Sacrifice of the Septimus: Part 1 (Afterlife saga Book 7) (6 page)

It wasn’t something we wanted to control… it was something we
needed
to set free. I wondered at that moment how many people had also experienced this and hoping to the Gods that the answer was going to be eventually everyone. This wasn’t a feeling that waged wars or encouraged violent acts against others. It was so much more powerful than that of anger or greed, hatred or even jealousy. The proof in this had come from the eyes of a stranger, eyes I had run away from in Ranka. Love could drive a person to do the impossible, and Draven and I were the proof of that...time and time again.

But there was also proof of what else love could create and it meant the continuation of mankind. Which brought me back to when Draven said I had every part of him. That wasn’t true.

I didn’t have his child.

And what’s more I didn’t even know if I could or ever would? But why now? What had snapped inside me to make me want it now and not think of it before? I didn’t have the answer only a theory that our love had grown even greater in that one moment, tipping our history and changing it once again.

As now I had changed forever by…

Wanting his baby.

The second the thought entered my mind Draven froze and so I did the same. I don’t think either of us knew what to do next but hold our breaths and wait for the other to say something first. In the end it was Draven that broke the silence with a staggered,

“Keira I…” Just the way he said it I knew. I sucked in my bottom lip to stop it quivering and slowly lifted myself off him.

“Keira?”

“It’s fine, Draven.” I said trying to lock down my disappointment. I moved away from him, trying to get to the bathroom when he grabbed my hand. He didn’t say anything so I looked back at him, which was when he finally spoke, 

“I don’t have that piece of me to give,” he told me sadly. I nodded and said,

“I know.” Then I slid off the bed, grabbed my dressing gown and slipped it up my arms and over my bare shoulders. By the time I knotted the tie I knew I couldn’t just walk away now and let him feel bad for something he obviously had no control over. So with my back still to him I asked the burning question, turning my head to the side,

“But if you could?” I waited longer than I thought I would have to and sighed in relief when I felt him pull me to face him. He was knelt on the edge of the bed putting us at the same height and putting his hands either side of my waist, he looked deep into my eyes, holding me there.

“In a heartbeat.” His answer didn’t relieve me of the devastating realisation that I would never be a mother but it did at least thaw the chill that had surrounded my heart for what I hoped was a short time. I didn’t want to dwell on disappointments I had no control over and the last thing I wanted was to make Draven feel bad about them either. If he told me it couldn’t be done, then I had to believe in that for anything else would just get my hopes up when the only place for them to go next was down. So instead of crying and opening the door to pity I gave him what he deserved and said,

“Then that’s good enough for me.” Then I kissed him on the forehead and left him to go and clean myself up. I grabbed my discarded clothes from the floor, feeling cold for some reason. Once in the bathroom however I not only felt cold but lost in a mix of feelings I couldn’t make sense of. I found myself holding on to the sides of the basin and looking at myself in the mirror as if searching for something…or someone.

“If this is to be my sacrifice for having Draven, then so be it.”
I whispered to the only person listening, or so I thought. I don’t know at which point I started to realise it was her and not me but it wasn’t that long before my lips started to move in my reflection. No sound came out but I had no trouble reading her message in the lips I knew.

“But what if you could have both?”
I frowned and shook my head a little as one does when they’re not sure if what they were seeing was real.

“Both?” I asked getting closer to her and bending with my waist digging into the sink. She just nodded in a slow eerie way that no longer looked like me.

“But how?” I pushed after looking both left and right to check I was still alone but when I looked back the mirror was clouded. I straightened up and was about to forget myself and shout, ‘Tell me!’ but in the end I didn’t need to as the mist started to drip into simple words,

‘Find the Oracle’

Chapter 6

Finding Sunshine

By the time I walked back into the room I was surprised to find Draven sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. I noted that he too was dressed, only this time in jeans and a grey t shirt that bunched up around his muscles due to the position he held himself in.  As soon as he heard my return he looked up, pushing all his hair back with his hands.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, knowing I was the cause of this.

“Come here,” he ordered softly. My bare footed steps were the only sound in the room as you could have heard a pin drop and cut the air with a knife. By the time I got close enough I was damning my baby thoughts and fantasies, chastising myself for making him feel this way. When I was only an arm’s length away he snagged me around the waist and pulled me the rest. Then he leant his head to my belly and just held me still for a few quiet moments.

“I wish this was something I could give you.” I closed my eyes against the hurt I had caused.

“Draven it’s okay, I understand…”

“No you don’t,” he said cutting me off and quickly looking up at me from my stomach. I tried to decipher what I saw there and what emotion I was finding in Draven’s dark eyes, unusually with no purple in sight.

“I didn’t want to do this now.”

