The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) Read online

  “I would like to thank you all the same.” I said feeling better.

  I took a long slip of my drink, which helped me to relax a little at my current situation. I wondered how long I would be with Draven before places like this became the norm to me? If I thought my life was complicated before, then now it was off the charts crazy! Leivic was silent during my thoughts but when I heard the bubbling of liquid once again it pulled me away from the hectic track of my mind.

  “So...how do you know Draven?” I asked before thinking about the question in my head. Man I sounded dumb! However Leivic wore an amused smile that crept up on one side before he answered me.

  “Well there are very few of our kind who have not heard of their natural Master but there are those foolish enough not to obey him. I am lucky enough to call him friend and I hold that title with great pride.” I couldn’t help but smile at the affection in his voice when talking about the man I loved.

  “I owe my life to Dominic and would give it undeniably in return. He saved me from my fate which was far worse than my death.” He watched as my eyes widened in horror. What could be worse than death?

  “Would like to hear my story?” I think he was checking that I was up to it and when I nodded he look glad, as if he had been wanting to tell someone for so long and now, finally, was his chance.

  “I would.” I answered prompting another trademark bow from him and I found this all very endearing.

  “First I feel that I should tell you it is not a happy tale that I speak of, but one of great meaning and sacrifice. See in my Demon form, for I am a Demon, did you know that?” He asked shooting me a look making his colossal scar twitch. I coughed out my answer.

  “Um..m...no I didn’t,” I said trying to hide the shock of such a nice, polite man as a scary Demon. I know I was being naive again but it is hard to dismiss what history has taught about who are the goodies and the badies. I think Sunday school would have been quite a different lesson if the world knew the truth.

  “I am, what you would call ....a Reaper shifter.” At this I couldn’t help the sudden intake of air causing him to look hurt. I mean what else was I suppose to do, here I was having a very personal conversation with a....with a bloody Reaper! A Demonic merchant of death!

  “Please do not be frightened, I did not just take souls at a whim. I had contracts just like anyone would.”

  “You don’t do it anymore then?” I asked when he said the words “Did” instead of “do”.

  “No, I gave up that right long ago. See, I worked for Hell, gathering souls that were on my list until one day there was one on my list I didn’t want to take.” His silver blue eyes glazed over with the memory and I couldn’t help but put my hand on his arm. I wanted to comfort him as it was obvious that this was not an easy story to tell. He smiled making the scar across face rise and fall. There were laughter lines around his eyes that creased at my gesture and he looked touched by my concern.

  “Have you ever heard of the Goths?” I narrowed my eyes trying to understand what he meant, then I looked around seeing many that were in this very club but he started to shake his head.

  “Forgive me, not the Goths you see today, all those lost people that dress in black and like to believe in our kind. I’m talking about an East Germanic tribe who played an important role in the history of the Roman Empire.” When I was still at a loss, he winked at me.

  “It is of no matter, I guess the second century is little taught in education today. Let’s see...the Goth war was in 375, so that would put me in The Dniester about 365 AD.” I could barely nod I was in that much shock...that would make the man I was speaking to now at over 1600 years old! Is that possible? How many life times is that? Ok, so now I had a headache.

  “Where is Dni...umm what you said?” He laughed at me giving up on trying to say the right name and then said it again only slower...like it would somehow help!

  “Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. The Dniester rises in Ukraine, near the city of Drohobych, close to the border with Poland, and flows toward the Black Sea. That’s where the tribe was situated at the time and being how I looked, I was being hunted.”

  “HUNTED! But why, did they know who you were?” I was horrified by the idea of Draven’s friend being hunted like an animal but I soon understood enough as the next words out of his mouth were the last ones I could have ever expected.

  “I didn’t look human then, see I was in my Demon form, which is a bear.” I coughed out my disbelief.

  “I’m sorry did you say a...a bear?”

  “Yes I did....I guess Draven hasn’t explained much about our kind and our other forms has he?”

  “I don’t think Draven likes me knowing too much but I am interested, I think it helps the more I know, but Draven doesn’t see it like that.”

  “I can understand it on both sides, if you were mine I would want to protect you from certain...things. On the other hand I can imagine you are brimming over with questions...it is...after all, human nature to be curious.”

  “You can say that again!” I said laughing at memories that took me back to how many questions I would ask Draven when I first found out about this other world. Who wouldn’t?

  “So where was I?”

  “You were a bear,” I said as though it was the most natural comment in the world.

  “Yes, yes I was. I was hunting in the river at the time but what I didn’t realize was that I wasn’t the only one. See, in this tribe it was a sort of right of passage for a boy to become a man to kill a bear with nothing in his hand but a small hunting knife. I had my back to the boy and he crept up on me without making a sound. I can imagine he grew up to be a great hunter, after all, he had it in his bloodline as his father was not only the tribe’s best tracker but best warrior. He also had a daughter, her name was Siggwan. I believe it means ‘to sing’ in their native language.”

