Chapter 4

Warnings: Language... Some sexual tension LOL! and of course a song is set to play :) please for creature explanations etc. They can be found at the Creatura blog, bios and more :) or click on this... -> Paige

After three re-installs etc. It seems I have lost alot!!! of stuff, including my original writing for the next few updates... Oh well I did as many others do and took the shots then wrote. Forgive the errors I havent been writing on this for a long time :)

Enjoy! I will hopefully have a bit more soon :)

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The cinder grey stone building loomed before Jayden, beckoning and cursing him all the same.

The time had come for him to face the one person he'd not seen in over six hundred years. The bitch Lupusnox Goddess of Water that he'd believed all these years had been the one to take Alaine's life. A misguided thought as he’d found two nights before, when he learned that Carter had in fact been the one to take her from him.

What would he have done if he’d known the truth? Jayden didn’t know but assumed he would have taken Trysten’s life himself as retribution. What his master had done was unforgivable and should he ever meet Carter face to face again he’d kill him.

The fact that Kareina had withheld the truth from him, accepted his hatred and blame all these years settling uneasily within him. There was another reasoning behind it, he just had to find out what it was.

At that moment heavy footfalls sounded behind him, followed by the scent of thunder and forest that belonged to the duskdog.

"Are you gonna head in or continue to stand there looking like you're waiting for someone to fuck you in the ass?" Manning's gruff sarcastic baritone broke through his haze of thoughts, rose that same tingling electric sensation within him.

Flexing his fingers, Jayden dug them into his ribs in an attempt to control it, held tightly until the feeling passed by. This power frightened him, he’d not known he had it let alone had been capable of it. Paiges were nothing more than enhanced Vampires with a few mind skills based on their creator and with his creator having been a god, he had no idea what that meant for his abilities. Gods and mortals didn’t mesh well, though if Carter was correct in his statements Jayden wasn’t necessarily a mortal, though what he was he could only hope Kareina could explain.

Jayden rolled his neck, the vertebrae’s snapping as he moved, "sorry lappy you're not my type."

A choked growl echoed through the thick plumeria scented air of Veilwater, telling him that he’d offended the bastard. "I wasnt offering, Paige. Although I think I saw a guy down the road that could possibly help to remove that plug for you." Manning retorted adding derogatory emphasis to the use of Jayden’s title.

It was meant to push him, Jayden knew that but he had other things to deal with at the moment. “Go fuck yourself lapdog and let me to my business.”

“Will you cut that shit off? Cause the next time you call me a fucking lapdog or lappy I am going to kick your ass.” Manning snarled, his heated gaze burning into Jayden's back as the man stormed past him, roughly shouldering him as he passed by.
Slamming the heavy oak door with so much force the walls rattled, Jayden glared at Manning. “You want a piece of me lappy well come and get it, you sure as hell wouldn’t be the first duskdog I’ve fucked up, nor the last.”

“I told you…” there was a warning note to the venomous hiss that slid from Manning’s mouth but Jayden wasn’t about to give in. He’d been itching to kick the man’s ass since that first night he’d entered the beach house. Especially when he’d found that the fucker had been working for Armand.

Kareina’s heart roared against her breast, Jayden had arrived… and more disturbing, Carter had been right in his unease, her nephew’s powers had awakened. They were all in deep trouble if she didn’t find a way to train him, without breaking the covenant and telling him that which had been forbidden to be spoken of.

Another presence washed over her, infuriated but much more contained, her heart ceased to beat. “It couldn’t be…” Five hundred years and nothing, no word no dirty look. He’d just disappeared one day shortly after she’d released him.

Reaching out with her soul she sought his strand, jolted back as she felt his presence. Manning Braeford was in her sanctuary, was accompanying Jayden.

“Perhaps all will work out for the best…” She murmured, if she could get Manning to agree to training Jayden and judging the tension that filled the lower floor of the sanctuary that would be a feat.

“This is a sanctuary Jayden and I am not about to break the sacred regulations just to smash your face in. I will however promise you that as soon as we are away from here that I will beat the shit out of you.” Manning threateningly promised, flexing his fingers from a fist to straight and back as he envisioned Jayden's bloodied face before him.

The movement doing little to ease the want to punch the man behind him with all his strength, feel the bones in Jayden’s face shatter. It wouldn’t kill him unfortunately, but it would sure as hell put him in a world of hurt.

Issue was to fight within the hallowed walls of the Lupusnox Goddesses sanctuary would bring him to his knee’s in agonizing pain. “There is no such thing as status within these walls. Paige, Night, Day, Lupus and mortal alike are here to partake in the safety afforded within the walls.” He said it more to calm himself than to explain.

