Hadaen [The Marujan Brothers Series] Book One Page 4

  Turning from him instantly, she tried to concentrate instead on studying the decor of his apartment. It was gorgeous, very refined. Something that was sure to be seen in some luxury magazine. She scowled, however, at the dreadful taste in colour. It seemed as if some grey monster had spat out every piece of furniture and appliances that furnished the living room. She was sure that they were expensive but the dark colours made her want to gag. Hadaen Maruj must not be the type to have company over.

  Thick light-gray drapes fell gracefully before what she could only presume to be ceiling to floor glass windows. Large leather sofas were aligned neatly facing a huge flat screen TV that sat in the center of the wall. On both sides were thin tall speaker boxes along with other appliances she doubted she could give the names for. Blowing out an impressed breath, she looked the other direction. A mahogany-coloured parlor grand piano grabbed her attention. Amelia wasn't sure how she knew what it was called. Somehow she felt drawn to it and she felt her legs moving long before she comprehended the movement. Running her fingers lightly over the keys, she smiled and then sat down on the narrow leather seat that was positioned before the masterpiece. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply and felt her fingers touching random keys as if they shared a connection. The sweet melody that was produced shocked her immensely and she pulled her hands away, opening her eyes to see Hadaen Maruj staring down at her.

  Jumping to her feet, Amelia ran her sweaty palms along the front of her jeans. He just leaned against the piano, his hot gaze piercing through her body.

  "B-Bathroom?"

  "Second door down the hall," he said.

  Fleeing the living area as if there was a killer out to get her, Amelia opened the door to the bathroom and then closed it behind her. Gripping the edge of the counter as if her life depended on it, she stared at her paling face in the mirror. What the hell was happening to her? She could not find a valid explanation for what had happened just a couple minutes ago. She had played the piano! And played it damn well if she had anything to say about it. The fluttering pulse in her neck threatened to go wild as she tried to calm her emotions. She had never played the piano before. Ever. And in this day and age, it sure wasn't something that could be accomplished with beginner's luck.

  Keep calm, okay? She tried to soothe herself. Like I said, it's all in your head.

  Splashing some water over her face and looking at her reflection for what seemed like forever, Amelia dried it and then took another deep breathe. Time to face the devil again.

  When she re-entered the living room, she noticed that Hadaen had donned a white long-sleeved cotton shirt. He had left the two top buttons undone, leaving a glance of his smooth broad chest. Damn, she was grateful he had finally decided on the shirt because she wasn't sure she would survive the decade if he hadn't. As if sensing her presence, Hadaen turned around from the bar and faced her, two wine glasses in his hand.

  Striding up to her, Hadaen placed one in her hand and said, "Picpoul de Pinet." He then took a sip while she stood still eyeing hers dubiously. "I didn't drug it if that's what you're thinking."

  "Can't be too sure," she said with a nervous chuckle.

  Taking the glass firmly from her hand, he took a sip, licked his lips and then smirked. "I think I love myself too damn much to commit suicide." Staring blankly at the glistening moisture across his lips, Amelia gulped and took back the glass, downing the contents in one swift swallow. She heard his chuckle and chanced a glance at him. The laugh lines were now evident around the corners of his eyes but his face still wore that hardened expression. "Next time you should savour, love. Appreciate the taste of fine wine."

  Something about the raw sweetness of his accent tickled her insides, bringing forth a feeling she had not been accustomed to. Desire. She must truly be paranoid. "Are you going to tell me what happened with the piano?"

  Hadaen took another 'savour' from his glass, his gaze never leaving hers. Those big blue glossy eyes were bound to undo him. Grunting inwardly, he settled on the sofa, pulling her down next to him. "Whatever do you mean?" he asked, testing her. She pulled her hand away.

  "I know you know something that I clearly don't."

  "Ahh… So now you wish to listen."

  The space between her brows furrowed deeply. "If you're looking for some endearment, you're not going to get it. So tell me."