“Draven you’re starting to scare me.” I told him as it was the truth because it felt as if I was about to hear a confession…his confession. I didn’t know if I could do this now as nothing could prepare me for what he could possibly say and after all this time apart, well let’s just say that in moments like this your mind can be your own worst enemy. But instead of stopping this, like maybe I should have done, I knew it was one of those now or never gigs and this was my only
now.
So I placed a hand on his shoulder trying to stop it from shaking.

“I should have told you this a while ago but…” He paused and suddenly I couldn’t stand it. It was as though now I had made the decision to see this through and hear him out I just wanted it done with. So I pushed, 

“But?” His eyes met mine and he said honestly,

“I couldn’t find the words or a time I ever wanted to try and find them.”

“You didn’t want to tell me?” I tried not to wince as the hurt seeped in that there was something he was keeping from me and judging by his reluctance, it had been for a while.

“No,
never.”
I let him go and took a step back putting some distance between us. I had been right… it was a now or never time. 

He sat up and I folded my arms waiting for what I knew must be something huge and I could only hope not as heart-breaking as I most feared.

“Why?” I had to ask him but quickly wished that I hadn’t when receiving his answer.

“Because I know you.”

“Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?” I couldn’t believe that he had said that to me. I could feel my heart pounding out a beat of defeat and I could barely hold it together. Did he really mean that he couldn’t trust my reaction to what he was about to say? And if that was the case then it was something even worse than I could ever have imagined.

“Not as bad as it will once you know what I have kept from you,” he admitted. I sucked in a sharp breath of bewilderment, taking another step back away from him. I even shook my head slightly as if trying to rid myself of the dark cloud that was starting to surround me. I had to take a minute before forcing myself to say, 

“Tell me.” This time it was my order and there was nothing soft about it. He took a deep breath and I was startled when I heard the door click as the lock slid into place. My head snapped towards the door and then back to Draven for answers, who just shrugged his shoulders.

“Why did you lock the door, Draven?” I demanded in a surprisingly eerie calm voice.

“To stop you from what it is you do best when hearing something you don’t want to.” This made me angry. How dare he!

“Are you saying I run away all the time?”

“Keira, not long ago you ran from a room full of people for reasons you would prefer to keep to yourself.” I hated that he was right and could hold that over me.

“I am no fool and it is not hard to spot the difference,” he added and I looked away, hating that what started out a perfect moment was turning into this and all for what? Because of Ranka’s return or because of a fleeting moment I was human enough to wish for a child by the man I loved? I was unsure what exactly had started this but I could take no more, so I snapped.

“Draven just tell me!”

“I am sorry Keira but the Oracle told me…”

“AAAHHHH!” I screamed as the door burst from its hinges and I turned just as it flew through the air, smashing through the room and destroying anything in its path. Suddenly I was behind Draven, being protected by his large frame, ready for the fight he obviously was expecting.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Draven roared as a figure emerged through the broken door frame, stepping over the broken stone he caused. 

“Seth?”
I uttered his name in astonishment as soon as he came into view. 

“Where is she!?”

“Pure Blood.”
Draven’s demon snarled.

“Christ, not this again.” I said not fully understanding why…or did I? I was quickly being overwhelmed by the strangest sense of Déjà vu again, as it was like this exact scene had already played out before. Only it wasn’t here, it was somewhere bigger…much bigger…

“Afterlife”
I whispered to myself and before I could think about what I was doing I found myself standing in between them.

“STOP!” I shouted and Seth took one look at me and did as I told him, stopping dead in his tracks. I felt Draven’s hand clasp my arm to hold me back, which grated on me more that it probably should considering he was only trying to keep me safe.

“That was for you as well!” I told him through gritted teeth before yanking my arm away from him. Okay so it was safe to say that I was still pissed off with him, but instead of adding more fuel to an inferno, I decided to focus my attention on the skeletal demon that obviously had a hard on for breaking down doors! 

“Now before I have to deal with your demon bullshit like last time, you
will
explain why you think it acceptable to come into my home and break down my fucking door…
again!”
I said in a voice I hardly recognised as I let the anger surge through my veins like my blood was so hot it scorched my insides. Actually I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had told me I was glowing crimson right now, especially with the way Seth was taking a step back from me.

Surprising myself with the realisation that I sounded like Draven, should have been enough to calm me down but no such luck. Even Draven tried his best to control the situation, no doubt fearing what happened last time, 

“Calm yourself love, he is no threat…are you Pure Blood?” Draven said in what I should have found a soothing voice behind me.

“I wouldn’t touch me, Draven!” I snapped, warning him just before his hands met my shoulders. In the back of my mind I was wondering how I even knew what he was doing behind my back when I couldn’t see him. It just seemed like my senses were over sensitised and I became completely aware of everything around me. I could have heard someone whispering down the hall if I wanted to or smell the metallic scent coming from a single drop of blood in the next room. But I didn’t understand any of it. I didn’t understand how I got to this point with my powers, as if they had been given a kick start from someone.  

