Daughter of Gods and Shadows (18 page)

“He tortured you, Kifo.”

Khale's words had been haunting him since she'd spoken them, stirring uneasy and gnawing feelings in him that he couldn't shake. There were all types of spells, most of which were spun with words that took root and festered in a person's mind, feeding on insecurities and fears.

Khale had been known to spin a few spells, and he suspected that she'd cast one on him, counting on him to fall for her lies and turn him against Sakarabru. The Demon had saved his life from the desolation she'd left behind when she killed the mystics and left Kifo to die.

Lilith moaned seductively in her sleep and rested her hand on his chest. Kifo brought it to his lips and kissed it. He had more pleasurable things to focus on than Khale's twisted versions of the truth.

Despite Kifo's best efforts, sleep was starting to get the best of him, and he started to doze off to the rhythm of Lilith's soft breathing. Kifo began to feel warm, too warm. In that state between being asleep and being fully awake was where his darkest thoughts lingered.

“Run, boy! The dragon! It's Khale! Run!”

He tortured you.

“Little one. Little Magician. That's it, boy. Bite your tongue.”

Shhhhh … Listen to me and I'll make it stop. Listen to me and I'll make it go away. Listen to me, little Djinn.

His eyes opened to the sight of Lilith smiling down on him. “Ready for round two, baby?”

His cock rallied to attention as if he hadn't just come half a dozen times already. She slid down the length of him, grabbed hold of his rigid instrument in her hand, opened her mouth, and wrapped full, supple lips around it.

He tortured you, Kifo.

Khale is a liar.

He tortured … Khale is a liar. Khale is a liar. Khale is a …

“Yessssss,” he said, silencing the thoughts punishing him and focusing instead on what she was doing.

Kifo was drunk on Lilith and he could have her. He could have all of her as long as … he was obedient.

 

COME TO MY WINDOW

Passageways. Ever since Eden and the first Omen had bonded, all she kept seeing in her mind's eye was herself wandering through a maze of passageways. She felt as if she were living outside herself, looking in at her life, disconnected and far away. Eden had to constantly remind herself to be in the moment, to be aware of where she was at any given time of the day or night. Prophet would say something to her and she'd have to ask him to repeat himself, or she'd pretend that she had heard every word.

From the balcony of the house, she stared down at the burnt imprint on the grass of the old man who had brought the Omen to her. Prophet had gotten rid of the mound of dirty clothes left behind where his body had been, but the rest of him had turned to ash. They'd found his wallet with his driver's license still in it from the 1930s. His name had been David Jensen. The Omen had forced him to find Eden. It had made him search for her until he found her—until it found her and forced the bond, which it must've known Eden was reluctant to make.

Eden heard Khale's voice. She turned slightly, glancing over her shoulder to confirm that the Shifter was here, standing in the living room talking to Prophet. Eden had no idea how long the two of them had been there.

“… a miracle, Guardian. Making the bond was difficult for Mkombozi, but she was an Ancient. Her strength and fortitude were unmatched, so imagine my surprise when I found out that Eden survived this.”

“She's pretty strong too, Khale, and damn if she isn't going around here constantly flashing that damn fortitude of hers like a badge,” he said sarcastically.

Eden smiled.

“You know that's not how I meant it,” she retorted.

Of course that was how she meant it. Khale talked a good talk and even tried convincing Eden that she believed the hype of this reborn Redeemer, but the truth was, she didn't. She never did. Eden realized that a long time ago. Khale didn't have the faith in Eden that Khale had had in Mkombozi, and Eden couldn't fault her for her doubts. Maybe Eden was her reincarnated daughter, but then again, she was Eden too. Just Eden.

“But now is not the time for celebration or to bask in this one victory,” she said, coming out onto the balcony. “I know that you feel safe here, Eden,” Khale said carefully. “I know that this place must feel like heaven on earth to you now, but hell has fallen on the rest of the world, sweetheart.”

