Shadow Revealed (The Enlightened Species Book Two) (9 page)

His gaze traveled over the dance area. Ninlil and Sargon swayed together. Because they were twins, it required no effort for him to feel how very much his sister loved her bloodmate. The beautiful Oracle Innanna danced gracefully in the arms of Enlil and Etana’s adored nephew, Gilgamesh

Then he spotted the one person guaranteed to pull his full attention whenever she entered his vision. Etana worked her way through the different booths. She stopped to pat the head of a small child while its mother regaled her with some story. Etana’s smile was genuine. She loved her lands and her people, be they noble or simple. Etana wore her gentle nature and joy like a second skin. With a wave, she moved on to the next row of booths. Her light-brown hair shone in the evening’s waning sunlight, her hand to her belly, where their daughter grew. She stopped, picked up a peach and held it to her nose, inhaling its fragrance. Her blue eyes flashed in amusement, the sound of her laughter reached his sensitive ears, when the fishwife from the next booth offered Etana her wares to be sniffed as well. Enlil’s breath caught in his throat. His heart burst with love. She felt him through their bloodmate bond and turned in his direction, bestowing him the most beautiful smile, and made her excuses as she waddled to where he waited. Her smile grew more loving and lovely with every step. Then her hand was in his, her one tell that she was more than a delicate noblewoman. Her hands showed the work that she loved so much, showed her joy of turning the soil, showed how much she had aided in the harvest with her own hands. Enlil had never regretted laying down his warrior’s sword for the easy pace of Etana’s love of land.

Enlil lifted the scarred and callused tribute to her farming bloodline to his lips, placing a whisper of a kiss to the backside. “A wonderful festival to honor a wonderful harvest, my lady.”

“Indeed, it will be a good winter again, my lord.” Etana rubbed her expanding belly. “One less thing to worry about with this young on the way.”

“Not much longer now.” Enlil covered her hand with his own. He felt the flutter of new life within. “It has been a long and unseasonably warm day. Are you feeling any effects?”

“I am tired, and my feet are swollen again.” Etana had suffered swollen feet during her first pregnancy with their son Ediku centuries earlier. “I should like a slow dance with you later this evening. Perhaps I will go and rest them now, so that they will carry me for a song or two in your arms tonight.”

Smiling, he touched her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Would you like me to walk you up?”

With a chuckle, she placed her hand to the center of his chest and leaned in demurely. “You and I both know that I will not get any rest if you do.”

With a nod he placed a feathering kiss to the spot on her cheek he’d just rubbed his fingers against, loving the softness of her skin, and whispered, “Rest well, my lady. You will need it.”

Etana gave him a knowing smile and then headed toward the stairs, intent on their bedchambers. It was the last time he would ever see her alive.

****

From the perch, Enlil could look across what had once been empty tundra. From this elevation he could see where the SOSC had established its headquarters further down the coast. It was a modern design that resembled a resort hotel. There were perch posts at intermittent spots along the building. He was sure there were underground tunnels for the Tellus. Canals dug between the building and the ocean allowed the Aquaties to enter without fully leaving the water.

Between the headquarters and the nest was an entirely new modern community, all built at ground level. All were school-type buildings, complete with libraries and gymnasiums, outdoor obstacle courses, running paths, parks, community centers for gatherings, a supper/night club, even a shopping center and market. The newest development was a multilevel parking lot with the underground level iced for snowmobiles and arctic tractors. The ground level doubled as an aircraft hanger, its backside open to allow access from the hanger to the airstrip behind the giant structure. The middle levels housed a hodgepodge of different types of vehicles. The upper level held helicopters and a few motorized gliders.

The modernized area had become a social gathering place. Since the SOSC had chosen to establish their headquarters here, there were chortals from all over the world anchored to this site, chortals that could, for the first time, be anchored by design rather than by coincidence. Safe and potentially permanent folds in space, the chortals guaranteed a safe emerging point, quick access to other parts of the world, and healing sites called Hospes. Plus, they were accessible to every enlightened species.

