Crais Read online

  Luiz gripped her hand, his presence sending calming tendrils through her. It wouldn’t help anyone if she burst into flames during this session. She didn’t know the women who had disappeared – her tribe had been spared so far – but that wasn’t really the point.

  Women were the slightly more vulnerable sex. Smarter, in her opinion, but vulnerable. Especially if these nomad men were planning on including rape with abduction. No person should ever have to experience that type of degradation. It was an unforgivable sin and one they would pay for. She was determined that this end soon.

  “Jordan!” The shriek echoed around the cavern, drawing the attention of all. “She’s gone ... they took her.”

  A woman burst into view from one of the side entrances which led to the grotto. She tripped in front of the ornately clad priest. In one quick movement Jordan reached down and pulled the woman to her feet.

  “Who, Mari-gold? Who is gone?” He sounded calm, although it still came out as a biting command.

  Mari-gold was Jordan’s sister. Her black skin shone as she continued to shriek in a senseless manner.

  “Excuse me.” Jordan addressed the tribes before he scooped his sister up and strode away.

  They watched as he stepped into the water, and carried Mari-gold to the other side.

  Murmurs spread through the tribes until the words finally reached Fury and Luiz. Some of the blessed women who tended the sacred grotto had been taken during this very session. Right out from under every tribe on Crais.

  “They couldn’t have sent a clearer message; they do not fear us even in large numbers.” Luiz’s eyes were wide as he clutched at Fury’s arm.

  “It could be that,” she acknowledged. “But what if it’s something even scarier? What if they’re getting desperate enough to take big risks?” She watched as chaos unraveled around them.

  Men were trying to shepherd their women to safety, whilst the women were sharpening their daggers, prepared to search for their brethren. They tended to take offence at forced abductions.

  “If that’s true, something tells me things are going to get worse, so much worse.” Worry lined Luiz’s eyes.

  Fury could already see the battle looming on the horizon, and she couldn’t even use her flames to help. Not against the nomads. Dune’s warning was still fresh in her mind.

  The session ended early that day when Jordan did not return from the other side. The four high priests and their mates lived here in the sacred area. They were the only ones permitted. There were no positions on Crais of higher reverence than theirs. All were voted in by all inhabitants of the tribes, and it was a position for life. They were only replaced after the death of one of the four.

  Below them in ranking was the ruling panel of elders from each tribe. Fury had always had great respect for how this was decided; it was simply the five oldest living tribespeople. Regardless of what family you were from, respect was paid to those with life experience. And anything that could not be resolved internally was brought to the high priests. They were also the ones to perform mating ceremonies, control the prayers to the sun gods and run these annual meet-ups. So with them sequestered on the other side there would be no further session that day.

  Fury was with her tribe. They’d just finished their second meal and her restless energy was in overdrive. She paced in front of her sleep chamber. The others who were in the same area must have been wondering what was wrong with her. She had to step in and out of the doorway as different tribe members ventured in and out of their room, taking advantage of the early session. This was a prime time to find a mate, so socializing was high on their priority list. Not Fury’s, though.

  “We cannot sit here and wait for those nomads to pick us off one by one.” Angry words spilled from her lips. “We have to act.”

  She’d known of the abductions before, but never had it struck her so deeply. And she felt betrayed by Dune, although she had no proof that he was involved. Considering her tribe had never lost anyone, he probably wasn’t. But he was a nomad.

  “What do you suggest we do?” Tasha said. After Luiz, Tasha was Fury’s next closest friend. “How can we save them? You’re from the nomads. Do you know anything which might give us an advantage?”

  “I wish,” Fury bit out. “The only thing my half-nomad status has given me is white hair and an increased weakness in the sun.”

  A visiting female leaned forward to whisper, “I heard that Jordan knows which of the caves the nomads’ leader uses around here. And he believed this was where the women were being held.”

