The Lost Prophecy

  D.E. SIVO

  Single Vision Publis

  Copyright © [2024] by [D.E. SIVO]

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact [include publisher/author contact info].

  The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

  Book Cover by Fiverr

  Illustrations by [Illustrator]

  [Edition Number] edition [2024]

  Contents

  1. Chapter 1

  Jules

  2. Chapter 2

  Jules

  3. Chapter 3

  Raife

  4. Chapter 4

  Jules

  5. Chapter 5

  Dallas

  6. Chapter 6

  Jules

  7. Chapter 7

  Dallas

  8. Chapter 8

  Jules

  9. Chapter 9

  Dallas

  10. Chapter 10

  Jules

  11. Chapter 11

  Raife

  12. Chapter 12

  Dallas

  13. Chapter 13

  Jules

  14. Chapter 14

  Raife

  15. Chapter 15

  Dallas

  16. Chapter 16

  Jules

  17. Chapter 17

  Dallas

  18. Chapter 18

  Jules

  19. Chapter 19

  Raife

  20. Chapter 20

  Dallas

  21. Chapter 21

  Jules

  22. Chapter 22

  Raife

  23. Chapter 23

  Dallas

  24. Chapter 24

  Jules

  25. Chapter 25

  Raife

  26. Chapter 26

  Jules

  27. Chapter 27

  Dallas

  28. Chapter 28

  Raife

  29. Chapter 29

  Jules

  30. Chapter 30

  Dallas

  31. Chapter 31

  Raife

  32. Chapter 32

  Jules

  33. Chapter 33

  Dallas

  34. Chapter 34

  Raife

  35. Chapter 35

  Jules

  36. Chapter 36

  Dallas

  37. Chapter 37

  Raife

  38. Chapter 38

  Jules

  39. Chapter 39

  Dallas

  40. Chapter 40

  Jules

  41. Chapter 41

  Raife

  42. Chapter 42

  Dallas

  43. Chapter 43

  Jules

  44. Chapter 44

  Raife

  45. Chapter 45

  Dallas

  46. Chapter 46

  Jules

  47. Chapter 47

  Dallas

  48. Chapter 48

  Raife

  49. Chapter 49

  Jules

  50. Chapter 50

  Landis

  51. Chapter 51

  Jules

  52. Chapter 52

  Dallas

  53. Chapter 53

  Jules

  54. Chapter 54

  Raife

  55. Chapter 55

  Jules

  56. Chapter 56

  Dallas

  57. Chapter 57

  Landis

  58. Chapter 58

  Jules

  59. Chapter 59

  Jules

  60. Chapter 60

  Dallas

  61. Chapter 61

  Landis

  62. Chapter 62

  Raife

  63. Chapter 63

  Jules

  About the author

  Chapter one

  Jules

  The cool air and dim light of the bar were a welcome change from the glaring sun and relentless heat outside. I spot an empty stool at the far end, and make my way to it, sliding onto the seat without disturbing the guy next to me, a beer cradled between his large hands.

  A deep exhale escaped me as I sank onto the stool, glancing around, noting the shine of the dark wood bar, the glint of liquor bottles where they caught the light from the overhead pendants. I placed one palm on the bar, pleased by the cool, smooth surface as I let my shoulders drop slightly. It had been one hell of a day.

  “What can I get you?” The deep, gritty voice of the bartender was matched by a pair of warm brown eyes, glinting with little gold flecks, framed by thick dark lashes and equally dark brows presently pulled together, appearing puzzled as he met my gaze. He stared at me, waiting for my order, I realized, and quickly said, “tequila.”

  A shot glass was dropped onto the bar in front of me and quickly filled with Don Julio, a wedge of lime perched on the rim. I looked up as the bartender made his way to the other end of the bar, moving almost silently I realized, until he was thirty feet away and taking an order from a guy in a suit just sitting down. Not that a suit was a bad thing, I worked with guys in suits every day, but this bar didn’t appear to be that kind of a place. Too late I realized that I had been staring, when suit guy caught me, and I felt trapped in his gaze. His piercing blue eyes stared and a corner of his mouth tipped up in a smirk, seemingly amused that he caught me checking him out. I quickly averted my gaze and muttered to myself, fuck earning me a side glance from the man next to me.

  I took a sip from the shot of tequila relishing the slight burn as I let it slide down my throat, then tipped it back and sank the rest in one swallow. I closed my eyes, my hand still wrapped around the glass and tried to ease the tension out of my neck and shoulders. The sound of liquid splashing into the glass had me open my eyes to see the glass full again. “I didn’t ask for a refill” I told the bartender and looked up to see him lift his chin and nod to the other end of the bar. Suit guy raised his glass to me and nodded, a grin crossing his cocky face.

  “I’ll pay for it” I told the bartender and slapped a twenty onto the bar.

  “What the fuck?”, I muttered, causing the bartender to raise his eyebrows.

  “Sorry, bad day.”, I said, giving him a weak smile.

