closet for his hair. In his
natural form, the midnight black strands reached the middle of his back and
were a pain to dry. He stopped, his apartment was quiet, alarmingly so. He
rushed from the bathroom and his bedroom to find her stretched out on his
sectional, sleep, and completely oblivious to the world. Her beautiful hair
wrapped around her waist like a blanket. Her lush lips were slack, her face
relaxed as she slept.

His heart melted…
just a little. She was gorgeous. He allowed himself a moment to feel pride in
the fact that he'd been given such a beautiful mate, and strong too. He changed
back into his human form, and gathered her in his arms. He could imagine the
weight she'd been holding on her shoulders. The search for her sister couldn’t
have been easy, especially for a noble who was surely coddled her entire life.
Earth was a rough world with its occupants selfish and unforgiving of anything
different. Most Demis only stayed for as long as was needed to replenish their
life force and then they headed back to their own realm. This Haven was located
in Atlanta, the metropolis made it easier for the Demis to blend in with the
humans, but the city had its rough days. He marveled at the strength it
would’ve taken Liliana to survive alone and unprotected. How she escaped the
hunters his brother and the queen sent after her was beyond him. It filled him
with a sense of pride.

He settled her onto
his bed, and crawled in behind her. His body was protesting its lack of sleep.
He'd had maybe four hours of sleep in the last two days, and soon, the
proverbial shit would hit the fan. It would be good to catch a few hours of
sleep before that happened.

            He'd barely closed his
eyes when she moved. His body reacted immediately, burning, a fire of need
centering on his groin, pressing into her back. Liliana wiggled, a drowsy moan
left her lips and he tightened his arm around her waist.

"Unless you are
inviting me inside that hot body of yours, I suggest you quit squirming."
Exhaustion had roughened his voice making it a deep rumble.

Her body tensed.
Fully awake, she kicked her legs, trying to scramble from the bed.

"Rest." He
dragged her struggling body back into his, spooning her. "I haven’t slept
well in a week and since I doubt you're waking for entertainment, I’d much
rather go to sleep."

"Yes, well we
don't have to sleep in the same bed."

"Ah, but I
don't trust you,
Destiny
, so sleep in the same bed we shall."

He laughed at her
frustrated growl, grabbed her hair and draped it over his body, luxuriating in
its silky texture. He burrowed his face into her neck and inhaled. She was
intoxicating. Goosebumps ghosted down his arms as he laid a small kiss to her
neck. Her sigh of pleasure slid past his defenses, and for once the craving he
had was not for sex, but for this small intimate moment. He kissed her neck
again, pleased when her hand lifted to caress his face.

"Stop
that." A weak protest, especially given the way her hips arched into his.

He traced the shell
of her ear with his tongue. He'd heard it could be this way with mates, but
nothing prepared him for the way his body strained to be in hers. Tender
feelings assaulted him, confused him. Only hours ago he was pissed about being
mated and now…he had no idea. He nipped the base of her neck, loosening the
clasp of the gown, pulling a ragged moan from her. Her cheeks heated, her
embarrassment at her reaction evident. A blush traveled the length of her body,
her skin heating under the rush of blood as he moved the gown down her body. As
tempted as he was, he would leave her alone, didn't mean he would allow her to
cover her body from him though.

"Sleep,
darlin’." He covered them with a sheet and tucked her head under his chin.

***

Hours later, he woke
again, this time he found her draped across his body. He opened his eyes in
slits as she lightly ran a hand across his chest. She thought herself
unobserved as she explored his body. Her finger trailed his stomach, moving
lower. He lay there, riveted, her touch shy but no less effective. He grit his
teeth, and fought to keep his body still under her ministrations. She looked up
and he was speared by the lust in her eyes. His hand tangled in her hair and
brought her lips up to his for a kiss that sent fire through his blood.

The mating frenzy
was upon them.

Leo was lost. He
couldn't think of anything sexier than waking up and feeling a woman’s touch
running along his body. Control was out the window as her moans spurred him on.
His mind may not be sold completely on a mating, but his body was one hundred
percent invested.  He deepened their kiss, turning to place her body under his.
Liliana's eyes were dark with lust, the green color deeper than an emerald. She
wrapped her legs around his waist and lifted her hips, urging Leo to take what
he wanted.

Oh Gods, did he
want.

She was pliant
beneath him, her breasts moving with her deep breaths. Unable to resist Leo
leaned down and suckled, rolling the hard pebble around his tongue. It was the
sweetest taste and he was greedy. His hands moved between them, testing her
readiness, she was wet, tight, and hot enough to singe his fingers. He'd be
lost if he didn't slow down, he knew that, but somehow couldn’t get his body to
cooperate. Liliana arched into his hand.