  “What?” Fury almost shrieked. “Why hasn’t he done anything to find them then?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I did manage to overhear the discussion about the location.”

  “Tell me,” Fury demanded, before softening her approach. “Please, I need to be able to do something.”

  “You can’t walk in the suns, Fury, even during the eclipse. Don’t kill yourself on a fool’s errand.” Tasha spoke to her again.

  “I’ll use the Craisly leaf. Now tell me.”

  No one questioned Fury again, or asked how she would procure the most precious and revered plant on Crais. Craisly possessed a large leaf that worked as a partial barrier against the suns.

  Instead they all gathered close, listening as the female described the large mountains to the south of them. Fury knew exactly where they were. She’d made a point throughout her life to closely study the hand-painted maps of Crais on the underground walls.

  And at the next suns’ eclipse she was going after the nomads.

  Forget Dune and his cryptic warnings; she was done with hiding. She would use her flame and if they had hurt the tribeswomen she would destroy them. Old Fury was gone, the one who hid and ran from life.

  She knew the reason for her flames: she was the protector.

  Chapter 2

  Abigail

  The world was a little hazy but I didn’t care. I lay back on the warm sand, burying my toes in deep and letting the heat soak into my bones.

  “I enjoy seeing you all relaxed and drowsy, Red.”

  I lifted my head, blood-red curls flying around me. A smile spread across my face as I scanned the bare chest of my mate. His broad shoulders and heavily muscled arms gave me that happy, tingly feeling.

  “I enjoy seeing you all half-naked and sexy.”

  I practically purred at Brace, which gave me a moment’s pause. I didn’t usually speak like that. That thought was forgotten, though, as he gently stroked my face, before capturing my chin in his hand.

  “I need you to remember this moment, Abigail, remember how it felt and the bond between us.” Uh-oh, he’d used my full name. “You will need a moment to get you through.”

  Panic laced my veins, but in a slow sluggish movement. “What are you talking about?”

  The haziness which had been coating our surroundings started to lift. I instinctively knew that was bad.

  “What’s happening, Brace?” I had to yell into the wind which was picking up around me.

  His eyes darkened, and I felt the insane urge to cry. Why did my heart feel like it was breaking? I was on the sand with my mate – in fact we were even more than that – a melded couple, which was the ultimate union in this star system. Life couldn’t get any better, right? And yet there was something I knew I was forgetting.

  Samuel appeared behind us. When I saw his face, a surge of adrenalin shot to my limbs. I jumped to my feet.

  “What are you doing here?” I blasted at him, unsure why I hated his guts right now.

  “I’m so sorry, sister,” he said.

  I turned with great reluctance to Brace. His head had dropped. I shuddered in a breath, tears pricking my eyes as I waited for him to look at me. When he finally lifted it the screams lodged in my throat. His smile was cruel, mocking me, and his eyes were gold, swirling, sinister and dead. More than anything the emptiness in them smashed the world around me to pieces.

  Suddenly the beach was go
ne and I was back on the battlefield. Memories hit me hard as reality rushed back in with the force of a freight train. Que and the battle, Brace with his golden eyes, and Josian, my father, pulling me into a Walker doorway. So why was I back on the empty battlefield on First World? I spun in a circle, my eyes scanning every inch of the green field. I stopped as a golden cord appeared before me.

  Was that a tether?

  Hesitantly I reached out a hand to touch it. Something warned me not to, but I couldn’t stop myself. As my hand brushed the coarse material I waited to be transported somewhere, but instead it brought him to me.

  He stood there at the centre of the golden glow. Brace ... but not my Brace. I stared at the changes. His tribal marks were no longer black but now the most stunning purple, like that moment before midnight when the sky is iridescent. His dark hair was longer, not to his shoulders but almost there. His usually baby-smooth face now had days’ growth of dark whiskers, giving him even more of a rakish bad-boy look.

  And of course the eyes.

  His beautiful melting chocolate-brown had been replaced by swirls of gold.

