Jaz's Warriors (Bondmates Book 2)

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Jaz’s Warriors

Copyrigh
t
2016 by Ann Mayburn

Published by Honey Mountain Publishing

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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Glossary of Terms

Alyah
-
The affectionate name that Kadothian males called their women. It means ‘eternal beloved’.

Amba
-
A deadly Kadothian predator resembling a giant condor covered in soft red fur instead of feathers.

Blood Brothers
-
Kadothian males with the genetic and spiritual makeup to share a Matriarch and have formed a romantic relationship together while waiting to find their wife. Most often the blood brothers both marry the same woman, but on very rare occasions they don’t and the bond between the blood brothers is broken.

Challenge
-
The realms of Kadothia are split up among the Warriors, each seeking to build a home worthy of their future alyah. Some Warriors never find theirs and as they begin to creep towards madness, they can be challenged by unbonded males for their territory. Everything from a verbal disagreement to a full out minor war could result.

Gili Fertility Ritual
-
A tradition native to the Southern Continent where once a cycle the Lord(s) and Lady of the land make love before a gathering of Servants of the Lord of Life to bless the land and people with good crops and fertility.

Kackle
-
A Kadothian herd animal resembling a mix between a cow and a giraffe

Kadothia
-
A matriarchal planet in the Bel’Tan galaxy close to twice the size of Earth’s sun.

Matriarch-
A woman who has been soul bonded/married to a Kadothian male(s) and is the head of their family House. For example, Lady Elsin Adar is the head of the House Adar.

Military classes-
The Kadothian military is split into four distinct classes; Warriors, Healers, Scouts, and Negotiators. There is rumored to be a fifth class, a spy class, but no proof.

Pleasure Servant-
A woman trained to provide sexual release to a Kadothian male while keeping the relationship strictly sexual with no romantic attachments.

Primzit
-
A parasitic worm that eats fecal matter from decaying corpses

Venan-
A large, river dwelling creature with a thick hide like a rhino and tusks similar to a wart hog with a long, spiked tail used for swimming and combat. Notoriously ill tempered, a
venan
will attempt to kill anything that enters its territory.

Kadothian Political Structure

The High Congress-
300 members

The Elder Congress
- 3,000 members

The Congress-
30,000 members

The Territorial Congress-
300,000 members

The Regional Congress-
3,000,000 members

The Lord and Lady of the Land
- 84,233,897 members (the number constantly shifts as Challenges are won and lost)

Village/City Elders –
754,328,756
members (the exact number is constantly in flux due to shifts in the political structure due to the results of a Challenge)

Prologue

The Event – Earth

Jaz Brooks

With her hands pressed tight over her ears, Jaz Brooks crouched beneath her desk in her office in the thriving heart of Harlem, a silent scream escaping her as a horrible sound vibrated through her bones, making her brain ache in protest.

The cacophony— three terrible blasts, like erupting flames—stopped as abruptly as it had come. For a moment she remained frozen in terror, her mind trying to identify what that noise had been. When she couldn’t come up with any logical answer, she forced herself to fight back the animalistic panic that made her want to hide beneath her desk forever. Every inch of her body still rang with the deep intonation while she crawled out and used the leather arm of her office chair to steady herself as looked for her patients, a young couple that was having issues due to differences in their upbringing.

Raul, the charismatic Puerto Rican husband, was as macho as could be, and very handsome in a hot Latino lover way that perfectly complemented his wife’s pale beauty. His bride was a beautiful wide-eyed model from Canada named Christie, who grew up in suburbia. Having never lived the harsh street life that Raul had experienced growing up in Brooklyn, she didn’t understand his constant need to protect her. A former gangbanger, Raul knew just how ruthless the world could be, and he took the job of shielding his wife from those who would harm her seriously. He loved Christie with a passion that not many women got to experience and Jaz knew his wife meant the world to him.

True to form, Raul hunched over his wife, sheltering her body beneath his while he looked at Jaz. Their gazes met and Raul’s nostrils flared over his perfectly groomed thin mustache. She could easily see the terror beneath his bravado and instantly went into protective mode.

Yeah, ignoring her own fear in favor of helping another was a coping mechanism, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t effective.

Christie clutched her husband’s white t-shirt, her breath coming out in harsh sobs. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” Jaz said as she cautiously let go of the arm of her chair, kicking off her heels and flexing her feet on the oak floors before fiddling with her carefully styled, curly black hair out of nervous habit. “Only one way to find out.”

Giving her pristine, fitted grey slacks an unnecessary smoothing, as if her being neat and tidy would somehow fix things, she then crept toward the windows covered in decorative wrought iron security bars that looked down at the street a story below.

