Nephilius - A Walker Saga Book 5 (3 page)

“
He’s busy
being Princeps. I’m sure he can spare Colt for long enough to kick
some Nephilius butt.” Lucy pushed her hair behind her ears. There
was a slight breeze coming off the ocean t
hat day. “How long is it until the tournament starts?” Lucy
turned to face Josian.

He got to
his feet. “
It commences in two First
World weeks. Why’s that?”

“I had a vision.”

She muttered my least favorite words. Her
damn soothsayer powers were more trouble than they were worth.

“About my real family; here on First
World.”

Well, that shouldn’t be too bad.

“I know where the pixies are hiding and I
want to find them.”

I jumped to my feet. My hand moved without
thought to my chest. The ache there felt so permanent I found
myself massaging the pain, as if I could somehow relieve it that
way.

“
The pixies
are ancient, powerful
, and they’ve made a
point to disappear. Do you think it’s a good idea to search them
out?” Josian asked, his bronze eyes shifting colors like a
kaleidoscope.

“I need to understand my powers.” Lucy drew
her fine eyebrows together. “Frannie has confirmed that I’m not a
traditional soothsayer, which basically means she has no idea how
to help me control the visions. I’m not even sure if everything I
see is real. Sometimes it feels as if something else is in my head.
The pixies are my best bet.”

“Not to mention you can, on occasion,
float,” I added.

She snorted. “Yes, there’s also that. I’d
like to know I’m not going to just start floating around.”

“Well, if you can get Colt to agree to
fight, then there’s no reason for my torture …” I caught a grin
from Josian. “I mean training, and I’ll be more than free to do
some pixie hunting.” I stretched my back as the last of the sharp
pains from my father’s beating started to heal. Seemed to be taking
longer than usual. Or he’d been really thorough in that last
round.

“Colt has just informed me that he’s on his
way right now,” Lucy said.

I couldn’t
stop the c
urving of my lips as a smile
stretched my face. It had been too long between real smiles. “What
do you mean: he informed you?”

Lucy wrinkled her nose as she let out a
snort. “Since we haven’t performed the Walker mating ceremony the
only way we can communicate is when Colt projects his voice into my
head. I can’t respond, so he loves giving me these bossy little
orders.” Her voice lowered to gritty annoyance. “He wouldn’t laugh
so much if he actually heard some of my replies.”

A peal of
laughter fled my lips; I had no problem imagining the colorful
responses. “How is it that he can project into your mind? And you
can send those memories into mine?” I realized in my recent
depression and training I’d neglected to spend much time the last
few weeks talking with Lucy. The only reason she hadn’t kicked my
butt
for this, is that she’d been busy
herself.

The blue of her eyes darkened as she stared
out across the expanse of ocean around us. “I don’t know, Abbs, I
have zero understanding of these powers. Which is damn frustrating.
That’s why I have to find the pixies.”

“They must have great skills to cloak
themselves,” Josian said, body shifting forward, eyes alight. “I
wonder how they’ve achieved this? How have they disappeared for so
long?” He raised his eyebrows at Lucy. “Do you have any idea where
to start looking?”

She
nodded,
the sunlight reflecting off the
shades of blond in her curls. “It took a little research. I had to
contact Lucas and go through information on the different lands of
First World, but finally I think I’ve found the place.”

So that’s
what Lucy ha
d been doing while I trained.
I had wondered what she’d been doing at the castle, but she said
she was just bored and wanted to visit with Lucas, First World’s
Emperor, and our friend. I did know that her extracurricular
activities had not pleased her wolfy mate, though.

“There’s a dark forest in the Lans province.
According to Lucas’ sources, no one ventures into its depth and, if
they do, they never return. The outer region looks very much like
my vision. A land untouched. And Quarn said he believed that forest
was the last place pixies had been seen.”

Anticipation trickled into my body. I was
looking for a distraction, and this sounded perfect. “If you can
project an image, I can trace us close to the spot.” I brushed the
last of the grass off my sweats. “I’ll just get changed and be
right back.”

