The One Awakened Read online

  “Have you, by any chance, seen her? She and my mom had a fight, so she went to stay with a friend of mine for a few days, but she hasn’t been back there in a while. I’m worried about her.” Khameel hated that he sounded soft, but he worried about her, and if Kai had any information that could help him find her, he’d do anything. He did not want to return home and tell Rafe that he’d lost one of his best friends.

  “I haven’t seen her in a while. The last time I saw her she said something about being sick of the family politics and needing to take a vacation of sorts.”

  Khameel frowned. “Did she mention where she might go? She doesn’t really know anyone else here.”

  Kai shook his head. “Sorry, man. I didn’t ask.”

  Khameel sighed in frustration. “Thanks. If you see her, can you let her know that I’m worried about her?”

  “Sure. No problem.”

  Khameel left the bar and headed home. Something wasn’t adding up, and he needed to figure out what. Unfortunately, there were too many other things that had priority. He would just have to hope that Mel could take care of herself enough to stay safe and alive. And if she couldn’t, then he couldn’t blame himself. He had tried to help her, but she kept making bad decisions. She should have just listened to him and stayed at their house, but she had to be defiant and go against Damiana. He was not her keeper. She was a big girl and could take care of herself. So, why did he feel as if he had failed miserably?

  Chapter Three

  Damiana looked admiringly at the completed thrones. With the crystal cell at the foot of her throne finally complete, she looked forward to having it occupied with its first prisoner. Soon, she would have more power than anyone else in the universe. She wondered if Drake would love her again once she annihilated Valerie. He always loved power, and when she eliminated his only source of weakness, she believed that he would finally come to his senses and be completely hers again.

  Damiana felt the small mirror in her pocket begin to vibrate and immediately pulled it out. Ever since Rafe had left on his mission, she had been carrying it with her in case he contacted her. He had been gone for four days now, and she worried that the Diasodz had seen through their ruse. She willed the mirror to accept the connection and waited while the image changed to show Rafe sitting with the red forest behind him.

  “Son, are you here on our property?”

  Rafe looked confused. Then, he looked behind him to the wall with the picture of the red forest and laughed. “No, Mother. I’m locked in a room, but I was able to command the walls to change the image, so I chose our forest to keep me from becoming homesick.”

  Damiana smiled and silently applauded herself for doing such a great job at manipulating him into believing in their cause. “I have been so worried about you. How is everything going?”

  “Perfectly, Mother. I am locked in a room, but at least it isn’t a cell. Nolan and his sons do not trust me, but Valerie is my biggest advocate.”

  Damiana laughed. “She always was a sucker for the mushy crap.”

  “I am sure they will accept me into their fold soon.”

  “Wonderful, son. I am so proud of you. There are a few things you need to know about them. You must keep your shields in place always. Ar’ch can read minds and manipulate your thoughts. Angel can manipulate your emotions. So, if you don’t stay on guard, they will turn you against us.”

  “That won’t happen, Mother.”

  She sighed. “I know. You are stronger than all of them. As happy as I am to hear that you are safe, I think it’s better if you do not contact me again unless it is an emergency. I am sure they are monitoring any transmissions within their compound.”

  “I understand and agree, Mother. I just wanted you to know that I am okay. I will be careful.” Rafe looked past the mirror and said, “Someone is coming, so I must go.”

  “Take care son,” she said before he closed the image.

  Damiana smiled and placed the mirror back into her pocket. Everything was working out perfectly. She couldn’t wait to have her revenge.

  -o-

  Ar’ch entered the conference room and saw Nolan, Valerie, Angel, and Rafe sitting at the table. “What is he doing here?”

  “He is here at my request. It is time for us to figure this out, and he is a part of it,” Valerie said.

  Ar’ch heard the sternness in her voice and knew that there would be no arguing about it. He sat next to his father so that he could see Rafe, who sat on the opposite side next to Angel. He refused to give him the opportunity to hurt any of them. He pretended to stare at the rich, mahogany table, but his senses were focused on Rafe’s thoughts.

