Authors: Aja James
“Will you resent me one day for your sacrifice?” he blurted out despite himself, then wished immediately that he could take his words back.
She raised her head on her arms to gaze down into his eyes, full of vulnerability and self-blame. “I did not make a sacrifice,” she answered solemnly, firmly. “The Goddess gave me a choice: continue as the Pure Ones’ Healer, alone without you, or take you as my Eternal Mate. It really wasn’t a choice. I love you far more than any calling, any Gift. And anyone I’ve ever known, Valerius.”
She kissed him tenderly and longingly as if to make her point, and he kissed her back with all the love and fierceness in his heart.
“And besides,” she said, pulling back slightly to catch her breath, beaming down at him with her Mona Lisa smile, “I can still be a healer if I choose. The knowledge and experience I’ve accumulated would make me arguably the world’s premier physician. I intend to keep my clinic and study surgery. There was no need to learn human medical procedures before – my
zhen
took care of everything. But I’m beginning to realize that human surgical advancement has progressed further than I ever thought possible. With microbes and lasers and optic fiber treatments similar to what I used to accomplish with my
zhen
, perhaps we don’t really need an official Healer in the traditional sense. Perhaps we could have several healers trained on Pure Ones’ physiology and human technology. Perhaps I can even help with the training while learning new techniques myself.”
Valerius was astounded and impressed beyond words at his Mate’s passion and drive. She was the most incredible, amazing, beautiful being he’d ever known. She’d soothed his pain, physical, emotional, spiritual. She’d saved his life with her courageous love. She was cleansing, rejuvenating, joyful rain. His pure healing Rain.
“What did you tell the Goddess when she came to you?” Valerius couldn’t help his curiosity.
Rain snuggled close and let her limbs turn liquid against the heat of his body. Inhaling deeply his musky, intoxicating scent, she murmured as she began to drift off to sleep, “That is between me and the Goddess. Suffice it to say that you are stuck with me for the rest of Eternity, my
airen
.”
It’s been almost three months since we pitted forces against the “evil ones.”
Whoever they might be.
I’ve finished my final exams and am on my first day of winter holidays. I think I aced all of my classes, except the statistics class from my required curriculum.
How I hate math.
I’ll be thankful if I pass. No ambitions for a high score there. I’m not delusional about my numerical abilities, or lack thereof. Please Goddess, let me pass! I really don’t want to endure another semester of the same type of torture. After all, if I pass, I’ll have financial accounting to look forward to. Isn’t that punishment enough?
Lots have happened over these months. We’ve moved the Shield to a brand new location. Can’t tell you where. I’d have to kill you if I did. But here’s a hint, we’re hidden in plain sight, in the most beautiful crystal tower in Boston city. No more underground tunnels this time. Our last location took ten years to build properly, secretively, expensively from afar, while we still lived in Paris.
Thankfully, Cloud’s stallion is not afraid of heights, for it seemed none the worse for wear during the long flight over here and finally settled into its stables forty stories above ground. It has taken a distinct dislike for Valerius’ Hayabusa, however. We often find piles of manure near the wheels and what I can only deduce to be horse spittle on the seat.
I think the stallion views the Hayabusa as competition.
Their masters, however, seem perfectly at ease with one another. You’d have thought they were bosom buddies the way Valerius banters with Cloud like he’s never done with any of the other Elite.
But the Protector has changed quite dramatically overall. He’s more easygoing with all of us, more affectionate too. I’ve been surprised with a few hugs myself, probably because I’m the easiest one to sneak up on. At first I thought he was trying some abbreviated Heimlich maneuver on me or maybe a new way for training me to escape enemy clutches by enveloping me with those unyielding steel bands he calls arms.
But then I realized he was just hugging me. Sometimes for no reason at all.
I gotta tell you, I
adore
this side of Val. Didn’t I peg him for being too high-strung and tense from lack of sexual release? See how a little bump and grind finally loosened him up? And now that he has infinite access to sex and orgasm and spiritual energy in his Soul Mate, Val is a whole new man.
