Immortal Essence Box Set: Aligned, Exiled, Beguiled (4 page)

Inside the clear wedged heels were symbols of her imperfections. The symbols were unique only to her and would be a guide as she crossed into immortality.

Of more significance, at least to Venus, the boots represented change. She could hardly wait. Venus was sick of looking like every other kelarian under the age of sixteen.
White hair, silver eyes and metallic white skin.
When she completed her metamorphosis into a kelvieri, her physical features would transform as well. No more same, same, same.

“Hey
doof
! You weren’t supposed to leave. What will the guests think of their perfect princess? So un-queenly of you.” Amberlee had entered Venus’s bedroom without permission. The brat!

“Yeah, well I’m
not
the queen yet. What do you want?” Venus studied her little sister, annoyed at how much they looked alike.

Today, Amberlee had spiked her short hair. Around her white lashes, she wore thick, black eyeliner, which made her skin pasty. On her right cheek a star had been drawn and she’d chosen a short, black
coverlette
. She reminded Venus of a beautiful but bad-mannered banshee.

“I brought you a present.”

“You did?” Venus worked hard to hide the surprise from showing on her face. Normally, the only things
Bratterlee
gave her were bruises and scratches.

Amberlee reached into her pocket and held up a necklace. Silver in color, its chain hung fine and thin. From the center dangled a gleaming black irrihunter charm.

“It’s beautiful.” Venus bent forward to get a closer look. Worry twisted within her, like a tornado.
What’s wrong with it?
Immediately after that thought, came another.
She’s trying to be nice
. Still, Venus wasn’t sure. With a careful hand, she touched it. The charm radiated warmth.

“It won’t bite.
Cret
, sis! Don’t be so dramatic. It’s no secret you have a thing for the animals. You fly one every day. Besides, you only turn sixteen once. Here, take it.”  Amberlee flung it into her outstretched hand. She’d sounded harsh, but a touch of rosy orange spread over her sister’s cheeks.

Without thinking, Venus hugged her. “Thank you.”

Amberlee pushed Venus away. “Back the
helker
up. Now’s not the time to start getting mushy.” 

She sat back, the words like a slap in the face.

It wasn’t that Venus couldn’t show emotion.
She could, if she tried, but feelings weren’t necessary. Encouraged? Sure. She found the whole concept to be a waste of time.
As the
one day
queen, those around her had groomed her to be concerned for the majority. If she let sentiment rule, she wouldn’t be able to make the big decisions for the good of the kingdom. She had to care for everyone, not anyone. Amberlee hadn’t been taught to understand. She didn’t need to.

“Will you put it on?” Venus asked, holding the necklace out.

“
Okaaaay
.” Amberlee took it from her hands.

Venus stood and turned, pulling her long hair out of the way. When Amberlee swung the chain around her neck her sleeve tugged up. About halfway up Amberlee’s inner forearm was a black tattoo. The skin looked irritated, as though she’d recently had it done. 

Resisting the urge to comment, Venus studied it, the circular shapes, like a sun and a half-moon. Or an eye . . . the pupil contained a strange symbol. Venus knew some of the younger kels inked up their skin before becoming kelvieri, as a way of expressing themselves. After the change, the art would disappear anyway. But she hadn’t expected to see one on her sister.

“What does your ink mean?” she finally asked when Amberlee stepped away.

A look of horror crossed her face. “Oh!
None of your business.
Some friends and I got it done together.” She yanked her sleeve over the symbol and cleared her throat. With a trembling smile, she pleaded, “You won’t tell Mom?”

“No. Of course not.” She touched the charm that rested below her collarbones. A jolt shot through her fingers. “Ouch!”

Unease crossed Amberlee’s face. “What’s your problem?”

Venus let out a laugh. The pain had vanished as quickly as it’d come. “N-Nothing.” She glanced at her fingers. There wasn’t a mark.

“Swear you won’t tell?” 

