Blessed by Sapphires (A Dance with Destiny Book 2) (13 page)

I felt the icy chill of blackest hate enveloping me. I opened my arms—welcomed it, fed off it.

The temple doors swung open of their own accord just as I reached them. There without, stood the whole of Vandermil. Their shocked, terrified faces failed to stir a single emotion within me.

I was dead inside. Only my shell remained.

As I stepped into the brilliant sunlight, my lost lover’s ethereal eyes reappeared in my mind. The pain I’d thought could not possibly get any worse, ripped through me, sending me agonizingly to my knees. Screams tore from my throat, echoing across every beautiful home in that heavenly city.

Sickeningly warm blood filled my mouth as my throat was rent asunder from the strain. I spat it upon those pristine steps and got back to my defiant feet. Love would not stop me, not as long as merciless pain pushed me forward.

Vybius stepped in front of me, terrified worry distorting his perfect features. “Jenevier, my love, what—”

I roared at him as if I were a feral beast.

He looked upon me—blood covering my teeth, dripping from my chin, eyes wild and vacant. Then he looked into my empty soul. I know this because I saw the realization cross his flawless face. And I relished the moment.

“No… Jenevier… No…” He gasped out his halted words.

Every Vanir drew back at Vybius’s sorrowful cry, giving me wide girth to exit their fairytale city, unabated.

All that is, except for Vindicus, my sapphire Guardian. I didn’t see him coming. He was just there, in all his ferocious glory.

“You shall not pass, Maiden. You cannot leave this city.”

Hatred and venom dripped from every word I spat at him. If there was any human left within me, she was fading fast.

“I am no maiden, Warrior. Let me pass or kill me now,
those
are your options.”

“Do you think you can possibly leave this place if I refuse to let you go? In all heaven and hell, you could not do this thing. Show me your claws, tiny Angel. Let us see now who shall lead this little dance of ours. Let’s find out who’s the Angel to be most feared… you or I? Whose claws are sharper? Whose blade cuts deeper? Vashti or Vindicus? Let us find out the truth of it then. Who is the unopposed commander of strength? Come, Maiden. Let us see. Can you best me?”

“Vindicus, stop!” Vybius yelled. “She no longer claims her wings
or
her claws. Vashti doesn’t live in her heart. Not anymore. Do not do this thing.”

“Oh, just shut it, Vybius,” I hissed.

Tilting my head from side to side, I popped the tense bones in my neck and rolled my shoulders, loosening the knotted muscles in my back. Then, I matched that gorgeous blue Guardian’s heated glare.

“Say when,” I hissed through a growl.

His eyes narrowed. He stared right through me, gazed deep within me. I know not what he saw, but a pious smirk turned up one corner of his perfect mouth.

“…When.”

That was all I wanted to hear. With or without my mask, I was lethal beyond his imagining. I struck first.

Before the smirk was gone from the celestial giant’s lips, I flipped over his head—the heel of my foot landing solidly upon his lower back. I felt the vertebrae give. Continuing through the motion, spinning to increase the power of the next kick, my heel landed against his temple.

Vindicus staggered, barely.

I flipped back over his shoulders, landing upon those lovely cathedral steps, but I misjudged the edges and lost my footing. Vindicus proved quicker than either Varick or Vareilious had been. His shoulder hitting my chest at full force was nothing compared to the jarring thud that vibrated through both our bodies as he slammed my back into those elegant double doors.

The pitiful sound that escaped with my last drop of air gave him pause… not much, but I seized the instant and escaped his grasp by landing a lip-splitting blow with my head. This action wounded us equally. Blood now dripped from both our mouths and the gash in my forehead left by his razor sharp teeth poured blood into my eyes, partially blinding me to my opponent’s whereabouts.

I struck and darted, hit and dodged. I was without weapon but fueled by vast rage. Against whom, I didn’t care. I was determined to take my vile vengeance out upon all creation. It mattered not to me. Nothing did. I would destroy and destroy and destroy until I finally met the creature who could give me what I wanted… death.

I taunted the mighty warrior. My bloodlust increased, my body hummed with my forgotten channeling abilities.

“Come on,
Angel
. Is that all you’ve got?” I sneered. “You’re clumsy, ancient, and you bleed too much.”

