The Delta's Daughter Chapter 350

LAMIA

I could feel the waves of unease roll off Rhett and Mike as finished up the meeting. Each kingdom had devoted a handful of trackers and a unit of warriors that would be dedicated to tracking down Jonda and bringing her home safely.

I meant every word I said when I called her family. She was the sister of Kellen's mate. The chosen mate of my best friend and the supposed mate of Rhett who, for all intents and purposes, was a brother to me.

I would be sending Rhett back MacTire and on his way he and his team would search for Jonda. Mike, well, he was a little upset that he wouldn't be joining the search, but I had other plans for him.

Finding Jonda was a priority. But we couldn't just focus on her. Other things were happening. Things we could no longer ignore even if we all wanted to.

Since meeting little Zane, knowing that he is Zane's and part of me, I have been having dreams. Dreams of my time in captivity. Dreams of Ashe and dreams of words whispered to me in the dark. Words I'm not sure are real or a figment of my subconscious.

One by one the monitor's screens turn black as each kingdom signs off.

Mathias had asked Tobias to come here before we all signed out. There had been no more attempts on the Kodiak Mansion, and I hoped that it would stay like that.

Lyric had explained what the tablet he secured for a client described and it was no different from what we had read in Tolba, the wording was slightly different, but the outcome was the same. Find the four stones, bring them together, charge them with a powerful burst of energy and the gateway to the gods will be reopened.

We know how Senko ended up with Silas and Orion. We know he more than likely was involved with the inhibitor technology and the crawlers. But there was still something we were missing. Where had he been all these years? Why had no one heard of him until recently?

"Lyric," I call to her, my mind still processing and filtering information, "Your son," It was so strange saying that when the child carried more of my blood than hers. "His wolf is already awoken. I was wondering with your permission, if I could try and connect my wolf with his?"

"Lamia!" My father's voice rings out shocked, and a low growl comes from Mike. "You could seriously harm the child!"

I sigh. It's a risk. A big one. "Inanna believes if we can speak to Dacia, he may hold some answers as to how little Zane came to be and how he can be active in a three-year-old mind."

"It's too risky." My father says shaking his head.

"I agree Lam's. Anything could go wrong. A child's mind is vulnerable, weak." Mike says coming up beside Lyric. He doesn't touch her, but he stands tall and imposing ready to protect her pup.

It's then I know Kellen and I have made the right decision to send Mike with his mate to find the man she called Miko.

"Does it make a difference that he can shift?" Lyric looks at us, waiting for an answer.

"SAY WHAT NOW?" Mike cocks his head looking at her like she's crazy.

"He shifted once when he was two. But has never done it again." She says nonchalantly as if this was a normal thing. Leaving my mouth to hang open.

"Have the pup brought to their suite. I want him comfortable if I'm going to try and connect with Dacia." I tell them.

"Are you sure about this?" Mathias asks me, once everyone has piled out of the ops room. His large hands settle on my shoulders. His voice draws my gaze to his eyes.

I lift a hand, reaching up to cup his jaw. "No, my love," I tell him honestly. "But I need to do this. Dacia could be the key to what we are missing. Inanna believes so and I trust her."

"And I trust you." He stoops to plant a reassuring kiss on my lips. "This child is part of you."

"But he is not mine," I confirm. More for myself than him or anyone else.

*****

"Hi Zane, did your mommy explain what I want to do?" Lyric stands next to the couch behind the pup. Her hand rests on his little back in a comforting way. Offering the little guy support.

Little Zane nods his head. "Yes. You want to speak to my wolf." He scrunches up his brows in confusion and thought. "But I don't know how you can." He says tilting his head in the same manner that Zane used to do when contemplating.

"Actually, I want my wolf, Inanna to connect with Dacia. They used to be really good friends and she wanted to say to him." I stroke his jet-black hair, my hand pausing and dropping once it reaches the blonde streak. "Do you think we could try?"

"Yeah, I guess that would be okay. Dacia says he wants to speak with your wolf too."

The pup amazes me. So wise beyond his years and so in tune with his wolf at his tender age. I offer him a smile and look up at Lyric. I actually really like her despite her theft and the manner in which she came to be here.

When we spoke in private, we connected on a different level. I felt her pain and shared mine. She understands who, or what, this pup is to me. She has an intelligence about her that I have only witnessed with Xander and Damon. I would bet my life on it that she was smarter than the two of them put together. It took everything Kellen had to make Damon back off from her as he tried to pry with questions when they were leaving the ops room.

Damon had asked her how she had bypassed the security code to the inner vault, but she refused to tell him. Instead made a gesture of zipping her lips and throwing away the pretend key.

