The Grey Sight: An Erotic Novella

by Briony J. Lorien

  The man in the khaki suit would have killed me. Chase pulled her around the corner, where a grey Aston Martin waited. Chase practically tossed her in the car and gunned the engine. The car shot past the house. Lily watched through her wide grey eyes as Riggor and Sappho and two other men burst through the front door, new daggers at Sappho’s side, their clothing smeared with blood. Lily ducked down as they passed. Hopefully they hadn’t seen them.

  “Will they follow us?” She asked. “Can they fly?”

  Chase shook his head and gave an empty laugh.

  “No. But they know where I am going.”

  “And where is that?”

  “House Fury.” He answered. Lily sat back against the seat.

  “House Fury. Perhaps I’m new to this grey-sight thing, but isn’t that the LAST place we would want to go? We should head to my parent’s cottage.”

  Chase shook his head. “No. If Jess knew about it, so did Riggor and Sappho. We will be safe at House Fury. I plan to plead your case before the council. You will be safe while I do. Hopefully, I’ll win.”

  Lily stared at him. “And if you don’t?”

  He grimaced. “Than we will both be put to death. I meant it when I said I will never live without you again.” Lily stared out the car window.

  “NO.” She said.

  Chase tilted his head at her. “I’m sorry?”

  His polite accent betrayed his surprise. “NO. We can go to House Fury in the morning. But tonight, I can’t. I won’t.” Say it, she thought. “Tonight I want to be with you.”

  Chase ground his teeth together and revved the engine. “I want that as well, Lily. But the grey-walkers can feel each other. Riggor and Sappho and a thousand other grey-walkers are on your trail right now. It wasn’t as grave a situation when they didn’t know your name, but now I guarantee every grey-walker from here to Canada knows who you are, where you live and what you look like. No matter where we go, they will find us. I was stronger than Jess, and I will kill anyone who even so much as looks at you the wrong way, but I am no match for ten of them. Grey-walkers are unnaturally strong and quite fast. Our best course of action is to go to House Fury. We will have sanctuary there until the trial.”

  Lily closed her eyes. “Okay. I trust you.”

  Chase reached over and touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “You have had quite a day. I’m sorry about Jess.”

  Lily gave a nod as her eyes welled with guilty tears.

  “She wasn’t perfect but, she was a good friend when I needed her. I hate that she died afraid and angry.” Chase grabbed her hand. “Sometimes becoming a new grey-walker increases certain, how shall we say, aspects of your personality. Jess had some possessive issues with you, and when she became a walker, it amplified it a thousand fold. Tell yourself that that wasn’t truly Jess. She hadn’t grey-walked long enough to truly understand it. Once you’ve been a grey-walker for a few years, you learn to either overcome whatever you struggle against, or you let it rule over you. Riggor and Sappho are driven by ambition, the bloody kind. Lust, depression, anger, suspicion…if any of these feelings are lying dormant under the exterior, they will come roaring out once you are changed into a walker. You didn’t kill her. They did. And we will have justice for her. I promise.“

  Lily wiped tears from her eyes, choosing to remember Jess smiling and laughing at a bar. She would make it up to her someday. Somehow.

  “What about you? What was amplified in your personality?”

  Chase gripped the steering wheel. Lily’s grey eyes lingered one the way his hands wrapped so strongly around the leather cover.

  “Manipulation. It was what I was good at when I was a full mortal. When I became a grey-walker, I found that I could manipulate everyone, every SINGLE grey-walker I met. I could even do some minor manipulation with mortals, even though they couldn’t see me. It became an addiction, to see how many people I could play with like puppets at one time.”

  Lily watched out the window as the city fell away building by building until they were flying past a sea of green pastures and abandoned towns. She recognized the road – they were headed for the coast.

  “What changed you?”

  “You did.” That made her forget about the scenery.

  “What?”

