Absolution: A Dominion Novel

by Lissa Kasey

  “It’s light out,” I reminded him. Matthew had done it pretty regularly—walked around in the sun. I wasn’t that crazy. It hurt. Even if I covered up in a layer of clothing and hid every inch of skin it still hurt like a really bad sunburn. Heated skin, tightness, sensitivity, the whole shebang. Prolonged exposure only made it worse. I could only tolerate a few minutes before I’d probably start screaming like a baby.

  Luca grabbed a bag off a nearby chair and then dug out a large black piece of cloth. “Put this over your head and we’ll pull it down over you. Think of it as a blackout condom. It has UV protectors in the fabric protecting you from all the sun’s evil rays.”

  I went from tired to horny in half a second at the mention of condom. Damn. I was probably going to have to fuck Luca just to get him out of my system.

  He gave me a knowing smile and kissed me on the cheek, then he tugged the fabric over my head. I let it cover me as they adjusted it and pulled it all the way down to my feet feeling a bit like a sausage. I hope they didn’t expect me to walk in this thing. A second later someone grabbed me and threw me over their shoulder. It had to be Luca. Seiran wasn’t tall enough to pick me up and not be dragging me.

  We left the building and I could still feel the sun looming overhead, hot and dangerous. The thick fabric barrier helped, but I knew it wouldn’t last as my skin began to itch. I prayed the drive back to Gabe’s place was fast. I couldn’t go home. Not without knowing if I would have another redout. Con would freak if he found out. He’d probably never heard of a redout before, just as I hadn’t, but he embraced nothing vampire, even with me as his roommate.

  The car stopped. Luca helped me out of the car, but someone else picked me up and almost threw me in the air before settling me on his shoulder. His gait was heavy, and the only one I could think of that would be that big and strong would be Jamie. Hopefully he didn’t just dump me in a snowbank somewhere to roast. At least it meant that we were at Gabe’s since Jamie was almost always around to guard his little brother.

  The automatic doors swished open and the elevator dinged. Only when everyone finally stepped out of the elevator, was I set down and the bag yanked off. The light of the room flooded my eyes and I had to blink away tears. Crap I was tired.

  “Are you okay?” Con was suddenly standing in front of me looking like he’d just jumped out of bed—edible. He was in nothing but socks, sweat pants, and a tank top, but with all his ink showing and his dark hair messy around his face he was stunning. “You look like someone beat the shit out of you.”

  “That was me, sorry,” Luca spoke up. He held out his hand to Con. “I’m Luca, Sam’s cibo. You must be his roommate Constantine.”

  Con took his hand hesitantly. “Did you guys have to mess each other up to see who was the bigger, badder one, before letting him eat?”

  Luca laughed, and I looked away since that was sorta right. “Just helping him work out some of that vampire aggression.”

  Con dropped his hand and looked at me. “What the fuck was with that text? I thought you were going to go lay in a snowbank until the sun came up or something.”

  Text? Oh, shit. I felt my face heat with embarrassment. “I went into a church. I thought maybe I’d burst into flames.” Since I was a monster and all that.

  A chuckle from across the room made the fire in my cheeks worse. Dammit. Gabe sat on the chaise with Sei in his lap, stroking the witch’s back. He smiled at me and shook his head. “Just another monster movie mistake. Other than our allergy to the sun and the invite thing they got it all wrong.”

  “So I could stare at crosses all day and not burst into flames or melt into a puddle of vampire goo?”

  “Correct. There’s a few night services I can hook you up with if you’re looking for them,” Gabe said. I knew he was strongly Christian but figured he didn’t practice it much because he was a vampire. Though it made more sense that since his lover was a different religion, he had to make allowances. “Okay, anyone not staying the day needs to go.”

  “I’m headed back to bed,” Jamie said and pressed the button for the elevator. “I’m on the late shift at the hospital tonight.”

  “I’d like to stay,” Luca said. “Since Sam is staying. I should probably be here when he gets up so he can eat right away.”

