Shadow Revealed (The Enlightened Species Book Two) (28 page)

Jess looked around. “Where’s Umbrae?”

Eros noticed Ninlil lips lift into a subtle smile. “Err, she and Enlil will join us in the sparring room shortly. Hope you don’t need anything out of your bedroom.”

Jess bounced up and down, clapping her hands in rapid tempo, and jumped into Shane’s arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him. The male caught her, chuckling, as the couple’s happiness radiated from them. Jess’s enthusiasm brought smiles to everyone in the room. “Enlil’s happy, Shane. He just spoke to me through my mentor bond. He’s fantastically happy. I’ve never heard that in his voice. Umbrae’s his bloodmate, ooh, do you think he’s claimed her yet? I hope so. Yeeaaaa.”

“Why aren’t you in the sparing room?” Enlil entered, holding Umbrae’s hand. Ninlil headed straight for her brother and hugged him tightly.

Jess jumped from Shane’s arms to embrace Umbrae, who practically glowed with happiness. They’d completed the bond.

Though happy for Umbrae, Eros felt like an interloper surrounded by Enlil’s family and friends. His place in Umbrae’s life was not a given, much as he desired differently. His heart swelled when he heard her whisper in Jess’s ear, “Let’s talk after the interrogation of the men. Right now I need a moment with my father and brothers. Is it okay if we use your office and meet you in a few minutes?” Jess nodded and released Umbrae. Enlil reached past his herd of a family to give Umbrae a tender kiss, leaving with the others.

The boys looked at Eros in question.
“She wants us here, all of us.”
Umbrae shut the door and turned to take in all of their faces with a smile. Starting with Brock she gave each of her brothers a fierce hug, ending with Eros. He felt her love growing toward them for the first time, the first inkling of a paternal bond. Hulven weren’t like Elven children—a father’s bond rarely came with birth; only Victor’s had been such. The others he’d developed while they grew up and were then fully established by blood when they were old enough. He wondered if all Volaticus had learned of the phenomenon or if there were still thousands of orphans out there.

Umbrae’s happiness rang from her voice. “I wanted to tell you personally that I’m mated.” The boys glanced at each other. Hulven males were born sterile, so they didn’t understand the significance of their sister’s announcement—unless the Fates bestowed a cure to the male Hulven population, only Umbrae would give him grandchildren. “The other thing I wanted to ask each of you is … if you would be willing to establish a bond with me? I know that it is sudden and I understand if you say no, especially since I’m apparently not too skilled at shielding against mutual bonds, and I can’t guarantee that I won’t broadcast stuff I shouldn’t. There are a lot of nightmares in my head, but there is also a lot to do with the slave-smuggling world.” Umbrae’s voice trailed off.

Eros wanted that bond with her. The boys did too. He just needed to know that she wanted it for reasons other than catching bad guys. “Umbrae, do you have a personal reason to want this bond? We will curtail smuggling regardless.”

Umbrae looked at him and a play of emotions crossed her face. Her voice was barely above a whisper with vulnerable sincerity. “I need my family. I so want to be a part of you all. Enlil suggested a bonding through blood to make that happen. I see you all together and I feel like an outsider. Up till now my life has been pretty, well, messed up is too mild a term. Other than my limited exposure to the underground slave traders, I don’t have much to offer any of you in exchange.” She ended her explanation in a shrug, and Eros’s heart swelled to breaking. He couldn’t speak for the lump in his throat.

Othos broke the silence. “You weren’t dropped on your head as a baby, right?” Quickly soothing Umbrae’s hurt expression, he added, “We’re your brothers, dork. We love you unconditionally, forever, period. Since the second dad learned about you, finding you, spoiling you rotten, and annoying the shit out of you has been all we’ve given a damn about. You’re worried we won’t want you? I wish you had pigtails so I could pull them right now.” He stepped toward her. “I guess I’ll just have to settle for tickling you till you grow a brain.”

Othos pulled Umbrae from Eros, and her brothers tickled her and tossed her back and forth like a football. Her squealed laughter filled the room. Eros reached up to swipe the tears from his face. She was his little girl, their little sister. She had no idea the power over them she held. Reluctantly he ended the play. “Boys, be nice to your sister.” No words had ever sounded so wonderful. With her cheeks flushed and her tear-streaked face grinning, Umbrae returned to him for protection from her brothers.

