Read Mundahlia (The Mundahlian Era, #1) Online
Authors: RJ Gonzales
...
Rini
19
Wow.
After, I rested my head and hand on his chest and listened to his heart thump. We were both breathing heavily. He ran his hand down my arm, gently caressing my skin with the palm of his hand. Sex, was by far out of the question. But a heavy make-out and groping session seemed okay. Why not? Let’s face it, I’m a hormonal teenager. And
nowadays
stopping at just making out makes me look like a saint. Jett, on the other hand, wanted more. He was getting different in the moment we studied each other’s body. He was getting rougher—more physical, as though he’d been waiting for this moment his whole life. Yet at the same time, his large, rough hands touched me as softly as a butterfly resting on the side of my finger. Either way, I had to stop him—pull away while I still could. A part of me wanted to strangle myself for doing it, but I had to. I wanted it. I know I did. Wanted to feel what
it
was like—with
him
. My first time.
It’d belong to him after—my innocence. An act that would bond us in a way that, that even if things didn’t last in the end, would forever be a reminder of who took it from me and exactly how. Every single detail would be engraved into my mind. A pleasant memory, or a regretful one, that would linger on for the rest of my life. But as he kneeled on the bed in front of me about a half hour before—peeling off the shirt from his back and sliding down his shorts, something inside me—and just for a moment, whispered,
“No, Rini.
Not yet.”
My conscience. The little voice that has dictated the majority of my life. Steering me clear from irrational thoughts or actions, or telling me to keep away from suspicious looking people or things. I just wasn’t ready for
it,
yet.
“Someday.”
“I can’t”
I had whispered into his ear before we went further. I felt something firm and tubular pressing against my thigh.
“Not yet.”
Jett sighed into my lips, a little disappointed, “You’re killing me, kitten.” Then nodded after another long exhale—respecting my decision, and sinking over to his side of his surprisingly comfortable bed that felt like we were resting on a cloud.
Kitten?
I didn’t know why, but it felt nice. Sexy even. Especially when spoken in his luscious voice. “Only when you’re absolutely ready then,” he’d added in a voice so sweet and gentleman-like. “I’ll wait as long as I have to.” He took my hand into his and kissed it before gently setting it down on his bare chest and shutting his eyes. “Until you’re ready,” he said again—eyes closed. I nearly gave in and wanted to throw myself onto him right then and there.
I laid there feeling his chest rise and fall under my cheek and thought of pleasant thoughts. I thought of this. This bed. This room. This moment. And most of all, this guy right beside me. Then, the other incident crept back in. He wasn’t any regular guy. He was something else. But even though the thought scared me, I felt safe here in his arms.
Who knew, the poor defenseless human would feel safest in the arms of the beast.
I thought that only happened in movies or books.
“What are you thinking?” I asked him, rubbing my hand in a soothing motion over his stomach.
There was no answer.
I looked up and found Jett asleep, eyes still shut. He looked calm and happy. I moved my hand to the side of his cheek and caressed it gently. His face crinkled and his nose twitched like a rabbit’s.
Adorable.
He smiled and shifted his head deeper into his pillow, subconsciously squeezing me closer to him—a teddy bear in the grip of a sleeping child.
I’ll let him sleep.
I let out a sigh and closed my eyes as well. I wanted to go back to my cabin, but after what I’d seen, the safest place to be was right here in a house of
them
who could protect me—the little human. I started drifting off to sleep to the sound of Jett’s soft snores. My father’s snores annoyed me—loud as hell. But Jett’s were just right, just loud enough to comfort me so that I knew that tonight, I wasn’t going to sleep alone.
I heard the front door open about a few minutes later, just as I was slipping away. Footsteps sounded in the living room, then the kitchen, and finally stopping in the hallway. The lights inside the bedroom were off and I could see the orange light from the hall creep in from the bottom of the door. An eerie, slow creak sounded as the door inched open. I quickly turned and dug my face into Jett so that at any given moment, I could shake him violently awake.
“
...yeah.
” I heard a female whisper to another hushed voice. “
She’s still here with him
—
no, no, let them sleep. Ray, Max, go in quietly!
