Awakened in Shadows Read online

  Who are the Defiant?

  As if Xee had heard his thoughts, she began to explain.

  “The Defiant are three powerful Gods who kick-started evolution. My research isn’t solid, but they are basically the parents of, like, everything.”

  “The parents?” Adam questioned.

  “No, it’s more than three Gods. It’s an undetermined number of entities that are housed in three forms,” Hawke interrupted. It was the first time the male had spoken. He usually took a back seat to things. Kept to himself. Like Dietrich. “They are light and dark, creation, infinite and never-ending. Think Titans versus Greek Gods, and that only covers a fraction. You won’t be able to wrap your heads around it, so don’t try. The story has too many layers overlapping into chaos and destruction.”

  “So, who is this Clan Ellys?” Draven questioned.

  “They are the only ones capable of keeping the Defiant at bay,” Phineas offered.

  “Seems the Sahidic is nothing compared to them,” Xee observed.

  Everyone around the table nodded their head in agreement. If the Defiant Ones were all the things Hawke had said they were, what would it matter if and when they actually got ahold of the Sahidic?

  “The Sahidic is a pre-cursor of what’s to come,” Phineas informed. He had a grim look on his face. He didn’t want to act concerned, but D could see it in the way his eyes softened when he watched Jorunn. She’d said nothing. Her hands were on the table, and they looked kind of dry, almost cracked. He was about to say something, when Phineas broke in with, “tell them.” He was looking directly at Gabe when he spoke. “Tell them. You and I have been here in this world the longest.”

  Dietrich shook his head. Whatever it was, it was bad. More fucking secrets. He knew the Angel was older than dirt. Gabe obviously knew more than what he’d originally offered. D could see it now, hidden in the depths of those champagne orbs that had all the females swooning. Bitch ass motherfucker had been holding out on them. Again.

  ~ ~ ~

  This is awkward, Jo thought as everyone turned their attention to the Angel. He’d walked over to his mate, put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. The love in his eyes was almost painful to witness. Jo had always wanted someone to look at her that way. Like the entire universe revolved around her. Even Draven and his mate gravitated toward each other. She knew what the Angel would say. Her father had been preaching the same tale over and over again. Jo had just always thought it was propaganda to gain more immortals to his cause. She watched as the Angel took a deep breath and told his teammates what she now knew to be true.

  “If we don’t secure the Sahidic, the world will be cleansed. You will all die, and the Defiant will rise to start again.”

  “We all die?” Xee whispered.

  The female had already died once. Jo knew that one of her friend’s biggest fears was to repeat the process all over again. She was tied to the Angel, but if the world were cleansed, it didn’t matter who was bonded to whom. If they weren’t first generation, or in another realm, they’d die.

  “Yes, Blossom. You will die.”

  “You say ‘you,’ like you aren’t going to die, but we all are,” Jesminda pointed out.

  Gabe’s eyes dropped to the floor before looking back at Xee, then over to Jesminda. Sadness and regret radiated outward and filled the room.

  “How many?” Dietrich growled.

  Jo watched as Gabe looked each of them in the eye before answering. His voice layered with guilt and hurt.

  “This will be the third cleansing if we’re not able to stop it.”

  Xee’s shoulders slumped. “So, there is a chance?”

  “The chances are very slim, unless we can pull our resources together,” Phineas answered for him.

  “There’s more you’re not saying,” the tone in Dietrich’s voice was harsh and tight. Jo couldn’t stop the shiver that ran down her spine at his words. His voice slammed into her body’s senses and her insides melted. She didn’t want the others to see or smell her arousal. She was strong, but her father had been right, she needed the control. She craved to have the decisions taken from her. Not just for everyday things like work or activities, but in the bedroom, as well. She was sure her father had figured it out, but he hadn’t commented on it. She knew he kept her busy in order to meet her conscious need to please people. It’s why she was so good at the coffee shop. People ordered, and she provided. Her father assured her that her need to see to other’s happiness was perfectly normal. What wasn’t normal, was her drug addiction. Her father hadn’t kept that in check at all. Which is why her hands were sweaty, and her heart was racing. If there was no control, chaos ensued, and her orderly life would become codependent on other things. Too late. The conversation at the table brought her back into focus of what was going on around her.

