The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (85 page)

“What?” I asked looking up but only seeing his chest thanks to my low hood.

“That you could still look cute even when your face is covered
.
” I’m not sure if he could see me smile but he reacted when I p
oked him in the ribs, not that he
could feel much thanks to him being made of solid muscle.

“In that case I will wear it up all the time
.
” I felt him squeeze my sides and then kiss my head before saying
,

“Don’t you dare
.
” I laughed
and then felt him taking me by the elbow
to lead me towards the door.

“Are you ready?” I don’t know why but there was something in his voice that put me on edge and I found myself nervous enough to want to start scratching my scars. Of course I was already biting my lip but it didn’t seem enough somehow.

“You will be fine
,
but stay close to me
,
ok
?
” He had obviously heard my worries but by saying this last part
, he
only ended up adding to my fears.

“And one last thing, try very hard to keep up your mental walls, there are things in here that
I
do not wish for you to…to truly see
.
” A shiver crept up my spine and seem
ed
to stay with me at the base of my neck. I was very close to running back to the car and finding my safety within its metal body but I wanted Draven to
think I was strong and fearless,
not the frig
htened little girl I
felt
like.
So h
e engulfed my hand with his own and led me to the door.

I couldn’t help but jump at the sound of his other hand banging a fist against the metal door. I couldn’t see very much but I was sure I felt him looking down at me and while we waited he leaned down and whispered
,
     
  

“You will be fine
,
”
in the softest voice. Great! Here
I was trying to appear
brave and I was acting jumpy at the first hurdle.
There was a gargled grunt from behind the door and a bang back.

“Piss off!” A deep grouse came from behind the banging.

“Nice welcome
!
” I added and Draven growled and proceeded to pound his fist against the door causing a dent.

“Patefacio pro vestri vinco
!” (Means “O
pen for your master!” in Latin)

“Quod letalis
?” (Means “A
nd the mortal?”) The voice sounded l
ess angry now but still wary, so
I wondered what they were talking about.

“Letalis est mei
!” (Means “T
he mortal is mine”) At this
,
the sound of metal
scraping against metal could be heard and the door vibrated before opening. I couldn’t help but hold my breath as the crack opening became wider and the beast from behind came into view.

My held breath was quickly followed by a gasp when I was soon faced with a massive Samoan that looked as though he weighed at least 400
lbs. He had a huge gut that meant it
would have made it impossible for him to see his feet l
et alone other important parts
of his anatomy.

He stood
close to seven foot tall and would have mad
e
even
Ragnar look small. I started my gaze at the bottom where I was surprised to see him wearing Jesus sandals and three quarter length, light weight
khaki
trousers. My eyes followed up and found him wearing a black vest that was enough material to be a bedspread.

When I lifted my hea
d enough to see his face my eyes
looked so far back that my hood fell from my head. Mine weren’t the only eyes to display shock. His skin was a honey brown colour but now thanks to extensive tribal tattoos that covered half of his face it was closer to b
lack on one side. The tattoo
s
were
one continuation from one that started on his shoulder and chest that curled up and attacked his face. It reminded me of waves that were made up of
different intercut patterns that were beautiful Samoan artwork in their own right. His eyes were the same honey colour that matched his skin tone and they glowed amber when they met my own.

“Lucifer’s blood, Electus unus
!” (Means “T
he chosen one” in Latin) He stared at me like I was some freak that sported two heads and cat
’
s eyes!
As soon as he made the mistake of speaking, Draven let go of me and grabbed the man’s neck at record speed. He pinned him to the
wall and soon the man’s face
turned a deep shade of scarlet. The swirls on his face started to move
like cogs in a machine
and I thought I was seeing things.

They
also
looked like they were writhing around in pain and they continued up into his shaved head
and
hair that
he
wore in a
plaited
Mohawk. I had stepped back and covered my mouth with my hands in shock. Draven was furious and his purple veins
rippled through his neck as though they were
trying to burst through the skin.

I couldn’t see the rest of his body as he still had on his leather jacket but I would bet good money that it would be the same everywhere else. A gurgling sound came from the man’s throat like he was trying to speak. At this Draven just tightened his hold and
cut off any sound.

“You will not repeat those words so long as you remain
in this life
and in exchange I will LET you remain
in this life
, with your head attached. Do I make myse
lf clear Ira
?” Draven allowed him enough to nod and then released him, forcing him to carry his own body w
eight once again. His legs crump
led underneath him and he collapsed to the floor coughing and gasping for air to fill his lungs.
Even though he had b
een cho
king moments earlier
,
he still managed to speak.

