Wingless And Damned (The Damned Series) (3 page)

Chapter
Three

Aison rushes across the floor to grab the pregnant tribal woman and get her as far from the savages as possible.

I do not hurt innocents
he keeps telling himself as he smells her blood and knows the birth is near! He rushes down the same corridor he'd just walked down the day before with an unconscious Ciarra. All I want to do is get back to Ciarra. I can feel how they are ravaging her delicate body! Feeling her pain and hearing her urgent cries for help, I cannot help but feel my bloodlust coming to a breaking point. I try to will my thoughts to carry to her.
“Hold on, I will be with you in a moment!”

I use my
Strigoi speed and rush the pregnant one to the bed, locking the chamber door on my way back out.

Just as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I noticed hers quieted! She is gone! Not able to
stop until I see for myself what they have done to her I burst through and splinter the once impenetrable wooden doors, shocking the hell out of whoever remains by my Ciarra.

I see a horrific sight, even for me. I growl to the other
originals, “What have you done to mine? She is mine! Not yours to have your way with!”

Reaching out, I smack at the lesser of us as he is removing himself from her broken, bloody body.
Her thick long ebony curls have stuck to the cavern floor from the blood, which has pooled under her delicate broken body. Her once tall lean frame and ample bosom is now laid in a crumpled pile of bloody mess. Her beautiful ruby red lips are now ashen like the ashes in the deepest darkest pits of the hell I have created. Her soft milky skin now sallow of all essence unlike my quick touch of her once rosy cheeks when I placed her robe upon her.

Feeling a sense of hope, I hear the very slight beating of her heart and a rattling breathing. Screaming her name, I rush to her side. “Wake up!” Cataloging her injuries, I know there is no way to revive her other than to bring her all the way over.
Damned as I am, I will not see this beautiful woman ruined because of me
.

Leaning down, I whisper a plea to her, “Drink, Ciarra. Please drink; it will heal your body. Your mind I will deal with later.”

She slowly opens her mouth and takes from my pinky finger a few drops of my blood. She takes it very slowly at first, and then the thirst kicks in and makes her more ferocious. I pull my finger out of her mouth and watch in horror as the transformation begins the healing process. I hear her bones breaking and steeling back into place, making me wince. Ciarra is writhing in pain as I try to hold her to my chest. Gently placing her on the altar, I turn to deal with the rest of the group still standing around us. I glare at the closest of us and to my astonishment, they all disperse the moment I met each gaze.

Taking it as a sign, I get Ciarra out of the altar room to where she can properly transform. Closely listening to our surroundings, I move at
Strigoi speed. Rushing through the passageway yet again, I forget I locked the pregnant one in the chamber upon my hasty exit. Juggling a bloody Ciarra in my arms, I clumsily unlock the door. I push the door open and gasp at another distressing site. As I tried to save a dying Ciarra in the altar room, the woman was alone and apparently so scared; she has started to birth the unborn nestled deep inside her. She now lies curled in on herself, crying out for help. I lay Ciarra on the bench next to the bed and slowly approach the shaking woman's side. I tell her it will all be fine, I swear on my existence I will let no harm come to her newborn.

I glance over at Ciarra who is just starting to come to as her transformation finishes its amazing repairs on her body. I see her sit up and glance over to us as the laboring woman continues her painful cries. I see her beautiful dark eyes regaining focus. Clearly, she now grasps what has transpired around her as her broken body mended itself. I feel an amazing surge of relief as she gets up and examines her newly repaired body.

She rushes to the woman's side to help her.

Chapter Four

Awaking from a horrible dream, I notice Kimi is birthing on the bed. She is crying out for help as I see Aison plainly at a loss as he tries to calm her and help her with her labor. I move beside him and smile as he looks at me with heavy eyes, actual concern there for Kimi in this moment. Brushing my hand over his shoulder, he mouths “thank you” and I can see the relief in his eyes. Aison removes himself from Kimi’s side and walks to the bench behind us. I tell Kimi she needs to push or the baby will tear her.

At my urging, Kimi strains to do as I have
told her. She pushes with the painful contractions as the baby slowly makes its way into this hard world of ours. Taking the little girl, I look her over and then place her on Kimi’s quickly fading body. Kimi grasps at the baby and immediately begins to sob, not knowing what will become of this beautiful baby.

She kisses the beautiful black curls on the top of the baby’s head.

With tears threatening to overfill my eyes I tell her, “You need to name her, now! You are fading fast!”

She glances at me and nods in agreement; I am sure she feels the cold hand of death approaching quickly with each dying breath she takes.

She finally manages, between sobs, to gasp out, “You will be forever known as Lea. You will change this horrible world with your beautiful immortality.” When the words escape her beautiful lips, her last breath rattles in her chest.

Wiping away a
tear, I am now faced with the stark reality of knowing I have to get Lea to safety. I'm not sure if my having her is the safest place for her to be.

I scoop up Lea
, and look over at Aison who just gives me a sad look with his grim red eyes. I slowly start walking to the chamber door with the beautiful angel of a baby cradled in my arms. Aison opens the door for us to walk through. We walk in silence but evidently, he is aware I am terrified and have no idea what we should do with this baby.

“Everything will be all right; we just have to get her out of here.”

We walked through the altar room, and I saw curled up in the corner were the two beautiful Faeries. I completely forgot about the beautiful Fae who were under the compulsion of Strigoi.

Walking over to them, Aison quickly ripped their shackles attached to the cold stonewalls in half. The
Faeries jumped, as he got closer to them to remove the harsh iron from their wrists. When I saw their terrified reaction to him, I quickly said, “We are here to help not harm you.”

