Awakening (30 page)

“How do you know this?”
Adam asked, his gaze burning into Auberon.

Auberon squeezed his eyes closed, not wanting to divulge that information. Coun
ting to ten, he opened his eyes, catching and holding Celeste’s gaze. “I drank of her.”

“What?”
Adam asked softly, deadly, sure that he didn’t hear his brother correctly. It sounded awfully close to
I drank of her
. But Auberon wouldn’t be so foolish as to do something so… insane. "When did you taste her?"

"The night before she moved in with us," Auberon said softly, that cursed night burned in his heart, his soul. He wished the memories of the taste of her blood, the feel of her tongue on his skin would fade, that he could return to being who he had been before. "I had to know, Adam…."

Adam's hands curled into fists and rage blackened his eyes but Auberon didn't care. He needed his brother's hatred to erase the sin of craving Celeste. He shifted his weight, holding his chin high as Adam glared at him; he was prepared to feel his brother's fist against his face.

Suddenly,
Celeste stood up, holding the small Goddess in her arms as she stepped between the twins. Putting her free hand on Adam’s chest, her eyes remained locked on Auberon’s. “His only sin is that of curiosity, love. It was just a nibble really; barely enough blood to fill a thimble.”

Auber
on almost laughed at her boldness as she lied about the sheer volume of blood he took from her; of her withholding certain, more damning information. He caught the warning in her eyes and nodded, accepting her decision to downplay the night that changed everything for him. Clenching his jaw, he looked past Celeste to Adam, “She recreates our genetic material, Adam.”

The little girl giggled, wrapping her little arms around Celeste’s neck, “You give them life just as life grows inside of you.
In one possible future you will have many children, in another you will be with Auberon. There is a future where you are alone but that one is the least likely. The future is such a tricky thing with so many variables.”

"And you see them all." It wasn't a question and Celeste's stomach clenched in sympathy.

The Goddess offered a serene smile, her amethyst eyes shining with the wisdom of the Universe. "Of course."

“You’re a
terrifying little thing, aren’t you?” Celeste asked, a broken smile on her lips as she gave the toddler a gentle hug. She looked up and caught Beck and Shaw staring at her, amused expressions on their too beautiful faces. Shaw had his arms wrapped around Beck’s shoulders as her hands rested over his arm, giving the impression of great love and devotion. His blue eyes spoke volumes of how deep his adoration ran. It truly was amazing what a pair of blue eyes did to features so similar to Adam; they changed the face just enough to be completely different. “Why aren’t your eyes black?”

“I was recreated
a very long time ago by a very powerful fallen angel to be Rebecca’s protector so the two of them could end the world,” Shaw said simply, as if no further explanation were needed; or if there was need, he wasn’t going to provide it.

“I see,”
Celeste said, though she didn’t. End the world? Swallowing hard against the hysteria that was threatening to choke her, she asked, “Will Adam’s eyes change?”

“
My brothers both bit you and drank your blood and yet you did not change,” he said drolly, a dimple caressing his cheek as he spoke. At her blank look, he added gently, “You are to be the
Apocritae
Queen; you cannot change what he is because you are of our blood.”

“Huh,” again with the confusion. “
But I’m still human, aren’t I?”

Shaw
laughed and Celeste heard the familiarity in it and a shudder worked its way through her body. Shrugging his broad shoulders, he shook his head. “You’re not human, not exactly.”

“You’re very unhelpful,” Celeste sighed, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. A bubble of pleasantness surrounded her but she knew that the moment the little girl left the bubble would pop and she would have to deal with all of this new information and she wasn't sure how she was going to be able to do that. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

“Often,” he grinned, liking this new Queen. She would make a good addition to the new order of thing
s, if she survived. Already she was doing great things in removing the stick that had been lodged in Adam’s ass for the last however many thousands of years.

“Am I just supposed to whip up a weapon out of thin air
and blindly take on the Queen?” Celeste asked, slightly panicked.

“I can do that,” the little girl piped in, closing her eyes and starting to chant.

“NO!” Beck said quickly, grabbing the little imp from Celeste's arms and preventing her from creating something out of nothing. “What has mommy said about using your powers where others might see them?”

“But, mommy, she is going to be the new Queen,” the Goddess protested, sticking out her lower lip and looking like a petulant three-year-old
being denied a favorite toy. It almost hurt to see the child behaving so normally when the Universe was within her.

“Sweetheart, I only want to keep you safe,” Beck continued
, soothing the child’s hurt feelings. “You can show Auntie Celeste your tricks when we’re at our home, all right poppet?”

“Really?” she asked, her amethyst eyes sparkling with glee. Then, just as quickly, she frowned, “But first she has a lot to go through and she will not be able to play for a very long time.”

“Soon enough, precious,” Shaw added, kissing the little girl’s temple, taking the child from Beck’s protective arms into his own.

"She needs to see her mother," the Goddess said softly, her eyes sleepy as she yawned and trustingly
rested her head on Shaw's shoulder. Squirming a bit to get comfortable, she murmured, "It's important."

Adam
wrapped his arms around Celeste's shoulders and he pulled her into him, resting his chin on the top of her head and she felt as if she could finally take the breath she had been holding since finding out she was to be the new Queen. Turning to his identical twin, he asked through clenched teeth, “Auberon, is Gloria in the
Adytum
?”

“It's
where you left her,” Auberon answered coolly, exchanging a significant glance with Adam. “We can arrange a visit for tomorrow.”

Adam
’s eyes closed at this information:
A mother’s love, a final gift from beyond the grave
. Whatever the mother held would soon be in Celeste’s hands and everything would change once more; become far more complicated. “I agree.”