A snort sounded from behind him, followed by a sarcastic laugh, “do you really think I give a shit about some fucking sacred BS?”

Monette Phelan sensed their aura’s before they’d entered Wolfsbayne, but to have them both standing in the walls at the same time rippled energy through the air. The waterfall in the center of the room, hissed and sang with distress, the portal between Kareina’s home and the earth sensed the danger.

Her vision zoned in on the athletically slender dark haired man, who’s thoughts were a jumbled mess. Power washed over her, raised the hair on her arms as she pushed into his psyche, her heart ceasing to beat the moment she made it past the barriers.

The voices of the elders filled her head, their words pushing her out. The whispers encompassing her mind, forbidding her access to his soul, what was he?

“You should…” The lupusnox ground out, drawing her attention to his profile. She could tell that his silent battle with himself to keep from decking the other man quickly fading and if he did he’d suffer painfully for it.

She had to do something and at the moment the only thing she could think was to take them to Kareina. Despite her reservations towards the dark one's danger.

“Ahem…” she half coughed her voice dying off as the Lupusnox’s turquoise gaze locked onto her. Primal heat coursed through her veins under his wary gaze, making her heart beat faster and her core burn.

“Kareina is expecting you…” She finally managed to squeeze from her constricted throat. Her pulse roaring in her veins under the intense stare from the muscular man.

Fifteen years she’d worked this bar, dealt with mortals and immortal’s alike and not a one had ever affected her like he did. There was just something about his golden brown hair, the straight aquiline line of his nose. But what really undid her was the full pout of his lips.

Thank god it’s dark in here… She thought to herself as her cheeks flamed at the thought of feeling those lips travelling over her body.

Licking her lips she swallowed at the cotton dryness of her mouth, “I am to take you to her.” She finally managed to breath after prying her vision away from him, before she did something wildly unlike herself and actually tried to hit on a god.

Without hesitation Mona quickly made her way around the bar, surprised to find the dark man, who she still couldn’t quite get a grasp on as to his creatura lima and more distressing the golden Lupusnox god waiting for her. “Manning Braeford," the Lupusnox introduced, " and the dick over here.”

Mona had to stifle a laugh as Manning pointed his thumb in the other mans direction. “Is Jayden Alatore.”

His mouth curved upwards as he looked at her, the smile softening his chiseled features.

Dear Zyon…

Her knee’s were turning to gelatin just being so close to him. The wild earthen scent of forest and thunder filling her senses, images rolled through her minds eyes. Pictures of them rolling naked on a soft patch of grass by a river, while thunder and lightning streaked the sky.

“You must be the oracle…” His voice was melodious and deep like thunder. Yet caressing like a warm summer breeze, each syllable resonating in her blood like magic.

“Oracle?” Jayden gruffly questioned, his handsome face scrunching up with disdain.

Turning her vision towards him Mona was overcome with sorrow. It wafted from him in droves, his heart and mind mixing together with confusion at his unknown powers. He was suffering under the weight of his burdens, the pain that inflicted his soul and the outcome all the emotions was anger. Unfettered hatred for himself and those around him, including Kareina.

“Yes I am Monette Phealan, Kareina’s oracle.” She exclaimed her voice returning now that she was not locked eye to eye with Manning.

“Come she is expecting you…” With that she turned on her heal and began to walk towards the back of the building. Silently reminding herself that a god would never look upon an oracle. They were only human after all and why should they when they had their pick of the goddesses. With their luminescent beauty and magical powers.

Manning couldn’t resist, when she turned her followed after the woman. There was just something about her, something that he’d never thought in his wildest dreams he could find again.

Not another oracle…He silently warned himself, remembering how painful it had been when he’d lost Lisette.

“How long have you been in Kareina’s employ?” He questioned forcing his hand to his side, before he reached out and caressed the satiny smooth mocha colored skin of her arm.

“Why the fuck does Kareina need an Oracle, isn’t she one herself?” Jayden snarled taking up the flank.

Manning was about to respond when the soft caressing tenor of Mona’s voice filled the air, cutting off his snide remark.

“Thirty years Manning," her response to him was willowy soft. "Jayden," an edge entered her voice the moment she spoke to the paige. "Without an oracle Kareina would not be able to travel in her spirit form. without my beacon she would be at risk should she travel the realms.“ she paused as they came to a gate.

“The Oracles provide the Lupusnox Goddess’s the power they need. It’s why they are the purest souls on earth. At any given time there will only be eight, for the eight goddess’s and when they die then another is born to replace them.”

Her statement stung, it was as if she’d read his thoughts, knew that he’d once loved an oracle. “Yes but, only if their life is not cut short,” Manning added, his heart clenching at the memory.

