Lights of Aurora (The Stone Legacy Series Book 3) (14 page)

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Milk it, because it’s only going to last so long.”

“Oh, I plan to.”

“Good-bye, Jay.”

When she tried to shut the door, he stopped it and stuck his head back in her room. “Hey. One more thing.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “Thanks for coming for me.”

She smirked. “You owe me. You know that, right?”

He withdrew his hand, winked, and shut the door, leaving her alone in her room. Thank God, because she needed to get some rest. Tomorrow would be a big day—the day they started on their to-do list.

One. Go to Drina’s house and ask her to examine the pages from the Popol Vuh.

Two. Find out how and why Jayden had become the walking dead.

Three. Train.

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning, Zanya stretched in the sun beaming through her bedroom window, buried beneath down blankets. She sat up and twisted her hair into a bun. They’d spent so much time traveling and sleeping in strange places, it was good to wake up somewhere that was simply hers. She stood and slipped on her robe before heading downstairs.

Everything about the house was familiar. Nostalgia filled her as she wove through the halls and down the winding staircase.

The French doors creaked open in the kitchen. Maybe it was Tara. If Zanya were lucky, she was late enough to have missed Peter’s horrible daily pancake breakfast.

When she turned into the kitchen, the doors leading to the veranda hung open. “Hello?” She walked toward them and poked her head outside. Gulls screamed in the sky and the waves crashed on the coast. “Tara?”

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

She sensed someone behind her. Someone who shouldn’t be there. Electricity sparked over her skin when the light in her chest jumped to life.

“I see you’re still learning to control your abilities.” The woman’s voice was familiar.

Zanya’s breath stalled. She swallowed and then slowly turned. The heat drained from her cheeks at the sight of the woman with brown hair and wolf-gray eyes standing in the kitchen. She stood like a warrior, her stance gaped and chin tilted up. Her dark hair was pulled back, showcasing sharp cheekbones and long lashes. Her fitted shirt and pants were ordinary enough, except the armored shields on her forearms, thighs, and shins. Were the shields made of…rubber?

Zanya dropped her hand from the doorknob. This couldn’t be happening. Her mother was dead—killed by Sarian years ago.

A rush of sick heat tore through her gut. There was another possibility—the
only
other possibility.

Contessa.

Zanya curled her fingers into a fist, charging an electrical pulse in her palm. “You must think I’m really stupid.” She’d shock the temptress bitch until she couldn’t breathe.

The woman raised her hands. “I know this is a shock to you.”

“Not as much as it’ll be to you.” She spun and swung a heavy right hook.

The woman leapt to the side and pulled a baton from her belt. “You need to calm down.”

Zanya snarled and shot an electric orb straight at the impostor’s chest. The woman used a shield mounted to her forearm to deflect the attack. “Zanya, stop it. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You shouldn’t have come here, Contessa.” Zanya gathered tension in her muscles to strike with deadly force. She still hadn’t mastered the strength Renato held, but she was sure she could pound the witch into the ground if she tried.

The woman ground her teeth and gripped her weapon tighter. “I’m not Contessa, and I’m not here to hurt you. Believe me.”

“Go to hell!” Zanya swung hard, barely missing the witch when she ducked out of the way.

The woman struck Zanya in the stomach with her baton. The blow knocked the air from her lungs and doubled her over. Zanya gasped and coughed, forcing herself to draw in a breath as she looked up.

“Damn it!” The woman lowered her weapon, staring down at Zanya with a sharp gaze. “I didn’t want to do that.”

Renato skidded into the kitchen and stopped in the doorway, gawking at them with wide eyes. “Ellie?”

The woman stepped in front of Zanya in a defensive posture.

“No!” Zanya wheezed, reaching for Renato. “It’s not her.”

The woman spun around and glared down at Zanya. “Search my mind if you don’t believe it’s me.” She extended her hand. “Use your abilities, and it’ll prove I’m not that black-hearted whore.”