“Forgive my insolence Master, it shall not happen again
.
” He bowed his head and I could see the tattoo move down from his head and wrig
gle nervously down his spine
, which had transformed from cogs into
an ink
y
snake cowering out of sight.

Draven came back to me and without dropping his harsh expression he ran the back of his hand down the side of my face before ra
ising my hood to conceal it
once again. He then took my hand back in his vice grip and tur
ned his head towards
Ira the Samoan one last time.

“See that it doesn’t or you will be seeing Lucifer once again and
sooner than you may think!” His voice was like ice, c
old and u
nforgiving, w
hich was like hearing
a different Draven altogether. Here he wasn’
t my Draven,
s
oft and gentle
. NO
,
here h
e was the Master, here he was the one in
control….here
,
he was
a
God!
 

I could feel the heat coming from his touch
as he
c
ontrolled my movements through the
slight
est
turn of my hand. He was leading me through a low lit corridor which mostly offered a view of the rustic wooden floor that loo
ked like it had seen better day
s
,
centuries ago.
Part of me wanted to pull back and tell him that I didn’t want to go any further but when he tightened his grip around my hand I knew it was his way of telling me that I had nothing to fear. I was so torn between my doubts and the mental wave of reassurance that Draven was trying to inject into my mind, which left me feeling warm and tingling inside.

I knew we were nearing our destination when the hum of a deep base line was beating through the next door and the vibrations found
the so
l
e
s of my
feet. Draven opened the door and I jumped at the sound of metal grating against the
ancient
wood
work. The music and smell hit me all at once as it flooded the hallway, swirling
up
with the stench
of stale alcohol
combined with fresh sweat from a mass of dancing bodies.

The heavy rock music drowned out any other sound, including that of my pounding heart.  I was very aware that Draven was trying to get me to go into this roo
m but I held myself firm and roo
ted to the
spot
. I didn’t want to face this place and although I couldn’t see, I could feel! That was enough for me to be terrified
,
because not one pair of feet that I
could
now
se
e belonged to a human, at least
n
ot until I looked down at my own.

“Come with me Keira and trust me
.
” Draven had leaned down to whisper and his words weren’t the only comfort as his breath
sent
a security that seemed to cling to my skin and stay with me
like an invisible force
.

He left my hand for a second and placed it on the top of my head which he let slid
e
down to the back and then rest on my neck, as he whispered
,

“Good girl” into my ear.
So I
let myself be led through a crowd which,
if they could
,
would have sucked the essence
right
out of me and fed from my ever growing fear. It was never really explained why I was different from other humans, why they couldn’t
feed from my emotions or why they could
n’t access my mind. Not that I was
complaining but I didn’
t quite buy this whole “Chosen O
ne” business that everyone seem
ed
to preach.

As I watched the feet part
,
like Moses was coming in with his girlfriend in tow, I felt it wasn’t only my own mental barrier that was keeping me from looking up and seeing these people for what they really were. Draven remained a constant presence in my mind keeping up his own walls of protection. I decided to tap into the feeling there and when I did I was amazed that I could for the first time detect some of Draven’s thoughts. Of course
,
as soon as I did
,
I regretted it
,
as all I could feel was this overwhelming need of protection….But protection from what? Why bring me here if he was so scared that something bad could happen to me? What was he not telling me?

It was amazing that even though so
many bodies were crammed into
one
space
they still found the
room
to let us pass without coming to
o
near. I was so
tempted to look up at Draven and
see what it was he was doing to make this happen
but knowing him I can imagine it only took one stern look and that was enough. I could hear some people mutter things as they backed away and some even bent over slightly because I could see as their knees suddenly come into view.

One woman even threw herself to the ground and starting bowing like she was praying to mecca. Of course in her low strappy top this didn’t leave much to the
imagination as her breasts kept
protruding from the material every time she doubled over. I found it fascinating as to why she would behave like this at just the sight of him. I would have to ask Draven when I had chance.
It was almost like she remembered him from another time...one lost to a far away history w
h
ere this amount of respect was not only expected, but was demanded.

The place was bigger than I thought it was
,
as it was taking us a while to get through and it
certainly
wasn’t down to the crowd. I turned back behind me just as a new song was being played and the death metal music that filled the air made the bodies join back up together after we had passed and all the feet were now jumping and moving at such speeds it was hard to tell where one pair started and the others ended.

I could tell we were getting closer to the stage area as the music was pounding in my ears making them close to bleeding it was that loud.
Luckily Draven
changed directions and soon I was able to hear
more than screaming words in another language. However
,
whether the language was hu
man or not was another question be
cause it sounded more Demonic than anything else.