Phobia (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria) (27 page)

“
Who? Lluc? He is worse than I am. Anyone else around here will just put me back through the renewal for another dose and this darkness inside me will get stronger.”

Wisteria needed to go to him, but she wasn
’t a fool. Bach seemed so dangerous now. “First, put the danor down.” She pointed at the blade.

Releasing the blade
without protest, he dropped to his knees in front of her and pressing his head against her chest. “If things were different, we would be debating on whether or not, you wanted to be a mother.”

“
We’ll never have that conversation. Now that Ollie’s gone it will never happen for me.” Fleshers attacked Wisteria and miraculously she’d been treated, but it left her sterile.

“
We’ll talk about what happened to our daughter. When this is over, find someone who will make you happy and give you a real future, not like me who dragged you into this complicated mess.”

“
I can’t have children. It’s a side effect of surviving Nero.”

His forehead creased as he rose up and placed his hand over her stomach.
“You think that is why you’ve been so sick?”

“
How did you guess I’ve been sick?”

“
I mentioned the molasses to you before. It is how I can tell your body is prepared for carrying my child.” He lightly squeezed her waist. “That transformation can make you kind of sick, but it will pass in time or if you get pregnant. It is a bit harder for you because you are human and your body needs to adjust to hold a Famila baby.”

“
And you know this how?”

“
I did go to school Wisteria.” He brushed a couple of her loose braids from her face. “It’s basic stuff. Every guy knows women get weird ahead of time of the season.”

“
Wait, this is like a period?” Wisteria jerked her head back.

“
A what?”

“
Never mind.” Closing her eyes, she rested her head on his chest. “I’m just glad you’re back. I’ve missed you.”

“
Me too, Peeka.” Moving his hands from her waist to her back, he pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “But we are never going to make this work. Set me free.”

“
I can’t because I love you.” She felt him tilt her head up.

S
lowly, he placed his lips on hers and he didn’t move.

For this
moment, she savored his closeness. While she would never kill him, she suspected this would be the last time she’d ever see him again and it made her heart ache. Trailing her fingers up to his neck, she kissed him back. “I’ll find a way to help you. Just hold on for me.”

“
This darkness in me is growing and fighting for control, but I cannot hold it down much longer. When it’s free, it will hunt you down and hurt you. I can see a day coming when I will take pleasure in killing you.”

“
Then, I’ll leave and you’ll never find me, but don’t ask me to end your life again.”

Shaking his head, he let go of her.
“I will make sure I never find you.”

“
That’s not possible. You’ll always be able to sense where I am.”

“
I wish I could say I am surprised to find you two together.” Bach’s twenty-four year-old brother, Yordi stood in the doorway. Curiously, Yordi’s eyes were bright green.

Wisteria noticed the door handle had been melted down.

“Yordi,” Bach exclaimed.

“
Hell.” Nothing good came from her encounters with Yordi. Like most of the Family, he’d treated her and other humans with distain. The first time they’d met, he’d asked his father to let Didan kill her. The last time she’d seen him, he’d forced her to betray Bach.

“
How did you get in here?” Bach enquired as his brother approached.

“
I have a few friends who have not been turned into Drones.” Puffed up, Yordi strode in boldly like he owned the place. “Why are you and Lluc hiding out here when our bloodline is being hunted and obliterated?”

“
I was not hiding,” Bach responded. “I need time.”

“
Time? Our realm is being destroyed!” Yordi barked. “Did you know Father was arrested by those lunatics? This is not the time for reflection.”

“
I had things to sort out.” Bach frowned.

“
You mean her?” Yordi pointed at her. “
D’cara
, you bloody
qwaynides
, I am sick and tired of this childishness obsession with that Terran.”

“
Don’t call me Terran,” she warned, as the word was an insult.

“
It does not matter who her father was or is. We can fix this without the Terran’s help.” Ignoring her, Yordi grabbed Bach’s shirt. “Get it together and stop playing the fool because this time, I may not be able to save you.” Yordi glanced at her. “When we are done, we will deal with your Terran.”

Bach
’s eyes darkened.

*****

“Enough Yordi.” Bach shoved Yordi to the ground. “This is the last time you ever come between me and what is mine.”
Spoken like a true Dy’obeth
, the darkness cheered.
No Dy’obeth would ever let a Family Dog speak to him with such contempt.

The blade he
’d offered Wisteria lay at his feet.

Kill the
Dog and get this joke over with,
his dark voice spoke
. Yordi has to die today.

Shocked, Yordi backed away.
“Bach, I didn’t come here to fight with you.”

He did,
Bach’s darkness retorted in his mind and then Bach said, “You came here to see blood and I promise I will oblige you.” Picking up the dagger, he approached Yordi.

“
Bach.” Wisteria grabbed his arm. “Don’t hurt him, just make him leave and we can—”

“
He came here for a fight, so I’m going to give it to him,” Bach told her. “Let go unless you want to get injured.”

“
I am not here to fight you. I came because with all that has happened in the past days I was worried,” Yordi said. “I admit, I was confused when I saw you back with your Terran and I will never understand that, but we are brothers we will get past this.”

“
And?” Bach studied the blade.

“
When you and mother returned, you should have contacted me. I would have found a more civilized way to mend the rift between our parents, instead of releasing these demons,” Yordi said.

