Bound By Blood (23 page)

             
Decide
? She
wanted to laugh if she could. Sarcasm spread through her mind
like a wild fire
as she fought to remain in control of herself and her action
s, w
restled with his
power that
proved to be more than just dominant
.
To
decide
something meant that you had a choice. Did she have a choice?
             

             
“
Daŕ
ēus
?”
Kaléé’s
voice choked on what could possibly be nervous
ness
or surprise.
Kaléé
never choked
,
nor did she express
any
emotion that showed her being taken aback or completely floored.
But she did so now
,
which was enough to stump Samanthŕa
.
She wobbled towards him slowly, balancing herself with her staff, w
ith
her head slightly bowed. She moved in a way which questioned if he was real or merely
a
ghost
--
and
what
was even stranger, other Lycãons followed
.
Rameŕas
, becoming man again,
also bowed as if he
knew
whatever it was that stole
Kaléé’s
attention.
The
others, as confused and unknowing as Samanthŕa,
simply stood back and looked
on
with utter dismay. The sisters were
literally
frozen
.

             
B
ut
this
Daŕ
ēus
. . . as Kaléé called him . . .
never took his eyes away from
Samanthŕa
. He still held out his hand for her to take it
.
In some strange way, she held his attention. In a very obvious way, he held hers.

             
His power continued to move through her
, consume her,
and intrigue
her
. It caused her hand to rise and for some reason she could not fight it. Did she want to fight it? Was her misfortune of being so curious finally working against her?

             
No,
she thought, if her thoughts were her own
, I do not want to fight it.
He was to
o
interesting, to
o
bright,
and too
mysterious. His power was to
o
intoxicating, familiar even though it was so new. It made her senses tingle, her hunger soar to unreachable depths. She was to
o
comfortable to fight it, to
o
enthralled to desire a fight.

             
Her fingers grazed his a
nd
an electrical current tickled the tips of them. White light sparked as his large powerful hands slid past her palm. She trembled
,
but not from fear. His light was rapture, drawing her up and into him. The world stood still, time froze again
;
only instead of slow motion, all else disappeared
and faded
. Everything around them became hazy blurs and the only distinct outline was his face,
his
eyes.

             
She thought to withdraw, if she was able to think at all. His blood, his power, had triggered the first signs of her
A
wakening before. She needed to withdraw, she repeatedly screamed at herself
,
but couldn’t.

             
Dear Goddess
,
I can’t
--
and she didn’t. She took his hand and felt him pull her up to him. She felt him pull back his power slightly though
,
so that the dizziness and drunkenness she
’d
beg
u
n to feel receded.
What
i
s he?
She
kept wondering. She had never sensed an immortal like him. Not even ones like
Dĩas
or her mother wielded such power.

             
She still sensed his blood
,
even
if
the wound had healed; it was still freshly upon
his skin. Her fangs were
peaking
again
. Her beast was still struggling
.

             
“Who are you?”
s
he managed to whisper. His head tilted as if her question either amused him or intri
g
ued him. It was hard to tell.
"
What
are you?"

             
Voices came from the forest. They were loud voices which were mixed with shouting, growling and calling. Out of the forest
’
s throat,
Dĩas
and the more experienced
Strygĩ
warriors appeared.

             
"Curse you Dĩas!" Kaléé spewed with hate. "How dare you show now, after we barely survived!"

             
"Stop your accusations
cursed
c
rone!" Dĩas yelled back.
“We
came as soon as word entered the Higher
Realm
that the
Lycãons
were under attack.
Our
magic was affected
,
so
we had
to take horses
,
until finally whatever hand of power worked against
us let
up enough so that
we
could mist.
” Dĩas
wasn’t happy. For
once,
his expression showed
it
. His unhappiness only became grimmer once he saw
Saman
thŕa
and the
n the
one who stood by her.

             
Daŕ
ēus’
hold of power let go of
Samanthŕa
completely. She nearly lost her footing
when a
new
dizziness caused her to sway.

