Authors: Killion Slade

Obfuscate (25 page)

BOOK: Obfuscate

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I heard the words, but my heart was rejecting every single one of them. My mind, however, believed in his logic. I
was
afraid of him—or afraid of what Amicula could do to him.

I breathed in a deep breath and stood taller. I stared at him and then everyone else in the hallway. Slowly, I nodded my head and stepped a little out of his embrace. “Yes—yes you’re right. If I’m honest with you, myself, and everyone else, I would never fully trust you again after what you did to me. How can you expect me to?” My forehead knitted together. “There’s no telling what you’re capable of doing now. Why does Amicula always seem to have some kind of control over you? Can she turn you on with a remote?”

He pulled me in closer once again and held me tight to his chest. “Briggs said there’s a flight in a few hours, and if the power keeps going out, this may be my last chance to get back to Stovall. And this can’t wait. I have to find answers so we can be together again.”

The decision had been made. Our eyes locked on one another possibly for the last time, and I so desperately wanted back what had been stolen away.

Without another breath, he whispered, “I’m not going to let this bat-shit crazy woman destroy us.”

Trying to quell the nerves in my stomach, I looked at everyone mirroring the same expression as my own. I looked directly at Sheridan and asked, “Why is it that I have this overwhelming feeling everything we need to know is back on North Sentinel Island?”

She didn’t answer but only shook her head. Her sympathy plumed out from around her filling the hallway with enough emotion for all of us.

Briggs downed the rest of his beer, and in his infinite wisdom he said, “Well, I guess dzere’s only one way to find out.”

“How the hell are we going to do this with terrorists blowing up electrical grids? How much longer can I allow this crazy queen to destroy our lives? Why this—why now?” I tried to calm my words, but something told me that this was just the beginning of the end. “Just when I thought our lives might start to heal and I could find some kind of normalcy again, this had to happen?”

Every single one of us spoke volumes of conversations with our eyes without saying a word. I nodded and it was silently agreed. At that moment, I had no idea when or how, but our return to that horrific island had been decided.

Khaldon had promised me I would never have to go back to North Sentinel again, and that we would never be apart. Both of those promises were broken now. His determination to work out his issues alone made me wonder just how many more promises would be broken before this was all over. Would we be irrevocably torn apart forever?

My heart grew colder by the beat as I watched what modicum of control I had over my life—fade to black.

Epilogue

~ Meanwhile, back in the Amazon ~

“
I
t’s
about time you’ve arrived. Where have you been?” Pouting, Queen Civetateo busily searched through her en suite for what to pack. “Dzis place has been insane without you.”

Aisling O’Cuinn opened up her mouth to speak but was abruptly stopped with a wave of the queen’s hand.

“I don’t want to hear it. Have Antonia pack your bags immediately. We’re heading out to North Sentinel on Dze Andamans Islands. I need you to prepare a portal for traveling.”

Even if she couldn’t talk to her family, Aisling stared at the stone floor already wishing she were back in Montana. Trapped in service to the throne, she was held at the whims of the queen to provide travel and consult in regards to the dhampir army.

“Kalina and Draconis La Rivière have promised me oodles of surprises at our latest blood orchard.” The queen lifted up a pair of high heels against a gold brocade dress. Not satisfied with the contrast, she opted for the sequined heels instead. “It’s become quite profitable now dzat it’s at full capacity. Much better dzan we anticipated. We hit it big time with all the Malaysian
volunteers
.” She held up the other pair of shoes. “What do you dzink of dzese?”

Aisling gave her a big smile, nodded, and presented a thumbs up. They looked hideous with the dress.

“Will Amicula be traveling with us?” Aisling asked more out of planning protection for herself than caring for the queen’s niece. “Do I need to make travel arrangements for anyone else? Any special requests?”

The queen stopped her search through the dressing chamber and slowly turned her head toward Aisling. A queer smile smeared across her face. Her eyes narrowed and her Brazilian accent thickened. “Oh jes, we definitely have a special guest who will be awaiting us on dze island, and I cannot
wait
until you meet her.”

Glossary

In order of appearance

K
uthri - Noun
Hindi

Common curse word in Hindi. A spiteful or unpleasant woman. A bitch.

K
amina - Adjective
Hindi

Common curse word in Hindi. Rascal, a mean person.

R
akshasa
- Noun

In this mythos, the Rakshasa is the East Indian, Hindi version of a vampiric entity. A Rakshasa is a demonic being from
Hindu mythology
. Rakshasas are also called maneaters.

C
yberchondriac
- Noun

Cy·ber·chon·dri·ac sībərˈkändrēak/

A person who compulsively searches the Internet for information on real or imagined symptoms of illness.

T
rabuc
- Noun

A cylinder of tobacco rolled in tobacco leaves for smoking.