“I’m going to meet my mother?” Celeste asked softly, her mind swirling with thoughts warring between excitement of finally meeting the mother she never knew and dread at what that mother was going to be now.
Calices
were altered and she did not know how it had affected Gloria, how she would react to seeing her mother who was no longer human. On top of everything else it was almost too much and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to handle it.

Adam
’s hold tightened as he kissed the top of her head, “Only if you wish it.”

Auberon
sucked in an audible gasp, not believing Adam would leave such an important decision up to the girl. Before he could protest, he felt little hands on his face. He turned his head, his arms automatically wrapping around the small body as the Goddess shifted from her father to her uncle and Shaw stepped back once more.

Celeste debated silently, wanting to see her mother more than anything in the world, and terrified of doing so. It didn’t bother her that
Adam had changed Gloria; it was obviously her desire to be a
Calix
. However, it was surprising to learn Adam bit a pregnant woman; Celeste had read about a child who had been born to a newly converted
Calix
; the baby had not been human and it only lived for a few hours. She also knew Adam well enough to know that he would never intentionally bite a pregnant woman. It was her Fate to be a rival to the Queen; it had always been her Fate. Turning her head, she met his eyes, "You didn't know she was pregnant."

Holding her gaze, sincerity burning in his black eyes, he shook his head, "I didn't know but that is not an excuse…."

Her belly tightened in dread and she didn't want to go, she didn’t want to have any more of her safe world taken away from her. Licking her parched lips, she held Adam's steady gaze, taken strength from him, “I think I need to meet her.”

“I’ll make the arrangements,”
Adam murmured and Celeste felt the wind rush out of her as if she had just leapt off a cliff. It was terrifying and exhilarating and once again she didn’t know what awaited her at the bottom: death or life. She turned her head and saw Auberon and the Goddess conversing, saw the anguish on Auberon's face as he turned his head and looked at her. She swallowed against the emotion welling up inside of her, knowing it wasn't love but it was something close.

“So, tell me,” Beck said, breaking the tide of silence and
plopping herself down on the couch next to Kim’s feet. Pushing the annoying appendages out of the way, she fidgeted until she was comfortable. Kim continued to sleep, to transform, no longer in pain thanks to the Goddess. “Do you have any food?”

Shaw
looked at Beck and smiled, “Anything you want, love.”

Her eyes looked up at him through her long lashes, a seductive half-smile tilting the corners of her lips up, “Anything?”

“Anything,” he murmured, his voice suddenly lower and huskier as his eyes darkened with lust. Sparks crackled back and forth between them as heady desire simmered in the air, snapping with energy. Shaw was caressing Beck with his eyes, not caring that he was standing in the middle of the room with his newly reunited brothers, his daughter, the new potential Queen. He obviously loved, and lusted after, Beck very, very much.

“Are all
of the
Apocritae
this carnal?” Celeste asked from the safety of Adam’s arms, amusement turning her own lips upwards. “Or is it just because you’re all brothers?”

“
We are
Apocritae
," Adam rumbled, his own lips quirking up in a grin.

Abruptly,
Auberon handed the Goddess back to Shaw, pulled up a chair and down in front of Beck. His black eyes flashed with emotion that bordered on desperation. With a cruel smile, he bumped Beck's knee with his own and asked, “Did Shaw ever tell you how the Blight came about?”

Beck’s eyes narrowed as she
studied her brother-in-law, “It was a military experiment; they put a bit of Lucian’s blood into a demon and then took his blood to create superior warriors. Instead they ended up with the Blight.”

“While it’s true
they used Lucian’s blood, they also added a secondary component,” Auberon said casually, ignoring the warnings pelting around his head from Adam. “They needed to create a distraction and Lucian’s blood alone didn’t cause enough… chaos.”

“What did you do?” Beck asked
, her voice tight as her jaw clenched together, knowing she was going to be justified in beating the hell out of two of the men that removed her from Elites. Of course she could forgive them for that; it led to her involvement with Lucian and the birth of her daughter as well as the acknowledgement of her true self. However, she did miss playing with her swords on a regular basis, even if Wilson sparred with her occasionally.

“
Apocritum
venom and Lucian's blood, all incubated together in the half-breed’s body,” Auberon said softly, keeping his gaze locked on Beck’s, reading the anger in her green eyes. “In the right mixture, it destroys the humanity of a person. It was easily transferable but it’s not strong enough to create a full blown
Thraell
. It also created the perfect distraction for Adam and me to extract ourselves from under the Queen and everything else. While the Agency, the Council, were busy trying to contain the destruction we unleashed, Adam and I were able to free ourselves with no one being the wiser.”

"When millions of
Apocritum
-touched humans vanished the silence was deafening and Mother had a moment of weakness when Adam and I stole our freedom." He grinned wickedly, “You were the distraction, Beck. We couldn’t have done it without you and I thank you.”

Beck’s nostrils flared; the Blig
ht had been nothing more than a distraction. Her father, her mother. so many deaths, all for the benefit of two men. In a movement faster than the human eye could track, she flew across the small space and slammed her fist into Auberon’s jaw. “You fucking bastard.”

His head jolted to the side but he slowly turned back, a
cold smile on his lips, “Yes.” He put his hands on her hips as she straddled his lap, glaring at him as he returned her glare with a dark, sensuous smile. Shifting his body under hers, ignoring the dull ache in his jaw, he murmured, “From the very beginning everything went according to our plan and Lucian got you.”

Beck continued to glare at him
but she could see the despair in his eyes and her expression softened. In a heartbeat she knew that he wasn’t the one behind it. Somehow she knew that Auberon and Adam were not the creators of the Blight plague. All Auberon did was take what fate provided him to re-chart his destiny and that of his twin.