The Sacrifice (11 page)

She
took his hand in hers. “Did an indescribable feeling come over you the moment
your eyes met? And did it feel as if you suddenly couldn
’
t
breathe?”

“Yes, but the strangest part was when
I touched her hand and electricity passed between us. At least, I think she
felt it. Did she…feel the same thing?”

“Yes,
sweetheart. If she is truly your life-mate she felt it as strongly as you.
Embedded within our DNA is the ability to recognize our other half. You feel it
throughout your entire body from the first moment, and touch. It
’s our body’
s way of telling us we have touched our destiny. Each time you
’
re
together, the attraction becomes more intense than the last. Until it becomes
impossible to resist, no matter how hard you try. It is truly a tremendous gift
among our race.”

Cy
shook his head. “Everything in me reacted from the moment I laid eyes on her.
She
’
s the most beautiful thing I
’
ve
ever seen, with these amazing green eyes. When I look into them, they
’
re
somehow familiar, although I know we
’
ve never met.”

“They
are familiar, sweetheart. She has been your mate throughout many lifetimes. The
two of you may not look the same, but throughout eternity, you both will retain
the ability to recognize each other
’
s soul. Knowing I will
be with your father again one day, is the only thing that
’
s
kept me going. He once told me, because we are of royal blood our ability to
recognize our
etamlous,
and them us, is accelerated. More so than among
average Sivadians.”

“I had no idea the life-mate
connection ran so deep,” Cy said.

“There
is something even more remarkable,” she added. “This part is true for our
entire race. The first time you make love there will be an uncontrollable urge
to take each other
’
s blood. While taking blood from human lovers is
strictly prohibited, between Sivadians it
’
s not uncommon to
take a small amount during passion. With someone who doesn
’
t
share a part of your soul, the urge is not there, but between life-mates you
will be unable to resist. This is your souls calling out to be joined, to once
more become complete. After the blood exchange takes place, you will be bound
to each other physically
and
mentally. Each time this happens, parts of
each other
’
s life are revealed, and your connection grows
very strong, very quickly. If one of you were emotionally upset or in pain, the
other would know.”

Cy
’
s
face paled. “What?”

 “Oh,
sweetheart, let me explain. You will not be able to control each other the way
we do humans. You cannot hear each other
’
s thoughts. You
merely have a strong sense, a connection you have never experienced with
another.”

“Why have I never heard about this?”

She
hesitated a moment. “It
’
s not like I
’
ve kept it from you,
darling. You
’
ve never shown serious interest in a female
before. You always became distant whenever I spoke of life-mates.”

“I
didn
’
t want to remind you of losing father. The last
thing I wanted was to cause you more pain.”

Her
eyes softened. “You could never cause me pain, Cygan. It
’
s
not in your nature. Your compassion for others is the reason your father and I
knew you would make a great king.”

Cy chewed his lip, and tried to
imagine how it would feel to be so connected to another person.

She
looked at him with love and concern in her sapphire eyes. “Do not worry,
darling. It
’
s a wonderful connection to have with the person
you love. And it is difficult to fully understand before you experience it
yourself.”

“I
understand what you
’
re saying, but I
’
m hesitant to let
someone get that close. I
’
m a warrior, and I live a warrior
’
s
life. My world is dangerous. What if I fail to keep her safe?”

His
mother laid her warm palm against his cheek. “Cygan, you cannot be afraid to
love someone because of who you are. You are so much like your father. You have
the heart of a warrior, but also the heart of a king. That combination leaves
you with a fierce conviction to protect our race. However, when it comes to
those you love, there are no limits to what you would do to ensure their
safety. What makes you think you would do no less for your life-mate? You
’
ve
spent your life trying to keep complete strangers from harm. The time has come
for you to allow yourself some happiness. Do not let fear deprive you of this
wonderful gift.”

“I
think it
’
s too late to back away from her, anyway. Every
cell in my body is telling me that after all this time I
’
ve
finally met the person meant to share my life.” A momentary look of dread
crossed Cy
’
s face. “Now comes the hard part.”

“What is that, dear?”

Cy released a long breath. “Convincing
her of that.”