The room fell silent as Zanya slowly stood up straight. She searched the woman’s face. “Fine.” If she were lying, Zanya would shock her hard enough to stop her heart.

Zanya grasped the woman’s forearm and opened her mind, peering into the woman’s eyes. So far, she had only used her mental abilities to seek like Jayden and communicate like Marzena. With her stone tucked away upstairs, she would have to pull this off on her own.

It took focus, but Zanya found the power deep within. She pushed through the mental barrier into the woman’s subconscious.

The memory of her mother’s gentle smile washed over her. Her calm, confident gaze. Her gentle touch. Her mother’s spirit shone bright from behind the woman’s now-cold, calculating stare.

Zanya gasped and yanked her hand back.

“There.” Her mother nodded and slid the baton back into its holder. “Now you can stop trying to kill me.” She stepped around Zanya and shut the French doors, then pulled the curtains closed.

“Wait.” Zanya swallowed, anxiety bubbling in her chest. “How is this—?”

“Are we safe here?” She turned to Renato, who seemed even more stunned than Zanya. “Where are the others?”

Her mother seemed so different—her features sleek and sharp, and her hair pulled back in a high ponytail. It was really her, but Zanya hardly recognized this woman compared to the mother she had once met.

Eleuia’s brow turned down. “Why isn’t anyone answering me?” She rested her hands on Zanya’s shoulders. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Hurt? No.” Her mind reeled. “Mom…how are you here?”

Her mother paused. “It’s a long story, but right now we have to secure the house.”

Zanya threw her arms around her mother and hugged her as tight as she could. “I thought I’d never see you again.” Her voice quivered as she held back tears.

Her mom hugged her back, though only briefly. “We have to move. We’re in danger.”

Zanya pulled away. “Why?”

Renato scooped her off the floor with a hug. “My God, it’s a miracle.”

“I’m afraid not,” Eleuia said as Renato set her back down. “We need to get Zanya to a safe place.”

“How are you here? What’s going on?” Zanya said, desperate for an explanation.

“Do you have the stone?” her mother asked.

“It’s in my bedroom.”

Eleuia’s jaw flexed. “You should carry it with you at all times. We have to get it, then get out of here as quickly as we can.” She grabbed Zanya’s wrist.

Zanya glanced over her shoulder at Renato as her mother dragged her toward the stairs. “She doesn’t know,” Zanya said, glancing over her shoulder at Renato. She dug her heels into the ground and stopped her mother from pulling her any farther. “Mom, Sarian is dead.”

Her mother froze. “Dead?”

Zanya nodded. “He was killed right in front of me.”

Her face paled. “This is worse than I thought.”

Zanya’s eyebrows arched. “I don’t understand. I thought you’d be—”

Arwan walked into the foyer.

Her mother pulled a blade from a scabbard tucked in her boot and extended the knife. “
You
.”

Zanya moved between them. “What are you doing? He’s not—”

“Get out of the way, Zanya!” Her mother jerked her back and lunged at Arwan with the blade. “I’ll kill you!”

Arwan’s eyes widened, and he leaped to the side. Renato grasped at Eleuia. “Ellie, no!”

She sliced at Arwan, her eyes lit with fury. “You bastard!” She lunged at him again. He grabbed her wrist and wrenched it back, locking her arm behind her. The knife clattered to the floor. Ellie spun and kicked him in the chest, and Arwan slammed into the railing. He grabbed on to the wood and pulled himself upright as Renato snatched the knife from the floor. “Ellie, stop this!”

She reached to her belt for a black handle. It was a gun—one Zanya hadn’t noticed until now.

Her lips parted. She really meant to kill him.

Her mother pulled the pistol and took aim. Zanya threw out a shield, knocking Eleuia to the floor and Arwan even harder against the far wall. The gun skidded across the hardwood to Zanya’s feet, and she picked it up. The weight of the cold metal made her heart race even faster.

“Let me take that.” Renato slowly removed the pistol from her hand.

