Twilight War (2 page)

“So that is why
the council hired Sai masters to train me?”

The Lioness
gave a slight nod. “Once we knew how to kill the evil fiends, we
employed ordained masters to school you.”

“Why only
me?”

“We tried
training a few select others. They couldn’t seem to catch on. But
you…you took to the Sai as if you’d been born with them in your
hands. We knew that you were the prodigy—the one to carry on in
your mother’s place.”

Flame thought
back to the days of her youth and how easily wielding the daggers
had come to her. Even now, they felt perfectly natural. “I’ll
finish what my mother started. The Twilight Master will pay for
taking her. He’ll regret sending his
favorite tool
after
me.”

“Be careful,
Flame. Fight with your heart not for revenge.”

“I will.” She
reached for her daggers. “Whatever happened to my ghoul of a
father?”

“Nobody knows.
He simply vanished without a trace, most likely from humiliation
over losing his power of seduction.”

“Hm.” Flame
lifted a blade and watched light from a haunting October moon glint
off the gold metal. “Maybe we’ll cross paths.”

“He may not be
as evil as you think. We do not know which side he chose, if any.
He may be hanging in the bounds. According to your mother, he
did
risk damnation to save you.”

Flame gazed
into the distance. “How noble of him. I’ll be sure to thank him if
we meet.”

“Flame…don’t
let fury be your guide. We don’t want to lose you, too.”

She bowed her
head in respect. “You won’t lose me.” Her grip tightened on her
daggers as she turned to go.

“Don’t forget,”
the Lioness cautioned. “The Twilight Realm becomes more powerful
each time he mates, especially when one of those matings result in
offspring. He has shown us now, that two conceptions have
occurred.”

“Cassie’s
infant.” Flame spun around. “That’s why my mother placed me into
hiding. She knew the evil side would use me as its catalyst like it
did to Cassie. The incubus wants me for breeding, to spawn more if
its fiends.”

“Yes.”

“The first
Satellite failed by losing track of me, so he lost his power?”

The Lioness
nodded. “His power of seduction, yes, but your mother did not
choose to reveal what manner of punishment the Twilight delivered
to its failed tool.”

“Failed
fool
is more the word. What could possibly make anyone bow
to evil?”

“Sometimes,
mortals find themselves in over their heads and they make rash
decisions in the heat of a moment. Do not judge the actions of
others. You will face challenges in this war that will push you
into places you’ve never been. When you find yourself staring evil
in the face, you won’t want anyone using your own measuring stick
against you.”

“You think I’ll
slip up as my mother did?”

“Do I think
you’ll falter? Yes. Do I think you will fail? No, Flame Tahira
Rennie…I believe you will win this war for us.” She paused with
open affection in her eyes. “I say these things so that when it’s
all said and done, you can still like what you see in the
mirror.”

Flame stared
back in silence. The seriousness of her mission had just smacked
her in the face full force. Suddenly she realized that anger and
overconfidence would not serve her well. “I understand. I’m sorry
for my snippy attitude.”

“I gave you a
lot to process. Don’t stress over the conflict in your soul, as
there will be more. Much more.”

“My mother got
in over her head, didn’t she?”

“Yes. And now
you have come forward of your own free will to pursue the same
path. Surely, you see the parallels and why I am concerned.”

“I’ll be
careful.”

“Trust no one.
Lean on your intuition. Be prepared for the unexpected. The
Satellite must not prevail.” An unsettling expression flickered in
her beautiful eyes. “It’s you…or him.”

She watched her
supreme ruler fade into the enchanting mist over the pond then
disappear. Night had fallen during the course of their meeting. She
decided to pass on stopping by the main house to visit Naami, their
queen, as the hour had grown late. Her visit with the Lioness had
taken much longer than anticipated yet Flame felt grateful that her
ruler had taken the time to fill in the blanks of her past. She’d
always wondered about her parents—now she knew.