Sure took him and Rain long enough to get together though. Geez!
Speaking of the ex-royal Healer, I’m slowly getting over my awe of her. Of course, I’ll always be astounded by her beauty and intelligence and talents
– she’s like a real life
xian nü
, a mythical fairy of the Heavens in Chinese folklore. What I mean is, I’m getting to know her better, so I don’t feel like an ocean of distance separates us, she a heavenly creature, me a lowly earthling.
I’ve been helping her study for her MCAT, the medical school admissions test. Not that I know anything about medicine, but I know how to study for standardized tests. With my rambling educational background and mix of home school, private and public schools, I’ve had to get pretty good at faking through admissions tests.
Rain is so smart, she passed the MCAT with flying colors on the first try. Well, I guess two thousand five hundred years of healing did come in handy somewhat. She’s going to start at Harvard Medical School just across the river from me in the Spring.
These days, she and Val are inseparable. Maybe it’s the Honeymoon stage, but I somehow doubt it. Whereas Tristan and Ayelet have an easy-going, affectionate relationship, Valerius and Rain have an intense, passionate bond. I guess true love takes many different forms for different couples.
Wan’er has her hands full keeping up with the booming clinic in Chinatown. She and Rain are sharing duties for the Pure Ones’ clinic in our new base. With so much to do, she doesn’t seem to miss her previous role as a handmaiden. But I must say, she almost seems a little too obsessed with work. Out of everyone, she took Xandros’ death the hardest, shutting herself away for days. I won’t venture to guess what happened between them – she hasn’t shared her grief with anyone.
We’re still searching for leads on our nemesis, the beautiful vampire who caused so much destruction and devastation, but it’s as if he/she has disappeared into thin air. Honestly, I don’t know what to call the vampire. I still don’t know whether it’s a male or female. Apparently, no one does, especially after Dalair added to the confusion by sharing that he witnessed the creature transform its figure into different people.
We have no idea who or what we’re dealing with. It’s practically unheard of that a vampire or a Pure One would have such abilities. I wish Orion was here to help us confirm, but as it is, Eveline has been taking over his duties, trying to build a rudimentary knowledge base of our race’s long,
long
history. What’s worse, a quarter of the tomes in the library have been destroyed in the attack. Eveline is also tasked with finding Orion’s replacement. Not surprisingly, she’s been dragging her feet on that one.
We are in no hurry. She will find the right person when the time comes.
Meanwhile, Seth is still MIA. We don’t know his location or when he’ll come back. Besides the occasional news from his projections, he doesn’t stay in regular contact.
Well, we kind of guessed where he is. Or rather, who he’s with. The Vampire Queen wouldn’t send her personal guard to our aid for nothing. Seth is the best negotiator we know. He can bargain tears from a stone. But I’m pretty certain Jade Cicada is no pushover. I wonder what the Consul agreed to give in return for her support…
We continue to wait patiently for his return. None of us want to contemplate that he won’t. Ayelet is half-heartedly running through the motions of looking for his backup, but she finds fault with each potential candidate even without a thorough background check. We chalk it up to her hormonal surges, for wonders upon wonders, the Guardian is pregnant!
Frankly, I didn’t even know Pure Ones can have children. There are rumors, and a few have been documented in the Zodiac Scrolls, but I mean, with so few Mated couples and a precise balance of Pure souls that enter and leave this world, conception is so rare it’s become a myth.
Maybe the Goddess is balancing our losses – the losses of our race as a whole in recent years – through this miracle. It’s only one soul, one person, but the joy he or she will bring will uplift us all. It also gives Valerius and Rain hope that they too could have their own little one.
Lots of sex going on in our new Shield, I can tell you that much.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Aella and Cloud are next. Even I, with my virginal teenage innocence, can tell that my best friend is hankering to get a piece of the warrior hunk. She’s been dogging his heels pretty relentlessly over the past few months. Aella is like a whirlwind (hence her name, which means exactly that). I pity the man who tries to refuse getting swept up by her passion and energy. She doesn’t take no for an answer.
Sigh. If only I had my own affairs sorted out.
