Two Tribes, page 29
part #1 of Young Atlanteans Series
‘Because I’m not your conventional man, or even Atlantean,’ he said.
Alexia frowned, finding it hard put to think of a single conventional Atlantean. They were all so extraordinary in their own way. But instinct prickled the hairs on the back of her neck that he wasn’t joking around and so she humoured him. ‘So does that mean you’re going to stand behind me for ever?’ she said, laughing lightly.
‘I only ask that you bear with me and trust me for a while.’
She swallowed, wondering what difference a delay made. ‘OK,’ she said, when she realized he was waiting for permission for something. Her chest tightened at what the hell it could be.
Alexia hitched her breath as soft black silk came down over her eyes and was tightened behind her head. She breathed a little easier when it wasn’t total blackout. The light from the fire and small candles around the walls were still easily visible.
A dark figure loomed, towering a head and shoulders taller in front of her. It was him, merely touching distance away. The instinct to pull away the blindfold was almost irresistible. ‘Are we playing a game?’ she said, a little disappointed. ‘I thought we were going to meet properly.’
Then the wonderful aroma she recalled from their first meeting began to reach her. It was so heady she couldn’t get enough, breathing in deeply. She’d never smelled anything like it.
Alexia hadn’t even realized she’d swayed, but he seemed to catch her and lower her down into a seat behind her.
‘That’s it. Just relax,’ his voice said, softly, next to her cheek. Even his breath smelled divine, but it felt cold, like a draught in winter. ‘The blindfold is simply to show you what it is to be me. What I see in the light.’
Sudden understanding sent her into freefall. He was demonstrating his lack of sight. She got it, but she was reeling as if she was drunk.
‘Only in the light,’ he reiterated, ‘strangely.’
It shocked her into silence. So this was what he saw all of the time. ‘You’re blind,’ she said, sadly. Finally understanding what he was trying to say. ‘But surely seeing you won’t scare me all that much?’ But her words came out breathily, as she was already anticipating the worst. The extent of his illness was beginning to sink in.
However, as her thoughts all clicked into place, something intangible felt like it was winding itself around her. Soft, like a feather boa, barely there and yet making her want to open herself up to caress it. Along with the luxurious cologne and his gentle voice, she felt the most relaxed in a long while. ‘If you’re an Atlantean, surely you can’t be that different to others?’ she said, bringing her knees up under her chin and snuggling up in a ball. ‘I mean, is it just you, or is everyone like you in your family?’ She felt so comfortable, as if she was in a warm bath.
Somewhere at the back of her mind, she knew how she was feeling was out of place and some external force must be making her feel that way. But it was simply too strong to fight and, frankly, like stopping a good massage, she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
‘You are very astute, as I knew you would be. Traits very often occur in families,’ Yaro’s soft, melodious voice replied. Even that seemed to make her inwardly sigh.
‘Let me see you,’ she whined. ‘You can see, I’m not scared of you now.’
She heard his light chuckle – the one that livened her butterflies.
‘Remember, I can barely see you either. In order for me to see you perfectly, I must dowse the lights.
The sudden grasp of what he was saying pulled her from her stupor. ‘Night vision,’ she whispered. Realizing he wasn’t blind at all.
As if he willed it, her world plunged into darkness. The fine silk over her face now made her sweat as it captured her breath and stifled her. Just as she was about to panic, his presence was in front of her. She felt it in a rush of cool air and the blindfold loosened until it fell from her eyes.
She blinked and saw him for the first time.
As an Atlantean, her vision was good at night, but he was beautiful.
He was so much, she couldn’t take him all in. His aura was what captured her attention at first. It shone brightly in a white, yellow and orange starburst, like angels’ feathers. Lighting him in a halo against the darkness.
It almost blinded her.
Then, gradually, as her eyes adjusted, she could see his hair was black and curled gently to the collar of his white shirt. His skin didn’t seem that pale now in contrast to the light that surrounded him, but it was threaded with delicate blue veins on his forehead and under his eyes. Eyes that were deep carmine and dilated with pupils that seemed to narrow and open like a camera, adjusting to the light.
