The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (49 page)

“Thank you
.
” He said quietly and this made my guilt start to show its nagging head.

“Why does he blame you?”

“I was ordered to watch over you and I failed
.
” He spoke in a regrettable tone and my guilt tugged even more at my heart strings.

“
So you were ordered to watch over me even when I am here?” I asked as we walked down past row after row of hanging fabric.

“If you mean at the club
,
then yes
,
but down here then no….never
, you were never supposed to see this place
.
” I stopped and whe
n he turned he was faced with a very confused Keira
.

“What do you mean?”

“No one of your kind has ever set foot down here before and it is utterly forbidden. Only the higher powers allow access to whom they choose and humans are not worthy…sorry
!
” He added the sorry when he saw me frown at
his lack of compassion for ‘my kind’ as he called us
.

“So that is why Draven thinks somebody let me in?”

“That is the only explanation and that is why I want you to tell me who? It is the only way to reverse my actions
.
” Ok
,
so he made a good case but it didn’t change the fact that I still had nothing to tell him. If only I could make him believe me.

“Ok
,
I am going to tell you what happened and then maybe someone will finally believe me and then I have a chance at convincing Draven
.
” Ragnar remained quiet as we walked through room after r
oom until we finally came to
not only the end of our journey but also the end of my story. At first he didn’t say a
word
, he just looked deep in thought unti
l his bushy eyebrows raised as if
he had an idea.

“If that is the case you can prove it
.
”

“But h…?” Before I could finish
he grabbed my hands a
nd examined them. This is when it
clicked and
I
realised what h
e was looking for…the strange mark that was still left in my skin thanks to the vine covered door…for what I now knew to be the Temple doors
. As soon as he
found it he dropped my hand as though
I was going to infect him, then he staggered back and started muttering something in a different language. He was shaking his head like he was seeing a ghost.

“What!…what is it?” I was getting even more frustrated with his strange behaviour.

“It must all be true…you are the cho…
no,
never
mind… it is not my place but this does change things
.
”

“Oh goodie, more cryptic clues, that’s all I need
!
” I remarked sarcastically before walking back into Draven
’
s chamber. It wasn’t long ago when he was calling it
our
room but as it seemed
,
it
sure
didn’t take long before Draven started shifting his weight
around
!

I walked
back in the room and my heart sunk at the sight. It was only a short while ago that I was wishing to see this room again more than anything
else
in the world but now it was cold and dead without the warm Draven I loved
,
to be here to welcome me. Instead I had the temper filled Demon boyfriend t
o wait for and knowing I was
soon
to
be in the firing line was not a thought that kept me all warm and fuzzy inside!

Ragnar made the lights illuminate the room and I half expected some horror to be there waiting for me. The past few hours had been some of the most traumatic I had ever experienced and I was feeling mentally and physically exhausted. All I wanted to do was curl up
into a ball on the bed and wake
from this nightma
re to find Draven
’
s arms round me
,
reassuring me it was all a dream
. Well
,
that wasn’t
necessarily
true
,
I al
so wanted to grab my stuff and make a break for it but
the chances of that happening w
ere like
Draven
wa
lking through the door full of apologies and a big bunch of flowers….never gonna happen!

Instead of the bed I walked over to one of the lush
,
velvet
, arm
chairs and sat down like a deflating fairground balloon. Ragnar eyed me cautiously
, fearing
I would snap if he said or did the wrong thing.

Some things had been bugging me about Ragnar and I knew that I would never get an
other chance to find
out about my Viking protector.
So I raised my chin and decided tonight was as g
ood as any to add even more to
my night of discovery. 

“Is the reason your English is better because of me?” This is something I had noticed
lately. The more time I had spent round him the easier his accent and wording seemed to get.

“Yes. My master thought it better to improve my English while I would be spending more time around you. He thought it would be less challenging for you if you could u
nderstand me better. So I learned.
” He didn’t seem as bothered with this request as I was. I couldn’t believe the lengths that Draven thought it necessary to go to
and
for what? Making it easier for me to be protected? For me to be comfortable with it all? I was starting to understand why I was a thorn in Ragnar’s side.  

“Tell me something, you didn’t want to be my bodyguard…right?”

“No I did not
.
”

“Because you didn’t like me…right?” His eyes met mine and for a moment it was like he was looking at someone else before answering me.

