Tainted Heart (The Tainted Series Book 2) Read online

  Tainted Heart

  By Tarisa Marie

  Published by Tarisa Marie

  © Tarisa Marie – 2015

  The purchaser of this book is subject to the condition that he/she shall in no way resell it, nor any part of it, nor make copies of it to distribute freely.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 1

  “You are both interesting. I sense both dark and light power within you. The girl is very powerful,” the pixie-like woman says thoughtfully.

  I watch D’s facial expression turn to one of confusion.

  The woman sees his confusion and adds, “She is like us. She is part Tario. Of course, all ‘witches’ as you call yourselves are part Tario, but her blood is far less diluted. Either her father or her mother was full Tario.”

  D’s eyebrows pull closer together in confusion. “Her mother was a human turned vampire,” he corrects her. “Her father is a witch turned immortal. Her father is Theenis Malgrovech, have you heard of him?”

  “Of course I have, child. We keep tabs on all of those with tainted blood,” she answers as if it’s obvious. “You two don’t know much about the Tario do you?”

  “No, nearly nothing,” D admits with a shake of the head.

  “You’re in for an awakening then, children of the tainted.”

  “What do you mean?” I blurt out, earning me glares from both D and the woman.

  “It is a story that I will let my sister Layli tell you. We are nearly there now.”

  We walk through thick, prickly brush. It stabs at my legs as if we’re walking through thorn bushes. Without D using his power to move the brush out of the way, there would be no way for me to move through it. The girl leading us seems to have no problem and it makes me further question who or what exactly the Tario are.

  I nearly gasp when we step out of the thick brush and into what looks to be a small but very futuristic town with high buildings in strange bright colors like lime green and hot pink.

  “We’re here,” the woman says quietly almost as if she hasn’t meant us to hear.

  “Wow,” I mumble, taken aback by the tall buildings and tons of people on the streets. There seems to be no cars but I see the odd bicycle wander its way down the street.

  “This is it? Where is everyone?” D wonders genuinely sounding confused. I glance at him questioningly. He seems to be searching the clearing as if he’s looking for something. How can he not be amazed by the scene in front of us?

  “As I thought, the girl can see what you cannot. Her veins hold higher concentration of Tario blood,” the woman smiles but without any sort of emotion. It’s almost creepy.

  She then waves her hand through the air and a slight shimmer flows around D. He gasps.

  “This sight will only last a few days but I trust it will do for now,” she nods and walks towards the town. D is held back a minute while he takes in everything that I just have. His face wears a look of both shock and wonder. How has this place remained hidden for so long?

  She leads us right into the town and down a small street made from brick. There are still no cars in sight. I can see now that the streets are too narrow for them. I see a few people ride by on bicycles and I can’t help assuming that these people are human as there seems to be nothing outstanding about them unlike anyone I’ve met with any sort of power. We enter a tall, gray building with large windows and flowers surrounding it, and we find ourselves standing in front of a woman who looks nearly identical to the woman who led us here.

  “Layli, nice to see you again,” D greets immediately and bows politely. I wonder if I’m supposed to do or say something. By the time I’m done having an internal debate, it’s too late.

  The woman nods politely to me and smiles, though her smile is far more creepy than genuine.

  “Daymon. I’ve been expecting you. You and your friend that is.” Her voice is musical. “I see you’ve met my twin Tenley.”

  I look between the two women, they obviously aren’t identical twins but they are definitely sisters. They share the same laugh lines, which go against their flawless, young appearance. Something about both of them leads me to believe that they are far, far older than they appear.

  “Come, have a seat,” Layli continues and I watch Tenley exit the building the way we came in.

  We take a seat on the very elaborate purple couch in the center of a large pink living room decorated with many types of flowers. As I take them all in, I watch D nervously run a hand through his dark hair. This is the strangest use of color that I’ve ever seen in a home. Is the woman color blind? It looks like a doll threw up all over in here. I do enjoy the flowers though, many of them types I’ve never before seen. I wonder if they are native to this part of the world.

  “Do not be nervous, friends. I will not harm you. After all, I owe you a favor but…” she raises a hand in disruption before continuing, “I wish to answer your questions before we continue. I understand that for the most part you are unaware of who the Tario are,” she begins while taking a seat across from us on an ancient-looking rocking chair. “We were the original beings on earth. We came from another realm called Tarotoo after it was destroyed by our own people. We, thirty four of us, came here billions of years ago and we tried to make earth into a replica of our old home by recreating the species which existed there. We created organisms of all sorts-bacteria, plants, and eventually animals. But like with anything you do for a long period of time, we eventually became bored with this and began experimenting with making what are now humans. We wished to create a being intelligent enough to be slaves for our race. For many years it worked wonderfully. After a while, these slaves got out of hand. They began quickly populating the earth and out numbering us. Instead of us exterminating them, we used it as a sort of…experiment. We’ve been watching from afar for thousands of years now. Watching as humanity evolves. What we didn’t anticipate was that these humans we created, would be able to reproduce with us. Half Tario-half human creatures were being born and although they possessed a fraction of the power possessed by the full Tario, their powers were very erratic and unpredictable. They lacked control. We had to slaughter them all. Every few hundred years a Tario will mate with a human and we have to take care of the problem.”