Lucy hugged me as I moved past her. “You’re
doing great, Abbs, so much stronger than I could be.”

I let out
the breath that was caught in my throat. It whistled through my
nose in a huff. “I have no choice
; it’s
just life. Sometimes it’s good and other times it
sucks.”

“
Isn’t that
the truth,” Lucy said, her gaze drawn across to the expanse of
ocean. “But in the end, no matter what happens
, this is still better than our life in New
York.”

Her words
added a little perspective to the darkness surrounding my soul. She
was right. I’d never had so much light in my world since we escaped
the drudgery of our life on Earth, with the gangers and the
compound. I’d never known love then, and I’d never felt the touch
of someone’s soul on my own. I had all of those memories now;
despite the far too short time I’d had
with Brace. But I was determined that we would be together
again and it was this thought that got me through the long, aching
days.

I made my way into the house, up the stairs
and entered my room. I didn’t see anyone on the way. My brother
Samuel had taken off after the confrontation with Lucy. No one else
seemed worried, but I didn’t trust him. He popped in and out at
will, but it didn’t seem as if anyone was keeping an eye on him
anymore.

Lallielle
and Francesca were out in the town running their little shops. The
people of Angelisian were much more social at the moment. Ever
since we’d released all the trapped First Worlders from the room of
horrors in the dark mountain, there were people in the streets,
markets had started up ag
ain – once a
week – where Angelisians could barter and exchange
goods.

It was almost as if life had returned to
normal. Except of course the Seventine were still out there
somewhere, working toward the release of the final three.

Our only hope was for me to find the
half-Walker females.

If I managed
that before the release of the last Seventine, we
had a shot to use our energy to bind the holes
in their prison. After that we could just wait them out. They only
had a few more months before they were sucked back into their
prison. But if all seven managed to be released before we bound the
prison, we would have to fight them – they would have their full
strength – and overpower them to re-imprison them.

Did I know how we were supposed to achieve
this? No idea at all, but I hoped something would be discovered
soon.

Josian had
all the Walkers working on it. The Red
Doreens were no longer at our house on guard duty. Instead
they were off trying to gather information. And the princeps,
including Brace, were having regular meetings. He hadn’t missed
one, and although I tried to avoid the house while he was there, I
wasn’t always successful.

For some reason the six and half feet of my
fierce, perfect, beautiful warrior mate was everywhere I turned.
The mate who did not remember our bond or the time we had spent
with each other.

It was so strange having to pretend I didn’t
know him. Before I broke the melding bond we’d been so intimately
connected that it was as if we weren’t even separate people
anymore.

Sure we had our own thoughts, feelings and
emotions, but everything intermingled and blended with each
other.

Pushing my painful thoughts aside, I changed
into jeans and a shirt. Standard uniform for me. I added a pair of
runners, not as fashionable as my boots, but easier to haul ass in.
And lately it seemed no matter where we ended up, it involved lots
of running. My black jacket was the last thing I threw on before
leaving my huge walk-in wardrobe. I stopped in the bathroom to wash
the grass from my hands and face.

Resting both palms on the glass sink, I
stared at my reflection in the large mirror. My blood-red curls,
with their flecks of black, hung long down my back. Green eyes –
like my mother’s – looked dull or … sad. Everything about me seemed
a little dejected.

My fingers tightened on the edge of the
smooth surface. I often pissed myself off when I was alone; I
couldn’t stop the weaknesses flooding through me. But I refused to
fall apart in front of the others, since for the most part they
didn’t even remember I’d had a mate. So in these rare moments alone
it was difficult to curtail the burning hot flood of agony from
rising up to char everything in my body.

I swallowed. It sounded loud in the tiled
room. The lack of moisture in my mouth made that simple task almost
impossible. Straightening, I shook off the pain, shoving it back
down into its small box, the one where I slammed the lid and turned
the lock. It would stay locked away until another lone moment
forced the energy to build up again and burst the walls.

