Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen - word count 2341 - Download PDF
15. “Is all in readiness?” The voice emanating from the mud colored flames echoed in the small dark chamber. “We lack, one or two small things my lord.” The cloaked creature kneeled in front of the grate, keeping his head low. “What do we lack?” Impatience threaded the multi-octave voice. “The herb, my lord, the Kissanthiem, and we have not acquired the Walker yet.” The servant’s voice held the trace of a tremor, you did not give the master bad news. He was the reason the phrase “don’t shoot the messenger.” had become popular, only he wouldn’t shoot you, no, what he’d do to you was infinitely worse, the stuff of a serial killers nightmares. “How long will this take Nespan? How much longer must I bear your incompetence?” Nespan shivered in dread, trying to hide it. “Please, my lord…” He reached out a decaying hand. “but a few more days for the herb, we will have the Walker soon as well.” “See that it is so, I will wait no longer, and be wary of the Omega, they have foiled my plans one time too many. Have any of them been killed yet?” “Not as yet my lord, but the Hive have given them enough of a fright that they have set up regular patrols now, so it’s only a matter of time before we kill them.” Nespan kept his eyes glued to the dirty stone floor. “Also not good enough, you are completely useless, but for now I require your ability to move around and your ability to make more of the hive. Do not fail me any further. If you do none of that will make any difference to me. Do you understand what I am telling you?” “Yes my lord.” Ross took in a deep breath, relishing the fresh air of the mountain valley. The sun had risen about an hour ago and restlessness had forced him out of his room and into the area surrounding the house. He’d dragged on a pair of black cargo pants, a snug tee shirt, and his Doc Martian’s before leaving his room. Now he moved through the grass just enjoying the feel of untouched nature around him, no manicured lawns, no perfection, just raw nature. He rubbed his arms, and smiled as goose bumps rose on his skin, he’d forgotten it was the end of winter here in the southern hemisphere of the world. Ross tilted his head back and let the soothing warmth of the early morning sun soak into his face. The sounds of a guitar drifted over the air, attracting his attention. Ross tilted his head to listen more carefully, no it couldn’t be one, the music he heard was the beginning from the live version of Hotel California by the Eagles, and he knew for a fact one guitar could not pull that intricate intro off on its own. The sound was coming from a corps of trees not to far ahead, so Ross stalked towards the trees, curious to meet the musicians. He stopped on the inside edge of the trees, his hands clenched at his sides as he lost his ability to breath for a moment, and all he could do was stare. It was one musician flawlessly playing the intro of the song. The woman sat on a fallen tree, a twelve-string guitar cradled her lap, a six-string acoustic resting on the fallen tree next to her. She wore an ankle length summer dress with little pink roses patterned on it, and a dark blue open cardigan over it. One bare foot resting on a tree stump the other on the ground to raise one knee so she could balance the guitar. Her waist length tawny ringlets caressed her back and shoulders touching the edge of the guitar as she concentrated on the intricacy of the piece of music she was playing. Ross felt like begging her to carry on when she stopped, he wanted to hear more, he wanted to watch her a little longer, he held his breath praying she wouldn’t see him. “Now lets see if I can get you right my beauty.” She murmured then closed her eyes for a moment in concentration. Ross smiled, she was South African, her voice incredibly sexy, smoky and feminine, her accent like Darius’s, although it was slightly stronger, he supposed that Dar’s had gotten watered down by so many years around Americans. He waited to hear what she would start playing and was astounded when a song he’d written started flowing from the caressed strings flawlessly. He found himself smiling again and rested his back against the tree, bringing one foot up against the bark so his knee was bent and he was comfortable. Ross wanted to close his eyes and just breath the music in, but that would mean not looking at her, and he couldn’t face the idea of taking his eyes of the guitarist. Ross waited for the intricate chord change in the second verse, something that had taken him forever to perfect and was surprised when her fingers stumbled over it. He didn’t debate his choice to talk to her, right at that moment it was imperative to get her attention, and have it fully focused on him. She bit out a curse and tried that part again, failing again. “Damn it!” “There is a trick to that part.” Ross spoke up startling her, he head flew up and incredibly wide storm blue eyes pinned him. Gemma watched the stranger take long strides to get closer to her, she had to clutch the neck of the guitar as her suddenly nerveless fingers felt the instrument start