A Destiny Revealed (17 page)

“Well, that was fun.”

He ignored her sarcasm and focused on the lust darkening her
eyes.  "Come here,
rewà
,”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked to him with
slow steps, and swinging hips.  Bron grabbed her in a fierce hug. He
kissed her cheeks, her eyes, her brow, he flowered kisses over her face. She
laughed when he moved down to her neck.

“I'm fine, in one piece, and only a little worse for wear.
Quit being a mother hen,” she chided. He silenced her with a kiss.

“Did you know you would be followed?”

Dalia tensed and shook her head. “Are you sure I was
followed?”

“We had a lookout stationed outside of the club. They
watched a male come up a few minutes behind you. He called for backup.”

 Dalia stood and paced her loft.  "I had no
idea I was being followed.”

“Who would follow you, Dalia?” He pulled her back into his
lap.

Her brows furrowed, he could almost see the thoughts
swirling in her head. "I'm not sure, Bron. I don't have enemies.”

Her lies held a sweet tang that tickled his nose. He sighed.
“So, some random man followed you through the city and called for backup once
you were settled. I don’t buy it, Dalia.”

She shrugged. "I don’t know what to tell you."

He looked around her apartment, hoping to find some insight
into her. A Kevlar vest sticking out of a small hallway closet caught his gaze.

"Why would you need Kevlar?” Fear sharpened his tone.

Dalia straightened next to him. Her eyes followed his and
she cursed silently.
"My job."

“And what is it you do?” He turned his gaze back to her.

Anger and fear for her warred, built in his chest. Dalia
kept quiet.

“I asked you a question, Dalia.” He needed to calm
down,
backing her into a corner would only make her mad.

“I hunt the vampires you call Ajo." 

 His nostrils flared as he tried, in vain, to control
his temper. His power filled the room, raising the hair on his arms.

“What do you mean, you hunt Ajo?” His voice was a low rumble
as his beast clawed his chest. He flexed his hands and hissed as he felt the
claws rip through his skin.

“I keep a watch for any Ajo trying to take people off the
street.” Her hasty explanation did nothing to calm him.

Bron exploded off of the sofa in furious movements. He
closed his eyes and fought to get air into his lungs. The thought of Dalia in
nightly danger, suffocated him. Not to mention what the Ajo would do or who
they would send to take her out while she slept.

She rushed to explain. "It took me two years to escape
from the hell where Maksim held me. There were others there, Bron. Others who
weren't as strong as me, they broke under his torture. He had us put in boxes
and starved until we were delirious with hunger. You don’t want to know what he
offered to assuage the hunger. It took me three weeks to heal from the torture
he put me through when I escaped. I can't let that happen to another person if
I can stop it.”

Bron’s heart twisted. There was no controlling his animal.
Hearing that his mate had been tortured sent grief so profound through Bron, it
took everything he had to keep from dropping to his knees. A fury unlike
anything he had experienced whipped through his body. Fangs exploded from his
gums as the lion fought to take over. He struggled to regain some semblance of
control, to offer some sort of solace to her.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous-” he broke off, and
continued pacing. His beast became a pressure in his chest, demanding release.

"I've been doing it for twenty years, Bron. I'm well
aware of the dangers. I know how to be careful." Strength, courage and
determination threaded her voice, but it was her eyes that held him.

They were haunted, and the pain she hid so carefully
flickered in the dark depths. He probed her mind, searching for the memories.
He pushed passed her resistance, needing to see for himself what she went
though. Each memory he found pierced through him, images of her bound, beaten
and tortured assaulted him, stealing his sanity.

“You have no right to do that, Bron.” She shivered.

"I have every right, Dalia!" He shouted. His voice
was a deep timbre, testament to how close he was to his beast forcing a change.
“You are my mate, and it's my right to know what you've gone through. If you're
suffering, then I'm suffering.”

“Mate?
I don’t know what that
means, but it doesn’t give you the right to spy through my memories.” She
wrapped her arms around her stomach.

