Читать книгу Hunting Julian - Jacquelyn Frank - Страница 8

Julian reached to gently turn her raised knees to one side, protecting her from the eyes of the Ampliphi as they abruptly appeared before them, seated on the floor in the center of Justice Hall. The Gate was still brilliant around them, more so than usual as all the excess power of Asia’s energy spilled out in the form of an azure and lavender light. Smoke scudded out over the intricately tiled floor of the Ampliphi chamber. Then, with a last gasp for breath, Asia collapsed weakly against Julian, the energy that Gate travel had taken from her leaving her drained in spite of her plentiful resources. This was as much his fault as anything. She had so disrupted and disturbed his focus that he had not finessed the portal of travel so it wouldn’t burn her out so much. As it was, listening and feeling her reach that crest as she had undulated in beautiful, bursting pleasure had just about undone him. He had never seen anything like it in his entire career.

Not in his entire lifetime.

Considering he had conducted the sexual energy of a great many human women in that time, that was truly saying something.

The Gate resonated with one last glow around them and then disappeared with a hard, vibrating snap of cut-off energy. Julian turned up his eyes to the Ampliphi as he cradled his unwilling prize between his hands and thighs, holding her tightly against his chest.

“Julian, why have you returned?”

The six beings around him were always magnificent to see. Over time they had evolved so they could spend much of their time as pure psychic energy, even in spite of the energy crisis. It was such an amazing accomplishment that it deserved all of one’s respect and awe. Only the Ampliphi were this powerful, and only their advanced age, experience, and wisdom could have allowed for them to achieve such a grand state. They were proof of what miraculous things could be done with a minimum of energy.

However, the strain of starvation showed on them just as it did all of Julian’s people. At the moment, though, they were all glowing quite a bit more vigorously than usual because of the explosive flood of energy Asia had brought into the room. Their silvery auras were brilliant to look upon. Julian couldn’t help the flash of possessive jealousy that raced through him when he realized that they had been exposed to the fallout of Asia’s climax. No one had intended to steal from her, but her crest had been so powerful and effervescent that it must have been forced onto the unsuspecting Ampliphi. Julian struggled to keep from resenting their fully flushed appearances and silvery glow that nearly blinded him in that moment.

Energy was not to be hoarded selfishly, he knew. Still, he found himself strongly despising the idea of having to share any part of Asia with anyone else.

Julian tried to dismiss the possessive impulse. He focused on the Ampliphi who had spoken while pushing aside the telltale emotions spinning through him that he knew they could easily identify in his aura.

“Ampliphi Kloe.” He greeted his sponsor first, as respect and tradition demanded. Then he turned his attention to the leader of the Ampliphi. “Ampliphi Christophe,” he greeted with equal respect and a grave nod of his head. “I have conducted this woman across against her will.”

His announcement was greeted with one or two bright flashes of irritation. He had expected they wouldn’t be happy, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

“You have been compromised,” Ampliphi Rennin noted, disapproval sharp in his tone.

“To what extent, I do not yet know,” he acknowledged. “But I suspect it to be only a minimal exposure of attention. She did not know I was not human. Cleaners will need to be sent behind me. Blood was shed.”

“We can see that,” Ampliphi Christophe noted, drawing Julian’s attention to the blood dripping heavily onto the floor beneath his leg. “This is very disappointing, Gatherer. Only seven months? You have never been discovered so quickly before. This is a setback we as a species cannot afford.”

“I am aware of that, Ampliphi. I beg your forgiveness. However, my circuit as Gatherer would have ended anyway. This woman is kindra to me.”

He felt the surprise that rippled through the august body of beings. He hardly faulted them for it. He was in just as much shock as they were over the development.

“Impossible!” Ampliphi Kloe swirled in angry violet. “Kindra,” she scoffed. “More likely you make excuses to drop your responsibilities.”

Julian bristled at the accusation. He was used to Kloe’s bitter ways, but she was calling him a liar and it would not be tolerated. He didn’t care who she was.

“How can you be certain?” Ampliphi Sydelle spoke up. There was movement to her right and Julian became aware of Gatherer Kine’s presence over her shoulder. He wondered why the Gatherer was home instead of in the field.