He was tall, as she expected, but not stooped or deformed. In fact, he was well proportioned, even athletic in build. The thought suddenly struck her that he wasn’t ugly at all. ‘You’re an angel,’ she said, before she could stop herself.
He laughed. ‘Hardly,’ he said, tilting his head regretfully.
‘I mean, beautiful like one.’ It all made perfect sense then. Someone as iridescent as him couldn’t function in the human world at all in the open, and so he had to hide himself away. During the day, anyway. ‘I understand now. But why were you worried about me seeing you?’
Then suddenly, just as all the wonder came, the lights returned and everything dimmed to mute. The contrast was staggering. Her eyes took a moment to adjust as if she’d been looking at the sun and couldn’t get its image out of her eyes.
A dark figure began to materialize in front of her. The whiteness of his shirt seemed grey, tucked into his black, well-tailored pants but there was nothing diminished about him. Now with the light gone, she understood why he hid with a deep feeling of dread. His visage was fearsome and harsh. His black hair contrasted with his blue-veined face and looked severe and cruel and, the worst of all, his eyes were a deep ruby red. ‘Because we live in a world of light, and this is how it sees my kind.’
Alexia took a moment to take him all in. Strangely, she wasn’t repulsed. It was simply that he was two people. Twins in the same person. One light and one dark and not the way round you’d think. In the dark he was an angel, with a glorious aura that was so dense it sucked all the light from around him. Then, in the light, when you’d expect to feel relieved, he became this demon of death with eyes that pierced you through the heart. He was right. This was the version of him she found the scariest.
He was slim and well dressed, but his eyes, though unseeing, remained fixed on her with a predator’s focus, reading her reaction and whether she would run. He was the real live Dracula, in the flesh. She found herself skating her eyes down his taut body, right down his excellently tailored legs and shiny dress shoes.
When she finally made her way back to his face, he looked puzzled. ‘Well you’re different, I’ll give you that, but you don’t scare me.’ That wasn’t strictly true, however, she was more afraid of the sheer power he held in that super-fit body of his. ‘So when the light is on, you’re blind?’
‘That is correct,’ he said, looking at her.
She shifted a little to her left and his eyes followed her like an eagle. It sent shivers down her back. He might not be able to see, but his other senses were cut-throat sharp. He was terrifying.
‘So turn them off again,’ she said in a strangled whisper.
This time, before she could marvel that he turned them off with his mind, she was standing and he was right in front of her, breathing down her neck with his magnificent light all around him. He moved, shifting his red eyes fixated on her vein to track back to hers. ‘You are the most beautiful Atlantean girl I have ever seen.’ After he spoke, he breathed in deeply, making her shiver. His scent wound itself around her so she couldn’t move if she wanted to.
Suddenly she realized just how vulnerable she was. A little mouse being toyed with by the most dangerous predator alive. She was forced to take huge breaths to calm herself down and the more she did it, the more his power took hold of her. ‘My mother is a Siren,’ she managed, breathily.
An icy finger trailed down the side of her cheek and he nodded slightly, still reminding her of a bird of prey, sizing up whether she was ready to eat. ‘Only a great beauty could have borne such a rare jewel.’
This close, she could follow every threaded vein that crossed his brow. They seemed to emphasize his intense eyes that showed he meant every word. It wasn’t empty flattery. It was then she became aware that he was holding her in his arms and she had no idea he’d moved. It took her breath and her eyes went wide in panic. He made no further move, but continued to look deeply into her eyes. ‘Stunning,’ he whispered.
She shivered under his touch. ‘You’re so cold.’
He passed an icy finger over her slightly parted lips. ‘Atlanteans are colder than humans, Murrs are colder than Atlanteans, Ambragio are colder still.’ His words came out as steam on a frosty day.
Her fascination overtook her fear. He was ridiculously cold and it explained a lot. He was no blood-sucking vulture, he was simply from a different and rare blood line. Plus, he was completely beguiling.
