Sacrifice of the Septimus: Part 1 (Afterlife saga Book 7) (29 page)

Oh yes, I was ready for bed.

“Sorry, what did you say?” I asked again, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

“I was just offering to carry you inside,” he told me and suddenly I was bolt upright saying,

“Are you crazy? You can’t do that in place like this.” He seemed highly amused with my answer and asked,

“Why not?”

“Because it’s posh that’s why! Look, they have bellboys in fancy matching suits who take your luggage. No, no we can’t do that here.” I told him getting mortified at the thought, which had me quickly wondering how Sigurd had done it when finding me unconscious that night after I was attacked. I quickly shut down that line of thinking as it was the last thing I needed right now. It wasn’t a time I wanted to think back to, considering what faced me at the end of that particular journey.

Draven burst out laughing at my reasons and was still laughing when one of the bellboys opened the door for me. I got out, gave him a smile and couldn’t help but stretch out my arms on a yawn.

“Travelled far, Miss?” 

“We sure did, the US.” I told him happily. Draven got out, put his arm around me, no doubt making a statement, and nodded to the bellboy as he opened the hotel door for us.

“Did you want to go through the turny spinny thingy.” I said looking back at the old ornate revolving doors. He smirked down at me and said,

“I can’t keep my arms around you if we used the ‘turny spinny thingy’.” I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as I loved it when he teased me. But then we heard another voice we knew and my smile got even bigger.

“Took you long enough, brother.”

“Vincent!” I shouted leaving Draven’s side and running into his arms. He laughed as he caught me and I hugged him close, telling him without words how much I had missed him. This had been our first time seeing each other since I had made my way back to being me, so I couldn’t help the tears that formed.

“Hey, come now, what’s this? We have only been gone a few weeks.” This was when it finally dawned on me…he didn’t know.

“Vince, I tried to tell you but you…” Draven released a sigh and continued,

“I knew you were experiencing your own difficulties.” I was shocked to hear this but even more so that I was only just hearing this now. I frowned at Draven, telling him without words how he had some explaining to do, before focusing my attention back to Vincent.

“Tell me what?” he asked, looking first to Draven and then back to me. I gave him a small smile and a little wave saying,

“Hey, it’s me… I’m back.” This was when Vincent’s eyes got big and he looked dumbfounded. He looked to Draven then back to me and repeated a few more times before grabbing me to him.

“Keira! You’re back, by the Gods you’re really back!” Jeez but this nearly set me off all teary again.

“How? When? Start with how.” Vincent asked his brother after holding me back once more at arm’s length to really look at me.

“It’s a long story brother, and one we will most likely need to tell over a drink.”

“Understood,” Vincent said and then went back to beaming at the sight of me. It was utterly heart-warming to see him looking so happy and I myself couldn’t keep the smile off my face, that was until I heard another name being called,

One from another life lived and by another sister gained, 

“Katie!”

Chapter 28

Ari and I

When I was faced with Ari running up to me after calling me the wrong name, dread filled me within. It was as I feared…Ari didn’t know who I was. And as Ari hugged me to her I could see the knowing looks with that same dread on Draven’s and Vincent’s faces. The time had finally come to introduce myself to a girl who didn’t know me, but with whom I had a lifetime of memories. This wasn’t something I was looking forward to, to say the least.

“Why don’t you two go up to our room and chat, we are just checking in. I will text Vincent the room number, say in about ten minutes?” Draven said, coming to my rescue.

“That’s a good idea.” Vincent said taking Ari by the shoulders and prying her away from me.

“You don’t know how glad I am to see you! I have missed you loads!” She said ignoring Vincent and Draven and for that very second I wanted to faint, just to get out of this awful mess.

“Hey are you okay, you’re looking very pale?” Ari asked me and suddenly that thought of fainting didn’t feel far from reality.

“She’s feeling a little unwell due to all the travelling. I will just get her into our room and then call you once she’s feeling a little better.” Draven said putting an arm around me and nodding for Vincent to do the same with Ari.

“Oh no, okay, that’s not good. Yes, you get her upstairs to bed and I will be there in a bit to check on her. Take it easy, Sis,” she told me squeezing my hand once before finally letting Vincent guide her away. Once they were out of ear shot I said,

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome sweetheart and don’t worry, we will take this slow,” he told me and walked me to the front desk where we checked in. It was only when we were in the elevator that Draven put a hand under my chin, raising my face to his when he said,

“She’s right, you do look pale…are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, just tired and also worrying about how on earth I am going to tell her about Katie.” I admitted and Draven let out a sigh before saying,

“Come here.” Then he wrapped his arms around me and simply held me, because that was all he could do. And as wonderfully comforting as that was, I knew that it wouldn’t last because sooner or later, I was going to have to break someone’s heart.

