The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (10 page)

“Keira, how can you say these things, your work is beautiful and your emotions show on the canvas, you were happy when you painted this
,
I can tell
.” He looked back at it as though
he was proud and I could feel my eyes welling up. I don't really know why I had this reaction but if I were to guess I would put it down to my past.

It had been because of art that I had met Morgan as he had been my tutor (under false pretences). He had loved my art also but I later found that even if I had swallowed a bucket of paint and then threw up on the paper he would have loved it. He was sick and twisted and the whole ex
perience made me turn my back on
my
passion
. Until of course I met Draven. Maybe this is why he like
d
this picture so much, maybe he knew it was down to him.

“Then I would like you to have it.....
But of course
only if you want it that is
.
” He put
his hand on the back of my neck and pulled my head into his chest, he kissed the top of it and said
,

“I
would be honoured, Thank you
Keira
.
” He was so sincere and before I was reduced to tears I said.

“You
’
r
e
welcome, but no selling it on
eBay
!” He laughed and picked me up like I had been a small child, swinging me around but as he did this my
leg knocked a book to the floor
. He put me down and picked it up and before I could grab it back, he had opened it.

“
No
don't!” But it was too late. M
y book of Demons was being folded back, page after page in his hands. He was shaking his head at all I had seen in the time I had moved
here but one picture he came to mad
e him shake with an emotion I didn't know. I looked down and remembered the dream it came from.

It was after Layla had stabbed me, my first night in Draven's bed but I had forgotten the dream until it came back to me nights later. I
’d
been in Afterlife dancing with some old school friend of mine
,
when I could see a pair of strange eyes watching me. At first in the dream I had thought they had belonged to Draven but when I saw the body emerge from the shadows it was a man I had never seen before.

He was very tall like Draven, with wide shoulders that look
ed
built for swinging a warriors Axe. But that's where the similarities ended. Where Draven was olive skinned and had dark features, hair, eyes, this guy was the opposite. He had blonde hair, tied back from his face but it was cut just above where his spine started. He had very pale skin which just enhanced his startling dark blue eyes.

He had strong features, with a square jaw and hard mouth. He was stunning but frightening as hell! It was mainly down to his eyes and the way they follow
ed me
. Every movement my body made with the music he matched with his gaze. It was both freezing and fiery. It was the look of a natural born killer and he had just found his next victim, only this creature like
d
to play first.

I remember trying to ignore
him in my dream but it was as if
he was forcing himself into my brain, using my mind against me. My eyes weren't my own
,
so
when I couldn't
look
away from him,
I saw
he was no longer in the distance,
no
he was
now
right in front of me. I tried to run but my legs wouldn't work, I tried to lash out at him but my arms wouldn't move. He had me paralysed and he looked down at me with
sardonic
satisfaction.

His hand came to my face and his skin felt
like
smooth
marble
and
ice
cold
fingers,
leaving their
mark in lines down my cheeks. Then the lights went out in the club and the room was plunged into
a dark
silence. I looked about the room b
ut couldn't see anyone else. That’s when the
man in front of me spoke for the first time.

“The
y’
re all dead
little
Keira
girl
.
” His voice was the deepest voice I had ever heard and I will never forget the way my name sounded at that depth of evil. I looked down at my hand expecting not to see anything but they were glowing deep red. At first I though my wrists had been slit again but then I realised it was from a ref
l
ection.

I had never felt a fear as strong before as I lift my head to look
back
at him. My eyes found what I imagined one of the devil's minions to look like. There was
a blood red mist around his figure
but his body was blacked out. His face was in
the
deep shadow
s
but his eyes glowed white
making
him look
almost like the walking
dead. Behind him were two massive bulls ho
rns that came from his shoulder bones
and
attached to these were his wings
hanging down like demonic curtains
. It was like a thousand bats had been kil
led and all their wings used to be
sewed together to m
ake one huge set. They were worn
and broken in places with holes nearer the edges. They
then went down into points making the
ends, w
h
ere finger like claws
looked deadly to the core. His hands were balled into fist by his sides and when he didn't touch me with them I was about to turn and run.

