Awakening (33 page)

“Come, give your mother a hug,”
Gloria purred, wrapping her arms around her child for the first time in twenty-three some odd years. As Celeste’s tears fell against her skin, Gloria looked up at the Vespari twins through her lashes, “Gentlemen, we need a moment; please stand outside and make sure no one interrupts us.”

They looked towards Celeste, who glanced up at them with shimmering hazel eyes. She offered a tentative smile, letting them know that it was all right. Bowing their heads,
Adam and Auberon stepped from the alcove, putting a shield up to protect the girl and her mother. Neither questioned Gloria’s audacity; she had always been a little different and they knew the mother had just a short time with her daughter; a daughter for whom she had sold her soul.

“You’ve already won their loyalty without the gifts you asked me to hold for you,” Gloria smiled, stroking Celeste’s hair from her brow, wanting the moment to last a life time, knowing time was quickly running out.
"I have so much to tell you and so little time."

Gloria sighed, her smile turning miserable as she drank in the sight of her daughter. Reaching up, she brushed a strand of hair from Celeste's face, letting her fingers linger on her child's smooth cheek. "When I was sixteen I was told that it was very unlikely that I would ever have chil
dren but I always hoped that the doctors were wrong." She huffed out a fatalistic laugh, "They hadn't been wrong."

Celeste's forehead crinkled in understandable confusion and Gloria laughed, sliding her hand down Celeste's arm and taking her daughter's hand in her own. "We tried to adopt but our work at BioGenesis prevented the necessary scrutiny of being accepted and so I resigned myself to being childless. But when I was twenty-five a man with the most beautiful amethyst eyes appeared in my dream, or what I thought was a dream; I have never been sure. He asked me what I would be willing to give in order to have a child of my own."

Celeste sucked in a breath, murmuring under her breath, "Amethyst eyes."

"I told him I would give anything," Gloria continued, her voice subdued as tears welled in her black eyes. "He told me the bargain, explaining everything that it would entail,
that he would combine the blood of a long dead
Apocritum
Queen, the blood of an angel and my egg to create a child that would change the world. I did not hesitate before I accepted. Unfortunately, a human body cannot handle the demands of a baby with
Apocritum
and angel blood and I developed cancer."

"Father told me your placenta tore…."

"Stephen never understood my choices," Gloria said with a smile, shaking her head in fondness.

Celeste's tongue darted out as she struggled with what her mother told her. After a moment, she looked into her mother's black eyes and whispered, "Why did you do it?"

Taking her daughter's face in her two hands, Gloria smiled a brilliant smile, "For you, my daughter; I did it all for you and I would do it again a million times over."

“But dad….” Celeste tried to protest. Celeste tilted her head back and looked at her mother’s young face, her dark eyes dancing with amusement.

“Hush,” Gloria ordered softly, placing a slender finger over Celeste’s mouth to silence her daughter. “I was created to bring you into this world; everything that happened, everything that will happen, was necessary for your
birth, your survival. That was my destiny and I would not change anything.”

“
Mmm,” she tried to speak, but her mother kept her finger on her lips. Celeste’s eyes widened as the black color of Gloria’s eyes began to change and swirl together; greens and golds and browns and blues. A little jolt of electricity buzzed her lips where her mother’s finger touched; she tried to move but her body refused to obey her commands. “What’s hap….”

“
Shhh,” Gloria smiled, closing her brilliantly colored eyes and putting her hands on Celeste’s throat, her thumbs on her chin. Using a gentle pressure, she forced Celeste’s mouth open. "This is going to hurt but it is the only way."

F
rozen in shock, frightened of the pain she knew was coming, Celeste watched as her mother leaned forward until her mouth was a fraction of an inch away from hers; she could feel her mother’s breath against her skin.

Gloria p
ursed her lips and began to blow a stream of colorful light into Celeste’s mouth. The current increased, sending energy down her throat, into her bloodstream. Swirling, whirling torrents of power surged into Celeste’s body, her soul, until her head was spinning. Until the room was spinning. Dizzying, confusing, images invaded her head, of white cathedrals and elegant cities; ancient and timeless, a world unlike her own but painfully familiar. Her blood pounded in her veins, thrumming, drumming, filling her spinning head with its rhythm.

Gloria continued to blow, quicker now, filling Celeste’s body with heat, with power. But it was too much; she wasn’t ready. Celeste struggled to break her mother’s hold over her, trying to twist her head away. But her mother’s grip was too strong and power continued to fill her; over-fill her. Tears leaked from her eyes, red tears. Celeste squeezed her eyes shut, crying out in silence as the world fell away.

A majestic woman sat upon a gleaming white throne, her long, silky black hair hung to her waist as she surveyed her Hive with a serene smile upon her lush lips. She could never let her smile falter, could never show weakness; her vast empire depended upon her calmness, her strength. It was a monumental burden to bear but she bore it with grace and pride; only a select few Apocritae could handle the pressure and none were as capable as she was.

One of her subjects approached, a Queen
-initiate who showed great promise but also great unpredictability. The youngling's smile was zealous and cold and she held something behind her back as she approached the throne. "My Queen; the time has come to relinquish your throne."

The Queen stiffened at the words but did not flinch, offering a dismissive smile, "Come, Azaerlyn, you're still a child; you will have your own
realm to rule when you are of age."

