Once Time Passed (A Burdened Novel Book 4), page 36
I knit my brows. “I’ll always come back, Sparks. Mission accomplished or not. If there’s a doubt in my mind I won’t make it out alive, I’ll runaway to make it back to you.”
Even breaths eliminate her coughing. I rub her back and wait. “I’m going,” she says. “I won’t sit on the side lines of this battle. Not after everything we’ve been through.”
“Okay. Let’s do it. If you feel worse, we aren’t going. If we get there and you feel bad, we’re turning back.”
“We.” She laughs once. Shaking her head, a small smile plays on her mouth. “I feel fine. It’s just a little cold.”
I take her face in my hands and tap into her sense. She does feel capable, just a scratch in her throat and a stuffy nose. “Okay,” I tell her, and leave a kiss on her forehead.
We head out to our old neighborhood. They’ve finished building a home on the lot we once lived that looks nothing like the house we remember. By the car in the driveway, a family has moved in. I wish them a better life than the one we had.
Nearer the lake stands my father with Laine’s body as his host. The early morning’s silence is deterring. It cautions me to turn around and find another way to take out Lunis, but I ignore it.
Tracey strides at my side, steps infused with a confidence she claims I gave to her, but that she doesn’t know she acquired on her own.
“Good morning,” my father says. “I thought you weren’t going to show.”
“Well, we’re here now,” Tracey says. “Now what?”
He grins shamefully. “I have something I must admit. Only Lunis holds the ability to break through the realms. You’re the key.”
“And I’m assuming you’re not.”
“No, Tracey. I am not. I need you in order for me to go back.”
I stop Tracey from batting back. She’s not a huge fan on this man who stands before us, and while I’ve hated him my entire life, maybe Mom was correct in giving him a second chance.
“We can get us through, but you hold your side of the bargain. Our focus is Lunis. The instant we get a hint of your changing sides, we’ll make sure to end you permanently. And we can see it.”
“We see everything,” Tracey adds.
With Tracey’s hand clutched in mine, I rise my hand before me and will an entry. The space in front of us gently waves like water until it’s like a window and we see another land present. I motion for my father to head in first, then Tracey and I follow in after her.
Our eyes must heavily adjust to lack of visibility. It’s much darker here, the nights a shade of darkness our world has never witnessed but is promised at some point in its future. Tracey’s ability to cloak her eyes and see though the darkness helps her, and before I can hope the same for myself, my body reacts, without a film covering my eyes, and I see clearly. The air is washed in dust. Tracey drags the collar of her shirt over her nose.
We stand amid a city on what would be a busy street if this was our world, based on its four lanes and wide stretch. Desecrated buildings line it’s disfigured curbs with fallen, rusty light posts splayed on the skinny sidewalks and in the streets. Old newspaper holder doors creek, oddly as there’s no breeze.
A faint warm blue haze brings a hint of light to our morning. “I think the sun is rising,” Tracey says.
“It burns red when it sets, almost as if the land was being set on fire by the sky,” my father admires.
“What happened here?” Tracey asks.
A fly zips past me. But I see it passing slowly and with detail; the flapping of the wings pushing air past its body. I heard its buzzing long before it met my gaze. Single sand grains, slowly pass before me. I drag my eyes closed, breaking the concentration.
From somewhere, not near us, as I don’t see her, a woman responds to her son who happens to ask the exact question as Tracey. The woman says, “Darkness killed our land. He came with an army and slaughtered those who stood in his way. They whipped through the sky, snatching the light from the firmament. It was beautiful once, blue was our glamorous view. The land quaked and fire road from the ground like the cry of a dragon. The monsters followed, snatching those who they felt were of their need. They never returned as themselves and others not at all. They took over our world like titans and gods, seizing all we had and cherished, liking us to beg from them. These monsters wanted us to worship them, and those who did not follow this new order met a begging possession, something worse than death that I don’t want any of you to experience.”
