“I’ve found Selene, brother.”
“Selene? How can you be sure?”
“I would know her anywhere. I need time with her.”
“This is a critical moment for our cause. You must come here now.”
“Selene is everything to me, Titus. I will not leave her unmarked in these times.”
“Marking your witch is not as important as saving the entire planet from Surge rule!”
“Don’t belittle my love for my wife. You would feel the same if you’d ever found someone to love you.”
“This is not the time, Orion.”
“Is that my father?” he heard Ajax say.
Orion saw his son’s face on the holographic screen. His expression was grim and already battle hardened. Ajax squinted his bright green eyes and the wind rustled in his shaggy black hair. As one of the younger immortals, he was strong and in his prime.
“When are you coming, father?” Ajax asked.
“I’ve found your mother, Ajax. I need time with her.”
“Mother?” he started. His eyes narrowed. “How do you know?”
“It is her and she’s frightened. I must claim her before I leave her alone.”
“She’s in the fortress. Xander can’t rut her behind your walls,” Titus scoffed.
“I will join you the instant I feel it’s safe.”
“You are wasting precious time. You must join us on the battlefront now.”
“I will be there shortly,” Orion growled, flicking the application closed.
He gritted his sharp teeth, knowing his brother and his son were right. He had to join them. As the acting Alpha of the clan, this was his fight. But after two thousand years without his mate, his heart wept to be with her again. He needed her love. He needed to bind her with his mark and be sure no man could ever touch her besides him.
Losing her once had almost done him in. He did not intend to lose her again. The world be damned. All that mattered was his need for his precious Selene. All the money and all the skyscrapers in all the world could not replace his lost love. Nor could the glory of defeating the monstrous vampire Xander Valdis. Above all else, it was Selene who mattered most to him. Since the first day his bright priestess looked at him with her shining green eyes, he had gladly dedicated his life to her.
Titus had wanted the position of Alpha for a thousand years. Let him have it. Now was his chance to prove himself worthy of leading the clan. Orion had been their leader for three thousand years. He was tired, all he wanted now was his wife. He wanted to give her the child they’d lost and introduce her to the child she would not remember having.
He strode to his chamber behind the workshop. It was outfitted with everything he needed, but far from the most opulent room in the house. He sat on the bed and pulled a bottle of cognac from his black mahogany liquor cabinet. He uncapped the bottle and poured himself a glass. Sitting back on the bed, he waved his hand and made his shoes disappear. His nano-technology came in handy as a shifter. The dragons had been using it since before the veil, when their father, Dahaki, still walked the Earth. With his glass of cognac in hand, he leaned back against his fur-covered headboard.
His communications network pinged, and he dragged a finger over his glass pad to bring up the app on the glass screen across the room.
“Father,” Ajax said, his handsome face burning with the fight. “Why are you barefoot and drinking? You should be here.”
“Ajax. Sometimes those who would inherit power must learn to brave the battlefront alone.”
“Enough of this, father. We need your dragon in this fight. The Surge is winning. We will never deactivate the device if we can’t break into their labs. They have legions against our few. You are our last hope. Don’t you wish to see the sun back in the sky?”
“Of course, my son. But to leave the woman I love? It’s impossible.”
“If you must claim her then just claim her and be done with it.”
“You don’t know what you are saying, Ajax, and I forgive you for that. Since you have never loved a priestess of Gama, you have no clue what you are talking about. Your mother is not one of your mesmerized human women. Don’t think I don’t know what the younger immortals do in their free time.”
“Father, that is beside the point.”
“I think not. The women of Gama will awaken in the world again and they will be desired beyond all else. Mark my words. I believe it is my duty to protect them. And that starts with your mother.”
Ajax sighed, knowing he’d been bested. “You are right father. Titus and I will hold the fight until you arrive. But please make haste. We all want to see the sun shine again on our planet.”
“I will come soon, son. Fight well.”
Orion waved off his screen and stood, taking another swig of cognac. His son had a fine point, but so did he. Selene had been the leader of her coven when he’d met her and had remained as such for the rest of her too-short life. Her priestesses would come to her. They would reestablish their order. He intended to be there to protect them.
He finished his glass of liquor and waved his shoes back on. He had to speak with his wife. He had to know that she remembered him. He didn’t care if neither of them slept. This was too important. Selene was with him again and her body still did not bear his mark.
She was his. The dragon cried out inside him. It roared in his brain, shaking the very foundation of his being. He had to claim her, but he would not force his bite onto his shining star. Never. It would not happen. No matter how much he burned for her.
He went to her door and didn’t stop to knock, he walked in and found her sleeping under the blankets of her queen-sized bed. It was across from a bay window with fluffy pillowed seats, wrapped in floral covers. The cat slept beside Lucia and didn’t look up to hiss as Orion approached her bed.
He knelt beside her and looked at her sleeping face. Her full lips puckered like a budding flower. He wanted to steal just one kiss while she slept. One kiss would be okay. Then she would taste him on her lips when she woke. She would remember the subtle flavor of his kiss. It had to be.
