Page 1 of Truth
Chapter 1
LENIN
I blinked my eyes twice,trying to clear the images from my field of vision, but they didn’t clear from my mind. They were coming. I saw it. I felt it. If I breathed deep enough, I knew I would smell it too.
My book, the legacy of my father, and his father, and many fathers before that, was returning to me, returning to my collection and making it whole again. My heart jumped at that. Book number thirteen, the last book my father held before his demise. The one, he claimed, was the most important of all.
When it went missing, I nearly tore the place apart. Everything got disheveled, disassembled, dislocated. It was just – gone. It was as if it vanished into thin air, turned to liquid and flowed through the pine boards beneath my feet. There was no trace, nothing to locate, not even a trail of vapors.
But it’s coming home and she – she is coming with it.
My heart jolted at the memory. She was a beauty, breathtakingly so. I wanted to touch her. Feel her. Own her. The thought made me recoil. My people do not own humans, though I got the feeling she was more than just that. She had power, strength, and I could feel her magic pulsing through the vision, though it was untapped and untrained.
I could guide the girl, if she let me, though I doubt one of the many companions she has by her side would allow the time alone needed. They were a protective bunch, walking with a circle around her like she’s so fragile she would break. Did they not see she was more powerful than all of them combined?
I opened my door and stepped outside, enjoying the grass that glided against my bare feet as I walked toward the perimeter of my ward. It was strong, but she was stronger. I needed to reinforce my protections, just in case. My visions have never been wrong, and I trust the fates to bestow upon me the knowledge if an enemy was at my door, but precautions for extra protection could never be overlooked.
I took out the satchel from my pocket and reached inside, filling my hand with the mixture of eggshell powder, black salt, rosemary, lavender and sage. The herbs grown fresh by me, dried under the sun, and ground with a crystal charged by a full moon. The mixture in itself wouldn’t offer much protection, but it was a start, a nice base layer to my stronger spells.
I sprinkled the powder along the border of my property, my thoughts solely focused on positive energies, not wanting to welcome negativity onto my land. They would be here in a day, two if they hit a snag, that is, if my vision was correct by the position of the moon. I’d be prepared for the worst, but hope for the best. Tonight, my weapons would be sharpened. My spells reviewed. My satchels filled.
Tonight, I would brace myself for the woman with the raven hair to come to me, the harem that follows her in tow, and pray to the fates that this woman and her quest is the one my soul has been searching for.
Chapter 2
STERLING
My boots were wet.My jeans were wet. My shirt was wet. My hair – wet. Mud coated every visible inch of my body, making my limbs heavy. The smell of earth and decayed leaves mixed with the layers of pine needles coated in mud, leaving a rather unpleasant smell. We had been hiking for only a few hours and I already wished we just air dropped in.
“Stop your sulking, no one told you to jump into the stream.” Ellis smirked.
“I fucking fell, and you know it.” I mumbled and Ellis only laughed. I would kill him one day, Liberty’s love be damned. He deserves it.
“Don’t worry, babe – you can shower with me when we get back.” Liberty said as she winked at me and I felt my chest puff up. A shower to myself with Liberty? Fuck yeah, I wouldn’t object.
Liberty’s comment did nothing to detour Ellis. “Hey, Sterling.”
“What?” The words were nearly a growl, and who could blame me. I’m soaking wet in the middle of the fucking Sierras.
“How much did those boots cost that you just ruined? One thousand? Two?” This time I did growl, taking all my strength not to choke him out. “What’s that, I couldn’t hear you?”
“Four thousand twenty-nine.” I shouted and the entire group stopped, every eye on me, staring. “What?”
Liberty scrubbed her palm over her face, leaving the cutest trail of dirt, which the mutt, Justice, wasted no time scrubbing off. “Sterling, seriously? You have to realize that wearing anything over a hundred, two tops, especially out here, is ridiculous.”
“I can afford it.” I mumbled, sort of feeling ashamed, and I didn’t really know why.
“Just because you can afford something doesn’t mean it’s the best option. Look at me, I’m wearing Ellis’s flannel, which I’m sure cost him like, thirty, maybe forty bucks, and I’m more comfortable than you are right now.”
“Well, you’re not covered in mud, so yeah.” I pointed out.
She pinched the bridge of her nose, “Babe, you’re missing the point.”
My chest warmed at the new nickname. I knew we were all growing on her. “They were comfortable.”
“If you say so.” She turned and continued following Oak, who was acting as her guide, her fingers clutching to the back of his shirt. I saw his smug smile, and the bastard thought he was winning having her touch on him constantly. Too bad he didn’t take into account that we finally talked Liberty into wearing jeans and I got to watch her perfect heart-shaped ass sway as we navigated the wilderness.
Of course, that was the reason I ended up in the stream, but no one had to know that little detail.