  I would be staying until dark. The library had a daybed in it that was mine. Seiran had put it in there after we’d gotten back from California. He even added a dresser and a hanging rack for clothes since I was here so often. Our fight must have resolved more for him than it had for me. I didn’t hate him anyway. Never really had. Just spent a lot of time wanting to be him or at least have what he had.

  Con shook his head and backed away. He and Gabe didn’t work well together, though not for lack of Gabe trying. Con was just really jumpy around him. More so than he’d ever been around me. Sei held out a key. “You can use the couch at my place. Just keep it down, Kelly is probably still asleep since he worked the bar last night and doesn’t have class till noon today.”

  Con took the key and nodded gratefully. He squeezed my shoulder. “Try not to let anyone else beat you up. And no more freaky texts, okay?”

  “Sorry,” I nodded. “No more freaky texts.” Con headed to the elevator and I went to my “room,” sleep heavy on the brain. My body was so weighty now that I didn’t think I could get it up if I tried. The bed was made up, fresh sheets, everything put away and staged. Like a showroom. That was Sei’s doing. Even if he hadn’t picked up the room, Jamie or Gabe would have. I could never live with Sei’s OCD like they did. He had to clean things a certain way and shower so often and check to make sure appliances were off like twenty times before feeling the world wasn’t going to implode. It was just too much for me.

  Luca sat on the end of the bed while I kicked off my shoes. “Small bed,” he remarked.

  I shrugged since it wasn’t really mine. Nothing was. The money I got from working at the bar went into a savings account I rarely touched. Gabe paid my rent and for anything else I could possibly need. When I protested, he insisted it was his responsibility as my mentor. “I don’t know how to do this, you know.”

  “Do what?” he asked, kicking off his own shoes and stripping off his shirt.

  I waved a hand between us. “This. You and me. Whatever we’re supposed to be. You’re sort of pushy, and I’m not ready.”

  “You’ve been accused of murder and you’re worried about what I’m still doing here?”

  “You have a kink for murderers?” I asked as I crawled into the bed and yanked the blankets up to my chin.

  He sighed and reached out to turn off the light. “You make yourself hard to like because you don’t want anyone getting close. I get it. Spent my whole life thinking that any sign of weakness would get me killed. That’s how this world treats people, but that’s not reality. Being vulnerable isn’t a weakness. It’s part of being human.”

  “I’m not human,” I reminded him.

  “You are. Just an upgrade. It’s not until you lose all those crazy thoughts circling in your head that you cease to be human. Even my dad is still human, though he complains all the time that it’s a battle to not just let it all go. I’ve seen a lot of true monsters. Some of them physically human. None of them mentally human.”

  “So why are you still here?” I asked. He slid into the tiny bed beside me. Close enough to feel his warmth but not actually touch him. It was a little awkward how good it felt to have him close. He took the position between me and the door, leaving my back to the wall, which made me feel oddly safe. I hated that I was beginning to like the idea of having him around. What about when he left or used me like every guy in my history had?

  “Because you need me, and I like being needed. Now get some sleep. We’ll analyze the great donkey asshole of the world after we’ve gotten a few zz’s. And shit, can I just say your friend Con is hot? You haven’t tapped that yet?”

  “He doesn’t like vampires.”

  “Hmm. Looks at you
like he likes you just fine.”

  “Not happening.” I’d never hurt Con that way. He’d done too much for me.

  “We’ll see. Get some rest. You need to heal.”

  I would have argued, but I was too tired and the sun would no longer be denied.

  Chapter 6

  Usually I tossed and turned until the sun finally set. But I slept like a rock until the stench of food woke me up with the urge to vomit. God, I hated the smell of food. Every spice or added flavoring made it worse. Gabe said the sensitivity would pass by the end of my first year and I couldn’t wait. Seiran loved to cook and his nose was as sensitive as mine. I think he wasn’t bothered only because he actually got to eat the stuff he made.

  I grabbed my robe, a little sad to find Luca gone, and darted to the three-quarters bath to shower away the bad morning. The bruises had vanished and I looked normal enough. One of the few perks of being a vampire. The slight ache in my limbs reminded me of the fight. It was the feeling many got after a hard workout. I liked it, had earned it, and hoped it lasted more than a few hours.

