Soul Of A Woman (The Dark Souls) (8 page)

Chapter 9

As the men came out of their rooms half asleep, Broni was sure it was the earliest most of them had been out of bed in years. They each shuffled in as she stared out the window, seeing Dee, Jace, and Bones coming back across the compound loaded down with groceries. Each was pushing a buggy that looked like it would topple over as they raced back. Jace only stopped long enough to close the gates. By the time they made it to the doors, Broni could smell the smoke; the fires were drawing closer.

“Adam, if you have any water hoses, I would get them ready,” she advised.

He came to stand in the doorway next to her. “Rucker, get the water hoses. Rhys, go to the kitchen and get the fire extinguisher. Fin, open the door to the gunroom. Everyone get prepared, the riot is getting closer.”

Broni went back behind the counter to help Dee put up the groceries while the men stood in the doorway watching.
Fin brought out a radio and plugged it in. The news bulletins sent chills down Broni’s back as they described seemingly normal people suddenly turning violent. They had formed in large groups and were slowly moving from one end of the city to another.

“They’re searching for me,” Broni said softly.

“What in the fuck is going on?” Layla screamed, her frightened eyes were on Adam who was staring back at Broni grimly.

“Do you believe me now?” she asked.

“I don’t know what to believe. Tell me again how you came to be here, and what’s going on out there?”

Broni could tell that, this time, they listened with at least an open mind.

“The Apocalypse,” and then it closed.

“That’s ridiculous.” Adam’s face showed she had confirmed his opinion that she was crazy.

“Is it? What do you think is happening? The whole city is on fire. People are turning on each other. My mother, our family, is very powerful. We can go back and forth between time periods. We are only limited by the future. Because of this, someone is trying to start a war between good and evil, needing us out of the way. Without me, Cara, and Zerina, the balance of life is interrupted, causing chaos. If we were to be killed, the result would be disastrous.”

“What is this bullshit?”

Broni tried to be patient with Layla, but her attitude with her was wearing thin. “Layla, imagine if when you were a child and were riding your bike, you rode out in front of a car, and it stopped just in time. What if it didn’t stop? What if that child was killed? She wouldn’t be standing in front of me now, would she?” Broni turned her attention to Rhys. “I fight the battles that determine the course a life may take. It doesn’t necessarily mean a physical fight, it can also mean drinking too much and walking out into busy traffic. You’ve taken up a lot of my time lately.”

“
A life
may
take?” Rhys ignored her last statement.

“It is not up to me to determine the outcome. Only the soul has that power.”

“I no longer have a soul.” Broni smiled sadly that he believed that about himself.

“Yes, you do. All of you do, and if you’re not ready to defend yourself because you’re waiting for me to convince you that what I say is true, then you will lose. Believe me if you want or not, but they will come here searching for me. I used an old Earth spell to hide myself from any immortal seeking to harm me. They must be searching for me and my sisters.”

“Then let them have her. I’m not going to die over some cra
zy psycho.”

“Shut up, Layla. We’re as prepared as we can be. The only thing left is to see if you’re telling the truth or if this is just another riot that’ll end,” Adam spoke as he closed the door, locking it. “Jace, take the cell phone, go to the roof, and let me know if anyone comes close to the clubhouse.”

Jace nodded, going out back.

Broni decided to keep herself busy as the others sat nervously listening to the radio while simultaneously watching the television that Dee had packed in from one of the bedrooms.

Rhys stood at the counter with a glass of bourbon in his hand. His eyes were unreadable as they watched the television. The slaughter was unbelievable. People were being killed in the streets. Reporters weren’t even spared. Cameramen ran for their lives, leaving blank air until the reports were switched to newscasters who no longer could give current updates.

“What are those things?” Dee asked shakily.

“They are called Drearien. They were driven insane to obey a God’s commands.” Broni had never seen one before, but her mother had prepared her, describing many things that would happen during the apocalypse.

“You know I’m telling the truth. You saw how those men attacked the people in the streets. There is no other explanation. Only a God has enough power to have the Drearien attack us. To do that, they no longer fear Mother’s rage. They are making a move to gain control of the Universe, which is why they’ve struck against my mother, Fate, to divert her from warning Mother.”

