Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (37 page)

“
You touched my father
’
s heart with what you did. No human has ever sacrificed themselves for any of the Seraphine before. He sees you as a reminder of what all races can all be if we bond together. Even through our differences
,
we can change things. We can stop the fallen
’
s dark plans. My father
sent me here
to tell you this.
”

“
Tell me anything you want
,”
I said and lowered my forehead down to hers. Lying there in the sand
,
we both remained silent for the longest time while the ocean sloshed a love song filled with
c
rashing waves. She cradled my head and moved it to
lie
against her chest. Wrapping her arms around me
,
she inhaled deeply and said
,
“
Do you hear my heart? It
’
s saying that it
’
ll never let you go ever again.
”

Laying there w
ith my head against her chest
,
I
listened to her heartbeat. It was a gorgeous rhythm of life and nature surrounding us
,
hypnotizing me.

“
I don
’
t know what it means now that I
’
m back. I
’
ll age differently from you. Slower. I do know one thing
,
though. My father left me the greatest gift ever. He sent me back to the boy I love.
”
I lifted my head
,
stared in her eyes
,
and touched her lips: heart-shaped
,
soft
,
perfect. Being this close to her weakened me. Moving my head down
,
I traced my lips along her chin
,
the curve of her neck
,
aching to be as close to her as I possibly could
,
avoiding the one spot that started all of this. 

“
Kiss me
,
Caleb
,”
she whispered.

A stab of dread hit me. I lifted my head and glanced into her eyes.
“
Will I drain your soul again
,
if I do that?
”

She giggled.
I love that sound.
“
No
,
silly.
”
Her face turned serious.
“
Not anymore
.
”

The kiss we shared this time didn
’
t set off any ancient rivalries
or
spells or lightning bolts. The only thing our passion set to beating was my heart.

Pulling apart
,
we sat up. I dusted the sand out of her hair
,
and she giggled because one side of my face was covered in it. She reached out and wiped it away. I took her palm in my hand and moved my lips
over h
er soft skin.

“
I thought I
’
d never see you again
,”
I finally said.

She scoffed.
“
How do you think I felt when you just kind of faded away? It was awful
,”
she whispered
,
her chest rising as she shook her head.

“
I
’
m sorry
,”
I said.

“
We still have to deal with the
Dark Ones
,”
Gia said
,
her face suddenly serious.

“
I don
’
t get it. Are you still connected to them?
”

“
Not really
,”
she said quietly
,
lowering her eyes.
“
I still feel responsible for all that
’
s happened
,
though.
”

“
But the agents are gone
,
aren
’
t they?
”

“
The
Dark Ones
can
’
t leave. Not yet
,”
she said.

“
Why? Paige is dead. Mel
’
s on lockdown.
”

“
They came for the dark child
,”
Gia said.

“
You mean the Dark Seraphine?
”
I asked.
“
He
’
s here in
New Bern
?
”

“
It
’
s a she
,
Caleb
,”
she inhaled deeply
,
and stared into my eyes.
“
Erica is the Dark Seraphine.
”

THE END

C
aleb and Gia’s Story Continues in

LOST SERAPHINE
(Seraphine Trilogy
#2)

February 14
th
, 2013

About the Author

KaSonndra Leigh lives in
 
the City of Alchemy and Medicine, North
Carolina. She loves
 
to
play CLUE and Tomb Raider, and lives in
an L-shaped house with
her two sons (nicknamed the X-men), two
dogs, a cat named
Hercules, and a guinea pig called Achilles. She
has created a secret
library complete with fairies,
 
Venetian
plastered walls, a desk made
out of clear blue glass, and a garden
dedicated to her grandmother, Nezzetta Tomlinson Wall…Rest in peace lovely lady.
 
.

If you enjoyed this story then please
support the author by either leaving
a review
or a rating
at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Seraphine-The-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B009TWEI3A

Connect with KaSonndra on her author website at:

www.kasonndraleigh.com

or

http://twitter.com/kasonndraleigh

or

http://www.facebook.com/kasonndraleighbookspage

or

http://pinterest.com/alestasia/dark-seraphine/

Keep
turning the page to experience the world of Bardonia from the Lost Immortals inside the bonus short story: Assassin’s Rose.

I
am excited to
present
to you a bonus story called
Assassin’s Rose
taken from the Morbid Seraphic Anthology published by
Cr
ushing Hearts & Black Butterfly
.

ASSASSIN’S ROSE

A
Lost Immortals Short
Story By

KaSonndra Leigh

I am a butterfly. No. I am a toad like the prince in the fairy tales. Maybe tomorrow I’ll decide to be one or the other.

The time for daydreaming comes later. Today, I focus on my initiation ceremony,
the scariest
thing I’ve ever experienced. A
Caducean is the most
respectable ty
pe of warrior, the demon slayer
. They’ve been around forever. The elders say that long ago the Archangel Gabriel came down and personally blessed the first warrior with his own blood. How I would love to have seen that day. I am fortunate, though. The head alchemist chose me to be among the group’s sacred ranks.

