Blessed by Sapphires (A Dance with Destiny Book 2) (6 page)

Chapter 9

Vindicus

(VIN-dah-kuss)

At first, I thought the voice was only in my mind. For one elated heartbeat, I thought the voice of my conscience had returned to me—my Varick. It was strong enough to pull me through the excruciating pain of my rebirth and back into reality.

Lying there upon the grass, just outside the home in which I had been invited to share in that wondrous, revelation-inspiring reunion, I realized two things. 1) Even though I knew my whole soul had been returned to me, I realized I was no longer visible to my all-grown-up and wonderful children. They were leaving, one by one, and not a single pair of eyes or ears took notice of my screams of pain or my thrashing about upon the ground. And 2) I realized the voice wasn’t coming from inside my head, but from the iridescent creature leaning against the only tree in that little suburban yard.

“Well, it took you long enough.”

The voice was unfamiliar, but the woman was unmistakable. She was Vanir.

“Do you have any idea how many years you’ve been in limbo?”

“N-no, I ha-have no idea.”

“Four. Four years of roaming this layer, smelling of nothing but doubt and self-pity. And suicide? Did you truly believe you could escape your punishment through death?”

I couldn’t utter a single word.

Her haughty berating continued. “You had just better be glad you didn’t succeed in your phenomenal idiocy. Believe me. You don’t even want to know what awaits you if you had. All right, get up
now
.
There’s much to do.”

“Wh-who are you?”

“Well I guess you could say I’m the executioner’s Guardian Angel.” Her words were heavy with disdain. “At least, that’s what I’ve had to resort to these last few years. Lady, you are one serious hard case, you know that? I have seen some messed up Angels in my time, but
nothing
compared to you.”

“I’m not an Angel,” I whispered.

“That’s right, and neither am I. So get up,
Princess
. Dust off your wings and start acting like you have a little sense from here on out. My babysitting days are over. It’s time you took care of yourself for a change.” The ethereal woman turned to go.

I tried to catch her. Alas, she was gone.

“Come on already!” She materialized before me, grabbing my arm, jerking me through the clouds.

Ugh, I hate that part. I’m not sure what the Vanir actually call these transporting clouds. I have only ever heard them called clouds. But the people on layer eight would more than likely call them a wormhole. The thought made me giggle, despite my nausea.

Hehe, wormhole… full of Angels, no worms in sight.

We popped out of the sky and softly landed in Vanahirdem. At least, I
thought
it was Vanahirdem.

The lovely lady Vanir released my arm the moment my feet touched the ground.

She walked away, yelling over her statuesque shoulder, “Welcome to Vandermil. Make yourself at home. Blah, blah, blah, whatever.”

If it were possible for a city to have a twin, then Vandermil was definitely the long lost sister Vanahirdem never knew she had. The domed houses, the crystal gate, the spiraling centralized temple—all identical to my long-lost home.

“Well now. What do we have here?” The enticingly warm bass voice rumbled through my essence. “Mmm, an enchantingly fragrant fear, laced about with just a pinch of delicious… what is that… anger?”

The deep guttural laugh made my hair feel like it stood up on its end, yet it ripped my heart wide open, leaving a tender, gaping wound. My mind was immediately flooded with images of my first encounter with Vareilious. He had used almost the same words, had almost the same laugh, and definitely owned a voice as deep and lulling as this one. My heart crumbled inside me.

I took a deep breath, stilling my nerves, commanding my will. “Tell me not. Let me guess. You are the Gate Guardian and enforcer here.” I spoke without turning to see the glorious giant I knew was standing right behind me.

“That is correct, little lady. Perhaps we’ve met… in your most erotic of dreams.”

I swear I literally
heard
his tongue sliding across his razor sharp teeth.

“No, I cannot say we have. I simply know you by your crass comments and inappropriate behavior. Those are two traits I find you must
all
share.”

The guttural laugh caught me off guard for an instant. It was so much like
his
. I regained my composure and headed into the heart of another enchanting city.

If you’ve been with me from the beginning, Reader, then you know me well. And you must also know that my dear friend, Fate, wasn’t going to let me out of this situation quite so easily.

I had taken only two steps when my face slammed into a perfectly chiseled chest. I, of course, fell backwards, landing on my clumsy bottom. Now I had no choice. I would be forced to look at the sentinel towering over me. Sighing loudly, I resigned myself to events I knew I could not escape.

