Son of Secrets Read online

  ‘I need you to take me to your stepsister,’ she said.

  ‘My sister? Ella?’

  ‘Is that her name this time? How pretty.’

  ‘What do you want with her?’

  She positioned herself so that she was sitting behind him. Her lips were by his ear, her hard nipples brushed against his back, and he could feel the heat from her naked crotch burning through the thin cotton of his trousers. She pulled at the string around his waist and loosened his waistband. Reaching inside, she ran her hand along his hardness and spoke softly in his ear.

  ‘I need her, Sebastian. I’ve been searching for someone for a very long time, and she is the only one that can lead me to him.’

  Her hand moved over him, long strokes getting faster and faster until he could no longer think clearly. How did this woman know about Ella?

  ‘What about my sister? Do you need her as well?’

  His mind was foggy, and her grasp was getting tighter. She was talking about Ella. Thinking of his stepsister as the woman touched him made his breathing ragged.

  ‘No. I don’t care about Ella,’ she said. ‘She’s all yours. You can do what you want with her when I’m done.’

  ‘When you’re done?’

  ‘Yes, we have unfinished business.’

  He had no idea where his sister was. All he knew was that if he ever saw that wanton whore again, he would kill her. Fuck her first and then kill her. If it hadn’t been for that bitch, he’d still have his life, his family, his friends, and his secrets. He’d feel her squirm beneath him once more, and then he’d watch her take her last breath—but first he had to figure out who the hell this strange woman was.

  ‘Stop, I can’t think…you’re…’

  ‘You want me to stop, Sebastian? Really?’

  She was getting faster now, her breathing hot in his ear. Her other hand reached up beneath his top, her fingers trailing over his chest as she groaned softly into his neck. He couldn’t hold back the release any longer and cried out as he succumbed to her touch.

  ‘OK, yes, I’ll help you.’

  She wiped her hands on his trousers and stretched out on the bed.

  ‘Good.’

  A bell sat on a carved wooden table beside her. She rang it and a young man, wearing nothing but loose cotton trousers, entered the room. He walked up to her and placed a tender kiss on her lips.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Show Sebastian where the showers are and get him fresh clothes. Feed him, give him whatever he wants, and then bring him back to me. We are not to be disturbed.’

  The man nodded and signalled for Sebastian to follow him. He did as he was told. She didn’t seem like the kind of woman that you said no to.

  IT DIDN’T TAKE Sebastian long to discover he was in a former yoga retreat, a collection of Bedouin tents in the middle of the Sahara Desert. This was no secret; the other people in the camp were happy to tell him all about it. He was sitting at a rough wooden table beneath the shade of a tarpaulin. Beside him sat the man who’d brought him clean clothes, and opposite him was the shaven-haired girl and two other women. One was in her fifties with dreadlocks and a ring in her nose; the other was younger with dark skin and a rough accent he couldn’t place.

  ‘She just appeared,’ said the older woman after Sebastian had enquired about the mysterious woman. ‘We all signed up for a two-week Yoga retreat run by a small tour company in the UK, and we arrived here by camel. It was all very exotic. The next day, she turned up. The yoga teachers,’ she pointed at a dishevelled couple talking at the entrance to one of the smaller tents, ‘they said she was going to join us, but then we stopped doing any yoga. That was about a month ago. We’ve all decided to stay—we won’t return to our lives until she releases us.’

  ‘Releases you?’

  ‘Oh, it’s not like that.’ A dark-skinned girl with a serious face handed him an apple and cut slices off another with a small penknife. ‘We love her. We all do. We’ll do anything for her, and we’ll stay here as long as she needs us to.’

  The others nodded in unison.

  ‘Do you know her name?’ he asked.

  They shook their heads.

  ‘Has she spoken to you yet?’ the girl with the shaved head asked.

  ‘Yes, actually, we did a bit more than speak,’ Sebastian answered, taking a bite out of the apple before looking around him. Everyone was in a stupefied state with beatific smiles on their faces, their actions slow and languid. He had been in some strange places while on the run the last three years, but none had made him feel as uneasy as this place.

