Blood Shadows (20 page)

Always.

Besides, Kristina really was a pretty girl, and when she wasn’t all confused and acting out like a crazy woman, she could be cool as hell. Cool as heck.

Yep, that’s what he would do.

He would go talk to Kagen.

fourteen

The next morning

Braden Bratianu took the clinic stairs two at a time, threw open the front doors with gusto, and strode down the hall with a clear purpose.

And then he froze in his tracks.

Standing directly in front of him, just outside of Nachari’s room, was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. She was just a little bit taller than he was—but that would change soon, anyhow—and she had the most incredible head of golden-brown hair that he had ever seen, all wavy and thick like braided ropes that had just been untied.

Her eyes were the color of glass marbles, kind of bluish-gray and more narrow than wide. Her cheekbones were high like a model’s, set in a perfectly proportioned face, and her lips—well, dang—they were just kissable fine. She smiled, and her sleek, slightly arched eyebrows raised just a smidgeon, causing the air to leave his body in a whoosh. She was like some Egyptian princess and high-fashioned runway model all wrapped up into one.

“Hi,” she called to him.

Braden looked over his shoulder to see if someone else was standing behind him, and then he squared his shoulders, stuck out his chest, and cleared his throat, prepared to speak in his deepest voice: “Hello.” It sounded weird, and he cringed.

But she didn’t seem to notice. “Are you here to see Nachari?”

“Huh,” he answered, trying not to stare at her lean but curvy body. “Uh…yeah, yeah…I’m Nachari’s wizard. I mean, son. I mean, I’m like a son ’cause he watches me…’cause he was told to…by the wizards.”

The girl laughed, and it sounded like music. “You must be Braden, then?” She took a step in his direction and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Deanna.”

Braden extended his hand, drew it back, and wiped the sweat on his jeans. He extended it again. “Hi. I’m Braden Bratianu, adopted son of
Dario
Bratianu, chosen by the god Moniceros, the Unicorn; I’m going to be a warrior—or a Seer-Wizard—or maybe both.” He looked down at the ground.
Damn, why had he said all that
?

Her eyes lit up with appreciation. “Well, that is quite…impressive, Braden Bratianu. In case you haven’t heard, I’m Nachari’s
destiny
, and I have no idea what I’m going to be this time tomorrow, let alone in the future, but it’s nice to meet you.”

The air left Braden’s body like a deflated balloon. Of course, this was her—the one he’d heard so much about—
Nachari’s
female.

For some unknown reason, he felt like…crying. He should have known the gods would give the finest woman on the whole planet to Nachari. The moment he thought it, he felt guilty. Of course Nachari deserved this woman. And if the gods would just let him come back to his family, Braden would never feel jealous again. He frowned. “So, what are you doing?” The moment the stupid question left his lips, he wanted to turn around and go back home: What an idiot he was.

“Well,” she said, in a very sweet voice, “I have been getting to know a lot of people the last few days, spending some time in Nachari’s room—hopefully it will make a difference—and trying to learn as much about him as I can for now. What about you, did you come to see him?”

“Um, yeah,” he whispered, wanting to sound important and helpful. “Sure. I do every day. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you.”

“I think we’ve just missed each other, that’s all.” She gestured toward a small grouping of chairs just on the other side of the hall. “I don’t suppose you would mind spending a little time with me before you go in to see Nachari?” She placed her hand lightly on his arm. “Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want to take away your time with him—I know how important that is to everyone—I just think there’s probably no one who knows him as well as you do, who’s as close to him as you are, and I would love to hear more about him…from you.”

Braden’s heart soared. Of course, Nachari needed him to help his
destiny
make the adjustment. This was something he could do really well. And besides, what if the worst thing possible happened—and Nachari didn’t make it back in time? Deanna would need strong warriors to look after her and help her make it through. To take care of her. He straightened his back. Yes, he would do this for Nachari. “After you,” he said, sounding very grown-up in his own mind.

“Why, thank you, Mr. Bratianu,” she replied.

Braden positively swelled with pride as he followed Deanna to the small sitting area and took a seat across from her. He sat back with his legs out in front of him, placed one arm around the back of the chair, and then, feeling a bit awkward, sat back up and folded his hands in his lap.

