The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) Read online

  “So that night seeing me kissing Jac…” I didn’t get any farther with that memory as he covered my mouth with one strong hand quicker than my eyes could register.

  “DO NOT REMIND ME.” He growled at me and his purple eyes flashed their discomfort at the subject. I knew I had gone too far. He eased his hold and lowered his hand.

  “It is not wise to let my mind return to that…THAT cruel night.” He truly looked in pain, which shocked me. I mean, I remember the pain I had felt when seeing Celina kissing him, back when he made me believe she was his fiancée to try and push me away. Did he feel the same that night when Jack had kissed me? It would seem so.

  “Not so funny when you’re on the receiving end, is it?” I asked smugly and this actually made him look sorry.

  “Touché. You are right, I should not tease you on such matters, even if I do enjoy your reactions.” He ran the back of his hand down my face before he continued,

  “But you have to understand Keira, back then I did not love. I didn’t give into it because it never fit. I always knew that one day I would find you and to fall in love with anyone but you was something I wasn’t capable of doing. But that doesn’t mean I never gave into the pleasures of the world and I have lived more years where a Harlem was not only acceptable but it was expected of a…a man in my position.” I think it was the first time I was seeing Draven uncomfortable talking about his past. I was about to tell him that he didn’t have to explain but he held up a hand to stop me.

  “No, I want to tell you, to explain who I was then and who I am now…because of you. Back then I was hard and cold, like a living statue that was here to represent Heaven and Hell combined. I have lived more years to count but only now does it feel like I am alive. Like a rebirth. I never knew myself before I met you, I just thought I was the man that I had to be because of my responsibilities to a race I didn’t respect. But after meeting you, I not only changed my view on love but on the truth of what I have really been helping to protect.”

  “I started to see things I never knew existed, a compassion humans can display freely to one another. Like Frank and the brotherly way he treats you, knowing you can depend on him for anything, or the love and worry on your sister’s face that night when I brought you home in my arms. It started to fascinate me from my very first meeting with you. Almost like you were honoured with the power of heaven to wake me from my ignorance with the very first time I touched you.”

  I was close to tears by the time he had finished expressing his feelings and I was taken back by everything that I had learned. Did I really do all that for him? Was I really the one who had changed him for the better? It was a nice thought, thinking I brought out the humanity in Draven that had never surfaced until now. Not to mention him saying he had never been in love before, now that was BIG!

  I raised my fingers to his face and followed the strong line of his jaw. I didn’t know what to say but when he met my gaze my eyes must have said it all. I loved him and I would love him until every fibre in my body was gone and had turned to dust, but even when my bones had joined the earth, the memory of our love would live on beyond the ages.

  All of this I let out freely for him to find and when he grasped my fingers in his hand to hold them to his lips, I knew that he had heard me. He kissed my hand like it was the most precious gift he owned.

  “It is,” he said startling me. I quickly put back up all my mental guards so as not to allow him too deeply into my mind. I still had secrets to keep but when I thought about them, I couldn’t fully understand why? It was like someone had planted an automatic response to hide things. Images of something Draven might recognise or a voice he would sense controlling me. What was I doing? I needed to tell Draven everything, I needed to let him in...I...I need...What was wrong with me?

  Why couldn’t I.... I raised my hands to my head as to try and relieve the pressure pounding against my skull. Something was wrong, I knew that now. All this time...but how? It was like being here amplified it somehow, something was here that was doing something to me.

  “Keira! What’s wrong?” I could hear the panic in Draven’s voice but it was being muffled by another. It was like trying to watch TV and talk to someone on the phone at the same time. I kept picking up bits of one and some of the other.

  “Tell him you’re fine,” a voice hummed in my head. I shook myself as though that would somehow help. Then the next thing I knew I was opening my mouth and I heard myself saying,

  “Everything is fine, I only have a slight headache.” It was the strangest feeling, like an outer body experience.

