Royal Affliction (The Anti-Princess Saga) Read online

  The sound of laughing patrons penetrated the door behind me and I felt a shred of annoyance. They were all happy, eating their food and joking around without a care in the world. None of them were in potential danger like I was, if in fact I was in danger. Was this sleep deprivation paranoia? This just had to be all in my mind.

  And then a whiff of something entered my nasal passages and a single tear slid down my cheek from the scent. The smell was a faint mixture of citrus and fungus. This was the distinct smell of a Boru. I was about to face a creature who hated me for what I was, regardless of who I was. I was strong but I had no way of knowing if I was strong enough. The prospect of a brawl didn’t appeal to me at the moment. There were human witnesses to consider as well.

  My car was only about five feet away from me. Could I make it? I took one small step and stopped, nothing happened. I took another step and looked around, nothing happened. I took a few more steps jumped into my car and locked it as fast as I could.

  He must have just been watching me. Something moved in the back. I didn’t have time to react before two green, scaly arms shot out on either side of my seat, gripping me tight around my neck and waist and pinning my arms to my sides.

  I struggled against my captor, trying hard to breath. Everything was going dark, my struggling slowed. This is it. I’m going to die. Electricity flooded my body. It felt like I was being electrocuted, but without the pain. My skin seemed to vibrate from the unnatural power. I tried to focus on what was happening, tried to force the charge out of my body and into his. It worked. The jolt flew from my body, flinging him off of me.

  The Boru was lying in the back seat, convulsing in pain with the current rippling through his body while I choked on the air now flooding back into my lungs. I was strong, but I didn’t have any other powers. What had I just done?

  Despite the weird happening, I knew one thing: I was going to have to kill him or he’d kill me. I reached in my shirt for my knife, but found only skin. In my mind’s eye I saw it sitting on the back of the toilet bowl where I’d put it before taking my shower. Shit! I didn’t know how much longer the charge would hold or have any tools on me to kill the bastard. Decapitation was best, but salt was a good way to take them down as their skin reacted to it much like a snail’s.

  Every muscle I had protested as I bolted for the restaurant. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a large can of salt and a huge butcher’s knife and concealed the objects best I could as I sprinted back outside. I didn’t even stop to answer the questions that people were calling out to me as I ran by. There wasn’t time and I had no lie ready to tell them.

  As soon as I made it to the curb, I tripped, dropping the knife in the process which slid under a vehicle and out of reach. I scraped myself off the ground and approached the car, opened salt canister in hand, to see if he was still in it. He wasn’t. My focus became all around me as I spun, praying that he’d retreated while I was inside. I doubted I was that lucky.

  A blur swept past my peripheral vision. I flung the salt at the moving target but the unexpected blow to the back of my head caused me to miss. Down I went, and then, he was on top of me. The knife was to my right but he flicked it away before I could inch my hand to grab it. My eyes darted to his face, surveying my captor as if knowing who he was would somehow help me.

  His eyes were a cool shade of green surrounding diamond-shaped, blood-red pupils. His hair was just a shade lighter than his eyes and it was thin and velvet soft, falling around my face as he leaned over me. His long, forked tongue flicked in and out of his mouth, smelling me. His entire face and body were covered in shiny, glowing green scales that were cold where they touched my bare skin. There was an air of familiarity about him, but my brain failed to place him.

  I thought hard on what to do, but the only thing that seemed promising I wasn’t sure I could do again. I closed my eyes, focusing on revving up that electric charge which had saved me earlier. Sure enough, I felt a spark, and it spread through my arms. I felt cold metal on my ankle and it pinched my skin as something clicked into place. The charge within me died at the sound. My mind and body grew weak, unable to focus on fighting back. I felt almost human, like everything that made me Zolera had vanished to be replaced by nothingness. I felt empty, hollow, wrong.

  He stared into my eyes and smiled at the look of horror on my face. “Much better, I think you will cooperate now.”

