The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (90 page)

“I ca
n understand it on both sides, i
f you were mine I would want to protect you from certain...things. On the other hand I can imagine you are brimming over with questions...it is...after all
,
human nature to be curious
.
”

“You can say that again!” I said laughing at memories that took me back to how many questions I would ask Draven when I first found out about this other world. Who wouldn’t?

“So where was I?”

“You were a bear
,
” I said as though it was the most natural comment in the world.

“Yes, yes I was. I was hunting in the river at the
time but what I didn’t realize wa
s that I wasn’t the only one. See
,
in this tribe it was a sort of right of passage for a boy to become a man to kill a bear with nothing in his hand but a small hunting knife. I had my back to the boy and he crept up on me without making a sound. I can imagine he grew up to be a great hunter, after all
,
he had it in his bloodline as his father was not only the tribe
’
s
best tracker
but best warrior.
He also had a daughter
, her
name was Siggwan. I believe it means ‘to sing’
in their native language.”

I knew
,
even without him saying so, that he was in love with the girl. I could see it in his eyes, his smile and mostly the way he said her name, full of pride and the deepest meaning. It was like he could see her standing right in front of him, he saw there a memory and then he turned his face as to hide the secret smile he thought I couldn’t see.

“That’s what saved me
from getting hurt, I heard her voice singing.
I turned around in time to see her brother coming and managed to knock the knife
from his hand without causing to
o much damage.
Not that he could have killed me but it would have still hurt.
He ran off after that but not before finding his sister and taking out his anger on her. I found her later by the river washing the blood from her face.”

“Bastard!” I said making him
look at me in surprise. His raised eyebrow made me
want to
justify myself.

“
I’m a strong believer that a man that hits a woman is nothing but a coward!” I said raising my chin and making him smile.

“And you are rightly so,
I feel this way also, which is why it hurt me to see. I walked towards her and
when she saw me, she didn’t finch
, she didn’t even look sca
re
d at the sight of this 1800lb,
nine foot Kodiak
bear coming closer to her. She even smiled at me and I never thought I had seen anything as beautiful. She could stop my heart with that one smile.”

“She must have been
extremely
brave
,
”
I noted before taking another s
ip of wine.

“She was fearless, more so than her brother was, that much was clear. She let me come next to her on the river bed and then she turned to me and told me how she was glad her brother hadn’t killed me. I wanted to thank her but
I couldn’t change in front of her, so I decided to wait till nightfall.”

“So did you go back to find her?” I asked getting immersed in the story.

“
I did find her again once I was human. I think you can guess what happened next. No doubt you can understand what type of love we shared?” He looked into my eyes and found his answer instantly.

“What happened?”

“I got my next contract
.
” My hands flew to cover my mouth as I shrieked.

“NO, oh no!”

“Yes I am afraid so.
When I refused to take her soul I was merely informed that another would just replace me and take it anyway. So I did the only thing I knew I could do
.
”
Pained lines circled his eyes like an evil frame.

“What?”
I asked needing to know the end of the tragedy.

“I bargained. I traded her soul for mine, I signed myself over to Hell’s punishments so that she may live a full life and die with her soul intact. Of c
ourse this meant a hundred life
times for me to
rot in the pit, well that was until Draven
bargained for
my
life
.
”
He turned his face to mine and now his pride was directed to
wards
his friend. No wonder they were
such close
friend
s, Draven had saved him from...well the
Devil only knows what.

I found I had tears in my eyes from his story
and I cannot tell you how it
touched me. Which reminded
me of the saying, “Is it better to have loved and lost, or better to have never loved at all?” Before meeting Draven I would have said to have never loved but now, I know
,
I would rather have died after one
kiss than never have felt his touch
, even if only
for
once
in my life
.

“How did he get you out?”

“A powerful
a
man as Draven
,
needs very little in reason to get what he wants, I was just happy that I could return the favo
u
r
.
”

“What? You saved his life?”

“More like his body. I don’t think this scar would have suited him as it does me, I wear it well do I not?” He asked me
,
laughing and giving me a playful nudge in the side.

“Oh very handsome, in a rough, manly way. Wo
men love
scars you know
.
” I said
, to
which he responded with a wink in my direction.

“You have your own scars of the past I see
.
” I gulped and looked down to my concealed arms, wondering how he knew?

“It is alright,
I am sorry I brought it up but you see we have
something in common. We both have
these scars as a reminder of the people we love, I sacrificed it for my friend
,
and for you?”

“For my family
,
” I replied quietly
.

“Do not be angry at Dom, he did not tell me about your past, I was the one he asked to help find any information about you. When I learned about you I was the one Dom sent to protect your sister and Frank at the time.” I shot him a loo
k of pure gratitude. Anyone who helped protect those I love earned
my eternal respect and loyalty.