He roared and the sound reverberated through her loft.

Her eyes widened. "Are you crazy? I have
neighbors."

He closed the distance between them, grabbing her in his
arms. "You won’t talk to me,
mi ôkàn
. How else am I to find out
what you've been through?” He buried his face in her hair.

“You're not exactly a fount of information yourself.” Her
voice was muffled as he crushed her to him.

“You can't continue hunting,
rewà
."

The command fell between with the force of a grenade. Dalia
stiffened and pushed against his chest. Bron tightened his arms to prevent her
escape. 

“I'm supposed to sit around at the house like a good little
lady and allow the men to handle it?”

He flinched at the ice in her voice.

 "I was drugged, Bron. Drugged and taken off of
the street by some psycho whose only thought was harvesting power. He held my
brother chained against a wall until I agreed to do what he wanted. You saw the
torture that he put me through. I won't sit around and let it happen to other
people."

“Every Ajo that you kill without completing the
basíkùlú
,
is only keeping the evil in play, Dalia.”
He explained softly, hurting for her.

"Maksim is dead, there won't be any more made."

"You think he's the only one making Ajo?” Goddess, how
could she be so naïve for one so strong? "Be serious Dalia, as soon as
another vampire realizes the power that can be had, they'll take up his work.”

Dalia shook her head. "Then I can't stop hunting."

“I'm not trying to take anything away from you Dalia, can
you not stop until you and the oracle is able to talk?” He rubbed his chest as
his animal slammed against his barriers.

“What difference would it make?”

"It will allow you the chance to serve your
purpose." He snarled.

“I am serving a purpose,” she declared.

“You are seeking revenge, there's a difference."

"I deserve revenge.” Pushing out of his arms, she
stepped back. “He used my brother, Bron. Took him from our apartment, beat him
for hours until they found me."

“I understand guilt,
rewà
. Believe me I do.” He
ached, her pain echoed through him.

“I asked him to come here, to New York.”

He closed his eyes against her pain.

“I wanted to show off. ‘New York is better than
Loiza,
you can have anything you want here’. That’s what I
told him. Two weeks later, he was bound and gagged in some dirty basement.”

"You can’t blame yourself." He pulled her into his
arms and laid his cheek against her hair.
           "We want the
same thing, Dalia."

"You wanna lock me up."

“I want to protect you, yes.” He admitted. “But I know the
person that you are,
mi ôkàn
. I know you would never be satisfied on the
sidelines.”

“So then this discussion is over.”

He growled. She was nothing if not stubborn.

"You can't continue to risk yourself, Dalia."

"It's my life, Bron. You don't get much of a say in
it." She met his eyes, daring him, pushing him.

"Have you thought about what would happen to your
family if something were to happen to you?" His jaw was bunched, the
muscle in his cheek throbbing as he fought for control.

"That was unnecessary," she whispered. A spark of
guilt flickered through her eyes.

"If you can't think of your family, then think of me.
Do you have any idea what would happen were I to lose you?" Fear wrapped
itself firmly around his heart, its rhythm stuttering as he thought of losing
her. A part of him would never be the same if he lost her. Hell, he was dead if
he lost her.

"I've been doing this for too long to stop, Bron."
She lifted her chin. The truth of that statement shone in her eyes. She
wouldn't stop.

Bron closed his eyes as his beast clawed through his body,
trying to force his change. His back bowed as he fought the urge to force her
submission. "Go to your room, Dalia."  He could barely speak
around his growing teeth.

"You have got to be kidding," she snapped. Her
eyes widened as she finally realized what she faced.

He roared, his knees hitting the floor. He wanted to chase
her, run after her, throw her down on the nearest surface and keep her under
him until she agreed with him.

'Bron?'
 Zahra's touch
brushed through his mind.

'Too far gone… need…
'
His
body was wrenched as Zahra
transported him to the forest outside of their safe house. The change barreled
over him and his lion roared in anger. Any human thoughts he had were pushed to
the back of his subconscious. He prayed no one would approach him in this
state.