“I don’t like humans
!
” Wow
...
blunt
...
much!

“Why, you were human once
?
”
I replied without trying to get my back up but it wa
s hard.

“I was
,
but once I was reborn my view on mankind changed
!
” He looked uncomfortable with w
h
ere this conversation was going but if I was to bond with this Demon then I would first have to understand him.

“And what was it that changed
that view?” This time it was he
that was frowning
but still
,
he continued.

“Because I
saw how far man will go in search
of power. In my cu
lture we believed that the end of the earth as we knew it
,
would find its peace in an ultimate battle between Gods and the forces of evil
. W
here
,
in which the old gods would perish and a new peace would come. This we called Götterdämmerung which means the
‘
twilight of the gods
’
.
”

“And this is your reason to hate us. Surely you can see after all these years that we have evolved
?
” At this statement he looked unconvinced and he just folded his tree trunk arms, making the material on his black t-shirt almost tear with strain.

“Ok I don’t buy it…something must have happened to you! You talk about the lengths man will go to in search of power but for what I have seen tonight there must be the same ambitions in your kind, or Draven wouldn’t need a prison like that under his
friggin’
house!” At this I crossed my own arms but I winced as the pain shot down my back thanks to
what
Demon fingernails
had done
.

“Remove your top
!
”

“What!” I
replied in horror.

“You need to be healed before he returns
.
” He stepped towards where I was sitting but I held up one hand to stop him.

“It
s fine…looks worse than it is
. Anyway
,
don’t change the subject
.
” I was bein
g foolish I know but
I needed to feel the pain to be able to
deal with Draven’s temper. As though
it
would gi
ve me the anger I needed to challenge him on equal grounds, besides
,
since the last time that Ragnar had healed me I decided that it should only be left to Draven to touch me this way.
Ragnar had clearly done quite enough for me already in the line of Draven’s duty.

Ragnar just shrugged his
indifferent
shoulders
before walking back to one side of the door frame to lean upon. This door I couldn’t keep my eyes off as I was still waiting for Draven
’
s fury fuelled body to walk through.

“Am I not right? Why need that place if none of your kind craves more
power
, enough to break the rules and defy Draven?”
I continued with my argument but Ragnar seemed unmoved by my observation.

“There will always be those who feel the need to try and control a domination which is not there’s to control
.
”

“You’re talking about Draven
’
s domination aren’t you
,
because he is…is King
?
” It was even harder to say it out loud than in my head. I was still trying to process all that I had seen tonight but to add the day’s events
as well…
then it became a whole new ball game. I had witnessed Draven
’
s rule first hand tonight and I was terrified that I would forever see him in a different light. Would I still see him as Draven my boyfriend or Draven the supernatural King of a secret
world?

“There is a big difference in how your world and mine are controlled. Yours has ap
pointed many men as leaders to
gain power how they see
fit. In my world
,
we have but one great leader that is a direct blood line to the gods
themselves
,
both beneath and above.
His word is final and undisputed but most of all he does not exist purely to kill all those he cannot conquer because he already conquers all. He has no need to start wars for power like man does. He has fought our wars to protect the balance
in which he was born
….that is what makes him a great
leader,
that is the difference.
” This was obviously something he was passionate about as it was the most animated I had yet seen
him get
.

“And throughout history do you claim the same
circumstances? Me
n back then were
brutal in their quest for power, killing innocent people with little or no consequence and yet here you are trying to say we st
ill operate with
the same methods. Come now
,
you were a Viking were you not? You must see a difference!” Again he just shrugged his shoulder which made me lose my cool.

“That isn’t an answer!”

“I agree the methods of
man have changed
through the years,
yes
,
but now instead of men to fight your wars
,
man has created the means to destroy not only
their own
race but every living thing on a planet
. A planet
which does not belong solely to them. Which is worse, an army that destroys a country or a single man that can destroy
earth
by pressing a button?” Ok so he had a bloody good point and one that was getting incredibly difficult to argue.

“You have a lot to learn, especially about our kind but you are smart and strong willed
.
This will help and
is no doubt down to your gifts but
it does not mean you are
always right
,
young human
.
”

“I can imagine you would have sung a very different tune when you were human!” At this his face changed and I could almost see the memories of his human days fill his eyes with sorrow.