Apotheosis of the Immortal (43 page)

Chapter 86

Sliding the large
granite fireplace shut, Elijah was pleased to hear the chattering voices below. Emira was in his arms before he could reach the bottom of the steps. Her touch and smell refreshed his spirit and dulled the anger and pain that pervaded him.

“I’m so glad you are okay!” She squeezed even tighter. “Did you find your brother?” She looked briefly at his face and then squeezed him again as if she could sense things hadn’t gone well. “Were you not able to find him?” she asked.

“I found him,” Elijah said dully; he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Well, was he not willing to speak with you?”

Elijah could see she wanted him to elaborate; she wanted some kind of explanation. “We spoke,” he said softly, his face tense with pain. “He’s lost; he is hopeless.”

“What did he say?” she pressed.

“It appears my recent hopes were unfounded. My brother Solomon believes my father has been holding our little brother prisoner since the night he butchered my mother. He believes by helping William he will be able to save our brother. He believes once Father gets what he wants he will release Malaki.”

Elijah gently pushed Emira back and closed his eyes as he rubbed the side of his neck. “If I believed that for a second, I might reconsider what side I’m on, but I know he won’t, even if he is still alive.” Elijah sighed. Suddenly, he noticed uncomfortable glances back and forth between Emira and Khalid.

“We need to know we can count on you; that your family ties won’t get in the way of what we are trying to do here. Your family is evil, wrong, bad; you know this!” Khalid exclaimed.

Elijah glared at him, but Emira must have seen his tension and sorrow, because she touched him softly on the face and pulled him to face her. Elijah closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself.

“My brother is not a bad man; he is just a lost soul doing what he can to save his brother, grasping at straws, hoping all he has done is not in vain. I love my brothers, but I will do what I think is right. I need vengeance, and I believe and trust what Ayda told me long ago: we can’t let my father get his hands on whatever he’s looking for.

“Solomon embraced me as a brother and wished me luck. He said killing him would only free him from his eternal nightmare.” Elijah spoke as if he were in a trance.

“Did you kill him?” Emira’s voice was soft but penetrating.

“No!” Elijah snapped back. Her question evoked painful emotions. She retreated a step, and Elijah could see he had hurt her feelings. “I’m sorry, Emira. I’m just all messed up right now. I have wanted to kill my brother for nearly a millennium, but couldn’t find him. Now I have to kill him; I need to kill him, but I’m not sure I want to.” Elijah looked up at Emira and then at Khalid, who immediately looked suspicious.

“So he is just going to let you kill him?” She sounded confused.

“Emira, leave the man alone; at least give him a minute to catch his breath,” Khalid begged, but it wasn’t going to help. She obviously wanted answers.

“No, it’s okay. Besides Ayda, you guys are the closest things I have to friends, and you deserve to know.” His voice was now calm, his manner collected. “The answer to your question, Emira, is no,” he stated calmly, but then, he was suddenly numb, inside and out, as if he hadn’t completely processed the truth.

“But that doesn’t make any sense. You said he asked you to kill him,” her voice grew higher with her confusion.

“Not exactly; he just acknowledged we were on colliding paths and wished me luck in the ensuing collision. I think he has been traveling down a certain road for so long, he doesn’t know how to change course. If there is another way to save Malaki, it would mean all the atrocities Solomon has committed would have been for nothing. I don’t think he can handle that.” As he spoke, Elijah pictured the gentle Solomon he knew in his youth and his tears began to well again.

“A lot of things have happened to my brother. He was always strong, but he had a gentle soul. He has been forced to do things, in his righteous but misguided attempt to save my little brother, things the man I knew could never have countenanced or withstood.” Elijah was speaking fast and pacing the floor as if he was on to something.

“I think those evil deeds have twisted his gentle soul; in order to cope and keep pressing forward for the sake of Malaki, his soul was forced to twist and bend until it broke into two pieces. The brother I loved is still in there; I spoke to him tonight. There is also a darkness in him; the same darkness that is in my father.” Elijah paused. “He is to blame, for all of this.” Elijah said viciously

“What about your little brother? How will you save him?” Emira’s sweet voice was filled with concern for a boy she’d never met. Elijah reached out and pulled her close to his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“If he truly is still alive, Malaki has spent hundreds of years in a prison of some sort, either corporeal or locked in his mind in some kind of coma. Solomon spoke as if they had both been living in some kind of purgatory, Solomon’s created by his own hand.” He was speaking quickly again, but he was still holding onto Emira, looking into her eyes.

