The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (18 page)

“I'm sorry, I just hate hearing my sister getting upset and I didn't know she still worried about me...not in that way
,
” I said once I had finished crying and Draven just continued to smooth back my hair.

“Keira please don't EVER apologise for your emotions!”
He kissed my now salty cheeks and I smiled.

“Can I ask you something?” Draven's asked me cautiously, so I nodded.

“Why have you never spoken about this to anyone but me?”

“I don't like pity and I don't like feeling like he has won
,
” I said honestly but Draven shook his head at me.

“Keira you are amazing, firstly you survived what that monster put you through but because of it's aftermath you still torture yourself with unnecessary guilt. You don't want to talk about it because you don't want pity but with your refusal to discuss it, what are those that love you
left
to think. I know that you have dealt with it on your own and in your own way but it is never healthy to
carry so much emotional weight by yourself
....you understand that one day the weight will get to
o
much for one pair of shoulders to cope with
.” I understood
what he was saying. If I never spoke about it
,
how was
anyone t
o know that I was coping
. Maybe everyone thought that I just wasn't and then no matter what I did, I would
still
get pity.

“You
’
r
e
right, I need to face the truth instead of running from it. I wish someone had said it like that to me sooner
.
” I said trying to match his smile. I hugged him and kissed him on the cheek for being so sweet.

“Right
,
now I am over my little meltdown
.” At this he frowned,
but I continued anyway “You need to tell me
what happened to Frank's Uncle
.
”

H
e continued to
frown
...
.

Chapter 8

Ego Vereor Demons

I sat there and listened as Draven told me the horrors that infected Frank
’
s Uncle.

His name was George Miller and he was
Frank’s
mother
’
s
,
oldest brother. From what I heard from Libby, he had been a well liked man that always helped out with the community. He had been a fireman most of his life but took early retirement when his wife past way with cancer. The death of his wife hit him hard
,
as it would with most but it looked like his family were kept in the dark about his true depression
,
because one day a hiker found his hanging corpse in his log cabin.

He hadn't spoken to his family in nine months. They put his suicide down to his desperation to be back with his wife. Frank had been the last per
son he had seen, two months prio
r to his death. He was a
lso the last person he spoke to
, when he rang a week before he was found. He told Frank that he had left him everything but his only wish is that the cabin and the land was never sold. He didn't care about the house, which Frank had found the strangest thing of all, as it had been in
Frank’s
family for generations and his wife had adored the place.

Frank didn't understand at the time but just put it down to him sorting out his affairs. Libby told me that Frank had felt guilty ever since, thinking he could have maybe talked him out of it or got him some help. But when Frank spoke to him on the phone
,
he thought he sounded fine and like his usual self. Of course he had been wrong. The last time Frank saw him he had been with a woman that worked in the library but he never introduced her and
she never spoke a word to him
. At the time Frank and Libby had been living with Frank
’
s parents while they were house hunting for somewhere near by. They had very nearly signed for a house when Frank got the call about his uncle George.

Of course this wasn't Draven's account of the events, no this was all told to me by Libby not long after I first moved here. Draven knew Frank's uncle
for very different reasons
. George had started to actually get hi
s life back together unbeknown
to his family. He had an evening poker night with some of his old buddies from the fire department and he had finished
restoring
his cabin which he used for hunting. But one other passion of George's was to result in his death. See
,
he loved the written word
but when he worked he had
very little time for it and with a house full of his late wife's romance novels he started taking weekly trips to the library. This is where he met the Ego Vereor Demon.

She was working as a Libra
rian and was instantly attracted to George because she could detect his grief. They soon became friends and starting spending more time together. Draven suspects they also became intimate, which is an
other big offence in the Demon/
Angel world. The only reason Draven was allowed to be with me is because I was different. I was classed as the “Chosen one
,” b
ut I was still in the dark to the details on that one. All I knew is that I was sort of born for Draven bu
t this was still
too much of a
large pill to swallow
and Draven wasn’t giving me a
ny water to help knock it down with.

Her name was Yvonne Dubeck and Draven told me that she was called
an
Ego Vereor Everto, meaning “Self Fear Demon” in Latin. She liked to feed from the negative emotions caused by Paranoia. She would gradually gain the trust of these poor unsuspecting humans by dating them and then little by little she would implant delusions of what people feared the most. In George's case
it was Alien abductions
.

