Phobia (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria) (5 page)

“
You might’ve avoided this if you’d let us take care of the girl,” Jonas hissed. “But you were only thinking of yourself.”

“
I was thinking of her. She was not going to spend her life in a cage, if I didn’t take her.” Her mother seethed.

“
But that’s what you’re suggesting now,” Jonas pointed out. “You’re begging us to make her a guinea pig.”

“
What that matters now is our survival. My people estimate we’re five to ten years away from the biters starving to death,” Vadim hypothesized.

“
I’m not risking my family or what’s left of my government.” Carlos looked doubtful. “The prudent step is to wait this out. I doubt the Family have any interest in a world as broken as ours.”

“
They’ll always want new Thayns,” Wisteria noted.

“
And from what I hear, the Thayns have a pretty good life,” Jonas added drily. “Food, housing and they’re disease free.”

“
The Thayns are slaves. How can you say that’s a better life?” her mother exclaimed.

“
I’m not,” Jonas shouted. “I mean the Family probably isn’t going to risk infecting their stock.”

“
Stock,” Wisteria muttered. “They’re human beings.”

“
Human beings who chose to follow the Family,” Jonas stated. “They don’t get my sympathy because they could’ve returned here anytime they wanted or at the very least helped us in some way.”

“
They’ve been brainwashed,” Wisteria exclaimed.

“
No, according to our intelligence, they were persuaded or influenced, but each person chose to follow the Family,” Carlos explained.

“
Have you ever met a Thayn?” Wisteria rose to her feet.

“
No… but I’ve read multiple accounts,” Carlos defended. “But bottom-line is we wouldn’t even be having this conversation if your mother did what she was supposed to do.”

“
Leave me to be a lab experiment?” Wisteria accused. “Like she’s trying to do now?”

“
I’m trying to protect you,” her mother maintained. “Carlos, listen to me—”

“
No, Demi, you made your bed and now you’re going to lay in it.” Jonas crossed back onto his boat.

“
You’re a coward and a fool. I’m offering you a cure to Nero on a silver platter,” her mother yelled as Jonas reached his boat.

“
You’re lucky I don’t send a team to wipe out what’s left of your little village,” Jonas called back.

“
If
you find our base. Good luck trying,” her mother mocked.

“
Please…with a yacht as small as yours, it’s clear you don’t live far from here. We’d easily be able to wait you out and follow you back,” Jonas suggested.

“
You’d never find our camp and if I took you there, you’d never leave alive.” Her mother glowered.

“
Next time you call, we won’t answer,” Vadim promised.

Wisteria watched the two Europeans sail back to their larger vessel.

“He’s right. This will be the last time anyone will come out this far. We don’t have the resources.” Carlos maneuvered the boat back toward Sabine and Aunty Jenny. “I can’t say you’ll be missed. Wisteria, none of this would’ve happened if your mother hadn’t run off with you,” he explained to Wisteria. “Back then, we did have a chance at preventing all of this. She’s not as smart as she looks.”

“
Don’t insult my mother,” Wisteria said calmly, but firm. “She’s kept our family alive, and she understands more about the Family than you’d ever learn from your RZC reports.”

“
Really?” Carlos scoffed. “I doubt it.”

“
The Family infiltrated RZC without your comprehension,” Wisteria called out. “So, I’d question all your intelligence if I were you.”

“
No one infiltrated us. You’re turning into quite the liar, like your mother huh?” Carlos remarked.

“
Didan Logan, your once Chief Financial Officer was a member of the Family,” Wisteria informed him.

“
Enough already, whatever you and your mother were planning is over,” Carlos bellowed as he reached the yacht where Sabine and Aunt Jenny were. “I hope to hell, I never see either one of you again.”

After her meeting with the RZC exe
cutives, Wisteria felt furious with her mother for trying to get rid of her. Granted, her mother tried to protect her in her own way, but that seemed to be the underlying motivation of all her mother’s twisted behavior. “Why didn’t you tell me this?” she demanded once Carlos and the executives were gone.

Her mother was sitting below deck studying a map. She didn
’t answer her.

“
Why didn’t you leave with RZC if it would’ve saved everyone from Nero?” Trembling, she sat opposite her mother. “Billions of people would’ve been saved.”

“
Baby.” Her mother put the map down. “You weren’t the first descendent of the First Pillar they encountered. If I left you with them you’d be tortured, cloned and dead.”

