Echoes in Eternity (The Pella Series Book 1) (40 page)

“I was desperate because I was losing her! I had to have her
-*
Hieron Osteon
, or sacrum, where her soul was to awaken…” I say as my throat works on a hard swallow. “I could feel life drain out of her like ice melting in the desert sun; she got colder in my arms by the second. I had but a moment to halt her ascent!” I remember Boreas and Bucephalus snorting as they bobbed their heads repeatedly, and then rushed to us in a canter. I felt the winds of time speed up in a gust to pull us into oblivion. But since Elissa’s mind was connected with mine, I’d only end up with her lifeless body. I look at Henry, but I just see beyond him, my gaze drifting into the memory of this afternoon.

“I held onto her tighter, harder; shaking her body to jolt her back here to no avail,” I whisper.

“How did you manage it when you were already falling into the fabric of time? Clearly you couldn’t see the horses or get to her
Life Force
.”

“I was too occupied to pay attention to either of the horses but, Boreas neighed as he activated her
Life Force
, and pushed her into me. I could follow his vocal cues. I felt Bucephalus do the same at which time I could pull myself back. I had to rely on my other senses until I could focus my sight. We could only do that when all our
Life Forces
were combined.”

I could finally see Boreas sniff along Elissa’s spinal column, reacquainting herself with her former mistress’ body, nudging her then as her nose pinpointed the concentration of Elissa’s
Life Force,
she bit her at the base of her spine where her
Hieron Osteon
, the
Holy Bone
is located.

“I don’t believe I ever utilized mine. What does the
Hieron Osteon
do? How is it utilized?” Henry asks side tracked.

“The feeling is indescribable; the force of life jolts through your entire body and soul, binding you to
the here and now. Our
Holy Bone
is the center of our reactive psyche, and where we hang onto life. What’s different with us, Elissa and me I mean, is that it’s the root of our connection in more than one way. It’s not only her
Life Force
, but also the concentration of our children’s
Life Force
, where all their lives are going to reintegrate again, and resurrect: it’s the seventh part of her soul, the hidden source of our existence,” I explain. Bucephalus has known the map of my soul since I was nine years old and having called and reinforced my
Sacrum
, he’s fulfilled the task countless times. I felt both the immortal horses lend their
Life Forces
in the form of a blue aura like billows of smoke engulfing us, wrapping like a protective bubble.

“I had to concentrate hard to prevent my soul from falling into the fabric of time. Elissa wasn’t ready, and she wasn’t in synch with me. Then I felt her body jerk back as mine did with both horses reinforcing our
Hieron Osteon
. It felt like a violent electric shock into our spinal column. But it only managed to pull Elissa back a little and halt her.

It wasn’t enough. I had to do something else, prevent her from hearing the Sirens. I have used all our ties: soul,
Life Force
, touch, feel… Heaven knew I was shouting thunderously. Then I remembered: we still weren’t one flesh!”

Henry nods in understanding.

“And that’s basically how she came back to me and I was able to take her to the day I surrendered my soul to her.”

“Well, it appears that you have worked out some major issues out with her. I have to hand it to you Alex, if I were in your place
, I couldn’t have done what you did. Maybe that’s why you’re the conqueror. My hat is off to you sir,” he says bowing his head.

“Once I was able to address her resentment about her father and assuage her questions about how she came to be and how I met Marcus, she fucking had pity on me! I want a lot of things
from her. I want her to desire me so much that she has no time to think of another, love me, fuck me, kiss me, hold me and most of all, survive… But in all the things I want from her, pity is
not
one of them. Not only did she pity me, she fucking wanted to set me free of her!”

“Alex,” Henry shakes his head. “You must give her time.”

“I waited a long time for her!” I bellow. I can’t lose her again.

“And you may still have to wait a little while longer. What
are a few more days, a few more weeks, months or a couple more years Alex after having spent over two-hundred years waiting?” I let go of a frustrated breath. I check my watch; run my hand over my head frustrated.

“Few more years? Look who is handing out time.” I shake my head. “I need to use your bathroom to get ready.”

Henry looks at me quizzically for abruptly changing the topic as well as wondering why the hell I’m not using my own bathroom. Finally deciding it’s none of his business; he makes a grand gesture with his hand, and walks out of my way.

When I’m done getting ready, Henry is waiting for me, pacing
in the living room of his suite, wearing a track into the carpet.

“What’s wrong?” I ask as I fix my silk tie.

“Nothing is wrong per say, but I was wondering… If it was alright with you, may I escort my God-daughter to the ballroom?”

“Henry, I’m sorry, but she might recognize you. I don’t know if I can take the chance!” I say, and his face falls.

“I promise, she won’t,” he says looking hopeful.

“How would she not? There is nothing different about you since she knew you. She almost recognized you when you walked out of the elevators at the Pella Towers! And she only got a glimpse of you!”

“For her, I will change my appearance. She’s the closest thing I have to a child. Please, Alex. Give me these few minutes. I too have missed her. Would you not offer to change your look if that’s what it took for you to see your children Alexandros?” he asks; his voice close to begging.

“Henry, don’t do that!” I utter in a low voice groaning in exasperation. I know Henry has always been another father
to Elissa. But she’s my fucking life!