slipping. Holy Crap! Were men made that gorgeous? Or was she hallucinating. His blond fringe hung over his right eye, the early morning light dancing on his hair creating highlights that made his hair look like spun sunshine. His deep blue eyes never left her face, she took the opportunity to let her eyes roam his face, that full bottom lip was made for kissing, oh goodness, and the tight black tee-shirt he wore, she almost snorted, more like the build underneath it, made Gemma’s pulse speed up. She lived around lycanthropes and as a whole they were beautiful, but she’d never meet one like this man. He was… Gemma couldn’t think of an adjective that would do him justice. He reached her and bent close to her to pick up the six-string guitar, Gemma indulged in some more mental holy craping because he smelled heavenly. She had to fight the urge not to lean further into him. “So.” He sat down on a tree stump near her and pulled the guitar into his lap. “There is a trick to this part.” His finger moved effortlessly though the piece of music she’d been struggling for weeks to learn. It was a Requiem song, and though Gemma was a tad obsessed with Requiem’s music - who was she kidding, Slade had threatened to burn her CD collection if she subjected him to Requiem at full volume one more time - she still hadn’t managed to perfect this one specific song. “How the …” “Look.” He smiled and Gemma thought she was going to spontaneously combust. That effect from just a smile, this man should be declared a government regulated and controlled substance. He moved his fingers through the chords again, but when he came to the part of music that had her stumped he changed his fingering, using different fingers to press the stings down, not the fingers you would normally use. It allowed him to move to the next chord with ease. “Ohhhh.” She grinned as she saw the trick and looked down at her guitar she played through the piece as effortlessly as he had. “Wow.” Gemma was impressed. Ross had to give himself a little shake to recover from her grin. As she played through the piece a slow sensual smile spread across his face. He wasn’t normally one for hit and run relationships, but if he was going to be in South Africa for a couple of days he might as well enjoy himself. This woman was going to make his stay that much more pleasant. Ross opened his mouth to ask her name but before he could a lions roar echoed through the mountain valley. “Oops, I better get moving before Slade rips me a new one. Thanks for the help.” She grinned and stood, holding the twelve string by the neck she ran off into the trees. “Wait, what about your…” Ross looked down at the guitar resting on his knee and shrugged, he’d take it back to the house, someone was bound to know who she was so he could give it back to her. Gemma couldn’t get the stranger out of her head, he stayed there, firmly entrenched all the way to the house. She stopped to gather some wild flowers for her room, she loved the way they smelled and Slade could wait a few minutes more for her, his arrogant “girl get your ass home” would only make him wait that much longer. Gemma did not take orders well, even from the alpha male of the pride. She still couldn’t get the stranger out her head, had his accent been American? Honestly she didn’t remember, she was too distracted by how gorgeous he was and how well he played that guitar. Slade was going to blow a fuse, but Gemma had decided the stranger was the man she wanted for her own, and what Gemma decided, Gemma did. She pushed open the front door expecting Slade to throw a hissy cause she’d disappeared before breakfast again. “Okay, I’m here, you can stop roaring down the bloody mountain.” She said with laughter in her voice. “It’s about time, Darius has been waiting too meet you the whole morning.” Slade’s voice drifted to her from the living room. Darius? Her brother had finally come to meet her? Gemma felt the smile spread across her lips, she’d spent her whole life hearing about Darius, their mother had loved him so deeply and it had torn her apart to run and leave him behind. If she had taken Darius with, his father would never have let any of them rest, because Darius was his heir. So Gemma had been raised on stories of the things Darius had done as a child and she felt like she knew him as well as if they had grown up together. She stepped into the entrance to the living room and smiled looking around the room for her brother. Her eyes widened when they passed over the stranger, her head whipped back, oh god don’t let him be Darius! “Gemma, meet your brother Darius.” Gemma’s eyes snapped to the man Slade had pointed out and a smile flowed across her features. The stranger was not her brother, thank you God! She moved forward not giving Darius a chance to react and threw her arms around him. “E-frigging-ventually!” She laughed hugging him tightly. Darius was astounded, completely blown away, here was this tiny creature, that looked so much like his mother, and she was holding onto him as if she gave a damn. He felt his heart swell with love for the sister he hadn’t know he had until a week ago. A smile touched his lips as his