”
I felt relieved to hear Del’s quiet voice. The door creaked farther open, lighting the room a bit more. Small pitter-patters of feet on the wooden floor sounded as I heard the two guys climb into their beds.
“I’m serious Del, just a smack to the head with a bat and she’s gone,”
said Ray.
“Shut up!”
Smack!
“
What the?—throwing your chancla at me, Del? Really?!”
Smack!
There was the other sandal.
“Go to bed!” I heard Del say in her normal speaking voice. The door shut, leaving only the sounds of disappearing footsteps in the hallway and Ray cursing to himself as he shifted under the covers. Beside me, Jett stirred for a moment, looking up and sniffing the air. He blinked his sleepy eyes at me and smiled, pulling me closer than before as he drifted off to sleep again.
In the morning, I awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, pancakes, and sizzling bacon. Three of my favorite things to smell in the morning. I felt around the bed for Jett as I yawned and opened my eyes to the dawning light. My hands found nothing. Instead, a folded up piece of paper brushed against my forearm. I unfolded the note and read it:
Went out of town with Martin, Max, and Ray,
Be back later. Don’t go anywhere!
-Jett
At the foot of the bed, a pile of clean clothes sat. More than likely from Del, with the short denim shorts and a tank-top style. I grabbed one of Jett’s plaid button-up shirts from within a drawer to put over the tank-top since it was just a tad bit too cold inside. I dressed and exited the room, heading for the kitchen and pleasant aroma.
“Hey, you’re finally up!” Del said, shaking a bottle in her hand to mix the milk for Kaylee who was sitting up on the floor. Del was standing behind the counter where smoke rose from the sizzling bacon. “Can you do me a favor and feed
mija
while I finish cooking?”
“Sure. Why isn’t Mark cooking though?”
“I’m giving him a day off and letting him sleep late.”
I took the bottle from her, and hovered it over Kaylee’s mouth. She took to it quick. In baby talk I said, “That’s it Kaylee, eat up!” When she was finished and burped, I sat her back in her playpen and headed to the table.
“So, I guess you know our
big
secret now, huh?” Del set a plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon on the table in front of me. She came around the table, setting an extra plate down in front of an empty seat.
Mark entered the room, his nose in the air. “I could smell that it was ready. Smells good.”
“I guess so,” said I, answering Del’s question. She had returned with her own plate of food, sitting in the chair directly in front of me. “But I promise that your secret is safe with me.”
“I know.” Del swallowed a gulp of food. “I was just asking to make sure you remembered. If you didn’t, I was going to say our secret was that we clipped coupons and recycle. Which is true either way. This economic slum is crazy right now. You have to do what you can to get by.”
“So, is everything in the forest clear?” I asked, cutting a piece of the pancake with the side of a fork.
“Yeah, it took a long time to get it in the trash can.” Del said.
“You
threw
it away?”
“Hell yeah!—and then we lit it on fire and turned it into ashes,” Del brought a strip of bacon to her mouth. “Burnt to a
crisp
.”
Crunch.
“What about the human body?”
Mark entered the conversation, setting a glass of orange juice in front of me and Del. “Well Rini, as much as we would have liked for whoever’s family to be notified that their loved one’s remains have been found so they could be at peace, we had to destroy the evidence—along with the creature.”
“So their family is never going to know?”
“Looks that way.”
I shuddered then shook it away, “Where are the rest of the boys?” I asked, changing the subject to something more of table-talk. The talk of burnt bodies and death wasn’t really the type of conversation you could eat to. Unless of course you’re a forensic scientist, then you deal with that everyday. Or a serial killer. Or cannibal.
“They went to contact a friend and notify him of the incident. They left really early, so they should be on their way back by now. He doesn’t live too far away. About two towns over.”
“So, why didn’t you guys go with them?”
Del set her fork down. “
A:
We have a baby to take care of that is barely learning to crawl and almost form a full sentence, and
B:
We have
you
to take care of too.”
“Oh.” A little too much of The Sopranos sort of answer for me, but whatever.
