David's Debt (First Wave Book 11) Read online

  David only got more frustrated when he saw Dizarion’s lips quirk into a smile. When he heard Jodi’s snort, David struggled with his own grin at the thought of trying to spank the massive warrior that was his true son.

  “Damn it! Stop that shit!” David snapped, trying to get the conversation back on track.

  Jodi’s snorts turned into a full blown laugh while Dizarion didn’t even try to hide his own as Tiernan walked into the room. The boy’s appearance only made them laugh harder, and David threw his hands in the air, giving up for the moment.

  He watched as Tiernan walked over to the counter in the kitchen, flashed into the dark warrior and leaned over, his ass sticking out.

  “If it makes you feel better, go for it,” Tiernan said, his voice breaking with chuckles.

  David couldn’t help the laugh that erupted as Jodi held her sides, tears sliding down her cheeks. Tiernan turned around with a huge grin on his face and blinked back into a boy. He walked over to David and put his hand on his father’s.

  “This is our crash course on how to be a family. You’re doing really good, Dad.” The smile on Tiernan’s face and the trust radiating from the boy was too much for David.

  David reached down and picked the child up, cradling him close. The intense emotions that ran through him as Tiernan hugged him back were almost crippling, and David had to close his eyes to savor the moment. Somehow he knew there wouldn’t be many like this with his unique and incredible son. He felt a pang of regret when Tiernan pulled away and looked at him.

  “I love you too, and I hate that things had to be this way in this realm. The task is more difficult here than in other places because of the seriousness of the situation. There are many factors involved that you’ve encountered only briefly in your battles. What we face is more insidious and pervasive than in any other realm, and drastic counter moves are required for success. I need to know you’ll be there for me.” The weight of Tiernan’s words wasn't dulled by the small voice saying them, and everyone was silent while they tried to comprehend it all.

  David closed his eyes for a moment savoring the feel of his son before he set him back on the floor and knelt down to look Tiernan in the face.

  “Nothing but death could drag me from your side,” David swore, his voice cracking with emotion.

  Tiernan nodded his head and laid a hand on David’s shoulder.

  “I know you mean that now but there will come a time when you will question who to fight beside. I need you to get to know me, and what I am so when the time comes, you will be on the side that will save your planet. And your soul. I do not wish to lose you, or be forced to end your existence.” Tiernan’s face was such a mask of seriousness that David was taken aback for a moment.

  “Then we better figure this all out pretty fast,” David replied, hiding the shiver that ran down his spine at Tiernan’s words.

  Tiernan laughed and squeezed David’s shoulder.

  “I’ll try not to throw you out the door again. I didn’t realize how much you hate heights,” Tiernan joked.

  David snatched hold of Tiernan and wrestled him to the floor as he tickled the boy’s ribs. The child’s tinkling laughter was exactly what David needed to erase the feelings of dread he’d felt at Tiernan’s words. Jodi intervened when Tiernan was breathless and red-faced.

  “All right guys, break it up. David, you should get dressed, and we’ll have lunch. Tiernan’s energy levels are too low after your little skirmish,” Jodi warned, her eyes trained on her son.

  David moved to get off the floor and realized the towel around his waist had partially come undone, and he pulled it back around him tightly as he stood. He didn’t have to wonder if Jodi had seen him. David could tell she had by her purposefully averted face and the blush staining her skin. He hid his grin and headed towards his bedroom.

  “I’ll be right back,” David called out behind him.

  *****

  Dizarion had disappeared the moment the Dark Warrior had begun speaking to his parents. He wasn’t needed for their private times together and had more important things to take care of as he traveled the dark energy. He easily found what he was looking for and remained hidden in the shadows.

  It sickened him to watch the girl being beaten, but he couldn’t intervene. Not in the physical realm. What afflicted the human was not a sickness of the soul caused by an evil entity traveling the dark realms. It was in their heart, and that was not something that a Night Walker had dominion over.