  Valerie began speaking. “When I became pregnant with Rafe, I went to the oracle for guidance. While there, she gave me my first prophecy. She said that my child must be raised by another, or the savior of our people would be lost forever. I assumed that that meant that my child would be our savior.”

  “We all assumed that, my love,” Nolan said. “We know not what the Goddess knows, but that is what we all believed to be true.”

  Valerie smiled at her husband and then looked at Rafe. “I did not want to give you up. I cried for days. I tried to think of any other way to follow the prophecy and keep you, but fear consumed me. I was afraid that your father would kidnap you and turn you against us. I worried that he would take our savior and destroy us all. That fear, coupled with the prophecy, finally made me accept that I had to give you up.”

  Ar’ch watched Rafe’s face for a reaction, but except for his lips pressing together slightly, he appeared stoic. Valerie continued, “There were very few people that I felt that I could trust to raise my child. I chose Liana because I had seen how she had raised Ar’ch and knew that we shared many of the same values. And she had trusted me to raise Angel, so I believed that the Goddess wanted me to allow her to raise you.”

  “But why couldn’t she raise me here on Caelagios? The prophecy said that I had to be raised by another, not that I had to be sent to a whole other world!”

  Valerie swallowed. “My fear of your father overwhelmed me at that time. I needed to keep you safe until your death day, and I believed that Liana and you could blend in better with the humans. I believed that your father would never be able to find you there.”

  “Well, you were wrong,” Rafe did not hide the bitterness in his voice.

  “And you are being rude,” Ar’ch said. “You have no idea how hard that must have been for my mom. Your father raped her, and then she had to deal with allowing someone else to raise you in order to save our entire kind. How about showing a little bit of empathy?”

  Rafe glared at him but said nothing. Ar’ch could tell that Valerie did not want them to fight. “What’s done is done, and I can’t go back and change things,” Valerie said. “I just want us all to try to find a way to accept it and move forward. I hope we can make sense of my second prophecy.”

  “Why bother? The first prophecy failed,” Rafe said.

  “No, it didn’t,” Nolan replied. “Yes, we were wrong in believing that you were the savior, but had we not sent you to live on Earth, you never would have met Sofia. She never would have been raised by Liana, and we never would have had an opportunity to show her our history or tell her about the Goddess. Sofia is our savior, and because we sent you to be raised on Earth, she will save us all. So, you see, Rafe, the prophecy was right.”

  Ar’ch stared out the windows, which overlooked the grounds. He did his best to keep quiet. Rafe sat back in his chair without responding. Angel looked at Rafe and then turned to his father. “Alright, Father. Let’s go through the second prophecy.”

  Valerie passed a copy of the prophecy to each of them. It read, One brother will love the child while the other brother will be in love with another. The child will also love the other. The brothers must join forces, or the other will be lost, and so will the savior of our people.

  “I always assumed that the brothers in the prophecy were Ar’ch and Ange
l. I never realized that there would be a third brother. So, if the three of you are the brothers, then that makes Sofia the ‘other’ in the prophecy,” Valerie said.

  “So, let’s figure this out,” Nolan said. “Let’s look at the first line.”

  They all read the line pensively. Valerie smiled. “If I must take a stab at it, I would say that Angel is the first brother. You have an affinity to water and that makes you connected to emotions, so naturally you will love Rafe, even if you may not like him.”

  Angel looked at Rafe who looked away. “That makes sense, Mother. Plus, it is not a secret that Ar’ch hates Rafe, so he cannot be the first brother,” Angel said with a laugh.

  “He is absolutely right,” Ar’ch said.

  “So, then you are the second brother because Rafe is the child,” Valerie said. Ar’ch reread the line and sighed.

  “Speak to us, son,” Nolan said.