“That’s why you do what they ask. That’s why you gave up Lilly, because they wanted her.”
“If I hadn’t we’d all be doomed, son. Now sleep. Soon the sol will rise and the monsters will be out to collect now homes for their beings.”
“They’re dying, aren’t they? Why won’t they just die?”
“Because someone keeps giving them a home.”
“Nate!” Tracey shakes my arm. “You with us?”
I take her hand in mine and share with her what I heard.
Her free hand wraps around the outer side of mine. “This is why I told them we’d help,” she says. “We can at least try. And knowing what we do now, we know how to do that.”
“Let’s keep going. We don’t want to be noticed by the wrong crowd,” my father says.
As if his words were their welcoming, Qualms appear in our path. Rows of them, in a line, crowd the four-lane road. They part down the middle and Lunis walks before them.
“What a pleasant surprise,” he says. “Welcome to my home.” We’ve always suspected Lunis to be a full-blooded Sephlem. Even with my heightened senses, the advanced ability to sight, I don’t see anything beyond him. He’s not possessed by a Qualm, no Faylamen, I don’t even see an extension of this demon guy they’ve brought up a few times. Could it be the Sephlem body providing him the protective shield to hides his inner being? If it’s possible, that would explain why the Qualms want Sephlems even beyond them wanting the abilities and power.
My father says, “I want my wife.”
Lunis laughs. “Your wife was a far better person than you, Nathan. She’s never coming back. Ask Tracey.”
Tracey gets a foot off the ground in her charge for our enemy. I grab her by her waist. “Whoa, feisty. Don’t feed into his shit. He’s fucking with you two because he can.”
“Nathan Jr., looks like you’ve been doing some soul searching. I will acquire the body of you and your mate, you realize this, yes?”
“No,” Tracey blurts.
“Humph. Get them,” he says to the Qualm beside him.
It and two others charge for us.
Something in me snaps. There’s literally a popping sound in my ears, and I’m one with my beast, seeing in red and deep gray. Every move they make, I see it before it happens. With hands the color of the sun, my punches plow through their darkness with little effort but maximum affects. They burst into nothing.
They keep coming and each, I diminish.
I’m rushed by hundreds and with a thought, they sizzle. On the last, I punch through its neck to grab Lunis by his face. “I always keep my promises,” I tell him. With a hand on his shoulder and the other clutched around the bottom half of his head, I rip him in two and drop him to the ground.
Tracey’s running up behind me. She shoves a kick in Lunis’ limp chest.
“What the hell was that?” I ask.
“I owed him that kick!” She drops her gaze to him and her shoulders fall. “Wait.” She meets my eyes. I’m shrieking in height as my beast resides and I regain full control. “Does that mean it’s over? No more Qualms? No more Lunis, for good?”
I look around us. There are still Qualms that remain, but keep a far distance, hiding in the shadows where they belong. “I don’t know if this means it’s over. But now that Lunis’ isn’t calling shots to snatch us, I believe that threat is gone. They’ll likely want revenge.”
“Keith!”
On my turnaround, my father’s back is to me with a blade sticking out of his spine, only inches from connecting with me. He stumbles forward, steps leading away from me as his hands slowly lift to his chest. A line of silver blood stains his shirt.
A blazing serpent, larger than life, slithers from Tracey’s and my clasped hand. With the rage of a thrashing wave, it strikes the three Qualms that’ve stepped out of the shadows for a second chance at us. Eliminating them in a second. It slithers back and needs to enter through both of Tracey’s hands on its return.
I’ve caught my collapsing father. He’s pulling the blade from his body as I’m propping him up. “Why’d you do that?” I ask.
“Power isn’t greater than love, Keith. Your mother would’ve wanted this.”
“Thanks.”
He pats my shoulder then is dead weight in my arms.
Tracey comes to my side and places her hands over his open eyes. She nods, and I obliterate him into a pile of ash that blows away, mixing with that of the other decedents.
“Know what?” Tracey rubs my shoulder. “At least, now, our mom will be happy.”
