The Forlorn (6 page)

“I don’t have any friends here.” She sat down on the bed as the tears came. “I don’t have anyone but the boys. And my mother.”

“And now you have me. And Lana and Marcos; I have a younger sister that I raised. She turned thirty three months ago. She’s just as ticked at the ‘forced relocation of Dardaptoan Refugees’ as you probably are. Only she tends to be very vocal about it. Last I saw her she was trying to get a laptop to work using a root vegetable as a crude battery.”

She stared at him for a minute. “It would probably work…If she made it strong enough.”

“We can go meet her, if you like. I haven’t seen her since yesterday morning. I know she’s probably worried about me, and I’m definitely needing to see her for myself, too.”

“I’m sorry. You didn’t need to stay with me. You don’t know me.”

“You are my Rajni. I suspect you don’t know what that truly means, but your needs are more important to me than any other. You need to always remember that. You are my world, and will always be. I know that scares you, and I understand that. But we don’t have to rush into anything.” He wouldn’t lie to her and she was his mate. He knew that with every bit of his being. This girl was the one the goddess had meant for him. He had faith enough in his creator to know that Kennera would not have chosen Mara for him if it was not the way it should be. If she was not the best mate for him.

And he owed his mate everything that he was.

“See? What does that even mean? It sounds like you’re a crazy stalker, and I can’t deal with that. At all. I hear Rajni all the time, yet what does it really mean?”

Maybe he needed to start at the absolute beginning? “Do you know how
rajnis
are chosen?”

“I don’t have a clue. Every single time I’ve asked my mother she’s refused to answer. I don’t know how old she is, or what House she comes from. She will not say. And no one in Center Thrun City will give me the time of day because I don’t have one of those stupid scarves. Real friendly bunch of people the Dardaptoans are. I’ve read of friendlier treatment of outsiders from the Celts and the Vikings!”

Rion stared at her, hoping his shock didn’t show. “The Dardaptoan way is to help one another. Who have you asked?”

“Our neighbors, at first. But my father was Lupoiux, whatever that means. And it was made very clear that we are not welcome.” She looked out his window, and he studied her in profile. She may not know what it meant to be Dardaptoan in nature, but she was certainly a beautiful example of their Kind. Every Dardaptoan female favored the Goddess of their Kind, and had a feline type of allure. It helped them to draw humans and other blooded Kinds to them for feeding. That brought up another point. “How do you feed?”

“I don’t. Apparently I don’t need as much as regular Dardaptoans—real ones, not Lupoiux. And my mother cooks it into the food. Big shocker, I didn’t even know vampires existed.”

Vulnerable and unknowing, and even unable to feed properly. Her mother had done her a great disservice. “I make this vow to you, Mara. You will never be so unprotected or unprepared again. And you will never be so alone, not as long as I live.” Probably shouldn’t tell her that their souls were already so entwined that if one were to die, the other would most likely follow.

But then again, was it fair to not tell her?

Honesty compelled him to do the right thing. “There is something you need to understand about
rajni
bonds. When a Dardaptoan is born, the goddess of our people whispers that person’s….soul mate, if you want to call them that, name. Even if hundreds of years are between those birthdates. No one else in any of the worlds will be a better mate for that Dardaptoan, and all of our Kind knows this. Your name was whispered the day I was born. And mine was spoken the day you were born. Our souls are weaving together every moment we breathe from this point on. When you hurt, I will hurt. And Mara—it will work the same for you. That is what makes Rajni bonds so sacred to our people. That your mother mated a Lupoiux, I don’t know if they were
rajnis
or not, though I suspect they were since Lupoiux have a similar mate selection process, would set her apart from our people. That she still lives when her mate is gone—that would be another barrier. Add in that you don’t show an affiliation for a Dardaptoan House…” It angered him, the position her mother had placed her in. “Your mother was wrong to not tell you. Even if the House was rife with problems, a Dardaptoan is owed their House. Their family. I will find your mother’s people for you. I vow this to you. By the end of the day. I will speak with Theo, of the Sebastos House. He is the chronicler of the Houses, and has taken on that role even more greatly with the relocation. Normal House numbers are between four thousand and fifteen. The House I lead numbers five thousand four hundred ninety-six with me. Five thousand five hundred with the addition of your family. I am responsible for every single one. And I do not take that responsibility lightly. Tell me, what color
hasha
surrounded your family these last three months?”

He would find the head of that House and talk to them about the lack of respect they had shown the needy in their midst.

“The same you wear, and some black. I don’t know who rules our section of the city, other than that.”

“I will see to it, then. For those are both my family colors. I will find who should have offered you shelter, and I will see they make recompense.”

Chapter Eighteen

Mara saw that he meant it. “No. I don’t want recompense. I just want something better than this normal. For my brothers, if nothing else.”

“There are Lupoiux amongst my family now. I will see to it that someone takes the boys to mentor when the time presents itself. They will not be denied that part of their heritage any longer. Any more than you will. And Mara…I will find a way to help your mother. Tell me…what do you remember of your father? How long has he been gone?”

“Twelve years, almost. He was gone two months before my brothers were born.”

“How long has your mother suffered such sadness?”

“From that day.”

“I see. If it is as I suspect, then it is your mother’s soul crying out for her mate. She may just be hanging on long enough for your brothers to reach their age of majority. I am sorry, Mara. It can work that way. For a Rajni to survive so long past their mate; it must be horribly painful for her.”

Mara pulled the wrappings from her left arm and studied the gashes in her skin. “She used to be different. Always laughing. My father would call her his sunshine, and me his rainbow. He was big and strong and everything. We knew that.”

“What happened to him?”

