(The Marriage Groups)Elian (23 page)

“Kardalusia is to be a planet of purity. Males only, for women bring diseases, impurity, wars, and unrest among a civilization. You birthed the first of these unacceptables and because of you, others have given birth to them as well. However, if you are dead they will stop and we can set about cleaning our world of the presence of women,” the man growled angrily.

Elian trembled as he thought of a group of angry men racing across the planet slaughtering infants in their sleep. He had to do something to stop this man and his accomplices. But how? He was only a pregnant coração. He wasn’t a warrior like his husbands. He wasn’t a diplomat and negotiator like Nevin, he wasn’t a soldier like Corbin, and he wasn’t stealthy and deadly like Gaige. He was a coração, that was it.

“Who is we?” he asked as he looked out of the corner of his eye at the heavy statue that sat at the edge of the altar. He just had to get close enough to it. Then he could pick it up and whack the man over the head with it.

“We are the Coalition of Interplanetary Purity and Holiness,” the man stated the name proudly, and Elian trembled at the unholy gleam that seemed to fill the man’s eyes seconds before his body began to contort. Elian gasped as the other man’s face lengthened to become a muzzle and his hands became claws. He’d heard stories of those who’d sold their souls to the black magics and could take on the form of animals, but he’d never actually seen it happen up close and personal. He decided that it was something that he definitely did not want to see again.

Tossing the incense in his hand into the eyes of the half-man, half-animal creature in front of him, Elian turned and picked up the heavy sculpture that he’d moved directly in front of. As the monster howled in front of him, Elian swung the sculpture and connected it with the bottom of the creature’s head. A sickening crack sounded loudly in the open air, and the creature fell to the ground at Elian’s feet, his face and body returning to its purely human form. Not waiting around to see if the man came to, Elian dropped the sculpture and took off running for the palace.

He’d only taken a few running steps when the air was filled with snarls and growls. Looking over his shoulder as he ran, Elian was surprised to see the entire area filled with half-man, half-animal creatures. He screamed the names of his husband as he continued running. There was no answer and Elian was slammed hard into the nightmare he’d had months before. Pinching his arm hard as he ran, he yelped at the pain and sobbed when he realized that he wasn’t dreaming this time.

Where the fuck are my husbands? He turned to look over his shoulder to see how close his attackers were and screamed when he noticed that they were nipping at his heels. Turning back around, he wrapped his arms around his distended belly as he continued to run for the palace. At the foot of the steps leading up to the door, in view of safety and security, his foot caught on a rock and Elian went falling forward. Thinking of his unborn child, he turned and landed on his back, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

His eyes slammed closed as he felt himself being surrounded by the creatures, their snarls and growls loud in his ears. The hot air of their breath blowing across his limbs, saliva dripping from their exposed canines and onto his legs, arms, neck and face. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, still determined to try and save his baby. He wished he knew what he was having. While royals were born as single births, the doctor had told them that they just couldn’t be sure with Elian. Nevin was the only one of the royal bloodline, his inseminating father, Vergil, having been the only child born to his parents. With their daughters all being born together, tradition stated that they weren’t royal. Although they were technically the heirs to the crown, unless Elian and his husbands fought to change the laws of the land, none of the girls would be able to rule. So, while Elian was pretty sure he was pregnant with only one child, he hadn’t wanted to jinx himself by saying anything.

His mind swarmed with images of his husbands and children, his parents and siblings, his best friend Tabansi and their other friends. His life flashed before his eyes as he waited for the creatures to begin to tear into his flesh, but when moments passed with only their growls, he slid one eyelid open to see what was the hold up. None of them moved, though they all stared at Elian as if he were a tasty treat they couldn’t wait to eat. He wondered briefly what they were waiting for until he saw a man walk through the pack of animals to stand at his feet.

Elian’s eyes widened as he took in the form of a man who looked exactly like Nevin, only thinner and definitely more dangerous. Elian hadn’t gotten a chance to meet Nevin’s brothers: Walker, Waldwick, Wadley, Izayah, Irwin and Ingo, though he’d seen pictures, and he was suddenly glad of that fact, otherwise he probably would have been killed a lot sooner than now. While he hadn’t met them, he definitely knew who was who, and he was staring into the black eyes of Ingo, the last-born son of the previous Cannington kings. Elian only had a moment to wonder why Ingo was the one behind all of this when the older man spat on him.