“Yes then that particular goddess will be without an Oracle until the hundred years of service has been fulfilled.” She whispered, a smile dimpling her smooth cheeks, as Mona gazed up at him, her golden eyes, darkening with desire.

The delicate scent of amber and sweet sun dried grass ensconced Manning, lured him closer to her. The front of his jeans grew uncomfortably tight as electricity bounced between them. Their body’s so close all he’d have to do was reach out and he could stroke her warm skin.

“For gods sake, get a room! Please! put me out of my misery at having to witness your attempts at getting laid.” Jayden snarled his vision firmly locked on the rickety old elevator. He hated the things, but teleporting wasn’t an option considering the walls, floors and ceilings had been coated with sapphire dust to prevent any use of magic.

“For one second can you show a little respect.” Manning growled taking a step away from Mona before he acted on his desire to taste her lips.

“Not likely lappy, but just for you…” The doors to the elevator dinged then, the sound of scraping metal shattering the air.

“It was a pleasure to meet you,” Manning murmured, hurriedly following after Jayden into the elevator. He couldn’t risk it, he’d seen something in the metallic depths of her eyes. Something that unnerved him, reminded him of that primal need so many years before with Lisette and Kareina would have his head on a platter if he took her oracle from her. Yes it was best that he escaped now…

When the door opened Jayden was the first one to rush from the confines of the damned death trap. His vision landing on the shapely legs of Kareina, silhouetted behind a sheer canopy. “What’s the difference between an elevator or stairs, if someone wants you dead then you would be.” He ground out.

“Never mind him Kareina, Jayden has a huge plug up his ass right now.” Manning snapped as he made his way out of the elevator and towards the piano bench. Ignoring the furious glare that Jayden focused on him.
Sitting forward Kareina fought to regain her sense of speech. 500 hundred years since she’d last seen Manning and he was still as handsome as ever. His once long hair now trimmed in to a length that it accentuated his strong squared jaw. The fullness of his slightly wide mouth, heat shot through her with memories of the year they’d spent together.

Her Lupusnox God, broken and bleeding after her oracle’s death. He’d been easy enough to seduce, but now she didn’t believe so. There was a hardness to his turqouise eyes, anger resonated in their shimmering depths as he lowered himself to the stool and glared at her.

“It’s understandable Manning, Jayden has been through a lot these last few weeks and he has more to undertake…” She smiled softly, reached out to the lupusnox telepathically.

“I need your help…”

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Chapter 3~Altered

Twenty Screens about 2700 words and lots of information. See Here for Trysten's bio it might help explain a bit on her and see here for a creature explanation for Daywalkers and Nightwalkers. No warnings other than a few words and lots of confusion. 80) Enjoy

Oh yes one more thing, would you all like to see more of this particular piece with Lydie or more of Jayden and his current state of affairs???

Altoriah

Bright sunlight warmed Lydie’s shoulders and back from the large glass windows as she descended the stairs the glow casting her distorted shadow over the gleaming polished inlaid marble floors. The roar of the waves crashing against the shore just beyond the properties edge were louder than they had been in her room; their joyful rumble vibrated the glass and filled the air with an ethereal song of life. Sighing quietly to herself she took another step down, she’d spent an hour in her quarters watching as the white caps rolled in from far out at sea, the color of the water making it impossible to tell where the cerulean sky began. She couldn’t explain it but this strange land gave her a sense of belonging and peace.

Pausing mid-step at the base of the stairs, Lydie gazed out at the splendor, want coursing through her to go outside and feel the breeze that ruffled the thick vibrant green leaves on the tree’s. To smell the freshness of the air, briefly she’d considered doing such a thing upstairs, while she’d debated following the instructions the note on the bedside table had given to her. But she’d paused, reason warring with desire. The man had welcomed her to Altoriah, where-ever that was. For all she knew she’d been abducted by aliens and the house had been sealed to keep her alive. In truth the notion wasn’t that far fetched, the bright light that she’d traveled through with her mother very well could have been a beam that took her to the mother ship.

Was it possible that this was all some sort of strange dream implanted by the aliens to keep her resolute and manageable? her mother couldn’t be alive, no human could when they’d been shot in the heart… This had to be nothing more than a strange dream, none of it was real and before she knew it she’d awaken to find Jayden beside her.

Jayden… to think of him ached her.

The only reason she couldn’t just accept that it was a dream, he was real just as her father and they were vampires, Nosferatu whichever you wanted to call them. She’d tried to convince herself that it had been a dream when Jayden had first told her of his life state and just as now she’d found it impossible to accept. She’d touched him, kissed him, felt him in the depths of her soul, no it wasn’t possible to be a dream. Machinations of the slumber sort didn’t involve sense, sight, smell or emotion.