Arwan righted himself, his gaze flickering between Zanya and her mother.

The chaos was just too much. She’d just woken up. She hadn’t even had her first cup of coffee, for God’s sake. “Someone better tell me what the hell is going on!” Zanya should have been able to enjoy the fact that her mother was back from the dead. Instead, Eleuia had come back as a cold woman with a chip on her shoulder.

Eleuia slowly picked herself off the floor, and the sharpness in her gaze deepened Zanya’s guilt. “I’m sorry, Mom, but you almost killed him.”

“I’d be doing you a favor.” Eleuia grabbed the knife from Renato’s hand and shoved it back into its sheath. She extended her hand, waiting for her gun.

Renato ejected the clip and cocked it, releasing the single bullet from the chamber. He slowly set the piece in her hand.

She snatched it, glaring. “Mind telling me why the hell that
thing
is in our house, near my daughter? You were supposed to protect her from his kind.”

“Ellie, he isn’t who you believe him to be.”

“Oh really?” She let out a haughty laugh. “So he’s not the heir to the underworld? He’s not a monster?” Her eyes narrowed. “I know, Renato. I know much more than you’re giving me credit for.”

Zanya’s gut rolled and pitched. Her gaze rested on Arwan as her stomach clenched. She swallowed down the saliva pooled under her tongue. “What is she talking about?”

He analyzed her apprehensive stance, and nodded. “It’s true. I am.” A tremor ran up his arm. “I am all of those things. And worse.”

“See.” Eleuia stepped beside Zanya. “He’s not even trying to deny it.” She looked toward Renato. “And you knew all along. This is how you protect her?”

Renato analyzed Eleuia with a sober stare. “You are out of line, Ellie. He may be the rightful heir, but he is not like them. He never has been. You have no idea—”

“Heir to what, exactly?” Zanya’s gaze darted between them.

Renato shook his head. “It’s not how it sounds.”

“Yes.” Arwan clenched and unclenched his fist. “Yes it is. Zanya has the right to know who I am.” He met her gaze. “I should tell her myself. I should have told her a long time ago.” When he stepped forward, Zanya’s breath caught in her throat. “She deserves that much.”

“Arwan…” Her heart ached as she hoped this was all a huge mistake.

“I wanted to tell you, to be honest with you from the start.” His chest rose as he drew in a breath. “I’m so sorry, Zanya. I am who they say I am. Heir to the throne of the underworld, son of the king. I hate it—hate myself for it—but I can’t keep running away.”

“It’s too late for confessions, you mongrel half-breed.” Eleuia’s arms were thin and lean, but the armor made her look fierce. “You have never belonged here, and I’ll be damned to the world you came from if I escaped Sarian’s capture just to watch you pollute my only daughter.” She pulled a second pistol from a hidden holster in her belt.

“Mom.” Zanya extended her hands. “You can’t be serious.”

“Try to stop me again, Zanya, and I’ll put a hole in his heart.” She glared at Arwan. “Apparently I’m the only one left with any sense. This boy—this creature—is only going to destroy you. He’s dark. Riyata and underworlders have been enemies since time began, and for good reason.”

“He’s not like that.” She inched forward. Maybe she could snatch the gun from her mother’s grip before it was too late.

Eleuia took aim.

“No!” Renato jumped into the path of the bullet just before the gunshot rang through the house. The bullet struck him in the shoulder but didn’t stop him from tackling her mother to the floor.

“Let go of me!” Eleuia screamed, struggling to twist out of Renato’s grasp as blood tricked down his arm. “You let him in here! You let that thing in our house!”

“So help me, Ellie. If you do not calm down, I will be forced to do something I would otherwise never do.”

Zanya turned back to Arwan, but he was gone. The French door in the kitchen hung open, the breeze tossing the curtains side to side.

Chapter Eighteen

Zanya sat near Renato’s desk, listening to her mom and Renato bicker in the back of the study. It had been almost impossible to sleep the night before while knowing her mother was in the house and Arwan still hadn’t returned. She had so many questions, but she’d have to wait until they stopped arguing to get a word in edgewise.

