Sacrifice of the Septimus: Part 2 (Afterlife saga Book 7) Read online

  “Now, Saphira!” Draven reiterated in one of those ‘do as I say’ tones. She rolled her eyes like a spoilt child before leaving on a huff. Draven turned back to me once the door slammed shut and released a heavy sigh.

  “I must leave you,” he told me and I could tell not only by his voice but also the way he held on to me that he didn’t want to follow through with his words.

  “That’s alright, I can just…”

  “No!” he shouted, stopping me from slipping out from his hold. Then he closed his eyes for a moment as though he felt pain before he said,

  “I want you to stay here.”

  “Why?” I asked causing him to look down at me once more.

  “Because that way I know you will be safe and that I will also have you waiting for me in my bed for when I get back. That way my meeting will no doubt go much quicker.” I couldn’t help but smile at not just the compliment he gave me or even the obvious concern he showed but also the slightest hint of a sense of humour. I was so touched by the gesture that I braved raising my hand to his cheek and running my fingers down his bearded face before reassuring him.

  “I will stay.” He looked so touched by the gesture that it was easy to see his surprise. He took my hand in his before I let it fall away from his face and he raised it up to his lips to kiss. Then without warning he lifted me up in his arms and started to carry me back to his bed of furs. He lay me down gently as though I was easily damaged and ran his fingers across my bruised ribs proving that yes, to him I guess that was true.

  “I wish I could have punished them myself,” he told me in a thick voice that spoke volumes of his displeasure and the underlying anger that burned there. I covered his hand to draw his attention elsewhere and pulled it from my ribs up to my lips as he had done. I kissed him lightly on the palm and heard myself say,

  “There is nothing to be done about the past.” Straight after this I wanted to laugh aloud at my words as they didn’t feel like my own. In fact, they felt like poison as I don’t think being a person who has travelled back in time in order to change the future could be any more of a hypocrite.

  “Maybe not, but there is much to be done about the future and with you laid upon my bed like the goddess you are, then there are many plans to be made in my mind about what I will soon do with this beautiful body of yours,” he said softly, making me blush as he ran his fingers around my breasts and up to my sensitive nipples that quickly pebbled under his slight touch. I closed my eyes and moaned, once more so close to begging him to stay and show me these plans.

  “I could easily become addicted to those little moans of yours but even more so to your taste.” He said this at the same time he snaked a hand down my belly before dipping his fingers down in between my legs. I cried out and arched off the bed as I felt him swipe a finger through my wet opening and up against my sensitive clit.

  “Mmm, not just the beauty of a Goddess but also one blessing me with nectar from the Gods,” he said after putting his finger in his mouth and sucking my juices off it. I felt my cheeks burn and he smirked down at me knowing my embarrassment.

  “I look forward to drinking from the source, my Nāzanin,” he whispered down against my heated cheek and I wanted to ask what he meant by that name, one I had heard him call me once before but again I was too overwhelmed by his sexual words and what they obviously did to me.

  “But what is this?” he said turning his head and focusing on the top of my arm. But before I had time to question what he was referring to I felt him lick across my arm expectantly. Then he looked to my other arm to find the same red markings I had made earlier to help me find my way out of the harem. He pulled back to look at me and what I found in his stare could only be described as…admiration?

  “What a clever little Lamb you are, I had wondered how you found your way so far from the flock. And you call me dangerous.” I frowned up at him and asked,

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like I said, you are the dangerous one, for with a body and mind like yours combined you would certainly make a king a formidable queen and no doubt be a force to be reckoned with…but by the Gods what fun that king would have.” I couldn’t help but bite my lip at his words and how playful he could be when teasing me. He growled when he saw what I was doing and said,

  “I warned you.” Then without another word he was quickly kissing me again but this time he started by sucking in my bottom lip and biting it for himself. Now this really did make me moan and soon without thinking about it my legs were wrapped around his waist and I was once again close to begging him to enter me.

  “By the Gods woman!” he shouted suddenly, pulling himself back and panting like a wild animal after the kill.

  “Did I do something wrong?” I asked timidly, wondering if this wasn’t the way to behave for a woman of his time.

  “Something wrong…what with your exquisite body all hot and slick ready to take my ready cock and clamp it tight like you never want to let go…answer me little one, does there sound anything wrong about the image I create?” I shook my head unable to speak after hearing his erotic and deliciously crude description.

  “The only thing wrong with it is time and the length of which I will have to wait until I can bury myself in your wet sheath…and I warn you again my sweet one, once there I will be in no hurry to leave such a treasure unguarded.” Okay so I had to say that I certainly liked the sound of that as just hearing his dirty words and I was close to exploding and he had barely touched me down there.

  “I wish you didn’t have to leave,” I said honestly, glad that I did if the pleasure on his face from hearing it was anything to go by.

  “No more than I, sweet girl,” he replied running his hands down my sides, spanning most of my torso and grazing his thumbs along the sides of my breasts. The action was so dominating, as if proving what he could do to such a body with a pair of large hands and a commanding presence.