“That’s
your
blood sprinkled upon the ground, little one.” He smiled. “I shall require more before I’m done with you.”

The unmistakable sound of metal upon metal, sword leaving scabbard, grabbed my attention. I cocked my head to the side and waited.

“Hold! Sheath thy weapon, Warrior,” Vindicus shouted. “No one must interfere with our most glorious of dances. I will
cease
the Angel who defies this command!”

I looked, yet I did not know the green-haired Guardian whose blade now stood bare. In but a breath, I flew behind Vybius, relieving him of the seraph dagger I knew he wore beneath his robes. I leapt upon the now armed, unknown green-haired Vanir, closing my hand about his clenching the hilt. Breaking his lovely nose was the easiest thing within the whole of this battle. He released the sword as blood spewed forth, heavily mingled with his tears. I kicked off his sculpted chest, flipping over the surrounding Vanir, landing squarely in front of my opponent once more.

“Oh, Jenevier,” Vindicus half moaned. “You arouse me as no other. I have sought you for ten thousand years and knew you not when we met. This day was fated since the beginning of time. Yet never did I realize how glorious it would be, how glorious
you
would be. Your anger has lit a fire within me. Your darkness produces wicked desires, deliciously wicked desires. I will devour you, this I swear. Tell me. How is it you hid from me? How did I not see who you truly were?”

“You’re mad, old man,” I taunted. “Your words prove my truth. Or perhaps your many thousands of years are wearing upon your mind as badly as they now show upon your brow.”

He laughed. “Are you my equal, Maiden? Are you the one prophesied, the one who will best me?” That guttural growl resonated within his chest. “I truly hope so, my
Little Fire
. You can’t possibly imagine just how much. Come, let us see.”

Vindicus drew his giant blade, wasting no time with posturing or formalities. He easily swung that massive two handed sword with but one as he licked his lethal teeth… and attacked me more ferociously than any demon I had ever faced.

I dodged his deadly blow at the last second.

Turning, I caught a glimpse of one single golden curl softly floating through the air. Like a discarded feather, it lit upon the crystallized courtyard.

Shock froze me and my opponent where we stood—bewildered, stunned. My stolen blades clattered noisily to the ground. I swayed.

“My hair… you… You cut my hair…” I whispered, amazed.

I looked to Vindicus. His mouth was hanging open in disbelief. His gaze was fixed upon the shiny, solitary ringlet… as the breeze slowly carried it away, strand by precious strand. His eyes met mine. I saw remorse within them, fringed with a tiny dose of fear. Very tiny.

The now shortened curl hung down over my left eye, bouncing softly within my vision, taunting me. It was too much, my last straw, my final trembling hold on blessed sanity. Everything went black. I don’t remember attacking that mighty warrior. I only remember how my claws felt as they tore through his once beautiful face.

Vindicus didn’t defended himself. Having tossed his blade aside before I reached him, he simply braced for the impact he knew was coming. Only when the blood poured down, soaking his raiment, did he cease my assault. Grabbing me by my tangled curls, his massive hand pulled me from him, effectively halting my tirade.

“Have you forgotten your training so soon, little one? Did you forget all Vareilious taught you? Losing control of your emotions like this only makes a disgusting mess. One I shall enjoy watching you clean up.”

He flung me by my hair, hurling me through the air, sending me crashing into those pristine cathedral steps.

All present heard the audible sound of my breaking ribs.

Quickly jumping back to my feet, I attacked again. Vindicus wasn’t expecting my immediate retaliation, so my first two hits landed solid. The wrenching sound of his left mandible and right clavicle collapsing inward did nothing to deter my onslaught, but the mighty warrior himself
did
.

I failed to consider my biggest disadvantage of a frontal assault upon a giant. I have to get in way too close—short arms.

Vindicus used my hair against me once more. Grabbing it, he spun me around, pinning my back against his massive chest. He easily wrapped his other arm across me, holding fast to my heaving shoulders. Now, with but a simple twitch, he could snap my neck, remove my head, and walk away.

Yet, he did not. He simply halted. I was inescapably locked within his vise-like arms and, he… just… stopped.

“Do it!” I screamed.

Vybius yelled out his opposition to my demands.

