Chapter 7
Something was wrong. Bayu slept fitfully, which wasn’t unexpected considering the time difference, but that wasn’t it.
Tiger came to him in a dream. In it, the white beast was running away.
Bayu tried to follow, but it was like his feet were mired in hardening concrete.
Every step was more difficult than the last, and Tiger ran so far that Bayu could no longer see him.
“Bayu?” a soft voice called. When he blinked his eyes open, a beautiful woman was smiling down at him. Not just any woman – his mate. “We’re about fifteen minutes from landing.”
Bayu returned his seat to its upright position and looked out the window to see nothing but water below.
Carleigh was holding a cup, and from the smell, it was coffee.
Bayu’s stomach rumbled, but it wasn’t from Tiger.
His beast felt distant. Tiger? When he didn’t receive an answering emotion, Bayu rubbed his chest. Carleigh was staring at his hand with her head angled to the side.
“What is it?” he asked, then held his hand out in front of him and sucked in a breath. The ancient markings had faded. “That’s odd.”
“Do you feel okay?” Carleigh traced one of the designs.
“I’m not sure how I feel. Strange, if I’m honest. It’s probably remnants of the dream I had.”
“Would you like some coffee or tea?”
“No, thank you. I’m going to use the restroom.
” Bayu stood and made his way to the lavatory.
He splashed water on his face before looking in the mirror.
His eyes were a muted blue instead of the icy shade they had turned upon becoming the Nuhuala.
He wiped away the water with the hand towel hanging by the door before returning to his seat.
Carleigh studied him closely, but he didn’t reassure her he was fine. He wasn’t; he just didn’t know why.
Once they landed, it took half an hour to get from the plane into the vehicle Cruz somehow procured for them and on the road to Sarawak.
Bayu texted his aunt to let her know they were close.
Cruz and Celeste remained behind with the jet, and Carleigh took the wheel so that Silas could be alert to any trouble they might encounter.
It was a thirty-kilometer drive to the Bako National Park where Gemi said to meet her.
The sun was going down, but it was still light enough to take in the views.
When they arrived, there were no cars in the parking lot since the park closed at five.
Silas climbed from the vehicle after telling Bayu and Carleigh to hold tight.
Bayu searched for any sign of his aunt but didn’t see her anywhere, so he sent another text.
Me: I’m in the parking lot.
Gemi: We’ll be right there.
“She said they will be right here.” Bayu opened his door and stepped out.
Silas sidled closer, putting his larger body in front of Bayu’s as Carleigh joined them.
A few minutes later, Gemi appeared from within the trees, but instead of his mother and sister, a little boy of about three or four was holding her hand.
Bayu’s breath caught. Seeing the child was like looking in a mirror when he was that age.
“Is that Gemi?” Silas asked quietly.
“Yes.” Bayu stepped from behind the guard. “Gemi?”
“Hello, nephew,” she responded in their native tongue. She appeared so much older than the last time he’d seen her.
“Gemi, this is Carleigh Stone, my mate, and Silas Mayfield, my bodyguard.” Gemi bowed to them. What she did not react to was Bayu mentioning a mate. “Where are mother and Kiki?”
Gemi’s eyes said it all. “I’m so sorry, Bayu.” Her voice broke as she spoke the words in English for Carleigh and Silas’s benefit. “There is much I need to tell you, but we do not have a lot of time.”
The little boy tore his hand from Gemi’s and ran to Bayu, holding his arms up. Bayu didn’t hesitate to lift the child. With his brows arched, he silently asked his aunt to explain.
“Bayu, Juni is your brother. He was with me when…” Gemi’s voice cracked as tears streamed down her face. “Your father and mother are no longer with us, and Kiki was taken. The Black Lotus is responsible. I know this because your mother wrote their name in her blood before expiring.”
“What? No, Gemi. Not mother too.” Bayu choked back a sob.
It had been years since he saw her shining eyes and lovely smile, and now he would never see them again.
And Kiki? She was still a teenager. “How did they find them?” The Black Lotus was a group of mages who practiced dark magic.
Bayu’s father taught him of their existence and warned him to always beware of magic users.
“I do not know. You need to take Juni so I can look for Kiki.”
“Why would they take her?”
“She is part of your father. Since they couldn’t find you, I assume they will use her for her blood.
I do not hold onto hope she is still alive, but I will not stop until I find her.