  “We need to ensure that the Defiant Ones are appeased. They will wake no matter what happens,” her father continued.

  Jorunn felt it was time that she stepped in and offered up what she knew. She looked to her father for permission before she spoke.

  “Yes, dear, you may speak.”

  Dietrich’s head snapped in her direction, and she could have sworn she heard him growl.

  “When they do wake up, things will go the way they deem fit. If we have the Sahidic, we can sway them.”

  “Swaying doesn’t mean shit, Peaches.” Dietrich’s voice penetrated her skin and kissed her ears. Damn his brashness was potent. She didn’t understand why he resorted to calling her Peaches. Was it because he didn’t want to say her name?

  “Well, that’s the way it is.” Jo cast her eyes down. Even with his shades on, he was intimidating as hell. As much as her mind argued that being around him was a bad idea, her body had other ideas. Ideas she couldn’t even contemplate.

  “I’ll take sway over no hope,” Xee spoke matter-of-factly. She eyed Gabe, and Jo could see the hurt on her face at his deception. “So, we at least have a plan. Get the cup and the blood, find the Sahidic, and be very persuasive to the Defiant Ones. That way, there is no way in hell we get axed.” Xee’s eyes thinned into tiny slits. “Because if I die now when I have so much to fucking live for, I swear, Gabe, you won’t live to see your next cleansing. I’ll kill you myself. Regardless if I’m dead already.”

  Dietrich stood, his face hard as stone.

  “Fuck them fools. I have no intention of dying.” He walked out of the conference room as the others looked on.

  “I should go talk to him,” Xee whispered under her breath.

  Just who was she to Dietrich? He didn’t seem like the type of man to let someone be close to him in that manner. His body’s language screamed, “hands off.” The only time he allowed anyone near was when he was leaving her shop with a female under each arm. Even then, he still exuded a kind of danger that warned he would attack his prey without a moment’s notice.

  “I can see how this is all upsetting to everyone involved. Time is not on our side. Please hand over Melissa. I’ll have Jorunn collect items for her journey, and may this leg of your trip be in your favor.” Phineas stood, but Jo remained seated.

  “Father, I am to see their doctor before we leave.”

  Draven nodded his head in agreement.

  “I’ll take her,” Jesminda spoke up. The Lycan looked down at his mate and gifted her with a beautiful smile. His green eyes sparkling with love.

  “Thank you, Petal.” He looked to Jo’s father. “Jesminda will take her to see our doctor and then to grab whatever she needs for the trip. You can go with Adam, and he’ll hand Melissa over to you.”

  Jesminda stood, and Draven pulled her into a tight hug. He whispered something in his mate’s ear that Jo was unable to hear. Whatever was voiced made the other woman smile.

  Pretty soon there would be signs indicating the coming of the Defiant Ones. But she wasn’t sure how much time they’d have before it all went to shit. Regardless, her time was even shorter than theirs. That was one thing she was sure of.
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br />   ~ ~ ~

  I shouldn’t have stormed out the way I did, Dietrich thought to himself as he turned down Smith Street on his bike. He’d just had to get out of there. Everyone was showing way too much emotion for his wellbeing. He wasn’t about to be party to that. It would suck if they all had to die because of some moronic God-like entities waking up and deciding it was a good day to restart the entire world. What the fuck was wrong with people? He still had shit to do. He’d spent over three hundred and forty years on this Earth, and he’d accomplished very little. He still needed to get his sister back. Yewa was his main priority. The streets were practically empty as he made his way down the side of the feeder road. He should have asked more questions. That would have implied that you care. He was getting soft. Fuck, he was turning into a walking, talking vagina. Fuck that shit! He needed to focus. He would go to Phineas and tell the bastard he would personally see to his daughter’s care. Adam could suck a dick dry and choke on the protein. If anyone knew what it was like to control and dominate someone, it was him. He’d seen every kind of dominance there was, and then some. He would use the time spent with her to teach her how to stand up for herself. Jorunn was a mouse, and he would see to it that she became a boss. It was the only way she’d survive. If her nature was to be accommodating, well, he’d have to show her how, and who, her soft spot should be revealed to. No one, that’s who. He was such a cynic. People took service as a sign of weakness. She needed to shut that part of her down when it wasn’t needed.