Psh. We have you to take care of.
What? Were they going to have me whacked?
“So are all of you werewolves?”
“We’re
not
werewolves, Rini.” Mark replied as though I’d insulted him.
“You’re not?”
“No. We are Mundahlians.”
I stared blankly for a while. “And that is...?”
“Mundahlians are beings from Mundahlia, which is a land basically set in the center of what you all know as the Bermuda Triangle. Beings like us can shift into three different forms. Animal and human, which we can roam about freely. But at night, only in the light of the moon or in Mundahlia, can we shift to our advanced, or Mundahlian form—a hybrid of both. We can shift into the hybrid form during the day here, but it deprives us of energy. It’s basically like running up a flight of stairs carrying a heavy weight. It’s not the name of our species, we’re just called Mundahlians because we come from there. Like being called Canadian or American.”
“So are all of your animal forms wolves?” I corrected myself. It wasn’t my fault for thinking they were werewolves, that’s what Jett looked like anyway. A half-wolf half-man creature.
“Not all of us. Jett and Martin are the last of their clan. Del, her brother Ray and I are the last surviving members of the Brunwellis clan,” said Mark. “Oh, and now Kaylee.”
“Which is?”
“To you? Bears, basically. Max, on the other hand, is the sole surviving lynx member. I’m not even going to bother saying the real name of our clan names, because you more than likely won’t be able to pronounce it. No offense.”
“None taken.”
“We are only a minuscule dent in the amount different species of clans and creatures that inhabit Mundahlia. There are far more bear clans in Mundahlia, but we are the last of a particular kind. There are sub-clans within a genus of Mundahlians. Different types of snakes, different types of felines, and so on—as you all have here as well.”
I didn’t know what to say. These people in front of me were part animal and hybrid. “Why aren’t you all in Mundahlia?”
“Honestly, we’re refugees. We escaped Mundahlia to avoid being executed. Well, besides Del and Ray of course, they were made Mundahlians.”
Ah, so that explains why they are so different from the rest.
“What? Why?”
“The King and council of Mundahlia have this rule that when a clan has only a few members remaining, they are sentenced for execution and exterminated all together. That’s how we lost most of the sea clans. It’s honestly a stupid rule. Jett will tell you more of our story later on though.”
I got the hint, they wanted to stop talking. “So Del and Ray, used to be human?” I changed the subject.
“Yes we did,” Del entered. “My last year as a human was nineteen eighty-seven, I believe. My brother’s is eighty-eight. Our parents died and I couldn’t leave him alone so I begged Mark to let me change him.”
“Is it painful?” I asked, wincing of the pain they must have felt.
“What?”
“Becoming a Mundahlian?”
“Uh, honestly—I don’t remember. All I remember was the moon. The big, bright moon glowing down on me. But, I don’t remember any pain. I do remember feeling weird, though. It’s one of those feelings you can’t really describe until you go through it.”
So much for the dramatics usually seen in vampire or werewolf story lines where they scream in agonizing pain as they turn. “Why can’t I go home?” I said. I needed my phone. I needed my family. I needed
normal
.
“Because,” Mark began again. “We don’t know if the Mundahlian was traveling alone, and Jett
had
mentioned that it was calling for help.”
“And,” Del added. “Someone they know is in town,” she said it as if it was bad company. “Someone
you
need to be kept safe from.”
“Who is this person?”
“Not necessarily a person, try one of us,” Del threw a napkin on her empty plate and headed for the sink. “Well, really like one of him,” she pointed to Mark who followed behind her.
“Okay. Who is this
Mundahlian
?” I walked over to the kitchen counter in search of an explanation from Mark.
He looked at me, deciding wether or not to continue educating me on their kind, and their history. “His name is Bane. He is the Mundahlian King’s son. One of them at least.”
Del scoffed, “From what they’ve told me, the King has so many kids he’d give the couples on TLC a run for their money. And they are all of different mothers and clans! It’s crazy!”
“Why do
I
have to be kept safe? I’m just a human.”