“Filth,” Ingo growled before leaning forward and grabbing Elian by the top of his head, holding a chunk of his long black tresses in his fist. “I’ve been trying to find you since I first heard the prophecy, trying to keep you from marrying my brother, but he found you first and has had guards keeping you safe for a while now.” He laughed maniacally. “But who would have thought that my brother, the overprotective, possessive king, would grow so lax with your safety after you married him?” He shook his head as if he were disappointed with his older brother before baring his teeth at Elian. “Well, no matter, it’s his problem, not mine.”

Elian swallowed. He couldn’t understand Ingo’s motivation for killing him. He wouldn’t inherit the throne even if he killed Elian and his daughters. So what was his reasoning? “Why are you doing this, Ingo?” he asked.

“Woahoho! He knows my name!” Ingo laughed, looking around at the animals who sat on their hind legs waiting, still growling. He jerked Elian close to him, sneering down into his face. “Why am I doing this? We are Kardalusians! We are an all-male race. It is our heritage, our pride, our right to live without women! We are a pure society, with rules, laws, and tradition, and you come and screw it all up! You changed my brother, my family’s home, my family’s kingdom. The prophecy said you would bring about a new Kardalusia, but I won’t let you do it!”

Elian stared at Ingo in shock. He could practically feel the crazy oozing from his brother-in-law’s skin and he trembled in fear. When Ingo licked his lips, Elian felt his stomach turn, wondering what the other man was thinking about and why he suddenly seemed so content.

“I may not inherit the throne immediately—I mean there five other brothers before me and while none of them are married yet, that doesn’t mean they won’t be and I can’t kill them all off at the same time, that would only make me look guilty you know? But if Nevin dies and Walker is implicated in his death, then Waldwick takes the throne. If I kill him a few months after he takes the throne and pin it on Wadley, then Izayah takes the throne. He’s so sickly and frail, he’ll probably die before I even have to do anything to him.” Ingo nodded with a menacing grin. “And Irwin’s been missing for the last year so the throne will go to me by default. Then I can clean up this kingdom and rid it of all the filth and trash that you and my brother have allowed to walk among us. I can return the kingdom to its original glory.”

Elian’s eyebrows rose incredulously as Ingo lifted his free hand in victory. Elian choked back a laugh at his brother-in-law’s delusion of grandeur and thought back to his experiences with Andalusia as well as Gaige’s words to him.

You have powerful magic inside of you, Elian, you just have to reach inside of yourself and pull it out.

Searching within himself for even a small pulse of magic, Elian cried out as Ingo yanked his head back.

“Uh-uh-uh,” he tsked. “I know all about your magic and closeness with Andalusia. I’m going to kill you before you even get a chance to think about using either of those things. Besides, didn’t you know? Andalusia isn’t the most powerful deity out there. Natas is. It is he whom I serve and him I sacrifice you to.”

Elian’s eyes widened at Ingo’s words. Everyone knew that Natas was the lord of dark magic and evil. No one had anything to do with him unless they were seeking destruction and… death. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out as the yard was filled with a black, oppressing cloud. A black light flowed over Elian’s body, and whispering the names of his husbands and children, he closed his eyes and knew nothing.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Nevin

N
EVIN’S
eyes opened slowly and he winced at the pain in his temple. Looking around the room, he wondered exactly how much liquor he’d imbibed the night before to give him such a bad headache. He gasped when he saw that he was in a cell, and from the way he was unable to move, he was chained there. After his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he saw the forms of his husbands Corbin and Gaige chained to other walls in the cell with him and he looked around for Elian, tears filling his eyes, though of relief or worry, he didn’t know, when he didn’t see the other man.

The door to the cell opened and a hooded man pushed in the bodies of his younger brothers Walker, Waldwick, Wadley, and Izayah. All four collapsed to the floor and Nevin tried to visually check them for injuries. He wondered where Ingo was and prayed that his brother had not been killed. Ingo always acted before he thought and Nevin was sure that his youngest brother would try to fight back against anyone who attempted to kidnap him. Nevin was selfishly glad that he’d sent Irwin away on a mission, for he would need someone to watch over Elian and their children if he died in this cell.