Once I was settled into our luxurious suite, which I could happily say didn’t remind me at all of the one I’d stayed in, I knew time was ticking. We were all staying in suites the same as this one, known as one of the Personality River View Suites and Draven and I were in one named ‘Katharine Hepburn’ which made me giggle given it was my first name.

“Sophia.” We had both said turning to each other before walking inside through the personal grand marble foyer. The suite was an impressive size with a separate living room leading onto the huge master bedroom. It was a mix of classical Edwardian style and modern everyday living with all the latest high quality gadgetry money could buy. It had a spectacular view of London and overlooked the River Thames.

Even the bathroom was full of luxuries, with its characteristic black and white checkerboard tiled floor, freestanding claw-foot bath, double vanity unit and separate walk-in shower with a fabulous looking rainfall showerhead.

“Are you ready or do you want me to tell them you are feeling unwell and have gone to bed?” Draven said pulling his phone from his suit jacket. I was very tempted to go with that option but knew it was one of those ‘just rip a plaster off quickly’ moments. I needed to get this over with and the sooner the better considering the next night marked the beginning of our mission.

“I need to do this.” Draven gave me a nod and told me that he understood.

“I will leave you two alone when she arrives, but if it gets too upsetting, then please call me and I will be back here in minutes.” Now that was a comforting thought. I walked over to the armchair he was sat in and lowered myself into his lap.

“You are wonderful, do you know that?” I told him and before he could ask me why, I kissed him. Thankfully it was one that lasted until there was a knock at the door, taking my mind off what I was about to do if only a short time. Draven got up, lifting me off with him and he turned around and placed me back on his seat before answering the door.

“Are you feeling any better?” Ari asked with a full beaming smile as she walked in, before taking a seat on the sofa.

“I will leave you ladies to it…Sweetheart?” I gave him my attention and he continued, reminding me of his earlier offer,

“Remember what I said, call me later okay.” I gave my soft eyes in a thank you and his smile told me he understood. He left after grabbing his jacket and for a second I was tempted to ask where he would be…just in case ringing him wasn’t an option. In the end I decided against it, as really what was I expecting… her to attack me and force me to bring back her sister?

I looked at Ari who had been watching Draven leave and I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked. We were similar in quite a few ways, we both had blonde hair but whereas mine was a golden blonde, hers was a much lighter blonde with some streaks so light they could have been classed as white. We were both about the same height and we both had curves. Although, whereas mine were focused on top, hers were more focused on her rounded bottom that gave her a natural sexy sway as she walked. If I’d tried to do that I would have looked as if my knickers were riding up my bum!

Her face was slightly rounder as well, featuring the cutest dimples which popped out to say hello whenever she smiled and a pair of stunnin
g
topaz eyes that always managed to show whatever emotion she was feeling. Added to this were the perfect shaped lips and a witty sense of humour, and she certainly had the whole package, even if I did feel slightly biased.       

Okay, so here goes…

“Ari, I have something I need to tell you and it can’t…”

“Right, now’s he’s out of the way, what’s the plan Keira?” She said clapping her hands once.

“Keira?” I repeated the name she had just used, in utter shock. Had I heard her right?

“Oh sorry, do you prefer Kaz or Kazzy?” She asked and yep I was officially sideswiped on the confused track.

“I think I am missing something big here.” I told her honestly and she laughed that musical laugh of hers.

“I thought you knew.”

“I thought you didn’t.” I replied and this time she gave me a small smile of understanding.

“The O…”

“The Oracle,” I finished off for her knowing that this would be the only way.

“So she got to you too?” I asked and Ari nodded.

“Oh boy did she…talk about blowing my world apart, jeez, that woman’s a riot!” I had to agree with her there.

“I’m so sorry, Ari.” I said, feeling both relieved and also guilty as Hell that she hadn’t heard it from me. She shrugged her shoulders and said,

“It’s okay…I mean don’t get me wrong, at first I struggled with the whole thing and at one point even wanted to hate you.” Wow, okay now she was being brutally honest but I couldn’t say that I blamed her.

“But I knew that if it had been the other way round and I had any chance of waking up and knowing who I really was, knowing that there were people out there who could love me, be missing me… then I knew I would have taken it.” Hearing this I suddenly wanted to cry. I had been so worried and in the end not only had she known but she was so accepting of it, it almost felt as if I didn’t deserve this easy time she was giving me.

“I can’t tell you what that means to me to hear.” I told her and the smile she gave me made her eyes shine with delight.