The
alarm blared, and Riana hit snooze for the umpteenth time. She forced herself
out of bed, but wanted to roll over and bury her head beneath the pillow again.
She
’
d tossed and turned most of the night, thanks to
her mother and the Commander’s ‘big revelation.
’
As if running on no
sleep wasn
’
t bad enough, this afternoon would be her first
one-on-one with Kyra. Supposedly, so she could assess their fighting strengths
and weaknesses. Riana doubted it was the complete truth.

She
dressed and headed to the fridge to grab a glass of synthetic blood. Maybe it
’
d
help her energy level. As she pulled it out of the microwave, the doorbell rang.
Who could that be this early?

 It’d
better not be my mother. I
’
m not in the mood to deal with her today.

Riana
opened the door. A young man wearing a compound staff uniform peeked around the
largest bouquet of brilliant yellow roses she
’
d ever seen.

“Riana Martin?” the boy asked. “These
are for you.”

She
took the flowers and used her foot to close the door. If this was her mother
’
s
way of making up for a life-time of lies, she could forget it.

Elle
came out of her bedroom while Riana searched for a card. “Now
that
’
s
what I call
impressive. Who are they from?”

“
I don’
t know. There are so many roses in the vase I can
’
t
find a card.”

 Elle found the card and handed
it to Riana.

Her heart-rate sped as she read the
inscription.

They
reminded me of the sun that shines in your eyes. Cy.

“
Well?
” Elle asked trying to read over her shoulder.

A
smile lifted Riana
’
s lips as she handed the card to Elle. “They
’
re
from Cy.”

“The hottie you turned down last
night?”

 Riana nodded, and admired her flowers.
The fragrant scent filled the room, soothing her senses.

“Wow, the sun in your eyes? You
certainly know how to make an impression.”

“That
’
s
the thing. I don
’
t think I did, not consciously anyway. Maybe he
felt that
chemistry
thing too. It
’
s kind of hard to
explain, but warmth and security surrounded him. Pure sexual magnetism reeled
me in like a fish at the end of a line. I
’
ve never experienced
anything like it.” Riana gave Elle a sheepish look. “And, I
’
ve
been rethinking my decision about the date.”

Elle put her hand over her heart in
feigned surprise. “But, Riana, what will your Mom say, dating a Protector and
all?”

Riana
snorted and rolled her eyes. “Like I care
what
she has to say. I think
her credibility is pretty much blown. I still can
’
t
believe after all the loathsome things she said about Protectors, the Commander
of them
all
is my father.”

“Don
’
t
you mean, ‘Dear old Dad,
’” Elle
taunted.

Riana
laughed, grabbed her gym bag and sailed it past Elle
’
s
head.

Thirty minutes later, Riana and Elle
arrived at their class on fertility.

Kyra
cleared her throat to get everyone
’
s attention. “Some of
what you ladies know about fertility and conception within our race is true,
some probably is not. You
’
re here because you
’
ve
reached the age to enter your first life-light cycle. Sadly, this is when it
becomes vital for you to learn to protect yourself.”

Kyra
paused and looked around the room. “Can anyone tell me exactly why it
’
s
so important now?”

A girl with sandy brown hair spoke up.
“So we can fight a feeder,” she said in an apathetic tone.

Kyra
nodded. “Yes, but do you know why they
’
re more likely to
attack you now, than before?”

“Because they want to breed with us,”
the girl replied, same bored tone.

Kyra tapped her pencil against the desk
and released a loud sigh. “Well, yes, that is their ultimate goal.” She glanced
around the room. “Can anyone else tell me why they want to breed with you?”

Riana
decided to speak up before the girl spouted another clipped answer, and Kyra
unleashed on her. “Females who drink human blood lose the ability to conceive.
Since we
’
ve never drank from humans, we
’
re
not affected. It
’
s the reason male feeders abduct us to breed with.
We
’
re at greater risk now because they would sense we
’
ve
reached fertility age.”

“Exactly,”
Kyra said. “Thank you Ms. Martin. Once their females lost the ability to
reproduce, we became their only means of replenishing their army. If you happen
to run across a feeder, they
’
ll not stop until you
’
re
captured or dead. You ladies need to understand why this program is important
for your well-being. Hopefully, the defensive fighting techniques and effective
use of weapons you learn will be enough to escape abduction.”