“
Maybe it would’ve helped.”

“
Helped? How? Coia would’ve escaped and taken you sooner. That’s the difference. Your father—Doc wasn’t looking for a cure. He wanted supernatural powers to fight the Family. That is all RZC’s ever wanted. They don’t care about you. They only need you now that Datura is gone.”

“
Datura?”

“
I’m sorry.” Her mother scowled and rubbed her face. “I shouldn’t have turned to those idiots for help. I forgot how pathetic they all were.”

“
Who’s Datura?”

“
I should’ve spoken to you about this first.” Getting up, she walked over to Wisteria and kissed Wisteria’s forehead. “Baby, I’d never let them turn you into a weapon or an experiment. Never. Once you understand that…you’ll be almost as smart as I am.”

“
Even if it meant saving the world?”

“
But giving you over to RZC wouldn’t change or save the world. Would you have handed Oleander over to Doc, even after she tried to kill you?”

Oleander or Ollie was a child created by Doc using Wisteria and Bach
’s DNA. Even though the girl was seven, she’d been aged to be about sixteen. Ollie had tried to kill Wisteria because she feared being abandoned by Felip.

“
No, I would never have left her,” Wisteria stated.

“
And if you had a way to save her, would you take it?”

Hot tears poured down her cheeks as Wisteria recalled the moment she learned her daughter was dead. Even though she
’d been with Ollie for a few days, it was as if she’d loved the girl a lifetime. “Yes.”

“
Then, you can understand why I’d never let you go.” Getting up, her mother headed up the stairs to the upper deck.

“
Mum.”

“
Yes?”

“
What happened to my real father?”

“
I went out and when I came back he’d been pulsed—fried to death.” Lara bit at her lip. “It was a very painful way to die.” She shook her head vigorously. “We shouldn’t talk about this.”

“
No—talk to me.” She grabbed her mother’s shoulder. “I can’t keep begging you to tell me about your life.”

“
Then stop begging. I would’ve thought what you heard from those idiots was enough.” Her mother left.

Why did she even try? Wiste
ria smacked her head. Her mother never volunteered any information? Storming into her cabin, Wisteria kicked the door closed and then kicked it again before sinking on to the bed.

We are the darkness and we are the good

Twenty-year-old, Bach of the Third Pillar blinked up at the deep orange sky, filled with black storm clouds overhead and wondered where he was. This wasn’t Earth, the air felt different, heavier, plus Earth didn’t have orange skies.

Was this Jarthan?
In his life, he’d travelled across three realms: Earth, his home realm and Jarthan that sat between them. Jarthan’s skies were the only ones that were ever orange.

Checking for signs of Jarthan
’s Mountains, he saw nothing, just the grey stone walls of a courtyard, which seemed familiar. He’d been here before, but couldn’t place when or why. Sitting up, he was on a stone chair alone in an abandoned stone courtyard, located in some sort of castle. Thinking hard, he tried to remember the events that led him to his place. He’d agreed to leave the Earth town of Franklin with his mother, Coia, for a day.

The cloud in his mind cleared
and he recalled Wisteria Kuti, his Mosroc. He’d left and came here to save her life because she’d been bitten by the infected.
Did the cure work?
“
D’cara
,” he swore to himself. He’d left her on the tanker in the middle of the ocean with pirates. He needed to get back. Slowly, he attempted to rise, but his mind still seemed groggy. What did his mother do to him? “How did I get out here?”

“
You sleepwalked, I guess,” a voice answered.

“
Lluc?” Turning back, Bach wasn’t sure whether or not to believe his eyes.

Lluc, his twenty-one year
old brother stood behind him in an immaculate grey suit.

Everything Bach
went through in the last three weeks—Wisteria becoming infected, Ollie’s death, Radala, his best friend’s girlfriend dying—had been as result of trying to find the man who now stood behind him smirking.

“
What happened?” Rising to his feet, Bach touched the black spots running along Lluc’s neck.

“
It seems the Mosroc has made you affectionate little brother.” Lluc pushed Bach’s hand away.

“
We were searching for you.”

“
You should not have bothered. I have been fine all along. Thanks to Felip.”

“
Felip. How can you trust him?”

Felip
, their cousin, their father’s brother’s son, used every opportunity available to stab Bach in the back.

“
He’s an insane manipulator. He made Oleander, my daughter, so twisted, she tried to kill Wisteria.”

