Children of the Gods - A Chosen Novel (2 page)

When they began to move again, I did not let
the breath I was holding free. I was not safe. In fact I was
probably in more danger than before. The Halorans thrived on the
dramatic. They also chose each of their mates new hosts. If the
Sari was choosing, and it appeared he was, then it was no longer
Niko I had to worry about.

My head began to swim. It would do me no good
to faint. Fainting would not stop them if I was Chosen. It had
happened before. The guard just collected the girl, tossed her over
his shoulder and carried her to the pedestal.

My breath was like the wind, dancing in the
hair of the girl before me as I exhaled. Oddly, her swirling golden
hair sounded like wind chimes. It took me a moment to realize the
chimes I was hearing were from the decision bell.

I knew before I looked up.

A single finger pointed in my direction. The
guard stood by the girl in front of me. The Sari shook his head and
the guard brushed her aside. The Sari’s white teeth gleamed in the
sunlight as a smile spread across his horrid face.

“This one?” The guard gestured at me.

He nodded.

The Luna, his mate, looked almost
sympathetic. It could not be. She must be too sick to smile. They
felt no sympathy for the lives they stole. If anything, the
Choosing was high entertainment for them.

Several guards came close, surrounding me. I
bowed my head, showing my acceptance. The Sari turned and walked
away. The guards all tensed. The Halorans no longer turned their
backs on us after choosing. Not since a girl plunged a dagger in
the back of her Sari.

We all knew they were not really gods as they
claimed. In the beginning, everyone was eager to be Chosen. They
were told, by allowing a god to inhabit their body, they would also
become gods. After the first generation of Chosen came back to
choose, the truth was obvious. But it was not until a generation
ago, when a girl, Lennie, stabbed the Sari who chose her, that we
knew they could die.

The guards took a step forward. I held my
hands out to show I did not have any weapons. I was searched
thoroughly before entering the courtyard, but if a person wanted it
enough, they could find a way to bring a weapon in.

The guards relaxed, but not by much. I took a
step forward, my eyes searched for Niko as I turned to make the
walk. He caught my eye and raised his hand like he was reaching out
for me. Mercifully, those around him restrained him.

It was an unfair thing I had done to him.

Chapter 2

Their ship, my new home, was massive. The
purple tint caused by the pale opalescent skin made it almost seem
beautiful. With its impressive spires and grand size, it did look
like it would house a God, but today, to me, it looked like
doom.

As we approached, a slit appeared near the
surface. It continued to expand until it was a large opening. There
was movement at the base and a high keening noise. We stopped and I
could see, the movement was actually the ship’s surface expanding
at the base, extending out to form a ramp.

It continued to extend till it reached us and
stopped, resting on the earth at our feet. A wave of terror
overtook me as I realized no one was going to save me. I did not
recognize that I had been hoping, deep down, until the ramp settled
in front of me.

My knees buckled and I sank toward the earth.
I never reached it though. Thick arms encircled my waist and lifted
me. Instead of tossing me over his shoulder, the guard held me in
his arms like a baby. He had a tender look on his face. Sympathy
maybe?

“Just look at me, Reka.” His soft voice
promised comfort and his arms offered safety. I wanted to believe
them but it was probably his job to keep me calm. It was working. I
was calm as long as I only looked at him. Maybe he was special too,
maybe that was his gift. He looked human, as all the guards did,
though he was larger than all the rest.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“I am Griff.” He smiled that warm smile that
offered false security.

We stopped in a round room with beds lining
the perimeter in pairs. There were straps with buckles laced across
each bed. My face felt hot and my breath came fast and heavy. Each
breath caused my face to burn hotter.

“Do you think you can stand?” Griff’s voice
felt like an anchor pulling me back into reality. His eyes widened
and his pupils grew till there was almost none of the earthy brown
color remaining. The effect was dizzying, but my breathing slowed
and I shook my head.

“Okay.” He squeezed me gently.

