Revelations (Bloodline Series) (27 page)

Ballantine
had been right to warn me about the different creatures I would see. Some of
the races were beautiful in appearance; I’d even go as far as to say they
looked divine. Others were not so easy on the eye; in fact, they were damn
creepy. I was certain I’d end up having nightmares about some of them. Every
time I closed my eyes I could see their faces, their rotting flesh,
skeleton-like noses, and crooked smiles. I tried to put them out of my mind,
but when I wasn’t thinking about them, I was thinking about my friends. Tears
ran down my cheeks, and my heart started to ache.

There
was a knock at the door and a moment later Ballantine walked in. I wiped my
eyes quickly, but it was too late, he’d already noticed.

“You
don’t have to hide your emotions from me, Keira. I’m not heartless; I know you’re
hurting.” He shut the door and sat on the end of the bed. “The more you let it
out, the better you will feel.”

I
nodded silently.

“Now
listen, I’ve changed my mind out sending you out tomorrow. I should never have
suggested it.”

“Why?”

“Look
at you, you’re broken hearted. What sort of man would I be if I were to send
you out like this? Lucifer will no doubt be watching things very closely now,
especially since he will want to know where you are. You may now possibly be
his main target.”

“Wonderful,”
I sighed.

“You
need a couple of days to adjust. I would give you longer if I could, but I’m
sure you’ll understand that we need to move quickly. Take some time to yourself
and then try to get to know some of the others here.”

“They
all looked at me like I’d crawled from underneath something. I don’t think any
of them will wish to be friends with me, and if I’m honest with you, I don’t
care for their friendship anyway.”

“You
should
care; it may even make you feel better.”

“I
sincerely doubt that.”

“Well,
ultimately the decision is yours. You can come and speak with me anytime you
wish, and I’m sure Mason wouldn’t mind you talking to him.”

“He
seems okay. I might catch up with him tomorrow.”

“Well,
for now I’ll leave you. Get some rest if you can.”

“So
you’re not attacking anywhere tomorrow?”

“No.
I don’t think it’s wise.”

“I
agree.”

“Plus,
like I said, Lucifer will be watching out for you. If I send you out he will
most likely know about it instantaneously, and will then send your friends to
stop you. I don’t think it’s fair to make you face them within twenty-four
hours of leaving them.”

“It
doesn’t matter how long you wait, it’s going to be hard. I appreciate you not
sending me tomorrow, but I think we should get this over and done with as soon
as possible. It will never become easier, and the longer I wait the more
nervous and upset I’ll become.”

“Well,
tomorrow we take it easy for a while; then I’ll show you where we’ll be
targeting next. Have an early night tomorrow…the next day I will send you out.”

“Okay.”
I nodded, watching him walk out of the room.

I
turned to face the wall and tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. I spent hours
crying, curled up in a ball with the bed sheets wrapped around me, doubting
myself, Ballantine, everything. I was pining for Eligos and gazing at my
engagement ring; I so desperately wanted him there with me, to hold me and tell
me everything was okay. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep.

When
I woke the following morning, I was rather frightened of getting out of bed. I
didn’t know where to go, where Ballantine or Mason would be, or who to talk to.
It also dawned on me that I had no fresh clothes to wear.

Thankfully,
I didn’t have to worry about that for too long. There was a tapping on the door,
and then a young girl walked in. She was small—only about five feet tall—human,
and appeared to be around twenty years old with long, straight red hair.

“Hi
Keira, my name is Tina. Ballantine told me to bring you these,” she said,
handing me several pairs of jeans, tops, and underwear. “It’s not like you had
time to pack, is it?” she smiled.

“Thank
you.”

“How
are you?”

“I’ll
be okay.”

“I’m
glad you’ve joined us. Ballantine spoke about you a lot. He really wanted you
here,” she said, sitting on the bed beside me. “He said he hoped you would
understand why he was doing all this, and maybe even agree. The day you said
you would join him he came back here in a wonderful mood. He told everyone the
news, and while he was ecstatic over it, some of the people here weren’t too
happy, but
I
was. I’d heard so much about you and I desperately wanted
to meet you.”

“I
didn’t know he’d spoken so much about me. I’m nothing special; I—”

“You’re
the princess of Hell, of course you are special! You’re strong, awesomely
strong, and we’re so lucky to have you.”

“So
you’re one of the few who are actually going to speak to me, then?”

“Oh
yes. I would really like us to become friends. I know you have just left your
closest friends, and that it must sadden you greatly. But you can talk to me
about them if it helps. I like learning about people. Also, I think we may have
a few things in common.”

“Like
what?”

“Get
dressed, I’ll wait outside. We can get some breakfast and go for a walk…and a
chat if you like.”

I
got dressed and pulled my hair up into a ponytail before making my way out into
the hallway. Tina was standing against the wall with her arms folded across her
chest, waiting for me. She smiled and led me into a large room at the end of
the hallway. People were sitting at tables, eating and talking. As soon as they
saw me the room turned silent.

“Oh,
just ignore them Keira,” Tina said, very loudly. “They’re being pathetic. Every
one of them was the newbie once; they will have felt how you feel now. People
didn’t shun
them
though. They were accepted and made to feel welcome. So
you know what? Stuff them. If they can’t treat you decently and welcome you,
don’t waste your time or energy on them.”

I
didn’t know what to say, so I just kept my mouth shut and followed her to a
long table covered with food. We took a few things and helped ourselves to some
kind of fruit juice, then she led me outside. The heat hit me as soon as we
walked out of the building. Thankfully, it wasn’t a sickly heat, but more dry
and tolerable. We sat in the shade under a nearby tree and I had a good look
around. The sky was perfectly clear, and instead of there being one sun like
there was on Earth, there were two.