Reaching the dining hall she stopped, she’d seen Trysten plain as day this morning out on the green lawn, strolling sadly along. Her mother had to be alive and if she was that meant she was an immortal, but what kind? Certainly not a vampire, because the woman had been bathed in light and what did that make her? Her heart beat within her chest and if she cut herself she would bleed red the same as any other person, but to believe she was human didn’t make sense.

“Welcome dear one…” The strangely accented woman’s voice echoed through her mind. Jumping slightly Lydie glanced nervously about the lavishly decorated room finding nothing but a painting of an ethereally beautiful woman hanging on the wall. An immediate sense of kinship enveloping her as she gazed at the canvas., her heart skittering in her breast as the woman’s smile seemed to grow, blinking rapidly she closed her eyes and re-opened them finding nothing out of the ordinary.

Great, now she was hearing voices and imagining living paintings, surely insanity was closing in now… She couldn’t help but think like that after all her mother had to be immortal, her father was a vampire and the one man she loved an undead as well. Whatever happened to her droll old life?

In an attempt to pull her thoughts from their course Lydie turned towards the plate of omelets that had been set on an empty table to the right of the door. She had to admit that they smelled divine, she was hungry, she’d really not eaten much of anything since the night Jayden had made the steak for her and even that had been ruined.

“Your father is not a vampire,” Trysten’s breezy tone filled the quiet room, startling her before she’d the chance to grab a plate. Her left hand fell limply to her side as she masked her surprise at the intrusion. Resting one hand on her hip she glanced over her right shoulder, her gaze falling upon the unaged and discomforted vision of her mother.

Not a vampire? If her father wasn’t a vampire that meant he too was some form of an immortal, that couldn’t walk in the day. Although she didn’t know that for sure, she was merely going off of what Jayden had shown and told her. Unable to control herself she glared at her mother and spoke. “What is he then?” after twenty years of believing her mother to have been dead she was angry an emotion she didn’t bother to hide from her voice. In truth she was more than just angry seeing her mother standing there, looking the same as she had in 1988 enraged her. All these years Trysten had been alive and hadn’t come to her, had she heard her sorrowful plea’s, the prayers she’d uttered every night to see her mother again? As much as she wanted to know she didn’t dare ask it.

Trysten shifted in distress under Lydie’s watchful glare, dropped her nervous gaze to the floor, “Carter Marcel is the God of Deprivation, the leader of the American faction of Nightwalkers.” Her mother’s shoulders slumped briefly before she caught herself and returned her ice blue gaze to Lydies face.

She swallowed hard, trying to fathom what her mother had just informed her of. Her father was not a vampire, he was…he was… a god and not just one but the god of Deprivation. Before she could form the question her mother took a step forward a pained expression etched in her smooth features. “I am not an immortal Lydie, not in the sense that you’re thinking of. Highlander was a movie,” Trysten’s soft voice trailed off.

Stunned and confused Lydie turned away her gaze focusing now upon a large tree just outside of the window. “What are you?” she whispered softly, feeling for the third time in the past month that her world had been tipped upside down.

The soft click of her mother’s heels barely registered as she stared out of the window, trying desperately to assemble her emotions, she flinched as her mother’s warm hand brushed against the back of her arm in an attempt to soothe her. “I’m a daywalker, born of pure light it is my duty to help fight the threat of the evil army’s Armand created. But more I was the chosen…”

The words were less than comforting and only added to her confusion. The pain that she felt…
Lydie shook with disbelief and frustration as she took a small step forward away from Trysten’s touch, a soft gasp of heartache the only sound to leave her mother’s mouth. “Armand?” she’d heard that name before, somewhere but she couldn’t place it, the mere mention of it sending a shiver of fear and disgust through her body.

“Yes Armand, your grandfather the god of sorrow and retribution. He rules the Cimmerian realm alongside the sage priestess turned Goddess of Vanity, Arianne.”

Arianne! Just the name sent a shiver of loathing and fear down Lydies spine, the horrid woman that had claimed to be her grandmother. “Yes I met her on a few occasions, she is…”

The air in the room crackled with tension and Trysten fell silent for a moment. When she finally spoke her voice was weak, nothing more than breathless, shaky squeak, “y-you have been in contact with Arianne?”

Inhaling a deep breath Lydie contemplated what to say, finally decided on the truth, maybe then she’d get some answers…“Yes she wanted for me to…” she blushed at the thought of what her grandmother had requested of her, “Well Jayden and I were to well… apparently he and I are meant for each other and we are supposed to sleep together, but only if he professes his love.” She stammered out uncomfortably on one single breath.