  “20 years ago, a tiny six year old blond girl stumbled into my graveyard. I don’t live in a grave or a coffin, as your silly vampire lore would have you believe, but I liked to go walking there, just to sit and watch the world pass by me. It’s a beautiful place. One day, I was sitting there, and you ran in, your blond pigtails bouncing behind you, wearing a purple gingham dress and carrying a tiny doll.” Lily remembered both: the dress and the doll. The dress had been her mother’s favorite.

  “You were running around, chasing shadows. Then you buried your doll and had a mock funeral for her. I laughed at that, and was completely drawn in to this world you created with your imagination. And as I watched you, I realized that you had everything I didn’t – happiness, freedom and purpose. Your joy didn’t come from manipulation and games, it came from embracing LIFE – even if my life could never be like yours. I vowed to make a change that day, that I would stop playing games with people. I’m not perfect, but I hardly ever say anything other than what I mean anymore. Every time I saw you in the graveyard after that was a reminder of my promises, and the hope that someday maybe I could introduce myself to you. I wanted you to see me.” Lily clutched his hand tightly as she turned to gaze upon his face.

  “I always felt something in that graveyard. Something alive and protective. I was drawn to your grave, time and time again.”

  “I know.”

  “What do we even call this?” she asked. “Is it love? Is it, lust? Divine providence?”

  Chase gave her a grin that sent a warm rush of passion between her legs. “I would call it destiny.” Lily sat back, enveloped in a warm cloud of want. She didn’t care what happened now, as long as she was with Chase. She let out a long yawn.

  “You’ve had a long and extraordinarily stressful day.” Chase said. “I’ll drive, and wake you when we get there.”

  “Do you need me to drive at some point? Won’t you get tired?” Chase gave a snort of laughter. “Go to sleep, Lily Harrow.”

  She obeyed, and within seconds, the seductive arms of sleep embraced her.

  Chapter Eight

  Lily awoke to the soft brush of a mouth against her temple. Someone was whispering.

  “Wake up gorgeous. It’s a beautiful morning.”

  For a minute she feared that it was all a dream, but then she felt his cool breath wash over her lips, the lick of a tongue on her bottom lip. Lily gave a pleasurable moan and stretched. He was here. He was real.

  Chase ran his hands lightly over her breasts as she arched her back. “God, I love your body.” He pushed against her. “It’s just the right size in all the right places. And your hair.” He pressed his nose up against her messy curls. “Like honey and jasmine.” Lily opened her mouth and pressed her damp mouth hard against his. Their tongues danced together, their want for each other growing with each kiss. Lily reached down, feeling Chase growing hard against his black linen pants.

  “None of that.” he said, though it was becoming quite obvious that was the last thing that he wanted. He let out a groan before effortlessly lifting his body over hers. Burying his face in her neck, he let his mouth trace the line of her collarbone and in between her breasts. With lightning quick hands, he began unbuttoning her blouse. Lily looked at him with playful eyes as he ran his hands over her swelling nipples and down between her legs. She could see his erection threatening to burst out from his pants. With the gentlest possible touch, he pulled the thin linen of her blouse over the cup of her left breast. Then he exhaled as he stared at it, her flesh naked in the morning light.

  “If I hadn’t seen your face, this would be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

  He leaned forward and Lily pushed off the seat so that her bre
ast came close to his mouth. Her body quaked with anticipation, but instead of taking it in between his flush lips, he opened them slightly and let his cool breath wash over the nipple. Lily gasped as it hardened in the cold air. Chase leaned back with an evil grin.

  “We have to get inside House Fury. We’re here.”

  Lily stared at him. “Seriously?” He began buttoning her shirt back up.

  “I just need a tiny taste to get me through the next day. I couldn’t go another minute without seeing them.”

  “You’re a tease.”

  “I’ve waited for you for 20 years. I’m going to hold back my pleasure as long as I can bear it. I don’t think I can do it for much longer.”

  Lily frowned at him, but sat up before sleepily rubbing her eyes. “How long did I sleep?”

  “Seven hours.”

  “Are you kidding me?” She sat up. Suddenly she felt disgusting.