  “What did you put on me?” I barked, unable to keep the desperation out of my voice as tears welled up in my eyes.

  “Never you mind.” He released my arms and sat higher above me, giving me some wiggle room which I took to my advantage.

  I brought my knee up to his weakest point. The green was almost wiped from his face as he toppled to the right, grunting what could only be curse words. I flipped to my hands and knees, crawling while trying to get to my feet. He grabbed my ankle but my foot made contact with his face and he lost his grip. I scrambled to my feet but he got to his faster. My forehead cracked against my car window before he spun me around to face him, making sure I was subdued this time. My mind was in and out of conscious as my body swayed. I’d have fallen over if he wasn’t pressed so hard against me.

  He slid one of his long, scaly fingers along the curves of my breast, causing me to shudder worse than I already was. My fear seemed to please him. He then ripped my shirt, slicing through it effortlessly with his sharp, pointed nails. I tried to fight, but my strength was gone. He grabbed my breast hard, puncturing the skin with all five of his nails. My screams were muffled by the quickness of his other hand.

  The screech of tires and blinding headlights told both of us we would not be alone much longer. I feared I would be kidnapped. Collapse was drawing nearer and I could not hold it off. But when I thought I’d be grabbed, he just backed up and let me fall to the asphalt below.

  ********************

  When my eyes opened again, I was staring up at Marietta, another waitress here at Logan’s. I rarely ever saw her as she often worked the shift opposite mine.

  “Why are you lying in the parking lot, I nearly ran you over?” she asked, sounding half-concerned.

  I eased myself to a sitting position, using my arms to prop up my upper body. “I must have passed out. Did you see anyone here with me?” I asked, trying my hardest not to sound frantic.

  She looked puzzled. “No. I just pulled up and found you lying here so I thought I’d make sure you were ok.” Her eyes fell upon my exposed bra. “Were you mugged?” Logan’s wasn’t in a bad neighborhood, but there were reports of the occasional mugging.

  “No. My shirt must have gotten caught on my purse when I fell. I’ll be fine once I get some sleep.” I flashed a passable smile. She rolled her eyes, muttered “Whatever,” and headed inside.

  When I pulled into my covered parking spot, Clifton’s apartment was dark and quiet. Just the way I’d hoped it would be. His party was presumably over, and hopefully he wouldn’t bother me on my way inside.

  Like a ghost, I tiptoed up the stairs, and had to be just as quiet in my apartment because the walls and floors were thin. I prayed that Clifton was asleep as I turned on the shower. The water here took forever to warm up so I crept into the kitchen to grab a snack before getting in.

  While washing, I caught sight of a silver anklet strapped just above my right foot and it dawned on me that this was the thing I heard “click” when my power disappeared. This small bit of metal had weakened me so much?

  I grabbed it with both hands, trying hard to pry it apart, but it wouldn’t budge. It was one solid piece of metal with no seemingly possible way of being removed (aside from hacking off my own foot). Frustrated and tired, I just left it there. It may have been irritating, but it didn’t hurt and I could deal with it in the morning. When I left the bathroom I was foolishly optimistic about my chances for a goodnight’s sleep.

  As exhausted as I was, my senses were down. I should have felt the presence of the man who was sitting on my bed, but I didn’t…un
til I saw him.

  “Clifton? What are you doing in my apartment?” His scent wafted over to me and I breathed it in. It was inviting. I watched his vibrant green eyes surveying me. His soft features displayed his mood: he was anxious.

  “We need to talk.”

  “Do we really have to do this now?” I just wanted to go to sleep. Would this day ever end?

  He patted his hand on the bed next to him. I thought of staying where I was since I was a good eight feet away from him now. But I found my body moving towards him anyway. Something in me wanted him, wanted to trust him, and wanted to be with him. I’d ignored these feelings for so long that my body seemed to be giving in to them without my consent. Traitor!

  “Did you get my note?” he asked.

  “Note? I didn’t receive anything from you.”

