strained as he struggled to breathe.
“Hold your tongue, traitor,” the shadow scolded. “You are hardly in a
position to be facetious.” Doshar emerged from the darkness, his finger leveled at
him. The pale light emanating from the tree highlighted his pallid features.
“No Doshar, it is I who should be calling you the traitor.”
A malevolent glow shone from Doshar"s eyes. “I am no traitor! I"ve stayed
true to my blood!” he boasted, slapping himself on the chest.
17
“Ah, true to the blood you say? Would that be the blood you were brought
into existence with or the blood our gracious dark lord has bestowed upon you?”
Doshar"s hand sought his throat cruelly. “Enough of this pointless talk!
Which realm did you send her to?”
“Sent who?” A weak smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
His brother"s hand tightened around his neck, pinching off his air flow.
“Why do you continue to go against your own kind, for the likes of her? ” Doshar
sneered.
“Because she will lead me to salvation and save my dark soul,” he gasped
barely above a whisper as tears of anguish blurred his vision.
A sinister chuckle erupted from Doshar"s gut. “Save your dark soul, you say?”
He laughed harder, stopped and growled, shoving his face close to his. “Well
unfortunately for you, little brother, your savior has met her demise.”
“Is that so,” Nikena"s voice sung from the darkness.
The shriek that retched from the large serpent made Mayiki"s ears bleed. Its
large body uncoiled and slithered to the ground. Heaving and gasping for air, he
fell over the snake"s limp body.
Nikena melted through the tree, the huge severed snake head in one hand
and her blood soaked axe in the other, evidence of her victorious battle. The black
18
vital substance was spattered along her sheer silver gown and wings, but failed to
tarnish her radiance.
“Are you well, Mayiki?” she asked, her back to him.
Nodding as if she could see him, he pushed up from the ground and stood,
taking in several deep breaths. “Yes, my lady,” he choked out on a cough.
Doshar grunted disapprovingly. “You address her as such, when she is
nothing but a demon"s whore?”
Instant fury carried Mayiki"s feet in a flash step toward his brother, but
before he could strike, Nikena raised her axe against his chest. He shifted from one
foot to the other, glaring at Doshar, reluctantly granting Nikena"s request to stay
put. His chest rose and fell with every angry breath he took. He balled his hands
into tight fists until his nails bit into his palms. It was all he could do to prevent
himself from sending a magical strike over her shoulder to sever Doshar"s insulting
tongue.
“Calm yourself, my friend. His insults mean nothing to me,” she mused, glancing at
him over her shoulder. She tossed the snake"s head to the ground and approached
Doshar.
Panic dissolved Doshar"s smug grin as he backed away. “Those incompetent
demons! I sent hundreds after you! Why are you standing here before me, alive and
unharmed?”
19
“Because the light always prevails,” she whispered, suddenly behind him.
Doshar spun around. The flash of her blade sliced through his gut.
Screaming, he tumbled to the ground.
Nikena stood over him. “Doshar, son of Rydus and servant of Lucifer, I
bestow upon you a chance to set right your wrongs, a chance to see the light and
walk into it, therefore erasing the darkness that binds you.” She offered her hand
to him. Her wings fluttered and gleamed with the power to purify his soul. “The
pain, the evil deeds―it can all be erased. Just take my hand.”
For a moment Mayiki thought Doshar would receive her generous offer, as
he himself had done so long ago, but there was resistance in his brother"s black
eyes. He felt Doshar"s struggle against her proposal, his refusal to be taken by the
light.
The stubborn fool squeezed his eyes shut and frantically shook his head.
“No! I will not allow you to suck me into the light like you did my brother!”
“Very well then,” she murmured dispassionately, stepping back from him.
“Since this will not do…” She leveled her axe at him. “On your feet. Draw your
blade.”
Grimacing, Doshar gripped the handle of his sword and leered his way.
There was a frantic tap on his psyche, indicating Doshar"s request for mental
20
communication, but Mayiki would not comply. Doshar"s decision to remain on the
dark side had sealed his fate.
Sluggishly, Doshar rose to his feet, clutching his bleeding stomach. “You
think you can best me, you winged whore?” He raised his hand, conjured a ball of
flames, threw it at her, and fled toward the portal as fast as he could.
With the casual flip of her hand, she deflected the fireball and hurled it back
at him. Inches from the portal, Doshar was smashed in the back with his own fire
spell and pushed through the entryway. His enraged scream erupted from the
abyss then faded.
Mayiki moved to Nikena"s side and watched the flames vanish. “This portal
has access to many realms, my lady. It will take him a while to find the one she"s in,”
he answered without waiting for her to ask.