  ‘So, you’ve been in the middle of the desert for a month? Where do you get your fresh water and food?’

  They shrugged and smiled.

  ‘What do you do all day?’

  ‘Whatever she needs us to do,’ the older woman replied, pushing her dreadlocks back from her face. ‘Tarquin here,’ she said, nodding at the man beside him, ‘he took one of the camels out to pick you up three days ago. You were in a bad state, but she healed you. She has healed us all, one way or another.’

  ‘She made me drink her blood,’ Sebastian said.

  They stared back at him blankly.

  ‘Don’t you find that strange? I was about to die and then I drank her blood and went to sleep. When I woke up, I was fine. In fact, I’m more than fine. I feel amazing. Who is this woman?’

  They all smiled at him, but nobody answered. He grabbed another bottle of water and stood up.

  ‘Fine. I’ll find out myself.’

  • • • • •

  There were five tents in the compound positioned in a circle. At their centre was a large space covered with rugs, with dozens of lanterns dotted around the perimeter. A firepit filled with dry wood was at the far end, away from where everybody slept, and three camels stood tied up in the shade behind the largest tent. Beyond that, there was nothing, no cars or toilets or electrical devices. Sebastian had showered in an outdoor contraption constructed of hoses and a cold-water tank. There was no way out of the compound and nowhere to go. He quickly realised he was completely alone except for a group of stupefied people and a never-ending expanse of sand and sky.

  The woman was in the largest tent. He stood in the doorway and watched her apply red lipstick to her full lips. No longer half naked, she’d taken off her beaded necklaces and now wore a short vest top and a similar skirt as before. He wondered whether she was wearing any underwear this time. He doubted it. She was watching him in the reflection of the dressing table mirror.

  ‘Come in. Close the door.’

  He lowered the flap of canvas so they couldn’t be seen from outside.

  ‘You’re dressed now; that’s good,’ he said.

  ‘That’s not what most people tell me.’

  She didn’t turn to look at him. Instead, she put in long earrings and tied her hair up in a bright silk scarf.

  ‘Who are you?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m Luci.’

  He took a bite of his apple. She remained with her back to him.

  ‘Three days ago, I was dying in the desert. Today, I feel healthier and stronger than I have ever felt in my life. Look!’ He lifted his top. ‘I have a six-pack. How is that possible? Those weirdos out there said you healed me and made me like this. Is it true?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘My blood, Sebastian. I healed you by feeding you my blood.’

  ‘Like a vampire?’

  Luci laughed and turned to face him. Her lipstick shone bright red and Sebastian felt sick at the thought of her blood in his mouth. He took another bite of apple to mask the taste of iron that still lingered.

  ‘Do you believe in vampires, Sebastian?’

  ‘No, of course not.’

  ‘Good, because they aren’t real.’

  ‘So why did you feed me your blood?’

  She shrugged. ‘I can also heal with my hands.’

  ‘Why didn’t you?’

  ‘Because I…�
� She stopped, her mouth remaining open while she rethought what she was going to say. ‘Because I have a certain flare for the dramatic.’

  She tightened the scarf around her head and walked to the bed, collecting more scarves and adding them to a basket on the floor.

  ‘What’s the matter with those people out there?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Don’t lie to me! Are they high or something? This place is creeping me out. Is this a cult? It’s like they’re under your spell.’

  ‘Do you believe in magic, Sebastian?’

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘I’ve been called a witch in my time, you know. Do you think I’m a witch?’

  ‘Look, if you don’t want to answer my questions, then fine. I don’t have to stay here. I’m not your bloody prisoner.’

  Luci blinked slowly and gave a tiny smile.

  ‘If you want to go, be my guest.’

  He flung open the canvas door and stared out over arid sand dunes. The sun was now a puddle of orange on the horizon, and the only light visible was from the firepit that had been recently lit. The wind was picking up and howling through the tents. Sebastian had nowhere to go and no way of getting there. He threw his apple as hard as he could through the gap in the tent and it ricocheted against the wooden table where the others were still sitting. Not one of them blinked as it smashed into tiny pieces.