The serenity of
her native village embraced her as she strolled along the outer
edges of the dwelling area. Dome-shaped golden brick huts shimmered
in the light of a rising silvery moon. Dew glistened on the lush
grass far into the distance of their large hidden colony. She loved
this place, a little slice of heaven tucked away in the midst of a
commercial world. They had become self sufficient by growing their
own crops, tapping into the clean springs and taking in women with
many talents. Doctors, lawyers, and females with various skills
offered their services in exchange for asylum.

She plucked
some sugar cubes from a nearby bush and smiled. They had everything
they needed to independently thrive and only native sisterhood
members left the village to visit the outside world. Women given
sanctuary from abuse and other dangerous situations remained within
the safety of the grounds.

The pride of
their colony was their genetics lab where gifted women created the
rare hybrid foods, plants, and promoted the breeding of their
mystical horses. Everything in their village was still pure—the
water, the crops, the trees, and most of all the hearts of all who
resided here.

She gave a low
whistle. Her majestic white stallion lifted his head, white mane
billowing in a soft night breeze. He left his pack of beautiful
mares in the lower meadow to graze, and galloped toward her. She
spotted her mother’s gorgeous mare among the herd—a stunning golden
palomino. Pangs of sorrow tugged at her heart as she recalled
riding and caring for Paloma in her youth. Receiving her mother’s
horse had been the one consolation over never having seen Tahira.
The mare had been one of the first to receive a highly advanced
serum that granted immortality. The biochemist team had chosen
Paloma first because of her age, and to everyone’s astounding joy,
the serum worked.

Flame sighed
and smiled. At least she would always have one tangible connection
to her beloved, brave mother. And the mare’s first offspring had
been given to her as a graduation gift upon completing her training
with the Sai masters. Odyssey had been naturally born with mystical
powers.

“You, my
friend, are an amazing horse. Take good care of those mares while
I’m out fighting evil fiends.”

He shook his
head as if he understood, making her smile again.

After pulling a
handful of raw sugar cubes from her pocket and offering them to
him, she swung herself onto his back and prepared for the mystical
passage through the wall of trees that hid their untainted
domain.

“Okay,
Odyssey.” She clucked softly to him. “Back to reality I go.”

* * * *

“Hello, Flame
with-no-last-name.” He cocked one sarcastic brow. “You seem to
simply mysteriously appear from out of nowhere.”

She half turned
after emerging from the dense woods. He visually took her in and
did a slow once over. Her enchanting allure hadn’t waned one bit,
even though she’d killed him.

An amused grin
tugged at her naturally pouty lips. “I could say the same, Von
Calder.”

“Ah…but at
least you know my full name.”

“And I know why
you’re following me. I’m wise to your tricks now so don’t try your
little seduction routine.”

“You wound me.”
He placed a hand over his heart in feigned insult. “If I recall, it
was anything but little.”

“No confidence
problems in you, are there?”

“Hardly,” he
said with a wink. “Strange that you don’t seem surprised to see me.
Have an encounter with a certain female, perhaps?”

“Perhaps.” She
stepped from the shadows of the tree line into the moonlight, then
gasped. “Your eyes…”

He shrugged
with a wry grin. “I got too close to the light when you killed
me.”

Staggering
backward, she reached for the daggers at her sides. “I have no
qualms about doing it again so watch your step.”

He didn’t
respond straight away. He simply wanted to gaze upon the woman
who’d almost surrendered to his pursuit. The taste, smell, and feel
of her from that encounter burned in all his senses, even now, even
after experiencing death. His gaze swept over her long mane of
golden hair, tumbling carelessly past her shoulders. In one
sweeping look he took in her sultry dark blue eyes, her luscious
body, and killer legs bathed in skintight leather. She still wore
her cropped leather jacket that bared the sexy midriff he longed to
kiss. Every bit the angel and nonetheless a fiery warrior—she made
him burn inside.

Using his newly
enhanced powers, he whooshed to her side in a flash, snaking an arm
around her waist. “I have no fear.” He pulled her tightly against
him and lowered his head to her neck. She smelled delicious. “You
won’t kill me again. You need me this time.”

“How did you
move like that?”

“Apparently
coming back from the dead…
twice
…left me with
certain…
gifts
.” His teeth grazed the sweet fragrant skin of
her neck for a brief instant.