“This cannot be explained. It cannot be quantified,” Julian said carefully. “I know many believe the kind to be a myth, but anything written about so much cannot be make-believe.”

“She is human,” Sydelle countered dismissively, ever the arguer. But she did not argue to undermine so much as to test his faith in his position.

“Are humans not our salvation in every other way?” Julian demanded. “We are doomed to die without them. They were chosen because of how close they are to us in makeup, minds, and emotion. Why not a human? We rely on their spirits for everything else, why can there not be kind among them?”

Julian’s heart raced with fear as the Ampliphi exchanged lightning-sharp bolts of energy between them, debating back and forth in silence with each other. Then, with a bright emanation, Christophe ended the speculation.

“This you speak may be all true, but if she came over unwillingly I am going to guess she has not acknowledged this connection between you. We will let you acclimate her and guide her. We will let you woo her as you will. However, if she rejects you, then we know she is not kindra to you and she will go the way of the others who have come before her. Do you accept?”

“Yes,” Julian answered with quick and sure eagerness. Whatever doubts they might have, he knew the truth.

“Well, this is disappointing,” Ampliphi Kloe said with a frustrated emanation. “You are our best Gatherer, Julian. Also, this woman has enough energy to feed thousands of us.”

Julian was on his feet in an instant, his hands curling into fists as he stood over Asia, his feet braced on either side of her as she lay in an exhausted slump on the floor between them. His sudden aggression lashed out at the council of Ampliphi in streams of indigo, whipping energy he could not manage. He was so thoroughly juiced with Asia’s psychic plentitude that he was having trouble controlling the abundance of emotion it created.

“You’ll not deprive me of her,” he said soft and low, the furious threat behind the calm words quite evident on the basis of his energy alone. “Not even you can do that if she is truly kindra!”

“Easy, Gatherer.” Christophe tried to soothe him, tendrils of gentle pink power extending to touch Julian with a sense of fairness and compassionate understanding. “We have already given you our terms and we will hold up our end. If you are kind to one another, the residual of what will come between you as you live your daily lives will be enough to energize your entire colony. Believe us when we say we hope you are not wrong in your supposition. I think Kloe is merely disappointed that our best Gatherer is seemingly now defunct. She is rather proud of her most accomplished student, you know.”

Julian did know, and he felt quite foolish for reacting in such an openly hostile manner, but Kloe had a way of bringing that out in others. He understood it was also Asia’s influence that made it so, but that didn’t make him feel any better for treating a mentor in such a distrusting manner.

“I did not want this,” he said, meaning to speak to himself but finding the thought out in the open. He realized it was fear of the unknown and overwhelming future that prompted his impulse to reject. But even as he spoke, he knelt down beside the woman who had rent his life into shreds within the space of a human hour. She had sought him out for all the wrong reasons, believed all the worst of him, and would wake to a very different world than she had known. Julian supposed it was only fair that both their lives had to be destroyed in order to place them on an equal plane where they could rebuild something together. “She will not be easy. She did not volunteer in any fashion.”

“Just the act of bringing her around will feed thousands,” Kine mused wryly.

“You had best get on with it, then. It wouldn’t do for this to begin among us,” Ampliphi Greison said sagely. “In one cycle she will return to this chamber where I will make final judgment as to whether she is fit to stay among us or not. This lies on your shoulders, Gatherer. She must freely give what we need or she will be wiped and returned to her home.”

“You would destroy her entire mind,” Julian protested.

“Just her memories of who and what she is. Her memories of this place and of you. She will be a danger to us all if I did not. So I suggest you not fail in your endeavors to win her over.”

“No. Of course not.” Julian wasn’t certain if he felt sincerity or sarcasm behind Greison’s suggestion. He rarely found himself in agreement with Greison, but the Ampliphi was right: Asia had to come around or they would rob her of everything she was.

But he would be damned before he would tell her as much. If she came around it would be because she wanted to, not because she was being blackmailed into it.

