Eternal Flame Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Eternal Flame Copyright © 2013 Valerie Twombly Edited by Jason Bradley and Liza Green

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also Available from Resplendence Publishing

  www.resplendencepublishing.com

  Eternal Flame

  An Immortal Guardians Story

  By Valerie Twombly

  Resplendence Publishing, LLC

  http://www.resplendencepublishing.com

  Eternal Flame

  Copyright © 2013 Valerie Twombly

  Edited by Jason Bradley and Liza Green

  Cover Art by Les Byerley

  Published by Resplendence Publishing, LLC

  2665 N Atlantic Avenue, #349

  Daytona Beach, FL 32118

  Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-700-1

  Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Electronic Release: October 2013

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

  I have so many people to thank for getting me here.

  Jill Blashack Strahan, your dedication and perseverance, showed me how to reach for the stars. Without your lessons, I would have never come this far. Love you to the moon.

  The ladies who took red pen in hand and went through every chapter. Take a bow, you had a huge hand in this novel. Renea Mason, Kishan Paul, Jenna Baxter and Sophie Lira.

  Next, the wonderful gals who took time out of their busy day to beta read for me. Melinda Acevedo, Leta Fisher, Isabella Harper and Patti. Thank you ladies, your kind words meant a great deal.

  All the ladies of Coffee Talk Writers, your support, and guidance has helped more than you will ever know. I love you all.

  To my personal cheerleader, Natalie Irizarry. Thank you for being awesome and cheering me on, you’ve no idea how much that helped. Hugs!

  And of course I saved the most important for last.

  I dedicate this book to my loving husband. Thank you for all your support. For believing in me when sometimes I didn’t. For the many evenings you spent alone while I struggled at the keyboard. The countless ventures you made into my domain to peck me on the cheek meant the world to me. I love you, and without your support this dream would have remained only that, a dream.

  Prologue

  October 1712

  Tears stung Marcus’s cheeks when he raised his sword. “I am so sorry, love. I have failed you. It should be I who dies this day.”

  Eliza’s cocoa eyes looked at him but didn’t see him. Dead inside, her soul was lost. She would never again be the woman he loved.

  He sucked in a breath and flexed his arms, the sword swung, slicing across her neck. The blade tore through sinew and bone and sent her head rolling across the stone floor. Reality nearly sent him to his knees, but there wasn’t time to mourn the death of his mate. The fighting outside echoed in his ears, the demons were strong and put up one hell of a fight.

  Marcus advanced down the corridor of the abandoned castle. The scene played out the same in every direction. Blood bathed the floors, and his brethren’s heartsick screams echoed off the walls as they killed their mates.

  A demon jumped out from behind a door. Its claws tearing the flesh on his arm. He wielded his sword and sent another head flying across the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a Draki dispatching another demon. The shifter, a friend who also searched for his mate. Not even the dragons were immune to Drayos and his fucking misery.

  The dragon turned his head. “Be careful, my friend. My brethren will soon be setting this place on fire.” Caleb’s cerulean body shimmered as he shifted back to human form.

  “Have you found your mate yet?” Marcus asked as he searched the adjoining room. Empty.

  “Not yet, you?”

  He stepped beside his friend. “I killed her.”

  Caleb laid a hand on his shoulder. “I am sorry, my friend. Drayos will die this day for what he has done.”

  Marcus nodded and moved forward in his search for the demon Drayos. He opened up the psychic path leading to his prince. Aidyn.

  Marcus, did you find my sister?

  He closed his eyes, so many hearts broken today. She is dead, I am sorry, my lord.

  I will kill Drayos with my bare hands.

  Aidyn had already lost his brother and father in this battle. His pain ripped through Marcus. No doubt the other guardians felt it. It was a blessing and a curse to be connected to each other.

  He tried to pinpoint the prince’s position, but something blocked him. Aidyn, where are you? Do not engage Drayos. The prince would die as well if he tried to kill the Demon Overlord. Aidyn was far too young; his two hundred years were no match against a thousand-year-old demon.

  He took our women, used them to carry his spawn. He has killed everyone I love.

  Tired muscles carried Marcus up a flight of stairs. He stormed from room to room, kicking in locked doors only to find them empty. I know my lord, and he will pay, but it is not wise for you to confront him. He knew Aidyn wouldn’t listen. Perhaps the gods would help.

  “Zarek!” Marcus summoned the god, nothing. No surprise. After all, the gods could have stepped in and saved the women, but they had all been left to fate. Fuck fate, he was sick to death of it.

  The sound of clashing swords filtered in from the hallway. He flashed into the room, not caring what he stumbled across. His vision filled with Aidyn and Drayos, they were face to face.

  Drayos had morphed into a full demon and stood at least three feet taller than Aidyn. Blood seeped from the wounds that covered the demons blackened skin.

