Bound by Revenge (Guardian Series) (12 page)

Foolishly, Leus believed that it could last forever. That the happiness he would never have guessed possible before the day they had met would never go away. He believed he had a perfect life until the terrible night she was murdered. It was three years ago yesterday. Leus remembered that night as vividly as if it were today.

Awaiting his meeting with Arratta, he sat in his small basement apartment. He called the apartment his home since the day of the murder. It was too hard for him to return to the home they shared or even the leanthan colony itself. The place they’d built so many memories. He didn’t even have the strength to attend the funeral or comfort his children. He could only think of himself, how much he hurt and how he needed revenge.

Leus clutched the ivory lace scarf that Arriana had tucked in her bosom on their wedding day in case her emotions go the best of her, which they often did. It was a habit he’d developed only recently since, with each passing day, he feared losing memories of the woman he loved. Now he tortured himself with those memories because at least this way, he felt closer to the love he lost. Not to mention the added benefit. By keeping the pain fresh he fueled his taste for vengeance.

October 20
^th
. That was the date. It was Arriana’s birthday. She wanted to go to the new restaurant that had opened in the city, an hour away and Leus gave Arriana everything she ever wanted. The children were long grown, his eldest son already having a family of his own. Now was the time for the two lovers to enjoy their long lives and delight in everything new that came along. They relished each other’s company above all others.

Today it was the restaurant that caught her eye. The reviews were in and it was unanimous. It was the hottest place in town. The spot played host to celebrities and billionaires alike.

Leus made reservations two weeks ago, the first time Arriana mentioned it in passing. She always left clues to what she wanted, and then she’d leave him to follow through, as if it were his idea alone. That was one of many things that he loved about her, there was no guessing. He always knew exactly how to please her and pleasing her is what made his life worth living.

The night started as planned with a trip in a town car, and the two lovers in their finest clothes. He even paid out a large bribe to some big-time leanthan scientists who had a prototype of contact lenses that disguised the leanthan eyes as human, all except for the size that is, but it was enough to guarantee them an undisturbed evening in the city.

The black Lincoln pulled up in front of Electrica’s gold veranda. The valet opened the back door for Arriana to step out as Leus let himself out the other side. She was stunning in her deep purple dress. It tied around her waist, emphasizing her natural curves and exposing just the right amount of cleavage over the top. It was a look that drew attention and envy from both men and women. Her black, patent leather stilettos elongated her already impossibly long legs.

As the town car pulled away, Leus wrapped his hand gently around Arriana’s arm and led her to the door. Tonight she would be treated like a queen. The doorman held open the entrance just as the hostess walked up and greeted them by name.

The best table in the house. That’s what he asked for in front of everyone in the place and that’s what they got. Every face turned as he spoke and they continued to watch them as they took their seats. A low murmur went through the room like a wave, the other guests quietly debated over who they could be, why they got such royal treatment and why the chef came out to personally bring them their meals, not retreating to the kitchen until they had each tasted the dishes and gave praise to the chef for his skill.

Arriana ate up every moment of attention.
It was well worth the cost
, Leus thought to himself, as he paid the bill when the meal was done. Twelve hundred dollars. That’s what it cost him to give her all of this. The bill didn’t say that of course but the amount was agreed on ahead of time, when he made the arrangements, when he decided to give her something that she would never have in the colony.

That fateful moment, as he pulled out the chair for his beautiful Arriana, when they prepared to end their evening of high society to return home to their normal lives, a loud crash came from the far side of the room.

Leus looked over and repositioned himself to block Arriana from the intrusion. He saw a group of five men rushing into the room. They were trained fighters, all of them large men, wearing solid black, faces covered in ski masks and carrying a variety of large guns. With neither uniformity in dress nor in weaponry, Leus knew instantly that this was not human law enforcement. It was something far more dangerous.

Smoke filled the room and gun fire seemed to come from all directions, taking out anything in its path. In a moment of terror, Arriana ran for the door at the front of the room.

Leus bolted after her to try to protect her from the chaos that was invading from all directions but she was ahead of him and panicked humans and strewn about chairs slowed him down.

He watched in horror as Arriana ran straight into the arms of one of the attackers.

She showed the spunk that Leus had always known she possessed. Arriana fought with all her might to break free and she bit the arm that held her close.

The man pulled his arm back in pain. He didn’t seem to expect any fight from such a proper looking young woman.

Instead of taking that opportunity to save his Arriana, to drag her out of the fight, he followed his instincts and attacked the man who dared to touch his wife.

Leus fought hard and took down the man with little effort. He’d been trained to fight like all leanthan males, and the human didn’t have a chance but Leus wasted precious time enjoying the harm he caused. It was time he could never get back.

In that second, he heard the sound that changed his life. A single deafening shot. His Arriana was down, bleeding from a gunshot through the chest. A shot that showed no signs of self healing. It had to be from a bullet from an immortal’s gun, the only things that could kill their kind. But these men weren’t demons, they weren’t angels, they were human.