arms crept around her and he hugged his only sibling back. Ross’s reaction was not as pleasant, he was cursing up a storm in his head. Why the holy fuck did she have to be Dar’s sister. Damn it that put her totally off limits. He contemplated for a moment, just a moment, the idea of ignoring what Dar would want and taking Gemma anyway. Ross sighed, he couldn’t do that, as much as he wanted her, Gemma was now taboo, he couldn’t – no – wouldn’t touch her. He wanted to kick something badly, but instead Ross schooled his features, pulling his mask of boredom back into place and pretended like nothing in the world had just fucked up his millennium. Darius let go of his sister reluctantly, and smiled down at her. “Took you long enough to get here!” She grinned up at him. Pleasantly surprised that her brother was such a handsome guy, even the scars across his eye didn’t detract from it, they actually made him more rugged. Gemma was itching with curiosity about those scars, but now was not the time to ask him about them. “I should have come sooner.” He returned her grin. She really was tiny, no more then five foot two. “Well you are here now, so I wont hold it against you.” “These are Darius’s friends Gemma.” Slade got her attention again. “This is Kyle.” “Hey, good to meet you.” Kyle stepped forward and held out a hand to shake hers, his skin felt cool. Strange to the touch. “And Sorcha.” Sorcha smiled and stretched out a hand in greeting. Gemma shook the other woman’s hands, appreciating her warm smile. “And this is Ross.” So that was his name, hmm, Gemma liked the sound of it. She smiled as he extended his hand something unreadable in his dark blue eyes. When he enveloped her hand in his she felt her breath catch and her smile falter, damn the man was a walking aphrodisiac. Knowing he was her brother’s friend had not changed her mind. Ross would be hers before long. “You can let go of her hand now Ross.” Darius’s voice held a note of warning, Ross dropped Gemma’s hand as if he’d be burnt. Damn he needed to get a better grip on himself than this. Just her touch had made him forget that she was not for him. He couldn’t let himself forget that again. “Now that the introductions are out of the way, how about we all go get some breakfast, before my stomach starts roaring louder then I can.” Slade joked.

Chapter Fifteen - word count 2341 - Download PDF

15.
      “Is all in readiness?”  The voice emanating from the mud colored flames echoed in the small dark chamber.
      “We lack, one or two small things my lord.”  The cloaked creature kneeled in front of the grate, keeping his head low.
      “What do we lack?”  Impatience threaded the multi-octave voice.
      “The herb, my lord, the Kissanthiem, and we have not acquired the Walker yet.”  The servant’s voice held the trace of a tremor, you did not give the master bad news.  He was the reason the phrase “don’t shoot the messenger.” had become popular, only he wouldn’t shoot you, no, what he’d do to you was infinitely worse, the stuff of a serial killers nightmares.
      “How long will this take Nespan?  How much longer must I bear your incompetence?”
      Nespan shivered in dread, trying to hide it.  “Please, my lord…” He reached out a decaying hand.  “but a few more days for the herb, we will have the Walker soon as well.”
      “See that it is so, I will wait no longer, and be wary of the Omega, they have foiled my plans one time too many.  Have any of them been killed yet?”
      “Not as yet my lord, but the Hive have given them enough of a fright that they have set up regular patrols now, so it’s only a matter of time before we kill them.”  Nespan kept his eyes glued to the dirty stone floor.
      “Also not good enough, you are completely useless, but for now I require your ability to move around and your ability to make more of the hive.  Do not fail me any further.  If you do none of that will make any difference to me.  Do you understand what I am telling you?”
      “Yes my lord.”

      Ross took in a deep breath, relishing the fresh air of the mountain valley.  The sun had risen about an hour ago and restlessness had forced him out of his room and into the area surrounding the house.  He’d dragged on a pair of black cargo pants, a snug tee shirt, and his Doc Martian’s before leaving his room.  Now he moved through the grass just enjoying the feel of untouched nature around him, no manicured lawns, no perfection, just raw nature.
      He rubbed his arms, and smiled as goose bumps rose on his skin, he’d forgotten it was the end of winter here in the southern hemisphere of the world.
      Ross tilted his head back and let the soothing warmth of the early morning sun soak into his face.
      The sounds of a guitar drifted over the air, attracting his attention.  Ross tilted his head to listen more carefully, no it couldn’t be one, the music he heard was the beginning from the live version of Hotel California by the Eagles, and he knew for a fact one guitar could not pull that intricate intro off on its own.  The sound was coming from a corps of trees not to far ahead, so Ross stalked towards the trees, curious to meet the musicians.