She unwrapped her right arm before answering. The wounds would need cleaned—she understood enough about how gangrene and bacteria had decimated ancient Earth cultures to not even risk it, no matter what the medical people said—and rewrapped, but they were healing much faster than she could have ever expected. “We were driving home late one night. I can’t remember where we had been, we had been driving a very long time. Our car broke down, or we hit something, or whatever. My parents were very worried. Mom was about halfway through the pregnancy, and it wasn’t easy. She had been so ill. My father got out of the car. I never saw him again, and it was so dark outside that I didn’t see what happened to him. I just remember my mother screaming, and locking the car. A man came after that, and he carried my mother from the car and to a woman who helped us. A human woman, I guess. When I asked, all my mother would say was Redd Gothan. I don’t know if that was the man who helped us, or if that was the man who killed my father.”

He was quiet for a moment, his dark gold eyes compassionate. “Redd Gothan was a name of a band of Lupoiux wolves. A criminal band. They killed, kidnapped, raped, and just about anything else you can think of over the last twenty years. Their range spanned from California to Florida. They were probably after your mother—and you—that night. And your father got in the way. I’m sorry.”

“Why would they want us? It was dark, my mother was huge with the boys, and I was just a kid.”

“Exactly that. You were old enough for some, sweetheart. And your mother was carrying Lupoiux pups, had already proven she could successfully mate with a Lupoiux male. They would have taken you, killed the boys, and raped both of you to see if you were compatible as mates. As breeders.”

“Are they still out there? Hurting people? Are they here? Is that why people seem to hate my brothers and me?”

She’d known when she went in search of answers that there would be some that she did not like. Mara tossed the old bandages aside and looked at him. “Tell me. So that I can understand?”

“The Lupoiux god Eiophon learned of the Redd Gothan’s crimes when they attacked our goddess late one evening. Since then he has set up a council to judge—and execute—Lupoiux that he does not feel are worthy of living. Those that rape and murder, steal, whatever it is. You are safe here, I promise you that.”

“Will my brothers be judged like this? They are just little boys!”

“No. They will not. The god and goddess are just and fair leaders, Mara. They do not pass such judgment upon innocent children. Or young women like you.”

“Then go on. What am I supposed to do? I have nothing here. I am a grad student, not a freaking pioneer.”

“You will have everything that you need in this world, I promise you that.”

“At what cost?”

He pulled her to her feet. Mara let him. “I cannot tell you often enough, I see. There is no more cost for you than there is for me. We aren’t alone anymore. You need to remember that. Mara…come. Meet my sister, tell me of your family, help me help you be happy here.”

Chapter Nineteen

Mara didn’t see how she had any other choice. “I need to go
home.
”

“That hut your family was living in is not fit for a family of four. Regardless of what happens between us, your family will not be returning there. I have looked at my cousin’s maps of the family houses. You were stuck in the midst of my father and grandfather’s people. Narrow minded assholes, all of them. Without a clear tie to their Houses, they would treat you little better than offal. I left that part of my family hundreds of years ago. No, there is a better place for you within my own people. You will one day help me lead them.”

She hadn’t expected that. “Just exactly who or what are you?”

“I am
dahr
. Do you know what that means?”

She’d heard the term, but knew very little about what any part of the Dardaptoan culture meant. “I don’t really have a clue.”

There was compassion in his eyes; Mara looked away. “I hate feeling stupid. We ended up here, and I knew nothing about what was going on, my mother refused to even speak of any of it. The boys…it’s been so hard for them, and I can’t help them. I hate feeling so useless, so helpless. I went to that library looking for answers.”

“Baby, you’ve found them. I promise you that.”

“How am I supposed to trust you? I don’t know you.”

“I know. But we have all the time in the world, now.”

“I’m not sure I believe that.”

Chapter

The respect and general acknowledgment they received while simply walking through the building awed her. Everywhere they went people half bowed to them, and any time he spoke there were actual servants to do his bidding.

Talk about different than how she’d been treated.  They looked at her, too, and that made her more than a little bit uncomfortable. “What am I supposed to say to them? I don’t know why they think I am so important all of the sudden.”

“Because of the white you wear. You need to understand how our social hierarchy works. We have the
dharanna
, a legendary group of original Dardaptoans. They led when our people were first created by the goddess almost four thousand years ago. Over time, their sons and daughters, later generations, have taken the
dahr
or
dahn
positions. Their families wear the traditional white. When a leader of one of those families finds their Rajni, that mate assumes white as their color, as well. It’s how our people know who their leaders are, especially in times of crisis.”
“I am no leader.” That was the absolute last thing she wanted. “I don’t want to be.”

“The goddess feels differently.” His eyes were compassionate when he looked at her. “I understand how you feel. When my House broke from my father’s I was ill for days, the idea of such responsibility more than I was prepared for. But the seers of our people told me it was my path. And so far it has been. You would not have been chosen if you could not carry the burden. And it is a burden.”

Just another reason this guy was totally wrong for her—even
if
she believed in
rajnis
, which she didn’t.

But why did her hand feel so right in his? Why did she already know exactly how he smelled? How warm his touch was?

It was crazy, the way this was starting to seem almost normal to her. “I don’t believe in goddesses or destinies or anything like that. I don’t know what you want from me, or why you even want me.”

He stopped walking. “I want you because the goddess that I believe in, and have spoken with on several occasions, chose you for me. I want you because when I look at you I
know
that we were meant to be together. That’s a very strong pull for me. I know you do not truly understand, but your heart does. Deep inside you, you know this was what the future holds for you.”
“I don’t have a clue what the future holds for me. How can I? Everything I worked for is gone, Rion. And I worked hard, studied hard, and nothing can come out of it now. This world doesn’t exactly need someone who studied
human
ities, does it? Especially the ancient civilizations of humans. I don’t even know what I am supposed to do every day, let alone with the rest of my life.”