She’s right. A smile tugs at my cheeks, but I bite it back and kiss Tracey’s jaw. “Thanks.”
People—human—have flood into the streets; they cheer and dance. Over them, from a far, the Qualms, most disguised by their host and others in their born form, take an exit long overdue, retreating to their darkness, their promise of revenge sings through the air by their muffles and swears.
I snort. Fucking things should be happy they’re still living, unlike the ones back in our world. I plan to kill every one of those fuckers. Considering how effortless it was. I thought there’d be a fight, a greater fight than a simple punch.
With their retreat, it’s a great change from when we’d first arrived where it was the humans who wanted to remain in the dark. All but one Qualm, standing down the street far the growing crowd, stares. In a blink, a vision shows him charging for me, a wire dipped in pearl wrapped around his hand. He intends to use to it to chock me.
I’m laughing. More so, my beast is laughing, and it’s expelling from me. I keep it down, but warn the eager Qualm with a look of promise. If he comes in the vicinity of my mate or me or these people, we’ll see who’s standing after.
He disburses into their dark mist and is quickly forgotten.
Tracey’s joined the celebration around us and we laugh and party with the gleeful crowd.
They dance and sing. Kindly, they respect my request to not thanked or praised or acknowledged. I’m just pleased by us all basking in freedom.
A freedom I’ve never known.
Speechless
Nathan
A couple offers Tracey and me dinner and a place to rest while the party grows in the street. Their home is in a dried sewer opening underground. They cook with the help of wood and coal that a grill rack sits over, but under a tripod. Jim, the husband, cooks sausage in a cast iron skillet he made by hand.
“Hopefully, you all won’t have to live like this anymore,” Tracey says. “Maybe you’ll find a place to live above ground.”
“As long as the Qualms exist there’s no place that safe, but what you’ve done was give them enough fear to stay back for a while. Maybe give us some time to form a safe haven, and figure out a way to fight them off on a constant bases,” Jim says. “They’ll only stay away for so long.”
Tracey throws a quick glance at me and then looks away. “Are you too happy here?”
Annabelle, the wife, smiles and says, “As long as we’re with each other, that’s good enough. We don’t need much and have what’s most important.”
“That’s nice,” Tracey says.
“You two make yourselves at home, we’re going to join the party. It’s been a long time since we danced in the sun light, or sang loud enough to be heard.”
“She can’t sing,” Jim quips, earning a slap to his shoulder. They share a laugh.
“Thank you,” I say.
They leave through a sheet they have hung over a pipe like a curtain. It’s privacy enough for a place like this, blocking their small place off from the remainder of the deserted sewer.
Tracey scoots her chair closer to me and lays her head against my shoulder. My entire life, someone has been after me. Someone has wanted me for what I am and what I can become, and finally, after all this time . . . it’s over? Could we have just solved our Nemanite issue, the Lunis issue, everything with this simple act? Did we just save millions of Burdened Sephlems’ futures?
Tracey releases a long sigh. “Wow.” She may have been holding that one since she said yes.
“Right?”
“So, Superman, you were like a super hero taking out those Qualms. It’s obvious why those people are looking at you like you’re their knight in shining armor. Or their king that freed them from their fears.”
“I’m no king. And I didn’t do it for them. I did it for us. I’m not a hero or knight, Sparks. I’m just a man. I wish I was just a man who wants freedom for my mate. And finally, we have that.”
“Finally, we have that,” she breaths. “We’ve fought and risked a lot for this freedom.”
I grab her from her seat and pull onto my lap. There’s a peace in her eyes I would’ve given my life to see. She pushes her hands around my neck and stares in my eyes.
“I’m not usually a fan of pink. But your eyes are this incredible shade of fuchsia with that same constant brown circling around your irises. I know I say this with every color, but your eyes are amazing.”
I turn up my lip. “Ew. Pink?”