  ‘I’m not like you, and I’m not like them,’ Luci said, pulling the tent flap down again. She motioned for him to sit on the bed, but he shook his head. ‘Are you scared, Sebastian?’

  He shook his head again.

  ‘Pity. You should be. Nobody here is under a spell; they simply choose to serve me. I find people gravitate toward darkness.’

  ‘Well, you won’t see me doing that.’

  ‘That’s because your heart is darker than mine.’ Luci swayed a little as she spoke, like a cobra ready to pounce. ‘Tell me where Ella is.’

  ‘I haven’t seen her in years. Why do you need her?’

  Walking around him, Luci ran her finger up the back of his neck. He shivered. She moved like an underwater dancer.

  ‘I’m searching for my son. Ella knows him.’

  ‘Why would Ella know a child?’

  ‘My boy is no child.’

  ‘How old is he then? He can’t be older than ten or twelve. You’re not that old yourself.’

  She smiled.

  ‘Oh Sebastian, how little you know. I’m older than the moon.’

  Her beauty was beguiling, and it unnerved him. He wanted to run his tongue over her scarlet lips and feel his fingers slip inside her again. He also wanted to get as far away from her as possible.

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘My son is in love with your stepsister. He has been for two thousand years. If I find her, I will find him.’

  Zac? Sebastian felt the colour drain from his face. This was how it had all begun, the day he’d been attacked by that monster. It was because of Zac that he’d been running for so long. Three years of fear and nightmares, all that time knowing the world—a place he had once been so sure he understood—contained monsters like Zac, was slowly shifting the ground beneath his feet. A world of beings so powerful they could lift a man off the ground with their mind. And she was one of them?

  The air inside the tent was getting thinner. He couldn’t breathe. He pulled at the neck of his T-shirt, but it didn’t help. He’d been talking of Zac and his magic the night he’d been beaten and left to die in the desert. Did Luci have a part in that? If she was really Zac’s mother, then she was right—he should be scared. Very scared.

  ‘Your son is Zac?’

  ‘Is that what he calls himself in this world? Yes, Zadkiel’s my boy. I want him back.’

  Sebastian was not getting involved in this. It was dangerous. He’d already felt the force of Zac’s anger; he wasn’t going to seek him out again.

  ‘I can’t help you,’ he said, turning away from her and attempting to lift the canvas door again. It was now as heavy as lead. Suddenly, he was thrown to the ground, his face hitting the ornate rug below with a thud. He was dragged backwards by an invisible force until he found himself at Luci’s feet. She looked down at him, her face radiant in its stony glory.

  ‘Don’t fuck with me, Sebastian. Sit down.’

  He felt himself being pulled into a standing position by his waist as the chair from the dressing table hurtled toward him, slamming into the back of his knees until he was sitting in it. One by one, Luci’s silk scarves wound their way out of the basket on the ground and slithered toward him like multicoloured serpents. Climbing up his legs, they snaked up his body and then wrapped themselves around his wrists and ankles until he was secured to the chair. Luci’s smile shone blood red.

  ‘You have no idea who I am, do you?’

  Sebastian shook his head.

  ‘We met a long time ago.’

  ‘When we were children?’ he stuttered.

  ‘No. When you were Sabinus, a Roman soldier in Tuscany.’

  What the hell was she talking about? She was definitely one of them, a monster like Zac. He had to free himself from the chair and get the hell out of there.

  ‘You’re saying we met in a past life? Is that what this is about? What has that got to do with Ella and Zac?’

  ‘I have whisperers all around the world. They tell me what they hear. They watch people and listen—my eyes and my ears. They tell me you talk of winged beings, that you have seen our kind. Two thousand years ago I asked you to help me find my son, but you didn’t want to help me back then. This time you will do as I say.’

  Sebastian closed his eyes, wishing he’d died in that desert and never been found. This woman was even crazier than Zac.

  ‘Two thousand years ago?’