Dusting tiny pebbles off my palms, I stood up to do the same to my derrière, talking all the while. “So be it. Let’s go ahead and get this all out of the way. Shall we?” I cleared my throat. “Yes, you are gorgeous beyond all reason, masterfully sculpted perfection. You will want, and need, to flirt and tease while I will reluctantly oblige you with playful counter banter. Eventually, we’ll laugh, become great friends, fight side-by-side, and be as close as blood-borne kin—”

After brushing the dirt from my clothing, I finally looked up to see my new brother Vanir standing before me. I froze.

In place of the flowing silver hair of my Vanahirdem family, this warrior had tons of shoulder length, wavy azure locks. I tease you not, this warrior boasted
blue
hair.

I’ll try my best to explain the mesmerizing hair of the heavenly Vanir. They don’t have what I like to call
people hair
. When I say it is flowing silver, I literally mean flowing silver. Each individual strand is pure precious silver growing out of their ethereal heads. When I say flowing, I mean just like my hair, and probably yours, too. It blows with the wind, gets in their face, and covers their eyes the exact same way. Yet their hair is cool to the touch, like metal. And light as air, like
people hair
. This new warrior’s epic mane boasted all these same characteristics, only the color was different. Did I mention it was
blue
?

There he stood, perfection personified, with both mighty hands resting upon the hilt of his sheathed sword. One haughty eyebrow cocked up as if he were thinking…
“What in the world is she talking about?”
And, of course, I was blabbering away with all my natural
smoothness
until my first glimpse of him. Then I lost my tongue and began to stutter.

It went something like this… “Fighting side-by-side, close as blood-borne kin, bl-bl-bl—”

“I believe the word you are so eloquently trying to spit out is
blue
.” His tone was the epitome of arrogance. “And your hair is ye-ye-ye-yellow.”

“Y-y-yes, it is,” I choked out.

“Yes, I know it is. I’m looking right at it. And unlike you, my mouth actually works.”

I couldn’t quit staring at his still raised eyebrow. His still raised
blue
eyebrow. And those wings, those massive, glistening wings were so black they shone blue in the light, perfectly accenting his gorgeous locks.

“Very well then. This is generally the part where
normal
people would exchange names and greetings. Do you think you can manage it?”

I could only slightly nod my head. I believe my mouth was hanging open as well. The breathtaking giant extended me his enormous hand, firmly clasping my forearm, and I his. Such was the greeting of my people.

“Hello, tiny maiden. My name is Vindicus,” he announced proudly.

Finally, I found my tongue and tried to act as normal as possible. It was too late.

“Very nice to meet you, Vindicus. My name is Jenevier Embarr.” I couldn’t help but smile. He entranced me.

A velvety voice came from someone
behind
the mesmerizing statue I was blatantly gawking at. “I have been forced to wait a terribly long time for you, Milady. Please, will you not join me?”

I started to look around the ethereal, sapphire-haired Guardian, trying to get a glimpse of the man who was now addressing me, when Vindicus grabbed the back of my neck, lifting me up on my tiptoes.

His sweet breath was hot against my tingling skin. “This is so that I may have your honored well-being in the foremost of my mind, Maiden.” His smirk was both sensual and condescending. “I must taste your sweet fear. I must delight in rolling your delicious scent over my tongue, letting your enchantment remain always upon my lips.”

Seriously, I nearly swooned. Vindicus’s words were as hypnotizing as they were erotic. This Guardian oozed sexuality, used it as a weapon, a lusciously lethal weapon. I felt his lips part into a smile against my chest. A smile caused more from gloating than from desire. The enormous sentinel licked me from my breastbone to the bottom of my jaw line.

Again, he whispered his lily-scented words into my ringing ear. “Ahh, Maiden. Never have I tasted fear as sweet and desirable as yours. Mmm, this is going to become extremely interesting… for both of us.”

Vindicus lowered me back to my heels. I swayed upon unsteady legs, involuntarily shaking all over, as a kitten fresh out of the bath.

“I-I believe I’ve heard that som-somewhere before.”

The tip of his nose brushed my cheek. “Perhaps you can try working on that little speech problem you seem to have before next we meet. Whattaya say, Maiden? Hmm? Think you can manage it?”

His deep guttural laugh reverberated in my head as he casually walked off, not once glancing back.

Vindicus, my beautiful blue-haired new Guardian brother, left me standing there. I watched him go. I couldn’t help myself. I never thought I would ever meet another man who could rival my old friend Vareilious in sarcasm, smirks, and cockiness. Vindicus
definitely
could. Perhaps he was worse, if such a thing were even possible. It made me smile.

This place may just turn out to be way too much fun. I shall have to watch myself around that one. He’s dangerous… I like it.

The wicked little thought made me giggle, out loud, no less. Then I heard the slightly uncomfortable noise of someone clearing their throat.