G
irls stand
along the aisle
s
that lead
to the stag
e. They
smile and bat their eyes at me
. Beautiful. Total opposite
of me with my chopped bronzy-blonde ha
ir held back in a ponytail. My well-toned frame
isn’t super masculine, but
it’s not scrawn
y either. Delicate creatures who could never understand all I’ve been through. Only males are allowed to pledge Caducean.

In my land, females attend schools where they either learn the medicinal arts or the sacred dance
s
. The last female who picked up a Caducean’s weapon was exiled
,
and her family banished. A cruel punishment, but it was necessary according to the leaders. I consider it all to be crap. Our anal rulers dictate what they believe is best for us all by keeping the roles of boys and girls separate. They consider themselves to be preserving the old ways. Too bad their dim-witted rules didn’t save my parents.

I walk toward the podium on the stage where the leaders wait to bless me. Mabry, the Caducean order’s head alchemist, stands behind the podium and waits. His keen eyes bore into me, but he doesn’t smile. He never smiles. My chest swells until I feel as if it’ll burst from pride. Blood surges through my veins, firing up parts of my body I didn’t know existed. I can do this thing that’s assigned to me.  If not for the one I love who waits back home for me, then at least for the parents I lost to our enemies.

Finally, I reach the stage. “Congratulations, Desmond. The Sons of Gabriel welcome you into our Caducean clan,” headmaster Mabry says. I kneel, hiding my eyes. Father always said the eyes are your soul’s windows. Hide them from everybody except the worthy. Open them too wide and
all your thoughts will fly
out, leaving you empty and dry. Close them too tightly and your soul can go dark. Today, I want nothing to spill. My secrets will stay in my house of pain, the place where revenge lives inside me, waiting for its rebirth like a newborn’s soul.

After I receive my wing medallion, my two bunkmates, Carl and Levy, take turns bu
mping against my right shoulder.
“
All right, Tarrenton. Y
ou did it man. You’re one of us now,” Carl says.

“Don’t think you get first dibs on the hottie with the big brown eyes staring me down right now,” Levy says, nodding his head toward someone standing behind me.  I glance back and see a girl dressed in a banana yellow dress. I stifle an urge to laugh because this crazy image flashes through my head. I picture Keta peeling off the dress for Levy just before she
smacks him for being, well, a jerk
.

“Her name is Keta,” I say in my deepest voice, hoping it hides the amusement in my tone.

“Keta? There’s a name for you, man,” Carl says to Levy who is practically undressing her with his eyes. “Keta that rhymes with Peeta.”  He
laughs and snorts.
Levy punches his arm.

Keta turns on the
brightest smile I’ve ever seen an
tilts her head to the side. This attention causes Levy to start swaggering. And he gets too brash when he points to the space beside him, summoning the girl as if she is a beast in the field.

She stretches her arms over her head. Her movements are graceful and girlish and everything that drives a guy wild.  Carl and Levy bot
h start swaying and fidgeting. T
hings guys do when a hot girl is on their radar.  The smile she gives them could light a dark room. Still
,
she doesn’t obey Levy. His smile fades
a tad,
and he g
lances at us. I tuck my lips in,
and Carl covers his mouth.

Levy’s family belongs to a royal celestial line, the Grigorian clan. And he always manages to charm his way into uncompromising positions with all the sacred dancers. But this one stands her ground. Levy grumbles and whirls around to face us.

The sacred dancers keep the peace between the various houses by performing the ritualistic dance of the silver moon once per month. Only Caduceans are allowed to be paired with a dancer and only
R
oyals such as the Grigoris and Indrails get first dibs.

Keta shakes her head, ignoring Levy’s caveman summon. He grumbles, picks up the punch bowl on the table beside him, and slams it to the ground. Keta’s hesitation infuriates him. Plus, Carl and I pump up the situation with our laughter. Levy’s ego is now on the line. I resist the urge to tell him Keta’s real secret to her Grigorian immunity.

He shoves his arms out to the side and twists his handsomely chiseled face into a smirk. “What the hell is wrong with you, girl? Can’t you see I’m waiting for you to get over here?” Levy turns back to us and scoffs as though he expects us to support his arrogance.

“Hey. You’re the pro, royal one. You don’t need help from the lower subjects standing here,” Carl says.

“Haha. Very funny,” Levy says and turns back to face Keta.

Slowly
,
Keta brings her arms over her head, stretching as if she’s about to either take a nap or start a new dance. She moves her right hand down the side of her face, her neck, her right breast. It is the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen. And then she moves her left hand up to her cheek and gives Levy a fine view of her middle finger. Carl and I don’t even try to hold back the laughter this time. We spit all over each other and Levy whose face is so red I believe it could make a strawberry look pale.

“Yeah, screw you too, witch girl,” Levy says and then turns to me. “She’s probably more your type anyway, Desmond. Real scrawny and short.”

“
She hasn’t been missing any
meals,” Carl says, eyeing Keta and then turning back to me, a grin spreading across his lips. I don’t need to be a mind reader to know what he’s thinking.

“All right, man. You can use me to get over the sting from that slap. I understand,” I say.

Carl and I laugh again
,
but Levy wears a murderous look. Not getting his way, and with someone considered to be on a lower level than himself, was definitely not in the plan tonight. Keta grins and walks off to go mingle with the other dancers.