  "We—both of us lived in Maruj seven centuries ago." Amelia exhaled, hoping she could believe him. "We were to be married."

  She frowned. "From what I saw in my dream, I didn't like you one bit."

  Hadaen smiled devilishly. "You hated me and I knew from the beginning that I had to have you. But you disappeared before your initiation. No one could find you." He didn't think it necessary to tell the entire story. Surely not that he had forced himself on her and she had only used her mana to escape his carnal wrath.

  She scoffed. "If what you're saying is true, and it does sound like a load of crap, I'm glad I disappeared. Who were—are you exactly?"

  "I'm the ruler of Maruj. The first born. My two brothers take seats at my sides."

  He has brothers too? God help her if they looked anything like him. "So you were some big powerful guy, right?"

  "Make no mistake about it, Amelia. I still am."

  Amelia held his gaze for a moment while the question that was gnawing at her finally surfaced. "Does it still exist? You’re Maruj place?"

  Hadaen stared at her for long as if considering his answer carefully. "Maruj exists if you want it to."

  "What does that mean?" She shifted so that she could get a better look at him.

  "It means that things are very complicated.” Placing their glasses down on the crystal center table, he looked straight ahead of him, reminiscing. “Months after you’d…disappeared, the kingdom was attacked by the enemy.” He couldn’t let her know that he had been so wrapped up in finding her that his defenses had somehow been dropped. He had not suspected an attack at all. “The Kankul Dynasty had swooped in, hundreds of thousands of men, all with one thing in mind: total demolition. Thousands of Marujans died, some of our women were taken. In an effort to prevent another attack, we’ve hidden the kingdom.”

  Amelia had been so caught up in the story that she hadn’t even realized he was no longer speaking. She shook her head. “What do you mean ‘hidden’?”

  “We’ve made it unreachable to outsiders of the kingdom; completely undetectable.” He turned to face her, holding a hand out to her. “Take my hand.” She hesitated. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Sliding her hand into his, she flinched at the sudden heat that coursed through her. It was as if some warm energy was flowing through her veins, running along a hidden pattern up towards her throat. Her eyes shot his. “What is this?”

  He continued, “Noble Marujans have a special power that was granted to us by The First.”

  “Who’s ‘The First’?”

  “He is the Marujan Supreme Being; the Creator of all things.” She nodded slowly, understanding. “Our power is called Mana. To have mana means to have influence and authority which is why only the nobles were gifted with it. We serve to protect the people and ourselves. Mana was never meant to be used violently.” Hadaen had always felt guilty for what he had become. “While I was a lad, the Kankul Dynasty had made their first attack. My father had been ruler then. He was murdered mercilessly and the Kankul leader had somehow managed to obtain mana.”

  Amelia stared deep into his eyes. Somehow she knew that whatever he was talking about rang more to the truth than anything else she had ever been told in her life. She could see the dread in his eyes; the hurt and struggles marring his features. She could only imagine what it must have been to have those she was close to being murdered before her very eyes. She had no doubt that he and his brothers—the nobles—had been fighting hard to prevent further bloodshed. Amelia looked away and back at him quickly.

  She did not know what to believe.

  Could she truly have lived in some supe
rnatural kingdom hundreds of years ago? And Hadaen Maruj had been to marry her? She simply could not fathom it. That could only mean one thing. Pulling her hand away, she jumped to her feet and ran a palm over her face. Squeezing her eyes shut and willing away the headache that was coming on, she then sighed long and slowly. “How old are you?” she asked.

  He looked up at her. “I’m seven hundred and twenty-seven years old.”

  “Holy shit!” she drawled, feeling like she wanted to hurl. Amelia leaned against the arm of another sofa, grateful for its support. “Okay.” She blew out a breath. “So are you trying to tell me that you’re… immortal?”