“So, what are you going to do?” Khalid’s deep voice came rumbling from behind her.

“I’m going to do what I came here to do. I’m going to kill them all.” His vision was concrete, despite his somber feelings of regret.

“Solomon is right. Even if I could save Malaki, he could never find peace or happiness living as a vampire, feeding off of innocent people. The only true way to save him is to bring him the peace in death he is owed. So that is what I must do. Solomon assured me Father’s men have orders to kill Malaki if anything happens to him. Besides, I have learned from experience that good men can’t live as vampires; they either fall into darkness, or they find a way to kill themselves.” Elijah looked down at the floor. Tonight had been a crushing disappointment.

Emira leaned forward and leaned the side of her face against his chest. The pressure made him realize his heart was beating hard and fast, like a war drum.

“I’ll be in the bedroom.” Elijah gently pushed her back and cupped her face in his hands for a moment. He squeezed her once more, softly, and disappeared into his designated room.

Chapter 87

Fresh air filled
the room. The linens on the bed smelled clean. A gust of lilac floated up from the bed as Elijah turned down the sheets. After taking off his clothes, he climbed into the bed and pushed his feet underneath the wool blanket at the foot of the bed for warmth.

In the living room he could hear Emira and Khalid talking. At first they were speaking in quiet, serious tones; Elijah could hear Khalid express concerns about his allegiance and Emira defend him. Soon they began joking, arguing and carrying on. He heard his name more than once. Elijah closed his eyes and listened to the melodic rhythm of Emira’s light, sweet voice. Although he could hear every word of their conversation, he was no longer paying attention.

It seemed only moments later a soft touch gently rubbed against his arm. He opened his eyes immediately, as if only aroused from a brief reverie, and quickly rotated his head and shoulders to the right. He was surprised and comforted to see just what he had imagined.

Emira was lying in the bed beside him with her hand lying gently on his arm. Her fingers were tucked just beneath the short sleeve of his shirt. She recoiled slightly as he turned, but he quickly caught her wrist.

“No,” he said, clasping her left hand in his own as he tucked his arm tightly against her abdomen, just beneath her breasts.

“I thought you were asleep,” she whispered.

I don’t sleep,
he thought. He pulled her tighter, until her back was pressed firmly against his chest.

His tight grip was unexpected and a little uncomfortable at first, but the discomfort quickly eroded as Emira realized, even in the midst of all the night’s danger and chaos, she was not afraid. She had never felt safer than she did in this moment, beneath Elijah’s heavy and capable arm, in the clutches of the same hands that, only hours earlier, had nearly squeezed the life out of one of the strongest-looking men she had ever seen. She lay with a lion, and she knew it.

She knew this man was dangerous, but not to her. His touch had proven to be as ferociously gentle with her as it had been savage around Solomon’s neck. The strong, steady beat of his heart thumping against her back was soothing. She thought about the warmth of his breath on her neck while she drifted off to sleep.

The delicate bit of vibrant life beneath his arm had gone limp, all except for the surprisingly tight grip she had on his wrist. It was as if she was afraid he might disappear. The smell of her hair and neck were enchanting, and he was most definitely under her spell; she was the best thing he had known in centuries. She was a goddess.

He thought about his discussion with Khalid about all the different gods. Elijah wasn’t concerned with them. Here, now, tangled in Emira’s arms, she was the only god that mattered. From this moment on, he would kneel only to her, worship only her. She alone deserved such adulation. She gave him hope, but could she revive his heart? Could she undo the scars left from losing Sara? From leaving Ayda? That, he didn’t know, but at least he had hope.

Elijah suddenly thought about the thousands of girls he had been with over the years… and how he had treated them like animated tools, only there to ease his mind and body. For the first time he was sorry for, and disgusted by, his actions, but Emira’s tight squeeze quickly relieved all the bad feelings. She made him feel wonderful and alive for the first time since he was young.

Everything about this girl surprised him. For more than eight hundred years, all he had known was pain, anger, and a gripping need for vengeance, but in the powerful presence of this tiny package all of those feelings melted away. He was left with an unimaginable peace. At least for the moment, nothing else mattered; he was right where he belonged, where he wanted to be. Entangled with this tiny goddess, he could finally rest.

