KyriakisTriumph Page 11

  Anisa’s eyes widened. Her mouth fell open and then she shook her head. “There he is. There’s the Paris Kyriakis I know.”

  And with that, his anger was gone. He released her. “Anisa, I’m so sorry.” He internally cursed himself for letting his temper get the best of him.

  “Of course, you are.” She turned on her heel and left him standing there. This time he didn’t follow her.

  * * *

  Anisa supposed she could have been kinder to Paris but she still had so many issues to work out. All her life someone was telling her what to do, controlling her every move. In her old pack, her mother told her how to act, what to say and how to think. It was so suffocating. Nana Nkrumah, the woman she’d know as her mother had said that she was only tough on Anisa because she had to raise her to be strong. In retrospect, maybe her mother was only trying to toughen her up for the trials that she would one day face. She just wished that she’d been told about her seraphim blood before she was captured by Gage and tortured for most of her life.

  Anisa headed back to Sarah and Constantine’s house and then stopped. As much as she loathed to admit it, Paris was right. Sarah needed time alone with her mate. She could tell the two were deeply in love. Constantine seemed devoted to Sarah. At first, Anisa had been apprehensive when she’d learned that Constantine was Paris’s son. The last thing she wanted was for her daughter to be dominated by some Alpha with an over-inflated sense of importance. But seeing the two of them together had assured her that Sarah was indeed happy.

  Anisa’s only option now was going back to Paris’s house but she didn’t want to face him now. Every time she was with him she felt two things, anger about the past and uncontrollable lust. Maybe the two of them needed to hash things out but she just wasn’t ready. There was still a lot she needed to work through. Her memories were still fresh so everything seemed recent.

  Not wanting to go back to Paris’s house, Anisa found herself walking toward the beach. When she made it to the ocean, she walked to the water’s edge and sat down. She pulled knees to her chest and let the waves wash around her. The beach usually had a calming effect but her thoughts were so chaotic right now.

  If she was being honest with herself, Paris was different from the man she’d known. Then again, only moments before signs of his old self had peeked through and it frightened her. She was so confused. If she gave in to this strong pull she felt toward him would she be swallowed up in his world? Losing her identity yet again. She thought of all the years she’d had no say in her life and now just because of this stupid bond, she was just supposed to fall in line.

  There were only two things keeping her on this island, her daughter and the threat of Gage. Since her memories had returned, Anisa was terrified that Gage would somehow find her. She knew there was no way that anyone could get on the island without the pack being alerted but Anisa had observed the mad Hunter over the years. Each and every time he was thwarted, he worked on a new spell, stronger than the ones he’d had before. Anisa had a horrible feeling that he would create one that would somehow get him on this island and then, no one would be safe.

  As she mulled over these thoughts, her ears perked up as she heard the sound of feet padding toward her. She raised her head and took a sniff of the air, the scent was unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. She turned her head to see a tall dark-haired woman approach. The woman could have been a model with her smooth olive skin and slate gray eyes. Those eyes...seemed oddly familiar.

  “I hope you don’t mind me seeking you out. My father said you were out here and I had to come see you for myself.”

  “Father?” Anisa asked as she stood up with water dripping down her legs.

  The other woman gave her a smile. “I’m Persephone Kyriakis, well, Magnusson actually. I’m still getting used to being called that. I’m sorry, I wasn’t here when you arrived but I was with my mate’s pack in Oslo. My father contacted me when you arrived and I couldn’t wait to meet you. It only took a few days because Eric had to make sure his pack affairs were in order before our extended leave.”

  Anisa frowned. This woman was chatting as if they were old friends. Why was Persephone so eager to meet her?

  “Oh? When did you arrive?” Anisa asked for lack of anything better to say.

  “Me, Eric and a few of his pack members got here a couple hours ago. I was told you and my father were otherwise occupied, something to do with my cousin’s mate? I trust that she’s all right now?”

  Anisa nodded. “My daughter was able to help Nina temporarily but it wasn’t enough. Working together, we were able to purge the rest of the black magic out of Nina’s system. Unless Gage finds another All Black which I seriously doubt, we’ll never have to worry about Malum again.”

  “Thank goodness for that. I have Sarah to thank for curing me. I’d never been so frightened in my life. I thought I’d be stuck in my wolf form forever. Sarah is an amazing woman.”

  Anisa smiled. “Yes, she is. Sarah and I have a lot to catch up on.”

  A silence fell between them as they stared at the ocean. Anisa still couldn’t understand why it was so important for Persephone to reach out to her.

  “I’m sure you’re wondering why I sought you out,” Persephone said as if she’d read Anisa’s mind.

  Anisa’s face must have said it all because Persephone laughed with a shake of her head. “No. I didn’t read your mind. But, I read your expression. I guess I’ve wanted to meet you since I was a little girl.”

  That statement took Anisa by surprise. “I’m sorry but I don’t understand. How could you have possibly known who I was when you were a little girl? Why would I even be a topic of discussion?”

  “Well, I’ve always been told that I’m very perceptive. So it didn’t escape my notice that something wasn’t quite right with my parent’s relationship.”

