She paused, looking away, her brow furrowed as if to control her emotions. “I’m not one of those things, Rhyse.”
Was it worth this argument? She couldn’t do anything to stop him from tossing her over his shoulder and taking her wherever he wanted. But he needed her cooperation in front of the oracle, so he tried again. “If my reaction was not enough, then consider the fact that I did not drink from you. In bloodlust, we do not choose who we take. Whatever is closest will do.” And only by sheer will developed over centuries had he been able to prevent his own demise.
“Your pupils and irises were red. Is that a bloodlust thing?”
“Really?” After she nodded, he said, “There is more proof. Our eyes do not change color.”
She sawed her lips together, her eyes pensive and restless. “Why haven’t I ever heard of them before?”
“They were the greatest weakness of all supernatural beings. Do you enjoy talking about your weaknesses? The dat vitae were very rare, very dangerous, and kept themselves well hidden until they were all eradicated.”
“I guess they didn’t keep themselves that well hidden. Why were they so dangerous?”
If he told her, would she be more of a threat or less? The oracle would undoubtedly tell her. By seeming open and honest, Rhyse could control her. Until he killed her. “They—you—are a poison to all supernatural races. Your blood nullifies our magic.”
“Great trick. But while I’m not the Heights’ most self-aware being, I think I’d have figured out by now if I was a super.”
“Have you ever fed or been bitten by one of us?”
“No. Mostly because I try my hardest to avoid situations like this.”
“If you are dat vitae, the time for avoidance has passed. To know for certain, I must ask someone who knows more than I.”
“Seriously—”
“We will purchase some proper attire for you on the way.”
“Like hell.”
“Are you always this stubborn when someone offers you a gift?”
“A gift? Not sure, I haven’t been given many. And I haven’t been dressed by anyone since I was ten.”
“Obviously.” She must be in her third decade—twenty-four or -five years old. A third to a quarter of her life already gone. “It is surprising someone of your age has no interest in males.”
“Someone of my age? After the first wrinkle, a woman’s life is over, right? Besides, I am interested in males—men.” She had no wrinkles, no flaws he could see. Other than the clothing, of course.
“No woman who dresses as you do desires to attract a male.”
“Fuck you!”
His eyebrows popped up. “Then you are interested in males. I will gladly take you, but only after I know it will not harm me. Another question we need answered.”
“It wasn’t an offer.”
“Then you should not have suggested it.”
“It’s an expression. It means go screw yourself.”
“That does not appeal to me in the slightest.” He was beginning to understand her attempts at humor. The look of frustration on her face was highly amusing.
“Seriously? You’ve never heard—Of course you’ve never heard it. Who would tell the Prime to fuck off?”
“No one.” He looked through the clothes in her closet. It only got worse. “These are all unsuitable. Whoever you purchased them from should be set on fire. After I have killed those responsible for my current situation, I will assign a demon to the task.”
“You could just say thank you.”
He turned towards her. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I saved you.”
“I believe we dealt with this point previously. Additionally, it is your duty to assist me in any manner I require. Any manner I require.”
“If I go with you, what are the chances I’ll die?”
“I will not allow anyone to kill you.” When it became necessary, Rhyse would do it himself.
“Fine.” She sighed. “Let’s just get it over with.”
“You will need to hold on.”
“To what?”
He phased in inches in front of her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her into him.
“To me,” he whispered. Then they were gone.
Thirteen
As soon as they arrived in the catacombs of the oracles, Addison threw her hand over her mouth. All he saw was her panicked eyes.
“What is wrong?”
“I’m gonna—”
He spun her away from him just in time.
“—vomit,” she mumbled.
“How fortunate we did not stop for other clothing. You now have the perfect use for that shirt.”
“Do you always get your way?” She carefully pulled the shirt over her head and used it the only way it should be used.
“Of course.”
“Nice place,” she said, grimacing. “Where’s the light switch?”
His gaze lowered from her neck to her collarbone, down to her breasts. “That is far better.”
“The fun is so over, it’s like it never happened,” she grumbled. “Can I go home now?”
“Once we have the answers we need.”
She looked down at his shoes, almost going to her knees to see in the darkness. “Still totally pristine. Nothing ugly even dares to touch you, does it?”
“Will you be sick again?”
“I’m fine. Freezing but fine. Dark scary rock tunnels have great a/c. It would’ve been nice if you’d told me to grab a flashlight and jacket, or that I was going to get nauseous.”
“I admit to having little experience phasing with humans, but I do not think your reaction was normal.”
An image flashed through his mind, an occurrence common in these catacombs. A man set his coat on the thin shoulders of a woman. Rhyse couldn’t see their faces, though it was obvious by their frailty and paltry clothing that they were human. They seemed familiar to him somehow. Perhaps it was a scene from a movie he had seen. A period film.
The woman turned her head and smiled at the man, beautiful even through her sickness. And Rhyse recognized her. Because she looked so much like him. A vision of his past, his human past. Both lovely and tragic.
