Crais (23 page)

“If you say so
,” Lucas said with the strangest look on his face.

“Well
, I for one gathered quite a bit of intel from the meeting.” Quarn took long strides, his sword bouncing in the intricately carved scabbard across his back. “You’re going to have your work cut out for you, Lucas. Keeping them under control will not be easy. They’ve grown used to a lack of supervision and more power since Emperor Christian’s illness.”

Lucas nodded. “Don’t you worry about
that. They’ll fall into line or I’ll destroy them and their careers.”

I snorted. “You might want to tone down the crazy dictator vibe you’ve got going on. Not the best way to win the heart
s of the people. Especially when I get the feeling they loved your father a lot.”

“Emperor Christian was greatly beloved
,” Quarn said. “Once the news is released there will be devastation across First World.”

“The beauty is that my role is undeniable. I was born to be Emperor; it’s my destiny.” Lucas arched his brows, cocky as always. “That’s something you’re yet to understand, Abby. You weren’t raised on First World, but we take our obligations and traditions very seriously.”

I shook my head at him. “I know what you’re doing, and you might as well stop right now. I know my destiny and I don’t care what the universe has cooked up for me
. I’ll make my own choices.”

And I chose Brace.
Always.

“More importantly
, you should stop speaking if you value your current health and well-being. I could change that for you very quickly,” Brace drawled, seemingly calm, but his eyes suggested otherwise.

Lucas snorted. “
You might be an all powerful Walker, but don’t underestimate me. I always get what I want.”

We reached the dou
ble doors to the main room. The guards opened them for us.

“Not this time.” Brace ended the conversation.

Not ever.

We made our
excuses to leave. To be honest, I already regretted going there. My guilt over Lucas disappeared quickly when I was in his presence. He was just that annoying.

“I wish you were coming with us.” I hugged Quarn. “This castle gives me the creeps.”

I was lying: I loved it here, everything felt ... comfortable. I needed to get away immediately.

“What
? No hug for me?” Lucas stood close, too close for my comfort. I couldn’t understand his shift in personality. Why was he suddenly acting so forward?

“I could punch you in the nose
,” I offered. “Show you how I really feel.”

He laughed
. “You protest too much.”

He reached for me,
running his hand across my cheek and down my shoulder. Before I could let loose my anger, an arm swung out, separating us, followed by a fist smashing Lucas in the face and sending him backwards across the room. Brace had reached the end of his patience.

Guards rushed in from every different direction. Brace stood there casually, showing zero concern.

“Stop
,” Lucas ordered from where he was sprawled on the floor.

The men paused about three feet from us with their weapons drawn.

“All of you leave. This is a private matter.”

They hesitated but eventually turned away
. Lucas, who had pulled himself to stand on shaky legs, limped across the room.

“I might have deserved that
,” he acknowledged to Brace, reaching up and attempting to stem the blood flowing from his nose.

“Touch
her again, even look at her sideways without her expressed consent,” Brace replied, “and I will kill you.”

I was pretty sure he was
kidding.

“Let’s go, Red.”
He held out his hand.

I threw
one last glance at Lucas before tracing us straight to the field. I’d done my good deed by visiting him. I didn’t need to own this guilt any longer.

I brought us to the edge of the
lime green grass area, expecting to see my family scattered around. Instead a far more chaotic sight greeted us.

“
Out of the fire and into the flames. Welcome to the world of Walkers,” Brace said as we stood there taking in the crazy.

There were at least a thousand Walkers in the huge mountain clearing. I could see that in the short time we’d been gone seven widely spread territories had been erected. Large banners
stood over the entrance to each zone. They had the clan names written in English and another language, and behind that were the unique marks of the clan. I could see Doreen’s zone nearest to us, the red lace design flashing at me.

“Why are everyone’s marks on display?”
I said, noticing five different mark-wearing Walkers. It looked as representatives from all the clans were already there.

“It’
s part of the gathering rules, so we always know who we’re dealing with,” Brace said, pointing out the large moonstale stones that were set up on poles and had been erected around the perimeter.

Kind of the way I remembered
lights around abandoned football stadiums. Of course the bulbs and glass were smashed on those, but I got the general idea. I paused my observations when I noticed Josian’s fiery hair glowing in the centre of the field. He was turning in a slow circle, pointing out various things to the men who were standing either side of him.

“Aribella.”
I jumped as his voice boomed from miles away.