Her newly renovated three-story brownstone was sandwiched between her father’s church, where he lived, and another brownstone occupied by more of her huge but close extended family. People carrying the last name of Brooks had lived in this section of Harlem for well over one hundred and fifty years and during that time, they’d slowly taken over this particular section of the city. Situated on a normally busy street, she was worried when she realized the constant noise of horns honking and engines revving was silent.

Eerily silent.

The skin of her arms tingled as goosebumps broke out and the fine hairs on her arms stood on end as she took in the terribly surreal sight before her.

The view between the green leaves of the old tree out front was an eerie one, like something out of a movie. Not a single car was moving, all of them at a standstill, frozen in place with most of their drivers outside of their vehicle. Everyone, every single person in the street, was looking up at the sky with dazed expressions.

Because the memory of the terrible black smoke from the Twin Towers burning still lived in her heart, Jaz’s gaze went to the sky, expecting vast clouds of smoke—and she let out a harsh gasp.

The sky wasn’t dark with smoke. No, it was filled with long, winding ribbons of rainbow light that slowly undulated like a curtain blowing in a gentle breeze. Here and there, bits of the blue sky shown between the colors, letting her know it was still there, but for the most part the vibrant shades completely blotted out the pale blue of the spring sky.

A large boom came from somewhere to the north, followed by another some distance to the east, and she took a shaky breath as the high-pitched call of faraway sirens began to fill the unnatural quiet.

Another explosion, this one strong enough to rattle the walls, hit not too far off and she let out a small scream, while Raul extracted himself from his wife and went to the window. He then let out a similar sound of shock and swayed before turning abruptly and sliding down the wall with his knees akimbo. Christie stared at them both, then with a strength that surprised Jaz, wiped her cheeks and strode over to the window, jerking the curtains back wide enough that Jaz could see a small slice of the rainbow sky.

Instead of freaking out, Christie stayed still for about thirty seconds before saying, “Well, if it’s going to kill us it’s a very pretty way to die.”

Raul and Jaz’s eyes met and they both burst into laughter.

It only lasted for a few seconds, but it helped clear Jaz’s mind as some people out on the street started shouting and waving their arms around in an agitated manner. “You guys live in Brooklyn, right?”

“Yeah,” Raul said as he stood and moved behind Christie.

Joining them, Jaz looked out into a chaotic street before pulling her curtains closed so only a sliver remained, blocking them from the increasingly disturbed crowd outside. “I think you guys should stay with me until things settle down out there.”

Christie pulled out her cell phone, frowning when she saw she was getting no service. “I need to call my mom and dad.”

Biting his lower lip, Raul stared at the nonmoving traffic as people poured out of the surrounding businesses and filled the sidewalks like ants swarming out of a disturbed hill. “
Mi corazon
, I think Ms. Brooks is right, we should stay here. You know, shelter in place and shit like they taught us in school.”

A visibly agitated Christie shrugged out of his embrace and frowned at her cellphone. “Raul, I need to make sure my parents are okay, but I can’t get a signal.”

Jaz picked up her desk phone and, like she suspected, got nothing but static. “I think all the lines are down, or jammed right now.”

Christie shoved her cell phone in her purse, tears filling her eyes. “Shit, what am I supposed to do?”

Raul grasped his wife’s hands in his and held her gaze. “They’re out in the middle of nowhere in Alberta, Canada, right? Nearest neighbor is miles away from them, and they have the generator for emergencies and your mom cans her own food. They’re gonna be okay, but
we
might not be if we go out in that shit.” He flung his hand in the direction of the street. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m telling you right now, there is gonna be riots and shit, gonna be a lot of people trying to get the fuck out of New York City. Bad people are gonna be out on the streets, babe, taking advantage of the confusion, and we don’t need to be out there with them. Your
mama
and
papa
would want you to be safe, yeah?”

The front-door buzzer activated and Jaz was startled to realize they still had power. Moving quickly to the wall where the intercom was, she pressed it and said, “Hello?”

It was hard to hear over the noise of the beeping horns and shouting people, but her dad’s voice rang out over it all. “It’s me, baby girl, let me in.”

She quickly buzzed him in and was already moving to the door that led out to the stairway. Glancing back over her shoulder, she pointed up. “Go upstairs, my door is on the left. Type 53593 into the keypad. I need you to start filling pots and pitchers with water. Fill up the tub as well. Also, get out the fresh chicken in the fridge and try and use up any perishables we have. Christie, can you cook?”

“Yeah.”

“Great, you take care of that. Raul, come with me.”

“Why is he going with you?”

