Myopia (Young Adult Zombie Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria Series) (38 page)

“I said, answer me, worm!” Didan yelled at Wisteria, who didn’t answer. “Do you plan on denying what everyone here knows?”

“Clearly, you have misunderstood what actually happened.” Yordi strolled over to the Didan. “You think this Terran will admit something she clearly could never do. Sure, she dreams about a relationship with the Sen-Son Bach, but what female would not? My brothers and I are incredibly attractive.”

The crowd laughed.

“This is not a game,” Didan retorted.

“It is a game when you bring a love-struck Terran here and expect the Sen to judge my brother because of it. Didan, are you that bitter because he rejected your daughter? I hear Flor and Alba were among the five girls offered to Sen-Son Bach.”

The observers erupted in hysterics.

“How about this: I find men to pledge both girls and can we end this?” Yordi smirked.

“How dare you?” Rosal retorted indignantly. “The
jaga
has contaminated your own brother and you joke?”

“You have eleven minutes,” the Prime reminded Didan.

*****

“Look at me.” Didan shook Wisteria.

Closing her eyes, she wasn’t going to respond because they weren’t going to listen and she was terrified. At least with her eyes shut, she could picture her mother, father, David, and her life before Nero and even the divorce. That was what she wanted to think about before she died.

“Wisteria.” Didan lifted her head. “Can you sing for us?”

What? Sing? Was he out of his mind?

Jerking her head away, she returned her gaze to the ground.

“What is this?” Yordi shouted.

“Why do you need her to sing?” Aleix queried.

“Your son is part of a very small group within the Family that have shana. When she sings, his shana will darken and that will prove they have a Mosroc,” Didan said.
 

“That only proves he likes music,” Yordi protested. “We all love music. I am certain if she sings nicely, my shana will darken too. We both cannot be bonded with her and no one else in this hall has shana.” Yordi
 
ripped off the sleeves of Wisteria’s dress. He lifted Wisteria’s arm and showed it to at his father. “Look, no shana on her.”

Wisteria checked her bare arm, all the spots were gone. The ointment had worked. She exhaled heavily.

“If she has a Mosroc with Bach, his shana should be on her. Perhaps, if you had shana you would understand. It does not pass like a rash,” Yordi fumed.

“That is true.” Belem frowned. “There should be at least one. Undress her.”

“No!” Wisteria glared at the woman. “Never. You can’t do that to me.”

“Even if it proves your innocence?” Belem calmly inquired. “I will never understand these animals.”

“Eminent Belem, with all due respect, that is disgusting.” Didan spun Wisteria around to face Bach.
 

Her heart leapt when she saw him because she thought she’d never see him again.

He looked as detached and confused as always.

“Cut off the boy’s arm,” Didan ordered.

Immediately, he produced a blue dagger

Stunned, Bach backed away from the man, but was held by another Famila soldier.

“No.” Wisteria moved to stop him, but another soldier seized her.

“Do not!” Yordi raced to protect his brother.

Didan blocked his path.

Yordi struck Didan across the face.

As Didan fell, he laughed and pointed at her. “That proves she has Mosroc.”

Now, her arm was covered with large black spots and more were appearing and growing.

“This is true?” Bewildered Yordi turned to Bach, who’d been released. “I do not understand.”

Deliberately, Bach walked over to Wisteria.

“Do not come near me,” she whispered, but he put his arms around her waist.

“Do not worry.” He smirked, but she could see he was afraid.

“Answer, Sen-Son!” Aleix demanded. “Is this the Terran…you have a Mosroc with it?”

“Yes, Father,” Bach admitted. “I love her. I cannot expect you to understand.”

“You do not know what love is.” Furious, his father bellowed, “You disgust me!”

 
“Let me explain,” Bach continued.

“Explain? You are in love with—one of those!” Yordi pointed at Wisteria. “Do you even hear yourself?”

“You do not understand the Mosroc,” Bach said. “When you have it, you will know that it is powerful.”

“Shut up! If you speak, by the Seven Elders, I will break your face,” Yordi yelled at him.

“Brother…” Bach tried to explain.

“I am not your brother. I do not know you.” As Yordi stepped away, his eyes travelled to Wisteria and they darkened. “I want to be the one who disposes of her.”

“I will not let you do this.” Bach stepped in front of her.

“Oh no, you have no say in this matter,” his father declared. “Didan, deal with the Terran.”

Bach lunged at the empiric as Lluc and Yordi held him back.

“There is nothing you can do,” Lluc told him. “It is over.”

As the empiric approached with a knife, Wisteria tried to flee. Breaking into a run, she headed for the main doors. As Wisteria ran, one of the soldiers came out of nowhere, bashing her and she fell.