“I need you to know something.” I said, getting up and joining her on the sofa.

“Okay.” She said raising an eyebrow as if I was about to drop something on her she didn’t know.

“I want you to know that I still view you as a sister and I know that might sound weird, but I still hold all those memories with me of us growing up together, being there for each other. It won’t fade and even if there was a way to make it fade, I wouldn’t want it to. You played a huge part in some of my treasured memories, real or not, I don’t want to give that up…
I still want to be your sister.”
  After this she grabbed me suddenly and hugged me as she had done downstairs.

“Oh thank God! I would have hated it if you’d said ‘let’s be cousins’!” We both laughed and I felt the stress of what had been hanging over me simply fade away instead of my memories, ones I didn’t want to give up. And now I wouldn’t have to.

“In all seriousness, I am so glad you feel that way. You’re all the family I have and I don’t want to lose you.” It was at this point that Ari had unshed tears forming in her loving eyes.  

“You won’t…I promise.”
I whispered back to her and hugged her tighter to me.

“Now I just get to have fun as I learn to get to know this side of you,” she said winking at me and I laughed.

“Well for starters, I suck at lying!”

“Ha! No change there then. I did think that the performance downstairs was too good to be true.”

“What you thought I was acting?” She nodded and I shook my head saying,

“Yeah you definitely gave me far too much credit for that one.”

“Well I got the hint pretty quick when you kept looking at me as if you were going to burst into tears at any moment and not in the ‘overjoyed’ kinda way. That’s why I took pity on you and mentioned about how pale you looked.” What she said made sense and thankfully now we could laugh about it because if I had been the one to have to tell her all these things, then I think this reunion would have gone a completely different way. If anything I should be thanking Pythia for going the extra mile by trying to make this easier for me. So far the only person I’d had to try and convince was Lucius and that in itself had been heartbreaking enough to put me off doing so again. But the Oracle had spoken to us all, meaning that I hadn’t needed to.

If I ever saw her again I would definitely be thanking her, that was for sure.

“So I gather Vincent doesn’t know?” On hearing his name she blushed ten shades of red in seconds.

“We don’t speak much.” Uh…what now, come again?

“Uh…I thought you guys were together?” Hearing this she nearly choked on her own tongue. What was that reaction about?

“No! No, I mean…”

“No?” I said teasing her and her smile told me that she needed it.

“I can’t talk about him right now.”

“Hey, it’s okay, I am here if ever you need to…okay?” I told her placing a hand on her arm, making sure she understood that I meant it. She nodded, looking so forlorn it was a strange thing to see on her. She was normally so adventurous and full of life. In my memories of her as a kid I always thought that she would grow up to be some wild explorer, trapesing through the jungle discovering lost cites.

“So he doesn’t know that Pythia came to you?” I had to ask this just to be sure, considering he could be telling Draven important information right now, stuff that was too dangerous for him to know.

“No, he doesn’t know and I think we should keep it like that.”

“Oh I hear you! No need to ask me twice because we are all keeping Pythia’s visits from our men.” I told her but she only focused on one part of what I said.

“Vincent’s not
my
man,” Ari said looking down at her entwined hands as they nervously played with her top. I didn’t say anything, not knowing what to say for starters. However, I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened between these two? I wasn’t going to push for that information, knowing that if she wanted me to know she would talk to me about it, so until then I would just have to wait until she was ready. One thing I did know was that whatever it was, it was obviously getting to her because I had seen that look of uncertainty before and I had been looking in the mirror at the time.

“So did you find anything out while you were away?” I asked her, trying to get her mind back on other things but again when her sad eyes answered me first, I knew it hadn’t been the best choice when trying to change the subject.

“Nothing. That was, not until the Oracle turned up.”

“What did she say?”

“She told me that I would find out who I really am but first I must go on a journey.” She gave me a sideways glance and smirked, for I obviously knew what journey she spoke of.

“And you’re fine, about coming with us I mean?” I asked, knowing that I couldn’t just assume that everyone in this little time travelling group of ours would risk their lives just so I could get pregnant.

“Of course, besides, what else have I got to do these days?” she joked and I nudged her saying,

“Oh I don’t know, shopping for anything but a polyester smock, watching a 3D movie, the Grand Canyon…the world’s your oyster now.” She laughed and said,

“You’re still the same you know…just a little less shy.” I smiled at her knowing she told me this as a compliment.

“You’re the same too, just a little better dressed.” I replied making her giggle. She smoothed down her t shirt and pulled her knitted cardigan closer together saying,

“You think?”

“Definitely and I can imagine it’s a lot less itchy.” I commented remembering for myself how those bloody awful clothes felt, rubbing on our skin.