  Hadaen got to his feet and moved over to the bar to refill their glasses. “Immortal would be the incorrect word to use. Or else my father would be alive to this day.” He drank some and muttered softly, “Mother, too.” Hadaen handed her the wine and watched as she drank it as if it was some life-saving potion. He caught a spec of her thoughts before her mind went foggy again: To hell with savouring. He chuckled to himself and continued, “We are would you could say, ‘difficult to kill’. In order for a Marujan noble to be killed, his mana must be completely removed from his being as he cannot survive without it. Our mana is the essence of our souls.”

  “Then how was your father—murdered then?”

  Hadaen swallowed down his wine. Maybe he should get a stronger drink. “The Kankul Dynasty is a very powerful group as well. While we owe our praise to The First, they are governed by a very dangerous fiend named Deorci. Somehow he managed to understand the prana—life source—beneath my father’s powers.” He casted her a long side-long glance. “Maruj is in a vulnerable position, Amelia.”

  Blowing out a sigh, she re-took her seat and massaged her temples. She tried to imagine a calm and peaceful place that she could run off to but her thoughts never averted from the words he had just spoken. She really needed to go home and get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow she’d wake up and realize that she’d been in a horrible dream. Amelia looked up to notice Hadaen staring at her. All emotion had been swept from his face and he looked at her expectantly.

  “What does this have to do with me?”

  He said, “In order to be able to resist the Dynasty’s darkness, we must seek Liberty. It is the only way.”

  “Wait—what? Who’s this ‘Liberty’ person you keep talking about?”

  “It is not a person but a force. A force created by The First to overcome all darkness. It is yet to be found,” Hadaen told her before grasping her hand, gently massaging her wrist with his thumb. “Amelia, you are the Daughter of Liberty.”

  “No, I’m not!” she snapped, snatching her hand away.

  “Yes, you are.” His annoyance had broken his steely surface. “You are a sorceress and I cannot understand how you cannot remember!”

  Amelia brushed him off and shook her head. She refused to believe any more of it. It was too much for a mortal girl to take. Did she just describe herself as being ‘mortal’? When had she ever thought of being anything else? She needed to get this man out of her hair before he managed to crawl deep under her skin.

  “Look, I know your country—land, whatever it is, must be in some real deep shit right now but it’s got nothing to be with me. Trust me, if I was some sorcerer or something, I’d know. I surely wouldn’t be going home to a dump every night. Can I go home now?”

  Hadaen clenched his jaws furiously. Damn stubborn woman! “Sit down, Amelia. You’re not going anywhere.”

  “The hell I am—.”

  The front door busted open. Amelia’s harsh shriek echoed throughout the room as she flew up off her feet, her fingers piercing into Hadaen’s flesh, and seeking protection. The last thing she saw was a large figure coming towards her before she blacked out completely.

  *~*~*~*

  Hadaen pulled the blanket over Amelia to shield her body against the semi-chilled air that blew in from the balcony. She looked so peaceful while she slept. The flames from the fireplace sketched dancing shadows across her beautiful face. Her chest rose and fell slowly as the realms of sleep seemed to be taken well with her. A few strands of hair, positioned near her mouth, flew up… and slowly back down as her calm sighs came puffing out like a sweet lullaby. Hadaen gently pushed back her hair from her face and silenced the groan he knew was fighting to escape him. Dammit, he was getting hard again.

  Turning abruptly from her, he seethed hotly and headed out to the balcony, feeling murderous. He was going to fucking kill him! Pulling the doors shut behind him, he turned to face the fool, lounging back in a chair and sipping on his damn whiskey. “I can feel your rage all the way from over here, Hadaen,” Gideon mumbled. And he had the damn nerve to mock him.

  “Did you have to come barging in like you did? Did you learn nothing from Father?”

  “I love whiskey, don’t I?” Hadaen grabbed him by the collar and shoved him up against the wall. Gideon was only an inch shorter than he was, and almost as large. But the rage that was broiling within him could have made Hadaen kick his fucking ass all the way to Antarctica.

  “Easy there, all right?” Gideon said raspingly, his own hand gripping the hold that Hadaen had around his neck. “No need to get violent, big guy.”