"I wish to have this kingdom," Azaerlyn pouted, her black eyes burning. She pulled the hidden object out from behind her back and everyone within the court gasped in disbelief when they saw the black box in her hands. "You see, I have the power to take it by force."

The Queen signaled for everyone to leave, to escape if they could, and caught the amethyst eyes of her lover and confidante. He nodded his head and vanished in a whirl of purple smoke; he would do what was necessary when the time came. Cautiously, she stood up and slowly approached the girl. "If you press that button you will destroy our entire realm, our entire existence; everything will be lost: our art, our technology, everything."

"Yes," Azaerlyn murmured with feigned sorrow
, her black eyes flashing with unholy glee. The Queen held her breath, waiting for the initiate's next words. "It is a price I am willing to pay because I will survive and I will recreate the Apocritae in my image and I will no longer be beholden to anyone."

"No!" the Queen cried out, diving for the girl, the box that was their destruction, but it was too late. Blinding light spilled outwards, burning up the
ir world. Screams rose into the evening sky and were suddenly silenced as the destruction swept up every Apocritae in its path, leaving nothing behind but a burnt shell of their existence. The human world returned to the primitive state it had struggled so hard to escape.

When the light faded the old Queen lay dying and the new Queen was triumphant.
The only technology that was left of the world before was the gestation tank that held three small life forms. The Queen blew up the world to create her sons and reign supreme.

*****

Outside the curtained room, both Adam and Auberon felt the change as it crashed over the world, emanating outwards from Celeste. It was unexpected to say the least and they turned their heads and faced one another, “Oh, fuck.”

With no other thought but to extricate Celeste from the
Adytum
NOW, they entered the room and froze when they saw Celeste’s unconscious body lying there, the
Calix
hovering over her. There wasn’t time for this; the Queen was bound to have noticed the spike, even with the safeguards surrounding Celeste. Adam grabbed the
Calix
and pulled her from the bed, dropping to his knees and checking Celeste for signs of life. He let out the breath he had been holding when he felt a strong pulse beneath his fingertips, saw the rise and fall of her chest.

“I’m so sorry: there was no time and I had no choice. I gave the
power back too quickly, it was too much….” The
Calix
’s voice trailed off as she forgot the words she was saying.

Auberon sensed the loss of what was left of Gloria the moment it happened; any sweetness she had possessed was forever gone. He watched
Adam stroking Celeste’s hair, the concern and love etched in his face. Putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder, he said, “You cannot be seen with her.”

“Who is the girl?” the
Calix
asked, her voice dripping with sensuality as she reverentially ran her finger over the girl’s smooth cheek. Looking up at the two
Apocritae
, her eyes shining black, she breathed, “She’s beautiful; is she here to feed?”

“No!”
Adam growled, scooping Celeste up from the cushions, holding her to his chest as if he was never going to let her go. As if he could protect her from the Queen.

Adam
started to leave the room when Auberon grabbed his arm and forcibly stopped him. Holding his brother’s angry black gaze, he took the girl, cradling her in his own arms. Auberon had to protect themselves from his brother's protective instincts. Everything would be lost if Adam carried the girl through the
Adytum
; everything they had sacrificed, everything they had accomplished, would be for nothing if Mother and the Council lost faith in Adam.  More importantly, he had to keep Adam safe for Celeste. “Adam, you have to shadow walk out of here; they cannot know that you were ever here.”

“Auberon, I
can't let you do this,” Adam said through gritted teeth, his hands curling into fists.

“It’s for the best,” Auberon said reasonably. “The Council already has their doubts about me; we cannot
allow them to question you, too.” He smiled wickedly as he nodded towards Celeste, “Besides, the new Queen will need her lover by her side; you don’t want to leave Celeste vulnerable, do you?”

Obviously torn, Adam squeezed his eyes shut, “But I am responsible….”

“She is the hope of all of the
Apocritae
,” Auberon said softly. “She is our freedom but it will be fruitless if she is to lose her soul. Protect her at all costs, Adam, even if it means sacrificing me.”

Auberon felt his brother's anguish; the choice was untenable: his brother or the savior of their entire race. Adam's hand hovered over Celeste's cheek and Auberon saw how it trembled. "It will be all right, Adamanteros; trust me, brother."

"Damn it, Auberon."

"Do you know how a person says, 'I love you so much I would die for you?'" Auberon asked softly, drowning in his love for the girl. At Adam's single nod, he lowered is voice to a rough rasp, "Love her so much that you'll
live
for her."

The shock of an initiate's arrival took the Queen’s breath away, forcing her to grab onto the edge of the chaise to keep from falling off. Her other fingers curled into the flesh of her abdomen as the aftershocks coursed through her thin body. Pained, she took deep breaths to keep from screaming as the world around her convulsed, turning on its head as a new power emerged, a threat to her throne.

This should not be
possible; she had taken extreme measures to prevent any and all competition! That damn wrinkle; it was her only warning. Clenching her jaw, she searched through the fog and a smile formed on her red lips. While the upstart teemed with power the girl was very young and very inexperienced; there was still a chance to destroy her before she was strong enough to make a play for the throne. She just needed to discover the girl's location and annihilate her and all of those who aided her.