Legend of the Touched (9 page)

Groaning, he wandered into his kitchen for some more
coffee. He was living on the stuff. It probably didn't do him any
good anymore, but it was fast becoming one of his small comforts.
Hopefully Tony would be up soon. He had a knack for dream
interpretation. His eldest brother Brian was in the kitchen though,
and that was unexpected.

"What are you doing here?" Darien asked as he started
preparing the coffee pot.

"Leena lost our pizza cutter. I was looking for
yours."

"In the middle of the night?"

"She's pregnant. Cravings are common at weird times
of the day."

Darien shrugged. Tai had yet to want anything during
the ungodly early hours of the morning, but she wasn't almost due
to deliver. Not to mention she was too busy sleeping to do much
else. Still, why did Brian pick his kitchen to borrow utensils
from? Wouldn't one of his other brothers be easier?

"Why are you looking at me like I grew an extra
head?" Brian asked, stopping his digging through the drawers.

Darien shrugged again. "It's inconvenient for you to
be down here. Asher is closer to your floor. You hate my guts. Why
would you come here?"

With a roll of his eyes, his brother scoffed. "I
don't hate your guts. Why do you always have to be so over
dramatic? I would phrase it as: we don't get along. But if you want
to know why, it's because sometimes I come down here to get things
because I want to see Dad."

"Makes sense," he said softly. Everyone in the family
had been coping with their father's death in different ways. Darien
personally avoided his father's old bedroom, but he'd done that
while the man was still alive too. The death of his mother kept him
as far away as possible. She'd died giving birth to him, and Darien
had a hard time accepting it happening as an act of love. Being in
his parents' bedroom felt awkward to him, as if their spirits were
still lingering. If Brian wanted to go and reminisce however, it
wouldn't be held against him.

"And what are you doing up? And making coffee so
late?"

"Insomnia is my life it seems. Bad dreams."

"If you're drinking coffee now, that probably isn't
going to help. What are your dreams about?" It was surprising that
Brian actually wanted to know. Darien would have thought his
brother would believe it to be childish.

After a moment of hesitation, Darien decided to try
and bond with his eldest brother. They were twelve years apart in
age, so naturally they didn't have a lot in common. "In it, I'm at
school wandering through the hallways. Tai has a baby, our son I
think, and she keeps telling me to feed him. I try to explain to
her that I don't have any food, and then she tries to kill him.
Right as I'm about to stop her, I wake up. I've been having it a
lot."

Brian leaned against the counter-top. "You're afraid
of becoming an adult."

"Huh?"

"That's what your dream means."

"I didn't know you knew anything about this
stuff."

"Who do you think taught Tony everything he knows?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Babies and children symbolize our dreams and
desires. School is your want to achieve. She's trying to tell you
to continue to nurture your dreams, but you don't feel you have the
ability to do so. Instead of helping, she tries to destroy it."

"Why would she do that though?"

"It's a dream. It's not like she's actually trying to
hinder you. She does it because you're doing it to yourself. I'm
sure being the Great Dragon Lord is a lot of pressure, but I think
you're taking it a little too seriously. Just an observation.
You're a lot more wound up than usual. Didn't Dad always tell us to
not worry so much about things?"

Darien let out a soft sigh. "I can't focus on what I
want. Then who would protect our people?"

Brian chewed on his lower lip for a moment. "It's
only my interpretation of things, but it obviously scares you to be
taking on all of these responsibilities. I can't blame you for that
one bit. They petrify me, and I'm not even the one who got chosen.
Ever since Dad died though, we've all had to take on new tasks for
this family. Are you looking at it like it's the end of everything
though?"

"Kind of," he admitted.

"Well it's not. Stop being so afraid, and don't let
go of your past goals. Should help end your nightmare pretty
fast."

"To be honest, I'm not sure I ever had any goals.
I've never known what I wanted to do with my life."

"That doesn't mean you don't have dreams. Just think
about it, or ignore my suggestions. You're the one who's losing
sleep over it, not me."