  Instead, Dizarion waited until the girl was curled into herself, rocking on the dirt floor as tears streamed down her face. The cruel bastard who’d been hurting the teen had finally tired of the physical exertion and had stumbled out of the shed door.

  A single tear slipped down his face as he reached out a shadowy hand and stroked it over her head. Dizarion wasn’t surprised when the girl sucked in a breath and jerked to a sitting position, her eyes scanning her surroundings. He followed her every movement as she slowly rocked back and forth, her gaze shifting to the right.

  He cursed at the bruises marring her beautiful skin and vowed to himself that it wouldn’t happen again. Uncaring what the ramifications would be, Dizarion moved to sit behind the young girl and placed his palms against her back. He ignored the sharp stiffening of her spine.

  “Awaken child, second in command to the Warrior of the Light!” Dizarion growled as he shot bolts of energy into the girl.

  A dark mist began to form around the two as Dizarion continued to send the girl his energy, giving her the power to awaken much faster. He didn’t have time to wait for the conversion for his counterpart, he needed her now. With her own power returned, she might just survive the stepfather torturing her.

  “What have you done?” the once non-verbal autistic girl whispered brokenly.

  “What I must.” Dizarion stared into the focused dark eyes that bore into his.

  “The energy should not have been shared! What if it taints me?” she whispered in concern.

  “It would not be the first time I’ve had to do it, and you know that. Besides, that bastard was going to kill you long before the conversion came,” Dizarion growled in anger as he looked at the closed door.

  The teen girl nodded her head and dirt rained around her shoulders as a tear slipped down her cheek.

  “I’ve missed you.” The choked whispered made Dizarion’s heart clench.

  “And I have missed you,” Dizarion whispered back, proud his voice didn’t crack.

  “Is it so bad this time?” she asked, her eyes searching his shadowy face for an answer.

  Dizarion wanted to lie to her and erase the worry etching her young face but he couldn’t. She had to know the truth of what they faced.

  “It’s everything we ever feared it would be. The last battle is coming for us all. Every energy is converging here, and the evil is so pervasive and thick that I am worried for us all,” Dizarion admitted unable to hold her gaze.

  “Bitch! Are you finally talking? You first words talking back to me, bitch?” A male’s voice screamed from outside the door.

  Her dark eyes glared at the door as a fumbling was heard outside before the latch turned. Light streamed inside, and a large form with clenched fists filled the frame. Dizarion moved to the shadows and watched dispassionately as the young girl gracefully moved her hands in a sweeping gesture.

  Suddenly the man was thrown backward from the door and into a tree eight feet behind him. Dizarion and the girl watched as he slid down to the ground unconscious before the door slammed shut and they were left in private again.

  “What of the Warriors? Are they safe? Where is my commander?” she asked as she accepted Dizarion’s hand and stood.

  “They are but children! Granted their power over the energy is incredible, as prophesied, but they are children who can only command their warrior forms for short periods of time,” Dizarion said with a snort.

  The girl looked horrified for a moment before she looked down at herself an
d held her arms wide.

  “I have no room to comment there. I am only 17 in physical form, and you are what? 23 or 24?” she asked with an impish grin.

  “Ashacanna, my warrior is but 10 years old and has a Prime beast within his form. Your warrior is seven, remains imbalanced while waiting for the conversion and also has a beast,” Dizarion explained, waiting for her to understand what was happening.

  “What is it that you aren’t telling me? They’ve been young before and in similar circumstances on other worlds. Why is it a problem now?” Asha demanded as she put her hands on her hips and faced her dark counterpart.

  Dizarion grinned at Asha, glad to see her quick mind was intact. Again.

  “There are serious . . . family problems with both of our warriors, but yours is the worst. I fear your warrior is trapped in circumstances that may interfere with his mission and you will be forced to intercede,” Dizarion admitted, his heart heavy with what she may have to do.

  Asha’s dark eyes narrowed as she searched Dizarion’s shadowy form for clues to his meaning.