Irritated, she fought back the urge to smack her sister. “I swear, Amberlee.
Cret
! Hey, I’ll tell you a secret. That’ll make us even. K?” She sat back down and turned toward her vanity. Venus kept an eye on her sister in the mirror as she picked up her gold-toothed comb and ran it through her hair.

Amberlee crossed her arms and popped a hip. “Really?
You
have a secret?”

“You have to promise not to tell anyone.” Venus set the comb back in its exact spot and turned. “Promise?” she asked, mocking.

“Yeah, Princess. Now what is it?” Amberlee smirked, picked up the small, perfectly squared piece of cake and shoved the whole thing in her mouth. Cheeks full of cake, she glared and had the audacity to laugh. “Come on, tell me,” she said around all the cake.

Already regretting that she’d agreed to tell, Venus let out a huff. “Sadraden is pregnant, due in about ten days. Her baby will be the first irrihunter born in years.”

“Those animals scare the
helker
out of me. And now there’ll be a baby? Yeah, that’s just what the kingdom needs.”

“Hey, don’t be mean. What’ve irrihunters ever done to you? They’re the most incredible creatures. And to ride one is . . . well, it’s perfection.” 

Amberlee pressed her lips together
,
her stormy eyes squinted
. She swallowed. “Uh-huh.
If you say so.
But, what about your journey?
Are you still planning to ride her?”

“Absolutely. She’d be devastated if I didn’t.” Venus stood, an urgent need to get started overwhelming her. “I’d better finish packing since I’m leaving tonight instead of in the morning.”

Amberlee nodded. “Thanks, Venus. It means a lot you . . .” she trailed off and her eyes glazed over, like her mind had gone elsewhere. A second later, she finished,
“.
. . told me.” She walked to the door and waved a ring-covered hand over the family crest. The golden door twinkled and disappeared. Before moving over the threshold, she asked, “Did you see Zaren at your birthday party?”

“Sure. Why?” As her personal Formytian, he kept close, sometimes annoyingly so. She’d been
seeing
him every day since age two, probably longer. 

“I noticed him watching you,
a lot
. He’s quite handsome. Black hair. Green eyes. Tall. Rippling muscles. Immortality looks good on him, don’t you think?” She nodded encouragingly, as she scrunched a chuck of her hair with a hand.

Venus huffed. “Yes, Amberlee. When I get back, do you want me to put in a word for you?”

“By the Gods, no! I meant for you.
Forever, Venus.
Do you really want to live eternally without love?”  

Pressing her hands together, Venus dug her nails into her palms. Her sister knew a union based on attraction or . . . or
love
, wasn’t in her future. “Palmo and I are promised to each other. Our kingdoms need us united. Life is about more than love.” Venus walked to the large bay window next to her dresser. The suns were setting, the bigger one slightly higher than the smaller. Various shades of scarlet and gold shot through the clouds like long, glowing swords.

She turned in time to watch Amberlee’s silver face grow hard and pale as their first moon.

“Love is everything,” she said, her eyes fierce. Without waiting for Venus to respond, she stalked from the room.

Yet another reason why I was born first.

She carefully removed the mid-thigh length
coverlette
. It was certainly beautiful. Her mother had given it to her that morning. “A special dress for a very special girl.” That’s what the Queen had said.

It was gauzy and light. Thread the color of sunshine glowed at her wrists, neckline and hem. The long sash shone in the same color. As though the designer had somehow captured a piece of a sun and fashioned it into the sash. She placed the dress on the back of her chair and picked up her pack.

A few more necessities needed to be added before she left, like her cleaning tablets and some food patches, which she hated. But they were tiny and easy to carry and would sustain her for the few days it took to journey to the home of the Gods and back. 