Darien shook his head. "No, you're right. I need to
chill out a little. We should do this more often."

"Maybe." Brian grabbed the pizza cutter and moved to
leave the kitchen. He paused in the door. "I would like to
understand you, understand all of this, better."

He laughed. "Me too." He watched his brother leave,
giving little more than a small wave on his way out the door.
Taking a sip of his freshly poured coffee, he sat back in his chair
and closed his eyes. Everything Brian said had made sense to him.
But how could he not be petrified of doing something he wasn't
ready for?

Chapter Eighteen

The Inero

So close. They were so close to getting there. Gwen
lay next to Jason half naked, on her side, contentedly. He too was
in a similar state, and as frustrated as the inner voice sounded
with him, he loved the warm feeling inside of his gut. They were
going at the right pace for them. Each of their own apprehensions
slowly faded away as they grew more comfortable with one another.
They'd gotten so caught up in the moment, they didn't make it all
the way. Which was fine by him in a lot of ways, because he still
needed to figure out how to make the voice stay quiet. The more
absorbed he became in her, the better he could do so. The
overwhelming sensations of her skin, her smell, her everything,
however, easily pushed him over the edge in all the good ways.
Having her next to him again was nice. He'd missed falling asleep
and waking up near her the most.

You are trying my patience boy.

He squeezed his eyes shut. All hope that maybe he'd
chased this voice out of him was gone now.
Here's an idea for
you, maybe you should shut up then and stop distracting me. Putting
me on edge and reminding me of your existence doesn't keep me
turned on.

Release me. The time is coming where I must make my
presence known. You have been chosen to be my carrier and you must
release me.

It was like talking to a brick wall. How could he
make whomever, whatever, this was understand?
Give me a good
reason to want to. All you're doing is hurting your case. I liked
it better when you were quiet most of the time.

You're getting an attitude. This is useful to
me.

I'm not someone you can only use. Do I look like a
tool to you? No, so I think you need to adjust your method. I tried
being nice and hoping you'd go. Now it's time to make you do
it.

Perhaps I was wrong about you. Maybe we could make a
deal of sorts after all.

Deal?
There was no doubt about it. He was
possessed. Unless he was crazier than he originally anticipated, he
didn't know any other reasons for why there'd be bargaining
happening.
Who are you?

Leo is my favorite name. You may call me that.

Why didn't you tell me this earlier, and what are
you doing in my head to begin with?

I chose you, and my silence was because I didn't
think you worthy of knowing. A big mistake on my part. I
underestimated you. My original plan was to wait for you to release
me and then do my business instead of bothering to work with you.
You've proven yourself worthy of my cooperation finally.

This isn't very convincing.

How is this for an argument: I can give you the
power you need to make a difference in this war, to help your
brother, and your father.

And what exactly do you want from me in return?

To be released so I can go about my business at
last.

No matter what Jason would lose. Even if he made love
to Gwen without agreeing to this deal, this
thing
would be
released. The only way to keep it inside was to keep rejecting her.
How was this fair to him? If he agreed to this proposal though,
maybe he could get more from this possession. Not only would the
voice be gone, but he would have the ability to end this stupid
feud his father had begun. Assuming he ever made it back home of
course. He wanted to believe he'd return some day. As a couple,
they were happier away, but he missed his family too.

Okay, fine, but you need to stay quiet. It might
not happen right away either.
Maybe by the time the next
opportunity arose for him and her to be one, he'd have forgotten
about this completely. He could only hope, because the only
motivation for him to be with her should have been love.

Chapter Nineteen

The Inero

"What do you think of the new girl, the one from
Oceina?" Matt asked Kat as the two walked through the castle
together. They were on their way out for a night on the town,
something they'd done maybe once before and that was before they
had even gotten married. Granted, they hadn't dated before they
were married. But they did things together, explored, and it was an
activity she missed doing with him. She liked knowing they were
friends as well as lovers. It helped her remember he in fact loved
her.

