Her heart was a painful thud, and he seemed undisturbed by her revelation. With her enhanced eyes, the dark appeared to her like the blue-grey skies after the passage of a winter storm, like silver moonlight with bursts of vibrant color of life at its center.
She stepped to him and laced her fingers through his. “I do not think this is a new development in my telepathic abilities. I can feel this energy in me…and it is very different from what I am used to. Do you know Lachlan Ravenswood what is happening?”
He tilted his head, regarding her steadily. An image flowered in her mind, of her licking Lachlan’s blood, of being pleasured on his cock over and over while she sucked his neck. The change had begun then she realized, and she had been too enraptured to be alarmed. And now it metamorphosed, a dark wave of energy pulsing through her, her eyes sharpening, as images more than several miles out appeared as if they were before her. Shilah felt the strength in her bones, heard the winged creatures zipping through the sky hundreds of miles away. “Your blood has changed me.”
She almost laughed at the beautiful, cruel irony. How could she disguise from her people that she was different?
“Will there be a physical manifestation of the changes your blood has caused?”
“There is a possibility. You will become faster, possibly stronger. A tail and two horns on your forehead. There should be no other outwardly changes.”
“What?!” She snapped her head around to look at his face where amusement glowed in his eyes. “Now is not the time to jest, Lachlan Ravenswood.” But she couldn’t help the smile that curved her lips.
“I do jest, but only partially, speed and physical strength are known to develop with cases like ours.”
She was suddenly terrified by a thousand different feelings and sensations assaulting her. He tugged her closer, his scent filling her lungs and calming the wash of terror. He gripped her chin and lifted her gaze to his. His eyes, despite reflecting his beast, were so beautiful they made her heart clench. “I feel scared, yet I am not sure why.” The emotions had risen, harsh and intense.
“You are my mate. All of me belongs to you, and I would never allow anything to harm you.”
That outrageous, inexplicable desire filled her once more. She wanted to be his sanity. His pleasure. His mate. His everything. And that desire petrified her to her soul. “There is a part of me that hungers to be all that you desire,” she murmured.
Primal pleasure flickered in the golden depth of his eyes. His thumb slid over the sensitive skin of her inner wrist. “What is an impure genesis?”
Shilah stiffened, feeling his dark stillness in her mind. He had been there like a shadow, and she hadn’t felt it. Or was it that he was becoming such an intrinsic part of her, having him in her mind no longer felt like an intrusion. There was a sharp snap along their thread as if something had been realigned.
A curious stare assessed every nuance of her expression. “I heard the condemnation of yourself in your thoughts.”
And he did not like it. The warmth that filled her was unfamiliar with how sweet and achy the sensations were, but she welcomed it instead of shying away. “In my world, I am considered an Impure. I am an impure-genesis because I possess both telepathic and telekinesis powers.”
His eyes were filled with grim darkness. “The more powerful you are, the more celebrated you should be.”
How much his uncompromising statement revealed about the man before her, and the world he had been bred to. “Not in my realm. A man’s character is revealed by the level of his power. We believe absolute power corrupts and withers the soul, and such raw power must never be allowed to flourish in our lands again.”
He pulled her into his arms, his chin atop her head, his hand around her waist as they faced the unnervingly silent training warriors, who synchronously shifted with speed from one fighting stance to the next with brief pauses in between. Each fluid motion was precise and beautiful. She could see the power vibrate into the air as they adapted each stance, indicating the force of the blow to their invisible opponent.
She glided her fingertip over the roped muscles of the forearm wrapped around her midriff. “Serange had once been a mighty empire where the control of multiple geneses was lauded. From that regime emerged a leader who was a Na’Vita—a being that controlled all the geneses. He was a force no one could reckon with, a law onto himself with Imperial telepathy, teleportation, and Omega level telekinesis and foresight. The power of his mind was so vast, his hunger for knowledge and dominion grew in terrifying leaps, breeding in his heart a violent conquest of Serange and other realms.”
A sharp gust of wind rolled over the mountains, twisting the dress of her caftan about her legs.
“A rebellion occurred, war was waged. Our world was wrapped in chaos, our people on the edge of starvation, and it had little development in the way of advanced technology and medical care. The unrest after the rebellion was so great, the cry for a division of the powers was a thundering roar that cracked the fabric of our society and reshaped it. The leaders decided that one person should never hold such power again. New orders and laws were formed, and Serange split into three Kingdoms—Dxyriah, Arcadia, and O’andor. Families and friends were divided as people with similar capabilities were designated to live in different areas, and laws were enacted to prohibit
the geneses from cross-breeding. That was over two thousand years ago. It is extremely rare for anyone to have more than one genesis since those laws, Over the years any citizen to display more than one ability was branded impure and illegal.”
Apprehension tightened low in her stomach. “Almost one in every generation. There is a birth that is wrong. And the absolute law of our planet is the bloodlines must remain pure. I am an Impure, and I’ve hidden the knowledge from my family and kingdom for years. It was my secret, and I despaired anyone ever uncovering it. But with the slaughter of my brother and his heirs, I am the oldest Symonrah and the next in line to rule.”
“What are the consequences should you be uncovered?”
She remained motionless for several moments. “If the Senate knew I would have been taken to the medical unit and my ability to have children taken from me. I am also required to never have sex with another or marry,” she whispered. “I either submit to the law or choose exile.”
He stirred in her mind, absorbing the memories of how she had cried when she discovered her flaw, and how she had battled with her honor and duty to the law. She’d wanted a family of her own and had struggled to accept the solitary existence that stretched before her. If she’d procreated knowing of her multi-genesis inheritance, the punishment was death. For such actions threatened the peace and enrichment which thousands of Serangites had given their lives for during the rebellion. The purist ideology was so entrenched, the fear of history repeating itself, even with sterilization, no impure could ever take a life partner. Her wits and intelligence, beauty, wealth, and strength would not matter, only that she had the capability of tainting the bloodlines.
“You sacrifice much for your people.”
A shuddering breath escaped her. “I agree with the law.”
“I feel that you do.”
Her throat went tight. “I have always known the day would come I would have to reveal my status. Kala would then ascend, but she is so young and untutored. I promised her to keep silent until she is better prepared to rule. If Kala would have her wish, I would never reveal myself. I have already committed treason by not self-reporting the minute I discovered my second genesis.”