Page 5 of Urzra

She could see she wasn’t going to get away with being evasive.Maybe if she told him what he wanted to know, he would leave and she could go back to her normal life.“My mom kicked me out when I was sixteen,” she said.“I don’t know who my father is and neither did she.I’m living here alone because I prefer my solitude.The Rapture was an event that saw half of the population vanish overnight.God took everyone who had a good soul as far as I can determine.The TV and radio broadcasts stopped shortly after the Rapture, so I haven’t heard anything for the past eight months.”

Urzra was looking at her in confusion.“Have you seen any other comets or meteors?”

“I’ve been woken up a couple of times by gold comets,” Bria confirmed.“I also saw a bunch of red meteors heading straight for Manhattan, or the nearby area a couple of weeks after the Rapture.”

“That was the Soldiers of Chaos arriving,” he said.“The gold comets are my brothers.Amaros and Camriel are usually the first to arrive.I wonder why it’s taken Fate so long to release me from the Void.”

“You said one of your enemies is my father,” Bria said.“Why do I get the sense that that’s a bad thing?”He’d explained that cambions were created by soldiers impregnating human females during his tale.

Urzra grimaced and seemed reluctant to answer her.“The soldiers aren’t like us,” he hedged.“They work for Chaos and do the entity’s bidding, just as we follow Order’s commands.”

“And?”she said in exasperation.“Do they have tentacles?Are they eight feet tall?What is it about them that’s so different from you and your squad?”

The hulking warrior slid down in his chair almost as if he wished he could disappear beneath the table.“They’re evil,” he said so quietly she barely heard him.“And so are cambions, usually,” he added.

Bria flinched and had a flashback to the last time she’d ever seen her mom.“You think I’m evil?”she asked, voice going thin with her suppressed emotions.

“I know you’re not,” he said, sounding like he was being sincere.“I can sense your soul is gray, female,” he told her.“You’re the first cambion I’ve met that I haven’t had to kill immediately.”

Horror rose along with her innate power.Bria needed him to leave before her memories overwhelmed her.Delving into his emotions, she sensed his attraction to her.Her magic infused him and his eyes glazed over slightly.“You’re not interested in me,” she said, gripping the edge of the table hard.“You’ve got your answers, now it’s time for you to leave.”

For some strange reason, she felt far stronger than usual.She couldn’t compel people like a hypnotist, but she was adept at getting her own way.Urzra rose to his feet and tucked the blanket more tightly around his waist.He gave her a courteous nod, then strode towards the front door.He unlocked the deadbolt, let himself out, then she sensed him receding from her radar.

Shoulders slumping, Bria put her hands over her face.“I’m not evil,” she said.“I’m not.I’m a good person who sometimes has to do bad things.”

Guilt and self-loathing warred within her as she shoved her memories and her emotions to the back of her mind.

Chapter Four

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URZRA STRODE AWAY FROMthe small, isolated house, mind foggy and slightly confused.His thoughts began to clear by the time he reached the gate.Halting, the knight turned around to face the distant house.“Bria Janke can manipulate emotions,” he figured with a hint of admiration.She’d actually managed to convince him he wasn’t attracted to her.That was preposterous, since the tiny female was the epitome of perfection.

Never in his entire existence had he seen a cambion that he hadn’t felt compelled to eradicate.Bria was nothing like the other spawn of his enemies he’d encountered in past eras.While her soul wasn’t pure, he hadn’t detected any signs of malice in her.It was obvious she’d been through some kind of trauma.Why else would such a lovely young woman move to a small island and live there all alone?

“I triggered her into withdrawing from me,” he said regretfully.He’d known it would be a bad idea to tell her the truth about her origins, but it wasn’t in the knights’ nature to lie.“She deserves to know her sire is evil,” he told himself.“Rahab and his unit have been here for eight months now.Fate only knows how much damage they’ve already done to this country.”