Elijah: The Reckoning

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“I’m going to kill them all.”

Chapter 88

Elijah opened his
eyes to the sting of a cold wind blowing through his room and across his bare chest. Then he remembered where he was and the events of the night before. He was momentarily comforted by thoughts of Emira’s warm body lying next to him… but only now, as he reached across the bed, did he realize she wasn’t there.

She was gone. His heart surged with fear as he leapt out of bed and searched every room. Thoughts of his father ripping open her chest crashed against the inside of his head like tidal waves.

What has happened? How did I let this happen?
he thought frantically. Then a stunning realization sank in.

For the first time in almost a millennium, he had fallen asleep. He was furious, at her for making him so weak, but, most of all at himself for not protecting her, for losing his wits when he needed them most.

If she were hurt, there would be a reckoning that would stir the earth and everyone on it; it would shake the very foundation of the universe; the heavens would tumble down, and he would see these
gods
punished and parted from their heads. For ages to come, the children of men would feel his pain, but no one would suffer more than he. He would be punished by an eternity of despair from which he would never relieve himself.

As he ran up the stairs, he could see the stone slab had been pushed open and feel a cold breeze rushing down to the basement floor. Bursting into the outside air, he was relieved to see Khalid standing just feet from the pile of wood and ash which had been a roaring fire the night before.

“Khalid!” he shouted. As Khalid turned around, Elijah could see the somber look on his face—something was most definitely wrong. He immediately scanned his surroundings to find Emira.

He followed Khalid’s eyes, and he saw it, on a hillside in the distance, the very thing he hoped never to see again. Camouflaged directly beneath an old hickory tree, he could see his father, and in his vicious grip was Emira. It seemed like just moments ago she had been nestled safely against his chest.
How could his father have stolen her from beneath his very arm? Maybe she walked out on her own.
Elijah’s thoughts were racing.

The sleep had disoriented him; he had only a vague sense of time. The sun was nearly halfway up the eastern sky, so he knew it was some time in the morning. Seeing Emira in his father’s hands again enraged him. His eyes burned with fury as his solidifying bones ached and slightly expanded. There was only one thing he knew to do. He raced towards his father. One way or another, this was all going to end right now.

Khalid intercepted him just yards before he reached his father and Emira. Khalid’s grasp around his chest was like a prison.

“Elijah, stop.” Khalid whispered in his ear. “He will kill her, and I know you don’t want that.”

“Listen to your big friend, my son. Put away those yellow eyes, boy, or do you need another lesson in manners?” William lifted Emira in the air by her throat and twisted her chin slightly as she struggled to breathe. “You don’t want another innocent girl’s blood on your hands, do you?” he chortled. The snide reference to Sara only heightened his fury and his eyes burned hotter.

“Elijah, look!” Khalid shouted as he released him. Elijah looked. Emira was struggling less and less; she was about to die. Elijah took a deep breath and closed his eyes, when he opened them again they had dulled to their natural brown.

“Good.” William sat the girl down on her feet, holding her loosely by the back of the neck. “My foolish boy, did you really think you could turn your brother against me? I own him,” William boasted. Elijah looked at Solomon, who was standing beside his father and staring at the ground. He wouldn’t look Elijah in the eyes.

“I told you I was a monster, Brother. Did you not believe me?” Solomon’s voice was steady, but Elijah could hear his shame.

“You led them here, Solomon? You brought them to my door after I reached out to you last night?” Anger and the pain of betrayal were once again building in his chest. “You are both monsters, and I will have your heads,” Elijah roared.

“Settle down, Son. It wasn’t your brother who gave you away; my people are everywhere. They followed you from the church last night, after Solomon had already left. Did you not know we would be watching you? I told you to leave; I gave you a chance.” He laughed condescendingly.

“Let her go, Father. This is between you and me,” Elijah tried to sound fierce and firm, but he could hear the pleading in his voice.

“No, Son. I have no interest in you. This is between Khalid and me. He has what I want.” Elijah turned to Khalid, who looked defeated and apologetic.

“Give him what he wants,” Elijah demanded.

“I told you last night, I can’t.”

Elijah suddenly remembered their earlier conversation.