  “Good girl, now forget my voice and don’t let him into your mind again.” The voice sounded frustrated, like he had lost some control and didn’t understand why. I tried to focus on not losing it but it was quickly fading away into a far memory that only recognition triggers. Like smell or a sound that pulls you back into the information of your past. I didn’t fully understand what had just happened but I knew one thing for sure...I was scared.

  Draven looked happy with my answer and I started to lose control over what it was I desperately needed to tell him. It was like the last ten minutes were a dream, at the time you know what is happening, it’s so real you can touch, taste and feel even the pain but after you wake, it slips away like the tide. Why can’t I remember?

  “Are you sure you’re alright? You seem... distant” He was right, I felt so far away, it felt as though I would never make it back home. I knew one thing for absolute, something today had changed. I knew something different....what exactly I couldn’t say but it was there, like a locked room in my mind and only I could find a way in, now of course all I needed was to find the key!

  “Yes I’m fine, sorry I was just thinking about stuff.” I said after feeling his touch on my cheek.

  “Anything I can help with?” If only, I thought pointlessly to myself. For one thing I didn’t even know what it was that I needed help with.

  “Well maybe a kiss would help.”

  “Maybe...? We’ll just see about that ‘maybe’.” He pulled me into his arms and took my breath away into his mouth. It was dreamingly delightful.

  It was only when a cough outside the fabric barrier caught our attention and I started to pull away. Draven however wouldn’t allow that for long and pulled me back so that I was level with his face.

  “I will not be dictated to!” He said urgently as though a man starved of hunger making him search out my lips like food.

  “شما صبر کنید تا من آماده ام” (Means “You will wait until I am ready” In Persian) He spoke out angrily towards the vibrant curtain that concealed both us and the “Intruder” before claiming me once more. I don’t know how long his kiss lasted but I never wanted it to end. I never did. However he finished by holding my face in both hands and then tilted it down so that his final kiss ended on my forehead.

  “Inebriante” (Meaning “intoxicating” in Italian) he whispered and just before I could ask him what he meant he let me go and spoke again.

  “I have to go now but I won’t be long.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked trying to keep the needy tone out of that question.

  “I have to meet with someone, it’s the reason I came here but I will explain later.” With that, he motioned his hand across and the material floated back without contact. Behind it a beautiful woman stood waiting along with Leivic. As soon as Draven saw the woman I could have sworn I’d seen him flinch. I was almost certain she was an Angel as there was a heavenly grace about her that had you looking at her in awe.

  She was tall and slender, with a body displaying slight curves in just the right places. The dress she wore dipped so low you could see in between the two most noticeable curves and it looked as though she had glued the material to the sides to stop you from seeing her nipples. The stark white satin was almost glowing and had me squinting my eyes. Her hair was a complete contrast making her look like a chess board. Long, straight, night black hair hun
g loose down her back like a cloak of silk. She had one side held back in a crystal encrusted clasp that was in the shape of the zodiac sign for fire. I recognised it from when Libby had a brief fascination with fortune telling and star signs.

  Her skin was like her dress, spotless and flawless. Skin of a child that glowed along with every other part of her. However her beautiful figure and perfect skin was nothing in comparison to the pair of golden eyes that had depths a man could drown in. They were enchanting to witness. And no doubt Draven had been enchanted intimately. The thought had me close to tears.

  “Hora!” Draven nodded his head after saying her name in recognition. She smiled displaying a set of pearly white teeth that would have been a dentist’s wet dream. She bowed in respect making me wish she hadn’t as you could see right down her dress to her nakedness underneath. Well I guess if you wore a dress that tight you couldn’t get away with underwear! I was almost smug when I saw Draven not looking. Oh yes, these two definitely had history.

  “My Lord, it has been far too long, we must get acquainted once more.” I wanted to get up and push her off those expensive looking heels, Angel or not, I could still kick her bony skeleton arse!

