I couldn't help but feel giddy actually knowing for the first time that there were some reciprocal feelings between Nate and myself. I felt such an intense relief throughout my body, to the point that I knew it just wasn’t me feeling that relief. We were stripped raw. No secrets. It was an even playing field.
Apparently, what we think and feel, you can too. I heard Zane’s gruff thought and a feeling that I couldn’t quite identify. It was almost like masked hurt, but it didn’t make any sense to me.
Meredith, can you just see what is blocking us, Zane retorted, trying to deflect from the apparent openness that surrounded us.
I felt a sudden rush of something and then a crackle and pop which shocked me from the inside out.
What the hell was that?
Hm. Apparently, someone bound you from yourself, Meredith commented. Nate, check this out.
There were a few seconds of nothing and then the feeling of dread.
Nate, why are you feeling dread? I demanded.
It’s – he stopped in mid-thought.
You can’t just stop in mid-thought! If I can’t, you can’t! I growled inside my own head, and then I heard him sigh.
It feels like the same magic as the house. The way I felt it through you.
Fae magic. I thought unaware of those listening.
There was no response to this, but I knew. The same magic as the house was the same magic as Finn’s, which was the same magic as . . . me. I felt agitation from the rest, hidden within my body.
Mere, can you cut through Fae magic? Nate questioned hurriedly.
Oh, yeah. The sickening feeling was back. All the suspicions that Nate had guessed started to click in place. A secret child. The Fae’s interest. It was too much. The others were getting a grand row seat to my self-discovery.
Anahita gasped.
I felt a cold weight in the pit of my stomach and fear. Not mine, but the others.
Oh, shit, Meredith replied, suddenly catching up. Caden, you’re half Fae. Do you know what that could mean?
I cut Meredith’s overwhelming emotions creeping up like a knife.
As long as no one says anything aloud, it means nothing. As far as anyone is concerned, I am a Venatrix, here and now. I am not risking anyone’s lives over this. Can the binding be cut, Mere?
She sighed but didn't extend those intense feelings again. Yeah. It’s just a binding. Hold on one second.
I heard her murmur in a repeated lyrical poem in the Old Language and then felt a snap as if I was a pine tree that had been tightly wound to be taken home and then freed. My own internal magic snapped into place, stretching itself from head to toe.
Caden, you’re going to have to turn it down a little. Otherwise, you’re going to call the Fae from the other side, Nate worriedly informed me.
I began to feel concerned as well. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I was calling the Fae.
Caden, stop stretching. Just pretend that it has always been a part of you, Meredith reinforced.
I did stop stretching, even though it felt so good to extend myself, but that’s how I was doing it. A calm fell over my body. The magic hummed just slightly outside my body, but not enough that anyone would feel it unless they touched me.
I grinned, thinking to myself about if I would have been able to electrify Anahita when she had touched my arm.
Hey, she barked.
Guys, try now. We don’t have too much time left, Meredith said, making me feel her anxiety. It was like drinking too much coffee.
Soon I felt a warm feeling in the bit of my stomach.
Yep, we are at the center. Caden's predator is dormant. It must have been from the binding, Zane stated.
We have to get her moving. Get her to go after prey, Anahita mentioned, and I growled again.
I am right here.
Just get up and start moving, Zane commanded.
I hadn’t realized my eyes were closed until I opened them to look at my surroundings. My senses hadn’t changed. They were still as sharp, but instead of feeling unsure of myself, I felt confident. I didn’t know how much of that was me and how much of that was Zane and Anahita. The group had their heads down as if in prayer. It was an odd thing to witness from a group of characters.
Is that how my hair looks? Meredith shrieked.
You look fine, I replied, rolling my eyes.
I pulled back the curtain shades and stood up. I thought, at first, I would fall over because of the drunken feeling I had felt earlier, but I didn't. I was on two sturdy legs. I pulled the curtain back to hide my friends and then walked past the bar, only to stop at the sight of my eyes. They were hematite with a blazing golden ring. Pure silver, black and lit gold reflected back. I leaned forward to get a better look.
“Oh, my,” I shrieked in horror.
Al just stood there cleaning glasses as if she hadn't seen a thing, which made me sure that this place had seen some bizarre situations.
Relax. Go to the bathroom, and we'll think of something, Anahita mentioned, the only one truly detached from this situation.
I walked into the bathroom next to Mick’s office and locked the door behind me, grateful that it was one stall. I stood in front of the mirror wishing my eyes would go back to normal. I kept hoping and praying with my whole heart, and soon they started to fade back to brown. They didn't wholly shade back to my brown. An amber gold ring settled around the iris. I concentrated more on the gold, wishing it to fade as well. It didn’t, but it did dull.
Way to go, Meredith, I thanked.
Another foreign panic attack seized my body.
I didn’t do that, Caden. You did. Or at least your Fae magic did.
I felt concerned by things that I didn’t understand and didn’t know if I could completely control them.
Just go back out there, and let’s get this over with, Zane snarled.
It's not going to matter. Caden looks like an easy target. Which is not appropriate at Mick's, Anahita responded, and Zane sighed.
You’re right.
And how is she right? I questioned.