  He’d come to the Americas on The Hannibal. It had carried him and his two sisters across the Atlantic. Seven hundred captives boarded the wooden ship, but only three hundred and seventy-two of them had survived. Three hundred and forty-six years later, Dietrich could still see the look on Andina’s face when she’d been tossed overboard. Shackled at the ankles and chained around the waist, she and twenty other women were attached to a ten-pound cannon ball. It was more than enough to take them to the bottom. Half of them couldn’t even swim, and the ones that could were diseased and severely underweight. Both of his sisters had tried to heal the women and children single-handedly, but it had been too much of a burden on them. It was before they even knew they were immortal. Gifted was all they’d been told about their kind. It wouldn’t be till much later that Dietrich realized he and his sister Yewa would be chained to the Earth until they were completely void of life. The tiniest spark would keep them going. That had been the driving force pushing him to find Andina at the bottom of the Atlantic, and he’d spent years after his escape searching with no luck. No evidence to hint at the women’s watery graves. He’d run across an artist who’d depicted scenes of the underwater tragedy. He’d paid homage to those tossed overboard. The sculpture was recent, but there was no sign of his sister. Dietrich had been searching for decades, and there was still no trace of Andina.

  He still woke at times, seeing the desperation in Andina’s eyes. The anger at being helpless would choke him into a rage that had the potential to harm those around him. It was one of the reasons he didn’t sleep with women. He’d fuck them into exhaustion, but he never slept with them. He’d lay there, eyes closed, pretending to breathe evenly as if he were asleep, but really, he was biding his time until they woke.

  He couldn’t save Andina, but he was going to save Yewa.

  During their journey, he’d been sectioned off like the rest of the men on the ship. Shackled and gagged. There were a couple of times he’d thought he would die from choking on his own saliva. It never happened. Helpless and unable to save his sister, he’d watched in silence, praying to his gods, begging them to make her death swift and painless. Drowning was one of the worst ways to go, and if she were anything like him and Yewa—and he now knew she was—repeatedly drowning would be unbearable. He couldn’t fathom, let alone comprehend what Andina had gone through. He’d prayed countless times since that her death came swiftly, in days instead of years like he feared.

  Dietrich shook the horrible memory from his mind. Focus on the goal. The road was beginning to hypnotize him when a man in leather pants and a wife beater appeared out of thin air.

  Fucking immortals.

  D slammed on the brakes. His bike tried to fishtail at the sudden halt in momentum, but he was able to stop short of leather pants, who didn’t move a motherfucking inch. Fucking fool. Dietrich placed his hands on the handlebars and leaned forward.

  “You wanna tell me why you’re in the middle of the goddamn street?”

  He should have run his ass over. Like it would have done any good. It would have made you feel better. True.

  “Omari, I have a proposition for you,” was all the man said. D’s spine straightened at the use of his birth name. No one knew his true name save for the Agency and his sister. Whoever this fucktard was, Dietrich didn’t like him. If the bastard wasn’t careful, he’d end up on the underside of his size twelve shitkickers.

  The guy in the leather pants quickly dropped his guise. It was the chump, Enri. The Fallen Angel who’d helped Faith, had Solon killed, and made sure both Draven and Jesminda were certifiable at times. He was also the fool in charge of the Red Sun Organization’s Death Walkers. Those fuckers put a whole new twist on zombies.

  “What the fuck do you want?”

  “Information. In exchange for something you want,” the Angel’s voice was brittle and flat.

  The motherfucker didn’t have anything Dietrich wanted. He was already somebody’s bitch. He was all out of ass to give. It had been officially handed over to the Agency and the Unit.

