Chapter 26 (Clare)

“Franchesca was truly something special, she hated the thought of getting married. Do you know that
she was the last of the girls her age to get tied down. I asked her countless of times before, and I loved
her, but she could never really be mine, she always belonged to him. I believed she could be
persuaded, but now I see she gave her heart to him. It was always him, though in the end she married
me, she was never truly mine.”

The words were sad, Clare felt remorse for Caidrian, her mother was something. She wanted to know
who the ‘he’ was, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask, “She’s been mostly single so maybe you’re
wrong.”

He smiled at her thoughtfulness, his sharp jaw working, the only sign that he was partially aware, “The
Draiken bloodline is the only ones who can absorb energy from the dead of the Lightwatchers, do that,
and your strengths are far beyond understanding.”

“What if I don’t absorb her energy from her body?” “You don’t have a choice, it’s a gift that you can’t
reject, her soul won’t rest until it’s done.”

She muttered, “It just keeps getting better.” “Clare this isn’t a game or a joke, this is real, as real as
you’re going to get, and there are worse fates out there.”

“So, basically I’m a Lightwatcher, descendant of an Angel and because I’m the last female of a special
family I’m now fair prey for demons.” She paused, “Okay, call me crazy.” Making hand gestures in the
air, with the packets, dangling in her hands, “but that doesn’t make sense.”

His gaze hardened, he spun on her, “Firstly you are the last born female, not the last female, secondly,
I don’t know why you being attacked purposely by Tempters, that's why we need to get you to Khiron
where you safe, so I can find out.” He said walking on, “Your mother did what she could to protect you,
but there’s so much we could do without breaking laws girl, even the deceptors have them.”



He shook his head, “Franchesca knew the outcome of her actions, your brothers and I stayed in
America, we had no choice. The Legions would have come for all of us if we left. Your brothers are too
much of a weapon to let them leave unscathed, and then there was the demons to consider. You can
slay demons after demons but there is never an end to it. We have all this strength and some honored
to fight for Adonai but at a price, because to be born a Lightwatcher is to die a Warrior.”

He raked his hands through his hair in frustration “It’s not an easy life, many are orphaned young, but
we move forward because we are born to kill and protect.”

The rawness of his voice, the unmasked terror and insanity in his gaze shocked her. Acting on pure
impulse she grabbed him by his arm turning him towards her, clearly he lost his mind, but the only thing
that she wanted to know was, “Where is he? Where's Calub?” The guarded frame surrounding him at
her question raised her shackles, her brain focused. Caidrian had no clue who he was dealing with.

When she thought he wouldn't answer he replied, “Taken hostage by a greater Tempter, one of hells
cadre, Asmodeus, king of the succubus demons, he’s as good as dead now.”

“What? As in, the Asmodeus! I’ve always had a fascination in demonology, this certainly explains it.”
She sighed, exasperated, “He’s your son, there has to be something, you said you going to see the
Garde maybe I could talk with them.”

Caidrian shouted, in a loud whisper, “There’s a lot you don’t understand, traditions for one, and if you
did that the Garde would be the least of your problems. If you asked for help, we would need an
Asguardian or Caster to open the portals, and you want to stay far away from them right now.”

“No” she frowned, “I’m going to find my brother, there has to be away.”

“I’m sorry there’s no way, the angel blood in us, will weaken going into the demons realms and our
abilities along with it, this is reality, it’s never a happy ending in the real world girl, you better get used
to it.”



She stomped her feet as they continued on their trek towards the gate of Khiron, she was beyond
pissed as her mind tried to think of solutions. “Why would my mother want me to meet Nathan after
eight years?”

She waited for him to answer but when he didn’t, raised her brow in a challenge, regardless, he just
kept walking forward. Fuming, with the obvious signs of exhaustion, her sharp breath intakes, her
sweat-drenched skin, she was running out of reserves keeping pace with this fuel-injected man. Clare’s
mind tracked and replayed everything she had learned today, ignoring the pain and loss, focusing on
finding her smaller brother. She was not giving up. As they walked, and darkness neared she finally
was on something. Clare had a point and she was going to see it planted,

“The only reason I can think about my mother introducing me to Nathan is it must have something to do
with Calub, and I have known her for a long time, my mother wouldn’t want me to give up on my
brother.”

“You don’t understand what you’re saying, you’re naïve, you don’t even remember who you are. You
wouldn’t last five minutes in the ring with our weakest ten-year-old forget a hundred demons.” He
laughed at the thought but kept his focus on their surroundings.

His gaze kept wandering toward the upper parts of the trees, “Your body is healing quicker, your
temper getting worse. It would’ve been too risky not to tell you, imagine if you just wandered around
without knowing your strength? you could easily harm a deceptor unintentionally.”

Various emotions sketched his face from confusion, sorrow, frustration to maybe even anger before his
body visibly relaxed, sighing, “Your brothers have a special connection to you. You and Nathan might
be able to track Calub down. I’m not sure if that was the reason you were meeting your brother but it
was what I heard Nathan saying to Kalbreal and like your mother he doesn’t tell me anything, he knows
way more than I.”



“So what Nathan doesn’t trust good old papa?”

Caidrian shook his head, as if the thought was as frustrating as it was necessary, “I know as much as
I’m trusted, my position as a Garde means there are something’s I can’t know. If I did I’d be forced to
inform the Advisors, whereas your brother mostly answers to himself.”

She nodded, getting the message that Nathan was obviously higher up than him, “FINE, I’ll speak to
Nathan.”

He stared at her from the corner of his eye, “Your mother’s side of the family has many fatal secrets.
Draikens have always had loyalties with Casters and Elvan that I still don’t even know about. But I do
know that when the Draiken women have babies there’s a ritual performed by Elvan and the Draiken
family. It is said to bound siblings of their bloodline together. A brother which is always the firstborn may
choose when he is older to transfer some of his energy into his siblings making the bond stronger.
Linking oneself to the other, they would be able to find one another and feel emotions of the other, like
an invisible link between them.”

“What?” A whisper escaped her, “How is that even possible?” She didn't mean for him to hear her.


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