             
His head snapped around towards
Dĩas
and he let out a low warning growl. Whoever he was, he clearly did not like her father.
Whoever he was, her father clearly did not like him.

             
Samanthŕa
came back to her senses as if someone
suddenly
slapped her awake.
She
tried to shake the blurriness from her
head. Her luck seemed so foul this night.
First,
she was
in peril
at the
T
avern
, then
in
the forest
,
and then she was attacked on the sacred grounds of the
Lycãons
. This giant, this large massive beast of a god-like man was gleaming over her. This force of nature she failed to understand; who
Kaléé
seemed to know
--
and now
Dĩas
.
Dĩas
was possibly worse than all of tonight’s events put together. She pondered that for a second
, too
. Yes, she was sure of it.
Dĩas
was worse and whatever wrath he would plague her with would seem like nothing compared to the battle she barely survived.

             
And, just as she expected, h
er father
began to storm towards her. The weight of h
is armor was crushing the soils
below. His face tightened and his energy
was
horrific.

             
“
I’d
have
been better off if the Nosophoros killed me.”
Samanthŕa
hissed low from
be
neath her breath, without thinking. She quickly looked at her sisters who were shivering behind her
.
She told them in their minds.
“You only came here to bring me back home. You found out I snuck away and came
only
to fetch me. Tell him no different!”

             
Daŕ
ēus
turned his head
back
towards her. It slightly tilted
to one side as
his eyes studied her words
--
and thoughts.
Did he hear her mind speak? How was that possible? Was it even possible? Maybe he only found amusement in what she spoke out loud. Yes, that had to be it.
             
Her
voiced words were what
amuse
d
him
and
his mouth exposed a fiend
’s
grin. His
attention seemed shattered
, though, once
Dĩas
came to
o
close. Daŕ
ēus sounded off a
warning growl.
             

             
Her father froze.
“
Samanthŕa,
move away from him!”
Dĩas
barked his order. He started to reach for her when
Daŕ
ēus
stepped in between them and started growling even louder. He was like a wolf protecting something from another beast or showing his strength before another blindly challeng
ing
him. The sound was deep and ferocious. It made
Samanthŕa
freeze. A chill latched onto her neck and ran repeatedly down her back.

             
Is
he
Lycãon
?
She
wondered
,
as she
became all
too
aware of the fear in
Dĩas’ face
. That disturbed her more. She had never seen fear in
Dĩas
before. She took a few steps back
,
truly w
e
ary of this
Daŕ
ēus
now. She remembered her first thoughts when she
’d
seen him this night. How frightening he was. In fact, she
’d
kept that opinion until just
now
. What had changed it? Was she ignoring her instincts?

             
“It is
you
who should move away from
her
.”
Daŕ
ēus
spoke. His voice was deep and penetrating just as it had been in the forest. It was hypnotizing. She had to shake it off. She was being drawn by the power. That had to be it. Power like that was addicting. She had never experienced it before but she
had
heard stories from
Dĩas
and the Elders about it. It was the kind of power
that
drove fools like
Monéaklá
off the edge of a cliff
.

             
Monéaklá couldn’t
survive this kind of power,
she thought.
The worthless wench would try
,
though.

             
"It is you, Daŕ
ēus!" Kaléé sounded far too emotional, but only Samanth
ŕa noticed. The two males before her could not see past their hate.

             
“Do not dare to give me orders!”
Dĩas
roared. Fear lurked somewhere in his voice still
, a
hint of nervousness
,
flustered and
with
a touch of reservation. He raised his staff of power.
             
Daŕ
ēus
didn’t budge.
Samanthŕa
shut her eyes but her pesky curiosity opened them again. She didn’t want to see what might happen
,
but then again
,
she knew she couldn’t miss it.

             
“That’s enough
,
Dĩas.
Put your staff down for h
e
is
the
F
ather of the Blood. He is the thirteenth bloodline!
"