Destiny Redeemed (4 page)

Approaching
the front door, he saw Markku and another person struggling with one another.
Gethen opened the door to see Markku forcing his hand over a young woman’s
mouth and her flailing her arms in fear.

“I
got one, old man!” Markku exclaimed as he pushed past Gethen dragging the woman
with him. “How’s the big guy?” he asked as he swiveled his head from side to
side looking for Amon while he worked to keep control over his captive.

Gethen
opened his mouth to chastise Markku but was rendered dumbstruck when the
magickian lost control of the female after she bit him and lunged away from
him.

“Get
over here, you bitch! Fucking bite me?”

The
woman spun around to grab onto Gethen, and he quickly took control of her to
calm her down.

“Save
me, please!”

Gethen
took her by the arm and guided her to the stairs to Amon’s room. Halfway up, he
turned to Markku and sternly instructed him to make sure the spell that kept
others from finding Amon was secure.

“But
I want to see him,” he whined. Then in a far more threatening voice aimed at
the woman, he growled, “And I want to show her what happens when you cross me.”

Gethen’s
mood darkened as he remembered what Amon had said about who’d sent him to Nil.
Anger rose quickly in him and he barked sharply, “Stay where you are until I
tell you otherwise!”

By
the time he’d made it to the second floor, the female had stopped fighting him
and was pleading to be released in a voice so frightened that it normally would
have affected him. But Amon needed to be healed.

“I
won’t hurt you or let Markku hurt you, but I need you to heal someone. If you
refuse, however, you can be assured I will harm you.  Do you understand?”

The
woman nodded, her eyes wide with terror.

Gethen
guided her into Amon’s room and placed her next to the bed, positioning himself
in the doorway to ensure she couldn’t escape.

“Master,”
Gethen began and then stopped himself. “Amon, this is the healer Markku found
to help you.”

Turning
to the woman, he motioned toward Amon. “Help him.”

*

Amon
looked up at the terrified woman standing in front of him and pity for her
washed over him. As she stood frozen, he spoke to her, hoping to calm her
fears.

“What’s
your name?”

The
woman stood as silent as a statue, her gaze fixed on the floor.

“Tell
him your name,” Gethen said in a low, menacing voice.

Amon
grimaced at his friend’s threatening tone and repeated his question. When she
didn’t answer again, he added, “Please don’t be frightened. Gethen won’t hurt
you. He’s just worried about me. I promise you’re in no danger in my home.”

Slowly,
she lifted her eyes to his right leg. Without a word, she moved to the opposite
side of the bed and focused intently on the injury.

Amon
watched in apprehension as she stared at the main source of his pain. She
seemed to forget anyone but the two of them were in the room. When she moved to
touch his leg, he flinched and groaned, “No,” but she seemed oblivious to his
refusal.

Gently,
she touched just below his knee, and Amon waited for the searing pain to return
with a vengeance. Eyes closed, holding his breath, he waited, but only relief
came. His pain ebbed away, and when he was convinced it wouldn’t be back at
least while she touched him, he allowed himself to exhale fully and slowly
opened his eyes.

The
left eye was still swollen, but through his right eye he studied the creature
that had just taken his pain away. For the first time since she’d entered the
room, he noticed how placid her expression was. Long blond hair softly framed
her face, falling in tendrils toward her waist, and pale blue eyes looked to
his leg, as if she were willing him better.

Amon’s
study of her was broken only by Gethen’s shifting positions against the door
frame as he nervously watched her do as he’d commanded.  The noise interrupted
her focus, and she looked up into Amon’s face. He winced expecting the pain to
return, and she slowly moved to touch his face near his swollen eye. 

“Thea,”
he heard her whisper as she gingerly placed her right hand over his left eye.

Involuntarily,
he relaxed and closed both eyes as a sense of calm flowed over him. He wasn’t
sure how long he lay there with her soft touch on him, but he felt the loss
instantly when she moved away.

He
opened his eyes in time to see her sway back toward the wall. He reached out to
grab her, but in his weakened condition, he knew he’d only be able to support
her for just seconds before she fell to the floor.