That didn’t feel very comfortable, either. Definitely not cool.

He thought about Marquis—how would the Ancient Master Warrior sit?—and he leaned forward, resting both elbows on his knees, his chin resting on his folded hands. Yes, this probably looked very contemplative or something. He cleared his throat again. “So, what is it you would like to know?”

Deanna smiled as she shook her head, her long, fluid hair swaying in response to the motion. “Whatever you want to tell me. Who is Nachari to you? What makes him so important in your life?”

Braden felt a sudden wave of emotion sweep over him. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of Nachari’s female, so he swallowed hard and waited until he felt like he could talk. “Well, Nachari’s kind of like a big brother and a father to me. He looks out for me and teaches me things. He’s like…really funny and cool to hang around ’cause sometimes”—he looked away embarrassed then—“sometimes, I kind of, like, get into…not trouble…but messes. I just don’t always think things through, ya know?”

Deanna nodded sympathetically. “I do the same thing sometimes.”

“You do?” He sat back up, straight in his chair, forgetting where to place his hands.

“Oh, yeah…I think everyone does, sometimes.”

He frowned. “Oh…well, not quite like I do.”

“But Nachari is helpful?” she prompted.

He brightened. “Oh, yeah. Really helpful. He just, like, figures things out and helps me do better the next time. But more important, he kind of sees things in me that I don’t always see in myself.”

Deanna smiled appreciatively. “Like what?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, like I have the ability to see things in my mind—or just kind of know things, and because Nachari is a wizard, he gets that and thinks I have a lot of talent.” He turned to face her more squarely. “Did anyone tell you how powerful he is? Nachari, I mean?”

Deanna raised her eyebrows.

“Oh my god…I mean, gosh. He’s like Batman, Superman, and Spiderman all wrapped up into one. I don’t think there’s anything Nachari can’t do. And he’s not even, like, stuck-up about it.” He sat back in the chair, really enjoying the conversation now. “Well, okay, so not
stuck-up
, but he’s kind of, like, really sure of himself. He has serious swag, if you know what I mean.” He laughed then. “The ladies are just like bees buzzin’ around honey whenever he’s around; they just fall all over themselves and drool and stuff. And he’s real cool about it, doesn’t take advantage of anyone or show that he knows how magnetic he is, but then—” He stopped suddenly, all at once realizing how stupid that was. Deanna wouldn’t want to hear about Nachari and other women. “Oh, snap,” he said, waving his hand in front of him. “I didn’t mean that—about other women or anything—he’s not like a player or a dog. I mean, he bites the ladies instead of feeding off men because they just fall into his hands, so I guess it’s easy, but he doesn’t do…well…I mean…I don’t think he does, but even if he has, he won’t now…” His voice trailed off. “Sorry.”

Deanna gave him a smug appraisal. “Okay…well, that’s good to know.” She nodded slowly. “I will have to make sure he finds a more…appropriate feeding source in the future.” She winked at him then. “Don’t worry—it’s our secret. He’ll never know I heard it from you.”

Braden laughed apprehensively. “I hope I didn’t get him in trouble.”

Something conspiratorial gleamed in her eyes. “Not at all.”

Just then, the cell phone in his jeans vibrated, and he reached into his back pocket to pull it out. He glanced at the screen; it was Blade Rynich from school. “Just one of my boys from the academy,” he told Deanna, feeling emboldened by the call. “They’re always blowin’ up my phone.” He turned it off, flipped it over, and laid it in his lap—a smooth move, if he dared say so himself. “I’ll hit ’em back later.”

Deanna nodded. “Cool.” She paused for a moment. “I imagine the young ladies tend to swarm around you as well…”

He positively beamed on the inside, and then he reached up and absently stroked his chin a couple of times. “Yeah…yeah…you know how it is…”

Deanna sparkled with amusement. “Yes, I do; and I imagine it will get worse as you get older. Nachari will definitely have his hands full someday.”

Braden blushed. “I guess…we’ll see…”

Deanna paused for a moment before changing the subject. “Tell me about your parents.” Her eyes held genuine interest.

