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  Aisyx

  Book 3 in the Neuri Series

  by

  Poppet

  Copyright 2012 Author Poppet

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed by a newspaper, magazine or journal.

  All characters and places appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  The only exception is the musician and model Siri Khalsa

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  A Word of Warning

  The neuri books all happen in the same timeline. Sveta, Ryan, Arelstin's Lair, and Aisyx. run into and over each other. Because of this the first few chapters have recaps for you from all 3 previous installments to bring you back up to speed.

  I apologize if you find this annoying, but I'd rather do this for readers who appreciate the prompt, and for readers who read these novels out of sequence.

  Thank you for your patience and understanding. After chapter 4 you will be completely in new territory with only essential continuations added into other chapters. (ie the fight scene between Jowendrhan and Arelstin.)

  Happy reading and thank you so much for purchasing the final book of the Pravus/Neuri series.

  Foreward

  Recap from Sveta:

  Sveta:

  I raise my hand in farewell, shoving my shoulder into the door and stumbling into the crisp wet night.

  It smells so fresh and clean, it should feel good, invigorating, but I have a pain lodged in my chest that refuses to budge.

  Rattling down the stairs, taking the four steps to my sweetheart, I wipe pooled water off the seat of the Ghost, straddling her, pausing to caress her custom paintwork.

  “You'll never leave me, will you baby?”

  Leaning down, I kiss the gas tank.

  This is my girl.

  With my hand on the throttle, ready to fire up the bike, my boot resting on coarse gravel in the dark shadows beside Pravus, a sensation dances down my spine, snapping fingers next to my ear and creeping plyx around my nape.

  Pausing in my movement, running an agitated hand through my cropped hair, I inhale instinctively.

  Immediately my vision switches to neuri, burning my eyes with the brilliant glow of maple syrup. I'm a chestnut redhead and my plyx is fiery, it masks the world with my energy so I survey it with intuition and instinct.

  Footfalls clap on stone.

  Twisting my torso I look behind me, the vision slamming a fist into my heart.

  Frozen, I watch long legs stretch and tense on heeled boots, dragging my gaze up her incredible body to perfect hips, a tight waist, a voluptuous swell...

  Long wavy blond hair flags behind her in her haste, her lips parted with urgent breath, so perfect, so sexy, her eyes so very green, long lashes blink and they are glossed with fresh tears.

  She is female bling.

  Blinking to hide my neuri fire, I set the stand back down, raising from the bike and pulling a glove off with my teeth, already striding toward the damsel in obvious distress.

  My movement draws her focus and she reaches hands to me, and I want her to run.

  “Oh God! Please help me!”

  That's all the encouragement I need, breaking into a run.

  I'm coming.

  She stumbles weakly, catching her fall with a hand on the side of Zauran's car and I finally notice the blood dripping from her fingers. Blurring into true speed, I catch her before she falls, lifting her up, inhaling the redolence of someone truly unique.

  “I've got you,” I reassure her.

  Staring into her glazing eyes I'm shocked by what I see there. A bloody hand plants on my heart, burning into my skin with power, marking my naked chest with her vitality.

  It's another crimson shock to the heart and I'm beginning to feel like I need a kevlar vest. I should have zipped up all the way, too late now.

  “Who are you? What happened?” I ask the strangeling.

  “Ch...”

  She slumps in my arms, her words lost to the mercy of unconsciousness.

  I check her heartbeat and breathing, then I focus on the trees. Darkness tightens its cloak around us and I spy the shadows advancing fast.

  The others are here, and I'm holding the one they hunt.

  There's not a second to spare. Instantly sober and lucid I bolt

  for the stairs, yelling through the ether for the demons and neuri still inside.

  Telepathically drumming the panic button, calling all men to defend, to snare the fucker right here.

  Blasting through the red doors, I dump her into Aisyx's arms, yelling, “Zarak! Akae! He's here!”

  Zauran bolts past me, ripping his shirt off, rushing outdoors in neuri form, an alpha on the hunt for the scent, ready to defend his territory.

  I'm an alpha too!

  Frantically unzipping my jacket, I hurl it, morphing into neuri form while I run.

  Backup's coming Zauran!

  Flying into the night with my neuri vision, my body immovable in strength, I have a bad feeling I'm about to have my ass handed to me for the third time today.

  *

  Zauran:

  Dropping to my haunches, I read the signature in the sand, closing my eyes and conjuring his image.

  This was all we needed to hunt him, track him, to incarcerate him for his crimes against humanity. My eyes snap open just as Akae appears between the boughs in front of me.

  “Arelstin,” he states unnecessarily.

  “Yup,” I nod, standing, surveying the area, knowing he's long gone.

  Zarak joins the party, two captives attached to each of his hands, “He was after the slakax according to these squealers, but something else appeared tonight.”

  Zaria! My petal! Moving, I start sprinting, “Zaria is unguarded! She's slakax!”