“He’s going to be doing the same thing in my aunt’s apartment downstairs. She’s on vacation in Florida right now but I have a feeling we’re going to need all the supplies we can get our hands on.”

“Oh, okay.”

Not wasting any more time, Jaz practically flew down the steps in her bare feet with Raul following behind. When they reached the foyer with its new travertine tile floors and double security doors, she pointed at her aunt’s apartment with a shaky finger. “Code’s 74772, leave the door open so you can hear me if I yell.”

He nodded and threw open the door to her Aunt’s place while she let her father in.

Terrence Brooks had always been a big man, and age hadn’t changed that. He’d played professional football in the ’90s before he badly injured his knee and returned to Harlem to become a preacher. Today he wore his usual dark jacket and button-down shirt, but his normally neatly knotted tie was askew and the lines on his face appeared deeper. Quickly embracing her, he glanced over at the open door of the apartment. “Who’s in there?”

“One of my clients, Raul. His wife Christie is upstairs. They’re filling up the tubs and cooking any food we’ve got that might spoil. I’m going to have them stay with me because I don’t think it’s safe for them to try to travel anywhere on foot right now. Any idea what’s going on?”

“None at all. Internet and phones are down but electricity is still working. Lots of people running their mouths and got opinions on what happened, but not much fact.”

“Have you heard anything official about what this…this whatever this is?”

“Saw a couple police officers, but they don’t got time to answer questions with people acting like animals out there.” Her dad gave her shoulders a squeeze. “All you need to worry about is keeping yourself and your guests safe, let the police do their job and we’ll help out as we can. We already got people coming into the church and seeking refuge. Your brothers are there right now with a couple of your cousins, guarding the flock from the wolves that are sure to come out tonight. I got a feeling it’s going to be bad, honey, but the Lord will keep us safe. We’ve been in dark places before and he’s always brought us back into his grace, but I won’t lie, I fear some evil times may be upon us so I’m gonna need you to be strong for me. You’re a candle in the darkness, always have been, and it’s time to let your light shine.”

To hear her father say those words struck her deep inside, in that secret place deep in her heart that believed her dad could do anything. The fear lurking behind his words scared her more than the rainbow ribbons in the sky and she drew in a shaky breath. Okay, he needed her, Raul and Christie needed her, and she wouldn’t let them down.

He rubbed her shoulders gently before moving towards her aunt’s place. “I’m taking Bee’s guns and ammo to the church with me. I want you to arm yourself and the young couple if they’re familiar with guns. Word is the National Guard is setting up around the city and they’re gonna institute martial law. You need to defend yourself against the thugs that will use the confusion as an excuse to hurt others. I want you to do it without a second thought. Understood? They threaten your life, you use your gun to take them out as you’ve been trained. Clear?”

“Clear.”

While some people may be shocked that a preacher would have no problem with guns, she knew her father had faced off with more than one drug dealer and gangbanger, refusing to let them deal around his church. After being shot in the hip one night by a pissed-off pimp trying to get to one of his girls seeking shelter in the church, her dad had gotten everyone guns and taught them how to use them. She had several stashed around her home and office in biometric gun safes, and had used her firearms more than once to warn off an angry spouse or an addict thinking she had drugs in her office just because she was a therapist. While she couldn’t imagine actually ever harming anyone, she wouldn’t lie that the fact that she had the ability to defend her home gave her peace of mind.

She was still standing there trying to process what was going on when her dad returned, wearing what had to be his grandfather’s old raccoon-skin jacket while carrying a large purple crocodile purse bulging at the seams.

“What in the world?”

He grimaced. “I’ve got six handguns on me and a ton of heavy ammo, need to hide it somehow or I’ll get mobbed the second I walk out those doors.”

While she knew better than to try to talk him into staying here, she couldn’t help the tears that escaped as he strode to the door leading back out into the chaos outside. “Daddy, please be safe.”

“Don’t you worry ’bout me. I might be sending the boys over later for some food. We got women with kids, and while the church’s kitchen is set up for feeding the homeless, we’re gonna need help ’fore order gets restored. Here are the keys to the two empty apartments. Might not have any furniture in them, but they got bathrooms and they’re a safe place for people to wait this out until things calm down and people stop runnin’ around like chickens with their heads cut off.”

“Do you think they’ll be able to? I mean, what if this is happening all over the world? There’s no way there are enough police to keep everyone safe.”

His dark eyes softened and he said with utter conviction, “I know they will be, because good people are gonna step up and do the right thing. This ain’t judgement day and the good Lord isn’t done with us yet. We still got a lot of work to do before we earn our reward. Have faith, honey, ’cause God’s got faith in you.”