Mark sighed, it was the first time I’d seen him grow agitated. “Do you learn nothing from the books Jett’s told us you like to read. Bane saw how much Jett was interested in you at the lake. He despises Jett the most, and will stop at
nothing
to make sure he can torture him somehow before trying to kill him or take him back to Mundahlia to be executed there. A dark, more cynical version of sibling rivalry at the most. But don’t worry, your with us now so you’ll be protected.”
Del wiped the counters with a yellow sponge. “We got your back, homegirl,” she joked.
What?
“Back that up for me. Sibling
rivalry
?”
“Remember when I said the King has a lot of kids?” Del was now speaking after Mark started scrubbing the grime off a plate.
“Yeah,” I said slowly.
“Well, your dating
one
of them.” Del rubbed the sponge harder on the surface. It was like she was trying to erase the words she had spilled from her lips.
“If Jett is the King’s son then why is he here?”
Mark broke in again. Man, he knows his crap. “His mom is the one that brought us here, well to
your
world. Ludenia is her name. The King may have had many mistresses who bore him children of different kinds, but his heart belonged to her. Even if hers didn’t belong to him, he did anything he could to get it. The council set a bounty on our heads since there weren’t many of us left. Jett’s mom pleaded with the King and struck a deal. He’d look the other way while she snuck us out,
if
she accepted his hand in marriage and vowed to never search for us again. She agreed and on that same rainy night, snuck us, her brother Martin, and his friend Nicolas with three kids, out. But eventually someone ratted us out, and the twisted and selfish king that he is, broke the promise he made to Ludenia and set up a game between his children to please the council, who to this day have no clue that it was the king himself that had allowed us to leave. The King loves having power, and he will do anything to make sure he keeps it. Even going against the promise he made with Ludenia just to keep his crown. Part of me thinks he wants us, and particularly Jett and Martin, dead, just so Ludenia will have no one else to love but him.”
“What a dick!” I said. “What game did he set up?”
“Basically it’s like a scavenger hunt. Whichever one of his many children can succeed in bringing us back to Mundahlia to be executed, shall get the crown once he passes. And believe me, some have tried throughout the ages.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah,” Mark said. “We’ve had to move several times when our hiding spots had been found. When we moved to Austin, things died down a bit. It wasn’t until the day before yesterday when we got a letter from Bane saying he was coming for us.”
“Boy, those people all sound like jackasses.”
“Oh, they are. Jett hates his father with a passion for taking his mom. Even more so when he took his stepbrother’s life.”
“Stepbrother?”
“Yeah. He can tell you about
that
if he wants to, that’s not our business.” Mark finished and started washing the dishes.
“No honey, I’ll do them,” Del said. “You go watch TV.”
“TV?” he laughed. “What is this TV you speak of? I know nothing outside of the kitchen.”
Del laughed and watched him leave the kitchen. She then, returned her gaze to me with a heartfelt look on her face. “Be careful with Bane though, he specializes in deceit. He has the ability to appear as anyone he’s met or seen.”
“What! You all have powers too?!” I burst.
“
Shh
! Keep your voice down!”
“Sorry!”
Del continued in a quiet voice, “Only those who rule the kingdom get blessed with powers by killing and eating Enthiduans
—
angels who acquired these powers from the gods or something when they were created. Supposedly, they keep the poor things locked away in the castle’s dungeon, chained and tortured until they get eaten during a celebratory dinner. You see, inside of the Enthiduans there is a small pearl about the size of a marble,” she used her fingers to simulate a size. “The one who finds it first, gets to consume the pearl and gain its power. It’s like finding the wishbone in the turkey, or the baby Jesus in the
rosca
. The pearl is never in the same location.”
“Oh, that’s
messed
up!”
“I know, that whole family is twisted. But that’s all I know. Jett might have more elaborate details, I’m only human after all—well, used to be. Now are you all caught up Rini? You’re asking too many questions.”
“Can you blame me?”
“No. But, the best thing to do is just accept it. The more you deny what you know or saw, the more crazy you’ll become. Just keep our secret to yourself,
por favor
. We aren’t any different now then we were before you found out our secret.”