"Lay down Zane and close your eyes. I want to connect with Dacia and tell him you are ready. You are going to feel pressure in your head. It may feel very uncomfortable but if you accept it, it will be easy. Let your wolf be in charge of your body and mind." I instructed the little pup, and he did as he is told.

Lyric comes around the side and sits on the couch. Zane lays down, his head in her lap, and closes his eyes while Lyric begins to stroke his hair in a motherly way.

I give him a minute before letting Inanna come forward. I feel her reach out, taking control and searching for Dacia.

The moment they are connected I feel a familiar connection form. One I had almost forgotten about. Zane Noir maybe be dead, but his spirit animal was alive and well and I could feel a bond between the wolves.

'Inanna,' The sound of my first mate's wolf echoes through my mind. Even though Inanna is in charge I can still hear and feel everything.

I feel Dacia's relief, his pain his confusion, and his worry through Inanna.

'Dacia,' She replies 'How is this possible? You should be with the moon goddess.' Inanna was never one to beat about the bush, always getting straight to the point just like now.

'The song we hear calling us home, I heard it, I went to it. But…' The spirit animal's voice trails off with sadness.

'But?' Inanna encourages him to speak. 'We do not have much time Dacia, the longer you are in charge the greater the risk to the boy's young mind. She tells him. 'You must tell us what you know.'

There's a low rumble that comes from the boy. Dacia is mentally growling, yet somehow the boy is sounding it out.

'When my human died, and the rights of passage were performed I began to ascend. But the way was blocked I could not be received by the goddess. My spirit was trapped between realms. Left to wander without a host. Then, my spirit is ripped through time and space, and I awaken in darkness. For four months I remained in darkness, awake, until… Until the pup was cut from the mother's womb.'

I felt the sorrow build up in Inanna, the pain that Dacia must have gone through losing his human, I couldn't imagine.

'I'm so sorry Dacia,' My wolf says pushing her aura to him in comfort.

Dacia then shocks us, 'I remember everything Inanna.' To my shock, the wolf sobs and I can feel his grief. So strong. 'I remember hearing the man tell the human that would bear the reincarnation of the chosen one's child. That he cloned your embryo. This is our child Inanna, our pup. He stole our pup's DNA he cloned our pup!'

'Dacia!' Inanna cried out. I have never felt my wolf cry, but she did now. For the wolf she once loved and mated, for the unborn pup, we carried and lost. She cried for the horror he was telling us that transpired.

'He is evil. Dark. He is from another plane of existence. Unnatural and unholy. He serves the god of the underworld. He is coming for you Inanna. For you.'

'What can I do?' My wolf mentally lays down, useless to Dacia's position and unable to fix it.

'Kill him before it's too late.' Dacia spits with venom. 'Kill him' He repeats before I feel him start to fade back into little Zane's mind.

Inanna retreats, tired from the interaction and the abundance of emotion speaking with Dacia unleashed. Little Zane turns in Lyric's lap, his eyes groggily blinking open.

"You did so good baby," Lyric coos.

"Very good Zane. You have such a strong wolf and only a strong boy can carry a wolf as strong as Dacia." I praise. I look at Lyric, "He is going to be tired." I inform her and she picks him up and carries him to bed.

"Did you get all that?" I ask Mike, Kellen and Mathias. I had opened my mind to let them in as we spoke with Dacia.

"This is some next-level shit." Mike declares, swiping a hand down his face. "This isn't natural." He looks at us for confirmation that he isn't the only one thinking this.

I agree, this whole situation with Dacia is fucked up. A wolf shouldn't be active in such a tiny human. Let alone remembering everything. According to Inanna, once a wolf is returned to the goddess if they are reborn, they start again, they remember some things as they mature with their human but not like this. The way Dacia described it he was ripped from Zane and shoved into another body.

"Alchemy," Mathias says that one word, but it resonates deeply creating an awareness that we are unable to comprehend.

"Do you remember the story of Inanna, the one we were told about Inanna being promised to another before she met Conri?" Kellen's voice is low, somber. "Anu had promised his daughter to Aodh the god of the underworld, The reason the wars were started between the gods in the first place."

Mike, myself, and King stare at Kellen. I remember the story all too well.

*****

TRAVIS

I walk down the stone stairs, each footfall echoing as I descend into our dungeons. The stench of blood, sweat, and fear reaches my nostrils. Except it's all in my head for the moment. The part of the dungeons I'm currently walking through was clean. They were renovated three years ago when Lamia, Hunji, and I took over MacTire.

The smells are only memories of when I was held captive down here. Ones that still plagued me every night, yet over the years the nightmares had dwindled and become more manageable.

I moved past the renovated cells and halls deeper into the underground dungeons and back further to where I was kept. Held and tortured for months at the hands of Silas, the late Rogue King, Oliver, and worst of all Kira my mate. Ex mate.

