Bound By Blood (36 page)

             
"Do not let her destroy them!" She wailed.

             
“Forget what you have seen
,
”
St
a
phãyn
growled. The last of his beast resonated in his throat.
Samanthŕa
felt it dying. It broke her heart.
To feel something so alive choke with what little life it had left. She wanted to die too.
Dear Goddess, what misery
!

             
“Why must you always meddle?
" He was so angry. "
All this time sitting here working
a
t our protection spells.
You sneak and break them!
Sometimes you can be as bad as
Dĩas
!”

             
“You think I would harm them?
You think I would harm your unborn babes?
”
Samanthŕa
was even more shocked now.
As if the thought of a Phãegen becoming pregnant by one of their bloodlines was not enough to throw her off the mountain of sanity, to think she would destroy any
child
of his? St
a
phãyn
had never spoken to her in anger before. He had never raised his voice. It nearly crushed her.

             
“Nay,”
h
e said with a lifeless voice. “But
Dĩas
and the Elders would.”

             
“
St
a
phãyn
, you sacrificed yourself for your unborn children? This I can understand
,
but you would have been able to protect them more if you had not renounced
-
-” She tried to say
it,
but he cut her off.

             
“
Listen to me.
” He let go of his woman and grabbed
Samanthŕa’s
arm. He forced her to him. His eyes were furious. “It is
not
the only reason. Now
go
,
before you bring trouble down upon my head. Meddle no more, woman.”

             
He pushed her back slightly
,
which nearly destroyed her.
St
a
phãyn
had also called her woman,
not
sister. She felt him slipping from her,
slipping
.
He was changing. He was distancing himself from her. It was crippling
,
especially in her condition. The woman behind him slightly smirked. To her and her jealous heart, this was a triumph
to ease
her insecurities.
Samanthŕa
could have easily made her regret that smirk. She was above that
,
though. A jealous
Phãegen
wench was
no match for
her but she didn't have to prove it. Her heart was too broken for such pity tricks.

             
Samanthŕa
moved away. She was thrown off. She was silent for a moment and then s
poke
softly. Her voice distanced itself
,
as h
is
had done
.
“You must leave and move further into the
realm
of
Phãegens
.
"

             
"What?" Stephãyn seemed surprised.

             
"
Maybe you can travel to the
realm
of NORSŔAH
,
for I am told they have resurfaced.
Since they are the masters of the
Phãegen
bloodline, maybe they will protect you and
these
children.” It was the only idea she had. This had never happened before and to be honest, she wasn’t even sure how it was physically possible. Still, there had to be some hope for him
and his children
. She needed to believe that. “
Travel during the day’s light.” She respected his decision even though it was causing her more pain on top of what the herbs were giving her. “Some
Realm
s,
Phãegens
can still move through with ease. Stick to those, shift in and out. Don’t stop until you have to.”

             
“Thank you sister
;
you will always be in my heart.
”

             
She felt the fading bonds between them return
,
if only briefly. He kissed her on the forehead. He hugged her as if it were the last time. Was it the last time?
She
wondered
,
as tears threatened her eyes again.

             
He whispered
close
into her ear. “Ask the
F
ather of the Blood to release the Vii I was to
A
waken. I am not sure this can be done but if it can, he will know how. Ask him only when you know it is safe for me and I am gone. I
d
o not wish to endanger you. I do not want to make you a
part of my crimes.”

             
He pulled away and said in a normal tone.
“Remember what I told you. Do not trust
Dĩas
or those who surround him. Things are not always as they seem
,
”
h
e repeated, confusing her
, as h
e walked her to the door.

             
Before she
left,
she
reminded
him
,
“As
P
riestess, what you renounced is mine for three nights.
Dĩas
will demand your power but I will not let him have it.”
Plaintively s
he
urg
ed,
“You have that time to rethink what you have done
, t
o undo what you have done.
If you wish to undo this then I will go to the
F
ather of the Blood and beg him to protect you. I will sacrifice whatever I must for you--
”

             
"Why would I undo this thing that I have done? Why should you sacrifice anything for me?"
He smiled. “
You
gave me the idea
,
sweet sister. It was the best advice you ever gave me and there is no turning back now.” He teased
her by
causing her to remember the last time she
had
seen him. She nearly fell over with guilt. “Be safe. Live free as the Goddess meant us to.” He gently escorted her out of the room and started to shut the door.

             
“
St
a
phãyn
,
wait
, rethink this. As I said before, you can go to
Daŕ
ēus
. Join with him to make things right
,
”
Samanthŕa
begged.

             
“You still don’t understand
,
do you? What do you think he will do with my
half-breed
children?
"

             
"What?" He threw her off balance. "What do you mean?"

             
"
Don’t you think he is just as obsessed with pure bloods as everyone else? Ask him what they did to half breeds in the ancient world
,
”
h
e told her coldly.

             
“So this
was
because of the children? You said he could be trusted.”

             
St
a
phãyn
shook his head. “The children are only part of it. I can speak no more and you have to respect that. You must open your eyes
now
,
Silly Vii
,
and turn aw
ay from me. I am dead to you
.” He shut the door
,
having no more heart to look at her.

             
Samanthŕa
stood there frozen, broken. Finally, she worked up the strength and the courage to leave. Her tears left a trailing path behind her.

\

~
Chapter 11
~

Walk with me
. . .

***

Walk with me.

See what I see.

Is this
dream?

Is this
reality?

We have eternity to discover these things
,

If you
. . .
would only walk with me.

***

             
T
he day lacked the comfort of sleep
.
Night came but brought no peace.
Samanthŕa’s
heart withered. Her thoughts tormented her. She tried to contact
Dĩas
concerning
Staphãyn but
he
simply
ignored her. He gave her only one message in her mind concerning him.
A message that burned worse than the poison she drank.

“
He is dead to us
.
”
             

             
The words nearly crushed her. The herbs made her deathly sick while she
work
ed charm after charm trying to dull their effects. Nothing worked. Her illness refused to diminish. She never felt more alone. She thought to cling to her sisters
,
but they were floating on clouds. They were swooning over the Brothers to
o
much to notice her agony. They never even mentioned
St
a
phãyn
.
Samanthŕa
didn’t know if it was because they were unaware or possibly
because
they didn’t care
.
She didn’t know how anyone
ought to
react to someone renouncing the blood.
Amongst her people, few crimes were worse.
She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Not even
herself
. The herbs numbed her gifts so everything she focused on was unclear.

             
Why did she take the herbs and
crucify
herself? The reason
,
other than the curse
,
was simple
—Daŕ
ēus
. H
is very being made
her more determined to do so. She feared looking at him one minute and then having her beast claim him in the next. Once the
A
wakening peaked, there would be no stopping her true nature. With the way his blood called it to the surface,
A
wakener or not, it could cause her to ravish him. After that, a whole other sl
ew
of problems would emerge. She didn’t need more problems at this point
.
She did not wish to
set
herself free from one cage only to find herself imprisoned
in
another. Maybe she started to believe in her own lies. Maybe it was about pride now
,
or maybe she was too weak and
ruined
to think straight.
Maybe she was thinking too much.

             
She almost r
ethought her plan to go to his
Realm
. What did she even care for? Again, she went in circles
, s
colding herself
,
and then
tempted to give in
to her emotions.