“It looks good on you.” She leans forward. Her lips are soft and her lilac scent is more potent than usual. There’s a peace that settles in her presence I could never give her before. It floods me, and I’m easily reveling in her affections.
“Hey beautiful?”
She halts midway to meeting my lips. “Yes?” she sings, with a smile sweeting her expression.
My Burdened is shaking with from anxious nerves, as am I. She won’t say no, I tell it. And I’m not at all prepared for this next move, but I made a promise.
“Spit it out, Nathan. You look nervous.” She studies me with worried eyes.
“Will you do me the honor of being Mrs. Nathan Newcomb, Tracey Warren?” Her breath leaves her body, and I rush to explain, “With there being no more threats out there, nothing left to come after us. It’s just—.”
I cater to her kiss.
Yes. Definitely. Finally.
I love you.
I love you.
Holding her back, I keep her eye contact. Now that the human part is over, my beast and I join as one and ask, “Will you be made in me as I will stand to be made in you, my heart?”
“I will,” she promises, without a second thought.
“Thank you.”
“Always.”
Her hands push through my hair and her kiss draws an aggression from me that has me slipping my hand beneath her shirt and pulling it over her head. Her neck draws my lips to it like a magnet. I drag my kiss to her shoulder and then her chest. She’s soft and smooth, even with the scars dressing her skin.
From our seat to a spot on the ground, I lay Tracey beneath me and relearn her body as my wife. Dragging my tongue down between her breast, I taste her down to her navel. I ease her pants from her waist. Her thighs are soft, fitting comfortably in my hands while I meet a spot between them that makes her knees tremble and her croons to creak.
I slide inside her. There’s something different. She holds me differently, she loves me differently. With every stroke, every kiss and grasp, every groan and purr, we sink deeper in a feeling even with Tracey I’ve never experienced. Maybe it’s because I’ve never let my guard down far enough to be this open to her. To let her in my mind and see my deepest thoughts because we finally have no one to—nothing—worry about. I’m not fucking her and thinking about killing someone or concerned with someone coming up on us. I’m fully focused on her, us, this feeling of pure pleasure I could get from nowhere else.
Tracey’s eyes gloss over. “This is what it feels like?”
“Almost.” My teeth sharpen, and I nick my bottom lip. “Take it slow.” I kiss her and let her fill up, feeding off me and indulging in the high. She hits euphoria in seconds.
The heights of freedom.
Tracey lies on top of me, buzzing. I stroke her back. She says, “I’m impatiently waiting on something drastic to happen to my heart for us to me made.”
I laugh once. “It feels like nothing. The easiest of the whole thing. The hardest part is going to be finding a ring that you’ll like.”
She snorts. “Stop it. I don’t care about a ring. Slip a twisty tie around my finger and you’ll still find me happy and satisfied.”
Yeah, she was definitely created for me, every once and fiber. “Thank you for choosing me.”
“Thank you for choosing me, Nate,” she copies. Sitting up, a smile wider than I’ve ever seen her wear accommodates bright eyes. “I’m made!”
I laugh. “I’m honored to call you my wife, Tracey.”
The humans of this land have been celebrating all day. Tracey and I join them as their sun sets. They drink their booze and sing their songs, some have instruments they’ve made by hand and others clap. Their joy rings out and brings others to the area. Tracey dances with a lady, and I sit back and observe. They beg her to stay here with me so they won’t have to worry about the Qualms returning. They want protection one tells her. She smiles and nods at their requests, but knows there’s no way we’re living here.
Tracey stills. Her smile slowly fades from her face. Hand flown to her chest, she buckles over, coughing, worse than she was this morning.
I rush to her side and pull her from the crowd. “Sparky, take it easy.” Squatting in front of her, I catch her as she collapses. “Sparks, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”
She heaves, and goes for another round. I tap into her to try and figure out what’s going on, but I get nothing. She feels fine.
“Okay,” I say. Taking her face in my hands, I share my air. She inhales deeply and is able to relax. “Better?”