Leus’ life ended with hers. Only two things mattered to him anymore, his children, the only part of his Arriana left in this world, and revenge. As soon as the humans crossed the line from sharing the planet with the leanthans to being a threat to their kind, he knew he would reignite the war that had ended centuries before.

In the name of Arriana, he vowed to destroy any humans in league with the demons and to bring down the demons that brought about all of his pain.

And in her honor, Leus trained, and he recruited. Yesterday he fought the first battle of this new war. It was a battle that became his first success as a leader. Gaining valuable property was always a top priority and the warehouse was valuable beyond belief.

Years of surveillance came down to this. This was the main housing of weapons that could kill their kind. A place like this should never have existed on earth. Immortals made their own weapons. Occasionally, they allied themselves with small groups of humans, but still the weapons shouldn’t have been in human hands without an immortal there to watch over the treasure trove.

Leus approached Arratta when he first found the warehouse. He explained how he’d found the cache, that he’d been tracking groups of humans who’d always seem to be around when there was a fatal attack on his kind.

These humans weren’t always the ones wielding the weapons but some of the same faces kept popping up between crime scenes and they never seemed to be injured in the process.

What originally seemed like a long shot, turned out to be the bread crumbs he needed. The humans led him straight to the warehouse.

Leus spent a few more weeks watching to see who went in and who went out before he finally selected one of the humans to kidnap. The weak human male spilled everything the second Leus started questioning him. The human had been so terrified of being tortured that the leanthans didn’t even have to make the threat.

It turned out everything Leus had expected was true. There were demons in the area who provided weapons to the humans and told them where to attack. The humans were clueless as to the existence of any immortals. The guy they had thought that he and his colleagues were in tight with some big time organized crime group. The small town criminals jumped at the shot to move up in the world.

The more jobs they did for the demons the more rewards they received. So far it had amounted to a huge supply of cash and immortal weaponry.

Yet, none of this information was good enough for Arratta. Leus’ great-grandfather had told him not to go forward with his plan and that they needed more time to confirm the threat. The confession of one human wasn’t good enough evidence to start a war. The best he got was permission to continue with his stakeout and a few extra bodies to lend to his effort.

Leus went ahead anyway, ignoring the dictate of the man who was not only the patriarch of his family, but the eldest ruling leanthan. He knew full well that once the war started, there would be no going back. Arratta would have to condone the war in order to save his own people.

Leus would have the chance to avenge Arriana. No matter the cost.

So he took the opportunity.

The day after his conversation with Arratta, Leus led his men into the warehouse to attack. He brought ten of his men straight through the front door. He expected more of a fight from the humans. They had been practiced criminals who’d taken out a lot of unsuspecting leanthans over the course of their regular activities but instead, the group completely rolled over. They willingly gave up their ground to save themselves. It had only taken a matter of minutes before the leanthans had complete control of the building and everything inside.

Leus was sure that this wasn’t the only place of its kind. It was just the one that he had found first. Hopefully it was the only one in Ruthers but if nothing else, this success built morale and helped him gain further allegiance of his soldiers.

He left a few of his men at the warehouse to keep it away from those who wanted to harm his kind. Just in case any of humans came back to try to fight for the property or its contents. With that taken care of, Leus just had to face the music and see what Arratta had in mind for punishment.

The clock before him flashed 9:30 and drew his focus back to the task at hand. He folded the lace back into a small square and he placed it in the breast pocket of his suit jacket and headed for the door. It was time to face the board. 

Chapter Eight

Alex stood in front of the fogged up mirror in his master bath. He pulled the perfectly folded white and gold hand towel from the matching gold ring it hung on, wiped what fog he could off the glass and stared at the blurred image before him as he tried to imagine the new life that lay before him.

This was the first time he’d been alone to think since his father dropped the bomb on their family. He wasn’t alone really; his father and sister were still here. They took up residence in guest rooms on the second floor, just as Vance and Sam would when they returned. That was the safest thing to do, his father told them. They should stay together and train together.

It was the best way to become a unified force. Abby had accepted that mandate quickly enough, since she never defied her father. But Alex knew that Vance wouldn’t be thrilled with the arrangement.

Alex’s time in his room was all he had left of his privacy and his old life. He was going to take advantage of every bit of time he could spend there, right now because once the others got back, he’d have no choice but to join them again and continue full speed ahead on this rollercoaster ride he’d unwittingly boarded.

Alex and Abby had trained together all their lives. Their father enrolled them in every form of athletics available. They worked with martial arts masters and professional boxers. They cross trained to gain speed and skill. Their lives had been predetermined only they didn’t know for what until now.

While he was young, Alex complained about his schedule. He never had enough time to spend with his friends. He was never able to go away for the weekend or take a summer off of school to do nothing but sleep late, watch cartoons, and ride his bike. It was the source of countless arguments within his family but today, today Alex was relieved that he wouldn’t have to face the fight ahead unprepared.