“How could you let this happen?” Eleuia whispered harshly.

“Now wait a moment.” Renato lifted his hand, but Eleuia slapped it away.

“I’m the guardian for centuries, and as soon as I leave, there is an underworld half-breed living in my house?”

She’d had just about enough of this “underworld half-breed” crap. If they weren’t going to offer her the answers she needed, she’d have to take them.

Zanya stood and stalked toward them. Of course they were so focused on each other, they didn’t even notice her approach. If only she could go back to the first time she’d met her mother—back when Arwan had bent time and risked his life to save Tara and retrieve the stone. Her mother should have been thanking him.

Zanya paused beside the bickering pair and waiting for her opportunity to speak. She eyed Renato’s shoulder. The wound seemed to be healing quickly, thanks to Peter’s handiwork. The fact it was only a flesh wound helped. Still, her mother didn’t seem at all apologetic for the accident.

Her uncle pinched the bridge of his nose. “If you would stop being so stubborn and just listen to what I have to say—”

“Hey, guys…” Neither of them looked at her.

“Right, so you can keep telling me how he’s really a good guy?”

“Mom…”

Eleuia scoffed and continued her argument. “Do you even realize that boy has more power than Sarian, or anyone from his realm? And he is inherently programmed to use his power for evil. Nothing, and I mean
nothing
can change that.”

Zanya balled her fists. “
Excuse me.
”

“That is not up to you to judge, Ellie. There are some circumstances that call for a more thorough explanation.”

“Yeah, how about that? Let’s start with how you could let him in my house to begin with!”

Zanya ground her teeth. “Hey!” The two froze and stared at her. Zanya exhaled. “Can you guys shut up for two seconds?” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “First—” she looked at her mother “—you seriously need to lay off. Whatever you think Arwan is,
he’s not
. He’s fought with us this entire time, and if it weren’t for him, I never would have bonded with the stone. How can you forget how much he’s helped us?”

Eleuia’s eyes narrowed. “You’re right.” Her tone had softened. “I wish I could have recognized him sooner. I was so stupid.” Her mother turned and paced in front of the fireplace. “A timebender. I knew it wasn’t possible. Only deities or crossbreeds have the ability to do that.”

“
Stop calling him that.
” Zanya crossed her arms as her mother paced like a madwoman. “And stop treating him like a criminal for something he can’t control.”

“It’s the harsh truth, Zanya.” Eleuia stopped pacing and squared her stance. “Sometimes life deals you shit and you can either wallow in it or make the best of your situation and keep going.”

Zanya’s shoulders dropped. She examined her mother’s sharp features. “What happened to you? You were so different when I first met you. You were strong and elegant. You were…my mom.” She tilted her head. “Now you’re like someone else. Someone I don’t even recognize.”

Her mother cast down her gaze. “I’m sorry. I’m not the same woman you met. I wish I could do it all over again. I never wanted to lose you, but that’s what life dealt me.” She glanced at Renato, this time with a bit of humility. “And I chose to survive.”

“Survive what?” Zanya asked. “What happened? You still haven’t told us how you escaped Sarian. How? When?”

Eleuia slowly lowered herself into a chair. Zanya remembered watching her mom in the same exact spot when they had gone back in time. Back when her mother wore a pregnant belly, and soft waves cascaded over her shoulders. Now she was half the woman, in more ways than one.

Zanya and her uncle cautiously sat in the chairs beside her. Renato still hadn’t lost his intense focus. She didn’t like to see him so conflicted, but something had happened. Something that had changed the ripples of life.

“After you came to the house…” Eleuia settled deeper in her chair. “After you bonded with the stone, my fate was sealed. I was stripped of my powers. The only gift a guardian retains after they give the stone to the next in line is their longevity. But the future had to play out the way it had the first time. So I had you and then sent you away with your father.”

Zanya sat up straight in her chair, hope swirling in her chest.