      He stopped on the inside edge of the trees, his hands clenched at his sides as he lost his ability to breath for a moment, and all he could do was stare.  It was one musician flawlessly playing the intro of the song.
      The woman sat on a fallen tree, a twelve-string guitar cradled her lap, a six-string acoustic resting on the fallen tree next to her.  She wore an ankle length summer dress with little pink roses patterned on it, and a dark blue open cardigan over it.  One bare foot resting on a tree stump the other on the ground to raise one knee so she could balance the guitar. Her waist length  tawny ringlets caressed her back and shoulders touching the edge of the guitar as she concentrated on the intricacy of the piece of music she was playing.
      Ross felt like begging her to carry on when she stopped, he wanted to hear more, he wanted to watch her a little longer, he held his breath praying she wouldn’t see him.
      “Now lets see if I can get you right my beauty.”  She murmured then closed her eyes for a moment in concentration.
      Ross smiled, she was South African, her voice incredibly sexy, smoky and feminine, her accent like Darius’s, although it was slightly stronger, he supposed that Dar’s had gotten watered down by so many years around Americans.
      He waited to hear what she would start playing and was astounded when a song he’d written started flowing from the caressed strings flawlessly.  He found himself smiling again and rested his back against the tree, bringing one foot up against the bark so his knee was bent and he was comfortable.  Ross wanted to close his eyes and just breath the music in, but that would mean not looking at her, and he couldn’t face the idea of taking his eyes of the guitarist.
      Ross waited for the intricate chord change in the second verse, something that had taken him forever to perfect and was surprised when her fingers stumbled over it.  He didn’t debate his choice to talk to her, right at that moment it was imperative to get her attention, and have it fully focused on him.
      She bit out a curse and tried that part again, failing again.
      “Damn it!”
      “There is a trick to that part.”  Ross spoke up startling her, he head flew up and incredibly wide storm blue eyes pinned him.
      Gemma watched the stranger take long strides to get closer to her, she had to clutch the neck of the guitar as her suddenly nerveless fingers felt the instrument start slipping.  Holy Crap!  Were men made that gorgeous?  Or was she hallucinating.
      His blond fringe hung over his right eye, the early morning light dancing on his hair creating highlights that made his hair look like spun sunshine.  His deep blue eyes never left her face, she took the opportunity to let her eyes roam his face, that full bottom lip was made for kissing, oh goodness, and the tight black tee-shirt he wore, she almost snorted, more like the build underneath it, made Gemma’s pulse speed up.
      She lived around lycanthropes and as a whole they were beautiful, but she’d never meet one like this man.  He was… Gemma couldn’t think of an adjective that would do him justice.
      He reached her and bent close to her to pick up the six-string guitar, Gemma indulged in some more mental holy craping because he smelled heavenly.  She had to fight the urge not to lean further into him.
      “So.”  He sat down on a tree stump near her and pulled the guitar into his lap.
      “There is a trick to this part.” His finger moved effortlessly though the piece of music she’d been struggling for weeks to learn.  It was a Requiem song, and though Gemma was a tad obsessed with Requiem’s music - who was she kidding, Slade had threatened to burn her CD collection if she subjected him to Requiem at full volume one more time - she still hadn’t managed to perfect this one specific song.
      “How the …”
      “Look.”
      He smiled and Gemma thought she was going to spontaneously combust.  That effect from just a smile, this man should be declared a government regulated and controlled substance.
      He moved his fingers through the chords again, but when he came to the part of music that had her stumped he changed his fingering, using different fingers to press the stings down, not the fingers you would normally use.  It allowed him to move to the next chord with ease.
      “Ohhhh.” She grinned as she saw the trick and looked down at her guitar she played through the piece as effortlessly as he had.  “Wow.”  Gemma was impressed.
      Ross had to give himself a little shake to recover from her grin.  As she played through the piece a slow sensual smile spread across his face.  He wasn’t normally one for hit and run relationships, but if he was going to be in South Africa for a couple of days he might as well enjoy himself.  This woman was going to make his stay that much more pleasant.  Ross opened his mouth to ask her name but before he could a lions roar echoed through the mountain valley.
      “Oops, I better get moving before Slade rips me a new one.  Thanks for the help.”  She grinned and stood, holding the twelve string by the neck she ran off into the trees.