Kyra
walked around her desk and propped herself against the edge. “At the end of
your training we
’
ll escort you to a location for your fertility
ritual, which is a necessary part of life that enables us to reproduce. If you
go then, you
’
ll have the best protection on Earth. Feeders used
to capture females at a younger age, and take them to the fertility sites when
they developed. We were largely successful at halting that practice. We
monitored the many sites around the world, killed the feeders, and rescued the
girls. Another factor that slowed that practice was the volatile nature of
feeders. Many of the young girls wouldn
’
t live until
fertility age.”

The
face of a girl with long, dark hair flashed into Riana
’
s
mind. They
’
d met in college and she was the only person Riana
knew who had been rescued at a fertility site. But it wasn
’
t
hard to see the psychological scars in the girl
’
s withdrawn eyes.
Kyra
’
s voiced snapped Riana out of the memory.

“Because
of our biological makeup, and the difference between the magnetosphere of Earth
and that of Sivadia, to reproduce we must travel to an area where Earth
’
s
magnetic field lines are most concentrated. The areas easiest for us to absorb
these energies are where they are giving off light emissions, commonly known as
the Aurora Borealis. There, you
’
ll bathe in the hot springs, which contain century
’
s
old minerals from glacial runoff. These minerals serve as catalysts, allowing
you to absorb the high levels of electromagnetically charged energy in the
area. It takes this combination of events to jump-start our reproductive
systems into producing viable, mature eggs.”

Riana
’
s
mind raced with possibilities. This sounded like a lot to go through to have a
child. Sivadians were far more advanced than humans. If human scientist could make
the advancements they had, Sivadian scientists could figure a simpler way to
conceive.

Once
this training
’
s over, I need to research this. Maybe I
’
ll get Mom
—no!
I will not ask anything from her.

“After
the fertility ritual,” Kyra continued, “you
’
ll have the ability
to conceive if you choose. However, you must have sex within one week of
absorbing the light. Your body’s need to procreate during that week will cause
a tremendous increase in your sex drive. You may find it necessary to isolate
yourself from males in order
not
to become pregnant. That
’
s
why the ritual is on the last day of your training.”

Just
great, we
’
ll turn into sex starved fiends for an entire
week. Unlike Elle, I don
’
t have a harem of human men at my beck and
call.
If it becomes unbearable,
I may have to find my own. At least I wouldn
’
t have to worry about becoming pregnant with a human.

“If
you
’
re not ready to have children, stay away from men.
When you
are
ready, you must do what I refer to as a reboot. You
’
ll
go to one of the regions on Earth with low magnetic field lines and pull energy
from them. There are many of these on every continent. After the fertility
ritual you
’
ll naturally feel their pull, making them easy to
recognize. This part of the process is called ‘Life Light.
’ ‘
Life
’
because
our continued existence depends on the ability to complete this process, and
‘Light
’
because when you pull from a magnetic field line,
you will dissolve into a luminescent sphere of light as you float along the
lines, absorbing the electromagnetic vibrations the Earth offers. Both of these
experiences are described as exhilarating, and will leave you with a sense of
oneness with this world like you
’
ve never experienced before.”

Kyra glanced at the clock behind her.
She turned back to the class with an uncharacteristic smile.

Riana
’
s
eyes widened. Any moment, she expected Kyra
’
s face to crack.

“Okay, ladies, after lunch your first
one-on-one assessments will begin. The sign-up sheet is on my desk. Stop by and
pick a time on your way out.”

So,
that
’
s why the smile.

Visions of Kyra beating her into a
bloody mess came to mind. Riana stopped at her desk and signed up for the last
session of the day, dreading the inevitable.

***

Cy stood close to the gym waiting for
Riana to come out of class. He planned to make it appear as if he were passing
by at that particular moment, anxious to see her reaction to the roses.

After
leaving his mother
’
s, he
’
d tossed and turned,
unable to sleep. Every time he drifted off, a pair of brilliant green eyes
haunted his dreams. If Riana didn
’
t change her mind about spending time with him, he
might never get another peaceful night
’
s rest.