Pulse of Heroes (59 page)

Elliot inserted the bone dagger into his boot
and fastened the three metal buckles. His spring spear was already
against his hip and the borrowed sword from Rion was in the car.
The plan was for him to drive out to Hadeno’s place alone. The rest
would follow him in the other vehicle about 45 minutes later. While
Elliot was to drive straight to the property, they were to park
about a mile away and make their way on foot. The place would be
crawling with Hadeno’s men, although the security cameras would be
the least of the guys’ problems because they could use their fast
run, which would mean that the only way that their images could be
detected would be during frame-by-frame play back. They could only
do it for short distances, and it took a tremendous amount of
energy from them, but it did prove beneficial in many sticky
situations. Elliot was confident that he could hold off whatever
came his way for a while, but who knows how many guys he would have
to face.

Elliot’s focus was intense and his eyes were
changing hues long before he got to Alba Iulia. While he was
stopped at a red light the driver in the next lane stared at him in
horror. Elliot was unkempt and looked like a wildman with his hair
longer than usual. That, along with his bright glowing eyes, made
him look like a character from a Ray Harryhausen movie. He put on
his sunglasses even though it was starting to get dark; he had no
intention of providing a free drive-by freak show. He felt secure
in his strength and had many victories in his background to
reinforce that sentiment. But as he glanced down at the sword that
Rion had lent him as a replacement for his own, his confidence
slightly wavered. He knew that it was all in his mind, but there
was just no substitute for the feeling of carrying his own sword
into battle.

Back when he originally forged the sword, the
only one to match it was the one carried by King Saul. Which was
precisely why Goliath of the Philistines had stolen Elliot’s.
Goliath and Saul had been battling one another for generations, and
Goliath knew that in order to match the strength of his rival, he
too needed a weapon forged out of
Nizabar
, which was very
rare even back then. Elliot had hidden his sword in one of the
Canaanite port temples, but when the Philistines arrived by sea
someone sold the secret of the sword for a hefty sum of gold, and
Goliath set out to challenge his old adversary yet again. Elliot
didn’t realize that his sword had been stolen until he saw David
raise it to sever Goliath’s head. He let the Davidic dynasty keep
the sword, but when the kingdom finally split he took it back,
receiving with it a gift from King Solomon, an emerald encrusted
dagger also forged out of
Nizabar
. Solomon had actually
figured out the formula on his own. Afterwards, Elliot set out
searching for Saul’s original sword, but what had become of it, no
one knew. It had last been seen in battle when the King fell on it
in a bid to end his own life after hearing that his beloved son had
been killed, and it had never resurfaced after that.

Elliot sought to clear the old memories from
his mind. The things that happened so long ago were no longer real,
and the people he knew ages before had become the subjects of
legends. What was real was Michelle, a pretty young woman whom he
had welcomed into his bizarre life despite his many reservations. A
girl who ironically bore the same name as Saul’s youngest daughter.
A girl he had saved from death. A girl he loved. “Oh Michelle,
Michelle, Michelle. What have I done?” Elliot said under his
breath, remembering Michelle wearing her Egyptian costume and how
he had chuckled thinking that she reminded him of Princess Tye.
When he discovered her hiding under the shrubbery at
Hekademos
he was very much entertained. If it hadn’t have
been for her baggy camos and the way she behaved, he would have
judged her to be a bit older, maybe nineteen. He should have known
right then that it was
The Pulse
, but it had been so many
years since he last encountered a woman that carried it. It was
then that he felt the first little tug at his heart.

When Elliot learned that Michelle was only
seventeen he didn’t want her anywhere near him. But after she sent
him the piece of glass from Leta Memmia’s brooch, something told
him that he was meant to meet her. Michelle lived in a house that
was built on what had previously been his land. She was like a
flower that grew from a seed he had sowed many years ago. He wanted
to kiss her so badly that night when he snuck into her bedroom, but
he could tell that she was frightened of him and he didn’t want to
scare her any more than he already had. And when she put on that
dress at the store, it took all his strength not to drive her back
to his private home and make love to her; he wanted her so badly.
But he knew that she wasn’t ready for that intensity. And he wasn’t
ready to introduce her into the adult world, knowing full well that
once she stepped in, there was no going back. He wanted to enjoy
her childlike antics for a little while longer. He had no problem
waiting.