Julian moved in an attempt to gather her up, but suddenly the displacement of energies he’d ridden overwhelmed him and sent him tottering off balance. It was all he could do to brace himself with both hands against the floor. The weakness and disorientation annoyed him, but it would pass. The true irritant lay in showing the flaw to the noble gathering behind him. Of course, he highly doubted any of them had experienced the differences between life on Earth and life here Beneath. The flux of power alone was as nauseating a ride as a gravity-defying, record-breaking roller coaster. The analogy amused him for a moment when he realized it was Shade’s fascination with the human inventions that had brought the example to mind. His coworker was obsessed with the damn things, and it had clearly rubbed off.

“Gatherer, you are weakened,” Greison noted with rankling dispassion. “I shall contact your Companion to come and assist you with your burden.”

“No!” Julian was up and whirling on the Ampliphi in a heartbeat, the action only worsening his fluctuating equilibrium. Still, he held himself strong and steady. “Do not.”

“Nonsense. You require assistance. There is no shame in that. This is what a Companion is for,” Rennin said dismissively, reaching for the bell that would summon Julian’s Companion.

“Please, I beg of you, do not do this in this manner. I…” He hesitated when the desperation in his voice caused their energy to beat at him with curiosity. “I would not wish to reveal the future to my Companion in such a coldhearted manner.”

Julian could tell they did not understand. It was very likely that they wouldn’t, even with an explanation. The Ampliphi, like so many of his people, were quite disengaged from their emotions much of the time. Compassion chief among them.

“Julian, you are being oversensitive,” Ampliphi Sydelle scolded him.

“Too much time exposed to humans, no doubt,” Greison considered.

“No,” Julian retorted sharply. “I merely suggest that it would be cruel to force my Companion to so abruptly face the one who will replace her.”

“Ridiculous. Ariel knows she is not your kindra, and as such expects this day may be in her future. We assigned her to you. You never made a commitment, and even if you had, it would have been foolish of her to accept it at face value,” Kloe scoffed.

“Julian would never make a false promise,” Gisella defended him, making him recall why he had always been partial to her, even though she had not been the one to mentor him. Then she turned to him and reminded him of why the Ampliphi so irritated him at times. “Ariel is your servant. You are her master. She is to obey you in all things and accepts this as her place. You do her discredit to attribute nonsense to her sensibilities.”

“I beg your humble pardon, Ampliphi, but you don’t know a damn thing about Ariel. You haven’t been Companioned with her for sixteen years as I have. I doubt any of you have had more than cursory contact with her in all of this time. Ariel is…insecure. Possessive, you could say. She will not take this well.”

That was understating matters. Over the years, his long, continued absences when his Gatherer duties took him to Earth time and again had germinated small seeds of jealousy and loneliness into full-blown and often debilitating characteristics in Ariel. Characteristics he could have had her dismissed for a long time ago. Perhaps he should have done. Unlike his methodical compatriots, however, he had not had the heart to tip her over the edge by confirming her every doubt that she would never quite be enough for him. Since he was so rarely present in this realm anymore, it had not been much of an issue to leave her to do her work as always.

It would be now.

His days as a Gatherer were on hold for quite some time, if not permanently. Asia had seen to that in more ways than one.

“If this is the case, why did you not approach us with this? You ought to have shed the defective girl immediately. These types of distractions are the last thing our Gatherers need. We have rules and bounds for a reason, Julian.” Sydelle shifted in a rare show of irritation. “Companions are assigned to ease your cares and needs, not compound them. We will have her ejected from your living spaces immediately.”

“You will not.”

Few dared to countermand the Ampliphi, least of all in such a resounding and dire tone of voice. The chamber fell quite quiet, energy ebbing away from Julian now as his own surplus flared hard with his temper.

“You will allow me time to gently and thoughtfully prepare a longtime Companion for her transition to retirement. She will not serve me so long only to be dismissed in shame at the very end. She deserves better, for, despite her weaknesses, she has done her service well and thoroughly. It is not Ariel’s fault that her trainers did not see the flaws in her confidence that made her unsuitable for a role as Companion. She hid them well, even from her own awareness, I assure you. It was years before the cracks became large enough for me to see them. This transition will be done with respect and in private. I will not force her to keep composure in front of you all even as she helps to carry the end of life as she has known it into her own home. She will be rejected, evicted, retired, and obsolete in all of an instant. That instant should be between her and me alone.”