“He will find her, at the mortal age of twenty, when she reaches her peak and
the heavenly scent flows from her body. It will not matter what realm she"s in, he
will sense her.” The silver melted from her eyes and was replaced with gold.
Sadness veiled her lovely face. “Her essence will draw him from the pits of hell.”
“I will find her first and cast a gychi spell. I cannot detach her scent, but I can
make it very difficult for him to locate her.”
Sighing, she looked up into the night sky and frowned. “I must go into exile,
Mayiki.”
21
“Yes, my lady, I know.”
“I trust you"ll do what you can to protect my daughter until I can go to her.”
“I will give my very life to protect her.”
A warm smile graced her face. She turned and locked her golden gaze with
his admiring dark stare. “I"m so glad I was able to bring you to the light, my dear
friend.”
She grazed her fingers across his forehead, blessing him with a touch of the
sweet divine. It traveled through his limbs and brought tears to his eyes.
“Me too,” he strained out on a whisper, touching the warm spot where her
fingers had kissed him.
Nikena turned her attention back to the sky and displayed her wings. “He
must not find her before her chosen consort does.” Her aura gleamed powerfully.
“There will be many nights of a scarlet moon in the earthly realm.”
Mayiki tried to shake the question burning his brain, but couldn"t. “Please
forgive me if this offends, but…” He paused to choose his words carefully. “Why
didn"t you destroy Doshar when you had the chance? Why are you allowing him to
go after her?”
She glinted at him then turned to walk away. He cursed himself for asking
her such a foo
lish question. “My lady, please forgive―”
22
“Because my daughter will be the one to claim his head,” she replied over her
shoulder. “And she will succeed.” Her form became a sphere of white light before
she shot to the skies and vanished.
23
Chapter One
Take a Bow
Miami, Florida
Earthly Realm; 20 years later
“Thank you, Miami!”
Sharayna Rayne Piers bowed to the sea of cheering fans. Heat from the
crowd"s excitement radiated over her like a soothing shower of rain. She kissed her
fingers and spread her arms wide, sending love and gratitude to her admirers as
they chanted her name.
Smiling appreciatively, she bowed once more. “I love you, Miami! Good
night!”
The hydraulic platform she stood on lowered into the stage. She waved her
hands rhythmically with the exit music until she dropped out of the audience"s
sight.
His arms folded across his massive chest, Sota waited for her. “Another great
show, baby girl,” he extolled, taking her hand.
24
With sweat dripping down her back, she hopped off the platform and shook
her tousled hair from her shoulders. “Wheew, and one more to go. Hometown, big
papi, you ready for it?”
“Are you?”
He wasted no time leading her through the path beneath the stage. She
slapped high fives and gave fist pounds to her backup dancers as they moved along
the corridor.
He ushered her to the exit where Troy, her lead male dancer tossed her a
towel and mouthed, “In your dressing room.”
Winking, she mouthed back, “We"ll see.”
The stadium"s security detail surrounded her once Sota pushed the doors
open. They tunneled through the crowd of anxious fans, reporters, and
photographers. Rushing along, she waved and smiled, holding her persona for the
cameras.
“Rayne, I love you!” someone shouted.
“I love you too!” Rayne shouted back, trying to keep her feet beneath her.
They made it to a set of double doors, which Sota plowed through with her
wrapped in his massive embrace. The security guards closed the doors promptly
after they cleared it. Heavy breathing from the uniformed men echoed through the
quiet hallway that led to her dressing room.
25
“Wow, that was a rush,” she jested, smiling up at Sota.
“I"m so sorry, Miss Piers,” one of the security men breathed out, his face
flushed in embarrassment. “That part of the hall is usually blocked off from the
public. Someone must"ve let them in.”
She dismissed his apology with a casual flip of her hand. “Aw, don"t worry
„bout it, man. Me and Sota do this all the time. Ain"t that right, big daddy?”
Giggling, she patted Sota"s huge chest.
He held an austere expression, cupped her elbow and led her to the dressing
room. “Thank you gentlemen,” he called down the hall before whipping the door
open. “Wait here a minute.”
Leaning against the doorframe, Rayne folded her arms under her breasts and
watched him search the room, like someone could actually hide in the wide open
space. He stuck his hands in the center of her wardrobe and spread them to the
sides. The hangers screeched across the chrome rod, making her wince.
“Seriously though? Who"s gonna hide in there, Sota?”
He sliced her a sidelong glare over his shoulder. “You just be quiet.”
After thoroughly checking the room, he all but yanked her in. “You"ve got
ten minutes before the winners of that radio contest come in for autographs.” His
deep voice was urgent and demanding. “So hurry up and change.”
26
“Yes, drill sergeant!” she shouted, doing her best Forrest Gump
impersonation. When she got nothing but a bleak expression, she frowned.
