It wasn’t all right. That was the second time someone had called me the key to the mass destruction of my world. The first time had been Garrison. He had all but cackled when he told me how I would become his weapon. Now Ashton. It was impossible to tell which was worse.
“What do you want?” I finally forced out.
Ashton stiffened. His eyes widened. “What do I … I don’t want anything.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Then why are you telling me this?”
“Because we need to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
That was different. A large chunk of my anger and fear wilted away.
“You don’t want to cause the end of the world?”
Ashton recoiled like I had physically punched him. “Of course not!” he snapped, annoyance a thick wave around him. “We need to dilute your human blood so you are more sin than human.
“What will that do?” I asked.
“Well, no one can use you to open the door, for one,” he answered.
Interest piqued, I straightened. “You can do that?”
Ashton grimaced. “Well, this hasn’t ever happened before. There are theories…”
Hope plummeted like a rock into the pit of my stomach. “But no guarantees.”
“It’s the best chance we have,” Ashton said.
“There is another solution,” Celia piped in.
“Cissy—”
I ignored Ashton. “What?”
“We keep you hidden somewhere no mortal or sin can find you. After all, the only way it can happen is if a human does it.”
“Why only a human?” I wondered.
“Because you hare half human and we are forbidden to harm humans, so,” Celia rationalized. “The only way it can happen is if a human does it, but a human cannot enter the nexus. By all accounts, you are perfectly safe. Then, once the three weeks are over, it will be another hundred years before anyone will even consider such a ridiculous myth.”
I liked her idea. It was rational. It made sense.
“Celia, you know it’s not that simple,” Ashton hissed through his teeth. “There are other reasons why Fallon needs to pick a side.”
“What other reasons?” I demanded
Ashton cast his wife an impatient glower before facing me. “Your creation goes against all our laws. The Guild will want answers. They will want your execution.”
“Whoa! What?”
He put his hand up to stop me. “They will hand you over to the guard because you are technically still human and it is forbidden to bring humans to our world.”
“Tell her the rest, Acheron,” Celia snipped, folding her arms. “Like how you will also be executed for your involvement and for meddling in the ways of nature and for keeping your first marriage a secret from the Guild.”
Ashton looked at her. “Do you think I care about that? Fallon is my number one priority. I have to keep her safe.”
Celia bristled. “And what of your other daughter? Do you wish for Lally to watch her father be killed?”
Ashton’s features tightened. “Now isn’t the time for this talk, Cissy.”
I shot to my feet. “I think I need time to sort this out.”
I left quickly before either of them could stop me. My head thrummed with all the words thrown at me in the span of a single hour. My chest ached with them.
I had, since Isaiah’s suggestion to accept Ashton’s proposal for safety, assumed I would be reasonably in the clear. If Ashton could keep me and Isaiah away from Garrison, that was where I wanted to be. Yet I had gone from one bad situation to an infinitely worst one. Only it wasn’t just me and Isaiah at risk anymore. Ashton was on the line. He had put himself there to protect me. I was now responsible for his life.
God when would it end?
Looking out for me and Isaiah was one thing. We were two people and technically, I was only protecting him. Now I had the entire world to protect. Not just from Garrison and his goons, but complete annihilation from a race of non-humans. I didn’t know very much about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but they didn’t sound like the sort I wanted to meet. Ever. And once again, I was the key to destroying everything.
I face-planted into the nearest wall and closed my eyes. I just stood there, letting the coolness sooth the sweat from my brow.
Maybe I needed to die. It made sense. If all the world’s problems were my doing, it was only logical that without me they wouldn’t exist. Only, I didn’t want to die. Did that make me a selfish coward?
Shoving away from the wall, I stumbled my way back to my room, hoping for some alone time to clear my head and maybe take a nap.
The door stood ajar when I was fairly certain I’d shut it all the way earlier. I didn’t think much of it as I pushed inside and shut it behind me. Part of me assumed Isaiah had found his way back. But it wasn’t Isaiah standing by the hearth.