“Mother?” Rhys asked.

“She’s the creator of the Universe,” Broni explained.

“I’ve finally drunk enough that I’ve fried my brain, haven’t I?” he said wryly.

“No, Rhys. What I’m telling you is really happening. The humans on Earth have no idea what is about to happen,” Broni said sadly. She would have been able to help, yet trapped on Earth as she was with no powers, she was useless.

“One thing is for sure, we’re a lot better off than most people with the weapons, food, and water we have,” Dee said, taking Broni’s hand.

“I think it’s best if you take the weapons away,” Broni told Adam.

“I’m not giving up my gun,” Rucker said. The others in the room nodded their agreement.

“We watched them on the television. They turn in a second and try to kill you. The last thing you want is someone to turn when they have a loaded gun,” Broni warned Adam.

“We’re not giving the guns up,” Adam stated. Broni understood; she wasn’t sure if it would be any safer leaving them unarmed anyway.

“If they’re searching for her, give her to them. Maybe they’ll leave us alone and go.” Layla stood behind the counter with a knife in her hand, and Broni kept her eyes trained on her.

“I agree,” Rucker said, pointing his gun at Broni. “I don’t want them to eat me.” Broni’s mouth dropped open. “How do I know you all aren’t going to go crazy and eat me?” His gun swept the crowd threateningly.

“You jackass, no one is going to get eaten,” Rhys said, moving away from the gun pointed at him.

“The whole country has gone fucking crazy. Are you crazy?”

“If I was crazy, I would have already taken that gun away and shoved it up your ass,” Rhys threatened Rucker who gradually pointed his gun downward. If they didn’t remain calm, then panic could be as dangerous as the Drearien trying to get in the clubhouse.

Rucker looked around the crowded room. “I’m giving everyone fair warning that if you go crazy and try to eat me, I’m going to put a bullet in your brain.”

Rucker gave her a suspicious look when he heard her laugh, however Broni stifled her laughter at Adam’s and Rhys’s irritated expressions.

“I’m not hungry,” she said, looking at the gun in his hand.

Rhys’s sudden laugh brought the first smile to her lips since she had become separated from her family.

“It won’t make a difference if you give me to them or not, the Apocalypse has started. They will come for Rhys regardless.”

“Rhys?” Layla turned her attention to him.

“You said they will have come for me regardless of you, why?” Rhys gave her a worried look.

“Rhys, this isn’t your first life, you’ve had past lives. This makes you a target for Mother’s enemies to prevent her from calling you to battle.”

Rhys laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I never was much of a fighter, even when I was younger and forty pounds heavier.”

“Oh, yes, you were. You were a force to be reckoned with. You still would be if Mother calls for you. Your name used to inspire fear in the Gods—it still does. Do not fool yourself that this is what you were meant to be. This,” she waved her hand at his body, “is what you’ve allowed yourself to become.”

“It’s what I deserve.” When his jaw clenched, Broni could sense his pain was as sharp now as it had been five years ago.

“No, it’s not. It wasn’t your fault that one man did something terrible, driving another to an unforgivable act. You weren’t the one at fault, as much as you want to blame yourself.”

“I accepted his case, knowing he was guilty,” Rhys argued.

“Yes, you did. It is in your human law to provide a defense against all crimes, even the Gods are allowed to argue for themselves in much the same way. The only crime you have committed is what you have done to yourself since then. Your wife and children would not want to see you this way.”

“Shut up. I don’t want to talk about it any more.”

“I didn’t think you would; you’ve been running from it for years.” Broni couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice.

“You had kids?” Broni couldn’t believe the insensitive comment from Layla. Every time the woman opened her mouth, she wanted to strangle her.

“Two sons. She was pregnant with my daughter.” He didn’t look up from his glass as he lifted the bottle to refill it.

“Jesus,” Adam said.

“According to Broni, you should say Mother,” Rhys said sarcastically.

“Rhys, be careful. You don’t want to piss her off,” Broni warned.