Vindicus simply bent down and licked my exposed neck. “There is no fear left within you, Maiden. You taste like… like… a void.” He shuddered.

“Get her to the dome, now,” Viatrix yelled.

“No! Don’t you
dare
take me there, Vindicus. If you do not end me here and now, I swear by all that is rotten in this universe, I will gut each and every one of you in your sleep.”

“Truly, Milady? You plan to gut us? And in our sleep, no less.” He chuckled. “Mmm, you truly are my Little Fire. Will you burn me one day, devil girl?” His fingers tightened painfully within my curls. “Now, what shall I do with a fiery wee thing such as yourself? How about I keep you as my pet? I’ll make you a pretty little leash, take you with me everywhere I go,” he said, laughing through his words.

“Enough!” Vybius snapped. “You don’t corner a beast and then poke it with a stick. Take her to the dome immediately. You know what to do, Vindicus. I will meet you there as soon as I’ve gathered all I need.”

“Look into my eyes, good Vybius, and hear me well,” I hissed. “I hate you and every word that has ever spilled from your deceiving lips. I hate your power. I hate your magic.
And
… I hate your damn smile most of all.”

The amethyst man who had declared his love for me came as near as he dared. “Apologies, dear one. You have been wronged at every turn by every single person in your cursed life. I am amazed it has taken you this long to invite the darkness. You prove far stronger than
I
ever was. I love you more with every breath that fills these lungs. Yet you must know, Jenevier, we can never let you leave Vandermil.”

I started crying then. Even though it sickened me, I couldn’t halt the tears.

“Vybius, if this is true, if you do love me, please… kill me now. Don’t prolong my torture. I will not resist you. If you have even one ounce of compassion for me, end it here, I beg you.”

He ignored me. “Take her to the dome, Vindicus.”

Chapter 18

Vindicus

(VIN-dah-kuss)

I heard their whisperings and chatter as my winged captor flew me to a place I never wished to see again.

“Is she Angel or devil?”

“She must be the demon, the one forbidden the change. The Guardians loved her too much. The blood she will shed should be upon
their
heads.”

“Vindicus should’ve finished her off.”

“Who will rest easy among us as long as she yet draws breath?”

“Did you see what she did to Vindicus? What she did to his face?”

“Yes, and with her bare hands. Her bare
human
hands, no less.”

“If that is Jenevier, I pray we
never
meet Vashti.”

I closed my eyes, willing my ears to go deaf to their words. “Vindicus, my Guardian, do not do this to me. Do not heal me. Show me the tiniest measure of mercy. End my wretched life. I beg you, Brother, please… cease me.”

“You ask me to destroy my heart? My future? How can you even ask such a thing? You know well how losing your one true love feels, do you not? Is that not what this apocalyptic outburst was all about? And yet, you would still ask this of me?”

“Vindicus, Brother, there is no possible way in this world you could love me yet, much less know the love I feel for Varick. You and I have spoken only thrice since my arrival. Do not compare your loss to mine. You couldn’t shoulder the sorrow I now bear.”

“Are you being serious, or do you jest, Maiden? How short is your memory? Think back, my love. Tell me exactly how long it took Vareilious to fall madly and desperately in love with you?”

“I am absent the recollection,” I lied.

“In an instant, with but a glance. One look and the greatest warrior of that holy city was eternally under your vile power. How can you live with us,
be
one of us, and understand nothing at all about us?”

“Do not speak to me of eternal love.”

“Not only will I speak to you of it, I will show you. Today and every tomorrow throughout all time and eternity.”

“Vindicus, you are mad. I can no longer feel. You speak to a woman absent a heart—empty everything save anger and words.”

“Then I will be pleased with her words alone.”

I resignedly closed my teary eyes. “I am now absent them as well.”

The giant dome grew ever nearer as I struggled futilely with my Guardian. He didn’t even light upon the marble floor, but flew straight to the healing waters. And there he hovered.

“Vindicus, do I even hold worth to you?”

“You are everything, my Angel,” he whispered.

“I’m not an Angel, as much as you wish it to be so.”

“Ah, my love, once these blessed waters have washed over you, I will show you
exactly
how much I care for you.”

“Please, do not do this, Brother.”