  The dawn sat silent and still before her, the pink sun sending reflections over a long stretch of inky black earth stretching as far as the eye could see. No. Not earth. That was water. They were on a cliff overlooking the water. Lily climbed out of the car and walked to the edge, her hands pulling her blond curls into a loose bun. Stark grey cliffs rose high above the sea, leaving the daunting waves to crash below. It was beautiful, and terrifying. She glanced back at the car, where Chase was packing a backpack, his long frame bent over the car. The wind whipped around her, pulling her towards the edge.

  “Careful” said Chase, jogging up beside her. “The wind can blow you over the edge if you aren’t steady.”

  “Where are we?” she said.

  “House Fury.” Responded Chase.

  Lily looked around the barren landscape. The only sign of civilization was a lone dark lighthouse, hundreds of feet into the sea.

  “Ummm…” she said.

  Chase laughed, an adorable booming sound.

  “You’ll have to trust me.”

  He opened the backpack and pulled out a long yellow rope, which he proceeded to loop around Lily’s waist. Kneeling in front of her, he threaded the rope through her thighs, his hands lingering higher and higher with each tug. Lily felt dizzy as his hand ran lightly over her womanhood.

  “I could stay here all day” he said. Please, yes, she thought.

  “You seem to know what you are doing. At least, can you tell me that you do, even if it’s not true.” She wound her fingers through his thick brown hair and he gave a happy sigh, pressing his cheek against her hand, his lips brushing her fingertips. Then he yanked the rope tight around her hips.

  “I climb in my free time.”

  “Climb what?” she asked.

  “Anything. Mountains, cliffs, climbing walls. It’s my passion.” He gave her belly a soft kiss that made her stomach twist. Then he turned and promptly walked off the edge of the cliff.

  Lily let out a sharp scream, which she then muffled with her hands. Crawling on her belly, she poked her head over the edge. Chase was a few feet down, standing on a narrow stone staircase that was etched out of the cliff wall.

  “Sorry, I should have warned you.”

  Lily narrowed her eyes. “I thought you jumped.”

  “Yes” he responded with an easy smile. “I brought you all the way here just to jump off a cliff in front of you. It was my elaborate master plan.”

  “Shut up” said Lily playfully, easing herself over the edge, her feet dangling. Don’t think about it, she told herself. Don’t look down. Her feet found the first step, slick with sea water. The rope around her waist was linked to a carabiner that attached at Chase’s chest.

  “So, if I slip, you’ll catch me.”

  “Yes.”

  “But if YOU slip, we are both dead.”

  “I won’t slip.” Chase’s black eyes squinted unhappily in the light. “But if I died here, you would be dead anyways. There is nothing around us but rock, sand, water and thousands of grey-walkers.” “Where?” Asked Lily. Chase nodded to the cliff wall. “Inside there. You are pressed up against House Fury.”

  The going was slow. Salt water was constantly blasting them against the rock, and the drop below seemed more treacherous with each step. Chase seemed surefooted but careful, but Lily’s entire body was shaking with the effort of being so cautious. She hated heights.

  Behind her was a stone wall that was prone to crumbling at the slightest touch, and in front of her was just the sky and the sea. She pressed herself flush against the rock face. Lower and lower they crept down the narrow stairs, one step at a time. They were almost to the bottom when Lily heard a scuffle from above. Alarmed, she quickly leaned back to see what had made the sound, and lost her balance. The ground dropped away from her. She cart wheeled into the sky, letting out a shrill yell as she dropped.

  Riggor and Sappho’s face, leaning over the cliff face was the last thing she saw. Then there was a hard jerk, and she felt as if her waist was being ripped from her body. She was dangling, twisting on the end of a rope. Chase clutched the rock with one hand and the rope with the other. Letting out a bellow, he began to lower Lily inch by inch, the rope wrapped around his hand, feeding it down as quickly as possible until it was slick with black blood. Lily could only watch as Riggor and Sappho made their way quickly down the stone steps.

  When she was about five feet from the ground, Chase let her drop onto the coarse sand. Lily scrambled to undo the rope. She looked around in panic. They were trapped. There were only random clusters of rock, a narrow sand bar that stretched out into the ocean and nothing more, other than crashing waves. It was like being at the end of the world. From above, Chase launched himself off the wall and landed with a crouch in the sand. He glanced up. Riggor and Sappho were almost halfway down the wall, taking the steps two at a time.