From Behind her Trysten gasped, her icy blue eyes burning into Lydie’s shoulders and back, she couldn’t explain it but she could taste her mother’s unease, smell her tears. “Have you and Jay?” Her mother’s voice wavered uneasily.

“No!” she interrupted without hesitation confused by the feeling of relief that passed through the room from her mother. “Why?”

Trysten shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, her hand dropping away from her, “Lydie , I have known Jayden for many years and he is not what he seems but I cannot tell you of him. You see in the throes of passion he is liable to bite you and being you are the only of your breed, it is uncertain as to how his bite would affect you.”

Lydie moved so quickly her mother gasped and cringed as she glared at the other woman, confusion and the need for answers at the forefront of her mind. “Affect me? He bit me in the hotel room the first night I met him and I am still… Well here aren’t I?” Lydie’s voice trembled with a combination of bewildered anger her mind spun with questions. When it occurred to her that Trysten had told her she was the only of her breed. “What do you mean breed mother? I am not an animal I am a human, at least that’s what I believed until now.”

“You are the only to be born of pure light and dark Lydie, you are a prophecy for you see…” Trysten explained breathlessly, unshed tears sparkling in her eyes.

“Prophecy? Come on now, when am I going to get some answers that make sense? First I find out that my father is what I thought to be a vampire and now he’s a dark nightwalker god what ever the fuck that is and now I find out that my believed dead mother is in fact a fucking daywalker, alive and well! Yet another creatura lima that I have never before heard of!”

“Lydie I know that you are confused, I am trying to explain…” Trysten interjected her voice dropping to the slow cadence that she had used when she’d been young and in need of solace.

But this time it only served to infuriate her more. After weeks of dealing with Arianne and facing avoidance from all those around her, Jayden included she wasn’t having any of it. “No mother you aren’t trying to explain you are doing the same thing as everyone else avoiding giving me anything but cryptic bullshit!”

“That is enough Lydieanna!” the raspy voice of the man from the night before cut into her tirade, drawing both Lydie and her mother’s attention towards the entrance of the dining hall. “Trysten you are needed immediately in theTemple of light, Alaine is waiting.” If she’d thought her mother discomforted before it was now ten fold as Trysten blanched and bowed her head.

“Luciene she is my daughter,” Trysten quietly argued, her eyes downcast upon the floor and her voice wavering as if she feared the man’s wrath.

Folding her arms across her chest Lydie glared up at the extremely tall man, who had to stand at least six foot nine or ten, uncaring that his face was solid as granite, his lips pursed in a tight line of frustration. She’d been brought here against her will and she wanted answers and now, “Yes Luciene,” she spat adding extra emphasis to his name now that she had learned it. An odd warmth building within her as she spoke it, a soothing and calming sensation that she fought against.

He is a part of this… she chanted silently to herself to keep the sensation at bay. “She is my mother and we are having the first conversation since her supposed death twenty years ago…”

With an elegant raise of his hand, Lydie felt her every cell in her body freeze, rendering her incapable of moving, fear replacing her demand as she gazed into his piercing red and gold eyes that seemed to bore into her soul. “Lydieanna you are within my own realm and therefore when you address me you should address me with the same respect I would afford you within yours.” His raspy voice deep and caressing against her mind, each syllable vibrating her soul, Lydie was well aware that one’s voice sounded different when spoken telepathically and judging the look in his eyes, he’d placed a block upon her mother from hearing his retort. “Trysten I order you to the temple immediately, you will not be training this one…” He ordered his raspy voice filled with adamant vehemence.

A sorrow filled whimper slid from her mother’s throat drawing her attention, to her left. Lydie’s heart thundered within her breast at the expression of pain in her mother’s face. Softening slightly she wanted to hug Trysten close, provide comfort but not until she’d thoroughly railed this unknown man. “Trysten you will report to the temple immediately, you will not be training this one…” He reiterated pointing towards the entrance of the room, his enraged glare falling upon Lydie as he finished his sentence….

To Be continued…

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1 ~ Nothing's as it Seems

At long last a post, this is the new story line so I am hoping that it will roll off where no one will necessarily have to go back and read DE the first book. REALLY hoping so because things might seem a little confusing. 80) This will be the last for about a month to a month and a half so I can play Florence Nightingale, LOL! ENJOY

Warnings: Extreme Language and Several Screaming Cats running from the bag.
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Bayview Marcel House Against his usual discretion Jayden headed for the bar, reaching for the one bottle he knew would inebriate him, Carter’s private stash of PBA. Created by the gods so they could enter the soul realm and search out loved ones or those they needed to speak with. One that somehow managed to end up on earth with its varied properties. A highly sought drug to all forms of life.
Finding the bottle of Probitas Verum Agnitio, he pulled it out and poured a full glass of the foul smelling blue liquid. Glancing with disgust upon the glowing fluid he thought of its many other properties, depending on how it was administered PBA reacted differently. With a simple incantation, it would work as a truth serum as he’d watched Carter do on many occasions to extract information from his enemies. A small smile forming on his face as he thought of how many times he himself had offered it to one of his night conquests, a mortal imbibing the stuff would find themselves hornier than a three dicked dog.