  He looked at me quizzically, nodded and moved away, wiping the bar and putting empties into a bin underneath. I watched without realizing, noting the muscles in his back flexing as he worked, the material of his black t-shirt stretching over broad shoulders and tapering to a trim waist and a nice ass. His jeans were worn and hugged his muscular thighs, not like those fucking skinny jeans some guys wore. Unfortunately for me, while I may have been ogling the bartender, not something I would readily admit to, suit guy from the other end of the bar was walking toward me, drink in hand, smirk still in place. I looked down at the shot glass on the bar, my hand still around it and let my hair fall over the side of my face, trying to block the view of the guy approaching.

  “What brings you to a place like this?”, a very smooth, slick voice whispered too close to my ear. I sat up straighter thinking to knock the back of my head into his chin, purely by accident of course, but all it achieved was having his chest pressed up against my back.

  “Not interested”, I said without looking back at him. Apparently though, that message was not clear enough for him because his hand landed on my shoulder and before I could move, he pushed my hair back away from my face. I turned then and glared up at him, “Back the fuck off!” I snarled. The stupid smirk still on his face, he leaned forward to try and whisper in my ear again when abruptly he was pulled backward and slammed against the wall. The bartender had one hand wrapped in the lapels of the jerk’s suit jacket so tightly the seams threatened to rip as he glared at the fucker.

  “Get the fuck out of my bar, Now!” he ground the words out through his clenched jaw with such deep menace the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

  The smirk on suit guy’s face was gone, replaced with a dark glare from eyes that had gone from deep blue to having red sparks shooting through them, his mouth pulled into a scowl, one side pulled up as if he were baring his teeth. I must have been more tired than I thought, people’s eyes did not have red sparks in them, what the fuck, and how did the bartender get on this side of the bar so fast? I didn’t even see him move! Suit guy yanked his jacket out of the bartender’s hands and with one last scathing look my way he moved toward the front door of the bar but not before turning, raising his lip and baring his teeth.

  Fucking lunatic! Now I definitely needed that second shot, knocking it back in one fluid move, a slight grimace on my face at the burn in the back of my throat.

  Flannel shirt still sat motionless beside me with his hands gripped around his beer. Apparently it took a lot to move him. The bartender slapped one hand onto the bar and in a move that most gymnasts would envy, he launched himself behind the bar, landing almost silently and stalking to the other end. What the hell, I wonder if he thought that little disturbance was my fault, that I had somehow provoked suit guy and now he was pissed at me!

  “
I don’t need this shit”, I muttered to myself and knocked the bar with my knuckles to get the bartender’s attention. He looked from the other end of the bar but did not approach so I simply waved at the twenty I had left next to the shot glass and said, “Am I good here?”. He raised his chin in the barest of nods which I took in the affirmative and looked away. OK, shitty end to a day filled with it.

  I made my way to the front door and reached into the front pocket of my black pants, pulled out my car keys and palmed them as I pulled the heavy wooden door open. The heat of the day had not abated at all and felt heavy around me as I made my way to the parking lot along the side of the building and hit the button on the key fob to flash the lights on my pickup. It was dark away from the lights above the front door of the bar, the sun having lazed its way to the horizon not long ago. The gravel crunched under my boots as I walked halfway down the parking lot and hit the unlock button, reaching for the door handle with my left hand. Before I could open the door, I was pushed from behind and shoved up against the side of the car and a hand wrapped around me as another covered my mouth. That slick voice whispered in my ear, his breath on my neck, “Don’t make a sound”.

  My scream tried to burst past the hand smothering me and my heart raced! I immediately tried to calm myself and attempted to pull in breaths around the hand covering my mouth but not feeling as if my lungs were getting any air at all! I needed to calm the fuck down so I could breathe before I passed out! God only knew what this psycho would do to me if that happened. I pulled in air through my nose and nodded my head hoping he would release the hand over my mouth if he thought I wouldn’t scream. The hand over my mouth eased slightly so at least I didn’t feel in imminent danger of passing out. I was spun around and now faced the guy with both arms pinned to my sides and a hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing enough to show me that he could end my life easily. His face was inches from mine, his breath cold across my cheeks and the sneer on his lips revealed white teeth that looked too long and sharp to be real. His blonde hair was brushed back from his pale face, his smooth skin appearing stretched over sharp cheekbones. Everything in me screamed to get away from him. He was dangerous and his eyes held pure evil.

  “You are mine now, no big bad wolfy bartender to come and rescue you”, he all but growled in my face. “I think we may have some fun before the night is through”, he added, the smirk returning momentarily to his face.

  “Go fuck yourself!” I yelled into his face before his hand on my throat squeezed so hard I was unable to draw breath. I was rigid in his arms trying to escape his grip, and managed to stomp on his foot before I saw black spots in my vision, knowing I was going to pass out. His hand on my throat loosened and I gasped, sucking in a deep lungful of air. His grip around me tightened, my feet left the ground and the next I knew we were behind the trees edging the far end of the parking lot! I was frozen, my mind trying to process the impossible! How the hell had the guy picked me up and run more than a hundred feet in the blink of an eye?