Then, just as suddenly as he came, the lights returned and he stalked slowly away.
He turned back to face her, now brooding and dark again.
‘Please, just tell me who you are,’ she said, still reeling from how it felt to be held by him.
Now his eyes pierced her right through. Like he was a walking contradiction who warred within himself, whether he was good or bad and whether or not he wanted to eat her.
However, his expression changed to perplexed. Then amazed, even. ‘And you really have no fear of me?’ he said, tilting his head like a puzzled dog.
Alexia knew he was testing her and that one of the things that terrified her most about him was the scope of his power. So she decided to go with the truth. ‘You scare me half to death, but …’ She frowned when she realized exactly what it was. ‘But it’s more like when you approach a dangerous beast. One that could kill you in an instant, but you want to make contact because you know, deep down, it wants to make friends. As long as you make no sudden movements, it won’t hurt you. I just know you won’t hurt me. Does that make sense?’
His piercing gaze changed to one of wonder, of admiration even. As if no one had ever spoken to him like that. ‘And you plan to stay in this house with me, all alone?’ he said in amazement, sounding as if he was getting his facts completely straight in his head.
She thought about it for a moment. He was perfectly right of course; she just hadn’t given it much thought at all before she came. There was no way she could go back. The Johnsons no longer trusted her, she was furious with her brothers and there was no way she’d go back home. ‘Well, can I?’
His eyes widened in surprise and a single blast of laughter escaped him. He looked devilishly handsome then. The laughter creased the corners of his eyes and transformed his face and she caught a glimpse of sharp teeth. Then he seemed startled, as if he knew.
She straightened too and her heart plummeted. ‘You can read thoughts,’ she accused with narrowed eyes.
His red lips curled into a small smile, neither admitting nor denying it. ‘A skill not unknown for many,’ he said with a non-committal shrug.
‘Well stop it, if I’m going to live here.’
His eyebrows rose but then he frowned, and for a moment she thought she’d gone too far and angered him.
Instead, he pulled his feet together, bowed dramatically and then straightened. ‘I will certainly try.’
With the stirrings of something she didn’t fully understand in her chest, Alexia couldn’t help but stare at him. Such a powerful male, used to getting his own way in all things, was genuinely trying to please her. No one had ever done that before. It was the biggest compliment, better than diamonds or clothes. She swallowed down a painful lump.
He saved her by coughing and pointing at the chair she’d left, behind her. ‘I will order some tea and explain who I am.’
She nodded gratefully and sat, glad of the distraction and eager to learn of his ancestors. He sat opposite, leg crossed at the knee, and regarded her closely.
Thankfully, the silence was broken by the butler bringing in the tea. He poured and she settled back in her seat and waited with anticipation. ‘How old are you?’ she blurted. Suddenly it seemed very important to know; he seemed far more worldly wise than her.
Her heart stopped when his red piercing eyes seemed to penetrate hers and he replied, ‘Two hundred and seventy-two.’ Then he waited.
She couldn’t help feeling disappointed. He looked so young. Atlanteans lived long lives, she knew. Some even into the hundreds, but they still physically aged along the way. Yaro looked in his twenties.
‘We live longer than the other families and do not age until right at the end of our lives.’
‘Other families?’ she repeated. ‘Other royal families?’ It didn’t make sense. She’d never once met anyone like him. ‘You have to explain now, Yaro, I’m more confused than ever.’
Yaro bowed his head as if it was no less than he expected. Then he fixed her with his piercing, non-seeing stare. ‘You have to understand that you are the first person to hear my story. None have lived to tell the tale. I’m revealing myself as a mark of my regard for you and the comfort I wish for you to have around me. There must be no secrets between us.’
Again, Alexia felt that pain in her chest. It hurt, but it was him doing it and she wanted more. She swallowed and nodded for him to continue.
