The Surien Series Blood Guardian (21 page)

CHAPTER 15

“Do you believe in reincarnation Symarah?” Vaiden asked, as he slowly circled her.

The chair he had bound her to bore a striking resemblance to an old electric chair. Her arms were tied behind her back, her legs tied to the legs of the chair. The ropes were so tight around her wrists and ankles that she was beginning to lose feeling in her hands and feet.

“I believe in karma,” Symarah replied with a stubborn smirk, “and I can't wait till yours catches up to you. You'll probably come back as a dung beetle.”

“The soul of a demmic is impure, evil,” he explained with a wicked grin.  “You cannot be reincarnated if your soul is evil. Even an immortal being cannot survive death without a pure soul, no one can. Do you know what that means?”

“Yes, it means that once Daire kills you, and he will kill you, I will never have to listen to one of your boring, arrogant, self-absorbed rants again.”

“Wrong!” Vaiden growled at her. “It means that once I've destroyed your soul and killed you, you will never be reincarnated again. You will cease to exist, and I will finally be able to kill Daire.”

“If you think killing me is going to weaken him, you are even more delusional than I thought. It's just going to piss him off and make him more determined to destroy you.”

“Do you know what this is, princess?” Vaiden said, as he held the scalphen dehiette up in front of her.

“It's an Atlantean dagger forged by Kleito's parents; they used it to kill themselves because they couldn't bear to see their daughter with Poseidon,” Symarah said, sounding as if she were bored.

“Typical human. You think you have all the answers, but do you have any idea what it does? Before Poseidon's curse, we were indestructible. No one could kill an Atlantean god, not even Zeus himself. How could such a small blade accomplish something even the Greek gods could not? You see, that is why no one believed the rumors. Everyone just assumed that it was not possible to kill an indestructible god, but Kleito's parents knew better. They had paid a visit to the fates, to see if there was any way to stop the union between Poseidon and their daughter. The answer was no. When Euenor and his wife, Leukippe, learned that there was no way to stop Poseidon from marrying their daughter, they were heartbroken. It was bad enough to know that they could not save their beloved Atlantis, but the thought of having to stand by and watch Poseidon ruin their daughter's life was more than they could bear. They begged Atropos to cut their life thread and let them die. She coldly told them that she could not help them. Lachesis explained that when Atropos cuts a life thread, it does not kill the soul, only the shell that holds it, and since it is the body of an Atlantean god that is indestructible, not their soul, there was nothing they could do. Upon hearing this explanation, Euenor and Leukippe were inconsolable.  Clotho was so saddened by their despair that she gave them a special dagger, one that would rid them of the burden of their troubled souls.”

“What has any of this got to do with me?” Symarah impatiently interrupted his long-winded explanation.

“With this dagger, I will destroy your soul while Daire is forced to watch. Since your souls are intertwined, when yours dies a part of his will die with it. He will be weakened, and then I will kill what’s left of his soul. Without a soul, neither of you can be reincarnated, I'll finally be free of him.”

“Even if your little plan works, there will be dozens of other suriens right outside waiting for you. They'll kill you the second you step through that door.”

“That is where you're wrong mortal. The door before you is not the only portal in and out of this room. There are two doors, and I will be leaving through the back not the front. Once I rid myself of the two of you, I will hunt down every surien in Athena's army, and rid them of their souls.”

“You always were the ambitious one,” Daire said. “Too bad your mouth is writing checks that your ass can't cash.”

Vaiden turned to see him standing just inside the portal door. “What took you so long, surien?” he asked, as he slowly backed away.

“In a hurry to die?” Daire sneered.

Standing directly behind Symarah now, Vaiden raised the dagger and pressed it against her throat. “I'm in no hurry, I'll be killing her slowly. I'm going to savor every shriek, every scream, every pain-filled tear.”