  “CHAASSEE Husher, give her to US!” Riggor bellowed.

  Chase pulled Lily towards the rocky outcrop that jutted out of the ocean where the sand bar ended.

  “No, we can’t go that way!” yelled Lily. “There’s only the sea on the other side.”

  “TRUST ME” he yelled back his voice drown out by the crashing waves.

  Chase clamored over the rocks, with Lily close on his heels. Just beyond the rocks lay a pristine white speedboat, docked to a chain in the sand. “Get in” yelled Chase, tossing his backpack in the boat. Lily ran and unhooked the chain as Chase towed in the anchor, his strong arms rippling in the morning sunlight. Lily leapt into the boat and gunned the rudder.

  “I can do that…”

  Lily motioned for him to sit down.

  “You might be a stronger and faster than me, but you certainly don’t know boats better than me. I’ve been on the water since I was a kid. Take a seat.”

  Chase tossed his hair out of his eyes with a smile. “You got it, boss.”

  The boat gave a deep rumble and water sprayed out the back as it leapt forward, happy to be free of its chain. Lily steered the boat away from the rock. They were maybe 30 feet out to sea when Riggor and Sappho reached the rocky outcrop. Riggor paced back and forth, and Sappho stood silently, her dagger twirling in her hand, her hair undulating in the wind.

  They had made it!

  Lily let the relief show on her face as she turned to smile at Chase. The boat churned steadily towards the lighthouse. She let her lungs expand for just a minute, and then there was the flash of sunlight a blade.

  “GET DOWN” screamed Chase, but he was too late.

  The blade buried itself deep into Lily’s lower shoulder, just above her breast. Chase grabbed the wheel over her limp arm.

  I must get us there, she thought, one last thought before she collapsed in a rush of blood and pain.

  Chapter Nine

  The boat hit the lighthouse dock with a jolt.

  Chase was holding Lily with one hand, and steering with the other.

  “We’re here.”

  “Where?” said Lily. The ocean swam in front of her eyes.

  “I’m going to carry you.”


  “No.” Said Lily. “I can walk.”

  “You’re losing a lot of blood.”

  “I still don’t understand why we are at a lighthouse.”

  They carefully limped up to the door, Lily focused on trying to stay conscious and not looking at the trail of blood that was following her. The same etching that once sat on Chase’s gravestone was carved into the door: two wings, held together by a straight line. Chase saw her looking at it.

  “It’s the symbol for the grey-walkers” he said quickly.

  Lily bit her lip in pain. “What if Sappho and Riggor follow us? What if they have a boat?”

  “They don’t. And they can’t hurt you now even if they did. Once you make it to the lighthouse, every person- grey walker, mortal, or someone with the grey-sight - has sanctuary. Until…”

  “Until?” Lily’s vision blurred.

  “Until you have fallen out of House Fury’s graces. Then they will slit your throat and throw you into the sea.”

  “Oh good” she slurred. Chase pulled the dangling key from his neck and pushed it into the lighthouse door. It swung open, and Lily saw a huge hulking form of a man standing behind it. Chase straightened up.

  “In the greyest light…” he intoned,

  “ - shines the Fury.” The man replied. “You may enter.”

  Chase scooped Lily up in his arms, cradling her head against his firm chest.

  “Is that a grey-sight?” asked the huge black man, his dark eyes glinting hungrily in the dark hallway.

  “Yes, and she has sanctuary here.”

  Chase carried her down a stairwell. They were going down, down, down. Lily drifted in and out of unconsciousness.

  They were in a long, dark tunnel. Water dripped down on her face, her arms dangling below her. Blood, so much blood. Chase’s eyes, never leaving her face. There was a black marble lobby, its ceiling covered with angels and demons. Or perhaps just demons.

  “Stay awake, stay awake my love…” Chase’s face was the last thing she saw as she lost conscious. If she had to die, that was just the way she wanted to do it.