Orion leaned in, knowing he was crossing a thin line in the sand. He had to taste her. His lips brushed hers, ever so softly. He took a breath, drawing her breath into his mouth. The taste of her filled him with longing. His body became electric with desire for the little forgetful human asleep in bed.
Her sweater opened to reveal the rise of her full breasts, her nipples hard under the thin tank top she wore beneath. Her lips pressed back against his.
The cat scuttled away, irritated he’d lost his place. Orion pulled back, standing above her in the darkness. He couldn’t taste Selene like this, without her full mind. He turned away, disgusted at the dark depths of his longing for her. This was his woman. His mate. His priestess. The dragon within growled. The power of an immortal demigod sang within him. The fiery elemental powers of his ancestors roared in his blood.
He would not allow the reawakening of his raw power to taint his love for Selene. He walked away, and her cat hopped back into the bed beside her.
Chapter 9
Lucia woke with a start, having dreamed of Orion. He’d kissed her. She could almost taste his breath on her tongue. The strange man with the deadly gaze had brushed his lips over hers.
The world was still dark outside the broad windows on the other side of the room. The shades were drawn back, showing the blackness of the night sky and the mountain landscape. The only light in the room was a lamp on a desk on the opposite wall. She pulled the blankets back, alarm ringing in her brain. She went to the window and looked outside at the bright courtyard and the dark sky above.
She’d slept, but fitfully. Now she’d awoken to a world still in darkness because of the actions of evil men. She feared the world would never be set right again. Yet Orion assured her it would be. Felix rubbed her ankle, and she bent down to pet his soft fur.
“I’m glad you’re here, Felix,” she murmured.
After she washed and dressed, there was a knock at the door. She answered it and found Orion on the other side, dressed in dark jeans and a black shirt.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Is it?”
“It is both good and morning.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“There is much I want to share with you, Lucia. It is imperative that you understand what is happening. You play a critical role in this.”
“I want to understand,” she said.
“Come. All will be revealed now that you’ve rested.”
Lucia followed Orion out of her room and down the hall to the elevator. They stepped inside and she felt the electric energy that pulsed between them. His presence did something to her that she couldn’t quite explain. Sure, he was gorgeous and masculine and would make any woman swoon. But there was something more than that. Under all her fear and disbelief, she felt a subtle sense of connection to him. Not to mention the visions that would not leave her alone.
The elevator door opened, and Orion led her into an enormous computer workroom. The equipment was more advanced than anything she’d ever seen. There were half-assembled robots, three dimensional holograms, and a 3D printer creating a mini drone aircraft in the corner.
Orion strode to a glass computer terminal and waved his hand over the desk. A holographic desktop woke over the terminal. Orion flicked through the tabs and came to a navigation screen.
“You can access ancient Earth histories here. There are even images from that time. Here. I’ll show you. This is our binding day.”
Orion flicked over the screen and brought up a file that quickly spilled images across the desktop. She leaned in closer, not quite believing what she saw.
There she was in a flowing blue robe, standing beside Orion before the statue of a goddess. Their hands were bound together with a golden thread; their eyes were fixed on each other.
“This was the day I claimed you,” he said, leaning closer.
He was so close she could feel the heat of his body.
The images showed them at a party with a lot of strange-looking people in ancient attire. It was all too much to comprehend and she had to sit down.
“How do you have images from two thousand years ago?”
“Three thousand,” he corrected as she collapsed in his computer chair.
“Three thousand?”
“We had much greater technology than what humans have today. It was hidden at the time of the veiling as well, but mostly by conscious design. The immortals stopped sharing their technology with humanity once they were forced into the darkness. Even those who disagreed with Xander and his tactics.”
“Why were we never taught the true history?”
“The immortals went underground and hid themselves from humanity. It was self-preservation. Like the Goudy, most immortals feared Gama’s spell.”
“Please explain to me what happened.”
“Your great-great-grandmother, Gama, was the mother goddess of Earth. Many modern people might call her a Fae, which is probably the most accurate description of her race. They come from the center of the Earth. Gama was a queen of great power who presided over the surface of the planet. She created the human race through magic and genetic manipulation. One hundred thousand years ago, two gods came to Earth. Their names were Dahaki and Tartarus. When they arrived, they both fell in love with Gama.”
Orion opened a file and showed Lucia the text of an account about the Gods Dahaki the dragon and Tartarus the vampire first meeting with Gama.
“Gama loved them both and gave birth to two sons. After Gama had her first two immortal sons, she took another lover. A human lover. With this man, she had a daughter. A daughter she blessed with her own magic. Unlike the sons of her vampire and dragon lovers, the daughter of the human man was like her, a magic wielder; a creator. The women of this line became known as witches. Gama’s daughter grew and had many more daughters with the sons of man and the sons of the gods. The mating of the witches with the sons of Dahaki and Tartarus created the immortal races. All was peaceful between the immortals and humanity until Xander Valdis rose to power eight thousand years ago.
