Phobia (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria) (16 page)

“
Bach, stop this—” his father stuttered. “This—is not you.”

“
What do you know about who I am?” Bach fumed. “You never knew me, Aleix. I deluded myself by calling you father.”

“
I am your father,” Aleix maintained.

“
Once you were, but your genetic imperfections have been corrected and purged from me,” Bach said. “I am perfect now.”

“
I will always be your father,” Sen Aleix insisted. “Nothing you do can change the truth. This is why even the Dy’obeth imposters here will not let you hurt me. They see I am your true father. You are no more Dy’obeth than those psychopaths.”

“
Shut up.” High Father punched Aleix in the face. “You do not deserve an honorable death.” High Father sat at the seat that been vacated by the elderly Pere. “Bach, you can have a concession. There will be a crimson moon in three weeks, kill him then and you will keep your honor.”

“
Really?” Bach’s mother beamed.

High Father nodded.

“Thank you, High Father.” Bach smiled.

“
Whatever you do, you will always be my son.” Bach’s father groaned and then turned to High Father. “As for you, High Father or whatever you call yourself, you will never be a Sen. The Family will never follow you.”

“
They will or they’ll become Drones, so I do not need anyone to like me.” High Father grinned as he sat up in his chair. “Karvas, Beraz, remove these Dogs from my sight. Since they haven’t sworn loyalty, imprison them in the bridewell below.”

This is not what I need

Bach, Karvas and Maniko ascended Sable Mountain, the ancestral home of the Third Pillar. While they made their way through the snow, he spotted the white castle where Bach’s father used to live. Now Aleix had been arrested, Beraz was enthroned as the Sen of the Third Pillar and given the castle.

Bach
had limited encounters with Beraz since they fought in the crypt and he aimed to keep it that way. On the other hand, Karvas had warmed up to Bach and Lluc after being beaten for some reason.

The once bustling mou
ntain roads now stood empty as the Family received the message to stay clear of Dy’obeths. As the sun went down, the gas powered streetlights turned on.

“
I never thought I’d miss the sight of our realm at night.” Maniko grabbed Bach’s arm suddenly.

“
Please, do not touch me.” He shook her off.

“
What’s your problem? You should be relieved to be with a proper woman after spending so much time with Dogs and Rats,” she whispered and licked the top of his ear.

“
The humans are not Rats,” Bach corrected. “They should have never been involved in our people’s business in the first place.”

“
You sound like a Jaga lover.” Maniko frowned.

“
He’s right Maniko,” Karvas piped in. “We should have never polluted our world with them.”

“
That does not stop them from being Rats.” Maniko nodded.

“
Yeah, but if they were left in their realm then they’d never be treated like Rats,” Karvas added.

“
That does not make sense.” She pouted. “But the sooner we get rid of them, the sooner we can get the Family back in line. Thankfully, High Father is rounding up all the Thayns and putting them out of their misery for that very reason.” Maniko shook her head. “I thought you were trying to say something profound.”

“
Rounding them up how?” Bach asked.

“
High Father commanded the Dogs to send their Thayns the cleansing centers,” Karvas informed him. “They have almost half-a-million Thayns in the Third Pillar alone.”

“
I want to be sick. How can they have that many Rats here?” Maniko gagged.

When t
hey passed a block of five hundred year-old stone apartments, a green glimmer caught his eye. Glancing up at one of the stained glass windows on the twentieth floor, he saw a man duck down.

“
That Dog looked me in the eye,” Maniko remarked.

“
And now he is cowering in his hovel, wishing he hadn’t.” Karvas stopped moving.

“
How dare a Dog look me in the eye like—like he is more than he is?” Maniko seethed.

“
So, what are you going to do about it?” Karvas jeered.

“
Move on Maniko, we’ll be late for our meeting with Beraz.” Bach chuckled.

Maniko
remained transfixed as she eyed the window of the apartment. “If I let this go, they will suspect I am milk-hearted.”

“
Because you are,” Karvas teased.

She sm
irked at him and ran toward the building, leaping up into the darkened window.

Moment
s later, a man’s screams sounded from the apartment.

“
If there’s one thing about Maniko, she is an artist.” Karvas patted Bach’s shoulder. “You’ll be amazed with her work. Come.” Following in Maniko’s direction, Karvas sprinted toward the apartment and jumped, entering the window.

Bach follow
ed.

Inside,
Maniko pummeled the man who now squatted in a corner trying to protect himself. “You’re a Dog. A worthless maggot, you never look at a Dy’obeth.” She struck him with increasing intensity.

“
Please, stop,” the man wept.

“
I believe he learned his lesson.” Bach restrained Maniko who’d been beating on him for at least fifteen minutes. “We must see Beraz before—”

“
Stay out of this.” Maniko hit Bach in the face.

Bach staggered back but didn
’t fall. “You shouldn’t have done that.” He wanted to let it go, but the darkness took over and he lunged toward her.

“
Let her get it out. Trust me, if you still want her to, she’ll have more than enough energy to service you.” Karvas held him back. “This is how she gets into the mood.”

She returned to assault on the powerless man
.

“
I thought this was her art?” Bach responded.

“
You want to see my art?” Snapping her fingers, a black faycard appeared in her fingers. On the card was the image of a flaming star.