Scelesti at Mick’s are looking for a challenge. You look like a high schooler-
That’s because I am one, I interrupted Zane.
But it’s not going to be enough to pull one out of the club.
So you’re saying I need to look a little older?
Yes, they both replied.
I looked into the mirror again, pulling on the magic that I had when I was praying and wishing, and watched myself as my face thinned and stretched to fit in eight years of aging. My body thinned and toned, and my hips widened. Eventually, the very real illusion stilled, and I looked at my reflection again. It was me, but it was me in eight years.
Instant yearning hunched me over the sink, grabbing the edge. This was an internally heated rush that I had never felt.
Boys cool it, Meredith commanded, and the feeling started to recede.
What perverts, I replied, hearing Meredith and Anahita agree with my sympathies.
I walked right out of the bathroom and bumped right into Mick. He glared at me, examining my illusion.
“You brought a Fae into my club?!” He shouted, anger making the veins on his forehead pop out.
"Relax. The girl is under my control," Zane replied through my lips, and I scowled.
“Remember my rules, Zane,” Mick responded straight to my face, but there was amusement in his as he realized that Zane was somewhere within my body. Then he walked into the bathroom.
Come on. Go through the opening across the way out on the main dance floor, Zane directed.
I followed his directions and the music, and entered a college student's dream. Another bar was to my right, and a dance floor was full of bodies.
It’s my turn to drive, Anahita replied sultrily. She was filling my body with anticipation of the chase. She’s going to need a woman’s touch for the next part.
I wanted to be disgusted with her, but I knew she was right.
S
ee that empty seat in the dark corner of the bar? She asked.
Yeah. I had thought about nodding but thought again about how weird it would have looked outsiders.
Take it and just sit there for a second.
On my way over, I accidentally bumped into a woman with shiny, red, metallic, rust-colored hair with streaks of blonde and a deeper red. She was wearing a tight black barely there dress. She turned, and I almost fell back.
“Ms. Hollander?” I shrieked in shock.
Erie High’s German teacher gaped back at me.
“Caden? Is that you under all that glamour?” She squinted, trying to figure out the real me.
“What are you doing here?” I questioned, grabbing her elbow since she was a little unsteady. Again, my entire body throbbed with lust and heat this time it was coming from me, but it was involuntary.
"Tell you what. I won't tell you if you don't tell me." She pried her arm out of my hold, and I suddenly felt fine. "And we won't tell anyone about this little incident. Sound fair?"
“Fair enough for me.”
She walked past me, and I continued forward.
What was she? I asked.
Succubus, Zane replied.
Holy shit, Nate, Meredith, and I responded.
She didn’t smell like a Scelesti.
She wouldn’t. She’s a tool as well. Come on, move forward, Zane warned.
I hopped onto the stool in the corner of the bar like I had been asked to, and glanced around. I saw all of what looked like different ages and species dancing and grinding into one another. Some of the sides held full booths with couples huddled close to one another. Ms. Hollander was in a dark, right corner sitting in a high stool chair with her back to the wall, staring and sizing others up.
Ignore the teacher, Anahita commented. She tugged internally for some sort of control, but I wasn’t ready to fully let her out.
“Can I get you something?” A voice behind the party bar asked.
I looked up to find an older gentleman, glaring at me. He was tall with close-cut white hair, a thin face with hardened wrinkles, wearing a black button-down shirt.
“A coke would be great, Aaron,” Anahita said through my lips as I was analyzing the man.
He peered at me through small blue eyes, scrutinizing me, trying to identify who I was.
I grinned awkwardly, and he poured me a coke from the tap.
Nice going, Anahita, I snarked.
I felt her dismissiveness. Keep your eyes in the game. Look around, Venatrix. Take in your surroundings. Monitor all the exits. Sniff the air. This is the battlefield. Feel it, Anahita commanded.
I followed her instruction and looked around. What did I see? People dancing, couples huddling. No. Not people. Slow motion took over my senses again and the masks started falling away from the masses. Vampires, werewolves, ghouls, demons, angels. Creatures had taken the floor of this supernatural place.
Looking past them, I took in my surroundings of the building. There were exits on all sides. The main entrance was in front of me with my back facing the bar. There were two beefy male bouncers at the main entrance looking over all that came through. There was probably a third checking IDs outside. I couldn't figure out their species, but they didn't matter. I looked at both exits on my left and my right. They were hidden by the background; black walls, black doors. They were not guarded as intensely as the front, but I looked closely. Four slim males were close enough to be guards; two on the left, two on the right, but far enough away from the exits to be considered club guests. But they stood so still in the background, falling into their environment. Even their ensemble blended into the background. They were wearing pure black. Even their hair was black. All four were pale but they tried to hide within the shadows. Vampires. Internally I knew it.
Good, hunter. Now you are feeling it, Anahita purred, making my body vibrate. Now smell the air.
I closed my eyes, inhaling all the beings in the place. Taking in all the different scents. Sweat, woodsy, feral, magical. All these different scents mingled in the air. Not that I could tell one from the other.
Try, was the plea I heard.
I inhaled deeper. There, something stale, earthy, decomposing. Yes, I had the scent. I opened my eyes and peered across the room.