“Beautiful,
isn’t it?” she smiled.

“Absolutely.”

“I
love it here…it’s such a shame we have to leave in a couple of days. You just
get used to a place and then you have to move again. But I guess it’s worth it.”

“Why
did you join Ballantine?”

“If
I tell you, you have to promise me you won’t judge me.”

“I
won’t.”

“My
family were assholes, and
that
is putting it mildly. My little sister
and I were raised by our aunt and uncle. My parents and grandparents were
drugged up liars and thieves. They made our lives a misery, constantly
demanding money, turning up at my aunt’s house and trying to kidnap us. God
only knows what they would have done to us. One night when my aunt was out at
work and my uncle had gone to the local convenience store, my parents broke
into the house and tried to take my sister, Ella, and me. I was seventeen at
the time and she was only eleven. I panicked...I ran upstairs, dragging Ella
behind me, and straight into our uncle’s study. I pulled his gun out of his
drawer and shot them both, then I watched them die in agony. I felt no remorse
or sadness, only relief and happiness. Of course, my punishment for that was to
rot in Hell. I lost my sister and the only two people who ever really loved us.
I came to Ballantine so that I may be able to see them again. They are in Heaven,
so without him, it would be impossible.”

“How
did you die?”

“I
was in a car accident when I was thirty-nine. A drunk driver hit us…by us I
mean Ella and I. We were on our way home from the movies. We went out together
every Saturday night.”

“Do
you have kids?”

“Yes,
they are being looked after by my husband. Ella didn’t have children; she was
engaged, and she wanted them, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be. Our aunt and uncle
died years before, so at least she won’t be alone...like me.”

“I’m
sure she will be happy to see you once all this is over…well, I’m sure
all
of them will.”

“I
hope so. I still get to see my children. I pay regular visits to the house and
watch them, but obviously I can’t talk to them. But one day...one day I will.”
She tried to smile, but I could see she was getting emotional.

“You
look so young,” I said, trying to change the subject.

“I
know; great, isn’t it?”

“How
long did you spend in the pits?”

“I
was only in a there a week. Apparently they could understand why I’d killed
them, but I still had to be punished. That kinda bugs me, ya know. I mean,
Ballantine killed people, but he still got to go to Heaven. So why couldn’t I?”

“I
wish I knew. I don’t understand how it all works.”

“Hmm.
Well, no point dwelling on things…best to move forward. We all have things to
look forward to. The killing people part sucks, especially so many of them, but
I’m sure they will all thank us in the end. Anyway, what made you decide to
join us?”

I
went on to tell her how I would have to reside in Hell and never see my family
again. She understood me completely, and agreed that it wasn’t fair to any of
us. She had the same thoughts and views on things as I did.

We
were having a rather good talk when I suddenly began to feel dizzy, and everything
started to spin. I could hear Tina saying my name over and over, but she
sounded distant. The next minute I could see Marley sitting on her bed with her
fingers on her temples. Beth, Lucian, Tyler, and Lily stood around her.

“
Keira,
I know you can hear me, I know you can see me. I can feel you...where are you? Please
come home
,” Marley said, her eyes still closed. She was in my head, trying
to search my thoughts and get a fix on my location.

“No,
get out!” I screamed, trying my damnedest to fight her.

“
Tell
me where you are
!”

“Get
out!”

“Keira!
Keira!” I could hear Ballantine saying.

“
I
see him Keira…this is all his fault
!” Marley continued. “
Tell him we’re
going to kill him
!”

“You’ll
have to get past me first,” I retorted, trying to force her out of my mind.

“Keira,
look at me,” Ballantine almost shouted, putting his hand under my chin and
raising my head so he could look me in the eyes. I couldn’t see him properly…his
face was just a blur. “Keira, look at me!” he said again.

I
couldn’t focus on him; I could still see Marley and the others. Lucian was
shouting something, but I couldn’t hear him, I could only see his lips moving.
Then Marley’s eyes flew open, and she started screaming—the sound pierced right
through me—and I couldn’t see them anymore, Ballantine was kneeling in front of
me, looking deeply into my eyes.

“What
have you done to her?” I screamed, lunging at him. He fell backwards and I was
now sitting over him, my eyes glowing red. “I swear to God if you’ve hurt her I’ll—”

“She’s
fine…I just pushed her out of your head. Relax Keira, I haven’t hurt her.”

I
was breathing rapidly, and my head started to hurt. I rolled off him onto the
ground, gripping my head and moaning loudly. I had to close my eyes…I couldn’t
stand the sunlight anymore.

“Come
on, you need to rest,” I heard Ballantine say. Then I felt him gather me in his
arms and start walking.

Chapter 34

Power
of the Mind

Hecate’s
Story

Everyone
was asleep in various rooms around the house; exhaustion had finally kicked in.
Only Danny and I remained alert. I knew none of them would
want
to be
sleeping now, but I didn’t want to wake them. At least while they were sleeping
they could escape the reality of what was truly going on in their lives. For a
short amount of time, they would be at peace instead of full of anger, upset,
and torment. Keira’s revelation, her betrayal, was a shock to all and completely
unforeseen. I didn’t know how to react. I just knew I had to be strong for
everyone and comfort them where I could.

Danny
was completely heartbroken and confused. He also looked exhausted, but refused
to try and get some rest. He said his mind was racing and he couldn’t relax no
matter how hard he tried, so he took to chain smoking in the gardens. I wished
there was something I could do for him. I even contemplated putting a spell on
him to force him to sleep, but I knew he wouldn’t take kindly to it and
probably wouldn’t forgive me for it. I couldn’t stand feeling so useless, so I
went upstairs and lay on the bed in one of the spare rooms.