“How could she possibly fuck my life up more than it already is?” She had to admit, he had a point.

“So how do we kill these Drearien?” Adam asked.

“Just like any man. They aren’t immortal; they can’t come back to life.”

“Maybe this is a government conspiracy, or some toxic shit that’s killed everyone and they’ve come back to life,” another biker threw his opinion into the mix.

“This isn’t fucking zombies we’re dealing with. The people turning don’t have to be dead. You saw it on the television like I did. They’re sane one minute, the next they’re trying to kill you with anything they can get their hands on,” Rhys informed him.

“It’s spread by a virus then. How do we know the last one out of the gate didn’t catch it, giving it to us?”

Broni wanted to laugh at Rhys’s expression, then noticed several of the other men’s eyes were trained on Dee. Broni moved to stand closer to her.

“It’s not spread by a virus,” Broni assured the men.

“Then it’s Voodoo.” Broni couldn’t understand why these men found Voodoo more plausible than what she was trying to tell them.

“It’s not Voodoo. They are being influenced by a God.”

Broni regretted her choice of words a second later.

“They’re possessed by the Devil,” Rucker said, turning to Adam. “You got a Bible?”

“Do I look like I have a fucking Bible?” Adam sneered then looked at Broni. “So if I put a bullet in their brain or heart, it will kill them?”

“Yes.”

“That works for me because the next motherfucker who says shit about zombies, voodoo or even Drearien, I’m going to start taking practice shots.”

Chapter 10

Broni was coming back into the clubroom from checking on the still unconscious woman in the bedroom when Jace came running in the back door.

“Tank and the others are at the gate wanting in.”

“Why didn’t you call on the cell phone?” Adam demanded.

“Because it’s not fucking working! Do you want me to open the gate?”

“Hell no, let those Drearien things take care of him. It’ll save me the trouble of putting a bullet through his brain.” Adam gave a malicious grin.

“They would mean extra men fighting off those fuckers,”
Fin suggested.

“Or he could turn into one of them,” Broni retorted.

Fin shut up. No one wanted to deal with Tank as he was, much less if his body was taken over and turned on them.

“Jace, get your ass back to the roof. Take Mason with you; he can run messages back and forth.” Before they could leave, the noise from outside drew their attention.

Broni heard the escalating yells coming from outside as the rioting grew closer. Nervously, she went to the window to look out.

A huge crowd was building outside the gate, trying to get in. Tank and his friends were attempting to breach the locked gate without success as the Drearien moved closer. This was going to be bad. Broni didn’t see how they could hold back a crowd of that size.

“What are we going to do?” Jace asked, looking out from over her shoulder. They turned to Adam who was staring grimly outside.

“Jace, go to the gun room. You and Mason take what you need to start getting rid of this crowd.” His meaning was obvious.

Jace nodded then ran out of the room with Mason on his heels. Broni ached for the people outside the gate that were about to die, but she knew of no other recourse. There was going to be a great many casualties before this battle ended.

Broni’s hands gripped the counter when she heard the first shots while the men in the clubroom spread out across the room, barring the door and taking positions at the windows. The women stood grouped together behind the large wooden bar.
Dee gripped her hand tightly while Layla held the knife in her hand, appearing ready to freak out at any moment.

When the gunfire stopped after several minutes, no one talked, listening to see if the gunfire would resume. Instead, Skid came in from the back door.

“They’re falling back. They’re just standing around like they’re waiting for someone.”

Adam nodded his head. “Split up in groups. The first group, get some sleep. The rest, keep watch.”

Broni wondered at Rhys’s seemingly unconcerned state. He stood relaxed at the bar, listening to the radio and observing their reactions.

She decided to get some sleep while she could, going to Rhys’s room where she lay down on the bed, glad for once the room didn’t have windows. She prayed for Mother to keep them safe, dozing off quickly after her sleepless night.

Sometime later, she felt herself being jerked awake. The light was on and Rhys’s hands were pressed against her throat.

“I want you to tell me the truth. What in the fuck is going on and don’t tell me that bullshit you’ve made up.”

“I’m telling you the truth!” Broni tried to struggle against his grip, only succeeding in making him tighten his grip against her throat.

