S.A. Price (4 page)

THREE

John Merrick was here. The same John Merrick that professed his adoration for her not fifteen years before, the same man she thought was dead. The only man that had her heart was here with another woman, a goddamn hatchling, and obviously didn’t give a fig about promises made once upon a time. He’d been alive all this time, and he hadn’t contacted her, and she was the fool that locked her heart and body away from the world because of her love for him.

The last she had heard from him was a little over a decade ago, when he was going south to check out rumor that there was a nest thriving in Argentina. At the time, females were scarce, and while most didn’t leave their mates, or intended mates, Merrick was sent by his mother, the Archon of the only European nest, the Edinburgh nest, to investigate. News came soon after that Merrick had gone missing, then found dead in the nest in Argentina, his belongings there as well as his shifted body.

Elise mourned him, still did up until about twenty five minutes ago, when she saw him walk in with the young girl claming to be an Archon, standing proudly behind her, whispering in her ear like the lover he apparently was to her. Seeing him, her heart shattered, splintered, her chest was a torrent of pain as he moved through the room with her, not even sparing Elise a glance as he wrapped himself around his new loves’ body.

Not that her looks to him had been kind, but you don’t have a mate waiting for you and then not tell them you’re alive. She was sure news of his death had reached him, if it wasn’t actually facilitated by him, and she had hoped for a long time that it was false, and that he would show up on her doorstep one night, to pick up where they left off. Apparently he didn’t care about any of it.

She looked down at her left hand, to the smooth bone ring that fit snugly on her ring finger, his last gift to her all those years ago. It was a symbol of his nest, the ring passed down to the eldest son in hopes that he was strong enough to catch and marry an Archon, and hold his position. Well Merrick was all man, always was, and it appeared that he really didn’t care for the one Archon that his family had approved of as his mate to start a nest with, the nest Elise was now in charge of. His nest, since his disappearance and apparent untimely death had dwindled, and Elise had crossed the sea last year for the funereal of his mother, Solange. She had respected the hell out of that woman, and they had mourned the loss of Merrick together for a long while. It just seemed that Solange’s heart couldn’t ever mend knowing that her beloved son, her first born, and strongest, was gone. She had withered, and along with her, her nest had diminished and now fell into Ophidian legend.

A once strong Scottish nest was no more, and yet their prodigal son was here, with an Archon of his own, and had been living in Vegas, on the same continent as Elise for three years. And she, like an idiot and out of respect, still wore his ring, and didn’t mate!

True, since she heard of his untimely demise she hadn’t even cared about suitors, and had transposed in her will that if she were to die without an heir to carry on as Archon, Cindel, Philip and Vera’s first born, now twelve, would be named Archon of the New York nest and its territories. So no harm would be done, only to herself, as the man she loved was dead. Or so she believed. Up until now she had been perfectly content to be alone, without her mate, even becoming the only spinster Archon known in history out of respect for her lost love. She knew the others saw it as a sign of weakness, and

~16~

would no doubt play on that after the display at the meeting, and it killed her. Her happiness was there, right in front of her, and while the first thing she had felt when he walked into the room was relief, it soon turned to hurt. It took everything she had not to jump up and run to him, but it was obvious he wasn’t hers anymore.

“Son of a Bitch! A fucking hatchling!” she said as she pulled the ring off her finger and threw it across the room. She rushed after it, flexing her hand, the loss of its familiar weight too much to bare right then. She grabbed it as it bounced and slipped it back on, crying silently. She collapsed on the overlarge bed, hugging her knees to her chest, sobbing quietly.

Minutes later her cry fest was over, the need to feel sorry for herself passed. She had a job to do here, and John Merrick’s presence wasn’t going to change the fact that she was a respected Archon, one with a territory and a lot of people depending on her. She sat up, and rubbed her eyes, chuckling at the fact that she was going to have to re apply all her careful makeup before going out there and facing the sneers and hisses she knew were going to go on behind her back, and grabbed her cell. She had promised Remy, her usual and now retired Defteros, now Diarkos, or her voice while she was away, that she would call as soon as she found out what was going on.