Only Volaticus could use their psychic energy to fold space, essentially stepping from where they were to where they wanted to be. That came with risks and limitations. They could only port their own body mass, unless they boosted their psychic energy by tapping into some other psychic energy by vein, creating a bond. Those bonds were not something to take lightly. The other risk was porting to an unfamiliar geographic location. Stepping into trees, walls, or mountains was never a good thing. Porting into a human body, for instance—very painful.

Chortals went from point A to point B. The establishing of a chortal took the combined efforts of the three enlightened species. The few that had existed prior to the SOSC, like Stonehenge, had been dumb luck.

Tellus used their ability to create an electromagnetic field. Volaticus would manipulate the energy of that field into a port fold. Then Aquaties lent gravitational stability and anchoring to the whole dynamic, using currents and tides. Even humans could be brought through on a chortal that was activated by a small pulse of psychic energy from one of the enlightened, though it often made humans sick or faint

The headquarters were not established here because it was so near the oldest remaining nest. Likely it was because, geographically, it was perfect to have multiple chortals anchored. It was also isolated from humanity—Greenland’s entire human pollution was less than fifty thousand, scattered in small villages. All were living on the mainland, and there were no human residents on Disko Island.

Though there were a few that Enlil could see from his perch. Two humans had just vacated a small private plane and were busily offloading supplies onto the dock next to the airstrip. Two members of the airport personnel exited the watchtower. Enlil directed his hearing, trying to pick up what was being said.

Catching the tickle of females giggling, he glanced off the coast. Two young Aquatie females were stretched out, sunning themselves, soaking up the ultraviolet rays their bodies converted to thermodynamic energy. Their opalescence skin shimmered in the sunlight as they floated on the surface of a small iceberg in the bay. Their only concessions to modesty were tiny triangles of material made from kelp and seaweed, strategically placed to cover their nipples and the apex of their thighs. That the females wore anything was surprising, Aquaties had never had any issue with nudity; it fact that was how they spent the majority of their time.

Looking back to where the humans were busy with the plane, he noticed that the personnel who had came out to aid in unloading were both Tellus males. Since neither the Tellus or the humans had the superior hearing that Elven and Aquaties did, the biggest risk to the Aquatie females would be when the plane took off. The iceberg was not within the camouflaging weaves that surrounded both the SOSC headquarters and the Volaticus nest area. The humans would be able to simply look out the plane window and see the females at take off. Selecting a high frequency that would not be detected by the humans, Enlil sent out a burst of sound, warning the females of the threat. He watched as both of the girls immediately dove into the ocean, vanishing below the waves almost immediately. The two Tellus males glanced to where he was standing. Their psychic enlightenment enabled them to see Enlil standing on the perch, and one of them nodded thanks

Enlil smiled. The whole inter-species getting along thing was pretty amazing. Etana would have been so proud. The smile immediately disappeared with the thought. What could the High Ones
need
to speak to him about before he could hunt the Morsdente? What were they going to do? Preemptively put him to ground so that the killer’s trail could go cold again? He was about to enter the chamber alone when he felt the ripple of Sargon next to him.

“What took you?” En accused

“I stopped and collected our weapons and supplies.” En noticed the heavy bag slung over Sargon’s shoulder and tried to pull himself together. The fact he had failed to even consider weapons and had been ready to destroy the beast with the power of his anger alone was a sign of recklessness. He would have berated his protégé for not using her head.

En sighed. “You’re right. I should have thought of that. I just couldn’t look at the betrayed expression on Jess’s face anymore.” En sent the mental command to release the entry. “Besides, if she knew where I was going, she would have followed. I will be lucky if she can’t track me down through the bond.”

Sargon clucked. “She’s a strong one. Smart too.” Shaking his head, he followed Enlil into the chamber

The power of the condensed energy within the small space vibrated in the room. Enlil knew his ability to siphon enabled him to see the energy, but feeling it was something any ancient here could do.

