Vilmo's Wrath: Deglon Blood (12 page)

Mia gets lost in memories, thinking about the nights she rocked her girls in her rocking chair until they fell asleep to the sound of the lullaby she sang. Mia jumps at the sound of Zen calling her name.

“Mia. Mia, you okay?”

“What? Oh, yeah. That’s great.”

“Everything will be okay,” he says.

Mia nods, meeting the hope in his dreamy eyes.

At that moment, things looked brighter. Her heart is fuller, and happiness creeps out from its hiding place. All of her life she thought only one destiny had been written for her. She thought her life would start and end with Noah, never thinking it would be possible for her to fall for another.
Could it be possible my destiny has changed just as our world has or did destiny have more than one plan for me?
Mia thinks. As Zen and Mia stare at each other, many questions flow through Mia’s mind. All she wants is to be as lost in his heart as she is in his eyes. Although he is not Noah’s replacement Mia knows at that moment Zen is her Szion.

“You weren’t sent here for me?”

Zen smiles.

“No, but I want to be here for you.”

Mia grins bashfully.

N
ora climbs out of bed realizing that she is not in her house. The room was filled with her things, but this is definitely not her house. Instantaneous flashes of Mr. Hingi sends panic through her. The door opens. Her heart almost jumps out of her chest. There he stands, holding breakfast, just as she remembers him.

“Robbie,” she whispers.

Once again, her legs grow weak, but as always she never hits the floor. Robbie gently holds her as she sobs into his chest as he places the tray of breakfast on the dresser. He kisses her and sits her on the bed. Although they have a lot to talk about, words are not what Nora wants. Nora pulls him into bed, they wrap around each other and make love. With each stroke, they see only the most beautiful parts of the world. Robbie once promised Nora the world, but she never imagined he could actually give it to her.

Nora clings to Robbie all day. Neither of them leaves the bed, except for the occasional trips to the bathroom. Most of the day, they lay in silence embracing each other, watching TV, grateful to have another chance to make their time together count. Evening comes fast and Nora’s stomach starts yelling for nourishment.

“Let's eat,” she says, wrapping a sheet around her body.

“Good idea, I’m starving. By the way, I have something I need to talk to you about,” Robbie says.

“Haven’t you noticed, Robbie? I really don’t want to talk about anything. I spent the whole day trying not to think about what happened. Which reminds me, don’t you ever make me sleep that way again!”

They stop in the hall and Robbie laughs.

“That was for your own good. You wouldn’t listen to me.”

“You were a stranger, hitting on me. What did you think I would do? Jump into your arms? Well, maybe I should have—you did look good and that Mr. Hingi sure had me going,” Nora joked.

Robbie smiles and wraps his arms around her waist.

“If you like that look better, I can change back,” he says kissing her.

Nora touches his face and smiles.

“No, there is no better look than this one right here. I love you, Robbie.”

“I love you,” he says, lifting her from her feet.

He sits her on a stool at the Kitchen Island.

“I know you are hurting, Nora. I am too. But we can’t stop. There is a lot more I have to tell you, and it can’t wait until tomorrow,” he says sliding her a bowl of grapes.

“What am I going to turn into a flying monster? I’m good with that as long as I’m not a hideous monster,” Nora says.

Robbie laughs.

“You never know you might, and you could never be hideous,” he says, putting the grapes in her lap and spinning her around on the stool until she faces the living room. “First, I want you to see your new house.”

Nora hadn’t even noticed the huge kitchen, she sat in. It has large stainless steel appliances, with a huge island with black marble countertop and six wooden stools.

“Robbie, whose house are we in? Where are we? Are we in Boligon? Earth doesn’t have stuff like this,” Nora says, walking into the huge family room. It's just as amazing as the kitchen. It’s loaded with the same charming ivory leather furniture and glass tables from the other house. The floors are covered with soft white carpet that brightens the ivory walls. Heat rises from the lit wicks of the candles sitting all around the house. The fire blazes brighter as a log shifts in the large marble fireplace, giving off no heat, just beauty.

Nora roams the rest of the house moving slowly from room to room. On the far side of the house were three extra rooms. Nora peeks her head in the first two. Both rooms have full bathrooms and are perfectly furnished like a high-class hotel room. She smiles and heads back to the living-room and stands by the fire.

Nora inhales deeply and smiles as the aroma of garlic and butter mixed with the scent of lilac scented candles hits her face. Her hunger kicks into overdrive and her stomach growls. Curiously, she holds out her hand, wondering if she got close enough, would she feel the warmth of the beautiful flames that sway softly from side to side in almost a hypnotic motion? Nora gasps when she notices the huge diamond ring on her finger. The sparkling two-carat diamond ring makes her promise ring look like a toy.

Before she can say anything to Robbie, he wraps his arms around her from behind.

“Well, Mrs. Hingi. What do you think of our new home? It was a wedding gift from the gods.”

His words echo (Mrs. Hingi … a gift from the gods?)

“Did I sleep through something?”

Robbie smiles.

“Come Nora, sit down.”

He starts to explain fast to diffuse the awkwardness that obviously shows in Nora’s facial expression.

“The final stage of our bond, was marriage. This happened the first time we made love. This is our home in Canada.”

Nora laughs.

“Oh, you almost had me,” she says.

She pretends to misunderstand to hide her fear, but Robbie sees right through it.

“We are married?” she whispers.

Her smile fades.

“Yes,” he answers.

“We’re in Canada? Our home was given to us by gods? I don’t get the wedding or the dress. Man—I really wanted a dress.”

“You can have as many dresses as you like. We can go today and get you a dress,” Robbie says.

