Capri's Fate (31 page)

He blinked.

Capri
opened her mouth. Words of criticism and scorn danced on her tongue. Snapping her lips closed, she snatched her purse and strutted out of the office.

After paying the taxi, Capri exited and glanced up toward her thirty-eighth floor apartment. A chill descended upon her. What would it look like? Could she feel safe there? Could she spend the night?

"Hey there, Sweet Cheeks."

Capri turned. Kat hopped off the edge of the condo's fountain and threw out her arms to hug her friend.

"I thought maybe you could use a hug."

"Oh my God, Kat. I love you." Capri fell into her friend's embrace. "I didn't want to go up there alone. They searched my place. Went through my things. I feel…" She placed her hand over her mouth.

Kat bent over and picked up her purse and a backpack. "Come on. Let's get this over with. See what the damage is. Don't they have to leave things neat?"

Capri followed her friend into the condo. "I don't know. I've never had an FBI agent hand me a warrant before. Hell, I don't think I've ever seen an FBI agent before."

The elevator doors closed. Kat pressed the 38 button. "Are they as hot in person?"

"What?"

"You know, in the movies and on TV, FBI agents are super hot. All manly and, you know, totally fuckable."

Capri grimaced. "These two weren't. They were soulless robots."

"Darn." Kat giggled. "I was hoping they'd want to strip search you, and since I'm your best friend, I might be involved in this and I'd have to submit. I'd fight them until they tied me down."

Capri chuckled. "Kat, you are certifiably crazy."

"Possibly. But I made you smile."

The elevator dinged and the doors parted. "Yes, you did. Thank you. Here." Capri handed Kat her key. "You open the door and tell me what it looks like."

Kat inserted the key, turned the handle and pushed the door just enough for her to peek inside. "Oh my God."

"What?" Capri shot past her and stepped into her apartment. She twisted her head side to side. "It looks fine. It looks like no one was here. Why did you say that?" She turned to face Kat.

"Got you in here, didn't I?" Kat walked to the dining room table,
set the backpack down, unzipped it and tilted the contents onto the top.

Capri
's bustier, black lace thong, nipple clamps and dildos spilled out. "When you fell asleep last night, I had the idea that they'd want to search here. And I kind of figured you wouldn't want them going through your stuff. So I shoved everything in here and took it home with me."

"I don't know whether to hug you or get angry. You could have gotten in trouble."

"What? No. If anyone asked, you let me borrow your sex toys for the weekend. BBF's share everything, you know." She grinned.

"Oh, Kat. What would I do without you?"

Capri walked over to the table and ran her hand along the smooth silk bustier. Something slid out from inside. She moved the garment aside and inhaled. Lying on her dining room table was a black flash drive.

Ch
apter Twenty-Eight

Thall morphed beside Atropos. "What the fuck am I doing here? I'm going back." He started to shift, but a force pinned him to the world of the Fates.

Atropos cackled. "I think not. I have bound you to this realm. All of those under your domain have been given to worthy Fates. You are banished."

The warm sun blackened, the soft breeze died, and all birds ceased to sing. Thall glanced around. Everywhere was darkness. His heart beat faster as the realization hit him, he was alone and in an unknown place. Stumbling in the dark, he tripped over rocks and fell into a pool of cold wetness. Scrambling out, he tried to peer through the darkness to
determine where he was. He called to Lachesis, but she didn't reply. He closed his eyes and focused on Xyno, but she did not appear beside him.

The wetness chilled him. A shiver rippled in his belly and spread throughout his body.
I am so cold.
He attempted to shift to his natural essence but remained in his corporeal form.

Rubbing his hands against his arms, Thall walked forward. He tripped over rocks and smacked his face on a boulder as he fell. Tapping at the ground, he felt nothing but stones, ranging from small to large. He adjusted his position to his hands and knees and crawled in, what he hoped, was the direction back to the light and the Tree of Life.

The rock's sharp edges caused intense suffering, but inflicted no cuts or scrapes on his limbs. Many times, he banged the top of his head on a large boulder as he groped his way in the darkness.

Using his fingertips, Thall disc
overed a new sensation. The hardness of the rocks eased to a powder. He pressed his weight onto his hands. Intense heat scorched up through his arms. Thall scooted back to the rocks and smacked his buttocks against a large object.

He turned and slapped at the ground, trying to find the edge. How could he have missed such a large boulder? He examined it to the left and again found no way to go around. He tapped his hands up the face until he banged his head on a roof.

Rubbing the top of his head, he sat and leaned against the wall. Why was he not allowed to return to his original position? Something seemed to be driving him forward. He reached out and skimmed his palm across the surface of the crumb-like substance. Searing misery drew a hiss from him as he snapped his hand back. Pressing up to stand, he discovered his way blocked by the invisible barrier. Resigned to his situation, Thall bellied through the loose grains. Scorching fire erupted when granules flew up, brushing his cheek. To relieve some of the blistering throbbing on his hands, Thall crawled along on his forearms.

The excruciating ache in his legs overwhelmed him and he writhed on the crumbs. It burned every part of him that touched it. Hopelessness filled him. He could not go on. Thall pounded the sand and screamed out his frustration. Inhaling pulled granules of powder into him adding an internal searing to his torment.

A fleeting image scooted through his memory. Capri laughing. Her face filled with joy as she stepped closer to wrap her arms around him. He had to go on. Capri must be protected. Gathering his inner resolve, Thall inched onward, trying to focus on the image of Capri and not on the agony that racked his body. He had no concept of time. He may have crept for days or moments. With no ambrosia to feed on, Thall's strength ebbed and he collapsed. "Forgive me, Capri."