  Ar’ch ran his hand through his hair, which he often did when he felt nervous or vulnerable. The truth could not be hidden any longer. “From the moment I met Sofia, I think I fell in love with her. I tried to stay professional with her. You asked me to retrieve her and to train her, but I couldn’t stop myself. My prophecy had said that I would love like no other when I realized that the one was for me, and when I finally accepted Sofia to be our savior, I also accepted that I loved her. But then you told me that she was my half-sister, and I knew that I couldn’t be with her. I told her so, and she ran away from me, which allowed Rafe to kidnap her.”

  “Oh, son,” Valerie said. “I am so sorry for the unnecessary pain that I caused you. I didn’t know.”

  “I know, Mother. I was angry for a while that you never told me about having another child out there. And then I was furious when I heard you say that Sofia was your daughter. And as much as I hate to accept that this sorry excuse for a Diasodz is your son,” Ar’ch said, pointing to Rafe, “I am thrilled that it means that Sofia and I are not related.”

  “Ar’ch, he is your brother, and you will not insult him,” Nolan reprimanded.

  Ar’ch shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Rafe. He knew that he had gotten under his skin because he looked ready to leap over the table. The realization that Ar’ch could be with Sofia and that Rafe could not made him happier by the minute.

  “Let’s go back to the prophecy, shall we?” Valerie said, trying to ease the tension building in the room.

  Rafe spoke up. “The next line is easy. I do love Sofia. She has been my best friend since birth.”

  “And that brings us to the last line,” Valerie looked at all three of her sons. “You must work together to save Sofia, or we will lose her. And if we lose her, all Diasodz will suffer the consequences.”

  Ar’ch shook his head. “Not gonna happen. I don’t trust him, and I refuse to work with him. Angel can work with him and I will work with Angel, but I will not allow him to manipulate all of us.” He stood and left the room before anyone could object.

  “Ar’ch!” Valerie cried as the door slammed shut.

  Ar’ch stood on the other side of the door and listened to their conversation for a moment.

  “Don’t worry, Mother. He will come around,” Angel said. “He loves Sofia, and he will swallow his pride and whatever else is going on in that head of his if it means bringing her home safely.”

  “I pray you are right, son.”

  “Well, he better hurry up with his attitude adjustment because I’m not waiting for him to come around. Sofia needs our help as soon as possible,” Rafe said. “I’m going back for her with or without his help.”

  Ar’ch wanted to burst back into the room and tear Rafe apart, but he knew that it would not help the situation. Instead, he stormed off. He refused to work with Rafe under any circumstances, but he would make sure that he got the information he needed to save Sofia one way or another.

  Chapter Four

  Sofia felt herself being shook violently, so her eyes sprung open. She had been fast asleep and had no idea what was happening. Her heart went into overdrive when she saw Damiana’s angry face staring back at her.

  “You’re a clever, little brat, trying to reach those pathetic people through your dreams. Well, you won’t be able to do that anymore where I am taking you,” Damiana said.

  Suddenly, two demons yanked Sofia by her arms. Shocked by this sudden violence and desperate to be released, without thinking, she called upon her affinity to help her. Instantly, her body became fiery hot. It didn’t hurt her, but it burned the hands of the demons who were restraining her.

  Damiana sent electricity through Sofia’s body, causing her to lose hold of her affinity. “You will not fight back against my demons. Stay still,” Damiana ordered her.

  Sofia wanted to resist, but a direct order from her seed mother left her powerless. The bigger demon grabbed her like a sack of potatoes and threw her over his shoulder. Liana held both hands over her mouth in a silent scream while tears streamed down her face. Sofia’s face slapped against the demon’s back, and she could see Liana no more. This was not going to end well for her.

  The demon carried Sofia up the elevator and then out to the backyard. They entered another building that Sofia did not remember being there prior to her being locked up in the dungeon. She stared down at a brilliant, black marble floor. Without warning, the deminion tossed her down. She fell for longer than she should have if she were just falling to the floor level. She closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth, expecting a hard impact. Luckily, she landed on a padded surface. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she lay on a mattress in a large cell which looked up to the main floor.