“Khale, it's too soon,” Prophet chimed in.

“It's been a week,” she snapped at him. “And in that week, the Demon has made his presence known to the people in this world. He's stronger. Images of Sakarabru—what they can capture of him—are all over the news and the Internet now! He's destroyed entire cities and military installations, Eden. He's turned people against each other and has called his Brood Army to order! It's not going to go away, and it's only going to get worse the longer we wait!”

Khale was afraid. Eden could hear it in her voice. The Great Shifter was terrified, and she had every right to be.

“We don't even know where to find the second Omen, Khale,” Prophet argued. “But even if we did, she's not ready. The first one nearly took her life, and I won't put her at risk again until and unless she tells me that she wants to do this.”

“Can't you see, Guardian,” Khale said, frustrated. “It's not up to you. It's not even up to Eden. It never has been. The Omen found its way to her. They will all find their way to her whether she wants to be found or not.”

“She's right,” Eden finally said, looking over her shoulder.

Again, Eden saw herself winding through dark corridor after dark corridor in her mind. She took a deep breath, and squeezed her eyes shut to shake the visions.

“One is incomplete without the others,” Eden murmured to herself, realizing that she had not come by that knowledge on her own. The Omen had given it to her.

“Eden…” Khale started.

Without thinking, Eden jumped over the railing of the balcony and landed on her feet, fifteen feet below on the ground. In an afterthought, she stood there for a moment, wondering why or even how she'd even known it was possible for her to do that without hurting herself. Eden needed to be alone.

“No, Khale,” Eden heard the Guardian tell the Shifter as Eden started to walk away.

*   *   *

There was no more running from this. Eden knew that now. She walked until she reached the edge of the clearing and entered the forest. Eden was following a passageway. What was this that she was seeing over and over again in her mind? What was this place? And where would she ultimately end up if she just … followed…?

Eden saw a door and she stopped. In her mind she stopped and stared at it. In reality, there was nothing but trees before her. A wave of anticipation rushed over her. Fear of the unknown held her back. But she had to know what was behind that door. She had been coming to this same place in her visions over and over again, only to stop and turn away and try to pretend that it wasn't real—but it was. It was time to stop running.

Eden stretched out her arm and pressed her palm flat against the door in front of her and slowly pushed it open. There was a small fire burning in the middle of the room, and sitting next to it was a hooded man. All of a sudden Eden stood inside the room and the door closed behind her.

The hooded figure turned his head slightly toward her, but the dark shadows casting across his face made him impossible to identify. It was a mistake coming here. She knew it. Eden began to back away to where the door had been, but when she turned to find it, it was gone.

“You dare come into this place.” The sound of him was not like any sound she'd heard before. His voice came from him and all around him and through her.

She pressed her back against the wall. She conceived a scream that rose up from her stomach and wedged in her throat.

He stood up, and when he did, she could no longer see the top of him. He came toward her. Calves as round as tree trunks, wrapped in sinewy muscle the color of blood, flexed as he walked. The air closed in around her as he pressed closer. It was him. She knew instinctively that this was Sakarabru.

“You dare come to this place,” he repeated.

“I'm sorry,” she screamed, crying. “Oh God.” Eden turned and began scratching at the wall behind her until the tips of her fingers bled.

It was him. It was the Demon. She'd made a mistake.

“Eden. Eden. It's me.”

“Prophet,” she exclaimed, realizing that she was actually in the forest surrounding his house and that it was broad daylight. She wrapped both arms around him and held on to him with all of her strength.

He'd come for her. Just like before, he'd come for her.

“They didn't tell me,” she said breathlessly. Khale, and even Rose hadn't told her the whole truth about the Omens. “They didn't tell me everything, Prophet.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, stroking her back.

The revelation of this truth was so big, so much bigger than she could embrace fully.

“Eden,” he said softly. “What is it?”