Clearly he had spotted us.
At the sound of my name, every single Walker in the vicinity stopped what they were doing and flat out stared.

“Wow, looks like they’ve heard of me.” I met a few pairs of curious eyes before
turning to face Brace.

As
always, the rest of the world disappeared when he locked me in his gaze.

“I can make them stop staring if you
’d like.” Brace grinned down at me. He seemed relaxed, which was unexpected. “But I’m guessing you and the other half-Walkers will have to get used to it. You’re the novelty to keep us intrigued this century.”

“
I better be the novelty to keep you intrigued for all centuries,” I added as we started our journey across the lime-green grass.

It was easy to ignore everyone by
simply focusing on Brace’s hand wrapped warmly around mine, and the gleaming smile of my father as he waited for us to arrive.

“You’re not a novelty, Red.”

I had expected a return joke, not the seriously spoken statement. And I certainly didn’t expect him to grind to a halt, pull me into his arms and kiss me senseless. Literally. Time, space and every Walker around us disappeared. I gasped for breath as he stepped back.

“What the hell was that for?” My chest heaved as the blood rushed around my body.

“It’s been too long since I kissed you. It’s a crime to waste seconds not worshipping those luscious lips.”

I raised my brows and as my pulse slowed my brain functions kicked back in. “You were staking your claim and marking your territory.” My hands involuntarily flapped in front of me as I spoke.
“You might as well have peed on me.”

“There you go with the peeing again.” He grinned. “And I have no need to mark my territory; everyone here can see the melding bond.”

We started moving again.

But it never hurts to remind them to keep their hands to themselves.

I slugged him, before grabbing his hand again.
Noticing all the tall beautiful female Walkers, he might just have a point.

“Why are
all the women surrounded by large groups of men?” I asked, noting the pattern.

“You probably
observe there aren’t as many female Walkers as male. We outnumber you almost ten to one.” His voice softened. “So we protect every single one we have.” He paused for a moment, before continuing. “I had a sister.”

My heart stopped at the word
‘had’. I knew he’d lost someone before, but I hadn’t realized it was his sister. I tightened my grip on his hand.

“She was
taken from us a hundred and fifty-two years ago.”

“How?”
I said, swallowing back tears.

Walkers were practically impossible to kill.

“I don’t know,” he said simply. “One moment she was home, in her room, and there was a crash ... her screams echoed throughout ... heart-wrenching pleas.” His face was calm, but the pain I could see in his eyes had me aching to comfort him. “By the time we got to her room, she was gone. We searched for years. As far as I know, Mother is still searching.”

“When did you stop actively looking for her?” I sniffed.

“The day I found you.” He brushed my hair from my face, his finger tips leaving tingles as they dragged along my cheek. “You are the most important thing in my world. If you don’t exist, then neither do I. Caty is at all times on my mind. I’ll always search for her, but my attention is now and forever yours.”

Sigh.

Damn, my mate had a way with words.

We’d been working day and night trying to get everything organized for the gathering. It was a week out from the start date and we girls were stealing a morning of relaxation. We were decked out in bikinis and enjoying the sunshine. The lake glimmered before us, shining in blue and green tones.

Fury and Talina were deep in conversation
. The two of them actually got along really well. Surprisingly, since their personalities were fire and ice or more like fire and water. I rolled over onto my stomach, enjoying the warmth sinking into my bones. Apparently the cold season was just around the corner, but there was no evidence of it that day.

I was just drifting off when droplets of icy water rained across my warm skin.

“Argh, what the hell?” I spun over, ready to retaliate.

The words died in my mouth, along with the saliva I needed to moisten my lips. Brace stood over me, shirtless and soaking wet.

“Enough lying around, Red,” he said.

And before I could reply, he scooped me up and ran at
lightning speed into the freezing lake. I screamed as the water washed over me.

“
Put me down, asshat.”

He grinned, looking good enough to eat.
“As you command, Red.”

He dumped me straight into the deeper water.
I came up spluttering before launching myself at him. He caught me easily, his muscular arms closing around my body, preventing further movement. I glared at him. It was about all I could manage.

“You have to admit, the water
’s refreshing.” He kissed me on the lips, loosening his grip.

“Lucky you look so good in swim shorts
,” I said, wrapping my legs around him.

We floated together for a
while, not speaking, just enjoying the peace. And after the initial iciness, the water felt rejuvenating now. Eventually he broke the silence.

“So I was thinking that everyone deserve
s a few days away, some time where there aren’t a thousand Walkers following you girls around.”