Daire wanted to tear Vaiden limb from limb, but as long as that damn dagger was pressed against Symarah's throat he was helpless to do anything. All he could do was wait for Vaiden to slip up. If only he could move Vaiden from one place to another, but unfortunately only Dacian had mastered that power. His only hope was to trick Vaiden into dropping his guard, provoke him. “I knew you were evil, Vaiden, but I never took you for a coward.”

“I'm no coward, surien.”

“You're using an innocent human to get to me, what would you call it?”

“I call it revenge, besides we both know she is not just an innocent bystander that I picked at random; no, we both know why I chose your precious Symarah, or should I call her Meissen?” Vaiden replied with an evil smirk. “That’s right, she knows all about it.”

“Is this true, Daire?”

“Yes, it's true. I didn't know until I saw the necklace. I went to the shop where you got it and I spoke to the shop owner, she confirmed that you were Meissen in a past life and that the necklace belonged to you. Vaiden knew that if you had the necklace you would remember me, and that we would be drawn back together. He knew we would fall in love again, and then he could have his revenge.”

“You killed my love, and now I can finally repay the favor,” Vaiden snarled.

“Why didn't you tell me?” Symarah questioned.

“I was afraid it would make it too hard for you to let me go if you knew.”

“I know we can't be together, Daire, it's against the rules. I would never risk getting you into trouble with Athena.”

“Is that what he told you?” Vaiden smiled. “Technically it's not against the rules to date a human. It's only against the rules for humans to know about us, but since you already know, there's no reason why you two kids can't be together; aside from the fact that I'm going to kill you both of course.”

Symarah was crushed. “You didn't want to stay with me.”

Daire knew she was hurt, he couldn't stand to see that look in her eyes. “Symarah, let me explain.”

“Explain what, that you were too much of a coward to admit you didn't want to be with me, so you used Athena as an excuse? Not to mention the fact that you lied to me. How could you not tell me that I am your dead fiancée?”

“I was afraid it might be too hard for you to let me go if you knew.”

“Such hubris, but then I would expect no less from a surien,” Vaiden sneered. “Did you honestly think that she wouldn’t get over you?”

“Shut up Vaiden, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Daire snapped.

“No, he’s right. What did you think, that I would chase you like a lovesick teenager? Well, since you’re so worried about me sticking around too long, let me put your mind at ease; once Vaiden is dead, and this is all over with, you’ll never have to see me again.” Symarah was crushed. She had thought that he loved her, that he would want to be with her if he could, but he never wanted to stay.

“You don’t understand, Symarah.”

“Then why don’t you explain it to me?”

“I am an immortal being, and you are human. You love me now, but in time, you will grow to resent me. We could never have children, and how would we explain why you grow older while I appear to stay the same age?”

“I never said I wanted kids, I have my students, and that is enough for me,” Symarah stubbornly replied.

“I don’t believe that is really the issue, considering the fact that all Atlantean gods have the ability to appear as old or as young as they wish,” Vaiden interjected.

“Another lie?” Symarah was devastated. She could feel the unshed tears stinging her eyes, fighting to be released but she refused to give either of them the satisfaction. She had never let anyone see her cry, and she intended to keep it that way. “You’re right Daire, we don’t belong together.”

Daire knew she felt betrayed, he could see the hurt in her eyes. Knowing he had caused her pain was more than he could take. “Symarah, don’t you see; I cannot watch you die again. Meissen was the love of my life, I was devastated when I lost her, when I lost you. It took decades to recover from it. Had I not been immortal, I would have died. I would rather spend eternity alone, and miserable, than to ever have to go through the anguish of watching you die again.”

Symarah immediately regretted her harsh words. How awful it must have been for him to watch his soul mate die. She couldn’t imagine how devastated she would be if she had to watch him die, or Kassie, God forbid. “I had no idea, Daire; I’m so sorry.”

“I hate to break up such a touching display, but I have a schedule to keep. I’m afraid I’m going to have to kill you now,” Vaiden interrupted, as he pressed the dagger deeper into Symarah’s throat.

