Duality (Cordelia Kelly #1): Empath Urban Fantasy

by Hawk, Ryanne

  Sol squeezed my hand and smiled, while I tried hard not to stare at his well-defined chest. At some point during the fight, his ponytail had come loose and now his thick curly hair draped across his muscular shoulders. Whenever he wore his hair down, he reminded me of Scar from the Lion King. Not the personality, thank God, just in swagger and demeanor. Sol was the king of my heart. I had a sudden urge to bite him as if he was one of my favorite buttery croissants. Despite my wooziness, looking at his half-naked body made my sex twitch. My mind was seriously fucked up.

  A flicker of amusement danced in his chocolate brown eyes and the corner of his mouth lifted in a wry smile. His handsome ass knew where my head had wandered. “Well, if I had to guess what happened to you, I’d say the effects of Pandora’s cloaking spell are finally wearing off,” he said.

  I shook my head and scowled. I hoped utter confusion showed on my face because I had no idea what he was talking about.

  He chuckled and I pinched his chest…hard.

  “Hey, why did you pinch me?” he asked and tilted his head, studying me.

  “Because pinching you felt good and because you laughed at me. Now stop whining and tell me about this damn cloaking spell.”

  His eyes twinkled. “I wasn’t whining. You’re packing a lot of power in your petite, sexy body. I can barely wait to….”

  Bless him for trying to lighten the moment. Minutes ago I had snuffed out a life, albeit an evil one, but a life nonetheless. Perhaps I should be disconsolate, but for now, I needed answers, so I cut him off. “Sol,” I cautioned.

  A mix of emotions twisted his face as if he was trying to decide how much to tell me. I squared my shoulders and stared at him unblinking then opened our new mental link and kicked his metaphorical shins. "I’m a big girl Sol, I just kicked the wicked bitch’s ass, talk to me."

  He sighed. “Pandora cast a cloaking spell over the entire alley where you two fought. I don’t know how you and Pandora ended up there, but when I found you, the spell was in full effect. The magic prevented any human from hearing or seeing what was going on in the alley. Didn’t you wonder why no one called the police with all the mayhem going on?"

  "Not really, I was rather busy dying. People watching us was the last thing on my mind." I interrupted.

  He closed his eyes then opened them and blew out a breath before continuing. "Because you’ve had no experience with how to see or hear through the cloak, it also muted your senses. The spell can also distort time. What seemed like minutes to someone under the influence of the spell, might actually be hours."

  The sky above us turned a light dusty rose, sprinkled with orange. I glanced up, then tilted my head at him, waiting for him to keep talking.

  "Yes. That’s why it’s sunrise now. When we left the alley the affects of the spell dissipated and your senses overloaded.”

  My turn to sigh. “I’ve got a lot to learn. Shit, do all empaths know about this cloaking stuff except me? Can you teach me the spell? Hey, what kind of being was Pandora anyway?”

  Sol’s gaze bored right through me. For a brief instant, a dark shadow passed over his eyes and then it was gone. In its aftermath, an icy shiver raked my spine.

  “Why are you looking at me as if I have a wart on my nose?”

  “Pandora was the offspring of a dark witch and a dark Royal. She used her shadowy magic and her empathic heredity to wreck havoc on the souls of anyone who crossed her path. She toyed with humans the way a sociopath pulls the wings off butterflies.”

  Crap, dark Royals are the original spawns of Lucifer, malicious empaths whose sole purpose in life is to rob the world of joy and happiness. Dark empaths existed to counter the light empaths created by God.

  “I don’t suppose Pandora’s mother was Glenda the good witch? Is the reason she can cast a cloaking spell because she is part witch or is the magic something you can learn?”

  Sol snorted. “Hardly, Pandora used to boast her lineage traced back to the infamous sorceress Morgana le Fay, the nemesis of King Arthur and Merlin. Yes, I'm fairly certain you need witch blood in order to cast the spells, but anything is possible. I've learned never to say impossible.”

  Wonderful, this gets better and better. “And what else?” I prodded. “I know you Sol. I can tell when you’re holding something back.”

  He scowled and his sudden serious expression made me nervous. “I can teach you certain techniques, but your powers are almost equal of mine, despite the fact I've more years than you. What you did to Pandora was…impressive to say the least. However, you will need to spend time at the Sanctuary, studying with the Masters to learn how to harness and focus your tremendous potential. My friend Kelvin is one of the top pedagogues at the Sanctuary. His lineage is Dark Royal father and a small amount of fairy from his mom. Unfortunately, his dark side is dominant and he likes it that way. Still, he’s a hell of a teacher.”