He soon became obsessed that he had been abducted numerous times and was living in fear until his next abduction. He became a recluse and lived in the woods like a hermit. The only person he would see was Yvonne as he never got abducted when she was around. She would get stronger every second she was around him but because he was a stron
g character he would get better. B
ut
,
of course
,
she would not allow this to happen for long. In the end she got the ultimate high when his paranoia got to
o
much one day and he took his own life,
this
happened
before Draven could intervene.

Draven had been too late to save George and Yvonne disappeared before her punishment could be inflicted. She is now on the wanted list
or as Draven put it she is now ‘Marked.’
Which I gathered was the equivalent to being on the America's
top
most wanted
list
. By the time Draven had finished
,
I felt slightly sick at the thought. My heart ached for Frank's uncle and I shed a few tears during the story. It was just so sad, to have first lost the women you love
,
to then
be tricked by the next. Trust
really
was
a deadly thing!

Draven assured me though that George's soul would be reunited with his wife's, a bit like a safe passage to be favoured by his faith. As a rule the Gods give those that
have been wronged by their
kind
special treatment. I tried to find out more but Draven made a face like this was something I
wouldn’t
want to know, so this inevitably
had me more confused than ever.

My phone vibrated as a message flashed up on my phone but Draven was not happy about
its
sender.

“I do not understand why you can't just ring the boy and explain that your situation has changed
.
” Draven was now sulking like a spoilt child.

“Because Jack is a friend and I would like to keep it that way. Besides
,
it would be rude to do it any other way and you need to get used to me seeing my friends
.
” I said before reading his text message, informing me that we were now meeting at two o'clock.

“Fine
,
but you know I don't share
.
” He said but he couldn't keep the half smile from his lips for long
,
only
it was short lived as he ruined it by saying,

“Well in that case I will go and let you get ready for you
r
date
.
”

“Come on! It's not a date, I am just meeting a friend and besides you have your ex girlfriend sat at your table every night!” This made him frown and the
n
roll his eyes at me.

“Keira
,
I have explained about Aurora. She means nothing
.
” He had me looking up into his eyes
,
when he came close enough to kiss me.

“And I have explained about Jack. And besides you didn't t
ell me about Aurora, Sophia did
.
” I reminded him but once again he just rolled his eyes.

“Any
way you don't have to go yet, it's not even twelve and I'm not meeting him until two
.
”

“Where are you meeting him
?
” He said as sourly as anyone could.

“At a din
er on fifth, why?” I asked cautiously
.

“Because I need to know where to send Ragnar
.
”

“Oh no, Draven please you really don't
…
” He cut me off by kissing me again
and no will on earth could have me resisting
.

“Keira do not fret, no one will see him but you.” Now I was the one frowning.

“And how is that going to work because I am pretty sure his stealth skills are limited thanks to his gigantic size
?
” He was laughing again and this was probably due to the idea of Ragnar hiding away in bushes or behind trees.

“He has been given a power that will encase the minds of humans ar
ound him to simply pass him as if
he was
not there. H
e will not be seen…
I can promise you
.
”
He nodded slightly at this promise and I found it an endearing quality
to add to many others.

“You did that for me?”

“But of course, why not? You didn't exactly hide your displeasure in having a bodyguard
.
”
I gave him a huge grin and hugged him but my small arms wouldn't go all the way around so I gripped onto his T shirt. He liked this and held the back of my neck, which always sent tingly sparks down my spine.

“Thank you but how will I see him?”

“The power he has won't work on you, like most of my talents
.” He said as though
he was both annoyed and proud that his powers hardly ever worked on my
diverse
mind.

“Ah well
,
that's good to know. So you don't have to go now
.
” I said but by the look on his face
,
he had other commitments today and had to go anyway
, and
I couldn't help thinking it was a kind of punishment because I was seeing Jack.

“I am afraid I do still have to go but I will have Ragnar bring you back to me once you have finished with the bo...
....
Jack
.
” He refrained from calling him
‘
B
oy
’
as he saw
my disproving look. I hated it when he called him this, it
was degrading but I think that was reason enough
.