A Destiny Revealed (29 page)

“You bitch,” Dalia hissed. She ran through the warehouse.

"Princess, please, can you find my mom?"
Dalia reached out to Zahra.

“THESE CENTURIES HAVE been kind to you, Ijoye,” Nala
commented. She held the amulet up, allowing it to swing on her fingers. “Still
don’t remember me?”

Bakari shook his head. “I have seen you once.
In the market.”

Anger flitted across Nala’s face briefly.
“Only
once?”

“I'm not sure what you expect from me.” Bakari crossed his
arms across his chest.

“I expect you to greet an old friend with a little more
enthusiasm.” Nala pulled his head down and slammed her lips down on his. Bakari
shoved her back and Nala laughed.

“What’s wrong, Ijoye? Saving yourself for your mate?” Nala’s
voice was mocking.

Bakari wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “Don't
bring my mate into this.”

“Even to this day, no one can speak of the sainted Layla.”

“You know nothing of my mate.” Power flowed from Bakari and
Nala shuddered. She had no idea he was so powerful.

“I know a lot of things, Bakari. I was once a part of your
tribe.” Nala clutched the amulet in her hand, feeling the jewel bite into her
skin.

“You were the baker’s daughter.” Bakari's eyes narrowed in
recognition. "You don't carry the mark of the Ajo."

Anger flared hot and Nala struck, slapping Bakari’s face. “I
am no simple baker’s daughter.”

She circled Bakari eyeing the way his slacks molded the
muscles in his legs. His body was large, but not an ounce of fat dwelled on
him.  She ran her finger down his back admiring the muscles there, feeling
the first stirrings of lust she'd felt in years. "I don't carry the mark
because I was one of the first. Before your pathetic goddess noticed the
thefts."

“What do you want with me?”

“I wanted you, Ijoye.” Nala ran her hands over his baldhead.
“But you didn't have time for me. You should've paid me more
attention,
I would've made a far better mate than your precious Layla.”

Bakari grabbed her wrist and yanked her back in front of
him. “No one can compare with Layla.”

Nala hissed in anger. “She didn't deserve to be the oracle
or the mate of the most powerful man in our tribe.”

“Yet, she was oracle and my mate.” Bakari’s face was a blank
mask, further angering her.

“She was nothing!” Nala screeched.
“Less
than nothing.
She got exactly what she deserved.” Nala laughed as
finally, the Ijoye’s expression changed. His eyebrows lowered and his body
vibrated with anger.

“She was ten times the woman you could ever be.”

“She is nothing now.” She stood on her toes to meet his
eyes. “I made sure of it.”

"YOUR MOTHER IS NOT IN THE BUILDING, Dalia."
Zahra
called to her.
"She was taken outside; Bron will meet you in the woods
surrounding the warehouse."
Dalia ran around the warehouse and
followed the directions Zahra sent to her telepathically. She swallowed a
scream when she came up on Bron in his lion form.

"
Stay behind me, I will approach first."
Bron ordered.

"Do I look like a pansy?"
Dalia scoffed.
She tried to move around him but stopped when she heard his growl. “Nice
kitty,” she whispered, moving back.

Bron growled again and Dalia backed up another step.
'For
heaven’s sake, Bron, go, I will stay behind you.'

Bron took off through the woods, his steps silent despite
the foliage they tracked through. They slowed near a clearing and Dalia could
hear voices. Dalia saw her mother tied, in the middle of three vampires.
Isabelle was shoved to the ground, her legs and hands bound. Dalia covered her
mouth and gripped Bron’s fur. She heard the taunts the vampires were throwing
at her mother and lost her temper. Silent as a ghost Dalia charged them, Bron
charged behind her. Dalia kicked at the nearest vampire, connecting with his
knee.

She smiled in satisfaction as she heard bone crack and his
leg bent. She pulled a knife out of the sheath at her back and stabbed the
vampire in the heart. She turned and watched as Bron made quick work of the
other two vampires. In his lion form he was already intimidating, but to watch
him fight in nothing but a pair of jeans was poetry in motion. His back muscles
rippled as she watched him lift a vampire by his throat and toss him into a
tree. Before the other vampire could charge Bron, Dalia tossed her knife and
hit the vampire in the back. Bron turned in time to see the vampire hit the
ground.