Despite the fact the gathering wasn’t official for another week, Walkers arrived every day. And most of them were a tad curious about
us half-Walkers. Fury, Talina and I spent a lot of time avoiding large groups and ignoring blatant stares.

“Josian suggested we all take a few days at the cave planet.”
He grinned down at me again.

I was
pretty excited at the thought of quality time with Brace. It was pessimistic of me, but I had a terrible feeling that our happy moments were coming to an end. I was going to cherish every single one I could get.

“L
et’s go tell everyone,” I said, removing myself from Brace and dashing out of the water.

Two hours later Brace opened a doorway. Talina, Fury, Dune, Lucy and Colton were waiting to step through. We didn’t have any luggage. Josian had assured us everything we needed would be there.

“Where’s your sister, Colt?” I hadn’t seen the prickly Walker for days
.

I wasn’t complaining
. It would not have been a relaxing time if she were present. And I had avoided her ever since Brace told me that they briefly dated for ten years. Yes, he had said briefly. And despite the fact this was over two hundred years previously, it still had my temper as fiery as my hair.

“Catching up with old friends, ignoring me and playing her usual games.”
He shrugged. “My sister is a complicated woman.”

“You mean she’s a bitch.” Lucy snorted.

He shrugged again. “Yeah, that too.”

Colton was nothing if not brutally honest
.

“Word
,” Lucy concurred.

Moving through the doorway was
easy; Dune and Lucy were the only ones who needed assistance. We arrived on the other side into the large stone kitchen.

“So what do we do first?” Lucy bounced around.

We’d never had a holiday. Even if this one was to be only a few days’ escape, it was very exciting. My stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly.

Lucy laughed.
“So that’s one vote for lunch. Anyone other than Abby’s stomach have a preference?”

“Don’t act like you’re not hungry
,” I replied.

Brace was already moving
. He opened the hinged door in the stone wall and inside the hole was a pile of wood. With a quick blast he had the flames roaring. It would take a while for the oven to heat. Which gave us enough time for one of my favorite meals.

“Are make-your-own
pizzas okay with everyone?” I asked.

The enthusiastic nods
said it all.

I walked over to the cold room
. Josian had explained how it worked: something to do with cool water surrounding the stone creating an icy interior. The cave fairies had been and there was enough food inside the cold room to last us a month. While I gathered meat, sauces, vegetables and cheese, and set them out into little bowls, Lucy found the dry ingredients in the pantry.

“Since
Mom isn’t here to help those of us cooking-disabled, we’re going to have to wing it and see how we go.” I was sorting ingredients and finding bowls, rollers and knives as I spoke.

“Something tells me we
’re going to need Lallielle; I have a burnt thumb.” Lucy grimaced.

I laughed. “What do you mean?”

“Everything I try and cook ends up burnt,” she said.

“Imagine how I feel
,” Fury said. “I literally have a burning thumb.”

“I think you missed my point, but that’s okay.” Lucy waved her hand. “So let
’s get this party started. I’m hungry.”

Of course she was.

By the time we’d made and rolled our bases we were all covered in flour. But it had been fun, like having a big happy family. I actually couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I looked up to find Brace staring at me.

“What?” I said
, rubbing a hand over myself. “Am I completely covered?”

He grabbed my hand. “You look beautiful, Red.”

He brushed his finger tips along my cheek, before shaking his head, the slightest grin crossing his face.

“What?” I said.

“You never knew me when I lived in the Abernath compound, but I was a different man then, not one that you would have liked and ... the reality is I’ve been trained as a warrior my entire life. I’ve seen some terrible shi ... things, done terrible things. But you ... you’ve given me something no one else could ever have done.”

“What?” I said
again, my voice breathless.

“Peace
,” he finally said. “For the first time in my long life I’m happy.”

“I wish the other Abernaths could hear this little speech
,” Colton whispered. “Most of them are so afraid of Brace that when he enters the room they scream, piss themselves and run like little bitches.” He chuckled. “Now they’ll probably get him some flowers and hope he’ll be their poetry buddy.”

Brace never shifted his gaze from me
, but his arm shot out, gripping Colton around the throat and launching him straight into the wall. He hit with a crash, before pulling himself up to stand. His grin never wavered.

“No need to get all hissy
, peace-boy. Shouldn’t you be calm and meditative?”

“You don’t want me to step over there, Colt
. Remember what happened in the Arcoia era.”