Julian did not wait to see if they agreed or disagreed with what amounted to a command. Despite his position and power, he risked much taking authority with the Ampliphi in such a manner. He doubted anyone else would have been allowed to get away with it.

He knelt again, this time in all steadiness, because so much balanced so precariously on his strength in that moment. He lifted Asia tight and close to his chest and rose smoothly to his feet. He exited the chambers in a few sharp strides.

“He was ever willful,” Sydelle mused.

“His unflagging confidence is what made him so ideal for the role of Gatherer,” Kloe said with no little amount of smug pride. She was the one who had insisted on his training, grooming him from the first day. She would not let them revise all her hard work at this late date.

“He should be checked for this,” Rennin grumbled. “It does not do for him to think he can get away with—”

“He will be more powerful than us all one day,” Christophe interrupted sharply and definitively, quelling the debate before it began. “If any of you doubted that, those doubts must end with the taking of his kindra. Without her, he would be formidable. With her, he will be nigh unstoppable. There are no limits to what he will accomplish.”

“He needs to win her first. Stealing her from her life will not make an easy way of it,” Rennin mused. “To be his match, her will must be equal to his own. They could just as easily destroy one another.”

“Do not look so eager for the prospect, Rennin,” Christophe warned. “You may fear your future if you must, but you ought to fear all our futures if something significant does not happen soon to interrupt the disaster we are rushing toward. Losing Julian will only make it happen all the quicker.”

“God forbid it,” Sydelle whispered with the dreadful respect their situation called for.

“God may yet grant your wish,” Christophe sighed. “But until then…”

He reached for the bell. He fed energy into the ring, sending out a distinctive frequency. Every being among them had their own toned signal. They knew it instinctively, felt the pull to answer the call of the Ampliphi whenever it was sounded. They were born with it, their auras resonating it. Only the six bells in the chamber could create the match. It could not be duplicated any other way.

Within a moment, the Ampliphi’s call was answered, a rush of energy displacement at the center of the chamber rolling off the newcomer in dark, overwhelming waves. It was so different from Julian’s righteous and bright abundance of energy. But then, Julian spent much time feeding from human energy.

This one was from the very bottom of the energy food chain.

Greison narrowed all of his energy on his Gatherer, studying him silently for a long space of time. The others waited patiently as he ordered his thoughts.

“We have a task for you,” he said, the gravelly resonance of his voice echoing throughout the Hall.

Julian entered his home quickly, closing the door against curious stares that rankled so easily. He didn’t even bother to locate Ariel, knowing she would be on him in just moments once she sensed his arrival. He swiftly made his way to the second level of the structure and carried Asia into the unoccupied room he maintained for visitors. He had no sooner set her down than the excited greeting burst along the walls.

“Julian! Julian!”

Ariel ran into the room as he turned to face her. She rocketed her soft, rounded little body up against him and hugged him until he was throttled by her strength and her excitement. Her hair hung damp against her back and wrists, telling him she had been bathing. Her robe, in fact, was damp, as if she’d leapt straight from the bath and donned it.

“You’re home! I wasn’t expecting you at all! No one warned me. I will ready your things as soon as I—”

“Come now and be easy.” He chuckled softly against her temple. “There is time for everything. Mostly there is time for you to take a breath.”

“Then you aren’t leaving again right away?” she asked eagerly as she clung to him and looked up into his eyes.

Julian hesitated. He didn’t mean to be evasive, but he didn’t want to lie to her, and the bald truth would be like slitting her gut wide open. In the time it took him to struggle for the right words, Ariel’s head tipped to the side and she caught sight of the woman in the bed behind him.

“Julian, who is this?” she asked, her enthusiasm bleeding out of her swiftly and suspicion creeping into her voice—along with an instant emanation of jealousy. She gripped at him a bit more strongly as her eyes narrowed on Asia. “You’ve brought home a guest? A Chosen? Shouldn’t she be with the Ampliphi receiving residence?”

“Ariel, let’s go inside and talk for a moment,” he invited her gently.

“No.” She bit her lip and stubbornly drew back to cross her arms over her body. “Tell me here and now, why is she here?”

“Because this is my home, Ariel,” he reminded her a bit sharply as her petulance boded ill for the coming conversation. “She is my guest because I choose her to be. But also…she is a special woman.” He turned slightly to look at Asia, unable to help reaching out to touch her foot.