  Sol watched my face intently. I supposed he was concerned about how I would react to this information about his friend who lost the battle to meld his dark and light natures though our lineages are way different. For the moment I was numb.

  I shrugged. "What the hell is a pedagogues?"

  "Of all the information I told you, you latch onto one word?" He chuckled. "A pedagogue is a mentor."

  "Why didn't you just say mentor? Why the dictionary lesson? Generally speaking, at least according to that famous author, you should use the common word so as to not make people feel stupid."

  Sol’s voice came out soft and low. “I've lived a long time. My vocabulary is vast and I speak multiple languages. I'm sorry if the word I used was too big for your young ears. I'll keep that in mind." He raised a brow and the side of his lip quirked.

  I let the banter go, too tired to play.

  He sighed and continued. "As empaths, we absorb the emotions and feelings of others. However, as our powers manifest with time, we have the capacity to absorb the abilities of other supernaturals as well. Most empaths can only absorb small amounts of power from another supernatural, and often only temporarily." He got lost in the thought for a second then he shook his head and kept talking. "I wonder if you possess the capacity to permanently retain the power and mystical abilities of others. Apparently your Grams thought so.” His scowl deepened. “And so does Carol.”

  “Is that why you’re able to shape shift? I blurted out.

  “Yes,” he said in a voice laced with worry. “Only very old empaths can manifest the power of shape shifting. Shape shifting is the most difficult power for an empath to absorb because the magic alters our DNA. I’ve been able to change for a few years.”

  “How long does it take, exactly?”

  He sighed. “For an empath to acquire the ability to change forms, it occurs over an extended period of time and requires multiple feedings off true shape shifters. Not all empaths live long enough to acquire the ability. Not to mention it’s not easy finding shifters who are willing to allow an empath to feed off their energy. There is no way to predict when an empath will acquire the ability or even if it will happen.” He paused and locked eyes with me. “When I fed off Zach I went berserk before my body adjusted to the magic in his blood.”

  My senses overloaded, and now my brain seemed as though it might explode. Is this what the kids mean when they say too much information? I’d picked Zach up in a bar one evening with the plan to have a one night stand and ravish him. I hadn't been thinking clearly that night, thanks to the guilt and bad side effects I experienced after killing my would-be rapist Dixon Sharpe. Sol intervened and my moral compass kicked in before Zack and I had sex. I’d left the room while Sol feasted on Zack.

  I opened my mouth and then closed it without speaking. My brain needed more time to process what I just heard. Slowly I connected the dots.

  “Are you trying to tell me Zach is a shape shifter?”

  His voice was flat. “Yes, Zach is a werewolf.”

  My eyes widened and I shook my head in disbelief. “Wow, I had no idea. I knew there was s
omething drawing me to him, but I couldn’t pinpoint the attraction. I should have known.”

  “Cordy, in the state of mind you were in, you obviously didn’t care what he was…you just wanted to feel. It’s a good thing I interfered before you took from his energy, because you haven’t feed off the emotions of a shifter before. He might have changed into wolf form and ripped your throat out. Oh, least I forget, technically you bewitched and kidnapped a pack Beta. An indiscretion that could have made you an enemy of their pack and you really do not need any more enemies. Fortunately, I’m acquainted with the pack’s Leader, Seth Daniels, and I smoothed things over when I escorted Zach back to the pack’s territory.” Sol paused and winked at me. I wanted to punch him again. “Of course, it helped Zach is smitten with you.”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. It was only the ass-crack of dawn, but I seriously needed a drink, or better yet, a cup of my coffee confection. I should have been surprised to hear Zack was smitten with me, but at this point, I was ready to believe anything.

  “You never know, it could be you he’s smitten with. I’m beginning to feel like Alice when she fell. Ok, nothing you said explains why you’re looking at me as if I might turn into some kind of monster at any moment.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew. “That’s it isn’t it? You’re worried I not only absorbed some of Pandora’s powers, but I absorbed some of her vile. Enough to tip my scales."

  Sol nodded. “Pandora was evil incarnate. The Devil held her soul at birth. I hope your light side filtered out the evil, but you need to spend time at the light enclave or the Sanctuary for us to be sure.”