He wrapped his ebony pinions around me as we slowly dropped into the sacred pool, completely entwined in
his
love… and
my
hate.

“My dearest Jenevier, this moment was always fated to be so,” he whispered. “I feel that truth with every cell of my being.”

I ceased my futile resistance and gave in to the inevitable.

*****

The waters were everything I remembered them to be; amazing, rejuvenating, healing. And that’s exactly why I now hated them beyond measure. I did not wish to be healed, didn’t want to be restored.

My only desire… was death.

I turned to my Guardian captor. For the first time, I saw the horrible damage I had caused to his lovely face. Deep gashes left three gaping wounds down each cheek. They still bled terribly. I felt shame, such shame I cannot express it with words… tears alone must suffice in the telling. I let Vindicus hold me there as our bones mended—blood and bruises washing away.

Something was different this time. The power of this particular water dove into my shattered soul, forcefully weaving precious love throughout—an undeserved gift. God was now
demanding
I receive His grace even though I had stubbornly walked out on Him just a few moments ago. I resisted nothing. I just let it happen the way it was meant to. I was broken in every possible way. Only when I completely gave up, completely surrendered, did I allow the healing love of God to fix me. I floated there, absent everything, and He filled my empty shell with what
He
wanted me to be made of. He created me again, for a fourth time—when I was born, when I was transformed, when my soul was returned to me, and now… only days later.

I knew what was happening to me was going to be a glorious, world-altering experience—my world. Yet I had to be at the absolute lowest point in my existence, with no fight or will left within me, before my original transformation could
truly
be completed.

Vindicus felt the tremors of my re-creation. His responding growls tingled inside me, gliding through my renewing essence. They wove themselves in with the powerful ethereal
threads
now forming me, stitching me back together, knitting me a new core, a new spirit, a new heart. It was intoxicatingly sensual.

“I told you this moment was always fated to be so,” he said through a growl.

His deep guttural reverberations had a rippling effect within me. Part of him became part of me, a bonding like none before. We were alive, relishing in the flawed creatures we once were… and the new beings we were fast becoming. This was no accident. An epic evolution of this magnitude must have always been part of a larger design. And how could it not be?

We were one. Yet, not as it had been with Varick. The deep pull and undeniable love I immediately felt with my beautiful Vanir Prince was as natural and easy as breathing. With but one look into Alzeen’s heart, I was lost to him for all eternity.

This, this was different. This was more. I wasn’t simply made from a piece of him. We were
remade
…
together—the same person in two bodies, two vastly different forms. I knew his thoughts and his heart as if they not only resided, but originated within my own mind, my own chest. I could no more resist this warrior than I could resist the urge to breathe. He was me… and I was him.

“Vindicus, what is this?” I whispered. “What’s happening to me, to us? I fear.”

“Mmm… It’s not the stuff you
were
made from that defines you now, my love. It’s the stuff you were remade from that calls out
only
for me. My essence has erased his, dearest Princess. That’s the only way you could be healed. We are bonded, you and I. As I was subject to you upon sight, so now are you subject to me. We are one, and it is thrilling!”

And he was right. I felt every emotion he felt with mirrored intensity. I am, now and forever, a different creature.

“
This
is who you are?” My body was trying to adjust to the vastness of what I could now see, now touch, now feel. “This is what it feels like to be Vanir?”

“Ahh…
Now
you get it, my love. And no, this isn’t what it feels like to be a Vanir. This is what it feels like to be a Warrior. We are the lucky few. Now, do you understand the intensity with which Vareilious loved you? Do you understand the raw ferocity of my emotions, my passion for you,
all
of you?”

I gasped. “…Yes.”

“And do you now see what great restraint it takes to keep from devouring you this very moment?”

“…Yes.”

“Only one as powerful as a
true
warrior can love this hard, and restrain from loving as well.”

“Do not forget, Guardian, I feel what you feel. You may say restraint, yet now I know what is truly in your heart.”

Vindicus’s labored breathing matched my own, restraint the furthest thing from our minds. “It’s the law of nature, my love, the alchemic law of equivalent exchange. The price paid must be equal to the gift received. As much of me was given to you… so the same of you now lives in me.”