  After the shower, I dressed in a pair of jeans and a tee and headed to see what the stink was about. It was just after five, so almost dinner time for humans. The sun wouldn’t be down for another hour or so, and I would be stuck until it set.

  Seiran and Kelly sat at the counter. Kelly had a book propped open and his bleached blond head bent over it while he scribbled notes on paper beside him. Seiran had a handful of photos spread across the countertop and he kept shifting them like it was a puzzle he was trying to solve. They were both sort of brainiacs—always thinking.

  “What are you cooking, Ronnie? It smells gross.”

  “Smells like heaven,” Kelly said into his book.

  “Mexican-style stuffed bell peppers. Lots of spice. Sorry. Was craving it and forgot you were still here. You’re usually not so quiet when you sleep.”

  “Must have been the hot boy toy he went to bed with,” Kelly teased without looking up.

  “If only,” I grumbled. My dreams had been filled with fantasies of that hot boy toy and his flexibility.

  Gabe stepped out of his bedroom looking GQ ready as always. He’d probably been up for hours. I guess old vampires didn’t need to sleep as much as newbies like me. But I was pretty sure no amount of time was going to make me like him. He’d been older when he’d been changed, more mature. I’d never get there. Had he always been so suave and polished? Or was that just his few millennia as a vampire? No one knew much about his past. Just generalities. He had been a Roman general way back in the day. No one was sure exactly how long ago. He’d had a lover who died. Which had him seeking out immortality and strength for revenge. Yet here he was, with someone else, and neutral. A good guy for the most part. I wondered what had changed to end his quests for vengeance.

  “Glad you’re up, Sam. I want you to work on your concentration today.”

  My concentration was fine. And why wasn’t he yelling at me about the redout?

  “I want you to try to get one of the boys to do something. You had Seiran’s blood yesterday. That should help.”

  Oh, that kind of concentration. “But I haven’t bitten Kelly.”

  “No biting,” Kelly said, not even looking in my direction. “Only Jamie gets to bite me.”

  “Gross,” Seiran said. “That’s my brother you’re talking about.”

  “And he’s way hot,” Kelly said. “You know he is.”

  “Argh,” Seiran said, going back to his studying. “Don’t make me think about you and sex with my brother. I’d need brain bleach.”

  “I’m hot, too,” Kelly pointed out. And he was, for a white boy. Blond hair, hazel eyes, pretty, and fit. He was a runner with a total runner body, full of sleek muscles and definition that Abercrombie and Fitch loved. Totally not my type.

  “Not my type,” Seiran said.

  “Right,” I interrupted and pointed at Gabe. “’Cause the hot blond isn’t your type?”

  Seiran blushed. “That’s different.”

  Yeah because Gabe was another dimension of attractive. I patted Kelly on the back. “It’s ‘cause Ronnie has a daddy fetish.”

  Now Seiran turned red. “I do not!”

  “It’s okay, Kelly does too. That’s why the giant muscleman turns him on. He wants someone to spank him when he’s a bad boy.”

  Kelly sputtered, his face turning red. I snickered at them both.

  Gabe just shook his head. “Focus. If your potential target is strong you may have to keep biting them to control them. But you can do small things without ever having a sip of their blood—like steering them in the right direction or making someone run away.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, there are two of the five Pillars sitting at your kitchen counter. I would categorize that as too strong for anyone.”

  Gabe smiled and winked at me, then flicked his eyes in Kelly’s direction. Kelly suddenly slapped his hand to the back of his neck. He looked up, eyes wide and glanced behind him. “Did someone just breathe on me?” He shivered. “Wow, that was so not cool.”

  “What was that?” Sei asked, now paying attention to his lover as well.

  “Kelly has a sensitive neck,” Gabe said.

  “You did that from way over there?” Kelly asked.

  “He can do a lot of stuff from across the room,” Sei said and wriggled his eyebrows.