“Why aren’t they attacking? Most of the men in the other room want to throw you out to them, so you better give me one fucking reason not to let them.”

“You have to protect me; you owe me!”

“I don’t owe you shit.”

“Get off me!” As Broni hit at him with her fists, Rhys’s hands released their grip on her throat.

“They aren’t attacking because I used another old Earth spell my mother taught me when I was a child. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know if it would work. There must be a dead body buried on the clubhouse property. Their spirit is keeping the Drearien away.”

Rhys moved away from her, leaning back against the headboard of the bed. When he began laughing, Broni finally understood his earlier calm behavior. He hadn’t believed a word she had told him, thinking the riots would be stopped. He had only lost his cool when her life had been threatened.

“It’s the truth, but it won’t last long. An immortal can break the spell, and then there won’t be anything to hold them back,” Broni explained. “Are you going to let them throw me out to the Drearien?”

“Dammit.”

She knew Rhys did not want to be responsible for her; he barely took care of himself, so he had no reason to believe himself capable of keeping her safe. He hadn’t been able to protect his family from one man. Would he even want to protect her from men he had grown close to the last three years?

It had to be a difficult decision to make. Rhys had already put himself on the line for her when he had bought her during the auction, and it would be made even worse if the others kept demanding he get rid of her.

When he got off the bed, going to the door, Broni knew he had made his decision, and it wasn’t good.

She scooted to the end of the bed. “If you’ve made up your mind to give me to them, I won’t stop you.” She got to her feet, going to stand behind him at the door. “Before you do, though, I want one last time with you. You can just say it’s a going away present if it makes you feel better.”

“Do you think fucking you is going to change my mind?
” He looked over his shoulder to see Broni removing her shirt, standing naked unashamedly.

Rh
ys’s head fell forward onto the door as he fought his body’s demands. He felt her as she moved closer to him, brushing her bare breasts against his back. She placed tiny kisses on his shoulder while her hand brushed his hip. Reaching forward, she slid her hand down the front of his jeans, finding his cock already beginning to harden.

“Don’t you want to feel my mouth on your cock again?” Her whisper was as lig
ht as her stroking fingers, driving the fire in him higher.

Rhys reached down and grabbed her hand
, holding her tormenting fingers still. The strain of holding himself back had him clenching her hand. Not wanting to hurt her, he pulled her hand away from him.

Broni silentl
y lay her head against his back. After watching him through the centuries, being near him was agony. She ached for the least touch from him, wanting him kept her in a perpetual state of arousal, despite the danger they could be found in at any minute.

Disgusted with her behavior
, Broni turned away and picked up her shirt.

“Broni.” She turned back when she heard him groan her name. He had turned from the door and was facing her. He started to say something, but Broni shook her head.

“I know it doesn’t mean anything.” She knelt down in front of him, unbuttoning his jeans before pulling out his cock.

Broni’s head moved forward and h
er mouth covered the crest, drawing it into her mouth. The pleasure it gave her was unbelievable.

His h
ands burrowed into her hair, and for a moment, Broni feared he would pull her away. Instead, they tightened, pushing her down farther on his hard cock. Her tongue flicked against his tip as she applied pressure on the staff. He slid deep into her throat as her gentle hands reached out to stroke his tight balls.

He
touched her cheek, wanting to remind himself this woman wasn’t the one he really wanted; but when she raised her head in surprise, the love he saw in her eyes made him think of only her—Broni.

Rhys used his hands in her hair to pull her back down on his hard shaft.
His head fell back against the door as her mouth drove him into a fury of lust. Her experienced tongue found the slit in his cock before tracing the crest, and each lick and flick of her tongue took him further away from the painful memories that never released him from their grip.

Roughly
, he pulled her off his straining shaft. When she went to grab him back, he jerked her to her feet, his hand tilting her head back so he could kiss the mouth that was making him lose the tight grip on reality that always held him prisoner.

His hands unsnapped her jeans, jerking them down her hips. Lifting her out of them, her legs went around his waist as his cock slid along her pussy until he found her entrance, slamming himself deep inside of her.