“Why? Why would gods give us anything?”

“Listen, Nora,” Robbie says getting to his feet.

He prepares their dinner plates as he explains. Nora sits silently, not in disbelieve, only in fear. She knew Robbie wouldn’t lie to her, but this is one of those times she wished all that he was saying was untrue.

Robbie explains what happened in the cave.

“There is no easy way to explain all of this insanity, so I will explain it the fastest way I can. Nora, your father was the strongest Szion alive. You and your sister gave him and your mother great strength when you were born. There is no way that he could have been killed by a Light or a Shadow—unless he surrendered his life. Our fathers gave their lives to us so that we could end Dumont. They gave us endless powers by leaving us. That feeling of life being sucked from your body, moments before you died, was Aria. She was trying to take your soul and gain your powers. She succeeded in taking the old Nora’s powers, but your soul and new powers were protected by our bond and the gift of life from your father.”

Nora understood completely. She remembered the strength she felt when she awoke in that cave. Now that she knew where it came from she wished her father would have just let her die. She would have gladly given her life for his.

“Nora, we died that night, we had to in order to accept our father’s gift. On that night, the gods wanted to destroy this world. I asked for them to give it to me—to us,” Robbie says with a worried look on his face.

He didn’t know how Nora would react and feared she couldn’t handle it.

Nora’s chest hurt with confusion. She fights the anger that sets in. Just thinking about that night enrages her.

“What? Why would you do that? Robbie, we know nothing about … Where did you go? Why the other look?” she asks, still trying not to lose her temper.

“I’m sorry. When a Szion is killed, we are taken home. Normally that means our time on earth is over and we can no longer return, but just as my birth and childhood, rules do not work the same for me. It wasn’t until I went home that I found out why. I found out something your father knew the moment it happened. It is what drove him to do what he did.

“I was only to come back for true love. I was only to be with you in this second life if you were strong enough to feel our bond even after death or thinking about my life before your own. Normally after a Szion’s death their Vilmo will no longer feel their bond and can love another.  I told them you would, but you even surprised me. The disguise was for safety, you were not supposed to be able to feel me while in that disguise, but you did at first glance. Hingi is the name we start our new life with.”

“So, I was put through a test?”

“Yes. They had to be sure.”

“Why can't the gods just kill Dumont and be done with this?” Nora asks.

“Dumont was blessed with a part of each of them. It is the only way another being would be strong enough to be a protector of the gods. Although Dumont weakens daily, he is still very strong. The gods no longer will help this world. The test was to see if you could rule with your whole heart and fight for our love, which is the only way to save this world.”

“No, Robbie. I can't lead anything and besides, I didn’t do anything but call for help. Why wouldn’t you talk to me about this first?”

“Talk to you? I was dead. They were going to blow up the planet. I would have done anything to protect my family. There was no other way. Nora, you did much more than call for help. When you were dying, you were suffering and you only called for me. Not because you wanted me to save you, but because you needed to know I was okay. You found your way home with only my voice that you did not hear. You felt me, even when the gods disguised me in a way impossible for any being to detect. Nora your love for me is why we stand here right now. My love for you is why I asked for this responsibility,” Robbie says.

“So, what does that mean? The two of us still have an army to fight. This is an impossible task, Robbie. What do they expect us to do?”

“Nothing is impossible, Nora. Besides if we don’t save this world the gods will destroy it. Which means we will all die. They will not allow this world to be conjured by the Shadows. Boligon is no longer home for the Szion that are on earth. The only hope this world and these people have is us,” Robbie says.

“What are we supposed to do? Do you even know where we should start?”

“For now we have only one target, your sister,” Robbie says, softly.

The surprised look upon Nora’s face is not one of disbelief even though it may look like it. She knew Aria was alive. The moment Robbie told her about Aria, she knew the utter coldness she felt with every nightmare was her sister. Nora knew then her dreams told more than she could explain. She knew they were showing her how she was to kill her twin, or how Aria would kill her.
It was her in that cave. She is the reason my father is dead
, Nora thinks to herself, drifting into the memory of the night her father was taken from her.

“Nora, you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just that…”

“Don’t worry about your dreams. I have blocked them,” Robbie says.

“I know, but …”

“Nora, there is one other thing we must discuss.”

“Robbie, gods? I don’t know. I mean, do you think we can do this?”

Robbie smiles.

“It’s no longer up to us. It is meant to be.”

“I don’t think I'll ever understand any of this, but if we are all going to die we might as well go down with a bang. There has been something troubling me. In the cave, you said our fathers gave their lives. How is it Uncle Rod was killed so easily?”

“He wasn’t killed easily, he too gave his life. Come with me, there is more to all of this. Have you taken a look at yourself since the change?” Robbie asks.

“More? Why is there always more?”

Nora shakes her head, she hadn’t. Nervousness fills her as she follows him into the bathroom, unsure of what to expect.

“What does my appearance have to do with Uncle Rod?”

“Nora, just trust me.”

The large master bathroom is surrounded by mirrors and porcelain angels border the walls. Unable to say or do anything but stare. Nora goes over every part of the unfamiliar reflection slowly. Robbie stands in the doorway, smiling. Nora drops the sheet that wrapped her naked body and trace her new perfectly tight, muscular curves with her hands. Her long brown hair glistened with golden flakes.  Her skin was flawless and her eyes were now hazel, with a silver trim.

Robbie wraps his arms around her waist from behind.

“You see, a lot has changed. Remember when I told you your father knew something about you that we didn’t know? The bond you and your father shared, gave him the ability to feel something that you and even I missed. He felt it when this happened,” Robbie says, placing his hands on her stomach.