  “What do you mean? And why does that have anything to do with me?”

  “It was because of you that father never loved my mother, at least, not in the way she wanted him to. For so long, I resented my father because I could see how much my mother loved him and yet, I never saw that level of adoration reciprocated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure my father loved her in his way. He was affectionate and considerate and never disrespected her, as far as I could tell. He deferred to her on decisions that pertained to the pack and it was clear that he valued her as a partner.”

  Anisa shrugged. “What was the problem?”

  “Something was missing. And over time, my mother realized it, too. It made her very unhappy. One night, I heard them arguing about it. My mother accused him of not loving her because he was in love with someone from his past. It wasn’t until my father discovered that you were alive that I realized that person was you. That being said, I grew up not wanting to be mated because I was frightened of losing myself to a feeling I couldn’t let go of. It wasn’t until I met my own mate that I understood how my father felt. If anything was to happen to my Eric, I’d be devastated. I figured the woman my father loves so much must be amazing and that’s why I wanted to meet you. You’re just as beautiful as he said you were.”

  “He talked about me?” Anisa was surprised that he’d brought her up to his children.

  “Well, he never mentioned you until we found Sarah, then he talked about you all the time mainly because he thought you were dead. But once he realized that you could be alive, he transformed. He was happy. There was a light in his eyes. Since my mother died, there had been a few women in his life but I think they were just no-strings-attached affairs. Once he resumed his search for you, however, there’s been no one else. You’ve always been the key to his happiness.”

  That was so much for Anisa to process. Did she really mean that much to Paris? How was she supposed to respond to what Persephone revealed? “I don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t have to respond. I just hope that whatever issue you and my father are going through now can be worked out because he’s been through a lot and d
eserves happiness.”

  “Look, Persephone. I know you mean well but I’ve gone through a lot as well and things aren’t as easy as us just deciding that we’re going to be together.”

  “I don’t mean to be intrusive but my father desperately wants to be with you. So how isn’t it simple? Is it…because you’re scared? I know a little about what happened between you but I learned the hard way that you can’t allow fear to rule your life, otherwise, you’re not really living at all. It was fear that caused my father to act out in the first place and because of that, he lost you. Don’t let fear stand in the way of what could be something good.”

  The taller woman patted her on the shoulder and smiled. “It was nice meeting you, Anisa. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better. I’ll leave you to beach watching. I need to get back to my mate.”

  Once Persephone was gone, Anisa dropped to her knees. Was she allowing fear to control her destiny? Could she really give Paris another chance?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gaspard had to find a way to get on that island but he didn’t have a spell powerful enough to penetrate the Kyriakis defenses. That bastard had his Camille! He didn’t care if her name used to be Anisa. She would always be his sweet Camille. When he rescued her, Gaspard saw it as his duty to protect her because of the guilt he felt at her treatment at the hands of Gage. But he also had another motive.

  He could use her to shield himself from Gage. Before she was attacked by Gage’s minions, Gaspard had had a handful of close calls himself. The Hunters had tracked him down a few times and each time he’d managed to escape but even he knew that his luck would eventually run out. Anisa, however, had powers he could use to stay cloaked. He knew there was a way to extract her essence without causing her pain. It was called the vampire spell and would give him the same abilities of a vampire for a temporary time. In human lore, vampire fed through blood. That wasn’t completely true. What vampires fed off of was essence but when they took essence, it could be replenished unless they drained their partner or victim completely. Essence was found in bodily fluids with blood and sexual fluids carrying the highest concentration of a person’s essence.

  Gaspard had figured that he could convince Anisa that she was his wife and she would give her body to him willingly. The spell worked beautifully. His powers grew stronger and with his new magic, it was easier to elude their enemies. As time went on, she became more dependent on him and he liked it. What Gaspard didn’t count on, however, was falling in love with her. Camille’s life before him no longer mattered because he wanted to keep her with him always. And he would have kept her if the Kyriakis Alpha hadn’t interfered. Now she was with him and Gaspard wasn’t sure if she’d regained her memory or not.

  He wondered if he had a chance to talk to her if he could get her alone, again. If he hadn’t been pinned down by Steel Romanov with a spell that was even too powerful for him to break, Gaspard would have taught those shifters a lesson. After Paris had left with Camille and the two other shifters, Romanov had performed a teleportation spell that took them miles away from the Athens property and then gave him a warning to stay away from the Kyriakis pack, unless he wanted to be an enemy of the rest of the Romanov family.

  Normally a threat like that would have kept Gaspard away, after all, he didn’t want to make enemies of such a powerful group of warlocks and witches. But he couldn’t stay away from Camille. He was almost certain she had some feelings for him despite the spell he’d used to erase her memories. But how could he get her back?

  He was deep in thought when he heard something outside his door. He’d come across this house in an abandoned fishing town or, at least, he thought it was abandoned. Maybe it was some local who would move on because he’d put a light ward on this house while he regrouped and figured out his next move.