Romanian version of the word cigar.
https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabuc

F
eck
- Verb

An Irish word that has fallen into similar usage as fuck, made famous by Father Ted. Of Irish origin, feck is what a lady says when she really wants to say fuck.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=feck

S
hite
-
Noun

The Irish/Scottish equivalent of the word shit. A very British and therefore great way of saying shit. Shite sounds much more effective than shit.

I
ubirea vieții mele
- Romanian words for “The love of my life”

V
răjitoare
-
Romanian word
for witch

T
aarakian
- Noun

Warrior maiden summoned to defeat the Loc Nar. A fictitious character in the movie Heavy Metal in 1981. An adult animated science fiction anthology film.

L
oc-Nar - Noun

The Loc–Nar is the central villain of the 1981 adult animated film
Heavy Metal. A
green glowing sphere which self describes itself as
"the sum of all evils" and melts people upon contact.

m
a chére
-
French word for “My Dear” an endearment said from a man to a woman pertaining to friendship.

j
e t'aim
-
French words for “I Love You”

j
e suis désolé
-
French words for “I am sorry”

W
eres -
Scientific Family Classification

Weres is the familial name to all genus and species of Were creatures.

W
itches - Noun

Witches affirm the existence of supernatural power (as magic) and of both male and female deities who inhere in nature and that emphasizes ritual observance of seasonal and life cycles.

V
ampyre - Scientific Family Classification

The spelling with the “Y” refers to the familial name to all genus and species of Vampyre.

V
ampire
- Noun

Being born or transformed into a living vampire. A human person who consumes human blood to support the vampyric DNA. Depending on their blood dynamics, they can easily ingest food, drink and walk into the sun. They live among humans.

D
raconian - Scientific Family Classification

Draconian is the familial name to all genus and species of dragons.

F
rog Hair - Noun

Sounthernism for something that is very sparse or fine. A figure of speech.

C
inglé
- French word
for “crazy”

G
ráim thú
-
I love you in Gaelic. One of many ways to say this phrase.

W
oobie
- A term
of endearment for a child’s blanket.

References

Locations

N
orth Sentinel Island
- The Andaman Islands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sentinel_Island

W
alt Disney World

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World

Music

“
A
nother One Bites
the Dust”
by
Queen
(1980)
Album: The Game
Label: Elektra

“
H
appy”
by
Pharrel
Williams
(2013)

Soundtrack Album: Despicable Me 2

Label: Columbia - Back Lot Music

“
1
999”
by
Prince

Album: 1999

Label: Warner Bros.

“
T
hree Little Birds
”
by
Bob Marley
(1977)

Also widely know as “Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright”

Album: Single

Label: Tuff Gong

“
C
loser”
by
Nine
Inch Nails
(1994)

Album: The Downward Spiral

Label: Nothing/TVT/Interscope

“
S
hake Your Groove Thing
”
by
Peaches and Herb
(1978)

Album: 2 Hot

Label: Polydor

Videos

M
ontana Citizens Zombie Hack
of the Emergency Broadcast System

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yld0o0nGHJg

C
ups Game with Pitch Perfect with Guns
!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QtM7X0xYN8

T
aarakian Transformation
from
Heavy Metal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmT79zMFh8s

People

J
ulia Child
(August
15,1912 – August 13, 2004)

She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook,
Mastering the Art of French Cooking
, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was
The French Chef
, which premiered in 1963.

A
nnie Oakley
(August 13
, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. Her marksmanship skills first came to light when, at the age of 15, Annie won a shooting match with traveling show marksman Frank E. Butler (whom she married). Oakley became a renowned international star, performing before royalty and heads of state.

M
aster Pai Mei
- Performed by veteran Chinese actor Gordon Liu

As depicted in the film, Pai Mei was a powerful, very old practitioner of the Bak Mei style of kung fu. Pai Mei was the former teacher and master of The Bride, Bill, and Elle, although it is unclear whether he instructed the other members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad in the Kill Bill series.

A
nnie Wilkes
- Is
a character in the 1987 novel Misery, by Stephen King. In the 1990 film adaptation of the novel, Annie Wilkes was portrayed by Kathy Bates, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. This characters ranks sixth most iconic villainess in film history. A nurse by training, she has become one of the stereotypes of the nurse as a torturer and angel of death.

H
annibal Lector
- Dr. Hannibal Lecter
is a character in a series of suspense novels by Thomas Harris. Lecter was introduced in the 1981 thriller novel
Red Dragon
as a forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer.

Companies

N
ational Geographic -
https
://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Channel

C
oca-Cola -
https
://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coca-Cola_Company

U
tilikilt -
https
://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Utilikilts_Company

R
émy Martin -
https
://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9my_Martin

C
heetos -
https
://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetos

L
ife Savers Candy -
https
://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Savers

Movies

M
ust Love Dogs
(2005)

Warner Brothers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Must_Love_Dogs

T
he Matrix
(1999)