“Please, sir. You know I don’t beg. But for my God-daughter I will. Let me just walk my girl down like the old days,” he asks hopeful.

I stick my finger into his face. “I’m going to make sure that it meets Anthony’s approval before you can get her. If he thinks you look like, well you… you can’t be seen by her! I need to go pay the fucking
Psyches
now and set my rules!”

“Thank you Alex,” he says with a satisfied smile.

“Mr. Pella, the
Psyches
need your permission to enter. They’ve been kept at the gates. I will take you to them, sir,” says Anthony.

“No, you won’t. You’ll be guarding Elissa’s door. Doc wants to escort her downstairs. He’s not allowed
to escort her if he still looks like himself.”

“Sir?”

“If Henry looks like he just came out of 1802, he can’t escort Elissa down. He needs to look drastically different in his appearance. Make sure he does. If not, you’re escorting her down! Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where’s James?”

“Both James and Melissa are at the Centurion command center. I set the gate up inside the Centurion. They’re waiting for you, sir.”

“How many of them are here?”

“There are seven of them including Hedone.”
What?

“Fuck! I didn’t request her.”

“They wouldn’t negotiate if she wasn’t a part of the
Soul Searchers
. She’s going to demand to spend a week with you this time. I felt it sir! That’s her price. Must have been some lay for her to demand time with you again like this after all this time as payment,” Anthony speaks speedily, too fast for human ears.

“She can get in line. Not happening!” I say firmly.

“Don’t underestimate her, sir. She’s the personification of
Pleasure
and she has her sight set on you! She will use every trick she inherited from her mother to get that time with you. And if she does…” he says, but I cut him off.

“I know what she is capable of Anthony! She can visit places unseen and unheard which is a feat even I haven’t completely mastered yet. I am well aware of what she can do, but we need the
Soul Searchers
tonight! Not all the buyers and visitors are friendly! You know as well as I do that the
Fallen
have employed the services of humans who can conceal their intent from the Nephilim. Elissa is under my protection! Do you think I can take that risk?”

“Mr. Pella, please don’t disregard my warning. Hedone found you in the middle of a battle ground once in Media as well as in the passageway of Hindu Kush Mountains for a booty call because you fucked her every which way possible before!
That damn mountain passage was so narrow; we had to go single file for ten miles! Even the seasoned soldiers who served you for ten years had a hard time on that mountain. And yet, she
found you
because she has a taste for your sexual prowess, sir! Once she has the imprint of a soul and a sexual connection, she will find you again! The only thing that broke her connection and the imprint she had of you is your bond with Miss Duncan! If however Hedone gets even one sexual encounter with you, she will regain her ability to find you anytime, anywhere unseen by any of us… Please think about what kind of leverage this might give to our enemies.”

“Your warning is duly noted, Anthony. I trust your abilities and instincts. But, I am well aware of what Hedone is and wha
t she is capable of doing, since as you put it, I’m the one who fucked her. But, if I have to get concerned about every woman I ever fucked who wants me to fuck her again or snare me into her trap somehow, she’d have to get in line. Hedone was two millennia ago and before Elissa,” I utter in a dangerously smooth and soft voice.

If I were to underestimate anyone’s capabilities, I wouldn’t be where I am. Hedone is more of a danger to Elissa because her presence here today shows that she is aware of Elissa’s existence and what she means to me. She can be impious in her jealousy drawing her virtual sword aiming
it at the jugular of any woman if I was fucking her. The rules she follows are neither human nor Nephilim. Knowledge is power and it is truer for all of our kind. I took time to learn the rules of all games I have been involved in, and the rules governed those who crossed paths with me. Hedone had known that I was not interested in her for anything other than the diversion of physical pleasure which she personified and that’s what I specified in her agreement with me two millennia ago. My rules for her were written and sealed in immortal blood, an oath she could not break:

I)
                  
I would fuck her anyway, anywhere anytime I wanted.

II)
               
I didn’t answer to anyone, least of all her.

III)
           
She’s another immortal being, but when with me she obeys my demands.

IV)
             
I didn’t interfere with her affairs and neither did she interfere in mine.

V)
                
Our agreement is solely based on physical pleasures: that’s the beginning and the end of it.

I was an emperor; no one captured my heart then or filled the insatiable gaping void that forced me to drift over continents in a never-ending conquest looking for my reckoning with the damned universe. But that didn’t stop her from seeking me when
ever she craved my cock and body. But even fucking a
Psyche
, namely Hedone who is the personification of pure
Pleasure
only provided a temporary distraction with her extensive abilities to please me. Despite her immense talent in pleasure, her abilities weren’t even remotely enough to distract me from the constant brewing storms within me: the never ending veracious hunger for something I had yet to discover, and had no idea what that was.

She knew that I wouldn’t care to fuck her should she start making demands. We were just a pleasant di
version for each other, and nothing more. I have always been the master, controller, and the unrivaled commander. Our contract and all my other allegiances nullified when I submitted myself to Elissa through her father. Hedone is in my past which I can’t change, but won’t be in my future. She too is bound by duty to the
Psyche
. But she also clearly went against my request when I asked for her exclusion from the
Psyche
I wanted to procure for the week so they could search the hidden dark intents of all the guests visiting this week.