“He doesn’t have it!” Elijah shouted. “He told me last night; it does not exist.” Elijah’s voice was cracking with emotion.

“Come on, Elijah, we have been here before. We all know how this ends. Hand it over, or I will do everything to her I had to do to poor Sara.” William handed Emira to Solomon and motioned for him to take her away.

“Kill her in one hour, unless I say different.” He shouted over his shoulder, almost indifferently. Solomon nodded and was gone.

“Khalid is lying to you, Son, and you better find the truth or your girl will find only pain and… .eventually… death.” William’s tone was arrogant and threatening as he walked closer to Elijah and Khalid.

“I will break you in half, old man!” Elijah lunged at his father. Grasping him by the neck, he hurled him towards the pile of ash. When William stood, Elijah gripped him firmly by the chin and bent the man almost double over the huge tree trunk he had ripped from the ground the night before. His father seemed surprised by Elijah’s strength. “You will pay for what you did to Sara!”

“Old man!” William laughed. “You are as old as I am.” The disgusting stench of death was all over the man. Fresh blood stains were on his collar and neck.

“I have no time for games, Father! Where is he taking her?” Elijah was burning with fury and impatience.

“I told you, I can’t have you meddling in my affairs,” William said as he pushed himself nearly upright.

“I should kill you right now,” Elijah growled, pushing him a little harder against the tree until it started cracking under the stress.

“Go ahead, but it would be the girl’s death sentence, and your little brother’s as well.” William smirked.

Elijah’s heart sank for a moment as he thought of Emira and Malaki, and the real possibility he would never see either of them again. His grip dropped to rest on his father’s neck.

“Tell me, Father, where is Malaki?” He tried to sound accusing, but knew his voice was filled with hints of desperation.

“Malaki is in a very safe place, far away from all of this.” William’s continued smirking raised a murderous fury in Elijah; he wanted nothing more than to end his father, in gory battle, right now.

“Is he even still alive?” Elijah demanded.

“Oh, yes, he is very much alive,” William drawled.

Elijah was barely managing to resist his urge to tear his father limb from limb.

“Know this, Father. I
will
kill you, and in doing so, I will give Malaki the peace in death he deserved so long ago. I may not be able to do it today, but, believe this—your fate is certain.” He twisted his father’s head to the point of snapping it and then suddenly let go.

“Fair enough, Son.” Rubbing his fingers beneath his jaw, William straightened. “But not yet. Today, you will put your tail between your legs and leave this place. We will take your friend here and… well, we’ll do whatever we have to do to discover all of his dirty little secrets.”

Elijah looked up at the mountain of a friend beside him. In Khalid’s eyes he could see many things: remorse, frustration, but not fear. He wasn’t afraid of William, or the two other immortals standing near them.

Elijah thought of the gruesome and horrifying things his father would do to him, to force him to talk. The most dreadful thought, which Elijah knew to a near certainty, was the big man would not break, even if he did know more than he was letting on, if not for Emira’s life, then surely not for his own.

Elijah’s choices were impossible. But he couldn’t do anything to risk hurting Emira, which included allowing Khalid to face the wrath of these three immortals on his own. He turned to Khalid.

“Run!” He shouted as he jumped on the man to his father’s immediate right and twisted his head in a complete circle. He lifted the man off the ground and, swinging him by the head like a baseball bat, he hit another of his father’s immortal goons in the back and knocked him off of his feet.

Khalid was not one to run. His instincts told him to fight. He was not afraid, and he could not leave Elijah there to die, especially after the sacrifice he had just made to protect him, but fighting these men could lead to Emira’s death.

“Stop!” Khalid’s voice thundered through the hills. “I will give you what you want.” Everyone else was silent; no one moved. Elijah was shocked. “Leave us now, and bring Emira to my home tonight at dusk, unharmed, and, on my honor, you will hold in your hand that which you seek.” His expression was cold and his voice solemn.

“Give it to me now.” There was excitement and determination in William’s eyes.

“I can’t. It is not here.” He seemed to be telling the truth, at least as far as Elijah could tell.

“Agreed, then.” William was shaking his head and walking towards the big man. “But know this. If you are lying, you are all dead, starting with the girl.” William picked up his nearly-decapitated man and he and his other goon disappeared into the forest. Elijah was shocked by Khalid’s revelation, and appalled at how he had risked Emira’s life by waiting so long to speak up.