by Laura Lee
Leo headed straight for the mini bar as I caught Vance up on everything since we’d last spoken. I intentionally left out certain details, but gave him enough to know what we were dealing with.
Leo glared at Vance from across the room. If I wasn’t so irritated, I would’ve found their invisible boundary lines humorous. “I still fail to see why you’re needed.”
I walked over to Leo and took his hand. “Leo, I know this is odd coming from me, but I think we need to be rational here. You already know that Vance is part Fae; the guardians should be able to sense that. He also lived in Faerie for ten years and would be able to help navigate that realm.”
Leo looked bothered but he quickly put his mask in place. “Why didn’t you bring this up earlier?”
I shrugged. “Because I was blinded by emotions. I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t want to see the truth behind it. C’mon, Leo, at the very least maybe he can help me get my powers under control so we don’t have another…incident.”
Vance waved his hand. “Hello? You know I’m five feet away from you, right? You don’t need to talk about me like I’m in the other room. Can we please focus on what matters? What incident? You didn’t tell me about an incident.”
Leo nodded in acquiescence. He poured himself another drink as I joined Vance on the couch.
“The other night,” I began, “I channeled sunlight. I don’t exactly know how I did it, but that’s definitely what it was.”
Vance’s brows lifted towards his hairline. “Have you noticed anything else that seemed out of the ordinary?”
I sighed. “Yeah. I sort of turned our previous hotel suite into a wind tunnel and fire came out of my hands. I don’t know how I did that either.”
He contemplated that for a minute. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about this!”
“Think about what?” Leo asked.
Vance ignored Leo as he walked towards the bar. He filled a glass from the tiny sink and brought it back over to the couch. Handing it to me, he said, “Make the water move.”
Huh? “How am I supposed to do that?”
He pursed his lips in concentration. “What were you feeling when everything happened?”
“I was pissed,” I recalled. “And scared.”
He narrowed his eyes at the scared comment. He must’ve figured out that I didn’t fill in all the gaps earlier. “It’s probably strong emotion that’s activating them.”
What in the hell was he talking about? “Activating what?”
He smiled. “Your elemental powers.”
My what?
“Have you ever heard of Elemental Fae?” Vance asked.
“Hold on a sec.” I made my way over to the bedroom and grabbed my History of the Fae book. I thrust it into Vance’s hands, pointing to the marker that I had placed between the related pages. “Read that.”
He ran his fingers lovingly over the weathered cover. “Where did you get this?” His tone was full of awe.
Leo puffed out his chest. “From me.”
Vance frowned. I rolled my eyes at their posturing. “Flip to the bookmarked page.”
Vance opened the book and reviewed the passage about Elemental Fae that I had read earlier. He pointed to the section listing each individual house along with their corresponding abilities. “See this? You have all of these powers.”
“Um, no, I don’t,” I argued. “I conjure dust, remember?” The passage specifically stated that Elemental Fae do not have the ability to conjure fairy dust or perform standard Fae magic.
Vance shook his head. “I know that, Karli. Obviously. But you’re missing the point. Your dad was Elemental. His parents each had power from two separate elements, giving him all four. He couldn’t perform regular Fae magic, but your mom could. You have both types of magic; you’re omnipotent.”
“Did you just call me impotent?”
“Not impotent,” he laughed. “OMNIpotent.” He smacked himself on the forehead. “God, I can’t believe I didn’t think about this when I discovered who your parents were!”
“Expand on that, Detective,” Leo said. “I think we’re both a little lost here.”
Vance looked at me. “Does he know about my connection to your parents?”
Leo looked puzzled. I realized that I’d never told him that Vance met my parents when he was studying under my grandmother, Ornessa. They were close friends for over sixty years. My parents even followed Vance into this realm and moved to Vegas when they found out they were pregnant with me. I quickly gave Leo the condensed version.
“So, if I understand this correctly, the detective here not only had a lengthy friendship with your parents, but he also knows your grandmother, who is an elder?”
“Yep,” I confirmed.
Leo didn’t seem to like it one bit that Vance and I shared that connection, but he moved on. “An elder who could grant us access to Faerie?”
Vance was practically fluffing his feathers like a proud peacock. “Which is exactly why I’m here. Why you need me here. Ornessa doesn’t even know Karli was born. Me, on the other hand, she knows very well. I can vouch for Karli.”
Leo glared at him. “Okay, I’m not skipping over that, but I want to know more about Karli being omnipotent. How exactly does that affect her?”
Vance was flipping through the book, skimming the pages. “I’m sure it’s in here somewhere. Damn, why doesn’t this thing have a Table of Contents?”
I grinned because I’d had that exact complaint more than a few times. “Vance, focus! What does it mean?”
He gave up his search and closed the book. “Karli, you’re not just a fairy. You’re also an elemental who can control all four elements. That combination creates an entirely different breed of Fae—an incredibly rare breed. Omnipotent Fae are the most powerful type that exists. You are one of the most powerful creatures in existence.”