  I interrupt to D’s dismay. “Why do you have to kill them? Why can’t you help them learn?” It’s a simple enough question. Killing isn’t always the answer, to me, this just sounds crazy and psychotic.

  “We tried, but they didn’t seem to learn. One slip and our human experiment would be ruined you see. The humans cannot know that they are not the most advanced race. That is part of the experiment. They must live believing that they are superior. We are watching them evolve. Watching them to see what they can create as well as what they can destroy with their own two hands.”

  “Why would you create a race to perform experiments on for years and years, what is the point?” D asks her while straightening a pillow on the couch.

  “What you must
understand is that some of us Tario have been around for billions of years. We are bored. We are tired. Only one thing can kill us-a metal from a realm long ago destroyed. One piece was brought to earth but was soon after lost. You see, we are cursed to live for eternity. We’ve watched so many things be born and then die. Death causes no emotion in any of us any longer as cold as that may seem to someone of your kind. Imagine our lives though, never ending, never having anything new to peak our curiosity. We create these things, we watch them, and then we move on to something new once we grow bored.”

  She pauses to brush her hair back from her face.

  “It may be hard to understand for you because you have emotion, though we’ve long lost it. Our current and only entertainment is our human experiment. If something messes it up, we’ll have to restart and play the waiting game again as evolution takes place. We have over the years chosen not to have small, insignificant disturbances such as halflings interfere with our experiment, knowing that one day there would be a right time to introduce ourselves to the humans once again and see where that directed their existence. Will they panic, grab their weapons, and end up ending their own kind? Or will they remain calm, come to the realization that they are no match for us, realize that we’ve lived together in peace since the beginning of their existence, and understand that by bringing out their weapons, they will only destroy their own race?”

  “So wait, back up, you kill the halflings because you don’t want them interrupting your experiment?” I question confused. Like that isn’t crazy.

  “Yes, imagine it like this. You have an ant farm in a little container. You want to watch how they live, how they dig their tunnels and reproduce. One day, a larger bug sneaks in and begins killing the ants, destroying the tunnels, and wreaking all kinds of havoc. What do you do?” Layli asks.

  “Get rid of the bug,” I answer obviously.

  “Exactly.”

  I don’t know what to say. Humans are as important to the Tario as ants to humans?

  “I understand that witches as we call them would be the children of what you call halflings. You say you continue to exterminate the halflings, then why have Marco and Arianna been allowed to remain alive?” D asks seriously.

  “Because recently the human population has gotten far out of hand. Their numbers are drastically inclining and they are destroying all the species that we’ve worked so hard to create and watch evolve over the years. They are essentially destroying the earth. They are destroying their own home. We know the conclusion to our experiment now, there’s no need to push it any further. Humans will ultimately destroy their own home. They think that they are so intelligent when really they can’t be much dumber. We feel that now is the time to interfere and get rid of the humans. What better way to do this than to introduce them to supernatural creatures? Why not cause an apocalypse and watch the race freak out and then ultimately die out. Watch the humans be slaughtered the same exact way that they’ve slaughtered so many other species. It’s ironic really. Don’t look at me like that, children, it’s truly the most entertainment we have. It’s not because we loath humans. It’s merely for our entertainment.”

  I’m not sure what to say. I sit here staring at the wall trying to comprehend this all. Is this woman nuts? Are all the Tario this crazy? Are they all psychotic?

  “Why not just rid the world of the humans yourselves, it’d be quicker,” D suggests, keeping an expressionless face.

  “Because we are in no hurry. Why kill them so quickly when all we have is time?” she answers with a sly smile.

  “Why have you agreed to see us?” D asks finally after too much awkward silence.

  “Because you helped me out once, Daymon. You helped me retrieve something of very great value to me and my race and I don’t take that lightly.”

  “What did you get for her?” I demand. Whatever it was it must’ve been pretty important for her to care so much, seeing as she doesn’t really seem to care about much of anything.

  “A blade, it was a small knife. She claimed she couldn’t touch it because it burned her. So I grabbed it out from a cave for her years ago. I hardly remember it, I was severely intoxicated. It wasn’t one of my better days. Why was that knife so important?” D asks her while pretending to be fascinated by something on the roof. I have a feeling that he’s trying not to make eye contact with her though I can’t imagine why. Maybe he doesn’t want her to see how nervous he is.