Braden shrugged. “I dunno. I guess there’s not that much to tell, really.” He thought about their story. “My mom met Dario in Hawaii about ten years ago, when I was five. That’s where we lived back then.” He shifted in his seat. “After Dario claimed her, they had my little brother, Conrad, and then Dario met with Napolean to figure out how to convert me, too—so I wouldn’t still be human.”

Deanna drew a quick inhale of breath. “That sounds like quite the story to me.”

Braden smiled broadly. “Yeah, well, I guess it is.” He paused. “Maybe I’m just used to it all now.”

Deanna nodded. “I see. So, how did you come to live with Nachari?”

Braden leaned forward with excitement. “Well, after my conversion, Dario and my mom decided to take me and Conrad on a one-year vacation around the world with them—I guess he wanted to show my mom a lot of cool things—like how the places had changed over time and stuff, maybe share his history with her.” He cleared his throat. “Of course, he really wanted to start in Romania, so that’s where we all went.” He lost his train of thought and had to pause for a moment to remember what he was saying. “Anyhow, we spent about three months in Romania…at the University…when I guess the council of wizards decided that Nachari should spend more time with me.” He gave her his best sly wink and sat up straight in his chair. “I think they thought I could help him or something.”

Her eyes sparkled, and she seemed to be smiling inwardly, as if she knew something he didn’t. “So, that’s when Nachari brought you back to Dark Moon Vale?”

“Yep,” Braden said.

“And since then?”

“Since then, my parents have been all over the world with Conrad—and I’ve stayed here.” Before she could draw a bad conclusion about his family, he quickly added: “It feels like it’s been a really long time, but it hasn’t. Maybe six months or so.” He sighed. “After my first month here with Nachari, my parents really wanted me back, but I begged them to let me stay—and Napolean and Nachari helped me, too.” He tried to think of a way to explain it. “I have a lot of friends at the academy, and I’m learning a lot by staying here…you know, important things, like warrior and wizard things. If I were with them, I’d just be homeschooling and traveling from one place to the next, so I guess they finally agreed to let me stay…at least until their vacation is over, which should be in another four months or so.”

“And what then?” Deanna asked.

Braden shook his head, suddenly feeling lost—
what if Nachari didn’t return
? He didn’t even want to think about it. That simply couldn’t happen. “And then, they’re going to settle back in Hawaii…for good. Hopefully, they’ll agree to let me keep living here, at least until I graduate the Academy. I dunno. I miss them and everything, but I don’t really want to go back to Hawaii—or to have to learn the Human Studies at home with my mom. Hopefully, I can just go back and forth on breaks.”

Deanna grew quiet for a moment, clearly contemplating his words; and then she seemed to gather herself and move on. She pointed to his phone. “Do you have any pictures in there? Of you and Nachari?”

Braden swooped up the phone and smiled. “Oh, yeah, definitely.” He turned the device back on, hit a few buttons on the screen, and began to scroll down through a series of photos. He leaned forward, turning the phone so she could see the display. “This is me and Nachari on the roof, using the telescopes. Kristina took the picture.”

Deanna studied it very carefully, and Braden could tell by the look on her face that she was a little overwhelmed when she looked at him—just like most women were.

“And this is Nachari at the horse farm, training a stallion. He’s like one with the horses when he rides, and you wouldn’t think with all his swag that he would have the whole cowboy thing goin’ on, but like I said, he can pretty much do anything.”

Deanna reached for the phone. “May I?”

“Sure,” he said, handing it to her.

She touched the screen to enlarge the picture and just stared at it.

Braden had no idea what she was thinking at that moment, but her eyes kind of misted over, and he knew that she already had some very real feelings for Nachari. That was good. She handed the phone back, and he scrolled to the next picture. “And this is Nachari with his cars.” He emphasized the last word with pride. “He collects vintage Mustangs.” He pointed to a 1970 Calypso Coral beauty. “This is his favorite—the one he drives all the time. It has a V-8 engine, and he keeps it polished. Nachari loves his cars.”

Deanna smiled with appreciation. “Wow…I can see that.” He flipped to the next screen, and she laughed out loud before he could scroll beyond it. “What was that?”

“Oh,” Braden said, sounding embarrassed. “That was just…that was Nachari slapping me upside my head for trying to stand on the hood.”

Deanna laughed. “That didn’t go over too well?”