Aww, jeez. I forgot about him. I’m such an idiot, so easily distracted.

Blushing, I turned back to the man who had addressed me earlier, the one who just caught me staring dreamily at the blue Guardian’s backside.

I found myself, red-faced, standing in front of a man that human words will be hard-pressed to describe. Yet, I will try.

Chapter 10

Vybius

(VYE-bee-us)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Every layer has a saying similar to this one. If you’ve read my story, you may share my opinions on beauty and you may not. Yet the man standing before me now, his ethereal beauty transcends description. I know not from which layer you hail, Reader, but never have I seen a creature such as this man.

I can only adequately describe the Vanir as a race of living statues. I mean they are sculpted, perfect beauty. But not the kind of beauty which would necessarily make one think
lewd thoughts
, per se. Not just by looking at them. Their beauty is regal, awe-inspiring. Beholding one from the Guardian race is more like looking at a famous painting, a pristine work of art, a rare jewel. Basically, they were… heavenly, heavenly beauty.

Not this man before me now. He is definitely, undeniably… sexy. I don’t believe I’ve ever said that before, Reader—that I thought someone was sexy. Perhaps I called Alzeen sexy. I can’t remember. I know I thought it, whether I said it aloud or not. Besides, I have always loved what it was people carried within them, on the inside. I love the soul, not necessarily the body. I can obviously tell if a being’s
wrapper
is physically attractive or not. Yet that’s never been why I loved them, never been why they captured a piece of my heart.

But this man… oooh
this
man, he made my mouth water. Seriously, I felt dirty inside just looking at him. My explicit carnal thoughts surprised me. Never have I behaved thusly. I didn’t even realize such things were in my mind. But they were, oh boy, were they ever.

“Welcome, Vashti. The wait has been long, but it was worth every moment. You are a thousand times lovelier in person than you were in my dreams. Vandermil is honored by your presence.
I
am honored by your presence.”

The regal Vanir bowed low to the ground with a graceful sweep of his arms. And there he remained, prostrate before me.

Now, I speak this only to you, Reader. I have lived very nearly as a hermit upon layer eight for over four years, as I’ve been told. And my natural speech is rusty from lack of conversation and tainted by the eighth layer’s influence. No longer did I carry the melodious tones of Ashgard or the angelic accent of the Vanir. So, what did I do? Yet again, I stuttered.

“I-I’m n-not Vashti.”

He slowly raised his head, those entrancing eyes fixed firmly upon me. I felt naked before him. I even had to stop my arms from instinctively moving to cover myself.

“Apologies,” he said.

“No, no… I only meant, I am no longer Vashti.”

His strange, piercing eyes remained fixed on me. They were as magical magnets. I couldn’t look away from them.

“I’m only Jenevier now. I’m no longer blessed with my mask.”

His expression was almost comical. He tilted his head to the side and scrunched his eyebrows together, appearing deep in thought. “Truly?”

I almost giggled, but forced myself to stop at a smile. “Yes, sir, truly. I am sorry to disappoint you. Alas, I have proven myself unworthy of such heavenly grace.”

I tried real hard to look away from him, avert my eyes in any other direction, seriously. It simply wasn’t possible.

He laughed. “Truly? Unworthy of grace? Can there be such a thing?”

“Yes, Milord. I was witnessed, judged, and executed for my sins.”

Hard as I may try, I honestly could not stop my mouth from just blurting out every single word that popped in my head. If I thought it, I spoke it. It was infuriatingly maddening, and completely uncontrollable.

“Executed?” He half laughed when he said the word.

“Yes, Milord, by God’s own hand.”

Then, he laughed for real. I wanted to be offended, but his laugh was like the warm sun on a cool day. It enveloped me, caressed me, it held me. I felt, for lack of a better word, cherished.

“Come, my child. There is much we need to discuss.”

His smile was as warm as his laugh and almost as mesmerizing as those beautiful amethyst eyes. When he approached me, gently placing his arm around my shoulders, leading me into the city proper, I realized he was almost the size of a normal man. He was obviously Vanir, yet diminutive by comparison. He was in no way small—perhaps six foot four or five—yet much shorter than all other Vanir I’ve been privileged to meet. His frame was smaller as well. This enticing Angel could have easily passed for a man. Well, except for his glowing skin, piercing purple eyes, bright silver pupils, and that gorgeous silver hair falling down to brush the backs of his strong thighs. When that thought crossed my mind, an involuntary chuckle escaped. I quickly clamped my hand over my disrespectful mouth.