"Take care of your mother; I will get rid of the
bodies."
He told her. Dalia gathered her mother in her arms and
teleported her to the safe house. Zahra was waiting for her when they arrived.
Zahra rushed forward and with the help of the warrior left behind they quickly
moved Isabelle to the guest room at the bottom of the stairs. Dalia removed the
restraints from her mother’s arms and legs. Zahra dismissed the warrior, moving
to check over Isabelle for injuries.

"She seems fine," Zahra told Dalia.

“I am fine, oracle,” Isabelle croaked. Zahra reached into a
small refrigerator next to the bed and brought out a bottle of water. Dalia
lifted her mother’s head and Isabelle greedily took a sip.

“Rest, mama.”
Dalia ordered.
Isabelle gripped her daughter’s hand and nodded. Dalia turned to back to Zahra,
“Please stay with my mother. I'm going back for Nala.”  Dalia’s anger
toward the woman rushed to the forefront now that her mother was safe. She
would make sure that Nala paid for what her mother was put through.

“I will,” Zahra promised softly, not bothering to try and
talk Dalia off her course.  “Be careful.”

Dalia nodded absently. Dalia teleported back to Loiza, she
needed to make a stop first.

Chapter 28

'DALIA AND ISABELLE are safe, Ijoye. I'm sending the
warriors to Aren and Ajani to take out the vampires watching her family. We can
leave.'
Fynn reported to his father.

'No, I want to hear what Nala has to say.'
Bakari
insisted.

'Father, we don't need anything from her.'
Bakari
could hear the worry in Fynn’s tone, but said nothing. Fynn’s sigh moved
through Bakari’s mind.
'I will stay here as back up.'

Bakari eyed Nala with disgust, wondering what this vampire
aimed to accomplish.

“I will make a better oracle than Layla,” Nala taunted
holding up the amulet. There was madness in her eyes.

“Layla was created as oracle. She didn't have to steal it.”
Bakari admonished. He watched as anger contorted Nala’s beautiful face, her
lips lifted in a snarl.

“I'm tired of hearing you defend that fat cow!” she
screamed. She used her power to slam him into a beam. Bakari quickly reassured
his son before Fynn could act. He allowed Nala to use her power; he wanted to
see how far he could push her. He wanted an explanation and he wouldn't leave
without it. She slapped him with enough force to move his head.

“You don't know a good thing when you see it, Ijoye.”

“Oh, but I did, Nala. It was why I chose Layla.” He taunted.
He smiled when she slapped him again.

“It’s too bad you chose her, Ijoye. It was the death of
her,” Nala eyes were lit with maniacal fire.

Bakari’s heart stuttered in dread. “What are you talking
about?”

Nala caressed the side of Bakari’s face. “I'll unlock the
powers of the amulet and I will spend every day of my existence making sure you
pay for your bad choice.”

“Even if you have the amulet, it won't make you the oracle.
You are poison,” he spat. “The goddess will never allow you the power in that
amulet. You have nothing on
Layla,
she was created by
the goddess herself.” Bakari decided he’d had enough, he took a deep breath and
gathered his power, intending to break the hold Nala had on him. Her smile
stopped him cold.

“Men are so stupid.” She said. “They think they know everything.
You know nothing!”

“It is you who knows nothing,” Bakari tossed back.

“I know who killed your mate,” she taunted.

Bakari felt his beast slam against his chest. “You will tell
me what you know.” His voice was calm, deadly.

The first sign of panic lit Nala’s eyes. She stepped back
hastily. She pushed her power at him, pinning him back on the beam and that
panic was replaced with triumph.

“It's your fault Layla's dead.” Emboldened, she moved
closer. She trailed her finger down his chest, her nail ripping away his shirt.
“If I couldn’t have you, then neither could she.”

Bakari struggled against Nala’s power. He could feel Fynn in
his mind, but he dismissed the distraction.

Nala ran her hands across his chest. “Had you shown me the
teeniest bit of attention, I wouldn’t have had your bitch killed.” She quickly
stepped back as Bakari roared and tried to reach for her.