  “Like the asshole out there kind of problems?” Asha finally asked as she gestured to the closed door.

  Dizarion shook his head and allowed his concern to ooze from his energy.

  “No, my love, this is more complicated than that and impacts many of the guardian worlds. We must tread carefully. Any misstep could change everything. For everyone,” Dizarion warned.

  Asha shook her head.

  “No. We won’t let the Warriors be turned. I’ll die first.” Asha held out her hand to Dizarion.

  “We’ll protect them. Even from themselves,” Dizarion promised as he clasped her forearm with his hand while she held his own.

  “Always, my love. But now you must go, and I must deal with the animal outside before I can attend to my duties.” Asha’s eyes glowed briefly with a white light as she spoke and Dizarion almost felt sorry for the abusive stepfather. Almost.

  Asha waited for Dizarion to disappear before she stalked outside to face the man who’d been raping and abusing her for years. She needed to make sure the other children in the house would be safe from him while she made her way to her commander, the Light Warrior.

  She tried not to think of the prophecies colliding and the fears she and Dizarion had shared on many other worlds concerning the fate of this one. And the warriors themselves. Asha and Dizarion had always known that if the warriors ever fell, either in battle or to the evil trying to destroy the light, it would mean they were dead.

  Asha refused to consider either option. She wouldn’t even think of it because it would mean that Dizarion would be lost to her forever and that was something she couldn’t fathom. If her warrior were close to falling, she’d kill him. It was the downside of her job but something Asha would do to protect the balance. And the man she’d loved throughout endless time and timeless realms.

  With her mind set on her duties, Asha stormed out the door and towards the man trying to stand up in front of the tree. His eyes widened as she strode towards him and Asha grinned at the sudden fear she felt from him before he quickly hid it behind a mask of anger.

  “Bring it, you bastard,” Asha growled in fury as her hands moved intricately through the air.

  Chapter Twelve

  David laid in bed, chuckling to himself as Traze related the latest caravan news to him through the shengari’. Once Kurt and Rex had been reunited with the group traveling to Dillon, it seems that things got a little better for Traze but not by much.

  He was caught between pity for Traze and for the caravan of people unused to someone like the crazy Relian hybrid. If the boy were to be believed, they’d had him cleaning shit tanks and electrocuting himself replacing DC electrical converters at every stop. David wasn’t quite convinced that anyone would trust Traze to mess with their electrical anything, but he’d patiently listened to the kid complain for the last hour.

  David heard the whisper of the door and waited to see who had come in without knocking. His breath caught in his throat for a moment before he told Traze he had to go and would talk to him later.

  “Did I wake you?” Jodi whispered.

  David sat up and bunched the covers around his waist. He shook his head, unsure if his voice would crack if he tried to speak through the love and desire that swamped him the second he saw her.

  Jodi’s long dark hair had always been beautiful, but in the dim lighting of the room, it blended perfectly with the shadows creating a halo effect around her head. Which seemed to emphasize her delicate facial features.

  He’d always thought of her as petite, but as she stood nervously in the doorway, blending in and out of the shadows, Jodi seemed smaller and more unsure of herself than he’d ever seen her before. It bothered him to see the confident woman he loved feeling so insecure, and he vowed to make things easier on her if he could.

  “I was just talking to Grai’s brother, Traze. He’s having a hard time with your traveling friends. Maybe you could give me some advice I could pass on,” David suggested.

  He casually leaned against the headboard. Even though he felt anything but relaxed with his beautiful wife standing in front of him in nothing but a thin nightgown. Jodi’s answering smile tugged at his heart.

  “I can remember so many things more clearly now, and I can tell you that each of them is wonderful, generous and kind people. He’s in good company, he just needs to give them a chance,” Jodi promised, shifting her feet nervously back and forth.

  David saw the way Jodi looked ready to bolt from the room, and he gestured to the end of the bed.