Every member of the High Ones panel had shown up for whatever this goat fuck was. Mingled among them were SOSC leaders and a few of the Oracles. He spotted Innanna. His instant recall flashed him the memory of the war room before the rescue of the victims the prior year. He’d shied away from Innanna’s touch, and she’d looked him dead on saying, “
It’s not your story yet, young man.”
Was this what the pint-size bearer of bad things meant?

Seeming to hear his thoughts, which she probably did, she noticed him and Sargon, folded her arms, and cocked her head, as if the universe was speaking directly to her. Truth is, Innanna had always scared the shit out of him. She didn’t look like much, a whopping four and a half feet, her violet eyes too large in her porcelain face, with platinum blonde hair that swung in a thick braid down her back. Her beauty was incomparable. She epitomized the fairy of human myth. It wasn’t her beauty that gave him pause, it was her power. Enlil could see the exhaustion in her face, yet her energy was still the strongest color in the room. If Jess ever took a good look at this room of people she would know, just like he did, that it was Innanna that should lead the Oracle sect, not her mother.

Innanna was the only one who had acknowledged his and Sargon’s arrival. The others remained engrossed in their private conversations until the entry opened behind him. Ninlil, Irsu, and another female carrying a monkey stepped in. The female set the monkey on the ground, and it shimmered into a Tellus male, adjusting the pants that had been too large for him in monkey form. This was a first. He’d always suspected the Tellus carried the ability to shift, even before they had admitted it, but he’d never seen it before.

He met the eyes of the female who had flown the monkey to the perch, and his breath caught in his throat. Her dove-gray eyes clashed with his, and a play of emotions he couldn’t possibly decipher flashed across her pretty face. He did recognize fear and desire. He knew he had never met her before, yet she looked at him like she knew everything about him, could see through to his soul. He could feel himself being drawn to her, floating in the storms of her eyes.

The Tellus stepped into Enlil’s line of sight, extending his hand; the male was protective of the female. Were they lovers? Enlil stifled a growl when he looked at the male. Confused by his possessive reaction, he shook the male’s hand. “Name’s Hans. Good to meet you, Enlil.”

Enlil’s eyes rose again to meet the females. What was her name? Would she introduce herself to him? Would she place her hand in his? His manhood tingled with the idea. That shouldn’t happen; his body hadn’t reacted to a female since Etana. Turning from the group, he stepped to the center of the room. He could feel her gray eyes following his retreat.

****

Zakel watched the tiny blond from Osiris’s photo leaving the home. She obviously lived here. A car with two more females in it had pulled up honking a few minutes earlier. He debated whether to follow and see if he got an opportunity to take the female, but he decided against making the move and continued watching the chortal.

He knew where the blond lived. It was the one he had a bond with who continued to elude him. He settled back in.

Chapter Nine

Enlil stared up at the faces of the High Ones. No doubt his eyes glowed an intense green—At this moment, the furious hatred he felt for the panel bordered on his hatred of the Fates and Universe alike. “You want me to capture the Morsdente, then let it live?” Twenty-one faces stared back at him. The panel of ancient Elven Volaticus advisers had varied expressions. It would appear many of them agreed with Enlil’s outrage. Others squirmed uncomfortably. But all remembered the last time they saw him. Enlil could siphon energy off of anyone, even a powerful ancient, an ability he’d demonstrated to them violently within hours of Etana’s death. He’d targeted Adonia in particular. By the time they’d dragged Enlil to the dormancy chamber for punishment, the panel speaker had been incapable of lifting his hand to wave goodbye.

“We more than want, we are demanding it,” Adonai stated. Pompous ass could go fuck himself.

“Last I checked, Volaticus had not been ruled by dictatorship in many millennia,” Enlil snapped, not hiding his anger. “Why would you ask this of
me
? ‘Because we are demanding it’ is not going to cut it.” The High Ones watched him, and Enlil knew from past experience that they were speaking amongst themselves.

Adonai pursed his lips, the only outward indication that a decision had been reached. “The member of the panel whose advice is being weighed for this particular
request
of you, would like to speak to you directly.” The High Speaker leaned back in his chair, a sign he’d surrendered his place to the other seat.