Her focus changed, drew closer to the ground, near Rhyse’s knees. Her smile grew and she motioned with her hand. “Come here, my…”
Rhyse couldn’t make out the last word. My what? My…love. That’s what she called him. My love.
Her image blurred and then disappeared. Desiring to see it again—her again—accomplished nothing. One could not control what they saw in the catacombs.
Still within the spell of his past, Rhyse took off his jacket and set it on Addison’s shoulders, just as he’d seen his father do for his mother moments ago…and centuries ago.
When Addison turned towards him, her normal lovely color was completely gone, replaced by pale skin and frightened eyes.
“Do not be afraid,” he said. “The magic here brings us memories, messages. What did you see?”
His words brought her out of her stillness. “Nothing,” she mumbled, looking away, trying to hide emotion whose power and depth could not be.
“That is too bad.” And a lie.
“What did you see?”
“A moment from my human life. Something I had forgotten.” Something that now filled his consciousness, reminding him what humanity was, both wondrous and horrible. The sensation left him confused, his thinking muddled, much as it had been for the seventy years after he’d been turned. A human lifetime of doubt and anguish.
“Was it a good memory?”
He nodded. “Yours was not.” She made no movement, but he knew. “That is unusual. Perhaps it has something to do with what you are.” As long as her secret didn’t involve him, he didn’t care what it was.
“I’m just me. Really.” She slid her hands into the arms of his jacket, but they never reappeared.
He felt the corners of his mouth twitch again. “It i
s much too large for you.”
“That’s because it was custom-made for a giant dead guy. So…do you come here often?” Her strength and ability to adapt continued to surprise him. She seemed to have no concept of how fragile her life was. Or how short it would be.
“No,” he said, turning to the two open doorways. “Choose a path.”
“That one,” she said, pointing to the one on the left.
Walking through it, he said, “Visiting the oracle is very uncommon.”
“Wait, the what?” Her steps to catch up with him were small and quick until he could feel her heat on his back. “‘Oracle,’ as in someone who figures out prophecies?”
“Among other things.”
“If I am in a fucking prophecy, I’m going to be so pissed.” Her voice dropped to little more than a mumble. “Should’ve brought a hammer and chisel.”
“What for?”
“To chip my name out of the wall if necessary.”
If it would keep her alive, he would carve it out with his fangs.
No. He flinched as if another stake had been wielded. No, he would kill her for the safety of all the races. As soon as he confirmed his suspicions and learned if there were other dat vitae, he would kill her. If anyone discovered her existence, there would be too much fear to control.
When they reached the second chamber, he repeated, “Choose a path.”
She pointed to the left again. They continued through the passage, humid stone walls surrounding them, closing in the deeper they went. She clutched the waist of his pants.
“Your nervousness is unnecessary. Oracles are not dangerous. They are keepers of the past and the future.”
“Like historians?”
He nodded, before remembering that her night vision was not like his. “In part, yes. Although historians are a pale comparison at best, and not simply because they are human. Oracles are more than record keepers. They are magical beings. These catacombs help harness that magic and create visions like the one you saw.”
“I didn’t see one.” Her tone was harsh in its defensiveness, making him wonder all the more what she’d seen.
“Perhaps you will see something before we depart. Though the visions are more commonly of the past, they can also be of the future.”
She whimpered.
“You must learn how to hide your emotions better, Addison. Especially now. You blocked me once before; therefore, it is possible you can do it again. You should learn how to shield.”
“You mean from mind readers?”
“Among others. Angels and demons could easily sense what you are if you do not have a strong shield. Although everything could function differently because of what you are.”
“I’m not anything.”
“Not even human?” he asked.
“Are you always this condescending?” When he didn’t answer, she mumbled, “Another question we need answered.”
He enjoyed hearing her repeat his words. Particularly when he remembered when he’d used them.
As the cave narrowed, he ducked his head. Addison clung to him, her breath shallower, her heat increasing against his bare skin.
“I told you that you have nothing to be afraid of.”
“And it didn’t help at all. What am I supposed to say to her?”
“Nothing. You remain silent until she asks you a question. Then you respond to only that point. No more, no less. What you do here can change things, but you will never know if it is for the better or for the worse. That is the only danger here.” When they reached the third chamber, he stopped. “Choose a path.”
“Jeez, how many of these are there?”
“This is the last.”
“We should’ve left breadcrumbs.” She pointed to the one on the right. “That one.” He’d already known which she would choose—the opposite of what he would have, as were the prior two.
“Walk in front,” he said. “I will keep you from stumbling.”
“Wow, how chivalrous of you. For the final leg of the trip, you make the human go first.”
He could have corrected her again, told her that she was no more human than he was, but he let it go. She would know soon enough. “We are here to learn about you, so you must pick each path. Now you must go first. If you do not, then we will not see the oracle.”
“So you’re totally unnecessary here?”
“I am merely a mode of transportation.”