“Is she sick?” the Sari asked.

“No, she is just overwhelmed.”

“Good.”

I was glad Griff did not say scared. I had
never been more frightened in my life, but I did not want the Sari
to know that.

“We will be using these ones.” The Sari
motioned to a pair of beds close to him. Griff set me gently on the
cushion and stepped back but remained close.

I had never noticed just how big the guards
were, but with him standing so close, Griff looked immense, a wall
of muscle and armor. The Sari was far from insubstantial but even
he was eclipsed by the giant man. I examined his head piece. It was
silver, tinted black along the curves. There was a shoot of stiff
black hair that ran front to back. Horse hair maybe?

His head never moved, held at perfect
attention, but his eyes strayed, finding mine. The blood racing
through my veins felt like it slowed when I looked in his eyes.

“Get her changed!” a high pitched voice
demanded. The Luna descended upon us. “I am not waking up in that!”
She turned her nose up at me. A moment of hope betrayed me. Maybe I
wasn’t what she wanted.

“Your dress,” Griff clarified.

I felt like I might be sick. Griff took my
hand and led me to another, smaller room. He pulled an airy looking
white slip dress from a wardrobe and held it out to me.

I took it, and he turned to give me privacy.
My dress was simple, the kind you wear when trying to blend with
your surroundings. This dress was simple also, with no ornate
embroidery or patterns but with a startlingly different effect.

Simple holes left the balls of my shoulders
bare with a thin strip of material resting at the curve where my
shoulders met my neck. The neckline cut across my chest in a wide
curve, drawing attention to my collar bone, but it was the back
that was most dramatic. A rectangle cut out left me exposed from
the tip of my shoulder blades to my tailbone.

I would have never worn anything this
feminine out of fear of drawing attention, but now I regretted that
Niko never saw me like this. It would have made a beautiful pairing
gown. It was a shame, the most dressed up I had ever gotten was for
my funeral.

I took a final breath as a free woman and
turned back to Griff. I touched his arm and he turned.

“Oh,” Griff puffed out.

It was such a small word but it held more
emotion than I could handle: surprise, pleasure, then sadness. His
lips remained frozen in the shape of the word.

“I think I am going to be sick.” There was
nothing to hold onto for support as the room swayed. Griff set a
large hand on my shoulder to steady me.

“Just look at me, watch my eyes. It will be
okay,” he said, trying to regain his composure.

I looked up at him in surprise. “It will
definitely not be okay. I am not even sure I will exist once they
put that thing in me.” I motioned with my chin toward the door to
the room where my Luna was waiting.

“Do not fight, Reka. It will be better for
everyone.”

“Not better for me,” I said, releasing the
fists I had made of my hands and smoothing out my dress so he could
not see the traitorous moisture stinging my eyes.

“I know, and I am sorry.” He turned and
walked toward the door. I followed, scared to go, but more afraid
to be left alone.

~o~

The Luna was sitting on one of the beds when
we returned.

There were rumors that each Haloran’s
consciousness was contained inside a worm. That was how they were
able to transfer from one host body to the next. My stomach
wriggled as I tried to imagine her allowing someone to put a worm
inside her.

“I was beginning to believe a search party
would be necessary,” she said, without glancing up.

“That would never be required while I am
alive, my lady,” Griff responded with a bow.

“I am glad I will not have to execute my
favorite guard.”

Her tone sounded light, but the look on her
face suggested it had been a danger. I worried I had cast a shadow
on him.

“You are as kind as you are beautiful, my
lady.”

She rolled her eyes and made a sound of
disgust.

In spite of my fear, I felt my skin prickle
with anger. The idea of having a worm inside me was less repulsive
than the thought of her taking over my body, making it her own. How
many people would she mistreat while wearing my face? I could
accept the worm if it did not bring her with it.

Griff bowed again and took a step forward
placing a hand on my bare back to lead me to my table.