Then there was the effect he was searching for, being an immortal for him to drink the shit he would find himself experiencing the horror and pain of the soul realm. A fact he’d found of many years before when he had tried to use it with one of Trysten's friends; needless to say that night hadn’t gone as planned and ever since he avoided it like the plague.Yet tonight he was desperate, filled with an intense need to find answers to the whereabouts of his charge, her safety; he only hoped that he could make a connection with her soul energy while he was there. The soul realm wasn’t just for the departed; it was the gateway to the realms. Where one could generally find anyone, they sought and since he had no idea as to where Trysten had taken her, he could only pray it would work.
Still his reasons weren’t entirely selfless in his determination to suffer through the horrid nauseating and trippy sensations of the soul world. He wanted to know how he’d managed to drain Carter's soul energy. A trait he’d always thought was reserved for the gods, with the exception of a few elder Lupusnox’s and ancient Nightwalkers.

Lupusnox Females…Curling his lip in disgust at the thought of the trainers of the Daywalkers, the rare and unreachable goddesses of magic he gingerly raised the glass. How he wished he could get his hands on one in particular, but that would mean she would have to present herself in corporeal form.

To think you were so close…Yeah he had been close to that one, but she’d found him unsatisfactory, at least that is what he’d believed. Perhaps he’d been wrong all these years, and yet… what she’d done still hurt, he’d thought her a friend worthy of his trust. Closing his eyes, he pushed the memories aside, returned his thoughts to the task. He had to find Lydie, needed her safe within his arms. Wanted with an unparalleled need to feel her lips against his, taste her kiss.
She’s gone, Lydie had been taken…

The words that rang through his mind were a sore reminder to reality; he’d failed to save her. It burned and ached to think of it. Hesitantly he brought the glass to his mouth, closed his eyes in wary anticipation, and tilted.“Jayden…”

Barely had his lips touched the cool rim of the glass when the room shifted and took on a hazy smoke like quality, energy vibrated the air in an unearthly manner, racked his body with electrical shocks. The sound of Lydie's pained and frightened voice echoed through his mind, stabbed him with lethal precision in the heart.Involuntarily he took a step back wanting to believe it had all been a sick part of his imagination.
But it was no trick of his thoughts, the moment he closed his eyes he gazed about a blurred room.

“I don’t wish to sleep…”He swayed from the clarity of her voice, the scent of her all around him, “Lyd, where are you?” he cried out in desperation as he felt her strength slipping away. “Hold on sweetings, I’m here! I am going to find you,” but it was too late.
Whatever connection they shared had severed, leaving him once again hollow, and aching. Although he couldn’t place, a definitive finger on which pained him more, the fact she’d gone again, or that he’d used an endearment only one other had heard in his eight hundred years of eternal life.
Slamming the glass down he stormed towards her room, one thing fueling him. If only he surrounded himself with her presence then perhaps he could again make connection with her.
“Jay,” Carter's tension filled voice stopped him before he had the chance to reach for the handle. Swallowing his guilt, he turned to face his benefactor, a fissure of fear sliding icily down his spine as he wondered if the master nightwalker had come to end his life.
In truth, he expected it; no one threatened these all powerful, bloodthirsty demons and lived to tell about it, least of all a paige. Still he braced, prepared to fight his oldest and dearest friend; the only father he’d ever known. He had to protect Lydie no matter the cost, wanted with every ounce of his soul to see her again, to finally tell her of his affections. “Yes Carter?” his voice was calm despite the turmoil that raged within him.
He watched emotionless, as doubt flashed in Carter’s eyes and Lyd’s father hesitated, “come with me to the sitting room Jay,” with that he turned and walked away.
A sense of foreboding flooded his thoughts as he tentatively followed the elder, confused as to why Carter hadn’t just spoken to him in the hall.