Without a glance behind me, I left my room
and made my way back to the cool outside. As I crossed the
lime-green grass I could see that Lucy was standing there
alone.

“Where did Dad go?” I asked as I reached her
side.

“
Lallielle
needed his help in town. He said to call if we had any trouble with
the pixies.” A chuckle escaped her. “Who’d have thought we’d ever
hear a sentence like that
?”

Lucy froze
then, her blue eyes lit up and the tension I’d seen on her features
disappeared. Like magic. I knew what that meant
: Colton was here.

“Hey, pretty girl.” His deep tones
surrounded us as he stepped out of a Walker doorway just behind us.
His arms were around Lucy before I even sucked in my second ragged
breath.

It was hard to see them together. Colton was
Brace’s best friend and seeing him always reminded me of my missing
mate. And also the emotions that resonated between Lucy and Colton
were both beautiful and painful to witness. Colton captured her
mouth with his own; the kiss was brief but sweet. It was like the
first kiss every time for them. I knew they hated to be apart from
each other so much, but for my own sanity it did make my life a
little easier.

I wandered away, giving them a few moments
for whatever whispered words they exchanged. Eventually Lucy led
him to my side.

“So Colt said he can fight on Nephilius for
us, but that the only Walker guaranteed to be able to best them in
any combat style is Brace.”

Lucy spoke
quickly.
As if it somehow lessened the
impact to deliver bad news in a rush. My first instinct was to
scream ‘NOOO’, but that would probably be weird. Instead I tried
for a calm, rational response.

“Isn’t Brace busy with his new duties? I’m
sure you’re more than capable, Colt,” I said, forcing up the
corners of my mouth.

“Actually, Abernath is all smooth sailing at
the moment, and personally I think Brace would like the
distraction,” he said as he gently tucked Lucy into his side, his
hand lightly moving up and down her arm.

“Why does he need distractions?” Lucy
asked.

I was glad she had broached the question,
because I also wanted to know.

“
He hasn’t
said anything, but he’s not been himself lately.” Colton’s very
white-blue eyes reflected the scenery. “I’m not sure if it’s the
responsibility of being Princeps or the fact t
hat Magenta is annoying the shit out of him, but some fight
time would be good for him.”

“Magenta.” The one word escaped me in a huff
of exhaled annoyance. Colton’s twin sister was tall, blond,
beautiful and a bitch. Literally. The female Walker also turned
into a wolf and she had her perfect little ass set on snagging my
mate. Of course, that didn’t matter when we were melded, but now no
one remembered that, and she would be pursuing Brace again with no
second thoughts.

“
Yes, she
keeps trying to get him to choose a ruling partner, but Brace wants
to wait for a true mate. It’s just hard when most of us know that
finding a true mate can take hundreds or thousands of years. If we
ever do.” He lifted Lucy so he could rest his forehead on hers.
“Now that I’ve found Lucy, I could never imagine settling for
anything less than
what we have. But I
also remember the loneliness, the despair, and you have to be a
strong man to never give in to that.”

“
You know
what
? Brace would be perfect as the
fighter on Nephilius. Can you see if he’d be happy to compete?” The
words fled my mouth without my permission.

Lucy swung her head around from Colton to
lock eyes with me. She had a half-grin on her face. The brief nod
she gave indicated that she knew exactly why I’d rather the torture
of Brace being with me than with Magenta.

“
You’re
making the right decision,” Colton said, oblivious to our silent
communications. “With Brace as your fighter, you’ll
go all the way in the tournament; you might need
that much time to find the girl.”

Yeah, that might be true, but would my heart
survive the torture?

“Okay. Well, Abbs and I have to go off on a
little adventure, so go talk to Brace and we’ll meet you back here
in a few days.” Lucy started shoving her mate toward the swirling
vortex of a doorway, which he’d left open.