The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (95 page)

             
His free hand was tugging at my sweatpants in a struggle to pull them down.

             
“James, please don't! James, please stop!”

             
Consider it shameless. Con
sider it weak. I know that I do still. I was almost in tears as I begged him. I was unable to picture any scenario more horrendous than James, whom I loved so incredibly much, assaulting me in the most terrible and unforgivable way.

             
“James! Please, honey,
this isn't you! JAMES!”

             
His teeth sunk down into my shoulder. I landed a perfect kick between his legs and his jaws released. We both howled in pain together.

             
“Honey, please! James, stop!” I whispered to him as he gathered himself back up. I was struggl
ing to free my wrists from his firm grasp again. “Look at me. James, honey, look at me!”

             
The door came crashing down. James looked up and his grip released. I swung my fists up in a fury and managed to hit him several times in the face. I did not care who
had arrived just in the nick of time. I only wanted to inflict as much physical damage on James as I could for what he had just attempted.

             
Of all the people on Pangea, Adam was my “rescuer.” He shouted over his shoulder, presumably
at Violet, Alice and Q
uinn to stay back. Terrified, they nodded and shrunk away. Adam threw James backwards, shouting in a language unknown to our kind. Even in my state, shock registered upon hearing James shout back at him in the same tongue. The evolution apparently had inte
llectual side effects beyond what I had previously believed.

             
James’s new strength was a force to be reckoned with. But Adam had lived for thousands of years with the same power and as a result, even my boyfriend did not stand a chance against him. Adam th
rew James back into the wall, shouting still and trembling in a rage that could have shook the ground beneath our feet. They fought for several minutes and I laid on the bed, curled up in a ball, shaking with sobs that never came. Tears brimmed on my eyes
as I buried my face in my hands but I did not shed them. Still, even after all that had just happened, I could not cry.

             
“Don’t hurt him…” I managed to gasp out when James gave a shout of pain.

             
I loved him still. I knew that he was not himself. Sure, he w
ould have to deal with my terrible anger while he won back my trust. I wondered briefly if he would even try to resolve the issues that were now standing firmly between us. A tugging part of my cynical heart told me he would not.

             
“Adam, stop!” I shouted a
fter turning over onto my side to look at him.

             
Adam looked back at me before grabbing a hold of James’s shirt and hauling him over to the door of Violet’s bedroom. With an almighty thrust, he threw him into the hallway.

             
“Elijah!” I screamed when my broth
er immediately went for his throat, roaring in protective rage.

             
“Don’t!” Adam shouted deafeningly. The house trembled in fear at the sound. Elijah hissed at Adam but released his grip on James. I did not see James run.

             
Other people had gathered in the do
orway, thirsting for a show of drama. A front row seat was coveted by all; their lives had no meaning, I decided. They needed to witness theatrical events in order to feel fulfilled. Perhaps they even held themselves in higher regard as they watched me, kn
owing their lives had not taken such a traumatic turn. Only through noble actions of their own were they spared from experiencing my pain.

             
Adam’s hands, so rough in texture but so gentle in movement, pulled my pants up. I covered my face, feeling the skin
of my cheeks burning in a humiliation so toxic, I believed it would be the poison that ended me. I could not understand his words, for he was speaking in his language, but his tone was gentle, soothing. The beast of Pangea was trying to calm me.

             
“Make th
em go away.” I whispered to him.

             
Instead, he picked me up with ease and ran from the room. I closed my eyes, feeling the air whizzing past me as he bolted from the house, over the lawn and into the trees. When he laid me down in a soft patch of grass bene
ath a towering oak, I looked up at him.

             
In the mid-morning sun that shined through the trees, the color of his eyes seemed to glow. Reflected back at me, I saw both a fearful concern and a desire to quiet the thunderous emotional storm inside of me. His h
and rested on my face as he leaned down to kiss my forehead tenderly. His lips moved down my face, pressing to both of my still burning cheeks, my nose, and both of my closed eyes. Just as his mouth stopped to hover above mine, he pulled away.
             

             
“I do
apologize,” He muttered after looking away from me, “I have allowed my human side to get the better of me.”

             
I shook my head and sat up quickly.
             

             
“Thank you.” I said without a scrap of actual gratitude in my voice. Perhaps it was an old habit unable to d
ie, but I still could not trust him completely. In fact, I could not trust him at all. He had saved me in the interest of a motivation that was not clear to me. His tenderness from a moment earlier was simply meant to make me drop my guard.

             
“I know that y
ou do not trust me, Brynna, and for that, I am very sorry. I did not present myself to you as I should have. Killing your people was an action on my part that was not pondered through completely. I did not think of the consequences. I only thought of Puris
simus.”

             
“Did you encourage Don to eat the Peace Fruit?” I asked.

             
“Yes. I did.”

             
“Why?”

             
“Such reckless indulgence is so fitting of his persona, is it not?”