  Shoving Gideon away as if he didn’t weight more than a feather, Hadaen released his fury in one massive growl. He hoped he hadn’t woken Amelia. He then turned to face him brother again. “Where the fuck were you?”

  “Easy… I just went to check out some things.”

  Hadaen’s eyes narrowed. “What things?”

  Gideon ran a hand through his hair and glared at his oldest brother. “Faolan needed—,” he cleared his throat. “—a little help with sorting out some stuff. Give the man some credit, Hadaen. He’s the one who’s been left there breaking his back over the job that you were supposed to be doing.”

  Hadaen nodded. “How is he?”

  “He’s good. There hasn’t been any sight of a Kankul soldier at all. The cover is working just as well as we intended.”

  “Good…good.” Blowing out a breath of relief, Hadean rubbed his forehead and shook his head. He knew how the Kankul Dynasty was. They’d attack at the moment when they were at their most vulnerable; when they least expected it. He had to ready Amelia fast. Seeking Liberty was their only option. And she was their key to finding it… and the key to his release as well. God, his cock pained him as much as his head did.

  He hadn’t even realized when his brother and stepped up to him, planting a firm hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to scare the heck out of your girl. I was just in a hurry.”

  A hurry? The words grabbed Hadaen’s attention like a stab wound. He knew his brother; too well, perhaps. Gideon has been never in hurry. “What’s happened?” The hair on the back of his neck stood up straight.

  Gideon stepped away, placing his palms on the cool concrete balustrade structure and staring out into the darkness. “I could sense a dark trail following behind me,” he confessed, never meeting Hadaen’s eyes. “It was strong. Stronger than I’d ever seen.” He could feel the tension stirring around his brother.

  “Could it have been Deorci?” The words came out like a strain.

  “I don’t know,” he said, shoulders sagging a bit. “God, I hope not. But if it is, we are truly fucked. Maruj is well protected. We need to worry about Deorci slithering up while our backs are turned.”

  Hadean saw no argument in his brother’s words. “I need to convince Amelia to go to the Hub of Lensai with us.”

  Gideon nodded. As much as he could be an ass most of the time, he understood the measures and staidness of duty. “Does she remember anything?”

  “No. Just a sublimal flashback. But she still believes that it’s only a dream.

  “What about the necklace? Maybe that can trigger some memories.”

  “I guess… When she wakes, I’ll show it to her. If nothing happens, then I’ll have no other choice but to drag her fighting-and-screaming to Lensai.”

  G
ideon grinned. “It seems like you’ve got a feisty one on your hands, big brother. I wonder if she has a friend,” he said, pushing the doors open. “I could do well with one—fuck, where is she?”

  Hadaen jumped ahead of his brother and scanned the room. Blood pounded in his ears as his blazing gaze averted to the slightly opened door.

  “Shit! She’s gone.” And his knuckles slammed—splitting against the wall.

  Chapter Four

  It had started to rain again. And boy was the heavens in a bad mood tonight. Thunder boomed through the cloudless sky, preceding the sharp flashes of electricity coursing its way to Earth. Traffic went by slowly, possibly to avoid any accidents as the streets glistened, wet and slippery. Patrons huddled beneath the shelter of bus sheds. Others donned thick coats and moved about their businesses, strong umbrellas held overhead.

  Amelia moved quickly pass them, ran actually. Her T-shirt was soaked, her jeans felt like rubber against her skin. The squishing sound of water in her shoes, made her feel just as yucky as it felt. She was moving as quickly as she could, daring a glance over her shoulder occasionally to see if they had caught up with her. Her heart pounded against her chest as if it was begging to be set free. Her stomach twisted, both from anxiety and hunger.

  She needed to leave Seattle. Amelia didn't know how she'd make that happen but she'd think of something. Rain water beat down on her head, her hair sticking to her face and neck like paste. She could feel her body shivering, attempting to make heat. Her teeth clattered and she shut her mouth instantly.