  I made a face and I hope it reflected my sour mood. The Sanctuary is a spiritual place created by two half-breeds to provide a safe haven for Empaths, both dark and light. The bickering and politics that divide the dark and lights in the outside world are not allowed in the Sanctuary, it’s neutral territory. Over the centuries, the Sanctuary has become a place where Empaths can go to mediate and learn how to control newly manifested powers. It’s the one place where Empaths can escape the constant bombardment of human emotions. Without the Sanctuary, some Empaths would go mad.

  I had been to those hallowed grounds once as a child when my Grams took me there to test my elemental abilities. I have less than fond memories of the place and I couldn’t find it again if my life depended on it. However, since I was manifesting new powers almost daily, I probably needed to spend some time at the Sanctuary and soon.

  “I'm reasonably certain I filtered all her vile out of my system when I obliterated her and healed you at the same time. The toxins swam through my veins but I used it as fuel for my light side. Now, you’ve mentioned the Sanctuary twice. Do you know how to find it? How about the light enclave?"

  “Reasonably certain isn't one hundred percent. Yes, I just returned from the Sanctuary yesterday. Yes, I know where your enclave is too.”

  I growled. “Well fuck me. What were you doing at the Sanctuary?”

  Sol laughed. “Cordy, I’ll tell you the rest of what you need to know later.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. Ok, let’s go, I can walk.”

  “No, I’m carrying you. We’re not far from your condo where I left my car when I came looking for you.”

  ★★★

  Sol raced through the streets carrying me in his arms as effortlessly as I would carry a loaf of bread. My condo was about two miles away and at the rate we moved we’d be there in less than five minutes. If anyone had put a stopwatch on Sol they’d know he wasn’t human. I buried my face in Sol’s chest because I was getting dizzy from the blurred landscape.

  Like a lot of urban areas undergoing gentrification, we’d gone from the shopping district to a warehouse district within a few blocks. Abruptly Sol slowed and I raised my head to look around. “What’s wrong? We’re not at my place yet.”

  “Zack,” was all he said.

  “What?…where?”

  Sol’s gaze locked on four shadowy forms in the distance. “Vamps. What the hell are they doing out so close to daylight?” He whispered. His head swung left and then right. Tension vibrated his body.

  I squinted against the glare of the rising sun and focused on the four distant shapes. I don’t know how the hell Sol could tell they were vampires, but my spidey sense starting screaming ‘Danger Will Robinson’.

  Sol growled deep in his chest. “I can smell them,” he said as though he heard my thoughts. How the hell does he do that?

  “They reek of the cloying, sweet stench of death. They have no emotions or feeling, just an insatiable hunger plus a penchant for cruelty and convoluted schemes. They are an emotional wasteland for an empath. I fucking hate vampires.”

  I didn't smell a thing other than Sol, but who knows what kind of preternatural senses, vision and smell he had absorbed over the years. “I don’t see Zack. Where is he?”

  “Cordy, we can’t stop, we already have enough problems to deal with. Besides, Zack’s a big boy, or rather, a big wolf. He can take care of himself.”

  Before I could respond, Sol took off running again even faster than before. I turned to look over his shoulder as he rounded the corner leaving the warehouse district behind us, and a wolf’s howl pierced the morning’s quiet.

  The End

  "Love is but the discovery of ourselves in another, and the delight in the recognition."~ Alexander Smith

  About Ryanne Hawk

  She lives in New England with her husband, four children, two cats, and a billion chickens. You can find her at her website, occasionally on Facebook, and instagram.

  http://www.erpierce.com

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  http://www.amazon.com/ER-Pierce/e/B007GXIGQO

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  Works by ER Pierce / Ryanne Hawk

  Finding Time (An erotic marriage novella) ER Pierce

  Fractured Moon (Aurelia Fridell #1) Ryanne Hawk

  Moon Bound (Aurelia Fridell #1.5) Ryanne Hawk

  Moon Justice (Aurelia Fridell #2) Ryanne Hawk

  Moon Magic (Aurelia Fridell #2.5) Ryanne Hawk

  Duality (Cordelia Kelly #1) Ryanne Hawk

  Torn in Two (Cordelia Kelly #1.5) Ryanne Hawk

  Righteous (Cordelia Kelly #2) Ryanne Hawk

  The Hot Lunch series: Eating Out, Hot or Cold, Table for Two, Room 306,

  Room 69, Room 72 ER Pierce

  Mistress of Pain and Illusions ER Pierce

  Got Flash? My short book of flash fiction. ER Pierce

  Cold Bitch (My big fat book of teenage poetry) ER Pierce