“Gethen!”

The
man raced around the bed to catch her as she slipped from Amon’s hold. As he
held her limp body in his arms, he looked to Amon with a confused look for
guidance as to what to do with yet another injured person.

“Place
her next to me here,” he said pointing to the unoccupied half of the king size
bed he lay in.

As
Gethen did as he requested, he asked, “What happened?”

“Aeveren
healers can become overwhelmed if the person they’re healing is severely
injured. Considering the amount of pain I had before she touched me and how
little I have now in both my leg and my eye, it’s not surprising she found it
to be too much.”

Amon
inched up into a sitting position and looked down at Thea as she lay motionless
next to him. He regretted Markku having to take her against her will and having
to hold her there, but the effect of just her brief healing touch was wonderful.

Looking
up at Gethen, he whispered, “I’m tired, friend. Dim the lights and let me rest
for a while.”

“Do
you think that’s wise? She may wake up and hurt you.”

“Gethen,
she’s a healer.” 

“Amon,
she bit Markku downstairs.”

Smiling,
Amon joked, “That’s Markku. She wouldn’t be the first person to want to harm
him, and certainly not the first woman. And she had the right to fight back.
She’s not here of her own free will.”

Gethen
continued, undeterred. “I’m just worried she may try to leave.”

“Then
you can remain outside the door, if you’d like. But I’m sure downstairs would
be fine and far more comfortable. There’s only one door to the outside, and
it’s on the first floor.”

Gethen
accepted Amon’s argument and dimmed the ceiling light until the room glowed a
pale amber color. He closed the door with one last glance back at him, and Amon
listened as he made his way down the stairs.

Sleep
began to come over him and he welcomed it like an old friend absent from his
life for what seemed like years. For the first time in almost twelve months, he
was in a bed and his body didn’t ache so much it would keep him up all night.
And for the first time in all those months, he wasn’t alone. He inhaled deeply
and let the air out of his lungs slowly, savoring the safety he felt.

Turning to look
at the woman next to him, he watched as she lay silently still except for her
breathing. Her hands seemed so small until his gaze traveled the length of her
body and he saw all of Thea was small. She’d seemed so much larger as she stood
over him, but the person he saw beside him now was petite. As he noticed this,
sleep took over and his eyelids drooped closed.

*

Thea’s
eyes flew open, and she awoke confused and frightened. She couldn’t remember
where she was, and she had no idea who the man next to her in bed was. She
looked around the room for any clues to show her how she’d ended up there, but
nothing appeared to her. All she knew was that the room she was in was
expensively furnished but where she was remained a mystery.

An
even bigger mystery was who the man was. She carefully turned to look at him,
moving as little as possible as to not wake him. He was light haired, as far as
she could tell by the little hair he had with it cut so close to his head. Her
eyes traveled over his face and body, noticing the painful cuts and bruises
along with scars from past injuries. He seemed to sleep peacefully, however,
and she concluded this was partly her doing, no doubt. But how had she gotten
to where she was? Had the man next to her brought her here?

Before
she had the chance to recollect exactly what had happened, Amon began to stir.
Thea watched as his tight stomach flexed and his large chest began to heave, as
if he were experiencing a nightmare. His hands balled into tight fists at his
sides, causing her to fearfully inch toward the edge of the bed away from him.

Amon
awoke with a start and grimaced in what looked like agony. His hand shot out to
grip his leg, and he let out a low cry of pain. She watched as he held his
breath, waiting for it to subside so he could finally breathe again. Thea's
sympathy for him grew as she watched him suffer. It was in her nature to help
those in pain, but she feared what he might do if she simply reached over to
help. As his suffering increased and he writhed in pain, she swallowed her fear
and gently leaned over his body. Carefully, she laid her hand over his on his
leg and began to feel relief come over him. His pain was excruciating and as
she took it from his body, she thought in sadness how much pain he must feel if
it nearly made her cry to simply help him.

Thea
kept her hand over his until she heard him begin to breathe normally again. Exhausted
from healing him, she moved to lie back in her original position on her side of
the bed, but he stopped her, grabbing her arm.