“I’ll just bet she is,” Ariel hissed with her entire being, the lash of her fury laced with pain. “The only reason for bringing a Chosen home is so you can bed her, Julian! I can sense the lust on you already! You reek of her!”

“Enough!” he said harshly, turning back to her with a hard motion.

“No! How could you do this?” Ariel’s warm, tragic eyes filled with tears. The energy of her emotions sank into him. Julian found himself already overfilled with Asia’s vitality, so it didn’t affect him as much as it had at other times when Ariel had pulled out cards of guilt and betrayal. It helped him steady himself for her inevitable hurt. “This is my home, too,” she whispered painfully.

“Not any longer,” he told her softly.

Ariel gasped, his information so unexpected that she froze in wide-eyed shock. She stared at him as if she hadn’t heard him right, but she quickly realized that she had.

“No,” she breathed. “No! I-I didn’t mean…t-to make you angry!” She vibrated with clumsy panic, her heart racing wildly in fear.

“Ariel, I am not angry,” he said as gently as he could. “I am not punishing you.”

“Yes! Yes, you are!” she cried, her hands gripping the front of her robe, her body hunching into itself as if seeking protection.

“No, Ari. Ariel, she is kindra to me.” Julian paused only long enough to watch the awful impact that bit of news had on her. He was truly sorry to hurt her, the pain flooding out of her tasting bitter on his tongue and flitting against the walls of mental protection he had to erect against her. However, she had to face the fact that her life was about to change and her plans and fantasies concerning him would never see fruition. “I’m sorry, but this is the way things have been dealt. You have been an excellent Companion for all these years, and I should like you and me to always be close, but the arrival of my kindra means it is time for you to retire. It’s beyond time for you to find companionship for yourself. There are so many out there who would—”

“I don’t want them! I want you!” She flung herself into him, wrapping him in the clutch of her arms like a vise. Her hands gripped his shirt so hard that the fabric popped at its seams. “Please. Oh, please, Julian don’t do this! She’s nothing! An alien! What does she know of you? What can she appreciate of the gift you are? I know! I know everything. What you need. What you like. I even know what you desire!”

“Ariel, stop this,” he commanded her, overpowering her and putting her away from him. “You have always known we are not meant to be committed. You have served your role as Companion with loyalty and devotion. Let’s not end this in a way that will cause us pain and hardship.” He paused, judging the stubbornness and anger radiating off her. “And no, Ari, you do not know what I truly desire. If you did, and if it mattered to you, you wouldn’t be thinking and acting so selfishly. Maybe she doesn’t know anything of me, but she will. Once she does, everything here will change. Don’t you want to see our people healthy and happy?”

“I don’t care about anyone else but you,” she whispered.

“Then I am more convinced than ever that you don’t truly love me, Ariel. If you did, you would never say such a thing. You would never feel such a thing. Now, please…the Ampliphi will give you a beautiful new life where you will be treasured by many just as you deserve.” He reached out and gently brushed back her hair for a moment, trying to ease the rigid betrayal etched into her features. “In three days they will come for you, and you must be ready. Go and begin. I don’t expect you to care for my kindra. I would not be so cruel to you. If it is too hard for you to remain these three days, tell me now and I will see you escorted to Justice Hall as soon as you wish.”

Ariel stood for a moment, her arms wrapped tight and tense around her body, her bitter gaze shifting from him to the woman in the bed behind him.

“I will serve out my time,” she said with wintry emotions oozing off her. “If I am to be banished, I would at least appreciate some time for our good-byes. Will you give me that much?”

“Of course. It is a hard adjustment for us both, Ariel. Don’t mistake my firmness as being uncaring. I simply have no other choice. Not anymore.”

“Yes. So you say.”

With that vague agreement, Ariel turned and walked out of the room, the slump in her defeated posture making Julian’s mouth sour again. He looked back at Asia, more aware than ever of how far he would have to come with her.

Julian turned to sit in the lone chair in the room, the only other piece of furniture there was. He exhaled long and slow, his head bowing so he could rub at the tension in his neck while he waited for Asia to awaken.