I stood there speechless for an indeterminate amount of time. I couldn’t possibly be this all-powerful being as Vance had claimed. I didn’t want to be, but it made perfect sense. Everything I’d been experiencing lately—the constant hum of barely leashed power coursing through my veins. Why didn’t I know about this before? Did Irina know?
Irina, the woman who raised me, was my mother’s best friend. She’d recently revealed that my mother had a vision about the car accident that caused my parents’ deaths. Irina moved to Las Vegas shortly before they died because she had been appointed my legal guardian in the event of their passing. Irina had promised my mom that she would disguise my heritage and raise me in Vegas because she foretold that I would find my soul mate there. Of course, my mother didn’t conveniently drop any names with her premonition, but she obviously went out of her way to keep me on Earth instead of returning to Faerie where I would’ve had an entirely different life.
Vance put his arm around my shoulder. “Karli, you okay?”
“Get your hands off her.” Man, Leo was being awfully growly.
I looked up and saw both men flashing each other murderous glares. I rolled my eyes yet again as I shrugged off Vance’s arm. “Stop, you two. Just stop. We have more important goals at hand than measuring dicks.”
Vance smirked at my choice of words as Leo’s perfectly poised mask was back in place. “You’re right, my dear.”
“Tell me more about this meeting with the witches,” Vance said. “It’s tonight, right?”
“Yes,” Leo confirmed.
“So, what’s the plan? Where’s the meeting point?” Leo opened his mouth to respond but Vance cut him off. “And don’t think for a second I won’t be there.”
“We’re meeting at an old cemetery, behind a cathedral just outside Dublin.” Leo glared. “I don’t like the idea of bringing Karli out in the open past sundown after what happened last night, but we don’t really have a choice. The witches only agreed to meet if I bring her along so they can verify her heritage. If she’s not there, we will not be granted another chance.”
“Whoa, bac
k up,” Vance said. “What happened last night?”
Ah crap, I thought. He’s going to be pissed because I, once again, failed to mention that I was in grave danger. “Uh…remember the UV light?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“Well, it came out when I was being attacked in an alley across town.” I tensed, preparing myself mentally for his freak out. “By Maria.”
“WHAT THE FUCK?” he bellowed. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you call me?”
“Calm down, Detective,” Leo said. “As you can see, she’s fine.”
“Fuck you, Vampire.”
Leo’s fangs extended. “Don’t push me.”
Vance stood with his fists clenched. “Are you threatening me?”
All right, I’d had enough. “Jesus Christ! Vance, sit down. Leo, put your damn fangs away! Can’t you two get along for two goddamn seconds so we can focus on the important stuff? I’m so sick of this! If you cannot call a truce, I will figure this out by myself! You two can go fuck yourselves!” I was so pissed I could hardly see straight.
“Uh, Karli…” Vance stammered.
“What?” I said through clenched teeth.
He pointed to the rattling glass on the table. “Look.”
The water swirled violently in a clockwise direction. It rose past the rim of the glass and formed a mini tornado. Droplets sprayed my face, and my anger dissolved into shock as everything set in. A second later, the spinning stopped and the water crashed onto the table. “Oh, shit.”
Vance was awestruck. He trailed his finger through the small puddle. “Karli, that was amazing.”
Leo, clearly disturbed, grabbed a towel and began cleaning up the mess. “My love, perhaps we should get back on subject. You were about to explain what happened with Maria.”
I told Vance about my constant feeling of being followed around town, the multiple run-ins with Connor and who we suspected he really was, and Maria’s subsequent attack. He asked follow up questions here and there, but for the most part, just listened with rapt attention.
“So…Maria’s dead?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. How would you feel if she was?”
He thought about it for a moment and looked at Leo. “Can you give us a minute?”
I used my eyes to wordlessly plead with him for some privacy. He seemed to get the hint. “My love, I need to make some calls. I’ll be in the other room if you need me.”
“Thank you, Leo.”
Vance waited until he closed the door before continuing. “Honestly? I don’t know how I’d feel. It’s still hard to think about the woman she’s become…to not see who she was before. She wasn’t always psychotic, you know. She has family—parents that are still alive and love her deeply. Despite what happened between us, I’ve stayed in contact with them. To this day, they treat me like family…like their son. If she’s dead, I’d have to tell them and I don’t want to deliver that kind of news. I guess I’ve always assumed they would pass away first since they’re human.”
I took a moment to absorb that. I didn’t know why I was so bothered that he remained in contact with his former in-laws. People ended marriages all the time and remained close with their ex’s family. I guess I’d never humanized Maria before then. I’d forgotten how young she was in vampire years, and that it was quite possible to have immediate family members that were still alive. In my mind, she’d always been a crazy bitch and Vance’s revelation forced me to see the bigger picture. Maybe there was a point in time when she had been a good person. Before she became obsessed with immortality.
“So you’re concerned for her parents…but how do you feel about it?”