Why was he bringing up the Oceina woman though? Kat
raised an eyebrow. Maybe it was only her hormones impacting her
thought process, but she was grumpy at the mention of Ashley. "I
only just met her. Should I have an opinion?"

"You usually do, that's all." He shrugged and held
the door open for her so they could leave. A small gesture, but it
spoke volumes to her as well as everyone else watching them. Some
of his half-brothers stared with slack jaws of awe and confusion, a
few of the women swooned. Kat made sure to hold onto his arm to
make it clear he was
hers
.

She looked up at him with a small smile. "I'm not
sure how much I trust her, but that might be more my problem than
hers. She seemed nice enough, interested in life here. I'd be
willing to spend more time with her."

He nodded, and his arm went around her waist as if he
were making his claim over her known to everyone else as well. "I
understand. Gwen and Navi did burn you pretty badly this summer. I
wouldn't want to trust just anyone either."

Kat bristled slightly at the mention of Gwen and
Navi. The two had rejected her offer of friendship, blown her off
and left her to fend for herself in a new scary world where she had
no friends. If it wasn't for Lenora opening up to her and inviting
her in, she'd still be lost. With Lenora's help though, she had a
mother again, two good friends, and power amongst the women.

"I didn't mean...." Matt said.

She shook her head and wiped a few tears from her
eyes. "No, it's okay. You're right. They did. Most of the wives are
hard to get along with in general." She paused. "Why do you care so
much? About Ashley I mean. I didn't think the women interested you
much, beyond how they treat me of course."

"She's Oceina, so yes I am curious about how she
treats you. I also want to know how much
I
should trust
her." He led her through the streets, taking her towards the
outskirts of Inero City. The castle became further away, but loomed
over all of the other buildings making sure it's presence would not
be forgotten.

Kat's brow furrowed in curiosity. "Oh? Why's
that?"

"Work things," he said and kissed her lips. "I was
only curious. Come on, let's go see what kind of trouble we can get
into shall we?" She wanted to press the matter further. What did
Ashley have to do with work? He kept things he did for his father a
secret from her most of the time, only telling her what happened
after the fact. Something that bothered her, a lot, but old habits
die hard. Being the leader of the military, he needed to keep
things secret sometimes. She knew he'd say eventually. If only it
didn't have to be so hard to get out of him. He could trust her
too, and when it came to Ashley, Kat needed to know just as
badly.

Chapter Twenty

The Oceina

As soon as Darien stretched out onto his couch to
relax for the first time in several days, the doors to his bedroom
burst open and Lance entered.

"They're back," he said.

"Huh?" Darien raised an eyebrow, sitting up and
trying his hardest to not let his agitation show. His fists
clenched slightly at his side and his jaw tightened. It must have
been more obvious than he intended after that because Lance shrunk
back towards the door.

"The spies. I didn't mean to interrupt, but this is
important," he said.

It was. No one could deny it. Tai sat up in bed, also
interested.

The spies your father sent to Inero?
She
asked.

Yes.
Darien glanced her way momentarily to
give her a slight nod before fixing his eyes on his brother again.
"Are they ready to meet? I'm guessing so?"

"They are," Lance said. "They just got back in about
fifteen minutes ago, and are eating. You'll understand soon
enough."

"I'm sure I will," he said and let out a small laugh.
"I guess I need to get dressed again. Can't be showing up in my pjs
to an important meeting."

Lance shrugged. "I think Dad did it once or twice,
but it's probably a good idea to wear something sort of nice. This
is your first time meeting them and it would be wise to make a
good, professional impression on them. You know?"

"Good point." Darien stood up and went to his closet
to find something casual but professional. Finding a pair of clean
khakis that weren't wrinkled and a loose blue button down, he threw
those on inside of the walk in closet. He came back out and smiled
at his brother. "Good?" He glanced over at Tai to see if she had an
opinion as well. He'd never been good at this sort of thing.