Elliot could sense Hadeno crushing Michelle’s
fragile soul, and floored the gas pedal. He wished he were there
already. While Hadeno was nursing him back to health after he
nearly died, he told Elliot that humans were like pretty insects
compared to them. So Michelle was just a butterfly with beautiful
wings and her days were numbered. Hadeno collected butterflies, and
felt no sympathy when he attached them to his bedpost by inserting
a sharp pin through the middle of their hearts. He told Elliot that
whatever hurt he caused was very temporary because the humans would
be dead soon anyway, so why should he fret over them. But Elliot
refused to see it that way, arguing that for an insect that only
lived a week, a moment of pain was like years of torment for them.
Elliot cursed himself all over again. If he had kept Michelle with
him, Hadeno would have had to step over his dead body to get to
her.

Michelle had no idea why Haden was showing
her the rest of the house. Was this all part of his game, to win
her over only to reject her again? She started picking up on the
pattern, and realized that Haden enjoyed his power to control how
she felt; she was growing wise to his wiles. The house had many
rooms, and while Haden explained how he had recreated many of the
same elements from the original castle that stood in ruins on the
top of the hill, Michelle’s eyes constantly scanned the place for
any door or window without bars. Michelle saw what she assumed to
be Vilna’s bedroom and asked Haden where Vilna was and if she was
all right.

“I sent her away. She was getting on my
nerves,” he said shortly.

“How can you send her away from her own home?
You’re not the boss of her. My brother has no right to tell me to
leave my home.” Haden ignored her and instead led her to another
beautiful bedroom, only this one was more feminine in décor than
she had expected.

“Is Vilna like you?” she asked, while her
brain was hard at work trying to make sense of something that had
just occurred to her.

“What do you mean like me? Of course she’s
like me. We’re related.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. Is she like you
and Elliot? Ancient?”

“We’re not ancient, we’re different. Elliot
didn’t tell you all that much about our kind, did he?” Michelle
didn’t know anymore. He had told her some, but they hadn’t
discussed the subject endlessly. Elliot didn’t like to talk about
it. “There are no females like us. Vilna is an ordinary girl. She’s
my daughter,” he answered, disinterested. Michelle looked at Haden
in surprise, but it all made sense. She had picked up on something
strange in the way those two had interacted. The way he treated her
was too domineering for a brother.

“Why did you lie to me? You told me yourself
that you never lie,” Michelle questioned him, and was surprised to
find herself suddenly pushed up against the wall.

“I don’t owe you anything,” he said, then let
her go. “Besides, it’s rather difficult to pass Veli off as my
daughter now, considering that she’s 19. How old do I look? Not
even ten years her senior.” We do it to make things easier for our
human children. It’s something we tell everyone, not just you.

Although Haden’s explanation was reasonable,
Michelle began to wonder about the other things he had told her
about his family. What about Vilna’s mother? Was she alive? Was she
the woman with the beautiful laugh? The woman who Haden had spoken
to on the phone? Maybe she was just one of the many women that
Haden kept. Maybe Vilna was not his only child. Haden again
explained that she had passed away.

“She died giving birth. This used to be her
bedroom. Wouldn’t you like to have a nice bedroom like this?” he
asked. Michelle’s stomach turned. “I have all daughters now,” he
told her in a cold voice. “They’re older and they have their own
children already. I don’t keep in touch with them.” Haden had made
sure that they had plenty of money in a trust fund; that’s as far
as his fatherly duties went. Yuck, Michelle thought; she messed
around with somebody’s grandpa.

Haden laughed when he saw the look on
Michelle’s face. “Oh, like you haven’t been messing around with
that Elliot of yours. He’s almost as old as I am, and I don’t think
it bothered you then.” Haden had a point. Elliot was Xander’s
grandfather! Michelle was in a world of pain.

“So you don’t have any sons at all?” she
asked, observing bars on these bedroom windows too.