He stopped walking, took me by my shoulders, and turned me to face him proper. I felt like I’d been caught with my hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

His magical eyes held my gaze—simply would not let me look away. Believe me. I tried.

“Tell me what you were thinking just now.”

“Nothing important. I did not mean to offend you.”

“You, Jenevier, could only ever offend me by withholding the truth. Now, tell me. What were you thinking?”

His smile was dazzling and his silver pupils grew to nearly drown out the deep amethyst iris.

Someone, I know not whom, passed by us, drawing his attention for a fraction of a second. But it was long enough to break the spell he’d cast over me. He still held fast to my shoulders, but I managed to tear my gaze away long enough to take in his angelic form.

His robe only covered half his chest as it hung from but one sinewy shoulder. The enticing ripples and indentations of his abdomen proved to accentuate his ribcage, effortlessly pulling my eyes down to that glorious chiseled V shape. It started just above his hip bone and ran down to hide beneath the brass studded belt loosely clasped just below his narrow waist. Ah, that lovely V was always my undoing, my kryptonite. I giggled inside upon recalling the sight of Superman melting in front of that oddly glowing stone.
Perhaps I watched too much television during my exile... Nah.
Then, I snickered aloud.

I struggled to force my eyes back up to meet his curious stare. My visual exploration was completely improper, beyond intrusive. I was almost ashamed of my thoughts concerning this elegant man. Well, almost.

When my gaze once more found his charming face, I was met with a knowing smirk. Those spellbinding eyes caught me again.

“Jenevier, lovely Angel, speak to me your every thought. Withhold nothing, little one.”

I tried, unsuccessfully, to hold still my loosened tongue. “I was thinking how enchanting you are. I’ve never seen anyone quite like you before. You are obviously Vanir, yet, not like the Vanir
I
know. Your look alone has produced wicked thoughts within me. I continually feel as if I need to apologize to you for my mental violations concerning your being.”

Oh god, I can’t believe I just said that.

He pressed his lips together like he was desperately trying to hold in his laughter. “Is that all? Were your thoughts on admiration alone? Nothing else troubles you?”

“You mean, my
type
of admiration doesn’t offend you?”

“Not at all.” He gave my shoulders a tiny squeeze. “How could any man take offense to being admired by a creature as rare as you? I am flattered and humbled, Milady. Now, were dark desires and inappropriate admiration your only thoughts?” He winked, playfully.

“No, that wasn’t all,” I admitted. “I was also thinking how you were made more as a man, and how I cannot turn away from your beautiful eyes… even when I try. They look as rare gemstones. Not to mention the fact I cannot hold my tongue when you look at me. My mind keeps screaming at me to stop blathering away like a mindless fool. But my mouth just opens right up… and everything falls out of its own accord.”

He didn’t speak, only smiled.

I couldn’t quit talking. “Your smile is different as well. It’s warm and safe, I believe. But on top of all your immaculate beauty, I love your hair the most.” Without asking or even thinking, I reached out, touching the ethereal strands, running my fingers through the silken length. “It feels exactly as I thought it would. The Vanir in Vanahirdem have silver hair just like this. Yet yours, the color here in front, the enchanting strands framing your perfect face…” I paused a moment, completely entranced. “These rare locks look like a lovely amethyst, my absolute favorite color. It proves only to make the purple in your eyes all the more breathtaking.” I mindlessly fingered the luxurious locks, my thoughts drifted. “Varick has hair like this. Except his is gold where yours is purple, yet it feels the same. I loved his crowning angelic glory. I would spend hours brushing and braiding it. He looked so regal, ever was he regal. That glorious man always managed to take my breath away. He didn’t even have to try. Never have I been loved as Varick loved me. I didn’t deserve it. I proved the truth of that in the end, I suppose.”

For a brief moment, I wondered why his smile had faded and a crease now furrowed his brow. Then, he tenderly wiped the tears from my cheeks. Tears I didn’t even realize were streaming, unabated, down my face.

“That’s enough now.” He placed a gentle finger to my lips. “Shhh, please, do not go on. You are the most honest being I have ever met. Yet, the unfathomable pain is so clear in your eyes, I cannot bear it.”

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to—”

“Shhh, no more words today. I will see you to your room. There, you may rest and wash away those most sorrowful memories. No one will bother you and I will attend to your every need myself.”

“No, please. Don’t put yourself out for someone such as me.”

“Never repeat such nonsense within my hearing.” He moved his face closer to mine. “You are my most honored of guests and I will not rest until you are comforted.”

We made our way to one of the familiar dome-shaped dwellings. My heart ached for home.

He reached for the crystal knob. “Jenevier, welcome to my humble abode.”