Immortal Heat (The Guardians of Dacia Book 1) (31 page)

"What constitutes as necessary? I happen to think going in and saving Draylon was a very good reason." Marilyn held her head up. "If the gods have an issue with it, they can come talk to me."

"Marilyn…you don't want to egg them on. The gods are not always merciful," Nonni warned.

An alarm sounded throughout the building.

"Sonuvabit—" Draylon looked to Rick.

"What is it? Is there a fire?" Marilyn asked.

"Worse," Rick said.

"What do you mean worse?" her mother asked.

"Vamier has just forced his entry into Dacia. We're under attack."

The lights flickered and went out. Only the emergency lights on battery back-up illuminated the darkened hallways of the compound. That wasn't good. Vamier had powered out the facility, which meant his minions were on the prowl.

"Get Marilyn to safety…now," Rick ordered Draylon. "We're going to head underground." They took off, leaving her and Draylon to use the secret passage through the medical area.

But they were too late.

Two vamps entered the corridor, coming at them, fangs drawn and bloody from a recent attack. The hiss and howls of matched enemies in battle rang throughout the hallways and open lobbies.

Marilyn put herself between him and the two blond entities.

Damn you, Marilyn.

I've got this…watch!
She pushed her hand up against the chest of the advancing vamp, but nothing happened.
I don't understand, they usually disintegrate into ash when I touch them.

The demons only threw back their heads and laughed, their eyes blazing an overly jaundiced yellow as the one pushed her arm to the side and continued his assent.

Draylon looked around for something to use.
Marilyn, grab onto the metal railing.

What?
Her inner monologue squeaked in fright.

The metal railing…grab it now.

Marilyn grabbed it just as the vampire lunged at her to take a healthy bite. Instead he sank his teeth into her throat and as usual disintegrated. The other, pissed off at his friend's sudden death attacked in retaliation, and they ended up forever tied to one another in an ashy pile of mixed remains.

The silver metal alloy. The younger ones aren't strong enough to fight its power. Even when their victim is only a conductor. To them it's like touching a live-wire and frying from the inside out,
Draylon explained breathlessly.

Now knowing what they could use and not having any of his weapons on him, he searched the medical supply cabinets. Gauze, tongue depressors, cotton swabs, latex gloves—not a damn useful thing.

"What about these? Would these work?" Marilyn came up behind him with metal restraints used to help patients through mental detox.

"Perfect! Put one on."

He clamped a loose restraint around her wrist like a gruesome bracelet Frankenstein might give to his bride. He gave her a quick kiss.

"Is this an engagement?" she teased.

"Only if we survive."

#

The hallways were littered with bodies of Dacian medical staff, some were even in mid-morphing. Sadly, there was nothing she could do for them. She followed Draylon onward through the corridors.

They managed to take out three more vampires by wearing the silver bracelets. Now she wondered if it had been the silver chain of her necklace that had been her power and not her own ego. Great. All her abilities and she had no real power? That sucked, royally.

The floor beneath them heaved and buckled. Could her day get any shittier? Just what they needed—an earthquake during a Vamier attack.

"We need to get outside," she yelled to Draylon over the din of alarms and the cacophony of screams and howls throughout the building.

"It's not an earthquake—it's the gods, and they are not happy with something," Draylon replied.

Still, they hurried towards the front entrance to be met by her mother, Therron and Kurren.

"Where's Dad?" she asked, calling Rick by his informal name.

"Your father," Diane hissed the word, "felt the need to confront his brother."

"His brother?" It didn't click at first. "Aiden…Aiden's his brother."

"Half brother to be precise," Therron spoke up.

"We need to stop him before it's too late." She followed Draylon to the main door.

They all stood on the front stoop of the portico into the Delvante Gardens.

It was too late.

#

Rick saw the devastation, friends he'd known for centuries lay scattered about the compound and probably further on through Dacia. He knew what this was. He'd been waiting for this moment in time since Zamolxis first spoke of it, but still, it seemed so sudden.

"Aiden!" he called out. His voice echoed unnaturally through the gardens as storms rallied and Dacia shook under foot. He stood near the alter. He would be ready or as ready as he could be during such a drastic time.

"Looking for me, brother?"

The voice spoke behind him. Sacrilege among the Dacians of old. No one, not even the elders or the prophets, not Zamolxis himself came to the alter from behind. Rick held his tongue though.

"You do realize I have the medallion—both parts in fact," Aiden jeered.

"I didn't doubt it. Otherwise you wouldn't have felt so empowered to attack Dacia."

"You came and desecrated my fortress and needlessly killed my people…I only thought it was fair."

"You captured one of my friends, tortured him and left him for dead."

"Your Zmeu was only being used for bait. I would have released him as soon as Marilyn Reddlin returned to become my apprentice."

"Never," Rick spat out as Aiden began to circle him like prey.

"She's special to you. I wonder why? I know she's the daughter of your chief financial officer at Livedel, that was no problem to find out, but what about
her
in general makes her so important to you and a threat if she is within my company?" He stopped, "As Alice said as she fell down the rabbit hole, 'Curiousier and Curiousier.' What is she to you, Rick?"

"It's not what she is to him that should be a concern, Aiden, my love—"

Both men turned to see the alter once again desecrated by another form coming into the circle from the wrong direction. Nonni stood there hunched over at first, but her voice had taken on a youthful tone. Her body began to straighten and her girth thinned. Her peasant clothing turned into gossamer, nearly translucent, petals of material. Like a Grecian goddess she stood there before them, tall, pale and as beautiful as she had once been.