  “Unless you got information on a fat pussy that never dries out, you don’t have anything I want,” Dietrich answered.

  Enri barely held in his snort.

  D would never understand why folks didn’t take him seriously. He was dead serious. The Angel had nothing he wanted unless it was a forever-wet pussy. Then again, there wasn’t a pussy he hadn’t eaten that would dry up while he was up to bat. Tire from over stimulation, yeah, but dry up? Not ever gonna happen as long as his tongue licked, his mouth sucked, his fingers fucked, and his dick pumped copious amounts of his superior seed into a willing vessel.

  “She is pussy, and I can gain access to her,” Enri supplied.

  “Nah, don’t need to add another broad to my list. Gotta save some women out there for you dickless wonders.”

  Enri threw his head back and laughed.

  “Even if the pussy is Yewa?” His face went from playful to serious.

  Dietrich was off his bike faster than a snake could bite. He had about half an inch on Enri, and used every bit of it to his advantage as he stood over him.

  “What do you know of my sister?” He demanded.

  Every word, every syllable, was a practice in patience. He was ready to tear the Fallen to pieces from the inside out. Enri’s blue gaze locked on Dietrich’s shades.

  “I know where she’s being kept. I can get her out in exchange for some information.”

  Everybody wanted something from Dietrich. He’d learned a long time ago that trust was non-existent. It was a word that held no true meaning to anyone, himself included. He knew he couldn’t trust Enri, the bastard work for the Red Sun.

  “How do I even know you’re telling the truth?”

  Enri’s grin was sinister.

  “You don’t. But how about we up the ante, Omari.” Enri leaned in close, his eyes going from blue to black. His fangs lengthened as he smiled. “Tell me what I want to know, and I promise you no harm will come to her by my hand. You don’t–” He shrugged. “I’ll add her to my death squad. It won’t be pretty either.”

  “You won’t touch her!” Dietrich roared, getting in the man’s face. He was two seconds from working the asshole over until his face resembled hamburger meat.

  “Oh, but I will, and I’ll use her too before I turn her. Take her for a test drive before I add her to my army. She’s quite beautiful, your sister.”

  “Your army?” D’s chest was hurting. And his hands itched t
o choke the life from Enri.

  “Gotta hit my quota of souls. People need to be maimed, tortured, and, of course, made dead before the cleansing,” the Fallen remarked easily, like it was an everyday task on his to-do list. Looked like Dietrich had more ass to hang out in the wind. If the Unit found out, he’d be locked up. If the Agency got wind of his dealings with the Angel, they’d never let him have his sister. What if he’s lying? What if he wasn’t?

  “What do you want?”

  “All the information you can get on Jorunn. I especially need to know of her Demon origins.”

  “She’s no Demon.”

  “If you say so. And a heads up, take her off the VAB, it’s the only way you’re going to find out. I need her clean.”

  “Clean?”

  What made her dirty?

  He waited for the Angel to respond, but when he looked up, the dude was gone.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Your father seems strict?” Jesminda commented as they left the Unit’s doctor. The results had been the same as her father’s doctors. They didn’t know what she was, only that her body was shutting down. She was too stuck in her head to care what the other woman was saying. She knew her father was strict, it was how he kept everyone in line. It was how he kept her in line. She was grateful for that. There was no telling where she would be without her father’s guidance. She’d be a junkie. Or worse, dead. You are a junkie. Jorunn ignored the voice in her head. She wasn’t a junkie. She was trying to survive. Then why are your hands sweaty and shaky? Easy answer. She hadn’t had her daily dose of VAB. Junkie. Shit, she still hadn’t answered Jesminda.

  “He likes things a certain way,” Jo responded, her breath shaky.

  Jesminda turned her way and eyed her from head to toe.

  “You okay? You don’t look so hot.”

  Jo gave her a weak smile.

  “Getting bad news is not something I wanted to hear. A small part of me was hoping that your doctors would be able to shed some light on my situation.”

  The woman gave her a kind smile that wasn’t the least bit pitying. Jo appreciated that.