Her gasp fueled his hunger as he turned and pushed her up against the door as he loosened the rigid control he always managed to keep. She fucked him like it was their last time, which it probably was with the men wanting to throw her outside.

He hadn’t told her he intended to go with her, yet she still had given him her body. Any other woman would have yelled at him. Not Broni, she took him without demanding he save her, only asking for him to fuck her. With her hands on his body, he had been unable to refuse her.
She just wanted him, not her safety or commitment.

Her desire for his body drove
his own need higher. Her pleasuring his body did something to him, releasing the tight knot that had been in his chest for so many years. Her moans encouraged him to give her the only thing he was capable of, his body—the shell of the man he once had been.

Rhys
grabbed her hips, holding her tighter against him. He wouldn’t be surprised to see bruises on her when they finished. She didn’t pretend to be fragile or weak. She was the opposite, demanding and strong enough to take the demands of his body. Rhys was a dominant lover, however Broni was no submissive; she was just as dominant.

Bracing herself against the door, she rode his cock while her hands circled his neck. Her mouth demanded entrance with her tongue. He opened to her, letting her explore his mouth with a passion that had him lifting his mouth to catch his breath.

His thrusts didn’t slow, his cock sliding harder and deeper inside her. Whimpers were escaping her at the intensity of the orgasm building between them. He put his hands on the wall on each side of the door to brace himself as Broni clutched him.

Rhys
slowed down, pulling her upwards until her clit rested on the length of his cock, sliding her back and forth, giving her the friction she needed to send her over the edge into an orgasm that had her trembling. It was only the strength of his grip that held her in place as he continued to thrust in hard, deep strokes. He went at her for what seemed forever, never slowing or speeding up, holding her at a precipice. Her cunt’s muscles began to swell and became even more sensitive from the continued pounding.

“Look at me.” Her words brought him out of the haze his desire had built around them.

“See me.” Her pleading voice had him shutting his eyes, trying to keep it impersonal between them.

“Rhys.” He turned his face away, refusing to give her what she wanted. His guilty conscience reminded him she knew better than to expect anything from him before he had touched her. Just because the sex between them was mind-blowing didn’t mean a thing to him.

He began to slide out of her, but her thighs tightened around his waist, refusing to let him leave her grasping pussy. Broni began sliding up and down his cock. Rhys gave her his body as long as she understood he could only give her as much pleasure as she wanted, nothing more.

Her bouncing breast
s bobbed before him. Leaning forward, he took a nipple in his mouth, sucking strongly, letting his teeth nip on the cherry nipple as he tugged her down farther on his shaft.

He gave her no respite; fucking her long and hard until he
felt the second orgasm boiling within her. As she came down hard on him one more time, Rhys shoved his cock upwards, coming as she began screaming with her own orgasm.

As
Broni fell to his shoulder breathing hard, Rhys tugged her legs loose, setting her back down on the floor.

“Don’t play that shit with me again. The rules don’t change because I have my dick inside you.”

“What rules? It’s either your way or no way. Remember that, Rhys. Someday, the shoe may be on the other foot then you’ll be the one begging me.”

“That will never happen.”

“I’m immortal; I don’t believe in never. If you live long enough, what goes around always comes back around.”

“You’re not immortal now, are you?”

Broni winced at his caustic reply; the lawyer in him was never going to let her have the last word. “No, I’m not.”

A
s soon as she was able, she tried to take a step away from him, but her weak legs didn’t have the strength to support her.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to go to the bathroom.”

Wobbling
, she managed to make it to the bathroom. Taking her time, she washed then redressed in the clothes she had brought with her.

Broni d
readed returning to face Rhys’s further recriminations. Tears leaked from her eyes to be wiped away when she scrubbed her face with the palm of her hand. It hurt that he only let her touch him when he could no longer hold his body’s desires back.

Broni’s breath
had caught in her throat while pain had exploded in her chest when she’d asked for him to look at her. It wasn’t his fault he was unable to give her more, his heart had been buried with Deena. Broni was the one at fault. He was right; she was the one trying to change the rules of the game after the game had started.