  Sveta's eyes light up like bog lights, flaring orange balls to pinwheel into the darkness, “Zena's just as vulnerable.”

  Zarak booms after me, I'm almost to the parking area, “The goddess is here! He wants her more!”

  I don't care who he wants right now, my priority is Zaria and the boys growing in her belly.

  *

  Sveta:

  Slamming to a halt, I turn and face Zarak, “What?”

  “The vesna are coming down from the mountain, they're fleeing.”

  “The vesna?” That chick with the hot legs, she's vesna? The vesna never leave their mountain hideaway. They're more myth than fact they've been hidden for so long. They don't breed, they're a female only race, immortal, they do not mingle with the great unwashed masses. They are the holiest of the holy on this land.

  This day is never fucking going to end, is it.

  “Vesna?” I ask again.

  “Yes Sveta, vesna. You have her blood on your chest, you've bonded already, and she's bonded with Arelstin because he's the one who cut her open.”

  “He cut her open?” The thought of the vampyres hurting women pisses me off. They can kick my ass but picking on women is what cowards with small dicks do. My hands unconsciously move to my chest, feeling her dried blood imprinted on me. Looking
at Zarak, I indicate we should move, “I have to get my jacket, I need to check on Zena. Arelstin just lost his bounty so he's probably going to target the consolation prize.”

  I don't really recall anyone called Arelstin.

  Zarak reads me, his eyes flaring so red he looks like he's erupting, “He's Ellindt's lover, guard, and mate.”

  “He framed his lover for his own murders?” The vampyre sink lower and lower in my opinion with each passing transgression.

  “She's the most powerful vampyre on earth, and he knows all there is to know about her power, her reign, her reach, and the people in her pockets. He's had a long time to build an empire using hers as a foundation. I knew the bastard was evil but to think he tried to dethrone her by framing her, and removing the neuri in the process so there's no one to stand in his way and stop him, that takes balls.”

  Time's a wasting.

  “I have to go,” I repeat, urgency beginning to ratchet spurs in my soul.

  Zarak shakes the minions on either hand, “I'll take care of these.”

  He vanishes, leaving me alone, everyone gone their separate ways in the aftermath.

  Chapter 1

  Zaria:

  This isn't happening! How will I ever sleep easy knowing what truly happens when he's at work.

  The sound of Zauran's bike pulling up outside followed by his boots in the hallway, force me to wipe my eyes and put the brave face on.

  “Zaria?!”

  “I'm in the study!” I yell back, wishing I had a mirror to check my eyes.

  He bursts in, filling the threshold, “Are you okay?”

  “I think the question should be, are you?” I snap, my voice shaky, betraying my emotion.

  He skids to his knees, coming to a halt at my lap, holding my legs and looking up at me, aqua plyx misting out of his eyes. It's a sure sign he's feeling both very alpha and very emotional. “What happened? Was that bastard here? I swear to god I'll–”

  “No one was here. Just me.”

  “Then... why are you crying? Are the hormones messing with you?”

  That just makes me livid and I turn angrily, jolting his hand off me to point accusation at Bootube.

  “How was your day at the office? A quiet night as usual?” I sneer sarcastically.

  He goes so pale, his eyes verily glowing with petrol hues, “Where did you get this? Who the fuck did this?”

  “What's going on?” I demand, trying very hard to use the reasonable tone.

  Good lord, if they're anything like their father the twins inside me will make me gray before they're two.

  “Arelstin was chasing a vesna. She was bleeding in the parking area and Sveta alerted us, leaving her with Aisyx. I ran out to get him but he moves like a ghost. It's like he can fucking walk across realms!” He stands, pacing with agitation, glancing at me while speaking, his eyes causing a fog in the small study. “Zaria, I swear on my alpha life that this has never happened before. What I'd like to know is how the hell we all ended up on Bootube!”

  Me too. What will I do if you die before these twins are born? I can't raise a neuri child on my own!

  The fear makes the deluge refill my eyes again. This is a disaster. He'll be hunted, he's all over the god damn internet.

  He slumps onto his haunches, resting his elbows on his knees, gripping his head in desperation, “Shit! We need to get that taken down! We could really use Seithe, how typical Darise murdered him when he's our only ally with tech skills.” Bolting up, energy blasting off him in shock waves, he waggles a finger at the screen, “Demons, neuri, vampyres, vesna, all caught on camera! We're fucked!”

  *

  Ryan:

  As I step into the wood and leather retreat, running a hand through my hair to smooth it down and combed back, the demon stands from the chair this side of my desk, turning to me, inclining his head, staring at the floor.

  “Akae? What the hell is going on?” I say, bowing my head slightly with respect.

  “Jowendrhan is in custody for a fortnight.”

  Stopping dead, my naked feet still clammy on the stone floor, I look at him, calculating the odds in my head.

