The Kin

  Chapter Nine

  The moonlight painted an illusory picture of tranquillity, turning the desert into undulating waves of silver and grey, seductive in its primal beauty, but beneath the gentle façade he knew that it was a cruel and deceitful mistress.

  Junius sat on the sand, away from the others, enjoying the quiet of the night and the feel of the cool air on his body. It was beautiful and it still had the power to move him, but it scared him as well, because, despite everything, he felt its call and found it enticing. He’d decided some time ago that, when he and Marius got back to the Legion, he was going to ask for a transfer, somewhere as far away from deserts as possible. Marius had suggested Germania; they had forests there, rather than sand, so that was a possibility. But he also liked the idea of Britannia, which he’d heard had plenty of rain, so there’d be little chance of losing his way amongst sand dunes and coming across lost cities.

  Nasir and Marius’s laughter echoed out across the darkness and he glanced over to where they were sitting under a canopy, playing the same game of squares they’d been battling over all day. They were drinking and enjoying the night as well in their own way.

  He always spent the hours of darkness alone now, but he was never really on his own. They’d let him leave the chamber weeks ago, yet they were still watching him; he’d been irritated at first, but now he found it comforting.

  Even now Nasir’s men were patrolling the perimeter, and some were closer still. Over to his left, a group of locals drank with their women and danced, celebrating their liberation from the Kin. They’d asked him to join them, but he’d declined; it wasn’t something he felt like celebrating.

  He was also fully aware of the interest he received from the local people. Most were curious, a few unsurprisingly were scared of him, and some had given him inviting glances, which he found amusing, but he’d pretended not to notice and ignored them all.

  Nasir insisted that he was ready to return and go back to his old life and in the last few days Marius had begun to agree with him. His old friend enjoyed the village and liked the people, but he was also keen to return to his family, though he hadn’t said it. Junius had been urging him for weeks to return to Susa so he could begin his journey back to Antioch where his family lived. But his adjutant was fiercely loyal and had angrily refused to even discuss the idea whenever Junius had mentioned it.

  He should be ready, his body was his own again and the ordeal had left no permanent physical scars, except for the wound in his side where Marius’s javelin had struck home. There were no mirrors out here, but Marius assured him that his family would now at least recognise him again, though it had taken some time for the colouration from the Kin to fade from his features. Yet Junius knew that the trauma went deeper, the wounds were in his head. Persepolis was still inside him, a shadow that haunted his dreams.

  There was a small flutter of movement ahead of him in the desert and then something pale emerged from the night and waited near an outcrop of rock some distance away.

  Junius glanced around. No one appeared to be watching, and for a moment the guards were out of sight. He stood and moved quickly across the sand towards the figure. He knew who it was. This was one of the wounds that refused to heal, the main cause of his unease. She glided forward to meet him and they eventually stopped and faced each other in the silver moonlight.

  She was as beautiful and as flawless as ever, still a goddess on earth and a child of the moon. It was the only thing he hadn’t told Nasir that morning. He’d willingly given the hiding places of the other Kin, but not of the one who’d called herself Belinda. He’d kept her and her close family safe. Some of them had been caught since then, and he’d even felt some of them die at first, but she hadn’t. He’d waited every day to feel what he thought was inevitable, but when it hadn’t come, he’d begun to hope that she’d survive. She was why he was still here; he’d been waiting for her to find him. They’d kept in contact for as long as they could, but night by night her voice had grown fainter, until he’d lost her completely. But she hadn’t forgotten and had followed him as she’d promised.

  She smiled and took a graceful step closer. He moved nearer as well and felt the familiar ache settle in his stomach and move lower, realising that it was the first time he’d felt any stirrings of passion or desire of that kind since Persepolis.

  She was perfection, her pale skin shone in the moonlight, contrasting with the darkness of her long flowing hair, which seemed to shift and swirl around her shoulders despite the lack of wind. Even her pitch black eyes were more striking and compelling than any human eyes could ever be.

  She came closer, sure now of his affection. He waited, watching and enjoying the sensations flowing through his body again. He’d forgotten what it felt like; it had been too long. Only now was he truly living again. He smiled, inviting her to come and reclaim what was hers. He’d promised her Rome and now he would finish what they’d started. She was one of the last, but she wouldn’t be alone for much longer. He promised her that.

  She was almost upon him now, close enough for him to reach out and take her in his arms and for them to be reunited. But that wouldn’t happen, the others couldn’t let it, they’d risked too much to let him go with her. By now Nasir and his men would have realised something was happening and they would be on their way.

  She stopped and he took the final step towards her. She reached out and touched his face, letting her cool fingers trace the outline of his lips, then caress his jaw and finally moving down to stroke the vein that throbbed with life in his neck.

  She didn’t notice his movement, the slight shift of posture as he reached behind his back. But she felt the stake that he thrust through her heart. She gasped, her features froze, and then crumpled in on themselves. In a heartbeat she was nothing except a bundle of dried bones on the sand.

  He stood transfixed at what he’d done and the choice he’d made. He’d known that she’d be coming, but he didn’t know why she would risk everything to save him. He couldn’t have allowed her to follow him to Rome, but until he’d actually destroyed her, he didn’t know if he really could kill the woman he still had such strong feelings for. But now it was finally over, he was free of the Kin and he could go back to the army and regain his life. He was still standing over the sad bundle of dust and bones when Marius and Nasir arrived with the guards close behind.

  “Junius, are you all right?” Marius asked running up to him.

  Junius held the stake up in front of him as if seeing it for the first time.

  He looked Marius in the eye. “We can go home now.”