Colton’s ivory features went ghost white and a grimace spread across his face.

“You’re a sick man to bring that up. And
on a side and completely unrelated note, you’re a dangerous Walker and can kick my ass any day.”

“Much better
,” Brace said.

I had to smile at their fighting. It
resembled that of close brothers who knew each other well and had a long and probably chequered history. Brace had told me recently that one of the hardest parts of being stationed on First World was the isolation from his friend; it was good for them to be reunited.

We finished
making our pizzas and laid them out in the oven. They would take some time to cook, so we moved into the sitting room. Josian had this little black box in there. It held thousands of movies and with a simple remote device we could flick through and choose one. And then it would play on the huge television. Josian really enjoyed the technology he’d taken from each planet, mostly Earth, to deck out this cave.

We spent the rest of our first day eating, sleeping and watching movies.
It was a fun. Fury was slowly starting to warm up to us. She had a wicked but understated sense of humor. It was amusing trying to guess if she was serious or joking. And adding in the language differences between all of our planets; we had some very interesting conversations.

Dune
got along great with the other two men. I felt somewhere deep down that all of us had been designed to fit together as parts of a whole. It was pretty crazy, but somehow the seven half-Walkers were a single unit and I think our mates were as well.

Of course that left Lucy
and Colton, but they fit in there somehow. Especially Lucy. She was a soothsayer, and since they apparently didn’t exist on Earth, I was starting to think she was a First Worlder who had also been stashed on Earth. Of course I hadn’t shared this theory yet, but it was playing on my mind. All of us were parts of a puzzle. I kept trying to put it all together, but since I was missing so many pieces I couldn’t see the bigger picture.

It was late when we retired for the night. My heart started to race at the thought of
being alone with Brace. We would finally have some privacy. The past few weeks we’d been in a tent next to my parents. Not exactly a romantic setting. I’d been tempted many times to trace us to my snow cabin, but because Brace was often called during the night to fix things, stop arguments and assist Josian with his million jobs, we couldn’t leave. But tonight he was all mine.

I’d stopped off in the clothes room and found a sleep shirt and shorts,
although I doubted I was going to need them. We stepped into the bedroom, which held nothing more than a huge mattress stretched out over a stone slab. Mountains of pillows and a huge fluffy comforter topped it off. It would feel like heaven. My parents always had the softest fabrics.

And speaking of heaven ... Brace spun me around, pulling me into his arms. I lifted my face
, expecting his kisses, but he held back slightly.

“The way you respond to me drives me insane.” His words started their job of seducing me.

And his lips finished it.

The next morning I woke slowly, stretching my body in a slow, leisurely arch. The silky soft sheets caressed my naked body, reminding me of the various events of the night.

One would think that after
all of that I’d be too tired or sore for any more action. But the truth was I couldn’t get enough. The things Brace did, the way he made me feel, the chance to be as close to him a physically possible. I was lucky I could ever tear myself away. I glanced over to where he slept. He had one arm thrown across me, keeping me close. His features were relaxed, but somehow still hard. I knew that if he sensed danger he would be up and moving before I even realized it was there. I wanted to trace my finger tips along the perfect planes of his face, the full lips that almost didn’t fit into his masculine features but he somehow pulled them off. But I didn’t. He so rarely slept uninterrupted.

“I can feel you staring, little Red.”

Okay, apparently not asleep.

“Conceited much
. I have better things to do than stare at you all morning.”

He opened his eyes then, the inky black lashes sweeping up like a curtain to reveal
the chocolate goodness beneath. I wasn’t one to admit it, but when he looked at me like he was right now, I almost cried. His eyes were warm as they caressed my face, like the messy-hair tousled look was the most amazing thing he’d seen in all his years. He reached up a hand, tangling it in the hair at the nape of my neck, and pulled me down for a gentle kiss.

“I have
lived over half a millennium without you. How can you question that I don’t know you’re the most perfect beauty in every world?”

“I’m just one person
, Brace. Nothing special here. I just get up every day and do the best job I can.”

He laughed. “Well
, actually my half-Walker conduit, you are special. But, more importantly, you don’t have to be every person’s most perfect beauty, the reason they get out of bed each morning and don’t destroy the worlds every night. You only have to be mine. To have just one person in the worlds who loves you as much as I do ... well, that’s enough, isn’t it?”

Damn
, Brace was too freaking smart. He saw so much more than I did.

“And in reality, Red, you have a lot of people who love you almost as much as I do, so you must be doing something right.”