“Nevin?” Walker’s husky voice sounded loud in the bare cell as he rushed to Nevin and began touching Nevin’s battered body. Nevin hissed as his brother’s hands touched his sensitive flesh, his ribs obviously bruised, and his right leg broken.

“For fuck’s sake, Walker!” he groused.

Walker jerked his hands back and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t know how badly you were hurt.”

Nevin nodded. He looked over at his husbands who moaned as they slowly awoke. “Check on Corbin and Gaige,” he directed his Walker. Of all his brothers, Walker was the one who looked most like him. Standing only an inch shorter than Nevin, he was heavily muscled, had thick black hair that he wore to his shoulders, and steel gray eyes. His square jaw was often clenched and his nose bore a lump in the middle from a particularly heated fight between the seven siblings. They’d all been grounded by their fathers for it and hadn’t spoken to each other for two weeks. It had taken Izayah’s finished painting of the seven of them sitting around laughing in Nevin’s room for them all to reconcile.

Nevin’s eyes fell on Izayah, who was being soothed by Waldwick and Wadley. Izayah was the only coração born in their family, and although he was the oldest of his set of triplets, he was the smallest and the most sickly of them all. He stood shorter than Elian and looked as if a stiff wind would crush him. He was the one they always worried over, especially as the doctors were repeatedly telling him that he only had another two months to live. Izayah had proved them wrong time and time again, but as they didn’t know what disease he had, they had no way to cure him and therefore, there was little hope that he would get to live a long life. Izayah’s long black hair hung in loose curls that fell to the top of his ass and his violet eyes always shone with laughter in spite of his sickness.

Waldwick stood a few inches shorter than Nevin and Walker and though muscled, he wasn’t as heavily so as his two older brothers. His hair was an amazing shade of brown that looked almost sun-kissed, and with his golden eyes and tanned skin he looked a bit like a lean lion prowling the area as he walked. Waldwick was dangerous, much like Gaige, but unlike Nevin’s husband, Waldwick gloried in his aura of danger. Wadley stood at exactly six feet and had a lean frame, an easygoing demeanor, and green eyes that made you think of rolling grassy fields. He was the comedian of the siblings, and he and Corbin got along famously.

Irwin had blond hair and green eyes and was almost average looking. It took looking at him a second time to notice the rugged handsomeness that most tended to overlook. Irwin was stealthy and faded into the background, even with his broad shoulders, wide chest, and thick forearms. Nevin used him for intelligence missions all the time, and he was never concerned about whether or not Irwin would get the job done. Nevin knew that he would, and he also knew that Irwin would remain safe.

Ingo was an almost exact replica of Nevin and Walker. With his black hair, muscled body, and blue eyes, he’d followed Nevin around when they were younger and had been fiercely jealous of anyone who distracted Nevin from him. Nevin had found it flattering at first and then annoying, and he’d been extremely happy when his brother had finally moved out of the palace and gotten his own place. Corbin had teased him for years that Ingo was in love with him, though Nevin had always denied it, the sheer creepiness of it notwithstanding.

“Where’s Ingo?” he asked his brothers after Walker had checked Corbin and Gaige and verbally notated their injuries.

“We don’t know. He wasn’t in the carriage they used to bring us in,” Wadley said as he helped Izayah stand to his feet.

“Shit,” Nevin breathed, sure that Ingo had gotten himself killed. “The idiot probably got himself killed.”

“Or he’s behind this whole thing,” Gaige muttered.

Nevin’s eyes swung to him. “What did you just say?” he growled at Gaige.

“Think about it, Nev,” Gaige stated, his eyes narrowed. “Ingo has a big ass mouth and it’s always getting trouble, and whoever kidnapped us would have just knocked him out and brought him in, alive or dead, to keep you and the rest of us in line—unless Ingo is the one behind all of this. He’s always talked about returning the planet to the way it used to be, the laws of the land and everything included. He knows where the manor is, and of all your brothers, Ingo is the only one who knows all the ins and outs of the guard rotation.”