Stepping over her, Didan gave her a chilling smile. “This is going to hurt,” he promised.

*****

“He is going to kill her,” Bach shouted as Didan’s hands began glowing blue.

“That is the point,” Lluc replied. “So next time, you will remember there are consequences to your foolishness.”

“Stop him, Lluc,” Bach begged. “Father, I will end it. You have my word. I will never see the human…Terran again. Please, just stop Didan.”

“You have allowed yourself to bond with it. The Mosroc can only be broken with blood,” his father replied.

As Sen Aleix spoke, Didan’s blue pulse turned to violet and Wisteria shrieked.

“Lluc, help me,” Bach begged.

“I am helping. Now you need to see this and learn. You had a chance to walk away and not drag her into this, but you could not help yourself. You could not help yourself and she is going to pay the price.” Lluc slammed Bach against the ground, banging his head hard on the stone surface. “That is what you call love. How could you do that if you claimed to love someone?”

“Lluc, this is not about love,” Yordi interjected. “It is about being weak enough to allow the Terran to poison him.”

“Ohh,” Wisteria cried as Didan’s pulse turned red and charged through her. It shook her violently while lifting her off the ground for seconds at a time.

Struggling against his two brothers, Bach needed to break free but couldn’t overpower them both.

“Enough.” Yordi pressed his head against the ground.

“The more you fight us, the longer Didan will torture her,” Lluc pointed out.

Bach stopped struggling and watched Wisteria as she buckled under Didan’s assault. Hot tears escaped from his eyes and he looked away. He was not strong enough to watch her die. His eyes drifted toward the side doors where several Thayns gathered, watching the spectacle. Among them, Lluc’s favorite, Nular, stood staring in horror. When their eyes met, the girl moved to hide herself behind the others. “I hope Nular understands what you are doing.” Bach rasped out to Lluc.

Wordlessly, Lluc stared over at Nular standing in the crowd and he let go.

Without Lluc holding him down, Bach pushed past Yordi. “Didan, it is enough.” He sped to Didan, knocking the man away, but not before the empiric stabbed Bach with his danor.

Bach stumbled back as Didan stabbed him again and again.

“Didan!” Yordi raced to the older man to stop him, but was held back by members of the crowd. “A Famila can never shed blood for a Terran. It is wrong! Father how can you let him?”

“This animal is no longer one of us,” Sen Aleix declared.

*****

“No!” Wisteria crawled over as Bach dropped the ground. When she reached him, she found he was already turning cold.

“You want her. You can die with her,” Didan laughed.

“Can you hear me? You just need to regenerate,” she whispered weakly.

“Didan, kill him,” Bach’s father said coldly.

“Why? You’re supposed to kill me,” she begged.

“He was a fool. Just like his mother,” Bach’s father continued. “Didan, end this.”

“Sen, please,” she wept. “I poisoned his mind. I tricked him, so just kill me, but leave him—please?”

“End this,” his father ordered.

“Dispose of the Terran,” Yordi insisted.

“Father.” Lluc moved to the Sen. “You cannot do this!”

“It is already done.” The Sen signaled to the lead empiric.

“Absolutely.” Advancing with the bloody knife in his hand, Didan smirked.

“No! You will not touch him!” Wisteria shouted.

Suddenly, the glass windows in the hall shattered and the building trembled.

“Stop this, please,” Wisteria begged, as the shaking became even more violent. “Do what you want to me, but let him go!”

“Hemlock Zey,” the Famila around the room echoed as the rocking stopped.

“She is not from Hemlock.” For the first time, the Sen seemed unsettled. The man rose and glared at Wisteria with a mixture of rage and fear, as there was an aftershock. “Fine, take him, but I want the boy to tell me he has no bloodline—no father, no brothers, and promises never to return. Then, he can live with the Terran
jaga
the way his
qwaynide
mother did.”

“Please, Father,” Bach murmured faintly.

“He’s too weak to speak,” Wisteria explained.

“Shut up, mouse.” Didan gripped and twisted her arm as he pulled her way.

“Ohh,” she screamed, as Didan pushed her down and her head hit the stone floor. Getting herself up, she saw her blood smeared across the ground.

“Say it,
jaga
!” Didan shouted.

“I have no father or brothers. I have my Mosroc,” Bach whispered, and he winked at Wisteria.

She fought to break free from Didan. “You said your life for his. Remember?”

“Take him out of here. He is never to return. If I see him again, it will be to grovel for my forgiveness,” the Sen yelled. “When you come back here, you will beg me like a Thayn, Bach!”

“Father…” Bach croaked as blood poured from his mouth.

“I need to help him or he’ll die,” Wisteria said, sounding surprisingly calm as she gazed up at Didan. “You owe me your life.”

“This is what I owe you.” Didan slapped her and she fell.