  “But before I go, lets free you from your restraints, considering we won’t be needing them any longer,” he said smiling down at me. He lifted up the first one and pulled out the pin releasing the thick iron bracelet. Then before letting it go he examined the skin and frowned.

  “I left these on too long, forgive me.”

  “It’s okay, they don’t hurt,” I told him which was a bit of a lie considering they were most likely bruised. I don’t think I was fooling him when he gave me a sceptical look.

  “I will have to make sure to have some padded ones specially made for you for next time.” I choked on a breath and questioned,

  “Uh…next time?” He smirked up at me with playful eyes and said,

  “Oh yes, I rather enjoyed having you chained to me and will certainly be reliving the moment, only for longer this time…much longer.” My eyes widened at the unexpected comment and I suddenly flashed back to Draven’s cave where he had once done something similar. I was about to bite my lip once more simply out of habit when the pad of his thumb stopped me.

  “That lip is no longer yours to bite,” he told me with a stern and dominating look that I had no choice but to take seriously. I didn’t know why but hearing him say I was his made me feel sad. I couldn’t help but think of the man who truly owned my heart and was back home waiting for me to walk down the aisle and become his wife for the second time. And even though I was here in those same arms, I knew they weren’t the arms I craved to hold me. I couldn’t help but think about it as I missed him.

  I missed my Draven.

  “Come back to me, little one,” Draven whispered down to me and I shook off my melancholy before I had to explain the tears I could feel coming.

  “Sorry, I was just thinking about someone who used to tease me when biting my lip.” I told him and he frowned.

  “I hope this wasn’t by another man?” he asked sharply. I smiled up at him and told him the truth,

  “No, it wasn’t by another man.” Then in my mind said, ‘It was by you.’ Hearing this made him relax and I knew
now to remember that jealousy was also a big issue with him in this time as it was in my own.

  “Good. Hearing this pleases me for no other man is to touch you…do you understand?” The way he said this I could do little but understand as the hard edge to his jaw and purple tint in his eyes told me he was as serious as a heart attack, let alone the growl in his voice.

  I don’t know why but I couldn’t help the vision of all the other men in my life popping into my head and I thought back to all my friends, wondering where they were in this time? I knew Jared hadn’t been born, let alone been turned into Lord Cerberus yet and it was the same for Sigurd and Ragnar as they too hadn’t yet been born as humans but what of Lucius? Where in the world was he? Because I knew that he had been changed after the crucifixion of Christ not long after being tortured as a traitor. This closely followed by being chosen by the Devil to serve as King of the Vampires.

  So surely this must have happened by now? This is where it would have really helped knowing what year I had made it back to but even then…what would Lucius be like in this time? Was he working with Draven yet or was he out there on his own? But more importantly, why did that thought worry me as it did?

  I tried to replay the history the two of them had together in my head but without knowing the dates it was hard to comprehend. I knew that they had been not only allies but also brothers at arms for the longest time, but when did they first make their alliance? Lucius had been Draven’s right hand man for a small forever before they became enemies and, other than Vincent, had once been the only man that he had once called brother.

  Which bombarded me with even more questions and this time they were about Vincent. I hadn’t yet seen him but knew he must not have been far from his brother’s side, so where was he? I was so curious that I almost asked him, but then how would I explain my reasons for doing so? No, it was better left for the likes of Ranka, who would know why I asked…of course now all I had to do was find her again to get the chance to actually ask her.

  “What is that pretty little mind of yours thinking?” he asked me giving me a quizzical stare and it was only when he said this that I wondered how he must feel about not being able to read my thoughts the way he could with most humans…or had he simply not tried? I found that doubtful somehow.

  My god there were just so many questions I felt like my head would soon explode!

  “Just that the sooner you go the sooner you can return to me.” I said instead and this worked, as what else could I tell him? Thankfully his eyes softened from their intense stare as he heard what he wanted to and I was saved from telling him the truth, which felt like madness since arriving here.

  “And return for you I will,” he said as a way of goodbye before placing a light kiss on my lips. Then he covered up my naked body to ward off the night’s chill. After giving me one last look from the door, he left knowing no more words were needed for his eyes said it all…

  He was falling in love with me.

  Chapter 49

  Loathe to be Friends

  I knew I was asleep when I felt a presence enter the room and it was one of those times when your dreams seem to merge into reality confusing your mind as to what was real and what was make believe. I stood upon a rooftop and looked out to a vast space of unsettled sand that had been transformed from desert to battlefield.

  The sun was close to setting but before it could cast these horrors back into darkness it showed me the death and destruction that I knew my actions had caused. I didn’t know what those actions were yet but I just knew from the tears that I shed upon looking down at the dagger I held, that there was an army’s worth of blood on my hands.

  “There was nothing you could have done, Keira.” A familiar voice came from behind me as I wasn’t alone on this rooftop. I looked down and to the side as way of acknowledging her without having to meet the same tears in her eyes.

  “Maybe not, but what about you…could you have stopped this?” I asked the famous Oracle of Delphi.