“But, Vindicus, if we both now feel this powerfully toward each other, if the pull is this infinite and neither one of us is the commander of control… will this not be dangerous beyond reasoning?”

“Yes.” He growled as he grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me to him. “You do not yet know what you are, Princess. But
I
do. Ooh, and that sweet knowledge is a blessed gift. As painful a thing as you had to witness this day, it could have been no other way. You aren’t like
him
, my love. You are completely different creatures. You are so much more. You always have been. Varick wasn’t your fated lover. No matter how badly he wished it to be so, he never was.”

I wanted this man, this warrior, more than I had ever wanted anything in my entire existence. His powerful aura consumed me. All else left my mind save my desire to have him. And our unique connection only confirmed our intense, rising passions.

Vindicus halted but for an instant, looking deep into my eyes. I could feel the unquenchable fire raging inside him, raging inside me.

“This is dangerous, even
I
can sense that,” he whispered.

“I’m terrified,” I confessed. “I fear I’m not strong enough to control this.”

“It’s an unknown thing for us both. Yet, I would surrender my wings to keep from being denied this, from being denied
you
,” he whispered against my waiting lips.

Pushing me up against the marble wall of that blessed pool, he pressed his weight against me. His kiss was like burning lightning. His fervor—unquenchable. Vindicus ravished my trembling body with his sweet lips. Moans and gasps escaped me, unhindered, thus fueling his intensity. I felt I would explode if he didn’t soon claim me, and his reaction to that thought was almost bestial. Pulling me ever closer, he pressed harder against me, our bared flesh sparking where we touched. My melting response removed any doubt or restraint he had left.

When Vindicus looked deep into my eyes, when I saw the smoldering fire spilling forth from those flawless sapphires, I was then and forever changed. Freedom was no longer upon my mind, no longer upon my lips. I wished not for it, not anymore. This man owned me—irrecoverably, undeniably owned me.

His muffled roars rumbled within his glorious chest, purring and humming. His raspy breathing upon my neck sent erotic chills rippling from my crown to my heels. I pulled him against me, digging my nails into his beautiful flesh. I couldn’t get him close enough, couldn’t kiss him deep enough.

“Vindicus…”

He only growled in response.

“Vindicus…”

The giant sentinel wrapped his arms around me and flew up into the air.

“Never have I burned quite so hot, little Angel. I shall enjoy you properly.”

My Guardian tenderly laid me upon the giant feather bed. When I felt the whole of his weight pressed upon me, the touch of his bare flesh against mine, it was as if all was right with the world once more. The whole universe fell away. Our passion burned it down. We were the only two creatures that yet remained.

“So, this is what I missed during all those lonely years—”

His response was instantaneous, his growl deep and threatening… his sapphire eyes flashing with anger.

“You are
mine
! You cannot have missed my love for years. I have only known you for days.”

“No. No, I only meant… back when I spent years crying myself to sleep on this same bed in the training dome of Vanahirdem, I could’ve—”

“Stop!”

I felt his fury, his consuming jealousy. It ran wild within me. I matched his passionate thoughts.

“Do not pine about wishes of Vareilious within you or of Varick’s mouth upon yours every night. This is the moment you are to experience
me
. Now is the time of
us
, the only lover you were ever fated to have. You shall know no other. Do not destroy me by bringing a lost love into your mind while I am worshiping you, Little Fire. Worshipping you the way only
I
can.”

“Apologies. I never meant it that way. Purge my careless words and know that we are bonded above all others of our kind. I cannot deny that I love you, Vindicus. You are now a large part of me. You can sense my feelings minus my words.”

He pressed deep inside me, moving against me in a way that caused me to moan, caused me to shudder. Vindicus looked down at me, smiling. I was fast losing control and he could sense it, could feel it even. I thought my heart would burst within my chest. Something was happening inside my trembling body, a swelling, mounting pressure, the release of which I knew full well would be epic.

I clung to him. His fathomless blue eyes remained fixed upon me, upon my face, his smile widening with every moan that escaped my lips. The rest of my thoughts fell away as a wave of euphoria swept over me. My cry heightened until it caught in my throat. He held my hips, pulling me against him, releasing a thunderous roar before collapsing back into my waiting arms, utterly spent.