  I knew, even without him saying so, that he was in love with the girl. I could see it in his eyes, his smile and mostly the way he said her name, full of pride and the deepest meaning. It was like he could see her standing right in front of him, he saw there a memory and then he turned his face as to hide the secret smile he thought I couldn’t see.

  “That’s what saved me from getting hurt, I heard her voice singing. I turned around in time to see her brother coming and managed to knock the knife from his hand without causing too much damage. Not that he could have killed me but it would have still hurt. He ran off after that but not before finding his sister and taking out his anger on her. I found her later by the river washing the blood from her face.”

  “Bastard!” I said making him look at me in surprise. His raised eyebrow made me want to justify myself.

  “I’m a strong believer that a man that hits a woman is nothing but a coward!” I said raising my chin and making him smile.

  “And you are rightly so, I feel this way also, which is why it hurt me to see. I walked towards her and when she saw me, she didn’t finch, she didn’t even look scared at the sight of this 1800lb, nine foot Kodiak bear coming closer to her. She even smiled at me and I never thought I had seen anything as beautiful. She could stop my heart with that one smile.”

  “She must have been extremely brave,” I noted before taking another sip of wine.

  “She was fearless, more so than her brother was, that much was clear. She let me come next to her on the river bed and then she turned to me and told me how she was glad her brother hadn’t killed me. I wanted to thank her but I couldn’t change in front of her, so I decided to wait till nightfall.”

  “So did you go back to find her?” I asked getting immersed in the story.

  “I did find her again once I was human. I think you can guess what happened next. No doubt you can understand what type of love we shared?” He looked into my eyes and found his answer instantly.

  “What happened?”

  “I got my next contract.” My hands flew to cover my mouth as I shrieked.

  “NO, o
h no!”

  “Yes I am afraid so. When I refused to take her soul I was merely informed that another would just replace me and take it anyway. So I did the only thing I knew I could do.” Pained lines circled his eyes like an evil frame.

  “What?” I asked needing to know the end of the tragedy.

  “I bargained. I traded her soul for mine, I signed myself over to Hell’s punishments so that she may live a full life and die with her soul intact. Of course this meant a hundred lifetimes for me to rot in the pit, well that was until Draven bargained for my life.” He turned his face to mine and now his pride was directed towards his friend. No wonder they were such close friends, Draven had saved him from...well the Devil only knows what.

  I found I had tears in my eyes from his story and I cannot tell you how it touched me. Which reminded me of the saying, “Is it better to have loved and lost, or better to have never loved at all?” Before meeting Draven I would have said to have never loved but now, I know, I would rather have died after one kiss than never have felt his touch, even if only for once in my life.

  “How did he get you out?”

  “A powerful a man as Draven, needs very little in reason to get what he wants, I was just happy that I could return the favour.”

  “What? You saved his life?”

  “More like his body. I don’t think this scar would have suited him as it does me, I wear it well do I not?” He asked me, laughing and giving me a playful nudge in the side.

  “Oh very handsome, in a rough, manly way. Women love scars you know.” I said, to which he responded with a wink in my direction.

  “You have your own scars of the past I see.” I gulped and looked down to my concealed arms, wondering how he knew?

  “It is alright, I am sorry I brought it up but you see we have something in common. We both have these scars as a reminder of the people we love, I sacrificed it for my friend, and for you?”

  “For my family,” I replied quietly.

  “Do not be angry at Dom, he did not tell me about your past, I was the one he asked to help find any information about you. When I learned about you I was the one Dom sent to protect your sister and Frank at the time.” I shot him a look of pure gratitude. Anyone who helped protect those I love earned my eternal respect and loyalty.

  “Thank you, I don’t know what to say.” I lowered my head feeling doubtful I would ever be able to repay all these people that had helped me since Draven came into my life. Ragnar, Vincent, Sophia, Leivic and most of all Draven himself. This coming to a person only used to doing everything herself. I wasn’t used to having people to depend on. Don’t get me wrong, my family were very supportive through my history with that evil, sick time. But since I had visions I learnt very quickly to keep my problems to myself or they would turn around to bite me in the arse, in the form of a mental hospital. That being my true nightmare.

  “You do not need to say anything, let alone thank me, I was more than happy to help and now in meeting you I feel my friendship for Draven extends to his other self...to you Keira. But on that note I must leave you a moment, I will not be long, will you be alright?” I smiled at him before touching his hand that felt rough, like sandpaper and years of hard labor.

  “Yes, of course, and thank you for telling me your story.” At this he didn’t answer but just kept staring at my hand on his, like he had never felt a touch for many years. This made me feel conscious that maybe it was not the right thing to do, but as soon as the thought entered my mind he lifted my hand in his to his lips and kissed my knuckles. He didn’t say another word after that but nodded to me before he left.

  I found myself only able to breathe after he had gone from my sight. I looked at my hand where his scarred lips had been and found it tingled slightly. I don’t know why but I was sure he had tasted me when his lips had parted slightly and his tongue had lightly grazed me. I could still see the shiny mark of his kiss drying quickly. I know any normal person would have been freaked out by this but I wasn’t and found it oddly comforting. After all he was half animal, maybe this was just his way...like a cat or dog licking you when you stroke them.