      “Wait, what about your…”  Ross looked down at the guitar resting on his knee and shrugged, he’d take it back to the house, someone was bound to know who she was so he could give it back to her.

      Gemma couldn’t get the stranger out of her head, he stayed there, firmly entrenched all the way to the house.  She stopped to gather some wild flowers for her room, she loved the way they smelled and Slade could wait a few minutes more for her, his arrogant “girl get your ass home” would only make him wait that much longer.  Gemma did not take orders well, even from the alpha male of the pride.
      She still couldn’t get the stranger out her head, had his accent been American?  Honestly she didn’t remember, she was too distracted by how gorgeous he was and how well he played that guitar.
      Slade was going to blow a fuse, but Gemma had decided the stranger was the man she wanted for her own, and what Gemma decided, Gemma did.
      She pushed open the front door expecting Slade to throw a hissy cause she’d disappeared before breakfast again.
      “Okay, I’m here, you can stop roaring down the bloody mountain.”  She said with laughter in her voice.
      “It’s about time, Darius has been waiting too meet you the whole morning.”  Slade’s voice drifted to her from the living room.
      Darius?  Her brother had finally come to meet her?  Gemma felt the smile spread across her lips, she’d spent her whole life hearing about Darius, their mother had loved him so deeply and it had torn her apart to run and leave him behind.
      If she had taken Darius with, his father would never have let any of them rest, because  Darius was his heir.  So Gemma had been raised on stories of the things Darius had done as a child and she felt like she knew him as well as if they had grown up together.
      She stepped into the entrance to the living room and smiled looking around the room for her brother.  Her eyes widened when they passed over the stranger, her head whipped back, oh god don’t let him be Darius!
      “Gemma, meet your brother Darius.”
      Gemma’s eyes snapped to the man Slade had pointed out and a smile flowed across her features.  The stranger was not her brother, thank you God!
      She moved forward not giving Darius a chance to react and threw her arms around him.
      “E-frigging-ventually!”  She laughed hugging him tightly.
      Darius was astounded, completely blown away, here was this tiny creature, that looked so much like his mother, and she was holding onto him as if she gave a damn.  He felt his heart swell with love for the sister he hadn’t know he had until a week ago.  A smile touched his lips as his arms crept around her and he hugged his only sibling back.
      Ross’s reaction was not as pleasant, he was cursing up a storm in his head.  Why the holy fuck did she have to be Dar’s sister.  Damn it that put her totally off limits.  He contemplated for a moment, just a moment, the idea of ignoring what Dar would want and taking Gemma anyway.  Ross sighed, he couldn’t do that, as much as he wanted her, Gemma was now taboo, he couldn’t – no – wouldn’t touch her.
      He wanted to kick something badly, but instead Ross schooled his features, pulling his mask of boredom back into place and pretended like nothing in the world had just fucked up his millennium.
      Darius let go of his sister reluctantly, and smiled down at her.
      “Took you long enough to get here!”  She grinned up at him.  Pleasantly surprised that her brother was such a handsome guy, even the scars across his eye didn’t detract from it, they actually made him more rugged.  Gemma was itching with curiosity about those scars, but now was not the time to ask him about them.
      “I should have come sooner.”  He returned her grin. She really was tiny, no more then five foot two.
      “Well you are here now, so I wont hold it against you.”
      “These are Darius’s friends Gemma.”  Slade got her attention again.  “This is Kyle.”
      “Hey, good to meet you.”  Kyle stepped forward and held out a hand to shake hers, his skin felt cool. Strange to the touch.
      “And Sorcha.”
      Sorcha smiled and stretched out a hand in greeting.  Gemma shook the other woman’s hands, appreciating her warm smile.
      “And this is Ross.”
      So that was his name, hmm, Gemma liked the sound of it.  She smiled as he extended his hand something unreadable in his dark blue eyes.  When he enveloped her hand in his she felt her breath catch and her smile falter, damn the man was a walking aphrodisiac.  Knowing he was her brother’s friend had not changed her mind.  Ross would be hers before long.
      “You can let go of her hand now Ross.”  Darius’s voice held a note of warning, Ross dropped Gemma’s hand as if he’d be burnt.  Damn he needed to get a better grip on himself than this.  Just her touch had made him forget that she was not for him.  He couldn’t let himself forget that again.
      “Now that the introductions are out of the way, how about we all go get some breakfast, before my stomach starts roaring louder then I can.”  Slade joked.

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