Ere left a note in my locker at school the Thursday I returned to class. He was off on some research stint again, this time to Siberia of all places. And he wouldn’t return until the New Year. For my Christmas present, he left me the keys to his apartment and an invitation for me to stay there whenever I wanted, whether to read books from his massive library or just to get a little privacy, a bit of personal time away from my “roommates.”
I am grateful beyond words. I wish I told him how much I’d miss him the last time we saw each other in class. Oddly, I don’t feel lonely. Sometimes, I even talk to him in my mind. It’s as if I’m carrying part of his spirit inside of me, as if we’re connected no matter where we are in the world.
In contrast, my relationship with Dalair continues to deteriorate. He’s taken himself completely out of my guard rotation, even though there are only five Elite right now. Aella is working with Ayelet to recruit the sixth. But it’s been tough going because the war with the vampire demon had turned and sacrificed so many Pure Ones of warrior class. It may be easier to train a hundred new recruits than to find another ancient warrior like Cloud.
Dalair is obsessed with finding the vampire demon that captured me. He’s like a man possessed, going out early in the morning, returning late at night, hunting for leads, picking fights. Because we’ve ceased the nightly hunt for vampire rogues for the time being (it’s been pretty quiet these days with the North End Horde eliminated and our erstwhile nemesis defeated), he has no outlet for his pent-up fury and burgeoning need for retribution.
He reminds me of a wounded animal on the edge of insanity from its unbearable pain.
I don’t know how to help him – he never lets me near him any more. We barely exchanged two words in the past few weeks. I wish with all my heart that I could ease his pain. I feel sorry for every ungrateful, mean thing I’ve ever said to him.
But he’s become unreachable. Perhaps even more unreachable than Valerius once was. I wish I knew his story. I wish I knew his past. With that knowledge, maybe I can begin to understand more about this mysterious, haunted warrior.
But you know what they say…
Be careful what you wish for.
Awakening
: test of courage and strength of spirit which leads to the subject coming into his/her Gift, a supernatural power, if he/she passes the test.
Bonding Ritual:
symbolic ceremony whereby a Pure One pledges his/her devotion to his/her Eternal Mate, or when the Healer unites with his/her Consort. The binding pledge, delivered by the Master of
Ceremonies, contains the following verses:
In Darkness and Light, in Life and Death Two souls will join to share One Path
With heart and mind, and every breath You become each other’s present and past What the future holds only the Goddess can see Paved by the choices you both shall make Step by step toward your Destiny In Bond Eternal that none shall break
Cardinal Rule:
Sacred Law number three, thou shalt not engage in sexual intercourse with someone who is not thy Eternal Mate. See Sacred Laws.
Chevalier:
a combination of Pure and human warriors who stand as the first line of defense against rising vampire Hordes and human menace.
Consort:
temporary Mate for the designated Healer of the Pure Ones. For thirty days during the Phoenix Cycle, the Consort will provide the Nourishment to supply the Healer’s reserve of energy for the next ten years. See Phoenix Cycle and Healer.
Decline:
condition in which or process of a Pure-Ones’ life force depleting after he/she Falls in love but does not receive equal love in return. The Pure One weakens and his/her body slowly, painfully breaks down over the course of thirty days, leading ultimately to death unless his/her love is returned in equal measure.
Eternal Mate
: the destined partner to a given soul. Each soul only has one mate across time, across various incarnations of life. Quotation from the Zodiac Scrolls describing the bond: “His body is the Nourishment of life. Her energy is the Sustenance of soul.”
Fall/Fallen:
process or condition of a Pure One having infused his/her partner with life force through sexual intercourse in the act of falling in love. If the love is unreturned in equal measure, the Pure One will enter into Decline and die within thirty days.
Gift:
supernatural power bestowed upon Pure Ones by the Goddess. Usually an enhanced physical or mental ability such as telekinesis, superhuman strength and telepathy.
The Goddess:
supernatural being who is credited with the creation of the Pure Ones. She is a deity to which Pure Ones devote themselves. She protects the Universal Balance.