It's quiet back here. No one ever ventures further than the new holding cells. There's no need to. We don't keep prisoners this far back. Lamia had once suggested we close off this part of the underground dungeons, but we never got around to it.

I turn down a dark corridor, walk to the end and make a right, walking down a narrower corridor. One side has plain stone walls, the other side is lined with old cells with rusted bars, cobwebs, and mold. There are no lights but with my wolf eyes, I can see clearly in the dark. These were the conditions I was kept in, that Lamia was kept in during our time down here.

I walk toward the end. The very last cell.

I know he can hear me, even smell me. I pause to listen. I hear nothing but his steady breathing. Not even a spike in his heart rate.

A small smile creeps over my face and I stroke the longer strands of my beard. As much as I hate him, a part of me admires him. For his bravery, his acceptance, and his ability to keep quiet when I inflict pain on him.

I pull the silver-coated buoy knife from its sheath that sits against my hip. Tapping it against the bars as I pass the last few cells. I whistle a tune, one somewhere between joy and doom, until I'm standing in front of his cell.

"Good evening, Oliver," I smirk looking at him sitting on the cot. Fett lifted so as not to touch the silver-painted floor. I had left one long strip in the center of the cell unpainted.

His hair was longer and the beard on his face was scraggy and untamed. His eyes were dark and hollow from malnutrition. His skin was pale, and his wolf was weak from being surrounded by silver walls, floor, and bars. Nothing less than he deserved.

I would bring him food and a bucket to wash up in. When I remembered. And usually, after we had a session. I enjoyed our sessions, not too sure if he did. Then again, I didn't care.

For the past six months, everyone thought I had executed him. I should have for his crimes against the realm and for what he did to me and Lamia. Except, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

My thirst for revenge was far greater than justice.

However, now it wouldn't be long until the other found out I had deceived them and kept this sorry-ass piece of shit alive for my own entertainment. The truth is I wanted him to suffer at my hands just like I had suffered at his, Silas's, and Kira's.

'She will be disappointed us.' My wolf Janus stirs in my mind speaking of Lamia.

'She will praise us for hurting him like he hurt her and you.' Ahh the other voice, the one who encourages me, the one that craves his queen and taste of her blood. The beast that crossed the veil between life and death and came back with me from the other side.

A parasite that latched onto me and has never left.

'I am no parasite; in time you will learn.' He says reading my thoughts.

'You are not of this world and do not belong with my human.' Janus growls at the other voice that occupies my mind. The secondary spirit that lives within me ever since our queen brought us back from death.

"Another fun-filled visit I assume?" I look up to see Oliver's beady eyes watching me.

"Maybe," I tell him, not sure what I'm going to say to him. Sometimes I come down here to ease my own pain, finding a sick comfort in slicing him open. Sometimes I come and sit and just stare at him. Other times I talk to him.

Whatever I come down here to do, I know it's not healthy. Not right. That I'm not right. I scoff aloud at my own thoughts, at the ridiculousness of them. Sometimes I wonder who I am because, the Travis I knew, the boy who left the Academy with hope and a future, that boy is long gone. His future was stolen by the one person that is meant to love you. The one person who I should have been able to trust. Except she delivered me into the hands of the enemy.

Oliver stands, his feet bare feet smoldering as they touch the silver floor. He steps onto the unpainted strip and faces the wall, putting his hands behind his back. It's what he is meant to do when I enter his cell.

I lean against the stone wall, staying clear of the silver bars, and use the knife to pick at my nails. The silver of the blade just touches the tip of my finger, but it no longer stings. In fact, gone are the days that silver had any effect on me.

A bonus outcome from Lamia biting me and giving me her blood.

"It won't be long now," I say my eyes watching the knife strip a sliver of my nail. "They are sending the witch to see if she can communicate with your spirit. Except you're not dead."

Oliver whirls around to face me but says nothing. I look up and can almost see his brows furrow beneath the long strands of his brownish-red hair.

"Yeah, they seem to think you hold answers to their questions. About a certain man." I cock my head and smile deviously at him. "So, the question is, do I come clean and tell them you are still alive or kill you so the witch can communicate with your spirit."

I'm not really asking him, just thinking out loud. I often come down here and do that. Have a one-sided conversation with Oliver. I know it's not healthy and I know I should have ended his life. Again, I didn't for my own selfish reasons. Reasons I haven't fully understood or know why.

"What man?" He asks me, stepping closer to the bars that separate us.

I scratch my beard with the knife contemplating if I should tell him. "Senko." I decided to disclose.

I wasn't prepared for his reaction or the words that followed the jerking of his head. His eyes meet mine, and for a brief second, they flash orange with his wolf "He's alive?"

So, he does know who he is.