  “I..”, I stuttered, not able to speak with terror squeezing my chest, adrenaline making my legs shake, “please let me go”.

  “Still don’t want to have a drink with me”, he breathed against my neck. “I guess I’ll have to drink alone then”, his voice sent fear through me, what the fuck was he talking about. I knew my life was in danger here because he really was some kind of deranged psycho. His arm wrapped around my middle squeezed even further, completely immobilizing me as he ran his nose up the side of my neck inhaling the whole way. His tongue followed leaving my neck wet, “what the fuck?” I reared my head back as far as it would go and slammed my forehead into his face.

  He pulled back, shaking his head and momentarily loosening his grip on me. I slammed my foot down onto his as hard as I possibly could and yanked myself from his arms screaming “Help” as loud as my panic-stricken voice would go. Spinning I forced my legs into a run back toward the bar trying desperately to escape when I was yanked back by my hair and stumbled to my knees.

  “Nooo”, I screamed with everything left in my air starved lungs, my scalp burning from the tight hold he had on my hair.

  “You’re not going anywhere” he growled as his hand gripped my upper arm and wrenched me to my feet, his fingers digging in, to the point of agony.

  “Please stop” I gasped, “what do you want”.

  His menacing chuckle raised the hair on the back of my neck. “You, I want you”.

  I looked into his face, stunned to see that his eyes were no longer blue but almost completely red, sparking like embers of a fire. I gasped, the adrenaline and fear in my body making me feel boneless and unable to get away from this freak! I was panting trying to pull air into my body when abruptly he was thrown away from me, and I crashed to the ground, hitting hard and being dragged across the gravel before my arm was finally free. Dazed, I lay there trying to clear my head of the shock trying to paralyze me. The thud of bodies being pummeled reached me through the fog in my brain and I looked but could not make out what was happening, everything was moving too fast and blurred before my eyes. I pulled myself to my hands and knees, knowing I had to get out of there, but before I could stand, a body was flung to the ground next to me his leg catching the side of my jaw and knocking me onto my back. In an impossibly fast move, the guy jumped to his feet and seemingly disappeared before my eyes. Groaning, I lifted my head to look around as black spots danced at the edges of my vision. Turning to the left I saw a man standing, looking down at me, before the darkness pulled me under.

  ***

  My tongue, thick and dry, was stuck to the roof of my mouth. Rolling to my back a deep throbbing started up on the side of my face and I forced my eyes open just a slit to let in enough light to let me see that I was in my own bed, the sun attempting to penetrate the closed blinds.

  Okay, what the fuck was wrong with this picture? Moving to pull myself up in bed let me know my whole body was hurting and I couldn’t fucking remember why. Lifting the sheet to look underneath caused a deep pain that started in my shoulder and ran down into my elbow. Had I been in a car accident and couldn’t remember? If my truck was wrecked I was gonna be so pissed!

  Shifting slightly caused a burning from the top of my thigh and across my hip as I tried to raise myself to a sitting position, needing to get to the small bathroom that luckily for me was only about ten steps away. My legs shook but held as I stood and slowly shuffled to the bathroom. A gasp escaped me as I looked into the small mirror above the sink, showing a deep purple bruise running along my jaw on the right side of my face into the hairline at my temple. As bad as that was, the deep red marks circling my throat made me dizzy and I clutched the vanity to keep from falling. What the hell! It looked like someone's hands had been wrapped around my neck! Trying to inhale and exhale deeply, I cupped one hand beneath the cold water tap and raised it to my lips, relishing the cool liquid sliding down my parched throat. Three more deep swallows and I felt steadier.

  I turned and flipped on the water in the shower, removing my sleep t-shirt while I waited for the water to heat and saw more bruises scattered across my side above angry red road rash that covered me hip to thigh and the patch of skin across my hip bone that had been scraped off. My mind whirled as I stepped into the shower, hoping that the water would clear this fogginess from my brain! The water had a pink tint to it as it went down the drain as I gently tried to wash my damaged skin and wash gravel from my hair. Why the fuck did I have gravel in my hair!

  Twenty minutes later I was clean but no clearer as I stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around me just as the door to my bedroom opened and a man stepped in! A scream tore from my very sore throat and I stumbled backwards into the bathroom, slamming the door shut and throwing the lock. My heart thundered in my chest, my brain trying to catch up to what was going on! I looked around frantically thinking there was another way out, while knowing the bathroom did not have a window! Think Jules, think. My cell phone, I have to call the Police! My cellphone was not in the bathroom with me, and I really didn’t know where it was but the man in my bedroom didn’t know that!

  “I’m calling the Police” I yelled in my loudest and I hoped most authoritative voice.

  “Jules, your cellphone is sitting on the table next to your bed, will you please come out here so we can talk. I have no desire to hurt you” came his response.

  “Who the hell are you and why are you in my apartment?”

  “I brought you here last night after you were injured and I returned to make sure you’re ok, my name is Raife”.