The cushions were removed now, leaving a cold
metal table with a rectangular hole in the top half. I could see
men below dressed all in white. One looked up and caught my eye. A
shiver ran up my spine. In his hands were two hooks sharpened to
deadly points.

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe slowly,
but it only allowed my mind to dream up scenarios for the use of
such instruments. My knees gave way and again I was caught by
Griff. He lifted me and gently placed me on the metal table with my
back over the hole.

The cutout in the dress was not merely for
decorative purposes. It was designed for beauty and function
through centuries of our horror.

The Sari’s gait was nearly a dance as he made
his way toward me.

“Sir, allow me to secure her,” Griff
said.

“I can handle her.” He smiled a wicked
smile.

Good. I wanted him to bleed and I would get
the chance to make it happen.

“Sir, at least her arms?”

The Sari breathed a heavy sigh. “Fine, her
hands.”

Griff knelt over me pulling the straps free
that would hold my hands. He looked deep into my eyes and he seemed
to be pleading. It was too tender a look for such a heavy thing he
was silently asking of me. He wanted me to go down without a
fight.

The Sari brushed Griff aside. He leaned over
me, running his hands across my stomach as he reached for a strap.
I had to give him credit. I was feeling no fear now.

He was not fast enough as I brought my legs
up wrapping them like snakes around his neck. He stared at me with
oddly calm eyes just before I slammed his head down, hard. The
impact vibrated through the table.

Griff was on me immediately, knocking the air
from my lungs, but my grip held. Griff pried my legs free and the
Sari dropped to his butt on the floor, gasping. The Luna, who was
fully strapped down, looked on in horror.

“I think I ripped your pretty dress.” Her
eyes flicked from me to the Sari, but she appeared too stunned to
speak.

The Sari laughed which made my blood
boil.

“I like this one. She is feisty. Pity we
could not keep her as a pet.” He wiped the blood from his lips and
got to his feet. “Maybe you should finish, Griff.”

“Yes, sir.”

Griff was leaning over me, quickly blocking
my view of the Sari.

“You have not done yourself any favors in
this.”

His sad eyes made me feel weak, and my chest
began to ache where he came down on me. I could feel the places his
hands had been to free the Sari. At least it would not be me to
suffer those aches once the anger wore off.

He cinched the last straps across my feet and
stepped back, but remained close enough for me to see his eyes.

“I am going to enjoy this one,” the Sari said
as he stroked my bare shoulder.

“Enough theatrics! I would like the chance to
enjoy her. Let us get started before you make her do something we
will all regret.”

“Yes, my love. You are right, as always.” His
tone was docile, placating.

She closed her eyes and laid her head back as
if she were relaxing. She was not relaxed though. Every muscle in
her body was tensed which frightened me more than anything I had
seen yet. She sucked in a shallow tight breath, then another. Her
eyes flew open, staring straight up, but it did not look like she
was actually seeing the world around her.

She remained like that for a moment then her
body began to twitch. The scream that followed was so frightening,
I felt it in my bones. Each scream that followed was worse. They
were the type of screams that no matter how long you lived, you
would never forget. The kind that would wake you in the night,
wishing you could scrub your mind just to free the images they
brought.

Her body arched and writhed in spite of her
restraints.

“Hold her!” a voice issued from below. Griff
responded immediately, pressing her flat to the table and looking
in her unseeing eyes. His charms did not work on her. Even under
his weight, she continued to thrash.

Suddenly she was still. Griff lifted off of
her and watched tentatively. She turned her head toward me and
looked into my eyes. A small, sad smile graced her tortured face
making her beautiful in a way I had never seen her as before. Her
body relaxed and she went limp.

Griff leaned down and brushed his fingers
over her eyes, closing them. It was such an intimate, tender act I
had to look away. As I did, I could swear I heard him whisper, “You
are free now.” I glanced back to see if I had imagined it, but he
was already turning from her. He returned to my table and stood
close to me. He did not cry, but his entire body seemed to
mourn.

Chapter 3