Carl and Levy have stuck by my side the entire time, the fellas, my boys. Through the training that almost killed me. The tattoo ceremony that left the mark of the perfect warrior etched into my shoulder, a star with seven points sitting in a circle. Carl even waited with me outside the barracks while my shower took longer than everyone else’s. And the fire test, that no boy or man has ever gotten through without giving in to his fear. That one was the hardest. I almost didn’t achieve my goal, and I screwed up a few times.

The fire test involved walking along a tight wire erected over the lake of fire. Everybody knew the elders wouldn’t let th
e initiates fall and burn. N
ot too many boys were willing to put enough faith in their masters to make it all the way across the wire
, though
.

But I made it to the other side. Even though my body was drenched with sweat by the time I finished, I screamed until I was hoarse. The other initiates surrounded me, applauded me, made me into the hero I needed to be.

We’re all
alike
now, my brothers and me. Pledging our lives to the father, the Archangel Gabriel, was the ultimate goal. And I did it. I made my way into the group, made them love and accept me. I will now fight to protect my land from the fallen ones and their relatives, our enemies—Bernael the angel of
chaos
and rage.

I risk everything, but gain nothing…not yet, anyway. The ultimate task is yet to come.

Keta approaches me after the ceremony has ended. She walks with her hands on her hips, and her face looks all funny. I think of Levy and how he fought for her attention. A giggle tickles my throat.

A giggle you say? Desmond, the mighty Caducean warrior giggles when he sees a girl?

This isn’t just any girl, though. She’s my best friend, has been ever since we were babies running through the dandelion fields. A strange chill runs through me as she approaches—but not because of Keta, no. It’s because of what she represents to me and where I know we are headed to.

“We have less than four hours to get ready. If we’re late, Leia
will have our scalps
,” Keta says.

“You could’ve been a tad nicer to my boy you know,” I say.

She turns and gives me a disbelieving look. Her little heart-shaped mouth twists into a smirk. “I can’t believe you just said that. He’s a total ass.”

“True. But he can’t help it. He’s Grigorian for Gabriel’s sake,” I say.

“Grigorian, smordian, the idiot’s unstable. You saw the way he slammed that bowl on the floor. All because I wouldn’t look at him. The nerve.” Glancing around, she moves real close
to me. I can smell her vanilla-
scented perfume and can see every detail in her sacred makeup. I understand why she drives guys like Levy crazy.

We make our way outside the ceremonial hall. To the people standing around us, we appear to be a sacred dancer walking with a warrior. I glance up. The sky frightens me with its angry black and red clouds along the edges of a moonlit sky. I hope it’s not an omen. Much has to be accomplished tonight
,
and I won’t let my mother and father down. Memories of time spent with my family calm my nerves and help me to control my trembling limbs.

She’s taking me to see the one I love, the person who led me to this fork in the road. We scurry down deserted streets. Everyone gathers at the ceremonial hall on sacred Saturdays. Getting around without being seen is easy on this night. The moon shines its silver light over the streets, giving them a creepy glow as if Keta and I walk in a painting. It doesn’t take long to reach the dark districts, the hangouts where nephilim kids of all classes and types can mingle. The smells here are different too. More fish, more sewage, more death. My toes tingle
,
and my arms can already feel my belove
d’s body inside them. Thoughts of the things I can’t wait to say whirl in my mind.

But I think Keta wants to be sure I never find that happiness.  “Stop this charade. End it tonight. If the alchemists find out what you’ve been up to
,
there won’t be any mercy given, Des. You’ll be executed, and I’ll be all alone.”

Tears line her eyes. She’s really scared for me. I never considered my best friend would cry over the idea of losing me. Seeing them on
a face
that cares about me should’ve been enough to make me change my plans. But the screams, the burning house, and the awful flesh smell still haunt my thoughts like a plague. Those are the last memories I have of my parents.

Keta’s parents live inside a golden adobe house. When she finishes her dance tonight, they’ll be waiting with smiles. When I get home, my brother will whine about his hunger. My grandfather will be staring at the painting of the lavender rose on the wall the way he always does.

I harden my face and say, “You’d better head back to get ready for the ceremony. I’ll be there before it starts.” Her wide brown eyes stare at me incredulously. “I don’t want to talk about this. Just go.”

Her bottom lip trembles and she gathers her skirt up. “Please think about what you’re doing. They’ll banish you to the human land the same way they did that other girl they caught using a Caducean weapon.”

And there flew the butterfly’s secret straight out into the open. I am a girl disguised as a boy in a group known to execute traitors.

“Lower your voice,” I hiss. “And they’ll find out much faster if you keep blabbing about it so loudly.”

“Good. Ma
ybe they need to know. That way,
you can lose everything now before you do something else stupid with—with him,” Keta hisses back.

“Yes, and I will make sure she stays safe, during each wildly retarded second,” a male’s deep voice says behind me. My heart flips into my throat. He eased up behind us without making a sound. Stepping out of the shadows, Seth beams a crazy sexy grin at us both. How could Keta be so hard up against that smile?