Silent darkness was the response. It cocooned him. He lay on the burning substance wishing his existence to end.

"Why do you live?"

Forcing his eyelids open, Thall winced at the bright orange light inches from his face. The lights bobbled. "Why do you live? No one has ever come this far. Capricci steals life from Fates."

Thall forced the words from his mouth. "I live because I must return to protect someone I love."

A coolness
washed over him as the darkness lifted. He bathed in the relief before lifting his head. The orange lights faded above him until a void hovered. It was deep blackness, surrounded by light. When the darkness moved, illumination filled where it had rested.

"I am Thall, son of Lachesis. Who are you?"

"I am Prodomorbus."

Thall gasped and scrambled to his feet. "You exist? No one speaks of you."

"All creatures fear me. I exist outside the realms of any world."

Glancing at his hand, Thall saw no burns. "How is it that I felt pain and burning and yet I am undamaged?"

"You should be dead. The capricci destroys Fates."

"I am no longer a Fate. Atropos banished me."

Prodomorbus floated nearer. Dizziness, nausea and distress swirled in Thall's stomach. The dark shape retreated. "You are not a pure Fate, but a hybrid. Your humanness protects you from capricci's death."

A small leather pouch with long ties hovered before Thall's face. He snatched it. "May I take some of this pow
der?"

"On one condition. I am lonely. I speak to no one. Spend a hundred of your Fate years and I will grant your request."

Frustration punched Thall in the gut. One hundred years. "To protect Capri, I will stay."

True to his word, Thall remained with the dark void, entertaining Prodomorbus with stories of the world of humans. Time slowed and impatience filled his soul. He sat at the edge of the emptiness and stared into the light. He saw nothing, but in his mind, he replayed the moments he spent with
Capri. Her laughter and her love kept him strong.

"Your time with me has ended." Prodomorbus floated next to Thall. "I have enjoyed our conversations. Return."

Before Thall could spit out a question, the darkness vanished. Joyous relief swept over him as he checked the pouch was secure then shifted to Atropos.

"You?" Her essence darkened.

Thall changed to corporeal form and stood before her.

"You should not be here."

He grinned. "I fought through the darkness. You cannot stop me."

Atropos reached into the roots of the Tree of Life and pulled out a sickened gray tuber. "This one is in pain, weak and should be ended."

Suspicion filled his gut. Thall grasped the root. The image of Capri formed in his mind. She lay on her bed, curled in a tight ball, sobbing and moaning his name.

The Decider of Death skimmed her fingernail along the surface of the shriveled lifeline. Red droplets oozed from the scratch.

"Stop." Thall slapped against her hand.

"You are so bold as to try and stop me?" A force slammed into his chest and flung him to the far side of the realm.

Thall morphed back and landed in front of Atropos. "I dare. I will not let you end Capri's life."

The sky darkened. "How can you stop me? I am a Fate and you are nothing. You are not a Fate, nor are you a pathetic human."

He pulled a small bag from around his neck, loosened the ties and poured the capricci onto his palm. The brown powder boiled on his palm. The stench of a thousand rotting corpses surrounded them. Atropos paled and moved away from Thall. "Is that..? Where did you find it?"

"In the darkness, where you banish
ed me. It is the rarest element in our realm and the deadliest. All my life, I've heard whispered rumors that it exists. Ironic, part of its name is the same as the one who you threaten."

Multitudes of lights glimmered around him. Some Fates took their corporeal form, others didn't. Lachesis floated off to his right. Xyno settled next to him.

"Because of my humanity, this does not kill me. It burns my flesh, but does not cause me death."

"You dare to threaten me?"

"To protect Capri? Yes."

A gasp rippled through the Fates who surrounded them.

"Capri is to be allowed to live out her allotted time span and then she exists with me." Thall glared at Atropos.

"And if I refuse?"

He lifted his hand to his mouth. "I'll sneeze. I sense that you are afraid of this powder."

Her color darkened. "You do this because you love her?"

Thall twisted his hand and deposited the substance back into the bag. He checked that no particles remained on his palm then pulled the bag's strings taut. "Yes, I do this because I love Capri, and I will protect her from you. You are a force she cannot fight. But I can and will."

"Bah! Lachesis. This is because of you and your bonding with that human. See what you have brought among us." Atropos faded.

Lachesis stepped forward and waved the others away, then turned and stroked the cut Atropos had made on Capri's lifeline. It glimmered for a moment, then the cut sealed. The gray pallor faded, and a healthy pink rose from the depth and flowed along the length of the root. Lachesis nestled the root back under the tree. "She is safe. But what am I to do with you?"

Xyno moved closer to her mother. "Do you remember the love you felt for your warrior?"

A smiled crossed Lachesis face.

"Then allow Thall to experience that. Let him return and be with this
Capri. He has fought to do so. He has challenged Atropos. No one, but you, has done that before. Thall is your son. Your spirit resides in him. But he is also your warrior's son. His human side wishes to love. Grant him that."

"Xyno." Thall smiled at his sister. "If you weren't a Fate, I'd say you were jealous."

"Unable to assist, I watched you suffer through the rocks and capricci. And the years you kept your word and sat with the void. You have proven your right to love Capri."

Thall tilted his head. "It was you who sent me this pouch." He tossed it into the air and caught it. Both Lachesis and Xyno backed away.

He laughed. "Do not fear. Prodomorbus is the only one who can use the capricci. If I blew it on you, all it would do is make you dirty. I am the son of Lachesis. We honor life. I cannot take it." A wide grin crossed his mouth. "But I can call a good bluff."

Lachesis bowed her head. "I fear my
son that I may not let you return to Capri."