  “Really? Because I left it in a place you’d be su—”

  “In my car?” I interrupted, remembering the odd envelope I’d found that morning. He nodded. I fumbled through my purse to find it and stared at the thing as I’d done earlier.

  “Please, there has been something I’ve wanted to tell you since you moved here but I’ve never quite found the words.”

  I slid my finger between the seal slow as if for dramatic effect but really just because of my uncertainty. Clifton must have been embarrassed because for once his eyes were averted from me. There wasn’t much in the envelope, but gold coin about the size of a silver dollar with a large “K” embossed on it almost made me collapse. This was gold from Kortis. “Wha? How?” He indicated to the envelope for further explanation. The index card was what he’d been referring to. “Can you please find the time to talk to me?” was written on it along with his signature. This was a sure way to get my attention.

  “How do you know where I’m from?” I asked while staring down at my feet. I just couldn’t bring myself to look at him.

  “I can see you, through your façade. I don’t know much of the Zolera, but I know that is what you must be.”

  Well, my intuitions had been right about that gaze of his at least.

  He stared at me and I knew he was seeing me in my Zolera form. It was an oddly intrusive feeling, but how was he doing it? My ring was supposed to protect my identity from everyone, even my own kind. I said nothing but continued to stare at my feet.

  “It’s alright, Tessa. I’m not going to hurt you and I won’t tell anyone your secret.” I caught his eye, my face fixed in an expression that must have been humorous since he let out a small laugh. “I have a secret of my own: I am half-Zolera. My mother was Zolera and my father was Boru.” He stated this as though it was a normal union.

  “A Zolera and a Boru cannot be together, it would be a death sentence as neither side would allow it.” I knew it couldn’t be true, but part of me believed him. It did explain a lot, one of which was his appealing aroma of oranges and of the sea, a mixture of both sides.

  “That’s why I was raised in a human orphanage,” he continued. “My mother and father were married on June 13, 1981, and I was born in July the following year. We kept hidden, moving from place to place so that no one would find us. I was five when they did. My mom knew that it was a group of Boru. She had some special gifts. She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me upstairs, hiding me in her bedroom closet. Before she left she placed a coin, the one that I gave you, into my hand and told me to stay put while she took care of something downstairs.”

  A lone tear slid down his cheek. My eyes followed its progress until it landed with a small splash onto his thigh. He didn’t need to finish. “I heard everything: the high-pitched, horrible screams and the long silence that followed. I stayed in that closet for hours before I came downstairs. There was blood…everywhere, and both of my parents were…in…pieces.”

  I placed my hand on his thigh to comfort him and his tears hit the back of it. He looked into my eyes and gave me a shallow smile before going on. “The police found me walking down the street, covered in my parent’s blood and in complete shock. They called child services and I was in foster care until I was eighteen. I knew that I was different. Knew that I wasn’t human. I was five, old enough to remember at least some details about my parents. The coin was my only solid evidence of what I was. I thought it would help me to find out more, but I found nothing. Zolera and Boru are the only words that have stayed with me all this time.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. Clifton had had a most traumatic life, and I felt bad for him. I doubted that he wanted my pity, maybe he just wanted someone to talk to about it. He had no one to talk to about his life in this world. Though surrounded by people, we were both alone.

  “And then you came into my life, Miss Tessa Turner.” He placed his hand on top of mine and the touch sent tingles up my spine. “When I saw you, I saw my home. I’d never felt surer of anything in my entire life. It’s been torturing me whenever you tell me that you won’t come over. You have only lived here for a month and already I have started to go insane from lack of you. You have no idea what you do to me, do you? Tessa, you make me feel alive, and whenever I’m around you I feel wanted, despite your actions and words that prove otherwise.”

  “I have avoided you, Clifton, but not for the reasons that you think.”

  “And now that I’ve told you about me, are you still going to avoid me?”

  “I…don’t know.” It was an honest response. He was like me, if only half, but I still wasn’t sure that I wanted to open myself to another man after Brent. I did want him, which was something that I couldn’t control. “It’s kind of complicated.”