Daire lunged at him, but before he even took two steps, Vaiden pressed a gold button on the wall behind the chair he had tied Symarah to, and a silver cage dropped from the ceiling, trapping Daire inside. “I’ll have your head for this Vaiden,” Daire growled, as he grabbed the silver bars that made up his prison.

“That is going to be difficult to do without hands,” Vaiden smirked, as he watched the silver burning Daire’s flesh, “and rest assured, under this dirt floor, is a thick layer of silver, so you can walk on it, but you can’t flash through it.”

Daire stubbornly continued to grasp the silver bars for a few more seconds before he reluctantly let go. He knew Vaiden would turn on Symarah any second, and he had to find a way to stall him. The key was to piss him off just enough to keep his attention, but not so much that he would lash out at her. Vaiden lifted the dagger from Symarah’s throat, and aimed it at her chest. He drew back and readied himself to plunge it straight into her heart.

“VAIDEN WAIT!” Daire yelled desperately.

“I have waited long enough for my revenge, my justice,” Vaiden said, the knife still aimed at Symarah’s heart.

“Justice, how the hell can you call this justice?” Daire demanded to know.

“You killed my love, it is only right that I should kill yours,” Vaiden answered.

The distraction had worked, Vaiden was now holding the dagger down at his side.

“You call that love? What the two of you had was not love, it was an abomination,” Daire scolded.

“Why, because we were both men?” Vaiden spat in disgust.

“Please, we are not as naïve as some of these mortals, afraid of anything they don’t understand. Men have been falling in love with other men since the beginning of time, and women with other women.”

“Do you really think that your love is more important than mine? Why, because she is beautiful? I can fix that,” Vaiden snarled, as he pressed the dagger to Symarah’s cheek and cut into her porcelain skin. The pain was almost unbearable. Symarah cringed as the blood dripped down her cheek, but she refused to scream. She wouldn’t give Vaiden the satisfaction.

“No, what you had was not love, it was a mutual lust for pain and death. You were brutal killers with no regard for human life.” Daire had to continue with his distraction, at least until he could figure out a way out of this. If he could just get Vaiden to come close enough to the cage, he could reach through the bars and strangle him. “What the two of you did was not only wrong, it was evil, he deserved to pay for his crimes, as do you.”

“That’s the trouble with good people, so self-righteous, always so sure that your way is right,” Vaiden sneered, as he sauntered toward the cage. “What gives you the right to question me, what makes your way any better than mine?”

“I don’t leave a sea of innocent victims in my wake.” Daire’s plan was working; just a few more steps and Vaiden would be within arm’s length.

“My so-called victims were anything but innocent,” Vaiden sneered, as he took another step toward the cage, “men who beat their wives, women who cheated on their husbands; mortals are vile creatures, too stupid and self-centered to see beyond their own shallow little world.”

“So they deserve to be brutally murdered because you think they are selfish and stupid?” Daire continued his taunting. “Who are you to judge?”

“I am a god,” Vaiden declared with pride, as he took another step closer to Daire. “They are insignificant, and their miserable little lives are not worth sparing.”

One more step and he would be within reach. Daire couldn’t wait to get his hands around Vaiden’s throat. “You are no better than Poseidon, cursing an entire race of people over the actions of a few corrupt gods. Clearly your arrogance knows no bounds.”

“I may be arrogant Daire, but I’m not stupid,” Vaiden smirked, as he leaned dangerously close to the silver cage. “Did you really think I would be dumb enough to get within arm’s length of you? I have to admire your determination though. Always trying to save the damsel in distress. How tragic that your soul mate will be the one damsel you can’t save.” Vaiden turned and walked back toward Symarah. “It’s such a pity that she has to die, she’s quite stunning really; for a female. She’s certainly much more sophisticated than most mortals.” He stood behind her now, pressing the dagger against her throat.