She went through the door on the right. “Too bad I can’t park you in a bad part of town with the key in the ignition and your motor running.”
He chuckled, his hands on her hips to guide her through the darkness. “Believe me, Addison, my motor is running.”
Fourteen
~ ~ ~
Logan, a seer & Noah, a seer-turned-werewolf
“You don’t have to move out, you know.” Logan leaned against the truck and watched his friend work for a while. It had been a very long couple of nights/days and they hadn’t ended yet.
“All our neighbors look at me like I’m the enemy now,” Noah said, shaking his head. “I don’t want to make anybody uncomfortable.”
“Fuck ’em. They’ll get used to it.”
“Really? I’m not sure I will.” Over the past month, Noah had developed the habit of rubbing his shoulder where he’d been bit. No teeth marks or scar, because a were’s bite changed a lot of things, including creating faster-than-human healing abilities. Ironic for a healer who’d accidentally gotten bit while fixing up a couple members of the local were pack.
“Think if I switch deodorants, seers won’t be able to smell the dog in me? I should try it.” His smile tightened. “You know, whenever the alpha lets me come back.”
“This is messed up, Noah. They can’t ship you off like this.”
“They can do whatever they want.”
“Not anymore. You’re not a seer anymore.”
“They can’t, but the lead alpha can, and he’s not exactly my biggest supporter.”
“Do you know how long you’ll be gone, at least?”
Noah hefted another box into the storage unit, his increased strength making it look like he was stacking tissue boxes. “Not a clue.”
“They must have told you something.”
“Oh yeah, they were extremely helpful.” His sarcasm was obvious, even without the eye rolling or the hugely exaggerated enthusiasm. “I think it went something like, ‘Welcome to a modified version of hell where you get to turn into a mutt once a month. But not around here because you couldn’t possibly want to go through the Big Change with any kind of support system around you. No, we’re sending you to Nowhere-Ville where you’ll get to hang out with No-One-You-Know for we’re-not-going-to-tell-you-how-many weeks. Have fun. Don’t write.’”
“It sounds like fun.” And, honestly, Noah was taking it better than Logan imagined anyone could.
Noah laughed. “It sounds they left a couple things out for a reason no one wants to share.”
It didn’t make sense to Logan, either. He’d picked up a bit about how the pack system worked from his were clients, but nothing about Noah’s turning was in line with what he knew. Packs were tight, took care of each other. Most were families, but a lone wolf could join a pack if he was strong enough to fight his way in. Since Noah’s first moon, he’d been jumped a bunch of times and always won. But they still wouldn’t accept him.
“I hear Utah’s nice,” Logan said. “Can I visit?”
“Why would you want to?” Noah asked quietly, stacking a box onto a tall line of similar boxes.
“Because I can’t get enough of hanging out with assholes who feel sorry for themselves.”
“Fuck you, man,” he said with a laugh. “Do you have any idea how often I hear you bitch about your uniform?” Or lack thereof. But Logan knew Noah was joking. Because Logan never talked about anything to do with work. In fact, there was nothing Logan liked less than thinking about what he did for a— Could he even call it a ‘living’? Thankfull
y, that would all change once he was out of the box.
He grabbed a couple pillows and tossed them in. “So now that you’re a super…”
“Yes, Logan. I get to go to all the cool parties and sit at the grownup’s table. And yes, I will take you to the next big party as my plus-one. But only if you fetch me snacks, keep your hands to yourself, and don’t wear yellow.”
“I’m supposed to fetch things for you? Do you know how many dog jokes I’m holding in right now?” He looked down at his t-shirt. “And why can’t I wear yellow? I look good in yellow.”
“Who told you that?”
He shrugged. “People.”
“They were lying. You look like shit in... Well, in basically everything.”
“Are you trying to tell me you think I look good naked? Because that’s gonna do nothing but make me uncomfortable.”
“Remind me again why I’m sad to be moving out?”
“Because you’re going to miss waking up to my singing, the way I burn toast, and all my dog jokes.” He stacked a box on another rapidly growing pile.
“I could make plenty of jokes about how you follow Addison around. Like an adorable little puppy.”
“Addison?” Did he? News to him. “I don’t think you’re one to be lecturing me about women.” Logan would miss joking around with the idiot. They’d been doing it since they were ten. “Even as a wolf, you have terrible taste in women.”
“As a wolf, I have worse than terrible taste in women. But present screw-up aside, I think you and I are pretty even on that front.”
Logan didn’t correct him—the guy had enough to freak out about.
After shoving the last batch of crap into the storage unit, Noah took a deep breath. “That’s my whole fucking life, Loge. My whole fucking life fits in a six-by-six foot space. And it’s not even full. That’s not right. It’s not…” He looked confused, overwhelmed, and nervous. Completely understandable.
“The alpha is just pissed at you right now. In a few weeks, he’ll get over it and tell you to come back to enjoy the perks of being a super.”
“You’re probably right.” He didn’t look convinced. “And I plan on taking advantage of all of them.”
Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1) Page 8