  “Wait…” It couldn’t be the same right? All that stuff about feeding people feelings. How could I make someone feel that from a distance? I know feeding on people was a way to keep them compliant. But I never really understood how to get someone who would normally have no interest in me to let me bite them. Gabe and I spent weeks on sex appeal, and I’d come to decide that I just wasn’t cut out to be the sexy night stalker he was. I could read people’s body language, learned their subtle cues, but none of it had worked for me so far. Now he was telling me there was a magic to it? “You’ve been holding out on me.”

  “You weren’t ready. All baby vamps start off full-of-themselves and on a power high. And don’t think we aren’t going to talk about your redout issue, but I want to focus on the guys in the alley. You could have scared them away without even touching them. And feeding on them? Don’t you think Luca is a better meal than a couple of punks from Riverside?”

  “I’m from Riverside,” I protested.

  “Still a punk,” Seiran said.

  “Shush, Ronnie.”

  “Sure sure, Sammy.”

  I growled at him.

  “Enough you two. Sit, Sam. Let’s work on this.”

  I slid into the chair opposite Sei and Kelly. “You guys okay being my guinea pigs?”

  “Not sure you can make me do anything, Sammy.”

  “Just don’t make me dance around like a monkey and I’m good,” Kelly threw me a smile then went back to his book. “And no forget stuff. I have a metaphysics test tomorrow.”

  “I’ll do my best.” Hopefully Gabe could undo anything I accidentally did, if I could do anything at all.

  “We’ll start small,” Gabe said.

  I shrugged not thinking for a minute it was going to be that easy. “Is this something that actually happens or are you just making them think it happens?”

  “Good observation. It’s an illusion. You may gain some telekinetic powers as you age, but probably not for another fifty or so years. The bigger powers take time to develop for most vampires. Some never gain any at all. This is more of a planted mental suggestion, much like you do when you make someone you bite feel pleasure. Only this is from a distance.” He pulled out his phone and a few seconds later mine buzzed.

  Pull Seiran’s hair.

  “Just concentrate. Focus on your goal. Want him to feel it,” Gabe coached.

  I let out a deep breath I didn’t need and stared at Seiran’s hair willing it to move or feel like it moved. Whatever. Nothing happened. Seiran glanced up and frowned. “Do you need blood? Your eyes are red. I thought they were su
pposed to be black when you guys haven’t fed.” He glanced at Gabe.

  Shit. I shut my eyes and turned away from them. Usually my eyes only went red when I let the monster out, but I didn’t feel any different. No anger or irritation, just normal, everyday Sam.

  Gabe tapped my shoulder and handed me a pair of sunglasses. “You’ll get better at controlling your eyes in time. Black when you haven’t fed. Red when you’re using your vampire power, or if you’ve gained enough control the color will glow more along with your natural eye color.”

  “I thought they turned red when I’m mad.” I put on the glasses.

  “Anger is a lack of control. Which means you’re letting your powers take control of you instead of controlling them. Try again. With Kelly this time.”

  This time I focused on Kelly, letting the brown haze of the glasses fuzz through my vision as I thought of the way his blond hair barely touched the nape of his neck. It was straight and sloppy, like he spent a lot of time on a windblown beach, but I knew the truth. Kelly spent a lot of time on that hair, dyeing it, bleaching it, cutting it, styling it. He was about as metro as a guy could get.

  Gabe patted my shoulder. “You’re not focusing. I can almost see your thoughts wandering.”

  “Sorry,” I grumbled and he was right. I returned to try to get Kelly’s hair to move. “There is no spoon,” I said to myself gaining a snicker from Kelly. “Shush,” I told him. I must have stared at his hair for a good half hour with no result. He seemed more bothered by my gaze than any suggestion I tried to put in his head. The elevator dinged, knocking me out of focus. “Maybe we should go to a playground and practice on some little kids. You know, like non-Dominion kids. Start on the super easy.”

  Gabe shook his head. “Keep trying. You’ll get it and when you do, you’ll be surprised how easy it is.”

  Luca sat down beside me just as Sei got up to pull food out of the oven. “I was hoping to be back before you woke up,” he told me. “Hungry?”