Page 28 of Sevan

“She woke me and told me that she was going to get cleaned up, and then stop in to let Christian know we were spending the day together. She mentioned wanting to show me the temples of Shamenia.”

Christian ran quickly towards the panel at the far end of the room. He touched the pad and keyed in a set of numbers. “Attention, this is the Chieftain, all personnel report to your posts—the High Priestess is missing. I repeat. The Devi is missing.”

High Priestess?

Jacquelyn nodded. “Yes, brother-in-law, Lorelei is a High Priestess, a Devi, as the villagers call her. She is capable of great things. Yet, her abilities make her vulnerable to Stegian.”

“You don’t talk like a child,” Jordan said, getting to his feet.

She smiled. “Because I am not really a child. My mind has been free to wander the computer systems since the day of my attack. Christian built the system to project the image of me as I was then. It has been many years since then. If I were still walking among you, I would be approaching my eighteenth birthday.”

“Still, you sound even older than that at times, but young at others.” Jordan reached out and touched her tentatively.

She winked. “It’s a programming flaw Christian is trying to overcome. He is a genius, so he’ll have it figured out in no time. I think, one day, he’ll be able to build me a new body, one that will let me run and be free to roam farther than the outer limits of our village.”

Christian moved past Jordan and headed straight for Sevan. “Lorelei never made it to meet me this morning. We need to split up into teams to search for her. I’m unable to get a lock on her location.” He looked back at Jacquelyn. “Run a scan of the village. She’ll be easy to find if you search for new life forms. The child within her will trigger that.”

A sick feeling crept over Sevan. “Wait, are you thinking that this Stegian guy got his hands on her?”

Nina shook her head. “Not him personally, unless he’s found a way to travel about during suns up. He’s a vampire and a sorcerer. Your people feared him, so much so that legend tells he arrived in chains—and it was the other supernaturals aboard the vessel who imprisoned him.”

Jacquelyn closed her eyes and put her hand out, appearing to scan thin air. She squinted and then gasped. “No.”

“No, what?” Nina asked.

“I’m picking up residual blood spots near the fourth gate to the outer limits. My sensors indicate it is Lorelei’s blood. If that’s true then she is badly injured.”

Sevan charged toward the door, only to find Christian grabbing hold of him.

“Let go of me! I’m going to get my wife.”

“We are all going to get her. Trust me when I say it will take the entire group to ensure we get to her.”

“What if that guy fucks with your head again? Huh?” Sevan needed to lash out at someone. Christian was the closest target. He shoved hard, breaking the man’s hold on him. The beast within roared dangerously close to the surface. It felt as though it might actually break free. Unsure if he could really control it, Sevan looked to his brother with wide eyes. “If something goes wrong and I shift, don’t let me hurt anyone.”

“If you shift?” Nina asked. “You mean you are not straight humans?”

“No,” Jacquelyn answered for him. “They both carry the gene of a lion within them. It was a recessive trait, one that had been thinned to the point of barely registering. That’s why my sensors didn’t pick it up when their ship entered our atmosphere.”

“Then how are you sensing it now?” Nina asked.

Christian touched Sevan’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Because the prophecy is true. The warriors who will help in the fight have been summoned to what was meant to be their home—they’ve come to grow into their full power and potential.”

“Will we shift fully?”

“I would assume that in time you will. And I share your concern about not knowing if you will be able to control yourself the first time out.” Christian narrowed his gaze on Nina. “Gather your men. Have them each cover an area and report to one another on their progress. Also be sure that each team is equipped with tranquilizers. Should Lorelei’s husband and the father of your future niece or nephew lose control and shift, they are to shoot him with them and get him back to the compound. He can be put in a holding chamber until morning.”

Nina shook her head. “He’ll never stand for that.”

Sevan’s nostrils flared. “Listen, lady. I don’t know or care what your problem is with me, but I can tell you this. I am not now, nor am I ever, leaving Lorelei or our child. She is my wife, and I love her more than life itself. If I become a threat to her, you have my permission to shoot me in the forehead with a silver bullet.”

“He means it,” Jordan said, backing him up.

Nina smiled. “Good to know.”

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