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Carter stood pensive as he entered, his discomfort obvious and his emotions barely contained, “What did you want Carter?” He tried to maintain an unassuming and relaxed tone but his own emotions and rage still came through.
“You need to meet with the Lupusnox goddess in Veilwater. She can help you bring my daughter back.” Carter wasted no time in jumping into his conversation undoubtedly wanting to spend as little time in Trysten's favored room as possible. The sadness and fear that coated the elders words registering and doing little to dispel the wary anticipation that knotted Jayden’s stomach.
“If it’s that particular Dusk dog then you need to go yourself…” It came out with no effort, he already suspected who Carter meant, and there was absolutely no way he would ever set eyes on the traitorous witch again, not after what she had done.
A moment of tense silence passed between them, him standing there with his arms folded stubbornly glaring as Carter sat pensively in the chair, his hands visibly shaking as he rested them on the smooth cloth, telling that he had been as surprised at the sudden display of power earlier that evening. A power Jayden had never known he possessed, the sight of the normally reserved and powerful man so distraught almost enough to make him feel pity towards Lydie’s father. Until a dangerous flash entered Carter’s eyes as he focused on him.
Jayden watched in wary anticipation as Carter leaned forward, pinned him with a daring gaze. “I didn’t know of Trysten's life state, or else I never would have been with her.” Carter quietly stated, his voice tense, rendering Jayden silent, despite the boiling rage in his blood. Anger he knew he had to keep under control while his benefactor explained.
Sinking back into the chair the elder scowled and folded his arms across his chest.“I can only help so much. I had hoped that I could speak with you both, but with Lydie having been taken I have to rely upon you to convey this message to her.” there was an fragile uncertainty to his tone, Carter's voice cracking under the pressure of an intense sorrow. Pain and sadness that only served to cement his concerns with what was truly happening with Carter and Lydie, that he’d been unknowingly involved in something bigger than he’d previously known.
Briefly he considered entering Carter’s psyche but with his current frame of mind, he decided it was best to avoid doing such. Stood there in thoughtful silence, running each incident to date through his mind as he watched and waited for the other man to speak. After what seemed an eternity of silence, he couldn’t take the ongoing silence, “Carter I don’t follow what you’re saying, we’re going to find her and then you can tell her yourself.” Something wasn’t right and each passing moment increased his discomfort with Carter’s reasoning behind this conversation.
Carter rose, sending a chill up his spine the moment his friend pinned him with dark chocolate eyes and sighed. “Lydie isn’t a daywalker nor is she a nightwalker; it is why Arianne wants her; why Armand is after her. She holds the power to destroy us all and I suspect you do as well.”
If his heart still beat, it would have stopped at Carter’s statement. His assumptions about Lydie were correct she wasn’t just a regular half-breed; she was something entirely different, something powerful enough for both Arianne and Armand to want her. “What is she?” he couldn’t resist asking although he didn’t truly want confirmation, but Carter knew more than he’d informed him of and he felt it pertinent that he knew just what he was dealing with.
“I don’t quite know. she is something entirely different, I suppose a nymph but I can’t be sure.”
“A nymph? How the hell could she be a nymph don’t you have to be the daughter of a god to be such?” The shadowed look in Carter's eyes unnerved him, before the man even opened his mouth to speak the realization dawned upon him. “Holy shit!”
“Arianne is my mother and Armand is my father…” Carter's face was filled with pain, discontent and disgust. “At sunset tomorrow I am to return to the Cimmerian, per Arianne’s orders. It is why I need for you to stay with her.”
All this time and he’d never known the psychotic bitch, goddess was the mother of his benefactor. His head was swimming, “You’re a fucking god!” it wasn’t a question it was a breathless accusation, “and not just any but a dark blooded god who knocked up a day walker and…” his knee’s felt weak and his brain felt full, “and you changed me…”
Jayden didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or rage, at this particular moment he was stunned, dazed and even that didn’t seem to fit. “Yes, although I had not been aware of Trysten's deception nor had I realized my own error when I changed you.”
Error? He didn’t understand what Carter had meant in stating that it was an error, “what do you mean error?”
Carter’s face fell as the nightwalker, god lowered his eyes, nervously smoothed his lapel, “your blood tasted different and I suspect you are of a celestial line although which I am not sure. Certainly not a daywalker, I would have known when I first found you in the alley and you would not have survived.” He paused long enough to gaze sadly upon him, the look in his chocolate eyes disconcerting to Jayden. “I need for you to protect Lydie, love and cherish her just as I would.”
It was too much to comprehend, so much happening and now he was seriously screwed, whether or not he wanted to he was, or more aptly had been chosen as her protector. Rage kicked in then, so powerful he was unable to stop it, whatever the hell he was Carter had known something all these years, knew he had been different and had never once told him, not to mention expected him to protect Lydie, hid from him the truth of her.

Protect her, but how?