“Listen, I"ve been holding this happy joy front for months now, like my life is
fabulous when you and I both know it"s not. The least you could do is play along.”
His brows bunched and his lips tightened. He quickly pushed the door
closed. “I"m sorry. I"m not trying to…how are you feeling Rayne?”
Avoiding his hardened stare, she trudged over to her duffle bag. “Like the
world is spinning in the wrong direction,” she grumbled. She fished out the small
orange bottle and popped a pill in her mouth. “It"s getting worse, Sota.” She took a
swig of water and sighed. “You said not to worry, but I dunno, brah…It happened
again, on stage this time. I mean, damn man, my stage time is my therapy, and now
that"s taken away from me. I think I"m sick, for real.”
“No, you"re not sick—”
“Then what"s wrong with me?” she whined.
“Not a damn thing.” He rubbed her back then reached around her to switch
on the small stereo on the vanity.
“You"re all calm, acting like I"m going through some regular episode. There
ain"t nothing normal about this shit, and you know it.”
Nina Simone cooed from the speakers. Feeling Good. Rayne briefly closed her
eyes and tried to get into the feeling that Nina sung so soulfully about.
27
“Try not to think about it. Let"s just get through the night. You"ll feel better
when you talk to Narri tomorrow, okay. Want me to call off the get together with
your fans?”
“Naw, uh-uh, don"t do that.” She plopped down in the chair and lowered her
head to the vanity. “Give me about twenty minutes to put on my Rayne"s life is
wonderful and I"m not losing my damn mind face, a"ight.”
“Ya know, you don"t have to do—”
“Twenty minutes until this valium kicks in,” she drawled. “And I"ll be all
smiles for my peeps, okay.”
When she heard him huff then exit the room, she groaned. “Try not to think
about it? Seriously?” If he only knew how close she was to slitting her damn
wrists…
Raking her fingers through her hair, she pushed up from the chair. She
rested her hands on either side of the dresser top, stared into the mirror and
wondered who the girl was staring back at her.
Silver eye shadow accented her deep chocolate brown eyes. Glittery powder
glistened against her rich mahogany skin. Her tousled mane fell over her shoulders,
and brushed over the peaks of her breasts. A silver skirt hugged her hips, and
flared out slightly a few inches past her behind.
Way too short for her liking, but this was the image she projected.
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A matching top, no more than a bra, fitted snug over her size C mounds. She
straightened her back, tilted her head and brushed her fingers over her muscled
abdomen then fingered the small, silver navel ring.
This flashy appearance wasn"t her. It was a façade, put on to visually satisfy
her fans— the image of Rayne.
Behind the bold reflection in the mirror was a normal girl who"d grown up
in Florida with a talent for singing and dancing, but now, that girl was anything
but normal.
About a couple of months ago on the day of her twentieth birthday, some
real life-changing mysteries turned her world upside down. First it was the bright
red highlights in her hair, w
hich pretty much appeared over night, and
consequently became a fashion trend.
Then days later the nightmares began; terrifying nightmares of young women
brutally murdered by something or someone unseen. It wasn"t long before the
horrid dreams turned into visions that haunted her without warning, during the
day and just recently she suffered one while on stage.
Thank God her backup singers were able to pick up where she fell out of
sync.
At first she thought the visions were caused by her overwhelming life. It
was stress, her brain"s way of telling her she needed a break from her sudden
29
stardom. Then young women began to disappear in the real world, outside of the
freak world in her mind.
Coincidence?
Even as their faces were flashed across the televisions, and their names
blared out on the radio, she couldn"t be sure they were the same girls from her
nightmares, but deep inside the possibility was frightening.
“Ohhh Jesus, help me,” she sighed.
Restraining her tears, she lowered to the seat and removed her make-up. It
didn"t matter what Sota said, she knew deep in her heart she was a basket case.
Problem was, her façade was breaking down and pretty soon everyone else would
know too.
Huffing, she pushed up out of the chair, spun around and propped her foot
in the seat. As she unstrapped the three inch silver pump, the door creaked open.
“Don"t move.” She turned toward the husky voice to see Troy sliding into the
room. He bit down on his lower lip and closed the door behind him. “Stay just like
that.”
She noted her position—her foot in the chair with her leg bent. She knew
exactly where he was headed.
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She chuckled lazily. “Hey there, sexy boy, change of plans. A few fans won a
radio contest and are gonna come by to chill with me for a hot minute. I"ll catch up
with you later, at the after party.”
Like she hadn"t said a word, he swaggered across the room, cradled her face
and hungrily took her mouth. Playfully, she pushed back from him and scuttled
out of his reach.
“Am I talking to myself?” she chortled. She kicked off her loosened shoe and