The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (80 page)

             
“Hey, she’s coming out of it. Don!” An unfamiliar voice belonging to a young man who had just realized that I
was not nearly as unconscious as I appeared to be... My mind had risen up for one brief moment to alert itself that Elijah, Penny, and Violet were near.

             
The coconut juice, as sweet and pure as any endless dream, rained down my throat in a flood more dange
rous than its delicious taste would have me believe.

             
I fell back into darkness.

XXX

             
“Brynna? Brynna?”

             
At first, I believed it was James. My eyes snapped open, needing to see his face, needing to know that he was there. When my vision focused, though, d
isappointment and admittedly, a shot of fear broke over me; it was Don seated in front of me.

             
I jumped, ready to attack him for what he had done. He had mentioned something about embracing our powers and I certainly had. I was going to show him just how r
eady I was to utilize my new killer instincts by ripping his throat out. How dare he drug James and me? How dare he steal Penny, Elijah and Violet away? How could he strike such fear in their hearts without reason? How dare he keep me here so that I could
not absolve that fear for them?

             
Once again, my hands were cuffed behind my back. I wondered where they had procured the cuffs but prayed that they had stolen them off one of my father’s thugs in a bloody fight that ended in
said thug being no longer of th
is world. Dare to dream, I suppose. My mind was racing through more thoughts than what could have been possible to process at once, and yet there I was, processing every last one.

             
“Yes, I’m sorry about those.”

             
“Do not fret.” I muttered in a voice quiet n
ot from fear but from physical weakness. I stifled a yawn. Whatever drug they had slipped into our drinks had drained all the energy that I had left. My deep, sedative-induced sleep had done nothing to remedy that exhaustion.

             
“I still have my feet.” I to
ld him as the yawn burst forth despite all efforts to suppress it. “If you come any closer, I will kick you square in the face.”

             
“I don’t doubt it. I won’t be coming any closer. Would you like to talk?”

             
“About what, dare I ask?”

             
I ordered my racing hear
t to slow. I would not show fear in front of him or anyone else. Doing so would accomplish nothing. Instead, I would start negotiating. Blubbering like a three year old frightened by a shadow in the closet was going to render all my points moot. A man woul
d not negotiate with a woman who cried. He would simply look down on her for dissolving into a display of weakness he would never know, for his breed was different.

             
Strange thoughts…

             
“Where are Penny, Elijah, Violet and James?” I demanded first. Despite
asking such an emotionally heavy question, I kept my voice as emotionless as possible. Remaining calm when asking whether or not the members of one’s family are even still alive is quite challenging, as I am sure you can surmise.

             
“They’re alright. They’re
just down the hall from you. Given the current climate between ourselves, the cave-dwellers, as you call them, and the Bachums, we’re lucky to have these cells below the house. Adam told me that they were used for these same purposes hundreds of years ago
, during yet another war between himself and the Old Spirits. That’s what they’re called, officially.”

             
“I want to see them. I want to see that they are all alive and unharmed.”

             
I was in no mood to learn any new information for the first time in my life.
Nothing he was saying mattered to me. The only thing that mattered was knowing that they were safe.

             
“They are. Well, your boyfriend isn’t. He came out of his sleep early, just as they were cuffing him. We had to take him down.”

             
My heart erupted in a fier
y, volcanic explosion that replaced my blood with burning, agonizing lava. They had killed James. Oh my God, oh my God…

             
My eyes must have been bugging because Don leaned forward, shaking his head vigorously and wearing a look of great concern.

             
“Oh, sweet
heart, no; he's not dead. Of course not! We don’t hurt those we don’t have to hurt.”

             
I could not suppress it; I sighed in relief.

             
“I apologize for the misunderstanding. I can hear your heart racing. That really frightened you. May I ask you a question, j
ust to satisfy my curiosity?”

             
I did not respond. I was still reeling from those brief yet incredibly painful moments where I had believed that James was dead. I had not known where to begin grieving, even. I hated the man in front of me for even mistakenl
y leading me to believe that I had lost James.

             
“Do you love him?” He asked before I had been given a chance to refuse his question.

             
I stared at him, stunned by the brashness of what he was asking. I did not understand how he could believe that intimate
details of mine and James’s relationship were any business of his.

             
“I only ask because I find the pairing strange. No judgment.” He held his hands up and smiling disarmingly. “But he is much older than you. He probably graduated college before you were ev
en born.”

             
“Not that it's any of your business, but our age difference does not matter now. It never did but it especially does not now, given that we are immortal. At least, you proclaim that we are immortal. Or
was that some intricate, lucid dream I had
after you very rudely drugged me and my much older boyfriend?”

             
“I did say that. It’s the truth. But you still haven’t answered my question.”