  ‘My son was born in Fiesole, Tuscany, in 25 BC. He is Zadkiel, the Path Keeper, Angel of Mercy. And I’m his mother.’

  Angel of Mercy? Zac was an angel? Sebastian thought back to the day Ella’s boyfriend had pinned him to the ceiling without touching him before growing wings and disappearing. He hadn’t wanted to believe what he’d seen, but it was clear the guy wasn’t normal. He wasn’t even human. But an angel? There was nothing angelic about the way he’d kissed his sister! Sebastian tried to move his arms, but the scarves only wound around him tighter.

  ‘If witches and vampires don’t exist, then neither do angels. This is ridiculous. How could you have given birth to an angel thousands of years ago?’

  Luci leant in closer, her breath warm on his cheek.

  ‘Because I’m the original fallen angel, Sebastian.’

  He swallowed as an icy chill ran down his spine. Surely, she didn’t mean she was…

  ‘I was there before everything,’ she continued. ‘I brought light to your world and life to your souls. After Zadkiel was born, I had my wings ripped out by his father and was left for dead. Except I quickly learned that archangels cannot die—instead, we stay in your world forever.’ She laughed softly. ‘But his father didn’t know that. The realm doesn’t know I’m still alive.’

  Realm? Sebastian cleared his throat, unsure if he wanted to know the answer to the question forming on his lips.

  ‘Who’s Zac’s father?’

  A shadow passed over her face. ‘Mikhael, the most powerful angel there is. You probably know him as Archangel Michael. Evil bastard.’

  If Sebastian hadn’t been strapped to a chair by magically controlled serpent scarves, he would have scoffed at what Luci was telling him. Instead, he was terrified.

  ‘So, you’re the original fallen angel?’

  Luci smiled and nodded, her mouth as scarlet as a bloody gaping wound.

  He knew exactly who she was. He’d been to Sunday school and read the Bible. He’d studied works by Blake, Dante, and Milton, and he’d seen their ancient paintings and read their gory descriptions of hell and purgatory. He tried to keep his voice from shaking as he uttered three terrifying words.

>   ‘You’re the Devil?’

  Luci rolled her eyes.

  ‘I wish people would stop calling me that. The Devil, Satan, Beelzebub. Those words were invented by Mikhael.’ She spat out his name like he was poison on her lips. ‘I was never any different than the rest of them. I just said “no” to him.’

  ‘So, you’re not evil?’

  She threw her arms in the air and sent Sebastian’s chair flying backwards until it hit the bed with a thud. He groaned, and the scarves tightened the more he attempted to move.

  ‘Zadkiel’s father always had me described as demented!’ she screamed. ‘The reason for all the bad things in the world—the antithesis of your make-believe God. Every myth and evil wrongdoer in folklore has been based on me: witches, mummies, vampires. People have seen me rise from the dead, perform magic, and feed humans my blood, so they made up characters that are inhumane. But I’m not against your kind. I died to stay on Earth among your people.’

  Luci stood very still and stared at Sebastian, her eyes glowing a bright green.

  ‘You’d never believe how much Mikhael once loved me, but as soon as I defied him and decided to stay here with our son, he turned on me and told the world I was bad. See what tainted love can do to a man, Sebastian? Do you see? It makes them dangerous.’

  ‘Why are you telling me this?’

  ‘Because I can. Because people need to know! Anyway, do you think anyone would believe you if you told them?’

  Luci was pacing the room, her breasts bouncing up and down beneath her thin cotton top as she waved her arms in the air. Her thick hair swayed in time with her hips. Why was he noticing these things when this woman—this creature—wasn’t even human?

  Luci stopped, turned to him and put her face close to his, her lips still shiny and dripping in red. Sebastian swallowed. He no longer wanted to do bad things to her.

  ‘I am Lucifer,’ she whispered. ‘I am the morning star and the bringer of dawn. The ruler of Venus and the angel of light. I am also one very pissed off mother who wants her boy back. Are you going to disobey the maker of all creation? Or are you going to help me?’

  Sebastian had no choice. He was about to make a pact with the Devil.