“He kidnapped and raped as many witches as he could. His line grew strong and fast. His lust for dominance of the immortal world grew at pace with his destruction of the human world. That’s when Gama asked the witches to give their magic, their lives, and their immortality to veil magic from the world. All this was done to save the humans from Xander.”
As he spoke, he showed her evidence. Stories, quotes, photographic images, paintings, even some videos. By the time he was done, she was fairly convinced it was true.
“I gave my life to save humanity?” she asked, the weight of it sinking in. “This goddess, Gama, she is the mother of all immortals?”
“All immortals on the surface of the Earth, yes.”
“And the other gods came from…space? Like ETs?”
“Precisely.”
“So Dahaki and Tartarus aren’t really ‘Gods’,” she said, using air quotes. “So much as they are extra-terrestrials.”
“That would be accurate.”
“It must have been hard on you to have your wife…just die in front of you like that. I can’t imagine.”
“You carried my son in your womb when you left me,” he said as he stood above her, staring into the hologram of an ancient text.
Her heart ached. Lucia didn’t fully remember the woman she once was, or the love she had shared with Orion. Even as confused as she felt, she wanted to reach out to him.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she said.
The heat of his body radiated through her. Some long forgotten strength she’d once depended on filled her soul, and a vision of the past opened up on the screen of her mind.
A memory flicked on inside her as clear as day. She was in the temple before the statue of the goddess, holding hands with the dragon who loved her. She would give him many strong sons. How she’d adored him, depended on his strength to cover and guide her. In those times, a strong man was what a woman needed to blossom fully into her own power. Orion had given her all of that and much more.
They’d protected the temple of Gama together. He’d been beside her in every way. His belief in his priestess had been unwavering. Lucia opened her eyes and looked up at Orion. His silver blue eyes gazed down on her, ablaze with his supernatural power and his undying love for his bride.
“I remember you protected me and the women of the temple. You stood beside me until the end.”
“I could have done more,” he said. “I vowed to protect you all with my life and I failed.”
“We chose it, Orion. We chose to make the final sacrifice. Gama needed our power to bring balance back to the world.”
“Do you think she succeeded?”
“Succeeded? In balance?”
“You know this world, Lucia. You know the corruption. The lies. The desperation of humanity.”
She frowned. Just one day ago this had not been her fight. She was a recent grad student working in the public library. She spent her life cataloging books and talking to her cat. Now she was embroiled in multi-millennia immortal politics she couldn’t comprehend.
“Are you still angry?” she asked, choosing to respond instead to the tone in his voice.
“In a word, yes. I wish I’d stopped you. Your sacrifice has done little for the fate of the human race.”
“I have to believe that it served a higher purpose. Or how can I go on?”
“I don’t wish to make you doubt your Goddess,” he said, turning to her and gripping her arms as he looked down at her with those burning silver-blue eyes.
“I don’t even know who the Goddess is,” she said. “These things are so far removed from my life. I have no context. Nothing I’ve learned from history books was true.”
“You can’t depend on human histories. Their short lives and limited perception lead to confusion and disinformat
ion.”
“You’re talking about my own kind.”
“You were born of the Goddess, Lucia. You are not human. Gama herself imbued your ancestor with the power of the Fae. Even in this new body, your magic remains.”
“I blew up a gang of vampires in the street in San Francisco. The ability was ingrained in me somehow. Isn’t that strange?”
“You were fifteen hundred years old when you died. You had ages of experience with your magic.”
“Fifteen hundred years?”
“You and I were married for a thousand of those years. And we had many sons. One still lives today.”
“I have a son?” she asked.
“Yes. His name is Ajax Silverdrake. He is one of the youngest immortals on Earth. One of the last generation before the veil. Our other sons died in the battles before the veil. But Ajax and I remain. The Silverdrake clan has worked tirelessly to maintain the spell. For two thousand years, we prevented Xander from reversing the veil, even to our own detriment. Until he finally outplayed us. All that matters now is that you have come back to me,” he said, his gaze burning into her soul.
Chapter 10
Lucia stood on a balcony overlooking Orion's vast courtyard. The memories of a life she'd once lived filtered through her mind. She had been a priestess of a temple built of stone and marble. Magic wards had surrounded the premises, both as a call to the women of her kind and as protection from the immortals who would molest them.
The full truth of her own race was only now beginning to sink in. She'd learned some things about the desire of the vampires and the dragons for women like her. Now the memories were starting to become clear after Orion opened his computer databases to her curious eyes.
The evidence was too strong to ignore. She had lived thousands of years ago in a completely different world. It was a world where magic and technology worked hand-in-hand. It was a world where immortals walked the Earth and she was married to a dragon named Orion.
Orion had protected her temple then. She wondered what would become of the other witches of her coven now. Surely, the women of her kind would be awakening to their nature just as she had. The part of her who had been the arch-priestess of a coven two thousand years ago called out to the women she had once protected and taught.