“God damn! Carter how the fuck am I supposed protect your half goddess daughter from those crazy ass mother fuckers you call parents?” His voice wavered infuriating him all the more. “FUCK!” he screamed at the top of his lungs the glass in the windows rattling from the force.Adding to the tension Carter sighed heavily tried to place his hand on Jayden’s quivering shoulder a gesture he stepped away from watching as the elders hand dropped listlessly to his side, hurt evident in his eyes. “It’s one of the reasons you need to go and see her, I suspect she will be able to tell you just what you are and give you the tools necessary to protect Lydie when she returns from Altoriah.”
Altoriah...

Now that was a place he knew, the realm of light a cursed place in his opinion. “So you know where Lydie is?” he didn’t bother to hide the venom in his voice or pretend that he gave a damn.Carter ignored the accusation in his tone and continued, his face crestfallen. “It is the most logical place, the home of the Daywalkers, where they are taken when they are injured to heal and I believe that Trysten brought her there to protect her from Armand and Arianne as well as myself.”Glaring at his long time benefactor Jayden felt his resolve slipping away, he didn’t want to admit it but Carter was right the dusk dog was the only one that could help him. The one which he had avoided these last six hundred ten years because of her role in Alaine’s and his child’s death. The one who had deceived him and stolen from him the light of the day. “Why do I have to see her why couldn’t it be another?” he ground out hesitantly.

“Because Kareina is the strongest of her breed, the eldest and most wise.” Carter's voice though dull was matter of fact, as if the answer were simple as black and white.“Yeah and a conniving backstabbing bitch to boot,” he growled under his breath. His mind twisting towards thoughts of Alaine with her sun colored locks and sky blue eyes, the only light he’d held in his life after one hundred and ninety years of life, the only to accept him for what he was and not turn away from him.

“She didn’t kill Alaine Jayden, I took her life when I found of her being a daywalker, it was either myself or Armand who had also found of her existence and ordered it.”Jayden’s vision hazed with red as he bared his fangs on the one he’d once respected, the look upon the Carter’s face disconcerting. Could he truly trust him now? He wasn’t sure even if he said he’d killed her was it possible that she still lived like Trysten had. It was all too much…
“You took her from me?” He bellowed pain shredding his heart as he forced himself to accept she really was gone. “You killed my wife and child because she was a supposed daywalker!” insidious rage flowed through his entire body, blinded him and stole his rational. “Why didn’t you tell me of Armand’s so called order, give me the opportunity to take her away?”

“I had to or else Armand would have killed not only her, but you.”Carter had taken from him everything that had meant anything, deceived him but before he could say such the elder spoke once more. “This has haunted me all these years because I was the reason behind your pain. That I had to withhold this from you.” Carter's statement was filled with genuine emotion yet Jayden didn’t care all he could think of was how he’d been so deceived all these years.

“You had best have a better reason than that Carter,” he quietly snarled wanting to tear the elder’s heart out with his bare hands.Carter sucked in a sharp intake of breath that echoed through the room, drew Jayden’s irate attention. “Kareina told me that you were destined for another, one with infinite power, but she never told me it would be my own…”Chosen for another, Carter had known for six hundred years that Alaine had not been his to keep and the one that was behind all of this was…

“Your fucking daughter!” Jayden bellowed the thought of Lydie being related to Carter suddenly filling him with disgust. Because of her, his master had taken the life of his wife and child, taken from him the only joy he’d known.

Until now…But that was a thought he couldn’t allow.
“Fuck you Carter, I am glad that you return to the pits of hell for surely I want to send you there myself!” He snarled cutting Carter off as he turned and stormed from the room before he killed the elder with his shaking hands.
His wild and hot gaze landing upon the tall broad figure of a Lycan. “Perfect” he growled quickening his steps until he reached the hapless creature and pummeled his body into him, both of them flying backwards to land on the golden hardwood floor that rattled the entire house.
“Jayden stop!” Carter hollered from behind them as he slammed Manning’s head into the floor with so much force the windows rattled within the panes. “You fucking prick, you’ve got really bad timing, something I should have expected from a lower life form as yourself.” He snarled pounding his fist into the man’s face with a satisfying thud of flesh against flesh.“Jayden! He is here to help you!” Carter cried out reaching for him and pulling him away binding him so that he could not move.“He fucking wants to kill her you stupid fuck,” he ground out using the only part of his anatomy that he could move, his mouth.“No he doesn’t…” there was a warning note to Carter's voice, another hidden secret that he was about to receive an answer too. Raking his hand through his hair, Carter gazed sadly upon him, “Manning has been working for me all these years. I sent him to Armand three hundred years ago. The only Lupusnox to infiltrate Armand’s barriers,” there was an undeniable and serious note to Carter's words, enough that it silenced Jayden.“He’s going with you to Kareina to ensure you don’t try and get yourself killed…”

~ To Be Continued ~

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