  Ignoring the sound, he continued to pace the floor. Suddenly, the door burst open and a large black wolf hurtled toward him. It caught him off guard and he went crashing to the floor. The beast snapped at his neck but he was able to recover quickly and sent a blast to the shifter’s face. He then delivered a blow to its throat and kicked him off. Just as he rolled away, another shifter came flying at him. This time he was ready, he shot a pulse beam from his hand to stun the creature that was attacking him. These weren’t ordinary shifters. They were what Gage called his ‘Hunter dogs’. Gaspard could tell by the way their eyes were pitch black with no whites showing.

  Gage was a sinister son-of-a-bitch, mind-controlling the very beasts he commanded to do his bidding.

  Gaspard managed to keep both shifters at bay with his powers. He didn’t expect Gage to find him so soon but he didn’t plan to go out without a fight. His focus was on the beasts who were pinned on the floor with the immobilization spell that Romanov had used on him, so he didn’t notice when someone else entered the cabin. A powerful blast hit his chest, sending him flying so far across the room that he slammed into the wall. Three Hunters, he didn’t recognize walked in and simultaneously started hitting him with various jolts of power.

  Gaspard was in a great deal of pain but he fought because he was certain they’d kill him. Even by struggling, he might die anyway but he refused to make this easy for him. He chanted a teleportation spell that would transport him far enough away from the cabin to get a head start on them. It wasn’t as powerful a spell as the one Romanov performed which could take them miles, but it should still do the trick. However, when he did the chant, nothing happened. In fact, when he tried a simple energy blast it didn’t work. What was going on?”

  One of the Hunters laughed. “Your spells no longer work. While you were busy with the dogs, we were performing a temporary binding spell. You’re done, traitor.” And with that, he raised his hand which elevated Gaspard into the air and then slammed him to the ground over and over again until the darkness engulfed him. He was as good as dead.

  * * *

  Paris sighed in frustration. “I’m trying to be patient with her but she’s hostile toward me and I’m not sure how I can fix it. No amount of apologizing seems to affect her. Instead, she looks at me as if I’m dirt beneath her feet.” Since their last encounter, Paris felt helpless. He was Alpha of his pack and was used to handling problems but it seemed that his own was the one he didn’t know how to handle. Because of his position in the pack, he often kept things inside. He was always the strong one. But every now and then when he needed to vent, he turned to his best friend, who was the head of a very powerful vampire family. Dante had been an ally to his family before Paris was born and over several decades the two of them had bonded over being heads of their respective families.

  Dante was also head of an organization called The Underground which fought the rogue threat. Paris had gone on many missions for his friend. It was times like this, however, when he just needed to vent to his friend which is why he video chatted him.

  Dante stared at him through the computer. “The only advice I can offer you, my friend, is that you must remain patient. You have to keep in mind, that she’s endured so much and lost so much. Try to put yourself in her shoes. All she really knows of you is how you treated her when she first arrived on Circe. I know this isn’t what you want to hear but you can’t expect her to fall into your arms and not remember. You, yourself, said her memories are fresh to her, even for events that may have happened years ago. You have to give her time to reconcile her feelings for you.”

  “It’s more than that. She seems to want me to suffer in some way. I think she blames me for everything that’s happened. Maybe in her mind, she believes that she wouldn’t have been captured by Gage if I hadn’t run her off.”

  “I’m sure in time she’ll realize it wasn’t your fault. Besides, from what you’ve told me about that Hunter, he set his plan in motion long before your betrothal. It’s unfortunate that Eros got involved with him but again, you weren’t to blame. In time, I’m sure she’ll realize that.”

  “In the meantime, I have to stand back and watch
her act as if we’re nothing to each other. I get that she’s still upset with me but we’re bond mates.”

  “Just because there’s a connection, it doesn’t mean the two of you won’t have some complications. Remember, how it was for me and Isis? She’s my bloodmate but I was so angry when I found out her connection to that band of rouges that I turned my back on her. I had to work through my issues before I could fully accept her as my mate. Of course, the fact that I was suffering without her sped things up but I truly believe that these connections we have with our mates is a thing of fate. We’re meant to be and the universe has a way of working these things out.”

  “I wish I had your confidence, my friend. It’s hard seeing her interact with my pack mates while she barely speaks to me. Our only meaningful interaction was one quick romp and even then, she made it clear that it was just sex and nothing more. You have no idea how that made me feel.”

  “Maybe it was how she felt all those years ago.”

  Paris winced. “You, too? She pretty much intimated that’s how she wanted me to feel when I approached her about it.”

  “Then there you go. Allow her this time. For most of her life, she’s had her choices taken away from her. You have to let her come to you on her terms.”

  “And what if she doesn’t?”

  “Paris, you have to trust that she will.”

  “I wish, I had your confidence, Dante. I’m almost jealous of you. You and your bloodmate are happy and expecting your first child and as long as I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you so relaxed.”

  Dante smiled. “Well, it’s been a long time coming, Paris. I’ve lived a handful of centuries and honestly, I never thought this would happen for me. I used to believe that happiness was for everyone else except for me, but I’ve been gifted with an abundance of good fortune for my patience. I’m finally in a good place in life and my brothers are all settled with their families, as well.”