“Please
don’t go.”

The
anguish and sadness in his voice struck at her heart, and she let him hold her
next to him. She looked up to see his face, but his eyes had shut and he’d
fallen back to sleep.

Tired,
she reluctantly laid her head on the only available place—his stomach—as she
draped her arm over his body. Within moments, she was fast asleep on the
stranger next to her in a strange place but more peaceful than she’d ever been.

*

Hours
later, Amon slowly opened his eyes and felt the presence of another person on top
of him. Looking down his body, he saw pale blond waves spread out over his
abdomen and thighs. Slowly it returned to him why Thea would be so close to
him. She’d helped him when he’d awoken in pain and must have passed out again
because of it.

As
he stared at the scene just above his lap, he thought how erotic it looked to
have a beautiful woman’s head so close to his cock. After feeling no kindness
or closeness in his entire time in Nil, he enjoyed the warm feeling of her next
to his body. Her soft breath drifted across his skin near his navel and for the
first time in months, he felt himself begin to grow hard.

Gently,
he stroked a lock of hair away from her face and followed it down her back. It
felt silky against his fingers, and with each stroke he grew more excited. He
needed to see the face of the angel who stirred feelings in him he’d thought
might be dead forever. Moving her hair back, he saw a beautiful pair of pouty
pink lips and long, dark lashes resting on her pale ivory skin.

His
cock arched up against her arm that remained across his body. Even if much of
him was bruised and battered, he wanted her. Closing his eyes, he let the
thought of her kissing him with those lips on his mouth, down his neck, over
his chest and abdomen, and finally on his cock take him away.

Amon’s
breathing became heavier, waking Thea. As she blinked the sleep out of her
eyes, her face registered the embarrassment from her head resting on his lower
abdomen. His erection pushed on the underside of her arm, and she sat up
abruptly.

“Oh!”
she said in a surprised voice.

Amon
smiled at the sight of her awake. “Good morning,” he lazily drawled, still
enjoying the fantasy he’d created about her.

“Where
am I?” she asked as she looked around the room.

Watching
her through heavily lidded eyes, he answered, “My house.”

“Who
are you?”

“Amon.”

“Amon
who?”

“Kalins.”

Thea
recoiled from him with a look of horror, crying out as she skittered across the
bed away from him. 

Chapter Four

The
chambers of the Council of Nil had never been in such turmoil. Council members,
typically stoic, buzzed around in an uncharacteristic panic, along with pages,
sorcerers, and a variety of assistants. By the looks on the Council members’
faces, something had happened that had terrified them.

Ryu
Jansen stood watching the scene in front of him, mildly curious as to what had
occurred to send this generally staid group into such an uproar. As he scanned
the chamber, he saw fear more than anything else. Not knowing if what had
transpired had anything to do with why he’d been recalled by the Council after
being released from his position almost a year before, he waited and watched.

“Bring
in the guards who were on duty when Kalins escaped!” the head councilman
bellowed.

Underlings
scurried out of the room, official papers in hand, to speedily retrieve the men
who’d most likely be standing in front of the Council a few hours later to
answer the charge of dereliction of duty. Minutes later, Ryu stepped aside as
the four men responsible for allowing the escape of one of the most powerful
Aeveren to ever live were led in. They stood somberly for what awaited them,
their heads hung.

The
escape of a prisoner was a rare event, having only occurred a handful of times
in all Aeveren history. Like Amon Kalins, the others had been the most powerful
of the race, but it hadn’t been their powers that had enabled their escape from
Nil. Those were stripped from each prisoner, no matter how great or
insignificant, along with the opportunity to have a destined one, upon conviction
and sentencing to the Aeveren prison. No, Amon Kalins and the others had
escaped because powerful Aeveren had powerful friends, and if those friends
were Sidhe or any of the other kinds of beings who could evade Aeveren preventative
measures, no amount of guarding could keep them in. In truth, everyone in the
Council chambers had known from the moment they threw Amon Kalins into Nil that
his incarceration may just be temporary.