“
We have those?” Bach wondered.

“
Who do you think gave it to the Dogs?” Maniko quipped.

The faycard
looked like a human playing card, but was a powerful focal point of the energy used by Family to turn fee-minded Terrans into devoted Thayns.

“
Dog, you’ll serve me.” Maniko held the card in front of the whimpering, bloody man. Her card glowed black. “Do you hear me?” She slapped him.

Bach wanted to stop her, but
he found he couldn’t move. The dark in him wanted to see the art.

“
Yes, Eminent. I am here to serve you, do with me as you please.” Eagerly, he recited the words Bach had heard Thayns say hundreds of times.

“
Set a fire in here,” Maniko commanded him.

“
Yes Eminent—it is my pleasure.”

“
And stay here to make sure it burns down.” She smacked him again.

“
Thank you for selecting me for this honor Eminent.” The man crawled as if his legs were broken from Maniko’s beating.

“
That’s it?” Karvas seemed disappointed. “I was expecting—more.”

“
Trust my process.” Maniko sashayed to the window and leapt out. “This is what I do.”

Landing back in front of the building, Bach found
Maniko heading up the inclining street towards Beraz’s castle.

Bach landed a few feet after her.

“That is it?” Karvas gasped. “You have asked the Drone to set a fire?”

“
You need to go some distance to see it.” Maniko broke into a run. Getting to higher ground, the stopped and watched as the fire spread to the surrounding buildings. The residents poured into the streets.

“
Will not the authorities put this out?” Bach asked

T
he Family was expedient in these kinds of matters. They’d introduced the concept of a fire department to the humans.

“
Not in Sable Mountain. Beraz is the authority here, so no such help will be given to the Dogs. Their houses are going to burn.”

“
Now I see it,” Karvas grinned as he looked toward the block next to the one they’d left as it started to emit smoke. “A chain.”

“
A chain of fire,” she corrected. “By the time we return, this whole street will be covered with soot and ash.”

Death, the truest ar
t
, the darkness whispered in Bach’s brain.

“
And the residents? Are you going to let them run off?” Karvas frowned. “Seems a waste to do that.”

“
Why? I like to see the fear in their eyes,” she replied. “They’ll tell the others to fear me more.”

“
Still, you’d get three hundred Dogs if you—” Karvas continued.

“
Oh, I’ll get them, but there’s something beautiful about seeing the eyes of a person who has no hope.”

Two
Famila men marched down the incline toward Bach and the two other Dy’obeths. One of the men was Didan, the silver-haired empiric who’d tried to kill Bach. Didan had he tried to kill someone Bach loved—a girl—
who…?
He couldn’t remember.

The two men knelt in front of Bach and his brethren.

While a small number of the empirics deserted their duties when the Dy’obeths emerged, most quickly swore loyalty to High Father.

Didan was one of the first to do so.

“What do you want?” Maniko snapped.

“
Eminents.” Didan didn’t look up.

“
That one can never speak to me.” Bach pointed at Didan. Clutching Didan’s head, Bach tossed him to the ground.

“
Wait, he is one of Beraz’s servants,” Maniko warned Bach. “He’s been branded.”

“
Branded?” Bach inquired.

Ripping off Didan
’s sleeve, she showed Bach a symbol burnt into Didan’s shoulder.

“
And this protects him?” Bach asked.

“
Well, from everyone except Beraz and High Father,” Karvas replied. “Unless you challenge Beraz for his seat as Sen.”

“
You should take Beraz’s seat,” Maniko agreed. “You’re stronger and smarter than him.”

“
Is he not your mate?” asked Bach.

“
Dy’obeth women want strength,” Maniko simpered. “Once you have overthrown Beraz, I’ll give myself to you and our offspring will be powerful.

“
Right.” Bach wasn’t enthused by her proposition. Maniko was very pretty and he’d seen the way the Dy’obeths watched her, but he wasn’t interested. He’d no interest in any Dy’obeth female. Breeding wasn’t why he’d joined his mother and released the Dy’obeths. “What do you want?” He asked Didan’s companion.

“
Spit it out and then get your putrid stench away from me.” Karvas kicked him.

“
Lady Coia has sent for Eminent Bach to go to her at once.” The nameless empiric spoke.

“
Is that it?” Maniko asked impatiently.

“
Yes, Eminent,” the empiric said.

“
Then get lost now,” she shrieked, bringing out a knife she stabbed the nameless empiric in the chest. “That one was not branded.”

The man groaned as he fell to the ground.

Bach noticed Didan flinch as if he wanted to stop her, but he instead let his companion die as Maniko plunged her knife into him again.

*****

An hour later, Bach stood in Mirrin Castle. He sped up countless stairs until he reached the roof where he met his mother.

She was
feeding rodents to a caged skrell almost twice her size.

A threshold stood
a few feet away from her.

Lluc and Malcolm
stood around, as did Felip who seemed to have regenerated from the abuse he faced at the hands of Maniko.

“
Beloved.” Dropping the last of the rodents into the cage, she moved toward Bach.

“
They were cleansing the humans and you did not tell me?” Bach asked in a tone harsher than he intended.

“
Cleansing of Terrans?” Felip exclaimed. “I believed High Father would simply go after the Family. The Terrans are useless to him.”