  Marcus tried to run toward them but found himself behind an invisible barrier. “What the fuck?”

  He balled his hands and banged on the wall. “Aidyn!” The prince ignored him. He was stuck, helpless as he watched the events unfold in front of him. Thoughts of telling Daria, his queen, she had lost her entire family in this battle sat like arsenic in his stomach. He pressed his palms against his prison. Aidyn, my friend, I can’t bear another loss today.

  The air behind him shifted, a cool breeze lifted his hair. He moved his gaze over his shoulder and found Zarek towering over him in a Scottish kilt rather than his beloved Egyptian shendyt. His raven hair held a beaded braid on one side. So this is why he ignores us? He is busy playing dress-up with the goddess Quadira.

  “Get
me out of here!” he demanded.

  “You will not interfere, my son.”

  Marcus growled; his fangs elongated; he wanted blood. Yes, he would take the blood of his god if it ended the pain and suffering of his brethren. “You would let the prince die?” He tried to lunge toward Zarek but found his feet pinned to the floor. You are our creator, we your warriors. Why would you do this to us?

  Zarek gave him a leveled gaze. “What makes you think the prince will die this day?”

  He looked back toward the fight. Aidyn had lost his sword; a small dagger was clutched in his hand. Both the demon and the vampire bore bloody wounds.

  He turned back to Zarek. “The prince is too young to fight one as strong as Drayos.” Marcus dropped to his knees, he would beg the god if he had to.

  “Send me in his place…please.” He was three hundred years older than Aidyn and could defeat the demon. “We have lost so much today.” Death haunted him like a fucking plague. He was a healer, but today, he healed no one. The anguished cries of his brethren still echoed in his ears. They had slain their mates then turned on each other to end their misery. Marcus would like to end his suffering as well, but he would continue on; his skills were needed.

  Zarek laid a hand on his shoulder. “I am sorry, my son, for all the pain you will encounter this day. However, today must shape the future.” With those words, he vanished.

  The future? Aidyn was their future, the line that tied them all together. They all hoped the prince would persuade the gods to find a cure for the curse Drayos had placed upon them.

  The curse would devour them, creating an imbalance that would darken their souls. When Zarek created his vampires, he used light and dark, good and evil. The light fueled the guardian of humanity, the darkness the warrior. A perfect balance, but once Drayos’s curse took full effect, the light would fade, the darkness turning them into pure evil, destined to destroy everything in their path. Not even the humans they guarded would be safe.

  He jumped to his feet but found the shield still erected around him. Aidyn’s body lie still on the floor, and Drayos stood over him, sword poised for the fatal blow.

  He beat on the invisible wall. “Aidyn!” He sucked in a breath, his heart trapped in a vice that squeezed the life out of him. He could do nothing but watch his prince die. A tear slid down his cheek for the death of his mate, his brethren and now his prince, his best friend. I am no guardian. I am a failure. I have failed them all.

  Drayos swung his sword. Everything moved in slow motion as Marcus waited for the blade to connect with Aidyn’s neck.

  Lightning sizzled from the sky and sent debris flying in different directions. The room crumbled around them as the earth shook. Drayos’s head rolled across the floor. Marcus sensed the shield that encased him drop, and he rushed forward to where Aidyn stood.

  “What the hell just happened? Are you alright?” Marcus asked.

  “I am not exactly sure. I think I caused the lightning.”

  “You?” He looked over the prince, his pants torn and his shirt missing. Dust from the debris covered his bleeding wounds. There was something different about the prince. He seemed stronger. Marcus noticed the dark marking on Aidyn’s chest and reached out to wipe away the gray dirt so he could get a better look. “Sweet deity!” He jumped back.

  “What?” Aidyn looked at his chest. His jaw dropped. “I never felt it.”

  Like many of the other guardians, Aidyn had been given his mark. An indication of his position and abilities. Marcus bore the Ankh, a pair of angel wings spread out over the top. The ancient symbol meant life or living. A healer, able to repair the sick or injured with his energy.

  The naked skin over Aidyn’s left breast bore the mark chosen by the gods. The eye of Ra, the symbol of protection and power, sat atop a pyramid encased by a blazing sun. This could only mean…

  Marcus.

  His thoughts interrupted by the almost unrecognizable voice. Father?

  Come to me, son.

  Aidyn touched his shoulder. “I am fine, let us go help your father.”

  Together they flashed to the position his father communicated. When Marcus arrived, his father was on his knees holding the bloody, headless body of his wife, Marcus’s mother. His sword lay beside him covered in blood. He knew what had happened. His mother’s belly heavy with child. Drayos’s demon spawn had been growing inside her, and like the other women, her soul had been darkened. There was no cure, Marcus had tried to heal Eliza, but it had proved fruitless. Like him, his father had taken the head of the woman he loved.