  “Some wars are destined to be fought, no matter the cause that fuels the hearts of men whose swords cast the first strike.” I closed my eyes knowing whose heart she spoke of and whose hand was behind that sword.

  “But am I always destined to die?” I asked feeling the tears fall for a very different reason.

  “That I cannot answer for it is not my heart you fight for, Electus.” I released a held breath knowing I would receive an answer like this as I always did. I knew what I had to do, I could feel it pulsing in my palm as though I held a live heart that still continued to beat in my hand. It was almost as though the dagger was speaking to me the way that Lucius’ sword once had back in the Temple. Only this time instead of telling me his own story, it was trying to tell me mine. Now if only I could decipher what it wanted me to do.

  I had heard its legend and how it came to be, but now gripped in my hand none of it mattered. It was now an extension of my soul and had fused itself to me in a way I couldn’t describe. As though something I didn’t yet understand held it with me and wouldn’t let it go until our destiny had been lived through and we had battled together.

  “And if he knew I lived, would that end the death?” I asked watching as hundreds fell with every second I stood here waiting, trying to figure out the right thing to do.

  “I am afraid the sun has set not only on the day we faced but also on our King of Kings, for he has only darkness left in his soul to fight with.” I knew she was right, he wouldn’t stop until he had killed them all. For he was coming to claim his queen, whether she breathed or was bathed in blood, I was his and he would stop at nothing to reach me.

  “Then I think it’s time I go keep my promise.” I said gripping my dagger tighter, knowing that it was what I would use to deliver that promise.

  And a blood coloured blade was just the thing when cutting the head off a snake…

  A snake that had betrayed a King.

  I woke on a scream because when I opened my eyes I knew I was no longer dreaming and the horror I faced was real. Sophia was stood over the bed with her face close to mine. She had her head cocked to one side as if trying to make me out and if this in itself hadn’t been enough to give me a fright then seeing her in her demonic form doing so certainly was.

  “Why so frightened? You look as though you have seen a Demon,” she said smiling and in her demon form it wasn’t the usual endearing sight I was used to. Skin like sand cracked and peeled from her face like dead flesh that had turned to ash. The slashes either side of her lips gave her grin a sadistic craziness that told me not to make any sudden movements. I knew this was a test by the way she studied me and my reactions.

  “I just…just didn’t expect to see you.” I said trying to keep my voice as even as I could at seeing her this way. She raised a flaky eyebrow and I knew she didn’t believe me. But what could she say, ‘I know you can see me human’… not likely, so in the end she rolled her demonic eyes before clicking her fingers and snapping back to the Sophia I was used to seeing.

  “Come with me.” She snapped out the order after she obviously didn’t get the reaction she was hoping for, which was no doubt to scare me to death or make me run a mile.

  “Why, where are we going?” I asked having a bad feeling about this.

  “Do you know who I am?” she asked with such arrogance it made Draven look like a kitten compared to her.

  “Yes.” I said quickly, deciding it best not to piss her off any more than I obviously had done.

  “Good, then stop asking questions and do as you are told, slave!” she shouted and then threw some clothes at me. I caught them and twisted them in my fists trying to dispel some of the anger I felt towards her. I wish she had at least warned me that she was an utter bitch in this time but then again, she obviously saw me as a threat of some kind. Which had me wondering what her attitude would be to me if she knew who I really was? Would she have welcomed me as she once did when we first met? Was I actually someone she considered a threat…t
o myself?

  The thought was almost laughable, considering she was trying to eliminate any threat to her brother finding his Electus, when here I sat. I was almost tempted to tell her who I was but as I watched her storm out, slamming the door behind her I knew it was unlikely she would even believe me. After all, if her own brother didn’t recognise his own Chosen One, then I doubt she would believe me telling her otherwise. Which meant I could only hope that her version of making me disappear didn’t include Stateira’s version of making me disappear, where I ended up dumped in the desert somewhere with a knife in my back.

  I decided I had little choice than to do as I was told so I slipped from the safety of his bed and dressed myself in the long plain kaftan she had given me. There was also a long scarf which she obviously wanted me to put on to hide myself away. So I knotted my hair behind my head using the pins from the floor I had discarded earlier and wrapped the scarf around my head. Then after a deep breath I opened the door to the viper waiting on the other side. Well, if I was ever curious as to what it would feel like to piss Sophia off then I could consider that curiosity well and truly fulfilled.

  There were four guards standing around her who I hoped were only there to escort me far from here and not to find use for their curved swords which hung in their leather sheaths. Sophia gave me a seething look that almost curled her lip and reminded me of an aggravated jungle cat.

  “Let’s go,” she said throwing over one length of her silk scarf which hid half of her face from view. I didn’t say a word as I followed her with guards either side of me and I couldn’t help but feel that sickening chill creep up my body as though I was being led to my death and not to my freedom. Strange then how my mind wasn’t panicking as though when the time presented itself I would know what to do or was it simply misplaced trust in a girl I still loved like a sister? Whatever it was I followed without emotion and without judgement for I knew this wasn’t my Sophia doing this to me.