DALIA ENTERED THE WAREHOUSE SILENTLY, keeping to the shadows
to avoid attention. She cursed silently as the bag she carried banged against
her leg. Going to her mother’s house to retrieve its contents didn't waste too
much time. She tensed to strike as she felt a hand cover her mouth.

“What are you doing back here?” Bron whispered in her ear.

“She can’t get away with using my family.”

"Did it occur to you that I would take care of
it?" His breath warmed her neck and she shuddered at the hurt in his tone.

"I need to do this for myself."

Bron released her and stepped back. Dalia thought he would
tell her to leave, but he motioned her to follow him. They climbed a rusted
staircase to the catwalk, where they found Fynn lying flat against the floor.
Dalia saw that he had a perfect view of Nala and Bakari and she smiled in
triumph. Snatches of their conversation floated up towards them, but Dalia
ignored it. She emptied the contents of her bag, slowly, methodically, careful
not to make a sound. She set her rifle up and lay down next to Fynn. The
warrior’s eyes widened in surprise, and he looked up at Bron.

Bron’s expression was grim
'Why all this?'

'I know when I am out-
matched,
it proves nothing for me to go down there and get my ass kicked. She’s got
centuries of power behind her. I want her dead, it doesn’t matter how I
accomplish it.'
Dalia told him, her voice resolute.

'Oh I think it matters.'
The bite in his voice made
her wince.

She avoided his gaze. Yes, it mattered. She wanted to take
Nala out herself. She hunkered down to line up her shot when she felt a hand on
her shoulder. Bron was tense next to her, his eyes glued to the scene below, he
held up a single finger, halting her. Dalia kept her finger on the trigger but
she focused on the conversation below, listening for what had Bron engrossed.

“I will kill you,” Dalia heard Bakari growl.

Nala laughed and clapped her hands. “You'll try, Ijoye.
Trust me; I'm not that easy to kill.”  She put the amulet around her neck
and eyed Bakari defiantly.

Her icy expression was brought in stunning color through the
scope of her rifle and Dalia finger tightened slightly on the trigger.

“Do you have any idea how easy it was to convince my lover
to ransack the village? Of course, the temple was another matter. Maksim
wouldn't risk it, so he hired some Dutchman and his soldiers to do it.”

“You gave up the tribe’s secrets, for petty revenge? Do you
know how many villagers died that night?” Bakari’s voice echoed around the
catwalk.

“It was what they deserved.” Nala laughed. “Those who
taunted me were the first to go. The others, well, I had to allow Maksim his
sport, you know. I told the villagers to scream to the Ijoye for help with the
hope that I could capture you. Like a fool you raced to their sides.”

The casual way in which she said it filled Dalia with
disgust.

“Do you want to know the best part?” Nala leaned over into
Bakari’s face. She kissed him lightly on his lips.

Dalia cursed because she couldn’t get a good shot if they
were that close. She breathed a sigh of relief when Nala did a small pirouette
away from the Ijoye and laughed.

“When the Dutchman raided the tomb, I gave him specific
instructions to kill the oracle. How does it feel to have saved the village but
not your mate?”

Dalia closed her eyes against the pain radiating from the
three warriors. Tears blurred her vision momentarily as Bron’s guilt and sorrow
flooded through her from the bond they shared.  Nala’s taunting laughter
floated up to Dalia, she flinched as the Ijoye roared. Icy resolve flooded her
veins steadying her hands as she lined her shot. Dalia pulled the trigger,
once, twice, hitting Nala in the chest and neck. Missing her heart as the
vampire moved at the least second.

The vampire slumped to the ground, releasing Bakari from her
hold. Fynn teleported quickly to his father's side and they disappeared. Dalia
set down her rifle and ran for the stairs intending to finish the job. Bron
called to her and she hesitated. What she saw over her shoulder stopped her in
her tracks. She saw the need on his face and the pressure from it weighed down
her heart. Bron held his hand out to her.

Leave it, rewà. I need to be with Fynn and cannot leave
you here alone.'
He told her sadly.

Dalia thought briefly of her revenge, if she took his hand
she wondered what it would mean for them. Her mind demanded vengeance for the
way both Nala and Maksim used her, but her heart hurt for her mate. She saw the
momentary panic in his eyes before she grabbed his hand and teleported them
back to the safe house.