  At her closet, she ran a hand over the Carania family crest. The doors shimmered. She opened the console next to the closet door and pressed buttons to bring up the
coverlettes
section. Different holographic choices appeared on the screen. Venus selected one in dark blue. Its soft material spun from the magical
cairna
spiders. It sparkled with what looked like clear
dew drops
. The thick ribbing along the front as well as the sash glistened with red rosithia flowers. 

The closet spun through her clothes on an invisible belt until the
coverlette
she wanted arrived in front of her. She held her breath and reached in. After pulling her arm back, she exhaled, and as she put on the
coverlette
, went to the mirror. Her reflection appeared normal, but a sudden and complete fatigue engulfed her. Like giant hands, the unseeing force crushed her with its heaviness.

Through weighty eyelids, she peered at herself in the glass and noticed a line of thick, blue liquid streaming from beneath the charm around her neck. She reached up and touched the substance.

“It’s blood,” she whispered. “How?” Her mind went decidedly numb and no answer would come. Darkness fell over her eyes. Her limbs turned weak. It took all her effort to keep herself upright. 

“What’s wrong with me?”

On rubbery legs, she staggered to the bed, arms stretched out in front of her. Venus used the wall, her dresser and a chair as her crutches to help her get to the bed. She knew once the Body Sensors attached to the bed scanned her, they’d contact help. When she sat, sure enough the Sensors screeched a blazing warning. 

“Your life organs are unwell. A re—” a monotone female voice began and then abruptly stopped, as though turned off.

Venus wanted to be angry or afraid, but one physical need overrode everything else. Sleep. She laid her head against the silky pillow.

I’ll begin my journey tomorrow,
she promised herself.

Michael tossed a rock into Crystal Lake. It skipped three times before disappearing beneath the murky depths. He went to pick up another, but stopped at the sound of a noise. He rose to his full six feet and searched for the culprit.

Around the water, tall bare trees stood, their branches reaching toward the sky like skeleton fingers. Interspersed between the naked branches of the elm and aspen were the fir, their needles a soft silvery-green and the prickly forest green needles of pine.

The small lake rippled, a slight wind pushing the water to and fro against the muddy shore. He turned, zipped his letterman’s jacket, and grabbed a blanket from the hood of his car. A little ways off stood a thicket of long yellow weeds, the strands bending in the breeze like bullied children. At the base of a gigantic tree, he shook out the large blanket over a patch of dried grass. The ground was firm, though it hadn’t frozen. That would change soon. Mid October meant freezing weather in Wyoming. At the moment, it was a beautiful afternoon and the spot would serve as the perfect table for the picnic he’d prepared his girlfriend, Cheverly.

With all the crap that went on in his not-so-happy family, he’d been surprised—still was—that he and Chev had been in a relationship. Somehow they’d managed and today marked their
six month
anniversary. As a surprise, he’d made a meal, put it in a basket and asked Cheverly’s best friend, Lori, to help him plan their date. On top of that, here next to Crystal Lake and their favorite elm, Michael planned to tell Chev he loved her.

In the past, they’d argued about it, the fact that he never said the words. It wasn’t that he didn’t have affectionate feelings toward her. He did. He even believed the feelings might be love. Most of his life had been spent keeping emotions at bay. At the ripe old age of seven, he’d come to recognize that expressing fear, anger, pain, or for that matter, happiness, joy and, heaven forbid love, only caused his father and then later his mother’s abuse to be more severe.

Michael had scars on his back, feet and a long, thin scar on his cheek to prove it. Showing no emotion kept the violence to a minimum. As for real love, if it existed, he figured that might be what he felt for Cheverly. He had no idea, but to keep the peace between them, he’d decided to tell her. Say the words.

Lori should’ve dropped Cheverly off already. He knew getting Chev to do something without knowing all the details demanded skill.
Michael’d
been cryptic today, during school, and that’d caused Chev to give him dirty looks. Probably upset and a little hurt, too. A surprise around her required stealth and he’d wanted the moment to be special. So when his cell rang, Michael felt relieved.