Bounty Hunter, psychic, snake shifter. Darian has all but been banished from his family for his visions, for his lineage, and for the way he lives his life. But when he meets Zaiden, he’s left wondering if his visions might be the least of his worries.
While searching for their missing sibling, Zaiden and his sister, Kaandhal come across the last pure-blooded psy-clairvoyant of their kind. Unfortunately for them, Darian has no idea what he truly is and isn’t much interested in learning or helping them locate their brother, Zxex.
A bounty hunter by trade, who’s been all but banished from his family due to his visions, Darian’s a bit cynical about his ability to be of any assistance, nevertheless, Zaiden brings him back to their home Rhumba, where Darian discovers that very little is what it seems.
With plots unfolding all around them and discoveries about his own heritage leaving Darian reeling, he is left with the choice of whether to embrace who and what he is or spend every moment with them as a prisoner on the fringes of their society.
Add in a pesky little bond that only seems to grow the more time he and Zaiden spend together, and several factions looking to gain possession of him and Darian is left wondering if his visions just might be the least of his troubles.
The
light had been on when Kaal left, which was a small mercy in that windowless
tomb, but one of the servants turned it out after removing the remains of the
dinner he didn’t eat, and Darian struggled to find it in the dark. Slowly, inch
by inch, chains rattling, he ran his fingertips over the surface of the wall,
trying not to feel desperate, but the darkness and the silence was panicking
him just a little bit. He missed the view of the will-o-the wisps and the
chains leaching his powers made him feel drugged. Funny, but where he used to
look forward to that floaty feeling, at the moment, it was just reinforcing
that he'd been locked in a cage.
He hated unfamiliar spaces, and
this was made worse by being left in the dark. It left him feeling unsettled
and desperate to map out the place with his fingertips, despite how exhausted
he was. He kept at it though, until he grew tired of dragging the chain along
and rested his head against the wall. Slow, steady breaths, he pushed away a
little, turned, slid down the wall, wrapped his arms around his knees, the
chain pressed against him.
It was cold, and he was shivering
a little. Being isolated even for such a short period of time, already had him
missing the sometimes tumultuous conversations with Zaiden and the silences,
when they could just share a space and enjoy each other’s company. Icy pangs of
sadness added to his discomfort, the thought of losing such a new, yet
treasured friendship left him feeling lethargic and sad. There was little here
to draw comfort from, so in desperation he turned to the past, memories of
self-soothing in a dim and silent room. It had been a long time since he’d sung
and his voice was rusty from disuse, still, as he gave himself over to the
music he found himself dropping easily into his range, the song making him feel
less alone. He sang himself to sleep, or nearly so, words slurry as he relaxed
and closed his eyes.
“You have a very powerful voice,
strong, rough, like a lover’s touch,” a voice hissed.
Darian blinked, having missed the
sound of the door unlocking, he jerked when cool fingers touched his cheek. She
seemed to be far more adept at seeing in the dark than he was. He suppose it
was yet another drawback of him being a purebred. For all his powers and
abilities, physically, he would always just be...less.
“It was very cruel of them to lock
you in here,” she hissed softly. “You should be somewhere that you can be
cherished.”
He scoffed at that. His voice
bitter, acrid as he scooted away. “Yeah ‘cause someone really would without
asking for something in return.”
“You’re too young to be so jaded,”
she said, her voice soft as she scooted closer to him in the dark, crowding his
space, her hands all over him. “Let me show you how well I can treat you.”
He felt her fingers on one of the
manacles and he jerked the hand away. “Thanks, but I’d better stay here. I’ve
caused enough trouble.”
“Some of us appreciate trouble,
especially when it comes in such exquisite packaging.” Her finger slid down his
neck, then back up again, into his hair, petting lightly. It was nothing like
Zaiden’s touch and he found himself struggling to escape it.
“Now don't be like that, Darian,”
she whispered, her tongue tracing his ear, making him cringe in revulsion. “Not
when I've gone to so much trouble to arrange to get you out of here.”
“I’m sorry you came down here for
nothing, but I can’t go anywhere. I have to stay here. Zaiden will be back soon
and maybe he’ll listen to my side of what happened.”
She laughed then and continued to
pet him, making him twist and buck, nearly tumbling her off of his lap where
she'd perched herself. It had taken effort though and energy he didn't really
have with the shackles sapping everything.
“Piss off, I'm tired. I just wanna
sleep and wait for Zaiden,” he muttered, jerking his head when her fingers
stroked along the edge of his jaw.
“Do you truly believe that he will
oppose Kaal for you? He is far too loyal for that. Not to mention he idolizes
his father. Kaal will order him to stay away from you and he will obey.”
“Maybe, but I’mma wait here and
see for myself,” he said firmly.
“No...you are not,” she hissed,
her tone having changed from coy and seductive to infuriated. Before Darian
could wrest her hands off of him, she sunk her fangs into his neck with the
force of a baseball bat and whatever she was rocking in those fangs wasn’t
blissfully addictive or hypnotically enticing or even like liquid fire and
lust, this was... Heat roiled in his belly, bile shot up his throat as he was
flooded with hot, acrid nausea, gagging, he tried to push her away from him,
but she wouldn’t budge until he’d slumped sideways and retched.
“Karim, come retrieve this
disgusting thing,” she called haughtily as she moved away from him. He was
grateful because the scent of her perfume had only been adding to the nausea.
He heard heavy footsteps, felt the chain being yanked, then the manacle around
his wrist and ankle were released and for a moment he tried to scramble to his
feet, only to be yanked against a hard wall of muscle. He managed a few weak
punches before a voice growled in his ear.
“Stop that, or I will ask my
mistress to let me play with you when she is finished,” Karim instructed.
“Would rather play with you than your damned mistress,” Darian muttered as he was hoisted over Karim’s shoulder and carried from the room.
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