“Elliot didn’t explain that to you either?”
Haden led Michelle to another wing of the house. She noticed that
there was a glass door in the kitchen leading to the outside. “Then
I was right. He was never serious about you. You were just a
plaything, not uncommon for him. I say this without any trace of
malice.” Michelle didn’t know what to say. Slowly but surely Elliot
was being revealed to her as someone that she didn’t know at all.
Haden showed her another room. “We can always make this one yours,”
he said, looking around. “A nice big bed over there, a mirrored
dresser…”

“What? I’m not staying here. I’m going home.
I have to go back to school. You told me I would be able to leave.
You promised!” Haden got angry.

“You’ll do as I say!” He then calmed himself
down and smiled. “You never know, you might decide you like it
here. We know you’re attracted to me, that’s always a good start.
Once you’ve given me what I want I’ll let you go, but meanwhile
you’ll be treated well, and I don’t think you’ll want to
leave.”

“You’re crazy! I’m not attracted to you. You
think I’m going to worship the ground you walk on like the rest of
your stupid women. Where do you find them, in some phone book? some
backwards uneducated… I’m American and I won’t take that. You’re a
complete chauvinist! I’m sure you wouldn’t let any of them have
more than one man! I saw you hit Vilna… you probably hit them too!
And on top of that, I would never agree to share a man with any
other woman. Never!” Michelle might have been young but in no way
had she been brought up to expect anything less than a man’s full
attention. “You kidnapped me, you drugged me, and you play games
with my mind.”

Haden laughed so hard that he bent over
holding his stomach, and Michelle pushed her way around him and ran
down the hallway, straight into his arms. He pressed her against
the wall with his body and brought his face to hers, their lips
almost touching, just like he did that time in his car. Michelle’s
heart began beating faster. Why wasn’t her body behaving like she
wanted it to? Haden ran the backs of his fingers down her bare arms
till he reached her hands and her skin got goosebumps where he
touched her. She was almost panting with frustration. If she
couldn’t outrun him she would have to outsmart him. “I thought I
was here because of Elliot. I don’t know what you want from me.”
She exhaled and he kissed her lightly.

“I want a son.” Michelle couldn’t believe
what she had just heard. Her mouth dropped. “You can give me that.
But I can’t force you, and I can’t use any of my tricks to get you
to do it, don’t you understand? I can’t drug you and put your
health at risk. It has to be natural, and you have to want it too.”
Haden turned Michelle’s face to his, eyes intent. “You give me
that, and I swear I will let you go.”

“But why me when you have all these other
women?” Her tears were those of fear. “I’m too young and I have
parents and I have to go back to school. This is not my home. And I
don’t want to be pregnant. I just don’t.” Michelle’s voice broke as
she shuddered, thinking about how Elliot would react to her being
pregnant by another man.

“Why do you think Elliot picked you out of
all the women he can have. Think about it. He could be with
actresses, princesses, super-models! He can sense the same thing I
do.” Haden told Michelle that she was strong and had special blood
running through her veins. She could carry a male baby to full term
without any problem. He would take care of everything else. He’d
take care of her parents, and if she wanted, he’d hire the best
tutors so she could continue studying. And he would make sure that
she was taken care of for the rest of her life. What more could any
woman want??

“You’re not too young. You’re a woman. Look
at you,” he said, taking her hands so he could step back to look at
her. “You’re beautiful and healthy. I’ll be gentle, you know I can
be. And when it’s all done it will be like it never even happened.
Just one year, that’s all I ask.” Michelle considered Haden’s
offer. If all the man wanted was a child, and she was the only one
that could give him that, could she blame him for trying to keep
her there. Was he really that bad? Wouldn’t she do the same if the
roles were reversed? And she’d get a lot of money. She could help
her parents so they’d never have to worry about bills again. Could
she see herself pregnant? Michelle’s hand instinctively went to her
belly. Could she imagine being in that home for a year? And what
then? Would she be able to leave the baby with him and return home
at that point? Wouldn’t that be her child too? Haden took
Michelle’s hand and led her back to the living room. “We’ll set it
up however you want. New furniture, everything. Just not my room,
ok? I like it the way it is?”