             
“I suppose so. I would just like you to be aware of the consequences. My younger sister killed a
man today. That man had assaulted and murdered two women. Penny caught him in the act. A few others have died, though I do not know how. I only know that they have been killed.”
             

             
“Some went willingly. The Peace Fruit enhances that which will invoke a stat
e of peace, hence the name. For some, that peace could only be achieved in death. They wanted to escape all that is happening here.”

             
“If you had left us alone…”

             
“My reasoning behind this war will make itself evident to you in time.”

             
“I doubt that sincer
ely.”

             
“I am sure you do. Just know this, Brynna: I am not your enemy. Your disgusting male partner may plant distrust of me in your mind but it is a lie.”

             
“Another consequence of you encouraging Don to give us drugs was what James did to me. His eyes wer
e still blue.”

             
“Yes. The Peace Fruit has been known to cause grisly after-effects in those that ingest it.”

             
“I have an idea, Adam and it is a very admirable one.”

             
“I would love to hear it.”

             
My eyes darkened as I looked at him. My voice trembled with fu
ry as I spoke.

             
“Stay away from me. Stay away from my sisters and brother. Stay away from the house. Slink back into your city and live out your miserable, immortal existence far from us. Stop interfering in our lives and tempting us with things we do not
need. I do not care about your reasoning. It will not become clear to me because I will not think of it for even one moment.”

             
I expected my own anger to come back at me, swinging wildly and in indignation. I expected, at the very least, a flash of hurt in
his eyes. But alas, I must have forgotten briefly who I was dealing with.

             
Adam chuckled softly and a chill swirled down my spine. He leaned forward and ran his finger down the length of my face.

             
“Your anger is admirable. Your spirit is strong. I find yo
u fascinating, Brynna Olivier.”

             
“I find you aggravating,” I smacked his hand away, “Do not touch me.”

             
I stood and turned to run back to the house.

             
“I wish you the best of luck in repairing what has been broken between you and your mate. He loves you
very much.” Adam said as he followed after me.

             
“Why are you walking behind me?” I turned around to walk backwards. I did not like being in his presence and not having my eyes fixed on him at all times. As I have said, I did not trust him or his unsavory i
ntentions.

             
“I am seeing you home.”

             
“I do not need you to see me home.” I replied irritably.

             
“Believe me when I say that you do.” He smiled arrogantly.

             
“What is it with stalking men? Do you have no pride in yourself? I believe my message to you just now
was very clear. Can you not gather that I want nothing more to do with you?”

             
“Consider it gathered, my dear.”

             
I turned back around and rolled my eyes skyward. I could not imagine a man more annoying. I could not imagine a man more intimidating. The two
traits were strange in their coexistence.

             
When we reached the house, I opened the front door, ignoring the stares of those who had clearly been awaiting my return. Just as I stepped inside, his hand grasped my wrist gently. I shuddered as a warm, tickling
sensation traveled slowly up my arm. When his other hand took my other wrist, the same feeling took hold. The two currents ran until they finally joined together at my wounded shoulder.
I closed my eyes as I felt the skin mesh back together, knowing that
the evidence of the gaping bite-marks had been erased.

             
“Your wrists were broken.”

             
Adam’s voice snapped me out of my drunken daze.

             
“Your shoulder was still bleeding, also. You will find them all as strong as the day you were born. Goodbye, my beauty.”

             
H
e zoomed off across the field, gone from my sight as quickly as he had emerged. As the effects of his healing power wore off, I registered what he had called me. I groaned loudly and stomped my foot in disgust. I hated him. I hated how his very nature baff
led me. Whatever armor guarded his heart could not be breached even by my most stinging rejection. Instead of musing for hours on such an annoyingly frustrating tendency, I silently resolved to find another way. Surely, there was some way to hurt him.

             
Whe
n I returned to my room, Penny was still asleep. Violet, Elijah, Alice and Quinn were waiting for me but I quickly shooed them away. I needed peace and quiet. I needed to sleep as my sister was.

             
“We will talk about this when I wake up. I need some time al
one.”
             

             
“Brynna, I’ll kill him when he gets back…”
             
“You will do nothing of the sort. Goodnight.” I closed the door and walked slowly back to the bed. I laid down beside Penny, not even bothering to change my clothes or cover myself with the thick, animal-
skin blanket.

             
I just closed my eyes.

XXX

             
A note from Violet was on the nightstand, placed right where my eyes would fall when they opened. She and Elijah had taken Penny downstairs to get some food. Don said that I was excused from work responsibilities
for the day. She loved me. I sighed and rolled my eyes to the sky. What a terribly odd situation…

             
I moved into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Over the rushing water, I did not hear the door open, but I did feel his presence in the room. I did hea
r his rapidly beating heart. My body braced for a physical blow or his rough hands throwing me down onto the floor. I was prepared to fight him to the death if he tried to hurt me the way he had earlier in the day. It would break my heart, quite literally,
to hurt or kill him. But I would not be assaulted so terribly again.