Staring back at
him in open shock, she panted for breath. “Your eyes are
very…blue…or green or both…how can that be? When I last saw you,
they were black.”

He stared down
at her with a slight grin. “Apparently when you drove one of your
flaming daggers through my heart, I saw the light.”

She didn’t
appear amused by his wit. He frowned.

“I-I know what
you did to Cassie. I know how you came back.”

“Unfortunate
that Cassie had to die, don’t you think?” He couldn’t withhold a
smirk of satisfaction. “And you took Ian out, too. I’m your biggest
fan, sugar.”

“You have no
heart.”

“I did.” He
moved his lips very close to hers. “Until some warrior woman came
along and stole it then plunged a fiery blade straight through
it.”

“I had to.
You’re the Satellite.”

“Hm. Well,
true. Yet if you’d listened to me and let me love you, we’d be
farther ahead by now.”

“Ahead of
what?”

“Haven’t you
figured it out?” he whispered close to her ear. “You need me to win
this war.”

Her head jerked
up. “I work alone.”

“In the past,
yes, but now you’re going to need someone on the inside. What I
told you was true.”

“Don’t get your
hopes up on history repeating itself.”

He arched
curious brows. “How so?”

She scoffed.
“Don’t insult me.”

“Ah, so the
Lioness finally told you.” He tilted his head to catch her eyes
with his. “I waited a long time for the first Satellite to fuck up
so I could end this curse.”

The stunned
look in her eyes revealed the truth. “You know my father?”

“Knew. He
failed. I won’t. Therefore, history won’t be repeating itself in
that area. However, he was not entirely useless. He did sire
you
…the prodigy we need to restore balance.” He searched her
eyes, keeping contact. “I see where you get your beauty and it’s
not from your pathetic excuse of a father.”

“You knew my
mother, too? How long have you been alive?”

“Too long.” He
sighed. “And yes, I knew her. She was brave. Though she failed in
her mission, she triumphed when she got you out of the way. We
waited a long time for you to reveal yourself. A very long time
indeed.”

“So you’re my
father’s replacement, sent to finish what he started yet failed to
do.”

“That’s one way
of putting it,” he said matter-of-fact-like. “Somebody needs to end
this.”

“End what?”

“The curse.” He
cupped her chin with one hand. “Tell me, Flame, when is the last
time you felt love or genuine affection from a man?”

“I’m not
telling you my personal life,” she snapped.

“I’ve burned
with unrequited love for longer than you’ve been alive. Your father
could’ve ended this agony but he chose to let you go. I won’t make
the same mistake.”

“And you’re
telling me this, why?”

He saw the fear
in her eyes as much as he saw the fury. He wanted nothing more than
to take her right there. Yet, this time the war would be won. “The
first Satellite only compounded matters. Because of his stupidity,
the curse on the rest of us has worsened. I will not weaken. I will
not waver when the time comes.”

“You’re not
getting my soul.” Determination flashed across her face.

“It’s not your
soul I’m after.” He brushed his lips against hers then released
her.

“You’re letting
me go?”

He gave a short
nod. “For now.”

Immediately she
backed away, sheer distrust shining in those pretty eyes. “Tell me,
Von, what was your crime? What sordid deed landed you in the evil
realm? What did you do?”

“Trusted a
friend.”

She slanted him
a quizzical look then turned to go. His gaze went to her fine ass
as she began sauntering away.

“Oh, Flame,” he
called in a soft voice before she disappeared into the night.

She stopped but
didn’t turn to face him.

He sighed
again, then shrugged. “The next time we meet, I won’t be such a
gentleman.”

“And I won’t be
such a lady,” she countered much to his surprise, then she walked
away.

Chapter
Two

Flame dropped
to her knees upon reaching the Harley she’d stashed in the woods
far from where she’d come out. How Von had known where she’d make
her exit, baffled her. She always used extreme caution to avoid
followers. Her heart pounded and her body trembled inside from the
unexpected run-in with Von. Clearly, he was following her but she
never expected to see him so close to her village. She gasped for
breath to steady her nerves. The effect he had on her was alarming.
She flopped onto the grass and stared up at the moon.