  Draven looked back at me and liked the look of rage on my face and thanks to conversations little past I knew why, he knew I was jealous. Hora followed his gaze to mine and what she saw there she didn’t look worried, I mean why would she, I was a mere limpet in the shadow of the most exquisite coral.

  “How rude of me, Hora this is my ‘Electus’ Keira, and Keira this is Hora one of my loyal subjects.” The way Draven said this sentence made my stomach fill with liquid desire. His voice smoothed over me like a warm blanket making me swoon. Luckily I was still sitting down otherwise I would have looked like an idiot. It was the first time I had heard Draven introduce me as ‘Electus’ which I now knew meant “chosen” In Latin. Hora looked like she had swallowed a bug and I suppressed the urge to laugh.

  “Electus?...then the rumours are true for once. Congratulations My Lord, you have found a rare treasure indeed. In that case you should not keep the Oracle waiting any longer. I now understand her eagerness in speaking with you.” After she said this, all my misplaced ill will evaporated. Meanwhile Leivic had been silent but amused with me. His gaze had been locked with mine and was watching with great interest with thick arms folded across his chest. If he hadn’t been smiling he would have been quite terrifying to look at.

  “Keira, I have to go but wait here for me to come back for you. Do not move...ok?” I nodded and he looked relieved.

  “Good girl.” He said before turning to the amused Leivic.

  “Arkadaşım, bekçilik ve yakın kimse izin onu” (Meaning “My friend, keep watch and let no one near her” In Turkish). Leivic put a hand on Draven’s shoulder and replied in a language I didn’t know.

  “Hayatımda onu koruyacak” (Meaning “I will guard her with my life” In Turkish). I would have loved to have known what they were saying and my curiosity grew when they both turned to look at me before Draven left with Hora. I didn’t actually receive a goodbye from Hora but I did receive a respectful head bow, which did bump her up to top billing of one of the nicer of Draven’s ex’s. The question of how many I would meet made me shiver. The amount of ex’s one could acquire over hundreds of years was staggering. One bitch named Aurora was enough for me!

  “Can I get you something to drink?” A deep accented voice brought me away from my darker thoughts of ex girlfriends.

  “Um...ok, yes thank you,” I said suddenly shy without Draven by my side. I looked around nervously now I was unprotected and couldn’t help but gasp at all the eyes staring my way. Leivic noticed my change and decided to intervene.

  “Доста!”(Meaning “Enough” In Serbian) His booming voice made me jump and I wasn’t the only one. All eyes had now taken their naked bodies back behind the curtains and we were left alone. He turned back to see my shocked face at his sudden outburst.

  “I am sorry, did I frighten you?”

  “N...no,” I lied. He smiled as he knew the truth. I couldn’t help but wonder what he had said to make everyone leave us alone, so I couldn’t help myself when I asked,

  “Why is it your kind never stick to speaking just one language?” It’s something I had always wanted to know but never asked Draven about.

  “Ah, for a human this must seem very odd.” I nodded and thankfully he appeased my curiosity and enlightened me.

  “You will not find all of us do this, just us oldies like me and Dom.” He winked at me before continuing,

  “It goes back to a time when streets were thick with spies and humans were somewhat wiser, their beliefs a little more trusting in the supernatural. It made things complicated and more beneficial to speak in ways where only the old and the powerful could communicate openly. See, as old as we are comes with extensive knowledge. Languages are but one thing that we acquire over time. So as easy and natural as it is for you to speak English it is the same for us in many different ways...it is more habit than not.” Ok, well with him putting it like that I could understand it a little better and might not find it so annoying now.

  “You make my friend very happy, I have never seen him so.” This turn in conversation made me smile.

  “How long have you known him?” He raised an eyebrow at me making the scar on his face rise.

  “Would you like me to tell you some stories about Dominic?” At this I nearly yelled out “Oh God yes!” But thankfully I had the good sense not to. However he could read the eagerness on my face, so I explained.

  “He doesn’t tell me much about his past.” Leivic nodded.