“
Mother would never see you,” Bach scoffed feeling the dark voice growing in power. “
She has no interest in something as inferior as you
.”

“
What is wrong with you?” Clutching Bach’s cheeks, Yordi studied his eyes. “What did they do to you?”

“
They gave me everything I needed.” Bach yanked his brother’s hand away. “Do not touch me again or I will break off your hand and beat you with it.”

“
Stop this,” Wisteria ordered.

Bach wanted to
walk away, taking her with him. Then, they’d go to another realm, maybe Orad, if they could figure out how to open the portal and never return.
That is never going to happen,
the darkness told him.
Our destiny is here where we will be strong. Get rid of that imbecile we once called brother.

“
He will not hurt me because above all he is a Sen-Son and accepts it is his duty to help stop whatever those monsters are doing,” Yordi said to her before adding, “Bach, we have to free Father from those monsters—”

“
I am one of those monsters. I do not care what they do to Aleix as along I get to kill him when the time is right.”

“
Bach you are not one of them. You cannot kill Father, anymore than you can kill me.”

“
Wrong, from the moment you tried to separate me from everything that was important to me, you became my enemy.” Stomping over to Yordi, he punched him in the face repeatedly until his brother fell.
End him now Bach,
the dark voice commanded.
We have indulged Yordi’s manipulations long enough.

“
Bach, let him go,” she pleaded. “I’m begging you. Stop this. He’s your brother!”

“
I did not separate you from anyone,” Yordi groaned.

“
You, Lluc and Enric blackmailed her. You do not remember? You made me leave her, when for the first time in my life I was happy.” Tossing the danor aside, Bach stomped on his brother’s face. “I was going to use the knife, but now I am simply going to beat you to death. You’re never going to interfere in my life again.”

“
Brother—” Yordi rasped as he passed out.

“
You are not my brother. You are nothing to me.” Bach continued to hit the unconscious Yordi.

“
Stop this.” Sternly, she stepped between him and Yordi.

“
Stay out of my way.”

“
Listen to me. Hear my voice and let me in.” Her eyes were locked on his. “You’re better than this.”

“
Stay out of this.” Seizing Wisteria, he dragged her across the room until he had her pinned in a corner. “Why do you care about him? He has hated you from the moment he realized I loved you.”

“
I’m trying to help you Bach.”

“
I do not need your help to deal with Yordi,
but I will need you for other things
,” Bach heard the darkness say through his lips.

“
What kind of things.”

He smirked.

*****

“
What kind of things?” Wisteria repeated as she struggled to break free from Bach’s increasingly tight grip. “You’re hurting me.”

“
That is the point.” He shoved her hard against the cold wall. “And it is going to get a lot worse before we are done little girl.”

“
Bach stop—please.” Kicking him, she fought to break free.

“
I am not Bach.” Grinning, he entangled his fingers in her braids and pulled her hair. “I am the something terrible he warned you about.”

“
You don’t want to do this,” she cried out as he tugged her hair.

“
You should have left when I told you to.” Pulling her hair hard, he caused her head to lean back. He ran his lips from her collarbone, up her neck and to her chin.

“
Bach, you will not do this to me. You aren’t like them.” Digging her nails into his side, she continued to battle for her freedom.

“
I am the worst.” Bach smiled. “When I am done with you, I am going to strangle you.” Again, he banged her head against the wall.

Shouting
out in pain, she kicked and clawed at him. “I won’t let you.”

“
I swear, you say another word and I will break your neck.” His deep yellow eyes bored into hers as his hands ran down her stomach. “Just pretend I am your Beloved.” He tried to kiss her.

“
I hate you.” She managed to mutter before his cold lips touched hers.

He stopped. Loosening his grip, he backed off.
“Why did you not kill me when I begged you? Why?” Running his hands through his hair, he looked fearful. “Get away from here and make sure I never find you again.”

S
he edged to the door and noticed Yordi was gone. Reaching the doors, she heard deep laughter coming from behind her.

“
I am not that foolish?” Bach mocked. “I let him out to prove to you that I control him. You—”

Suddenly,
Yordi appeared behind Bach carrying a sofa, which he drove into the back of Bach’s head, sending the younger man to the ground. “You need to get out now.”

“
Why are you helping me?” she asked in disbelief.

“
If you are really Hemlock Zey’s daughter, then it is you who stops the Dy’obeths and sends those forsaken animals back to where they came from.” Breathless, Yordi pushed Wisteria out of the door. “I pray the stories they said about your people are true. Maybe when this is over—you and I can might to an arrangement.”

Bach started groaning as he struggled to move.

“He’ll kill you.” Her voice trembled as she backed her way to the corridor.

“
Go,” Yordi shouted. “I cannot stop him, but I can slow him down.”

Just then, a
sword protruded through Yordi’s chest covered in blood. Startled, he glanced down at the blade and then dropped to his knees.

“
Lluc said you would still be up here, Wisteria.” Malcolm, Bach’s half-brother and Jason Webb’s identical twin brother, stood over Yordi. He pulled out his blade. While he did have Jason’s tall stature and childlike face, his hair was deep brown, almost black, and his eyes were bright yellow. “I have come to take you to the stronghold.”