A pale blonde male was dancing seductively with a dark skinned female. She wasn’t human, but she wasn’t of any species I knew. Her body was lithe and graceful, very animalistic. I imagine that she could be some form of cat because of the way she was stretching against the male and grinding so close.
She is a shapeshifter, Anahita responded. She is of no concern to us. Focus on the male.
Yes, the pale, gorgeous blonde male. All of his features were razor sharp. High cheekbones. Strong, sturdy jawline. No stubble. Even his muscles were cut below the black and blue striped silk dress shirt he was wearing. He got closer to the female and turned her, so her back was toward me, but he was facing me. His head bent to her neck, and instantly he looked up, finally noticing that he was being watched. His dark gaze pierced through to me, my breath catching in my throat. An internal light shined out through his dark eyes, making them look like cooling molten lava. The look was meant to be enticing and enthralling. For me, it was a little confusing. Lust, possessiveness, and jealousy churned in my inner core. None of it was me, and I finally understood how Nate must feel all the time.
Guys, pull it together, I admonished.
I felt an internal struggle deep down in my core again, almost as if there was arguing.
Anahita, I’m letting you take over.
All went quiet within and then there was a shift as I relaxed and felt Anahita surge forth. I was still aware of myself, but she was running the show, as we both stared at the vampire on the dance floor. He licked his female’s neck while staring intently at me, fangs peeked from underneath his lips, and the female shivered.
I felt a corner of my lips lift in a smirk and licked my own lips, catching his eyes long enough. Then Anahita turned me around to face the bar, the grin still on my lips. Noticing my drink in front of me, I took a couple pulls on my straw.
Feel the hunt, hunter, Anahita commanded again, drawing on all my senses to feel what she was feeling.
The thrill of the chase, the intensity of the game. Soon it would be cat and mouse, and then the kill. Her excitement poured through my veins. Some of it sickened me, but a part that felt the urgency of life and death took stock.
I smelled him before I saw him approach. No, it was not my lust that I had felt previously, it was Anahita’s. She found him enticing. I couldn’t get past the stench.
In this case, you are going to have to, she whispered.
A massive, cold strong hand was on my shoulder, and I turned slightly, a toying smirk still on my face as I checked out the blonde Scelestus vampire from the corner of my eye.
“Hi,” I responded sultrily in a way I never thought I could.
His lips turned up in response, not even bothering to hide his fangs.
“Where’s your female?” My voice was raspier than I thought possible. How Anahita had achieved that was beyond me.
“I lost interest,” he replied, throatily, responding to Anahita’s lust.
I felt myself quirk my eyebrows and shrug, turning away from him with a smile still plastered on my face.
This is the game, she assured me.
I felt his breath on my ear and shivered. Part of the shiver was my disgust, part of it was Anahita's desire.
“I was hoping to get a taste of you,” he breathed and then licked my ear.
Sudden possessiveness and jealousy gripped my body so fast that I sucked in a breath and my body tensed.
If you don’t settle down, you are going to blow this for her, Anahita hissed to whoever was sending out the emotions. They dulled, but they were still present.
Anahita turned my body around to face the blonde Scelestus. Then she grabbed him with my hands around the waist and pulled him close, syncing his b
ody close to mine. Enough that I would feel his heat, but he had none. The Scelestus was cold and hard underneath my hands. He was a completely different breed than Zane. The thought kept me level as Anahita toyed with the male. His face came within inches of mine, and I tried not to inhale his sickly death smell.
My arms went up without my permission and tangled in his gelled hair, pulling his lips toward mine. Anahita kissed him through me. My first kiss was with a Scelestus, and I had no romantic feelings at all about it. How disappointing. I sort of felt like I was robbed of something.
His lips were stiff and hard against mine. His cold tongue tangled with mine. It wasn’t appealing to me at all, but Anahita let a groan escape. My tongue swirled around of his fangs, and I heard him groan. His hands were finding their way into my jacket.
Anahita, his hands! He’s going to find my weapons! I tried to remind her urgently as she toyed with the male.
Suddenly, she had me bite down on his bottom lip, hard enough to draw blood. He pulled back abruptly in shock and still stimulated, a hand going to his bottom lip. She licked the blood from off my lips and purred audibly. The taste was enough to make me sick. It was like oil. But Anahita held the emotion down.
"Let's go somewhere else." Anahita tilted my head toward the left side door. "Somewhere, where we can be a little rough and not worry about a ward stopping us." She emphasized this by grabbing his behind roughly and aggressively.
He grabbed my hand, urgently and pulled me toward the side door, literally dragging me out, bypassing the two guards.
We were out the door like the Flash, running through an alley, past the parking lot, and into the dark woods far across the street.
Now, I’m leaving it up to you, hunter. Follow those instincts that I leave with you, Anahita replied.
My fear urged forward as I realized that Anahita had gotten me into this situation and now she was leaving me. And the male was leading me farther and farther away from civilization.
Listen, when you are hunting them, you will always be a little scared. Try to think of something that will make you calm. Eventually, this will be nothing. Anahita left that as her final words, and I felt her pull away.
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