“You can't run from me
little
Keira
girl
. There is nowhere for you to hide
.
” His voice wasn't coming from his lips but fr
om every corner of the room as though
there was an army of him. I followed the whispers but couldn't make out anything. I turned back towards him a
nd he leaned his face forwards making me step back with fright
. Blood
stained
lips
curved into a sadistic smile
showing me all his
bloody
teeth
like he had not long finished a human meal. His fangs started to gro
w
past his lips and
down his chin
at the sight of my fear.
A single droplet of bloody dripped down his right fang. 

“See you soon” He said and licked the
blood off it
before
clicking his fingers. This made all the lights in the club return and my fears sunk to new depths. He had illuminated the room for me to discover the blood bath. All my friends, everyone I ever knew was now lying in broken heaps around us. Bloody, dismembered and tortured bodies
I could hardly make out indi
vidually.
The walls and furniture ran red with blood as though a raging river of the life source had passed through.

I screamed
uncontrollably
which
is what finally
woke me up
from my nightmare. I had got
up that night to draw him from my memory not really knowing
who or
what he was but I had to cast him out. Even now I still got
g
oosebumps
from the picture. Sammael had nothing on this dude!

Draven was still gripping the book like it was a small creature that needed to be contained.

“Draven what's wrong?” My voice seemed to bring him back to the room but his face was one of pure fury and hatred.

“Have you seen this man?” His vo
ice was
steel,
cold and one I had rarely
heard before.

“Only once, in a nightmare...
why?” I was pretty sure I didn't want to know the answer to this but it
wouldn't be the first time I had
received
an answer I didn't like. He dropped the book to the floor and turned
to me to grab
my shoulders. I looked up at him and hated the harsh bitter face I found there.

“Because Keira,
the man in this picture is....” I swallowed hard, now knowing the truth and the foundations of our combined fears.

I finished his sentence.

“
Lucius
”

Chapter 5

Bodyguard Time

It took a while for Draven to calm down from this new development and I tried to hide my worry for his sake. The only up side to all this, is at least now I knew his face and to keep well clear of it if I ever saw it in anything but my dreams. Draven had m
ade some phone calls but he spoke in a really ancient
sounding language
so once again,
I was kept in the dark. I was trying to look busy until he had finished on the phone.

“Keira
,
I will have to leave you but it won't be for long
.
” I have to say the idea didn't have me doing back flips off the bed but I guess this was proof there wasn't really much to fear.

“I am sending Ragnar over h
ere to keep an eye on the house
in my absence
.
” Ok
,
so
it
looks like I spoke to soon!

“Great, Ragnar” I said before I could stop myself. He raised an eyebrow at me....darn!

“What's wrong, he is extremely strong and very loyal
?
”

“Yes and he also hates me!” I said like a spoilt child but Draven laughed. At least he was in a better mood.

“Keira he does not hat
e you.
He is
just
not used to seeing humans around me, especially those who speak
their
mind so openly. Think back to the times he has seen you,
once
you came to my table to shout at me....yes?!” Ok
,
so he had a tiny point there. His warm arms encased me in a secure hold before leaning down to my ear.

“I find this adorable little Keira but I can trust you to give him a chance can't I? He is after all your new bodyguard
.
” Oh no way! Never going to happen!
The
new horror of having that fairy
tale giant cou
nteracted the sound of Draven
cal
ling me “little Keira” which tried
to drag me back to the dream of Lucius. I think I was go
ing to have to start wearing hee
ls! 

“Draven
,
that is not going to h
appen, I don't need a bodyguard.
Not when I have you
.
” I said stubbornly and I stomped away leaving him trying to control his smile.

“Does that mean you are willing to move into my home and stay within those walls forever?”

“No of course not, I want to still to do my normal stuff, like work and college but come on, a bodyguard? Don't you think that's a
wee
bit over the top
?
” I could tell it wa
s like flogging a dead horse
.
He wasn't going to budge on this.

“No
,
I do not and if I had my way
,
you wouldn't be going back to college and as for the work thing, we will discuss it when I return. But Keira
, understand, if you want this ‘n
ormal
l
ife
’
you speak of,
then there will be consequences and your protection comes first in my list of priorities.” At this he sounded absolutely unmoveable.

“Fine
,
but that's not going to look weird at all, having some scary guy the size of a house following me everywhere I go. Like I can't get any weirder!” Ok
,
so
I was sulking now
but for someone that just wanted
to fade into the background, having bloody Goliath around wasn't part of the picture!