He began with the story she’d heard since birth …
* * *
‘No doubt you know the party line of our existence here on earth. How we came from the planet of Atlas ten thousand years ago, colonized earth, built Atlantis and overran the world. Then Atlas came again and destroyed all semblance of our civilization, until the five royal families learned to grow again in secret. They flourished, as you know, until Atlas was forced to return again, recently, and finally gave your father their blessing to rule over us all.’
Alexia nodded. That was it in a nutshell. The story she’d heard a thousand times. The same thing all Atlantean children were taught.
It was then she truly saw the male sitting there. A quiet storm. Not emitting light in his glory as in the dark, but the real him simmering, brimming under the surface. Perfectly contained, about to erupt any minute. Brewing with a fury so intense that she finally understood what it meant to see him in the dark. It wasn’t his glory like some angel, it was anger literally leaching out of him like a burning out star.
Now she saw it all. Saw him. It was there in the set of his jaw wound too tight, in the furrows of his veined brow, pulled together and creased just above his perfectly straight nose. It made her tense just to watch. ‘So I take it, it didn’t really happen like that?’ she said softly, not wanting to anger him but doubting that six million Atlanteans could have it so wrong.
‘Have you never questioned how an underwater race was able to make the leap from water to land?’
He waited for her to answer, not seeming outwardly angry, but wanting her to reason it out.
She shrugged. ‘It’s no secret. It was the Santalinis, my uncle’s family. My father’s honourable guard. They were the soldiers who ventured out first. Living on a diet of blood. It’s why they have a dispensation from the crown to drink blood now. Everyone knows the story,’ she said.
Yaro exhaled wearily, as if he expected nothing less. ‘And, in part, you would be right. But an intricate operation like that was not carried out by the ham-fisted branch of the family you see today.’
Alexia began to feel the first real tentacles of fear as a chill made its way up her spine. ‘So you’re saying it wasn’t the Santalinis,’ she said flatly. If he was going to go against everything she knew, then he was going to have to explain himself. She got the impression that the next part was more difficult to say. ‘Then tell me what really happened,’ she said more softly. ‘What happened when we left the water.’
CHAPTER 33
Alexia waited as Yaro took a moment to gauge her, then he continued …
‘Before we left Atlas, the five royal families were not as distinct as you see them here on Earth today. There were cross overs and sub-sections, sub-sets and sects that they never saw fit to represent in the new colony. They were intent on keeping the families pure.
‘Many such off-shoots had gifts and practices long lost in the annals of time to what would become the Atlantean race.’
The cold chill became a shot of adrenaline to Alexia’s heart. ‘And you are one of these?’ she said, breathlessly. Pieces of his story were starting to fall into place.
Yaro tipped his head and he smiled a little. Something she was coming to realize was rare on his severe and intense face. ‘There were great cities under the great expanse of water of Atlas. Built like nothing you’ve ever seen here. Great structures that grew vertically, up to the light of the five moons. Elite light-seekers rising to the top, leaving those who adopted the darkness below. Happy to remain unseeing and unseen at the very bottom: the base dwellers.’
It made perfect sense. His aversion to light, the coldness of his body, his eyes. It explained his anger. He belonged to a lower class of Atas. It seemed irrelevant when she looked at him now. Then he upended everything she’d just thought.
‘However, there was one such family – a distant relative of the Santalinis. They were famed for coming from the greatest depths, from beneath the founding rock of the oldest city, itself. They had enormous strength and speed to withstand such pressure. They could swim to the deepest trough in the ocean and even breathe air between the pockets of rock. Their skin saw no light and felt no heat and so they were pale and their sight only developed to see in the furthest reaches and therefore held no pigment. The red you see in my eyes is simply blood flow through clear irises. So you see, we could stand much harsher conditions than any creature alive. A secretive people the humans later referred to as demons. We were the demigods which morphed into the name, Demidov. Smaller-framed and yet stronger than our more surface dwelling Santalini cousins. We were not chosen as a lesser people, but the elite of the elite. If the Santalini were the Special Ops, then we were the Secret Service. Sent to earth to be the first out of water and infiltrate the native species. We were the ones sent to stake our claim.’