“Thank you, I don’t know what to say
.
” I lowered my head feeling doubtful I would ever be able to
repay all these people that had
helped me since Draven came into my life.
Ragnar, Vincent, Sophia, Leivic and most of all Draven
himself
. This coming to a person only used to doing everything herself. I wasn’t used to having people to depend on. Don’t get me wrong, my family were very supportive th
r
ough my history
with that evil, sick time. But s
ince I had visions I lea
r
nt very quickly to keep my problems to myself or they would turn
a
round to bite me in the arse, in the form of a mental hospita
l. That being my true nightmare.

“You do not need to say anything, let alone thank me, I was more than happy to help and now in meeting you I feel my friendship for Draven
extends to his other self...to
you Keira. But on that note I must leave you a moment, I will not be long, will you be alright?”  I smiled at him before touching his hand that felt rough, like sandpaper and years of hard labor.

“Yes
,
of course
,
and thank you for telling me your story
.
” At this he didn’t answer but just kept staring at my hand on his, like he had never felt a touch for many years. This made me feel conscious that maybe it was not the right thing to do, but as soon as the thought entered
my mind he lifted my hand in his to his lips and kissed my knuckles. He didn’t say another word after that but nodded to me before he left.

I found myself only able to breath
e
after he had gone from my sight. I looked at my hand where his scarred lips had been and found it tingled slightly. I don’t know why but I was sure he had tasted me when his lips had parted slightly and his tongue had lightly grazed me. I could still see the shiny mark of his kiss drying quickly. I know any normal person would have been freaked out by this but I wasn’t and found it oddly comforting. After all he was half ani
mal, maybe this was just his way
...like a cat or dog licking you when you stroke them.

I started
to
go over what I had just learned from Leivic and the more I learnt about Demons and Angels the more it seemed to make sense. They weren’t that far apart from humans and I wondered if that was what being on this “
Plane
” did to them.
Did it make them more human?

Well at least
to
some of them it di
d and love seemed to be the key.
It got me thinking what Draven was really like all his years before I came along? I had chang
ed him, he had admitted as much. H
ow was it he had put it earlier... “
Back then I was hard and cold, like a living statue
.
” That’s what he had said
. Had I really made the blood flow back into his lifeless veins?

He made out that I did
. I found
myself smiling to myself as I s
ipped my wine. Only when my lips weren’t feeling liquid on them did I noticed that my glass was empty. I don’t know why but I really wanted another. I didn’t usually like red wine but there was something about this one that tasted a bit...addictive. It was only when I was studying the glass that I noticed something weird looking on the sides. It looked like crystallized p
articles that clung to the sides
where the wine had once been filled up to. I lifted it to my nose but couldn’t smell anything other than the rich aroma of fermented grape
s
.

I ran my finger on the insid
e, collecting up the substance o
n my finger tip. Then I did a very silly thing before I could stop myself, I put the finger in my mouth and sucked it clean. The stuff felt like sugar grit but tasted bitter. It was mere seconds before my head began to spin. I felt like I was going to throw up but without the heaving process. I held my head in my hands as i
f this would help but it didn’t and
if anything
,
it felt like it was the only thing keeping it on my body.

I felt my skin prick up as someone came near to me but when I looke
d up there wasn’t anyone there
.

“
You can hear my voice young one
!
” I sucked in breath and curled my legs to protect me as the voice that had haunted me earlier invade
d
my mind once again. It wasn’t asking a question but more like expressing an order. I looked around franticly for anyone I could tell but as soon as I thought it
,
the voice boomed in my mind.

“
NO
,
YOU WILL OBEY ME!”
I
t
screamed making my head vibrate in pain. I let out
a little moan and nodded at no-
one to say I would comply. Anything, just to stop the pain that rattled through me when
ever
it got angry.

“
Good girl, now I want you to come to me, but I don’t want you to let yourself be seen, do you understand?
” I nodded again but I wasn’t sure if the voice would
k
now my answer...it did.

“
Good, but you have to stop crying or people will hear you
.
” I hadn’t been aware that I was crying but when I put m
y hands to my cheeks they
were soaked with salty tears. My lips trembled as I tried to control the urge not to start sobbing. I wanted to be strong but the voice started to get more urgent.

“
Move when I tell you, I want you to get up and slide out to your left and walk to the far wall, you will see it when the curtain mo
ves back, that will be your cue
to leave.”
I shuddered at what
I
had to do next and
inside I was screaming out which
made it hurt all the more. I wished Leivic would come back to save me or even better
,
my dark knight
Draven.