             
“Why do you even care?” I demanded, and my aggravation leaked through my facade of calmness. “It truly is none of
your business, wouldn’t you agree? What do my feelings for James, at any degree of intensity, have to do with you?”

             
“I told you that I’m just curious.”

             
“Well, I am going to stick with my original answer, thank you so much. It is none of your business.”

             
He smiled slightly.

             
“That’s never a good answer, Brynna. It implies shame, in this case at your relationship with a man so much older than you. It sometimes denotes that one person’s feelings aren’t as strong as the others, if they are there at all. So,
is it you that doesn’t love James when he loves you or the other way around?”

             
“It is neither.” I replied icily, “It is none of your damn business.” I wanted him to be angry at my resolve not to answer him but he merely smiled and studied me closely again.

             
“We could use someone like you around here. You’re worthy of knowing our secrets.”

             
“I have no interest in your secrets nor would I ever work for a man who resorts to brutality and murder in order to gain a place in the world.”

             
“James said something abo
ut you being so mature but that was perhaps the most idealistic, youthful thing I’ve ever heard, especially given what you’ve witnessed.”

             
That insignificant excuse of a man was attempting to belittle me. As he laughed somewhat hysterically at what I had s
aid, I forced my rage to remain level. I focused only on obtaining the answers that I so desperately needed.

             
“You have spoken to James?”

             
His laughter subsided but he ignored my question.

             
“You’ll see things my way, Brynna. You’ll see that my actions are
the result of not having a choice. It’s either us or them.”

             
“Did Adam ever explain exactly why it is that we all cannot live here together peacefully? Do not roll your eyes at me like I am some wide-eyed, empty-headed flower child, Don!” I snapped at him
loudly. I had stunned both him and myself with my outburst as it was the direct result of the fact that I was truly, dangerously angry.

             
“You want to know the reason why he won’t allow all of us to share his planet?
We can’t.
All of that conflict on Earth
led to so much destruction, not to mention the
end of the world as we knew it.
He can’t risk that here. This place is pure. That’s why it’s called Purissimus. I can’t imagine destroying this world like we destroyed ours. Can you?”

             
I did not answer. He con
tinued, undeterred, as though he had not asked me a question at all.

             
“If we destroyed this place the way we destroyed Earth, it would be terrible. It would be an
abomination
. It would be absolutely horrible to commit the same crime twice, don’t you agree?
”

             
This time, his large eyes met mine. I could see his resolve staring powerfully back at me; he would not continue our conversation unless I answered him. Because I was desperate to find Penny, Violet, Elijah and James, I did not hesitate in replying.

             
“Y
es, I do. But you cannot tell me that there are not ways for us to live here together. Send one group to the north, one to the south…” I sighed in frustration, “I do not know! I never intended to follow in my mother’s footsteps. I would never have been abl
e to solve disputes between countries. I cannot solve this one here. But violence is certainly not the only answer.”

             
“You’ve almost been killed by them and yet you still sympathize with them?” He was incredulous at the strength of my heart. He was in awe
of it. I was not flattered.

             
“I do not generalize an entire group of people based on the violent actions of a few. Also, I do
not finish battles that were started by others for reasons I do not know.”

             
“Perhaps not. I can see that you're not keen to the id
ea of fighting, which is perfectly fine for now. Your conflict resolution skills might need some toning up but let me say this: your mother wasn’t able to solve any disputes, domestic or foreign. She was very good at starting them, though, wasn't she?”

             
I
did not answer once again. I scowled just at the thought of her.

             
“Now, I'm drawing a blank on your mom. I can't place her appearance at all in my mind. Is she the red-headed woman that’s with your father?”

             
“No,” My expression darkened even more at the me
re mention of Maura. “And I will not talk about her.”

             
“About the woman with your father or your mom?”

             
“Both.”

             
“Does that other woman bear a resemblance to your mother?”

             
“No.” The anger was bubbling up, threatening to boil over. I forced it down, trying
to picture something,
anything
that would suppress it. Penny’s smiling face came into my mind; the mental sight of her beautifully youthful happiness absolved my anger but brought forward new fear and sadness in me. I wanted so desperately for her to live
a safe and happy life. It had always been my intention to ensure that Penny lived a wondrous, carefree childhood, unblemished by any of the horrid things I had experienced as I grew. She would always have my love, when I had not had anyone’s. She would re
main innocent and naïve for the duration of her youth because I would never allow her to see the cruelty or sickness of evil men. She would never know regret or pain. I would spare her from all of the most unspeakable things of the world even if such never
-ending protection cost me my own life.

             
Racing thoughts again. Focus, Brynna.

“I was almost killed by Adam’s people.” I changed the subject. It was the perfect way to erase those unpleasant memories and recollections.