I see understanding in their eyes as they slowly nod their heads. I quickly try and gain their focus by introducing myself. “My name is Ciarra, this beautiful baby is
Lea, and his name is Aison.”

The beautiful
Fae with the black iridescent wings smiled at Lea then said, “My name is Nerria and this female is named Rossa.”

I cannot help but notice Rossa’s wings are half missing; her black and red wings are coiled in on themselves
, and look raw from this distance. Both Fae are covered in what only can be described as glitter. In what little light this cave of hell emanates, they are sparkling. Nerria has beautiful red hair and the most amazing milky white skin with blue and I think green sparkles. The green eyes on both the Fae are breathtaking. I don’t think I have ever seen a green eye with such little pigment. Rossa has black wavy hair with the same porcelain-like skin and the longest eyelashes I have ever seen.

Nerria stands and helps Rossa to her feet but stumbles. Nerria says something in an alien tongue, but Nerria’s alien language seems to help Rossa stable herself as she gains her composure.

Nerria walks over to Lea and me trying to ignore Aison as much as possible. Looking to Rossa as if for reassurance she says, “I must warn you and Aison, the dimension you have opened between this and the underworld have let in something very dark and evil. It is close by and I don’t know any way other than our portals to transport Rossa, myself and one other pure of heart out of this depraved world you call home!”

I comprehend the full gravity of the situation and know she is talking about baby Lea. Not wanting to put her in any more danger than she already is, I nod in agreement. “Where will you take her? Will she be safe? Will I ever see her again?”

“Yes she will be safe, only the purest of hearts are able to step foot in Nalla Vareim. We shall raise Lea as our own; yes, you may see her. We will give you a communication crystal and whenever you would like to see her or talk to either Rossa or me, we will answer you.”

Rossa handed me a pulsating black crystal, and I could feel the powerful energy making it vibrate in my hands. “Thank you.” I kiss the beautiful Lea on her forehead and slowly hand her over to Nerria who steps forward with her arms extended. She carefully receives the hungry newborn.

Aison steps forward, wipes a single tear off of my cheek. “We will see her again.”

The moment Lea is in Nerria’s arms, I see a disturbance in the air in front of Nerria and Rossa and they disappear. I look down as tears overflow my eyes and I hold onto the pulsating crystal for dear life.

Wrapping my arm through Aison’s strong arm, we slowly walk to the staircase looming ahead of us.

He breaks the depressing silence. “We will see her again. They are wonderful
Fae, and will give her an amazing life among their own. We however have many enemies we have to prepare for.”

Chapter
Five

As soon as I recovered from my portal trip from Nalla Vareim, my head started to spin all over again. I sat down under a maple tree and just thanked God for the beautiful spring weather in the Adirondacks. Knowing all too well if it were winter I probably would have frozen to death in about 5 feet of snow. Standing up, I notice my legs are still wobbly.

I lose my temper with the knowledge I still haven’t become accustomed to being transported from my homeland. My aunts Nerria and Rossa keep telling me it will come in time and not to fret. I half smile to myself while walking through the clearing to reach the little cottage at the end. Seeing Anne’s black SUV at the front of her quaint little white cottage, has my feet moving at a pace to keep up with the enthusiasm threatening to escape my lips with a silly giggle. I jog up the walkway.

Anne greets me while screaming, “Lea!”

She has always looked sweet and matronly to me, but then again I am only twenty-five, almost twenty-six. Anne flings herself out the door and almost knocks me down. Giggling, I steady myself and step back to have a look at her. If not for all the little wrinkles around her eyes and
lips, I would not think she had aged at all. Her hair seems purple today and I don’t believe it was her intended color. I bend over to kiss her on her puffy pink cheek. This brings a big smile to her sweet face. She slips her arm inside of mine as we walk into her quaint cottage. When we step into her living room, I feel an overwhelmingly strong presence, which makes me realize we aren’t alone.

There, sitting on Anne’s comfortable couch, is the most handsome man my eyes have ever had the pleasure to look upon. The
good-looking man is only a few inches taller than my five feet seven inch frame and has raven black hair cut in a military style, different from the Fae I’m used to dating. He has the eeriest but most strikingly ice blue eyes, amazingly broad shoulders that just scream strength and power. Oh, so much sexiness wrapped into this amazing package.

Apparently,
I am staring because a smirk appears on his face. He stands coming to no more than four inches from where I am. He clears his throat and extends his hand to me. Reaching out to grasp his hand in a friendly shake, I can’t help but feel an unexplainable pull to him. His bare palm against mine feels as if it’s the most intimate of places touching. He obviously is aware of the amount of passion that seems to want to consume both of us. We both back up a few inches, hoping the flame will dissipate with some distance. It is nearly impossible to break eye contact with him. I see him swallow hard. We try for the niceties, both attempting and failing.

He finally speaks and says with a voice so amazingly deep and sexy, “My name is Alexander of the
Neuri clan; it is great to meet you.”

When he finishes
speaking, I blink a few times. “My name is Lea from Nalla Vareim,” just as the words of my homeland escape my lips, he starts circling me, obviously looking at me. I couldn’t help but feel insecure about what he was looking at so I turn with him instead of feeling foolish just standing there. I turn all the way around and catch him looking at my ass.

Anne clears her throat. “We have
tea or coffee if you prefer.”

He breaks the awkward stare. “Coffee please, Aunt Anne, and I am thinking Lea would also like a cup of coffee.”

Smiling I nod as if he read my mind.
I know he is a mortal so there is no way in hell he would be able to read my complicated mind.

Following Anne to the love seat, I sit on the edge of the cushion as Alexander rests on the center cushion. We both seem to be pulled by the same feeling of electricity since we sit as close to each other as possible. When I feel his leg rub against mine, a shiver cascades down my body.