“
Bach.” Lluc grinned. “Exposing your daughter to Felip was a risk, but he saved my life. When I got to Franklin, Wisteria’s father poisoned me and within hours, I was locked down. Felip got me out.”

“
Felip cares about himself. He resents us because we are full-blooded Family and he is part human. Me…he hates most of all for reasons I will never understand.”

“
Soon, that will not matter anymore.”

“
The Family has always detested humans. Father had me stabbed, because I would not give Wisteria—a human—up. You were there, so what has changed?”

“
Mother will explain it to you.” Lluc patted Bach’s shoulders. “First, let me take care of you. How do you feel?”

Closing his eyes and clenching his fists, Bach sprinted a few steps and leapt into the air
, landing on one of the courtyard’s walls and then onto a tower overlooking a forest. “I feel great.”

“
Amazing huh?” Lluc landed beside him.

“
I’ve fully regenerated.” As a member of the Family, Bach possessed the ability to heal himself from most ailments and injuries through a deep sleep called regeneration. “How long did I sleep?”

“
An hour and not only are you fully regenerated, you’re almost forty percent stronger.”

“
How is that possible? I would need at least a half a day to regenerate myself back to full strength. Did you give me something?” He examined his brother closely. “You’re different somehow.”

Lluc
’s black hair shone and his shana, the black spots on his neck, were blacker than Bach ever thought possible. The shana provided an indication of the health of a Famila, and his brother looked in the best shape of his life. However, it was Lluc’s eyes that troubled him. Instead of being green as every healthy Famila man’s eyes were, his pupils were yellow.

“
I have changed in more ways than you can imagine. Mother showed me a form of regeneration called the perfection. It greatly increased my strength and agility.” Lluc beamed. “She started using the perfection on you, while you were sleeping, but it has not been completed yet.”

“
That’s why I feel so incredible. “ From the higher ground, he got a bird’s eye view of the entire courtyard and a wild forest behind them. There were no people, plants or animals, simply the grey stone. “Where are we?”

“
The Forrest of Mirrin in Jarthan. We used to come here with Mother before she disappeared.”

“
You’re right.” Bach remembered, Mirrin castle was used by the Lord or Lady of Jarthan for their meditations, studies and or any negotiations they needed to do with bickering Sens. When his mother had been the Lady of Jarthan, she’d forbidden civilians from going to Mirrin, but told no one why. Over time, people stopped going entirely. “Is Nular here?”

Nular was the human woman his brother
fell in love with and with whom he’d run away.

“
Who?” Lluc asked as they headed to one of the ancient doors.

“
Your Thayn.”

Lluc paused, cocking his head to the side.
“This way.” Ignoring Bach’s question, he bounded of the tower.

Following him, Bach descended through the air
, landing inches behind his brother.

Lluc marched forward into the castle and led Bach through a dark passageway.

Bach grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. “Are you telling me you don’t remember Nular, your pregnant human wife?”

“
She is safe now. The Family will not be able to reach her.”

The dark corridor brightened up, lit by candles. Standing at the end, they
saw the tall regal woman—his mother, Lady Coia of the Third Pillar. Dressed in her white grown with a blue stripe down the center, her long dark hair swept across the ground as she moved forward. The last time he’d seen her, her skin looked pale almost pure white, but now she glowed with a healthy tan her cheeks a rosy red. Like Lluc, her eyes were yellow.

“
Lelurim-Nasa-Rito-Hanish-Carna-Nisdor-Casata-Pateen-Foreh-Hareh-Lasmash
.” Her voice echoed through the hallway as she recited part of Lluc’s true name. “Bring your brother.”

Obediently, Lluc shoved Bach forward.

“What’s going on?” Bach seized his arm. “Leave now. Something isn’t right.” He recalled how Radala, his ex-girlfriend died trying to convince him his mother was unstable and Wisteria also expressed a negative instinct about his mother. “We should talk about this first. Sen-Filla Merce can explain this to us.”

“
Don’t be afraid.” Malcolm, his half-brother stood at the exit. His eyes were also yellow.

Behind him were several Famila men dressed in grey suits, who stared blankly at Bach.

“Beloved, we are not like the rest of The Family, so Merce and her frauds will be unable to help you.” His mother materialized, inches in front of Bach. “You see, we are as far above them as they are above Malcolm’s Drones.” She pointed to the Famila men who stood motionless behind them. “Or rather, how they think they are over Terrans.”