  “What is this?” Sofia yelled up to Damiana who looked down at her with satisfaction.

  “That is your new home. This cell is made of crystal and is warded so that even your prayers to the Goddess herself won’t be heard.”

  Sofia watched in horror as a glass ceiling began to close above her. “You can’t leave me down here. I’ll suffocate.”

  Damiana laughed. “You will have plenty of oxygen, and there is a small private area over there for you to relieve yourself.” She pointed to a corner where a screen blocked Sofia’s view of the rest of the cell. “And you will get plenty of light from our throne room. You will be able to look up and see and hear everything, but nobody will be able to see or hear you. You see, dear daughter of mine, I do think about your needs. This way, you will have entertainment as well.” She smiled and then turned and walked away.

  “Damiana!” Sofia screamed. “Damiana! I hate you!”

  She wanted to pound on the door, but the door was the ceiling, and she could not reach it. She felt her panic rise to new heights, and her body shook uncontrollably. How would she ever be rescued if no one even knew where she to look for her?

  She tried to calm herself. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing. She thought of her willow tree, of a calm lake, and of butterflies floating in the air. Nothing worked. Nothing slowed her heartbeat. Nothing eased her fears. She felt the tears stream down her face. She threw herself upon her new bed and gave in to her despair.

  -o-

  Angel finished giving Rafe a tour of the house. “And that is the layout. You will get used to it quickly, I’m sure. I’m glad your room arrest has been lifted.”

  “Thank you. So am I. It was getting a little claustrophobic in there,” Rafe said, avoiding eye contact with Angel.

  Angel exhaled. “Look, let’s just talk about the elephant in the room. I like you, Rafe. I liked you back on Earth. I want to trust you and believe that you mean everything you say, but I am wary and with good reason. My heart seems to trust you, and I’ve learned to trust my emotions. That being said, I don’t want you to feel awkward around me. I am who I am, and I state what I feel. I don’t expect you or anyone else to ever feel pressured to return those feelings. Understood?”

  Rafe did not know how to react to his bluntness. “Um, aren’t we related?”

  Angel laughed. “Our kind is
complicated. We are not seed-related. Your seed mother is my birth mother, and my birth mother is your seed mother. So, although we are family in an odd sense, we are not genetically related.” Rafe couldn’t hide his discomfort. Angel sighed. “This is coming out all wrong. I’m not hitting on you, Rafe, but I also won’t lie about who I am. What I’m trying to say is that I am the same Angel that I was on Earth. And like on Earth, I want to be your friend.”

  Rafe pressed his lips together, hoping to find the right words to say. “I’m just confused about everything, Angel. My whole life has been a lie. I’ve had dreams of doors opening and closing, and I’ve had glimpses of what I think are memories, but I can’t really make any sense of them. I don’t know what is true and what isn’t. All I really know is that I need to save Sofia.”

  “You love her.”

  “Yeah, of course I do. She’s my best friend, and apparently, she is also my sister.”

  “Sofia is very special, and I love her like a sister, even though she isn’t really my sister anymore,” Angel said. Rafe could see the disappointment on his face. He could see that he had grown close to Sofia.

  Valerie stepped around the corner, causing Rafe to shake off his inner thoughts. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. It makes me happy to hear you both speak about love. Love, all love, is a gift from the Goddess and should not be hidden.” Valerie turned her attention to Rafe. “I hope you can one day forgive me for giving you up.”

  Rafe shrugged. “I understand that you didn’t have much of a choice. Your first prophecy told you to. Had you not done it, Sofia would never have been raised surrounded by love. I get it, but I still need time to figure this all out. Father told me things, and now you are telling me a version that doesn’t mesh with his, and I gotta sort it all out on my own.” Valerie stiffened at his mention of Drake. “I get that you hate him, but he isn’t as evil as you all think he is. Damiana is the evil one.”