“Alright, Keira,”
he whispered in defeat and another side of me, that seemed locked away started to feel bad for what I had said.

“The King is right. I mean you no harm, child.” Seth said peacefully and I actually growled.

“Child?” 

“I mean no disrespect.”

“And what about when you are charging in here ready to fight my husband again? How about then, Seth?” I asked taking a step forward and this was when Draven thought it best he intervened.

“Alright my little warrior, that’s quite enough,” he said sternly holding me back this time, despite my warnings. I whipped round to face him, something inside me biting at the heels to accept his challenge but the second I saw his eyes flash purple, something in me gave way and let go. All the negative energy around me evaporated, sinking away into some dark place in my mind I couldn’t touch, leaving me whole again. My tensed muscles relaxed and I would have slumped to the floor if it hadn’t been for Draven holding me upright.

“Are you alright?”
he whispered as if he understood the affect he would have on me and I nodded feeling ashamed of losing it that way.

“RJ is missing again.” Seth blurted out.

“What?!”

“When?” Draven and I both asked our own questions at the same time but only one of us sounded calm and it wasn’t me. 

“I left in search of her brother but found nothing. So upon my return I went to her home and found her gone.”

“Jesus.” I muttered and received dirty looks from both of them.

“Really, you’re going to scold me now?” I said giving them both back their dirty looks.

“What did her mother say?” I asked knowing they didn’t particularly have a great relationship at the best of times and now Jack wasn’t there to stick up for her, I could only imagine what she must be going through. I had tried to ring RJ to talk a few times only to receive her voice mail. Even then I hadn’t really known what I was going to say but needed to check that she was at least okay. Well now I was wishing I had tried harder.

“That waste of a Vessel told me nothing useful, just that she came home to find her daughter missing along with her stuff. Then she mistakenly told me good riddance.” He snarled, his face flashing into a translucent skull, flickering just above his handsome face. I had a feeling this wasn’t the only thing her mother said as she probably finished by pleading for her life.

“Did you hurt the mortal?” Draven asked obviously thinking the same thing.

“I left her alive if that is what you mean.” He gritted out in defiance.

“Pure Blood.” Draven said in warning, causing Seth’s demon to flicker once more.

“I have a name,
Royal Blood.”

“Alright kids, let’s reel in the egos and focus. Seth did she leave you a note or anything?” He shook his head to indicate no, so I asked another question.

“And her mother gave you nothing…even after…” I rolled my hand up and down trying to think of how to say it.

“You mean after I showed her what nightmares are made of?” Draven growled but we both ignored him and after swallowing hard I said,

“Yes…umm… after that?” He took a deep breath as if something was calming him and I had to wonder if it was the fact that instead of being berserker happy and bat shit psycho, breaking down doors, I was trying to be productive and find her.

“All she mentioned was a name I didn’t know.”

“What was the name?” Draven asked just before I could.

“Izzy Carter.”

“Fuck!” Draven swore, turning away from us both as he obviously knew more than me or Seth.

“You know her?” I asked just as Seth took a step forward only seeing me he deliberately gave me a wide berth. Had our last encounter affected him that much?

“It’s not a her, it’s a he and a degenerate one at that.”

“Who is he?” Seth demanded standing in front of Draven in his usual challenging way that thankfully Draven chose to ignore.

“He’s a well-known dealer.” I gasped in shock and shook my head in disbelief.

“No…”

“Keira it is possible that…”

“No, I am telling you she wouldn’t do that.” I was adamant I was right but really how could I be so sure. She had been kept as a prisoner, nearly died in a fire and then found out her brother could be dead. We hadn’t told her that, saying he was only missing but she must suspect that it could be the case. And I had no clue what was going on between her and Seth but all that aside and just dealing with what she now knew about the hidden world around her and the war she had been unknowingly dropped into, was enough to drive the strongest of us over that dangerous edge. I knew this more than most and it seemed I had been groomed for such a thing since I was seven.

“I have never heard of him,” I said, not that it made much difference.

“And I should hope not. He was kicked out of my club a few years ago for trying to sell his product, with a warning.” Oh I’ll bet I thought, knowing the exact type of warning Draven was talking about.

“The warning wasn’t just for your club was it?”

“No. I threatened that if he wasn’t out of my town by the time the sun came up then he would never see the sun again.” Well that should have done it but what can I say, after time some people just grow more foolish than wiser.

“Well he’s obviously back now. Do you know where else he used to deal?” I asked walking over to my jacket and fishing out my phone.

“There was a bar near the campus that he was associated with.”

“Wait, not…'Willy’s One Eyed Joe'?”