” Gemi removed a bag from over her shoulder and held it out to Carleigh.
“This contains what you need for your calling as well as a few of Juni’s belongings. ”
“Let me help you, Auntie.”
“Tak. You will help me by going home. You are now Nuhuala. Nothing good would come from you being captured, or worse, as there isn’t someone to take your place.
This is your sacred duty, Bayu. I will seek out your sister, and you will return to the States and guard yourself as well as Juni.
Go now, nephew. It has been an honor being your auntie. ”
Gemi didn’t give Bayu time to say goodbye or ask questions. She took off running back into the woods, disappearing from Bayu’s life. “What the fuck?”
“Fuck,” Juni repeated. Bayu groaned, and Juni laughed. “Bye-bye, bruvver?”
“Yes. I am your brother.” Bayu was glad the boy spoke English.
“We should get out of here,” Silas said, gesturing to the car.
Bayu was sad as well as flabbergasted. His mom was also gone, and his sister had been kidnapped. Bayu wanted to shout the world down. He wanted to curse Baekyo for allowing this to happen.
He knew nothing about small children. When he stood frozen, Carleigh approached, placing her palm against his cheek.
“Together, my tiger.” Juni held up his hands as though they had claws and gave a little roar.
Carleigh laughed, mussing Juni’s straight, black hair, and in return, he gave her a big grin.
The child didn’t seem upset he’d been handed off to strangers.
Since they didn’t have a car seat, Bayu placed Juni on the bench in the middle of the second row and fastened the lap belt across his legs.
Carleigh once again took the driver’s seat after passing the bag to Bayu.
Instead of sitting up front, Silas took the seat on the other side of Juni, boxing him in.
After Carleigh started the engine, she said, “Silas, please text Cruz and alert him of our situation. We need to get back in the air as soon as possible.”
“On it.” After sending the message, Silas returned his focus to their surroundings.
“Does Cruz not need to sleep?” Bayu asked. The male had flown for twenty-four hours, and the trip back would be just as long.
“Goyles can safely go days without it,” Silas said.
Satisfied the male was speaking the truth, Bayu opened the bag, curious to get his hands on the ancient scrolls.
He couldn’t believe Gemi dropped them carelessly beneath Juni’s clothes and toys.
The first item he came across was a plush stuffed tiger.
It wasn’t the white with black stripes of his kind, but Juni reached for it, growling.
With his brother content… fuck, Bayu had a little brother he hadn’t known existed.
His mom was gone, and Kiki, his beautiful sister, was likely being tortured.
He stopped searching while blinking back tears. He couldn’t fall apart. Not yet anyway.
“Bayu, what or who are the Black Lotus?” Carleigh asked.
Bayu met Carleigh’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “According to my father, they are a group of dark mages who seek out those with power – other mages, shifters, anyone who has the barest hint of elemental magic – and take it for themselves. I will know more once I read the scrolls.”
Silas’s phone buzzed, and Juni bopped it with the tiger. “Bzz, bzz.”
Silas chuckled at the toddler. “Cruz said they’ll be ready when we arrive. He’s submitted the flight plan and received clearance.”
As angry as Bayu was with Baekyo, he was still grateful Carleigh had been brought into his life.
Maybe he should be thanking her gods or the fates instead.
If it weren’t for her and her Clan, Bayu would have been alone in this endeavor.
He would have had to navigate getting to Kuching and back again by himself.
“Thank you both for being here with me. This is not something I would want to encounter alone.”
“I explained this to you already, but it’s what family does, Bayu. What our Clan does. No thanks are needed.” Carleigh winked at him through the mirror.
Bayu returned his focus to the bag, doing his best to put his family out of his mind for the time being.
He dug to the bottom where he found an ornate box.
He pulled it out, then placed the bag at his feet.
The box was made of silver with elaborate designs across the lid.
Those were the same designs on his body.
The same ones that were fading with each passing moment.
He asked Silas to take pictures of his hands and arms. Silas showed Bayu the phone.
“There’s nothing there. Or is there? I can’t see them in real life.”
“Yes, thank Baekyo. I can see them.” Since he couldn’t remove his shirt while they were moving, he would wait until they were on the plane and have Carleigh do the honors once they were in the air.
Bayu didn’t understand why the designs weren’t as vibrant as before.
Only the firstborn mark remained as it had always been.
It was possible there was some missive in the scrolls that would explain why.