“Downtime Studios.” The deep male voice on the other end of the phone purred. Elise smiled. One thing about Remy Crane, the man had a voice fit for seduction, which was probably why he was the singer of a very successful band. His mate, Chrissy, was a rock and roll mom as well, though their daughter Sapphire, wasn’t old enough yet, she would be soon, and the family was going to go on the road with Remy’s band. Though after this new development, Elise was sure Remy would change his plans if things didn’t improve. He was a rocker, yes, but he wasn’t insane. His family came first, always did, and always would.

“Remy, darlin, It seems we have a situation.”

Remy sighed. “Elise? So I take it it’s not a land dispute?”

“No, far from it. After what I just saw, I think it’s safe to say the shit has hit the fan.”

“Cursing? Wow, then it’s pretty serious. What’s up?”

“Girls have gone missing, the new nest has twenty-six girls missing, though I don’t know how a nest of that size sprang up without anyone knowing. I know Olivia is pissed and even more so that all those snakes were in her territory without her knowing.”

“Missing? What the fuck?”

“It’s a possibility we are being hunted Remy, and I’m not taking any chances. Call Andy back from the Hamptons, and get on the horn to all the snakes in the territory, give them a choice, they can either come to the compound until this shit is solved, or they have to congregate in the country houses. At least one Basilia per house, and they have to keep in contact with you at all times. I don’t think we are missing anyone but I don’t wanna take a chance.”

“Of course Archon. I’ll phone Reece and have him and Phillip get the house ready for guests. What is the game plan?”

“Keep in contact, no one goes anywhere alone. I don’t know if we haven’t been hit yet because we keep out in the open so much, or because they don’t know who we are, or if my past tactics have scared the shit outta them, but no chances okay?”

“Got it. So what’s with the new nest?”

Elise sighed and closed her eyes. She knew Remy would be the one to ask that, and she also knew that the only one of her nest she could talk to, aside from Myra, was Remy, because he knew how everything worked out. “I’m still not sure, really, the girl is young, like maybe thirty sheds, but it’s not her that’s got me all in a panic.”

“Ok… what then?” he asked as he exhaled. Remy never smoked in the house, but at the studio, it was all fair game.

“Merrick. He’s here with the new Archon, as her Defteros.” She didn’t have to explain anything else; Remy would know what that meant.

~17~

“What! Shit, he’s still alive? Son of a bitch! Where the fuck has he been!? Oh Elise, I’m so sorry…

Are you ok?”

Elise sniffled, counting so she didn’t break down again. “No, no I’m not ok in the least. But that’s hardly what this is about is it? I have a job to do; I can worry about my heart being stomped on later.

This is important, and as much as my heart says that seeing Merrick with another woman is important, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not. So I’ll worry about that when the time comes.” She took a deep breath and sobbed a bit. “She’s no more than a Hatchling Remy… and I’m the idiot trying to figure out what went wrong.”

Remy exhaled once again. “Well if you want, after all this is over, Reece and I will hunt his ass down and bring you his skin.”

“I’m not ruling that out Rem. I need to get refreshed and talk to Myra, and then sit through lunch with everyone while we decide what to do. I’ll be in contact.”

“No sweat Elise. Be careful, with everything.”

She hung up as Myra walked into her bedroom with a small frown on her face. “You ok Archon?”

“No, but is that any surprise? I will be shortly though. How are we on time?”

“Twenty minutes give or take a few. What did Remy say?”

“Nothing really, I have him rounding everyone up, and I figure I’ll call in a few hours to get an update on our people. So far though, all is quiet on the home front.”

“Well thank god for small favors. Will you be able to sit through this lunch with him in attendance?” She asked quietly. “I could kill him if you want.”

Elise chuckled, touched by how much her nest loved her. “No, Merrick wouldn’t let you get close enough, and he would be expecting it. Or at least some kind of acknowledgement. I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing I’m upset. Once this is over, I have some things I need to decide on, but I’m not mourning for him and what we had anymore. It’s not worth it.”