  “I have been waiting for you,” he said.

  His voice was cold, lower than usual, and with none of the inflection I expected.

  And still I ached to run into his arms.

  “Who are you? And why am I back here?” I asked, my own voice a ghostly echo.

  I both needed to know and dreaded finding out what had happened to Brace.

  “I have no name. I am from the beginning of time. I am creation itself. And we are in your head. You chose this scene for our meeting.”

  Damn, why had I brought us back to this spot?

  “What do you want with Brace?”

  The golden eyes were almost hypnotizing; I attempted not to stare into them.

  “He is the only vessel strong enough to house me,” the cold voice said.

  “What do you want with me then?” Strength infused my words.

  “You’re trying to prevent my brothers from being released. I want to stop you, but I’m in the body of your mate and that bond has not been severed. He fights me. He will not let me take you, but I will destroy him eventually. I have all of eternity to wait.”

  Comprehension hit me like a punch into my gut.

  A Seventine. Oh, crap. Brace was possessed by one of the ancient evils.

  The Seventine were energy-sucking creatures, hell-bent on destroying this star system. The seven of them had been contained for many millennia until Brace’s father Que had begun the task of releasing them. Yeah, he was an evil piece-of-crap, and he’d somehow orchestrated a plan to use his own son as a vessel for the first Seventine.

  Despite the fear and despair its words created, there was also this sliver of hope vying for a place. It said that Brace was fighting, that the bond wasn’t gone yet. Did that mean there was a chance to save him?

  “Again, what do you need me for?” I realized something in that moment; I couldn’t extract myself from its deadly presence. From the moment I’d touched the cord it had been holding me in place.

  But before I could panic at my deprivation of liberty, it said the very words designed to make me want to stay.

  “I offer you a chance to save your mate. I will release him, unharmed, if you simply free the third of my brothers.”

  What the eff? He was trying to make a deal with me.

  And damn if it wasn’t a really tempting deal. I’d give up almost anything for Brace but who could trust the devil himself? Although – I paused – it was only asking for one of its brothers to be released. Could it be a deal worth considering? I shook my head; I couldn’t seriously be contemplating trusting the word of a Seventine.

  Before I could be tempted further, a heavy weight landed in my hand. Power and clarity flooded through me, clearing my mind from those tendrils of doubt. I dropped my eyes to find a shining blue stone. My laluna, one of the sacred stones of the Walkers (the good guys to Seventines’ evil), was nestled in the palm of my right hand. Its energy flowed through me like a river of strength and for the first time I could take a step back. It was at this point I realized the true extent of the power of this creature. It had been buffeting at me like a hot breeze, and the laluna gave me a reprieve from the force it exuded.

  “Let Brace go or I will figure out a way to shove you and your brothers into an even deeper pit of hell.” I made my last promise to the creature and then pulled myself free from the golden cord.

  The lime green fields faded out of sight as I broke the creature’s hold.

  “Abigail!” A bellow from Lucy was my first moment of clarity.

  I opened my eyes; the room zoomed into clear focus. I was no longer on the battlefield. Instead I was laid out on a soft surface. The room around me was circular and made of stone. Like a cave.

  Staring around, I felt slightly confused and disorientated … and mega pissed off. Anger was flowing in abundance. That creature had taken my Brace and I would not rest until I got him back. I almost leapt out of the bed, but there was no way I was ready to take on a Seventine. I needed a plan.

  Lucy was crouched next to me, holding my hand. The laluna was still nestled in my other palm. I examined the features of my best friend. We’d grown up together on the war-zone that was Earth and I knew her better than anyone. Her expression was calm, but I could see the pain in her baby-blue eyes. And I could empathize; living without Brace was like having a permanently bleeding injury.