"Sariana," both men whispered, one in awe and one in hatred.

"That was one of my names. But I am also known as Zamrana…the daughter of Zamolxis."

She stepped forward and studied the two brothers, sizing them up. "Trust me, I had no love for the idea either, but I
am
the daughter of a god." She shrugged and snorted. "You think you have it bad?"

"Marilyn Reddlin is Rick's biological daughter, Aiden." She held up her hand to stop the words from his mouth. "I know…infertile. But it was time, as time has ordained. Rick had no more clue twenty-five years ago than you do right now." She went over and sat on one of the concrete benches.

The goddess's gaze at Rick had him sweating. Her eyes narrowed. Standing, she walked over and stood in front of him.

"And you." She tapped his cheek in a light slap. "You think Marilyn is all your doing?" She threw back her head. "Ha!" Sariana looked back at him under those sultry, gypsy lashes. "You sent me away after I came searching for sanctuary from this idiot." She cocked her head in Aiden's direction. "You wanted nothing to do with me after all the trouble I'd caused, the annihilation of the very species that kept you all safe in battle, the species the gods had gifted your people as a blessing.

"It was all a great plan of the gods. It was a test…I was a test. Could anything cause the greatest race of people to destroy themselves? A simple woman from a privileged home, selected to be the mate of the leader of the Zmei. But there was a twist. Seduce the son of the leading chieftain of the Dacians and see how he responds. If he is a true leader he will understand his lover's need to become the bride of the Zmei, if not…" She shrugged.

"My father knew the outcome. That is why I was sent. I became pregnant with my Zmei mate's heir and managed to keep it with me through the battle and my exile from Dacia. Though no longer Zmei, my child maintained the DNA of the honored ones, and while raised among mortals, passed the gene on each generation until the time was right."

"Marilyn…"

"No. Diane is my offspring. She contained the very seed that you impregnated. Twenty-five years later, the child's true self is revealed…Marilyn is the last mate of the Zmei."

"What will happen?" Rick asked. The world wouldn't be able to handle a rebirth of the Zmei clan.

"That is up to what happens in the next few moments."

"Nothing as far as I'm concerned," Aiden called out as he made his way around to the special pedestal in the center of the garden. "There will not be a future for the Zmei because I will rule Dacia and the ancient ways will be destroyed."

Rick went to stop him, but Sariana stayed him with her hand.

Aiden placed the two pieces of medallion together in the center of the pedestal where centuries ago it had been one. Nothing happened. The earth still shook, the winds and rains still howled around them, lightening flashed over the valley in the distance.

Aiden looked around in confusion, but Rick and Sariana stood perfectly still as if they'd been expecting this. Fellow Dacians began to emerge from the compound to avoid the possible collapse of the building.

The sunlight which was supposed to rise remained hidden behind clouds as dark as night.

"Well, Derzelas is definitely pissed." Sariana sighed.

"What's going on?" Diane stepped forward.

"Wait…wait…he's coming," the goddess instructed with assurance. An old man emerged from the surrounding darkness. He looked as old as Methuselah, dressed in the furs and simple linens of the ancient Dacians.

"Zamolxis." Aiden breathed in awe and shock.

He was smiling broadly until he came upon Aiden standing near the medallion's podium.

"Rick," he started, "you were supposed to be the one to place the medallions together."

Rick bowed low. "I know, my lord. But there has been a change."

"You are giving up the lands and title to your brother?"

Rick shrugged. "It is his birthright after all." He waved his hands around and looked at Aiden. "All of this is now your domain, Aiden. Just like you always wanted. Dacia is now yours." He bowed to his brother.

Aiden glowed, and Zamolxis shook his head in wonder. "Well, now that I've managed to be released by Bendis, she's not going to be happy with whoever set me free."

"What do you mean?" Aiden asked, his smile slowly diminishing.

"Well, she's probably going to deny you her light and power for one thing, maybe…maybe not. She's fickle, but then most goddesses are." Zamolxis walked over to his daughter. "So are you finished with your little experiment of living the mortal life, my daughter?"

Sariana stood up and gave her father a sweet peck on the cheek. "Yes father. It has been a long time."

"Time is irrelevant to us my dear."

"Yes it is," she turned from her father back to Aiden. "Oh, and one more thing…" Sariana waved the crew watching from the steps on over. "Now that the medallion is back together, so is Dacia." Zamolxis stepped closer, too. "Now it is yours to oversee, Aiden. But at a cost. You may not leave the portal to attend to your affairs. And to make sure things are as they should be, we now have the new generations of Zmei to keep watch over your ruling."

Draylon and Marilyn stood together and suddenly morphed into their Zmeu forms with a wave of Zamolxis hand. They took off in flight, screeching their arrival to all of Dacia, representing their place in the land they'd originated from.

The Dacians, and even some of the remaining vamps, ooohed and ahhed over the fictional beasts. They came in for a landing, the black beast easing gracefully into the gardens to stand beside the goddess, but the smaller, scarlet one had a little trouble with finesse and took out the rose trellis and the water nymph on the fountain. Rick winced at his daughter's lack of skill in front of the god.

"These are the Zmei I am sending to watch over Dacia. They will make sure you are treating your subjects honorably and with respect as they help to rebuild the clans," Zamolxis ordained.

"What about my people?" Aiden asked.

"You mean the vampires? Oh they will still be around—unfortunately, the majority are on the outside of Dacia though, except for the few who survived with you this night. They will have to learn to fend for themselves now. If you have true feelings for your fellow vamps, you might look to Rick to help you guide them and help them to adapt and live among the mortals in the real world."