Why hadn't they told her everything? Eden pushed away from him and stumbled backward. Twigs and dried dead leaves crunched beneath her feet. She looked at him and then wondered if he had known, too? Mkombozi had to have known, and she would've told him.

“The Omens,” she started to explain, her chest heaving. “The Omens are a part of him.” Saying it out loud made it sound even more unbelievable. “The first Omen is connected to Sakarabru,” she continued, panicking. “It's his mind or his thoughts. It's him, Prophet, and now it's a part of me. I'm a part of him,” she yelled. Looking at him, she immediately understood that he did know.

Eden backed away from him, shaking her head.

“Eden,” he reached out to her.

“You fuckin' knew?”

Khale came up from behind her. “Eden we…”

Eden's heart broke in half. “MyRose knew, too,” she sobbed. “You all knew?”

“It would've been difficult to explain!” Khale shouted. “You wouldn't have understood, Eden. Mkombozi didn't understand until she also bonded with the first Omen.”

Eden looked past Khale to Prophet. Khale was Khale. She and Eden had never been close; they'd never seen eye to eye on anything, and Eden wouldn't trust the Shifter as far as she could throw her, but Prophet—he knew, too, and never said anything.

“It wasn't my place to tell you, Eden,” he said gravely, knowing instinctively what she was thinking.

Her knight in shining armor wasn't shining so brightly anymore, and Eden realized that all of them had been in on this betrayal filled with half-truths or no truths at all.

“I had no idea how much you remembered, and I didn't want to tell you something that you weren't prepared to hear,” he tried explaining.

Eden shook her head in disbelief. “I don't expect anything from her.” She motioned to Khale. “But I … Mkombozi trusted you, Guardian. She trusted that the truth, all of it, should come from you.”

Eden felt more alone than she'd ever been before.

“No one knows what this is like,” she said sadly. “None of you can understand what this is doing to me inside.” She pressed her hand to her heart. “You don't know what it's like to have to depend on finding out the truth about yourself from people who hardly know you. I don't know if my thoughts are my own or if they belong to her. I am stuck in a place between Eden and Mkombozi. It sucks. It shouldn't be like this. I shouldn't have to pay the price; none of us here should have to pay for the mess you left behind on Theia.”

The first Omen saw to it that the bond had taken place, and it would no doubt lead her to the second Omen. There was no turning back now, and if Eden was going to be forced to fight in this war, then she had better get off her ass and figure out what the hell was going on. The only thing she knew for certain was that in the end, one of them was going to die—Eden or Sakarabru. She didn't know about him, but at this point, at least for her, death would be a relief.

 

FIGHT THE POWER

“We don't have time for this,” Khale snapped at Prophet after Eden stormed away. “I'm sick and tired of coddling that girl. The hope of this civilization is pinned to her, and all she can do is whine and throw tantrums about it.” She folded her arms across her chest. “If it weren't for the fact that she'd survived that first bond, I would question if she truly was Mkombozi. She never acted like this.”

“Yes she did, Khale.”

The Shifter had selective memories of Mkombozi. He needed to remind her of that.

“She acted just like this.”

She looked at him as if he'd just told her that Mkombozi had had three heads. “She was afraid, Tukufu,” she said, forcing herself to calm down. “But she knew what she had to do, and she did it.”

“Mkombozi knew her role, she played it, but she was as afraid as Eden is now,” he explained. “The only difference was that Mkombozi loved you.” He decided to leave it at that.

“This should not be my fate, Tukufu, my responsibility. It is too much,” Mkombozi said, crying after she had bonded with the first Omen.

It was late, and he woke up to find her sitting on the side of the bed, unable to sleep. Prophet reached out to her, but she shrugged away.

“I am my mother's general, and I am proud of that. I will lay down my life for her without hesitation.”

He sat up in bed. “She knows that, Mkombozi. You are a great warrior.”

She shook her head. “I am a coward.” She argued. “I am afraid of this thing inside me, and I am afraid that I could be consumed by it.”