With a kiss to her hair, he led her through the French doors into the lush grass of the yard and handed her the dagger he and the boys had crafted especially for her during their search. The metal composition allowed it to shadow with her. She took the blade from him, her face full of confusion, and he offered her a smile. The boys formed a circle around them, and Eros stepped back from her, completing the circle. The confused look deepened.

“We are ... SICARIUS!” The name rang out from them all with a choreographed drop to one knee as they sunk their daggers to the hilt in the soil. She gasped at the bowed heads surrounded her as each of them held position, waiting for her to realize what they were offering her. It only took a moment. “SICARIUS!” Her voice matched the pride she heard from the boys perfectly. Eros lifted his head to look upon the bowed form of his daughter highlighted from behind by a majestic sky.

She slowly raised her head to meet his gaze, and he saw exactly what he’d hoped: pride and belonging. Daniel lifted her, throwing her over his shoulder fireman-style. They all headed back to the house. “I vant to drrink your blood, waahaahaa.” Daniel made her laugh again with his Dracula impression. Through the windows Eros saw the grinning, teary faces of Umbrae’s new mate and his family.

Eros let the boys exchange an ounce of blood each with Umbrae, waiting till last for his turn. The solemn silence of the boys gave him a clear indication that some of Brae’s memories had trickled to them. None of them had harmed her when they had punctured her wrist. Still, she’d flinched the first few times, and that reaction combined with the layers of scars along her tiny wrist helped prepare him for his turn. He took the freshly vacated seat beside her on the loveseat, and she beamed him a smile. “Dad, will you walk me down the isle?”

“With pleasure.” They exchanged two ounces instead of one, adding the mentor bond at the same time. A few snippets of her history slipped past her shields, enough to leave Eros in awe of the internal fortitude she possessed to conquer her past.

Brae raised her head, a glint in her eyes. “Enlil says the men are awake now. He wants to know if we are ready to join them.” She kept the bloodmate bond from running over into him and her brothers. “If I mentally show you where I remember them from, will that make it easier?” She seemed hesitant, and Eros was sure he wasn’t going to like what she’d seen. He nodded to her anyway; there was nothing he could do to change her past, but from this day forward he vowed she would never know that kind of horror again.

While they walked, Brae’s memory came to them. At first it was black, and then the dark lifted as her hood was removed. He saw the male who had held her captive for so many decades through her eyes.

“What will you take for her?” someone standing behind her said to her master. Eros felt her fear; Zakel was the hell she knew. She was afraid he would sell her. Or loan her out again? Oh, Fates. Fucker was lucky he was dead. Eros would have kept him suffering and alive one day for every day that his baby had been harmed. Not revealing his reaction, he sent her an encouraging calm through the new bond, privately warning the boys not to react.

The scene continued. She spotted the three men from the sparring room laughing in a group, speaking vulgarly about the two Tellus and one Aquatie female the group had hog-tied and chained together with platinum and lead chains. Umbrae had quickly looked away from the terrified eyes of the Aquatie who had met her gaze. “I came to buy,” Zakel answered the voice. Umbrae released a silent sigh of relief.

Through her hearing, Eros tried to focus on what was being said by the males in the group holding the other three females.

“You shouldn’t have fucked the Aquatie, it might make her worth less. That will come out of your cut.” Whoever talked directed the comment to one of the men Irsu had grabbed. One of the others they were headed to interrogate responded to the first. “If that’s the case, you’re the only one that won’t split the loss. Trust me, boss, she was worth it.” Umbrae looked at the female with more empathy than Eros could stand.

The male behind her spoke to her master again. “You can’t tell me you brought a female in estrus to an auction without something in mind.”
The memory ended there.

“Sorry.” Umbrae’s shoulders were slouched, her head hung to her chest. He knew she didn’t intend to share that last part. He also had a pretty good idea of what followed.

He stopped her outside the door to the sparring room and lifted her chin with his fingers forcing her to meet his gaze, her brothers behind them. “We are SICARIUS!” Her voice rang pure with theirs. Tears filled her eyes. “That name means pride, endurance, and survival; you are our hero, Umbrae. You are living proof our motto is born in blood. You were victimized, yet you share information to help others. Your past should empower you, not define you. Understand?” She smiled tearfully. Enlil threw the door open, his concern radiated off him. Umbrae cupped her mate’s cheek wordlessly and entered the room.