  I started to go over what I had just learned from Leivic and the more I learnt about Demons and Angels the more it seemed to make sense. They weren’t that far apart from humans and I wondered if that was what being on this “Plane” did to them. Did it make them more human?

  Well at least to some of them it did and love seemed to be the key. It got me thinking what Draven was really like all his years before I came along? I had changed him, he had admitted as much. How was it he had put it earlier... “Back then I was hard and cold, like a living statue.” That’s what he had said. Had I really made the blood flow back into his lifeless veins?

  He made out that I did. I found myself smiling to myself as I sipped my wine. Only when my lips weren’t feeling liquid on them did I noticed that my glass was empty. I don’t know why but I really wanted another. I didn’t usually like red wine but there was something about this one that tasted a bit...addictive. It was only when I was studying the glass that I noticed something weird looking on the sides. It looked like crystallized particles that clung to the sides where the wine had once been filled up to. I lifted it to my nose but couldn’t smell anything other than the rich aroma of fermented grapes.

  I ran my finger on the inside, collecting up the substance on my finger tip. Then I did a very silly thing before I could stop myself, I put the finger in my mouth and sucked it clean. The stuff felt like sugar grit but tasted bitter. It was mere seconds before my head began to spin. I felt like I was going to throw up but without the heaving process. I held my head in my hands as if this would help but it didn’t and if anything, it felt like it was the only thing keeping it on my body.

  I felt my skin prick up as someone came near to me but when I looked up there wasn’t anyone there.

  “You can hear my voice young one!” I sucked in breath and curled my legs to protect me as the voice that had haunted me earlier invaded my mind once again. It wasn’t asking a question but more like expressing an order. I looked around franticly for anyone I could tell but as soon as I thought it, the voice boomed in my mind.

  “NO, YOU WILL OBEY ME!” It screamed making my head vibrate in pain. I let out a little moan and nodded at no-one to say I would comply. Anything, just to stop the pain that rattled through me whenever it got angry.

  “Good girl, now I want you to come to me, but I don’t want you to let yourself be seen, do you understand?” I nodded again but I wasn’t sure if the voice would know my answer...it did.

  “Good, but you have to stop crying or people will hear you.” I hadn’t been aware that I was crying but when I put my hands to my cheeks they were soaked with salty tears. My lips trembled as I tried to control the urge not to start sobbing. I wanted to be strong but the voice started to get more urgent.

  “Move when I tell you, I want you to get up and slide out to your left and walk to the far wall, you will see it when the curtain moves back, that will be your cue to leave.” I shuddered at what I had to do next and inside I was screaming out which made it hurt all the more. I wished Leivic would come back to save me or even better, my dark knight Draven.

  “That is not going to happen my dear, Draven is busy with the Witch and his friend has his hands full with another of my little diversions. So you see it is just you and me, now M..O..V..E!” He shouted at me and my head pounded every letter out to make the word. The curtain flew back and I dipped out from within its protective shade. I saw the wall and my legs ran towards it without my help or control. Once there, I leaned against it panting in both physical weakness and being scared out of my wits!

  “Good, now I need you to follow the wall along until you find a back staircase, go down it and wait until I tell you otherwise.” I did as I was told and found a staircase where the walls were painted black making it more like a tunnel of doom. There were little neon lights along the floor so that I could see enough to mak
e it down each step, then the faintest light could be seen under the door. I reached out for the handle when a pain so sharp and piercing hit me, it made me cry out and crumble to the floor. I was trying to catch my breath that was flowing out of me faster than I could take it back.

  “NOT YET! I will tell you when to open the door!” I managed to get back to my feet and wipe my tears away angrily with my sleeve. I hated not being in control and this was the worst kind! At least if this person had shown himself then there would be something I could channel my anger at but now, all the moment gave me was an anger towards myself for being so damn weak in this other world!

  “On the contrary my dear, your mind is extremely hard to control and if it wasn’t for the drugs I’ve been putting in your system I would not be able to be controlling you now...Now get ready to move.” I braced my hands on the door ready as instructed and now I could hear a heavy base line had just started up, I wondered if this was what he had been waiting for...

  I had guessed right.

  “NOW!” I squinted my eyes at the pain of his command and pushed the door open into the lower half of the club. When the first sights of people came into view, I let out an unheard scream. Every single person in the club was in their other form making this the scariest place on earth....a room full of monsters!

  Everyone was going into a frenzy for the band that was now playing and I guessed this had been what everyone had been waiting to see. I had never seen so many visions all at once, the most I had seen together was three, back when I was twelve. They had all been at a park, all huddled together like they were sharing a meal and when I got closer I hadn’t been wrong. A boy had been injured by falling off his bike and they seemed like they were just adults trying to help him. Only I saw the truth as they all sucked in a red glow from his body, making the little boy slump over more, exhausted. Then I didn’t know what they were doing to him but when I screamed out they all turned towards me and hissed.