  Shifting my gaze, I locked in on the unnaturally bronzed eyes of Josian, my father and Walker. Walkers are a planetless, immortal race that has been revered as gods throughout the centuries and most of them are arrogant pains-in-the-ass. But can you blame them? They have some wicked powers and all the ones I have met are tall, gorgeous and mega-smart.

  I was half-Walker. My mother Lallielle, who was staring down at me with tear-filled eyes, was from First World. She blew me a kiss. I attempted to smile in return before a cleared throat drew my attention to Quarn. My guardian was leaning against the rock wall, his rugged features creased with unease. I also noted that there were a few red-haired Walkers from my clan of Doreen near the doorway, in a bodyguard stance. I shifted my gaze to observe them one by one. Their expressions ranged from stoic to curious but most reflected concern.

  “Where are we? How long was I out?” I finally croaked out, not recognizing the stone-walled room.

  My voice was shaky. I hadn’t expected the weakness I felt inside to be so obvious in my words.

  Josian answered, “You’ve been unconscious for a few hours. When everything went crazy at the fight I opened a doorway to the one place I knew was safe. This was my home before I met your mother.” He ran his hands through his blood-red hair in an agitated manner. “We can’t go back to First World at the moment. Brace must be avoided until we can figure out what happened and how to neutralize it.”

  He paused, reaching down to take my laluna. The moment it left my hand it disappeared, which wasn’t surprising. It was its own entity and came and went at its will.

  “That laluna has definitely bonded to you, baby girl.” He smiled at me.

  I was about to answer when I came to a realization about something that had been playing on my mind.

  All of the Walker’s in this room had their identification marks on display.

  I was so used to my own permanent red lace-like marks covering the left side of my body that I often forgot not everyone’s should be present. There could only be one reason for this: moonstale. I looked up into the huge cavern, and my jaw dropped. The entire surface was interspersed with the glittering gray stones. Like the laluna, moonstale was sacred to Walkers and allowed us to identify which of the seven Walker clans we belonged to. Each clan had its own unique mark and the marks only appeared under the yellow moonstale light.

  “I thought you said it was rare,” I muttered, my head still tilted upwards.

  “It is rare.” Josian followed my gaze. “This is the largest deposit I’ve
ever seen, and it has been protected by our lineage since the beginning of time. It’s mostly from here that the stone is collected for our jewelry pieces.”

  I reached up a hand to clutch at my World necklace. It was a perfect representation of First World and held moonstale stone inside. Walkers always tried to carry some on their person.

  “And beside these stones being an amazing recharge for our powers they will also mask them. Josian’s world is undetectable unless you have already been here.” Another voice echoed from beyond my line of sight, near the back of the room.

  Grantham stepped into the light.

  He was the Princep of the Walker clan of Relli. Relli’s marks were dark-gray swirls, which at the moment spanned his right side and highlighted his yellow hair and cat-like lime-green eyes. He was also my father’s best friend. Josian was the Princep of Doreen and they often combined power and resources.

  I felt ... a sense of relief, seeing that everyone was safe after our battle on First World. Everyone except Brace, of course. It was in this battle he’d been possessed.

  “Why haven’t you jumped up all crazy-like and demanded to know what happened to Brace?” Lucy’s question drew my attention.

  I faced my oldest friend. I’d been avoiding her, knowing she would read my anger and devastation better than anyone. Worry exuded from her, her blue eyes huge and shiny. I could see the red rimming her lashes; she’d been crying.

  “I already know,” I said.

  There was movement in the room as everyone shifted. A range of emotions crossed their faces, but the strangest expression was the relief on Josian’s.

  “What’s with the relief? What did I miss in the last few hours?” I narrowed my eyes, glaring at him.

  “I’m relieved – and curious – that you already know, since I have no clue.” He fiddled with his shirt.

  I’d never seen him so rattled.

  “We were fighting and I knew Que was playing with us, but I couldn’t figure out why. And then when he laughed ... well ... it was at that moment I sensed the presence of something else. Something powerful that merged with Brace.”