  “I’d settle for you not running off every time I try to talk to you, at least at first.”

  His fingers trailed up my exposed arm and my eyes closed, my brain focusing on every millisecond of that touch. It wasn’t the same as the one from earlier. I no longer felt scared. All I could feel was something that I couldn’t describe. It seemed so familiar, like he’d touched me like this before even though I knew he hadn’t. Without thinking, without even trying to figure out why I felt this way, I leaned into him.

  The instant his mouth touched mine a connection formed. It felt so right, so perfect. It wasn’t what I expected to feel, but I didn’t care either. It was as if we were lost lovers who had just found their way home. I’d never felt anything like it. Clifton pulled away from me and my lips followed, not wanting to part from his.

  “Did you feel that?”

  I nodded and kissed him hard, feeling that if I didn’t touch him he would disappear. I flicked my tongue around his, intertwining them into one, and the feeling sent tingles down my body. My body ached for him, needed him.

  I slid my hands down his chest before unfastening his shirt, lingering a little over each button. His abs were firm, his chest silky smooth. I grabbed him by the belt, pulling myself to him, and kissed him again. It was just a light, open-mouthed kiss, but it made me shudder with desire. I couldn’t contain myself any longer so I pushed him on his back and climbed on top of him.

  “Let me see you?” he whispered while staring at the towel. So I unfastened it and let it pool onto the bed behind me. His eyes fell upon my pleasant form, yet a small grimace met my face. “Can I see the real you? It would be nice not to have to strain.”

  I’d never taken my concealment off, not since I had come to this world. But I slipped off my ring and placed it on my nightstand at Clifton’s request.

  His eyes drank in every bit of my natural body, as if he were trying to memorize it for a later time. “You are beautiful.”

  I blushed and looked away. But then something occurred to me. What did he really look like? If he was covered in scales he might lose his appeal. “Your turn, let me see you?”

  He closed his eyes tight and I felt the illusion of him start to melt away. When he was done, Clifton looked like any other Zolera. His skin had a darker hue to it than mine: a sharp aquamarine color. His hair was a shade of turquoise so dark that it appeared black at first glance. But his eyes stayed
the same, a beautiful shade of vibrant green. They reminded me of freshly grown leaves before they had a chance to darken. And I was relieved to see that they were normal in shape and color.

  “Open your mouth.” I knew that I sounded demanding, but I didn’t care. I had to know what was inside of that orifice and I needed to know fast. My libido told me to just give in and find out later, and it was a hard thing to ignore at the moment with all the skin contact going on.

  He did as I asked despite his obvious confusion. I closed in on it and stuck my fingers inside to feel around. His mouth looked completely normal. No long, forked tongue. No sharp, pointed teeth. The only thing that would give away the fact that he wasn’t completely Zolera were his eyes. It made me feel a whole lot better, and even more attracted to him.

  I leaned down to kiss him and he grabbed the back of my head with one hand and wrapped his other around my back, pulling me to him, kissing me with his incredible strength. I relished in it.

  This was very unlike me. I had only shared my body with two other men in my entire life. But my body wanted him, and so did I.

  His touch was so tender, his mouth so soft. I let him run his hands over every inch of my body. My heart began to race with anticipation as he took me over. The sensation was a feeling beyond anything I could have ever expected. He rolled us over, making me even more vulnerable beneath his strong body.

  ********************

  The sun rose high enough to break through the window overlooking my bed, and my eyes eased opened. Clifton lay right in front of me, facing me. His eyes were still closed, his arms still wrapped around my waist. It felt so right, like Clifton was the piece of my life that I’d been missing. I was so captivated by him that I didn’t even realize I’d just slept through the night for the first time in weeks.

  I stared at him, taking in his soft, yet strong features. His jaw had a feminine curve to it, and there was a slight dimple in his chin that I hadn’t noticed before.