Eros’s heart stopped in his chest. I took him a second to realize the small blond turning to look at him wasn’t Innanna. It was worse—it was her mother. Eros squared his shoulders, taking in the male who had accompanied the Presiding Oracle. He had a striking resemblance to Shane … a brother would be a safe bet. Not a warrior—the male had the otherworldly air of an Oracle, albeit a young one.

“
So it’s true, I see. You are alive and well.”
Leanna’s voice came to him through the ancient telepathic line. No one else in the room had the lifespan to overhear her comment. Ninlil, Sargon and Enil could sense they were talking, but they were still a few thousand years away from being privy to it. The male beside her, however, pursed his lips. An Oracle and a reader. Figures.

“Leanna, you are looking well. What brings the Presiding Oracle to our midst?”
He had no interest in a duck and bob game around the obvious. His daughter was worth the hurt feelings he would have to face returning to Volaticus society. He knew he’d have to face Innanna and her family eventually. Of course, he had thought it would be at the event tonight.

“My daughter presides over the sect now. I am merely a member.”
She watched him closely for a reaction. There was only one female he needed to explain his actions to, and Leanna wasn’t her.
“The request was made by the SOSC to determine if the Fates have any reason these men shouldn’t be killed at the end of your interrogation.”
Leanna sighed out loud, dropping the pretense of the game, and spoke openly. “Eros, this is Miguel, Innanna’s protégé.”

Eros introduced his children, including Umbrae. Leanna greeted each of them warmly, her sincerity real. He hoped the other members of the ancients distinguished the sins of the father in the way they treated his children.

The men were still blindfolded. Leanna stepped up to the first chair and placed her hand upon his head, repeating the motion as she moved down the line. Miguel duplicated the process behind her. Leanna waited for Miguel to finish. He shook his head at her, and she led Ninlil and Sargon into the hall, closing the door. Eros turned his attention to Miguel, who spoke quietly to Shane about his concerns for their brother Conlon. Jess and Irsu stood by with saddened expressions. Shane was silent after Miguel’s prediction. Miguel finished the conversation when Leanna, Ninlil, and Sargon returned.

Umbrae’s voice filled his mind. “
The Oracles say there is nothing in the men’s future of any importance, quite the opposite. They recommend execution. Tellus are coming to dispose of the bodies.”

There was no need for blindfolds, and Eros removed them. He and the others took true form. Let the men know what they were dealing with. Even with the threat facing them, two of them checked over the females lasciviously, causing Umbrae to squirm subconsciously, and she shadowed under their inspection. Enlil released a growl and his fist shot out, snapping the worst of the three’s neck, killing the man instantly

They had the attention of the other two now. “Who organizes the market?” It didn’t take long to obtain a starting point in tearing the trade apart. The men were drained into Red Cross donation bags, a far more humane end then either of them deserved, but this was not his show. It would take time to learn the symbiotic process.

“If the Oracle had determined that one of these men had a destiny of importance, how would this have been handled?” Eros asked, watching the Tellus remove the bodies.

Ninlil’s soothing voice filled the space, “That would depend on the significance and circumstances of the future. We might have wiped their short-term memory and implanted a tracking device, ensuring they did no future harm until they had fulfilled the Fates’ design for them. Castration could have been an apt consequence. Every situation is different. What we don’t want to do is act rashly to create a scenario that could compromise the health and welfare of the future. Had we initiated this process earlier, the humans would have already enlightened, and they would have wrought far less damage to the planet.”

Jess looked at the clock, “Oh shit! The ball starts in an hour.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Gil ported directly from Innanna’s bed to his shower. He’d stayed with her till the last possible minute, watching her get ready for the evening, his heart in his throat the entire time. “I love you” was on the tip of his tongue, but he never uttered the phrase; something held him back. It wasn’t the truth of the declaration. It was the fear that Enlil had not yet bloodmated. Out of respect for Etana’s sacrifice he and Innanna had agreed to forego any discussion of bloodmating until Enlil found the happiness Etana promised him. If Gil said the words I love you to Innanna he’d lose control of the primal urge to claim her. From the reaction Enlil had to Umbrae’s kidnapping it didn’t look like that would take long. Fates, he hoped it didn’t take long.