“
They’re humans,” Bach gritted. “Never call them Terrans.”

“
Do not worry. I have no fear or hatred of humans. Remember beloved, I bonded with two humans and one of them was Jason and Malcolm’s father.”

“
Jason was telling the truth?” Bach realized. “You bonded with two men, but not our father.”

“
Yes,” she acknowledged.

“
Father knew this?” Bach demanded.

“
Only Lord Rafel knew in the end,” she admitted.

Lord Rafel was the father of Bach
’s best friend, Enric. Rafel had been the Lord of Jarthan after his mother vanished, up until his own daughter Alba killed him at the command of Felip.

“
Were you aware Felip was going to kill him?” Bach asked.

“
Felip did not kill Rafel, Alba did,” his mother corrected.

At one time, he c
ared a lot about Alba. His father wanted Bach to name Alba as his intended, which meant one day, he’d marry her. Bach probably would’ve if he hadn’t bonded with Wisteria at thirteen. He shuddered while remembering about the evil Alba was. She used to be kind.

“
Felip got to her and twisted her mind. She killed her own father for him,” Bach recalled.

“
Rafel was a good man.” His mother’s head dropped and her long hair brushed against the floor of the cell.

“
And Felip had her murder him,” Bach pointed out.

“
He did not. She wanted to murder her father. It takes a special kind of hatred or love to do something so abominable,” she explained.

“
Lord Rafel was there for me when you died—were gone.”

“
And I am glad for that.” She took his hand. “Your father is a distant man and never understood how to show his love. I didn’t want to leave you at his mercy, but Wisteria sent me away. I swear. I would have never let Didan hurt you.”

“
Your sister, Sen-Dra Belem watched it happen and did nothing.”

“
Belem was a Drone and not as powerful as you and I. You and your brothers are truly different.” His mother beamed. “Like me. When High Father sees you, he will be amazed that you are half Famila.”

“
Half? I’m part human?” Bach was surprised about how much he wanted it to be true.

“
No, you, me and your brothers, are what is left of the true Family.” His mother glanced at Lluc, and back at him.

“
I don’t understand.”

“
Our people came to the Family’s realm and transformed a primitive race of forest dwellers and nut foragers into the quasi-civilized people they now are. We gave them their dialect, their culture, the power and most of their DNA. In return for our gifts, they worshipped us.” His mother’s tanned complexion turned to ash and her white nails grew long and thick. “Until they decided to join with our enemies and suppress our people.”

“
What are you?” Bach edged away from her.

“
I am a Dy’obeth, like my own father.”

“
Dy’obeths are nothing but children’s stories.” Bach shook his head. “They’re like the blood thirsties or Ajana. Fairytales told to children to scare them.”

“
I remember the legends of nine foot monsters with scaly skin, double tales and claws powerful enough to cut through steel. Their faces were distorted, horrific and so terrifying that a person seeing one for the first time would be temporarily blinded.” His mother chuckled. “We are not one of them.”

“
Again, what are you?” Bach repeated.

“
I am a Dy’obeth. Those stories were not true, but the lessons are. The Family must learn again to be afraid of us.”

“
What happened to you in the Deep? You’re not well. Let me get you help. Dy’obeths aren’t real.” He recalled the words of Radala. She’d also told him Dy’obeths spent time on Earth. She’d claimed his mother had been trying to resurrect Dy’obeths. At the time, he’d thought Radala had been delirious because she lay dying. He couldn’t imagine why she thought the things she did at the time.

“
Beloved, I am not crazy. The Seven Elders hid the truth about the Dy’obeths from everyone…even themselves because they are ashamed. Instead, they spread lies about Dy’obeths being monsters.”

“
Ashamed, why?”

“
Humiliated that the powerful Family was defeated and imprisoned by the humans of the First Pillar.”

“
Humans imprisoned a race of super monsters?” Bach recited. “Mother, you don’t—”

“
My father is High Father of the entire Family. He once ruled our Home Realm and the Family served him. His sons were the Sens of the Pillars and not imposters like your father.”

“
Okay.” He tried to sound like he believed her.

“
You are not convinced. Fine, but wait until High Father is released from Ajana.”

“
Ajana? Mother no.” He massaged his temples. Ajana was another mythical place that didn’t exist.