“No.” Eleuia lifted her hand. “He isn’t here. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Zanya slumped back. It would have been too good to be true.

“Sarian found me and expected to find the stone,” her mother continued. “Except this time it was gone. I was powerless, and he was angry over all of the wasted years he’d spent chasing me.” She rested her hand on her chest. “But he found other ways to keep himself entertained.” She let out a shaky breath. “And he kept me alive for years.”

Nausea slithered in Zanya’s gut. She had seen that same expression on Tara’s face every time she spoke about her abuse. Now her mother’s features were riddled with shame, and Zanya couldn’t do a damn thing to make it better. “He was supposed to kill you. What happened?”

“Sarian and I spent a lot of time together, Zanya. After being his prisoner that long, he began to open up to me. He bragged about his plans. That’s when I found out about that
boy
and how Sarian was going to take down the king of the underworld and kill the prince. He wanted the king’s realm but couldn’t have it as long as an heir was around.”

“Mom.” Zanya leaned forward in her chair. “Are you saying Arwan is a demigod like Sarian was?”

“Something like that. To be honest, we aren’t really sure, exactly.”

“The prince?” Zanya sat back. All this time and he hadn’t told her. He’d had every chance in the world, and he’d still hidden who he truly was.

“What do you mean,
we
aren’t sure?” Renato said.

“I’m not the only Riyata left. There are others, like us, who have been helping me survive all this time. I couldn’t do it alone. Not without my abilities. Not without the stone.”

He rubbed his chin. “Are they willing to fight?”

She nodded. “For the right cause.”

“Fight who?” Zanya said. “Sarian’s gone.”

“Which is what I was afraid of.” Eleuia traced her fingers over a scar on her wrist. “I’ve seen what would happen if Sarian died. I’ve seen a lot of things I shouldn’t have. Things only gods and underworlders are meant to see.” Sweat collected on her brow. “Now that Sarian’s gone, the doors are open to someone much worse, more powerful, with absolutely no moral boundaries.”

“Contessa,” Zanya whispered.

Eleuia examined her carefully. “How did you know?”

“Um…” Zanya exchanged glances with Renato. “We sort of asked her for help a while back.”

“What?” her mother snarled through clenched teeth and peered at Renato. “You brought my daughter to see that demon?” She slammed her fist against the table beside her, rattling the tiny crystals that hung from the lampshade. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“It was my idea,” Zanya said. “So stop freaking out on him. It’s not Renato’s fault. He hasn’t done anything but worry about me and protect us this entire time you were—” She bit back the rest of her sentence.

“I know I haven’t been here. But I am now, and that’s all you can ask of me.”

“That—and some humility.”

Her mother’s lips parted. “Excuse me?”

“Arwan may be a lot of things, but he’s not evil.” She’d deal with his half-truth confession later. For now, she had to convince her mother to let him back in the house without trying to kill him. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s one of us.”

Eleuia sat up straight, her hands draped over the armrests of the leather chair. “This is my house, and I will say who is welcome and who is not.”

Zanya pushed to her feet. “Fine, but I’m the guardian now. You may regret that, but you can’t take it back. As long as the stone and I are bonded, I have to do what’s right for us.” She squared her shoulders. “It’s time for me to step up and be the leader I’m supposed to be. Not just for me, but for everyone.” She turned and walked toward the door. There clearly wouldn’t be any smiles, hugs, or nights spent reminiscing and telling stories about their lives. Things would be different. Colder. More distant.

When she reached the threshold, her mother spoke. “I hope you’re not in love with him.”

Zanya paused at the door.

“You can never be with him. He’s an underworlder and you’re Riyata. You’re not compatible, and you never will be. There is nowhere in any realm where you both belong.”

“Ellie,” Renato scolded.

“No. She needs to hear this.”

Zanya listened with her back still turned, her chest rising and falling with every short breath.

“Even if you do love him, you need to let him go. He’ll only bring heartache and destruction to you. To us all.”