  “I understand... perhaps he does not wish to overwhelm you but I see that you are an intelligent girl, I think you can handle it.” He winked at me and I laughed. I was very much starting to like this friend of Draven’s.

  “Then let me enlighten you my dear, but first let me get you a drink to ease the shocking stories I have to tell.”

  I was so excited I could have danced around giving the naked demons something really strange to watch....I dare say I’m not a great dancer!

  I sat there with my legs folded like a child waiting to hear the greatest stories of my life....

  The stories of the man I love.

  Chapter 39

  Sacrifices.

  Leivic took a seat next to me and made himself comfortable among the pillows. He cast me a curious look, like he was still trying to figure out if I was real or not. I wanted to ask him what it was that he seemed to find so interesting but my thoughts were interrupted by a waitress who had arrived with a tray of drinks in one hand and a large, ornate smoking pipe in another. He noted my raised eyebrow turn to scepticism and quickly added,

  “It’s for me.” To which I responded with a nod.

  “Thank you Winnie,” he said kindly and reached out to take the tray from her before setting it down on a little side table. All the while I was thinking what an unusually tame name for a Demon and wondering if asking her where Pooh was, wouldn’t get me a killer look. Needless to say I refrained.

  Once Winnie left, Leivic started to light the coal that was under the metal case on the top of the pipe. It was a metre high with a large glass vase at the bottom which held some form of liquid. I had seen these before in bars in Spain where you would find groups of people all sharing one. They came with multiple tubes with the mouth pieces on the end where they were smoked through. This one however was only meant for the one smoker. Leivic had finished setting it up and started to suck on the end pulling the air through. He blew out a stream of smoke making the scent of the east cling to the surrounding air.

  “I hope you don’t mind?” He asked politely.

  “Not at all.” What was I going to say, “Hell yeah, don’t you care about your health!” I don’t think so somehow.

  He passed me a drink of what looked like red wine and only after a quick sip it was confirmed. I don’t know why but I let out a sigh of relief.
What did I think it would be...blood? He took another long suck from the pipe causing a bubbling noise to emanate from the liquid at the bottom before blowing it out from scarred lips. It seemed to swim from his mouth and then took on a life of its own as it formed a smoke dragon in the air in front of me. It pranced along with its snaky tail following it, then opened its mouth. Leivic then blew out more smoke making little blue sparks in the shape of flames come from its mouth.

  “That was seriously cool!” I said with a massive grin planted on my face. Leivic bowed his head to me and said,

  “I’m glad you liked it.”

  “I fear such little effort deserved such an adorable reward.” I turned to him shocked at his reply, not helping but ask what it was he meant.

  “Your smile, I find it adorable. You are such an innocent soul yet you have witnessed so much horror in such a short life. However you still remain pure and untainted by the cruelty of human life, that is a rarity indeed.” I was both shaken and moved by his words. I must have shown my shock because he frowned.

  “I have upset you...forgive me, I spend so little time around humans these days that I forget myself. My gift is reading souls and I find it hard when I come across such a rare beauty in one, as to not express my feelings so forth. You are strong though, unusually so for a breather and for this Dom is a lucky man. There are not many that would be able to adapt so quickly with the blind faith like you have... Oh please don’t get me wrong but I say so in paying you a compliment. You are truly destined for my dear friend indeed and I could not be more happy for him. He is the one Being in the world that deserves it the most, I think.”

  I still didn’t quite know what to say to this without brimming over with emotion. It had touched me that this man whom I had only just met thought so much of me. I felt blessed. I was about to speak but as if by knowing my thoughts he held up his hand to stop me.

  “Please, there is no need to thank me for words that are true. I speak them because it is fact and something you need to hear. Like my friend Dom, I never just speak to flatter.” This made me smile, to know Draven wasn’t the type of man to say what he didn’t not mean, just for the sake of provoking a response. Although saying things that would provoke a jealous response was a different matter!