“As you say Archon.”

Elise nodded and smiled. “Since I have time, I’ll shower and freshen up. Do me a favor Myra?

Please pull out that green linen shirt and long skirt I brought with me. I wish to be unrestricted for the rest of today.”

Myra smiled and set to work as Elise walked into the bathroom. Her heart was heavy, but her resolve was set. Once this was over she would stop this nonsense, and move on. It was what he had done, and it was about time she did too.

~18~

FOUR

Her essence entered the dream rooms again, this time locked on his excitement, and not his agitation. When his emotions ran this high she never knew what she was in for when she entered his domain.

The mists cleared, and instead of her temple, a large palazzo gleamed before her in stunning sun kissed marble. She had refused to see him up until now, claming she needed to focus, to reach out into the ether and claim her vessels. She sent the names and images to him while he slept, but she wasn’t visible for those instances. It was mostly because it took a lot out of her, reaching out and searching. In the past weeks she had sent him over thirty names that could prove fruitful, but one name, one name shone brightly in her mind’s eye, one name was attached to a particularly bright light, one that Delphyne could latch onto and use to her whims. Evelyn.

Cristof came around an ionic column, decadence in its most subtle form, dressed in a pair of white lounge pants and no shirt, holding a glass of wine. As usual, he was sexy in his half clothed state, the shock of hair unruly and glinting in the dream sunshine. She really hoped he looked like this in reality.

Smiling she went to her knees and bowed her head. “My priest, you summoned me?” she asked in a small voice, playing up the docile goddess who without the help of her faithful priest wouldn’t ever gain a physical form. As if. Cristof was a means to an end, and as fond as she was of his astral body, his real ruthlessness and his calculating mind, he was really just a tool.

“We have her, my love.”

Delphyne grinned. This was indeed good news.

“Rise, darling, attend me.” He said and lounged on a chaise that appeared behind him.

She did, noticing her outfit of a lavender shift dress with a sage colored snake undulating up the silk. He was getting more creative, and more in control if he could manifest such intricacies. She crawled onto the seat, which lengthened into a sort of cushioned bench and relaxed on her stomach, her head on his lap. “Truly?” she asked with a sweet smile on her face.

“She’s in the holding area, and is sleeping off the effects of the chloroform. It won’t be damaging, aside from a slight headache. She was a fighter though, a lot of spirit.”

Delphyne closed her eyes. “This is good news, my priest. Very good. We mustn’t let this one slip away; she is the best possible vessel I could hope for. This must be handled well.”

“What do you suggest?” he asked as he stroked the soft coils of her hair, which was spread across his lap.

“She’s not going to be swayed by the average kind of man in your employ. We need someone that is dashing, and can play a hero and provider.”

He sipped his wine, moving his fingers from her hair to caress her cheek and upper neck. “I think I might have someone. He’s new, and hasn’t touched any of them so far. I doubt he will be able to resist the pin up girl.”

~19~

“Most men cannot. Let him do it to his own abilities, give him leeway. She has to feel secure, and he has to know we have faith in him. When she’s mine, I’ll need a bodyguard, nothing like having a man already addicted to her body to serve at that.”

“And shall he have you?”

“I rule nothing out my priest, we need loyal staff. Does sharing that body bother you?” she asked with scantily disguised scorn.

“Merely concerned those that don’t deserve your attentions will take advantage of them.”

She was disgusted with his mild annoyance. Once she was on the earth plane again she wouldn’t stand for any of his jealousies. As a goddess, it was her duty to bring as many into the fold as possible to keep her powerful, and she knew exactly what kind of worshippers she wanted, and they were all sexy, buff and able to keep her and her progeny safe. She bit back a venomous reply and sighed. “We will need someone able to mate my acolytes won’t we? So don’t worry. You won’t share that body long.” Because if you piss and complain I’ll decree you have outlived your usefulness. Which was something she planned to do anyway but sometimes, plans had to be stepped up for self-preservation.