  “Father.” He knelt next to the frail man and placed his arm around his shoulder, pulling him tight to his side. “I am so very sorry.” Tears welled in his eyes, he refused them escape. He would remain strong for the man beside him.

  His father looked at him, his eyes rimmed red. “You will do the honorable thing.”

  Marcus closed his eyes, again. He would have to mourn later. “Yes,” he whispered. How much more destruction could he take before he crumbled? Somewhere, he would find the strength needed to end his father’s misery and begin his own.

  “Take care of your sister.” It was the last command his father would ever give him.

  “I will. I love you.” He kissed the man on the cheek then stood, his sword flashed through the smoke-filled sky and sliced through his father’s neck.

  Marcus dropped to his knees, the heartache so severe he nearly passed out. His lungs contracted as he screamed to the heavens. Another failure, so many broken hearts he was unable to heal. Why couldn’t he heal the broken hearts?

  Strong arms circled him from behind and held him tight. “I have you, my friend,” Aidyn whispered.

  Chapter One

  August 2012

  “When do you suppose the bastard will show up?” Marcus asked. He grew tired of waiting. He and Baal had staked out the stucco house for weeks, waiting for the ring leaders to show. They’d even rented a house across the street and worked in shifts. He’d just sent Garin and Lucan home for the night when Baal arrived.

  The demon stared out the curtained window before turning to answer. “My sources think it will be soon.”

  “I sure the hell hope so. I’m ready to burn that fucking hole to the ground.” He wasn’t sure how much more he could take. While they waited for the man in charge to show his face, the girls were paraded up and down the sidewalk like cheap streetwalkers. His jaw clenched so hard he thought his fangs would snap. He wanted to move the women to safety, but they had to wait. If they showed their hand now, they might never catch the slave traders. The bastards who kidnapped Kothar Demons and used them in the prostitution market. Their exotic beauty made them highly desirable.

  Baal’s back went rigid. “That’s a human woman.”

  Marcus’s frame shadowed the window in two steps. “Damn it.” Sure enough, there was a petite blonde, wearing a skin-tight red dress and heels to match being escorted down the sidewalk. Her shoulders slumped, and her head hung low. She looked to be either American or European, her looks stood out considering they were in the middle of bum-fuck Egypt, literally.

  He had no idea humans were being taken and sold into slavery as well. “I take back my previous comment. Before I burn the house down, I will gut every one of the motherfuckers responsible. I may even heal them then gut them again for fun.”

  Baal slapped him on the back. “I will enjoy helping you.”

  He didn’t doubt he would either. Baal was a Kothar Demon, and his younger sister Lileta had gone missing years ago. Hell, might even be in this very house.

  He felt a twinge of pain in the center of his forehead. What the hell? He reached up and rubbed his temples.

  Baal gave him a look of concern. “What’s wrong? I didn’t think vampires got headaches.”

  “We don’t.”

  Marcus, I need you…now! Shit, his prince’s voice slammed into his brain.

  “I have to go. Aidyn is calling me. Something’s wrong,” Marcus said.
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  “Do you need my assistance?”

  “No, stay here and watch that house, I’ll send reinforcements as soon as I can.” Before Baal could respond, Marcus flashed from the house to a remote location in the desert. He didn’t dare open a portal to Vandeldor back at the house. The demons in the area would sense it and run.

  When he arrived in the forests of Vandeldor, storm clouds boiled in the sky. “Aidyn?”

  Debris flew at his face, causing him to squint. Movement caught his attention, and he ran toward it. When he drew closer, he realized Aidyn sat on the ground, cradling his mother, the queen, in his lap.

  “What the hell happened?”

  “She was attacked. You need to heal her,” Aidyn replied.

  “Attacked by whom?” Her neck was nearly sliced clean through, and blood pooled under her head. Your majesty, who did this to you?

  Odage.

  He placed his palms on her neck, and energy flowed through his fingertips. Within seconds, her wound closed. He moved his hands down to her abdomen, searching for internal injuries. Oh gods! How could this happen?

  He bowed his head. “I am sorry, my lady.” He stood and looked at Aidyn. “There is nothing else I can do. Her life force has been taken. She will die.” It was the only thing besides beheading that would kill an immortal. He touched the prince’s shoulder. “Make your goodbyes quick.”

  Daria’s hand trembled when she reached up to touch Aidyn’s cheek. “Aidyn,” she whispered. “It is time for you to take the crown and become king.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I sense darkness descending upon the world. Evil not seen for many centuries will close in around you. Stay true to your course, my son.”

  Her gaze moved to Marcus. “Marcus, move closer to me.” Her voice hardly a whisper.

  He knelt next to her and gently grasped her hand. “Yes, Your Majesty?”

  “You are like a brother to Aidyn. Promise you will stand by him.”