  It's proof. It's proof that the neuri are tied to the slakax somehow. Frowning at him I walk straight to the scotch, lifting a carafe and two glasses, moving back to my desk and sitting on it, clattering both vessels down and pouring. “Tell me everything.”

  Arsay is their leader, the most powerful demon on this planet and the first of their kind. Exhaling, giving him his tumbler, I down mine, twirling the empty crystal between my fingers before looking at the demon. “What exactly was his motivation?”

  “Jowendrhan?” he offers obtusely.

  I nod, refilling our scotch.

  “To teach Sveta a lesson. He bruised Božena when he was helping her heal,” he says.

  “So Jowendrhan's sensibilities were offended because she is his first chosen mate who gave him life, through the birth of his twin children?”

  He nods, relaxing back in his chair and facing me. “That's not all, Ryan. The vesna are fleeing the mountain. The leader of the killing spree on humans is Arelstin. He was chasing the vesna tonight when Sveta saved her by taking her into Pravus.”

  “Why are they fleeing?” I ask, fidgeting with my tumbler, moving it like a chess piece around my desk.

  “We don't know yet.”

  Nodding, I stand, moving around my desk and flopping into the chair. “So Jowendrhan's sister has a hand in this rogue killing spree then?”

  “No.” He shakes his head, leaning forward, his eyes bottoming out and turning into holes in his skull, “Arelstin acted of his own accord. For lack of a better term, Ellindt and Arelstin have broken up.”

  “So he'll be coming for Phoebe?” I focus on keeping my voice level and even.

  “More than likely.”

  “Why?”

  “There is a loophole in the heavenly plan.”

  “What loophole?” I demand, his statement captivating all of my attention and rising ire.

  “The three slakax women have divine light in them. The first light, from a Casting. We know who their father is.”

  “Who?”

  “I don't have permission to disclose that information yet. But as you are fully aware the Casting outrank all other supernatural entities. They were the beginning of all races on this planet. If Arelstin can harness the three sister's plyx, then he will have the power of a Casting. He can undo the ban on the red eyes, he can reverse it all. He can free them of their blood guilt and he can destroy us all. All of us. All.”

  That seems to bother him as he repeats himself endlessly.

  I shake my head, smiling dangerously at Akae, “But he won't. He wants their power for himself.”

  “Your brothers have marked their mates. They have combined plyx with Phoebe's sisters.” Akae's eyeballs pop back into his head, vivid with deep red and blue. “Ryan, if Arelstin gets to Phoebe before you do, it will be too late. You have to claim her if you want to keep their power from Arelstin.”

  “We are prepared for intruders, I didn't bring her to a mountain because the air is pure, I brought her here to keep her protected. And that is what I shall continue to do.”

  Akae nods, standing, readying to leave. Towering over my substantially imposing desk, he smiles. It's so full of foreboding it gives me the creeps.

  “Her plyx is ancient, Ryan. She is immensely powerful and the vampyres are truly clueless about that fact. As fallen angels they were deliberately blinded from the power of the slakax. That's all changed now. Jowendrhan is the Elder of the vampyres, and you should not disrespect him because of his age. Enroll Jowendrhan's help to crush this uprising instigated by Arelstin. This is war Ryan. All of our lives rest in the hands of three women. We have to unite them, and you have to unite with Phoebe to keep her safe, truly safe. You understand?”

  “How do we unite them?”

  “Just keep her safe, let's get rid of this threat, save the vesna, and stop alienati
ng your allies. Jowendrhan is your ally now. He knows it, as much as he hates it. You two need each other.”

  Vanishing as if he was never here at all, I am left frustrated.

  Lifting the phone off my desk, I dial Zauran, my brother engaged to Phoebe's middle sister, Zaria.

  *

  Aisyx:

  There are no words to communicate the fire flooding through me the second Sveta dumped the woman into my arms. Holding the glorious creature I'm instantly afraid my grip is too strong.

  Loosening my hands I hold her like a newborn, overwhelmed with the scent of holiness encrusted in her skin.

  Venix's words come back to me, “Spirit is thankful to you for keeping Božena alive, you will be rewarded with the mate you've been pining for.”

  “What are you?” I whisper, taking her to Zauran's office and laying her down on the couch lining the wall.

  Caressing long hair off her face it's instinct to examine her arms and legs, looking for the wound that caused the bleeding. My t-shirt is now saturated with her crimson loss and it alarms me.

  Akae appears out of nowhere, with Venix.

  The archangel doesn't hesitate, closing the gap in a stride, laying his hand on her and blasting angelic power into her, closing the gouges.

  Then he looks at me, “Take good care of her. There are only four vesna left.”

  Disappearing as suddenly as he arrived, I look at Akae, fucking confused. “Vesna?”

  “Vesna are messengers. Oracles. They only appear to humans in spring. They live so high up in the mountains very few have ever seen them. Goddesses, females one and all.”