  “It’s made out Nafalo. A very…important metal to the Tario which doesn’t naturally exist on earth,” she reveals with a devilish smile which shows her teeth. Something immediately tells me to not trust this lady. She has fallen face first off her rocker.

  “The metal?” D asks curiously for clarification. He sounds surprised.

  “I am not the bad guy, Daymon. I am more to you a friend than a foe. That is as long as no one knows about our little transaction. I am unlike the other Tario. I am also the only surviving traveller though no one else knows this. I can jump realms. I’ve seen things. I have yet to lose my ‘humanity’ or my emotion. I still feel just as you do though I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to do so. This is why I have welcomed you into my home. We have much to talk about.”

  I’m confused…is she or is she not a psycho zombie woman without emotion?

  “What did you need the blade for?” D asks.

  “The blade can be used only once to kill a Tario and then it will be destroyed. It will basically self-combust. I need to replicate the blade so that I can exterminate the Tario. If they know I have it then it’ll be a rat race to find it and it will be wasted. I have been realm hopping trying to find the exact metal and have come up empty. I believe that I am the only one able to replicate the metal only I cannot touch it to feel what it is made out of. I believe that it is not only one element, but that it is many molded together. I cannot call on a halfling because they are always being closely monitored by the Tario and I can’t chance being caught.”

  D seems to understand this. I do not. I feel like the last thing we should do is trust anything that this lady says. Every word that comes out of her mouth sounds like lies.

  “Where is it? Let me touch it,” D offers. He quite obviously wouldn’t mind the Tario being extinguished. Who’d blame him? They sound terrible.

  “That is the problem. I’ve been robbed.”

  “What?” D asks sounding almost angry, his jaw bone flexes. “How?” he mutters through clenched teeth.

  “After you brought me the blade, I hid it in the cement foundation of my home and I’ve been realm hopping trying to find the same metal ever since. A week ago I got back and went downstairs to check on it and there was a hole dug in the cement where the blade should be. It’s gone. Sometime over the last two hundred human years, someone robbed me. I don’t know who would know that the blade was in my possession.”

  “I have a question why are we here now if the Tario are closely watching the halflings? What’s changed?” I ask while sitting up straighter, realizing I’ve slumped into this insanely comfy couch.

  “They believe you’re here for sanctuary in exchange I have told them that you will have to offer me your future children. This is common practice amongst fellow Tario as part of a trade. Don’t worry now, that is not the case-” she begins reassuring us.

  I gulp. What? I want to puke. Is this some sort of joke? Is she kidding? Is this some sort of horror movie where the evil witch takes the babies? Suddenly I’m left wondering whether all those fairy tales stemmed from truth. I cut her off. “You people are nuts!” D scolds me with a deep glare but I can’t help gaping.

  She laughs lightly without humor. “Yes.”

  “Why would you want our children? That is really insanely screwed up and weird,” D hits the nail right on the head.

  “The children you will have as one will be very powerful and could be used as very good servants for the Tario.”

  The room is suddenly very quiet. The air seems abnormally heavy.r />
  “You do know you are soulmates, correct?” she asks finally as if it’s obvious.

  I feel my cheeks flush and I pretend I’m fascinated by my feet. I feel like she’s thrown these words out into the air to make us nervous or throw us off of our focus on hating the Tario.

  “Are there any Tario missing? If so, that’s probably what happened to the blade. We’re probably stuck with you forever now,” D spits finally, changing the subject. I can tell that he too is getting annoyed with this woman.

  She sighs. “That’s the other problem, there are two missing. One is the biological mother of Marco and Arianna, and the other one is Ariella’s mother.”

  Chapter 2

  “Ariella watched Marco kill her mother,” D states as if he’s catching the lady in a lie.

  “Ariella’s mother and I were best friends for a very, very, very long time. She was restless, she wished to leave the Tario. She wanted me to take her and run to another realm. I wished not to leave my family behind and I was afraid of punishment so I stayed with the Tario. She took off one night knowing that she couldn’t escape earth, and she put most her power into a sapphire necklace so she could not be tracked and found by the Tario who would throw her in prison for escaping from us. She told me she was leaving and that I would see her again one day. That was nearly a thousand years ago. No one has seen her since. My theory is that she met your father and fell in love. Of course the Tario would be checking up and watching your father because of what he was, and so when she began assuming that the Tario would be coming around to watch and checkup on Theenis, she faked her own death so it wouldn’t look like she ran away from your father, I do believe they were in love. It was a good opportunity to make her escape when Marco came around because he wouldn’t know that she wasn’t killable because he would have had no way to know that the Tario existed,” Layli explains and I wonder if she is right about this much. Could my mother really be alive somewhere? “Not only this, but I believe that your mother, Ariella, had to escape with your twin.”