  “Sit for a minute, there’s something I wanted to ask you,” David said, praying she would as his mind scrambled for a question that would keep her there.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t have a million things he wanted to know. Jodi just took his breath away and apparently his mind too, and David couldn’t think of anything as he waited to see if she’d sit down.

  “We do have a lot to talk about,” Jodi whispered with a sigh as she sat slowly on the end of the bed.

  David’s hope soared when she sat down, but he wasn’t happy that she was turned slightly away from him and he couldn’t see her face clearly. He scooted down to the end, pulling the covers with him to cover his nakedness. David could see her face now, even though Jodi was keeping her eyes on her lap and the hands she was wringing.

  “What’s wrong?” Was the only thing David wanted to know at that moment.

  His stomach was twisted in knots as he waited for her to answer him.

  “Stop. Please don’t do that to yourself,” Jodi whispered, her voice breaking.

  “Don’t do what?” David asked, wondering what she was talking about.

  “Stop walking on eggshells around me. I have a beast too, you know? I can feel your emotions. I feel your fear, hope, and even your desire.” Jodi blushed and looked away when she said the last.

  David sighed heavily and nodded his head slowly wondering how much he’d actually told her without saying a word.

  “It’s weird, isn’t it?” Jodi said with a snort. “When we were together, I always wondered what you were thinking, and now I can feel it. For the longest time, I just thought it was part of my insanity to be able to feel what others did. Even now that I know what it is, I still have to check and see if it’s my feelings or someone else.”

  “It takes a lot of getting used to. For me, battle is the hardest part. I need to stay open enough to know when and if one of my team needs help, but closed well enough that I don’t sense the enemies emotions,” David admitted, hoping it would make Jodi feel better to know she wasn’t alone in her thoughts.

  “Who do you fight? What are they doing here? What do they want? Dizarion and the others explained the Night Walker part of me, but I’m still clueless on the Prime thing and the Light and Dark Warriors.” Jodi was frustrated, and it bled from her energy.

  David laughed until Jodi turned an angry gaze to him and quirked a brow. He could tell
she wasn’t in the mood for humor by the way she rapidly blended in and out of the shadows of the dimly lit chamber.

  “It’s a lot to take in. More than most could handle. Trust me, I’ve had to learn to roll with the constant waves of insanity since I met Jax and joined the crazy train. Have you tried asking your beast?” David suggested.

  He could tell by the way Jodi stiffened that it was a touchy subject for her and wanted to know why.

  “I’ve had enough voices in my head to last me a lifetime,” Jodi growled in anger.

  David was more than a little surprised.

  “You said it was the only voice of reason in all the madness. It’s a friend, not an enemy,” David replied gently.

  Jodi stood and began to pace the room near the end of the bed. Her fluttering hands and jerky steps were a clear indication of how upset she was, and David waited for her to explain.

  “Almost 11 years of sheer hell and suddenly I’m supposed to forget all that and be besties with yet another voice in my head? No thanks. I think I’d rather have silence for once.” Jodi’s eyes swirled like a bottomless black pit.

  David could feel the determination and anger rolling off her in waves, and he wasn’t sure how to help her through it.

  “Honey, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you, but your beast is nothing like the other voices you heard. I know you don’t trust it, and I don’t blame you. I don’t think I would either. Your beast probably understands that too,” David whispered as he patted the mattress beside him, hoping she’d sit back down.

  Jodi growled, ran her hands through her thick hair in frustration and plopped onto the bed next to him.

  “That’s part of the problem! The little bastard is so kind and understanding it drives me crazy! It’s like having a father in my damn head! Even now, I can feel it trying to calm me, sending me waves of soothing energy. It’s creepy!” Jodi shook her head as David chuckled.

  Jodi shot him a swirling dark stare and David held his hands up, still chuckling.

  “Sorry! I understand how unsettling that can be. Ask it to send a warning before it speaks. It helped me a lot to have mine send a cold tingle through my head before it scared the shit out of me by suddenly speaking,” David suggested, noting how Jodi visibly relaxed at his admission.