He crinkled his brows. “Karli, the entire situation is pretty overwhelming. I wouldn’t say that I’d be happy she was gone, but I wouldn’t necessarily be upset either. If she died so you could live, that’s retribution in my eyes. What’s important is that we don’t assume she’s gone until we have proof. We can’t afford to underestimate her again, especially if this Connor guy truly is Khonsu. Maria’s nuts, but he’s psychotic on an epic level.”
“It has to be him. Leo said that he is the only vampire in existence who could sift away like that.”
“All the more reason to stay on guard. I don’t know why he would recruit Maria, but I don’t like it.”
“Me neither,” I agreed.
Leo stepped out of the bedroom. “I just confirmed our meeting for tonight. We have about six hours.”
Vance looked at his watch. “You want to grab a late lunch?”
I watched Leo for a reaction. I didn’t need his permission, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings either. He nodded, telling me he was okay with it. “Yeah, sure.”
Leo walked over to help me off the couch. He pulled me in for a hug and placed a kiss on my cheek. “Enjoy your lunch, my sweet. Be back before sunset. I don’t want you out after dark without me.”
Vance scowled at the insinuation that he couldn’t protect me but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
“Thanks, Leo. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Vance nodded towards an open booth in the back of the cozy little pub we had selected. “That one okay?”
“Sure,” I said.
A petite waitress with wild blonde curls approached us as soon as we settled into the high-backed benches upholstered in worn leather. “Welcome to McGillins. What can I get ya to drink?”
“Karli?” Vance gestured for me to order first.
“I’ll have a Guinness please.”
“That sounds good. I’ll have the same,” he said.
The waitress placed two menus on the table. “Verra good. Here’s your menu. Have a look and I’ll be back in just a bit to take your orders.”
I waited until she walked away. “Thanks for coming. I really am glad you’re here to help.”
He grabbed my hand across the table. “Me too.”
I pulled back. “Please don’t.”
“I’m not allowed to touch your hand?”
“It’s better if you don’t.”
His brows crinkled. “Why?”
“Because when you touch me, I get confused. I can’t afford to lose focus here.”
“Why do you get confused?”
“Please don’t make me say it,” I begged.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “No, I think I need to hear this.”
I sighed. “My brain gets short-circuited when you touch me. I can’t help feeling things that I don’t want to feel.”
“So…you’re saying you want me. But you don’t want to want me?”
“It’s not just sex,” I explained. “It hurts, okay? It hurts to think about what happened between you and Maria, it hurts to think about what we lost because of it, it hurts that everything went to shit right when I finally thought I had it all figured out.”
His face reddened. “So you’re still blaming me for what happened with Maria?”
“What? No, I don’t blame you…but I can’t exactly forget what happened either.”
“You’re never going to see the truth, are you?”
I scrunched my brows in confusion. “What truth is that?”
He leaned over the table and lowered his voice. “Let me ask you this, Karli. Do you think I wanted to sleep with Maria? Do you think I would ever do something like that if I were cognizant of my actions?”
Why did he insist on rehashing this? “No and no. I know you were under a spell, Vance. I get it. But like I said before, I can’t ever get those images out of my head. It’s too hard.”
“Fucking society and its double standards,” he muttered.
“What are you talking about?”
He sat back and narrowed his eyes at me. “Let’s say a man and a woman meet in a bar. He buys her a drink and spikes it with a roofie. After she drinks it, she goes home with him and they have sex. Would you consider their sex consensual?”
My mouth gaped. “Of course not! He drugged her!”
He
crossed his arms again. “You’re smart, Karli. Let that thought marinate for a minute.”
I bit my lip, trying to figure out where he was going with this. I gasped as the realization hit me like a brick to the head. Vance was raped. Society did have a double standard when it came to men being raped by women. It becomes more of a joke, or a brush off even, because hey, if he can get it up, he must have wanted it at least a little, right?
“Omigod.” I wiped a tear from my face. “Vance, I’m so sorry I didn’t think of it like that before.”
He shrugged. “I don’t want your apologies or your pity, Karli. I just want you to see the truth—that by no means was any part of what happened with Maria consensual. God forbid, but if the situation were reversed, it would never affect my feelings towards you. Does this epiphany of yours change anything? Are you willing to give us another shot?”
Oh, God, I was a monster! What kind of person leaves someone because they’ve been raped? I felt sick. How could I have done that to him? I felt worse when I realized that even if I wanted to jump straight back into Vance’s arms, I didn’t think I could. Would I ever be able to switch off that part of my brain that played those images of Vance and Maria in bed together? He touched her with so much love poured into every action that night. I shuddered when I recalled his breathy sentiments, telling her how he could never live without her, how she was his everything, how she made him the happiest man alive. Could I ever look past that? Could I ever get over the feeling that I was second best? Nowadays, Maria was one massively crazy bitch, but at one point, she was the woman he chose to marry. Vance didn’t take marriage lightly; he would’ve never made that commitment unless he wanted forever. That night made me realize how much he’d truly loved her. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever really let go of those feelings. Christ, why didn’t I realize this before coming here? At least then, maybe Vance and I would’ve had a chance. Maybe, with time, I would have gotten over my insecurities.