Chapter 16

DALIA PACED HER BEDROOM, her fight with Bron running through
her mind. She hated that she'd pushed him that far. She sat on the edge of her
bed and grimaced when something poke into her back. She pulled the gray satchel
Zahra gave her from the small of her back where it had been tucked. Dumping the
contents in her hand she marveled at the beautiful necklace that fell out. It
was a thin gold chain; the charm was a large tornado, worked in gold and as
delicate as a spider web.

Dalia wondered at its purpose, Zahra asked her to wear it
before she went to sleep. She draped the chain over her neck and closed her
eyes as comfort swept through her. She hastily wiped away a tear that escaped.
Opening her eyes, she reached for her cell phone. Her mother answered after the
first ring.

“Are you okay mi’ja?’ she asked in greeting.

“I'm fine, mama,” Dalia answered quickly.

“I was afraid…” her mother cleared her throat. “I received
word of the danger around you and was worried.”

“Did your spirits tell you?” Dalia joked and then felt
contrite. “Sorry mama, bad joke.” She fingered the necklace, trying to work up
courage.

“You have seen the oracle,” Isabelle said gently, “Ask me
your questions,
Dalia,
I can feel your tension.”

Dalia exhaled. “How do you know I saw the oracle?” 

Isabelle scoffed. “Those same spirits you mock.”

Dalia winced. “She said I was something called the
álà-írín.”

“So it's true.” Her mother's voice was weary.

“You know what that means?” Dalia fingered the delicate
charm. “I knew it sounded familiar but I couldn't remember where I'd heard
it."

“That’s because you and your brother never listened. We
tried to teach both of you some of the old ways,” her mother accused.

“Old being the operative word,” Dalia muttered.

“Watch your tone Dalia Lebron, I'm your mother.” Isabelle
said laughing.

“What does it mean, mama?”

“A dream-walker is a person who's able to travel across the
veil. They leave their bodies and their spirit travels there. It's said, they
were used to carry offerings to the gods.” Isabelle explained. “The gift has
always been in our family.”

“Is that why I was chosen?” Dalia asked.

“Maybe, but I can't speak for the goddess,” Isabelle said.
“It's very dangerous, mi’ja. You must guard yourself at all times.”

“I'm always on guard, mama.”
Except when
she was rushing to meet Bron.
He distracted her to the point she didn’t
notice someone following her this evening. “Why is it dangerous?”

“Your spirit leaves your body, for the time you're gone,
your body lies vacant. There are many on the other side of the veil who roam,
seeking a way back to life.” Isabelle answered carefully.

A chill snaked down her spine. “What do you mean, a way back
to life? Do you mean they could use my body, like possess me?” Dalia shuddered.
She took her mother’s silence as a yes, but she sensed there was more.
“What else mama?”

“I'll give you the warnings that have been passed through
our family and I want you to
listen
well mi’ja. Your
great-aunt was the
álà-írín
during her life and she made sure to pass to
us the rules as they were given to her.”

“I’m listening.”

“To cross the veil is always difficult the first time, it
requires immense concentration and is very painful.  Unlike the others of
the
basíkùlú
you have a direct link to the goddess, this link is the
light that guides you through the darkness of the veil and allows you to cross.
Many get lost in the darkness, unable to focus on the light. It's important
that once you find the light, your eyes do not stray from it. Never! Don't ever
allow your eyes to leave the light until you have crossed. Is that clear?”

The desperation in her mother's tone scared her. “
Si
mama, look at the light and only the light” Dalia recited, her hands shaking.

“Once you're across the veil, it's a wondrous place for
some. There're many who get lulled by the peace offered there and refuse to
come back to their body. That's why an anchor is important. You need someone or
something on this side that you love more than the sense of peace and happiness
you would feel there. I have to stress to you that sometimes family is not
enough mi hija.”

“I love you mama, more than my life,” Dalia promised.