“Odalyn?”
The older woman looked up with confusion, like she hadn’t expected me to just walk into my own room.
“Fallon,” she said, straightening to her full height and clasping her hands together in front of her. “I am so glad you have arrived.”
Not sure how to respond to that, I glanced around the room. Everything was still in its place, meaning that my duffle sat at the foot of the bed, untouched. I looked back to her.
“Is there something I can help you with?”
She shook her head. “I came to see how you were feeling. I was worried.”
Way to blow me down. Twice in a matter of minutes.
“Oh.” I scratched the back of my head, not sure how to answer that. “Sorry.”
She smiled not unkindly. “No need for that. Please.” She gestured to the sofa. “Would you like some tea?”
It was very strange being served … in my room. I wasn’t sure what the protocol was for such a thing. Would it be rude to decline?
“Uh, thanks.” I shuffled over and sat. “And no tea. Thanks.” I wasn’t sure I could handle another magically appearing tea set.
“So, Fallon.” She took the sofa across from me. “We never finished our talk.”
I blinked. “We talked?”
There was a vague recollection of running into her on my way to finding Isaiah, but I didn’t remember any conversation.
“Yes,” she said simply. “We were discussing the resemblance between you and my Ach.”
God it was like being drunk and having done something immensely stupid. I’d never even had alcohol in my entire life, yet I had drunk’s remorse.
“It’s probably just a trick of the light,” I squeaked, making it very clear that I was now officially uncomfortable.
Odalyn leaned back and crossed one leg over the other. “Did you know that there are only a handful of us with the dark hair and hazel eyes?”
I hadn’t known, but I had guessed as much when Garrison had told me that Ashton had specifically requested his entire DNA be stripped, except his hair and eyes. That had clearly been a bad idea.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” I muttered.
Odalyn’s gaze narrowed and glinted with amusement. “Perhaps, but a mother can always see her child, even when he is not there. Do you know how?” She didn’t wait for me to respond. “By looking into the eyes of his child. Consider it a mother’s gift, and when I look into your eyes, I see my Ach.”
Crap. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I could deny it, but lying had never been my strong suit. I could admit it and risk questioning. And if I knew one thing, I knew Ashton was right about never mentioning Garrison. These people were dangerous enough without having that psycho bleeding into the mix. So I opted for the next best thing, I said nothing. Besides, it wasn’t as though she’d asked me a direct question. She could assume all she wanted. Didn’t mean I had to supply information freely.
“I knew who you were from the first moment you walked into the dining room,” she went on. “Although, I can’t determine which region your mother was from.”
&n
bsp; Either she couldn’t smell the human blood in me, or she was fishing for information, I couldn’t tell. But I knew I couldn’t continue to bite my tongue and not be rude.
Instead, I said, “Have you talked to Ashton?” There. That was safe. She could talk to him and he could tell her whatever needed telling.
She waved away my suggestion with a flick of her hand. “Acheron has no time for me.”
I frowned. “You’re his mom.”
Odalyn chuckled. “I am the mother of many, yet I cannot say that any of my children would consider me a mom.” I must have looked confused because she laughed again and went on. “The affections of a mother are a mortal luxury.”
I was still totally lost.
“You don’t love your children?” I pressed tentatively.
“Darling, when you have as many children as I have had, loving them becomes … a task. Most times, I am surprised myself to meet another child of mine. Acheron is only memorable because he is the ruler of this region; otherwise, I am sure I would not remember him.”
I squinted. “How many children do you have?”
She raised a slender brow. “How much time do you have?”
“Uh…”
She laughed again as she reached for the steaming tea set on the coffee table between us. I amazed myself by not reacting at its mysterious and magical appearance.
“I have been alive for a great many eons, Ocha. I have stood by two rulers and governed two regions.” She looked at me, smiled. She poured herself tea. Added sugar and stirred. “Have you been told of the seven regions?”
“Briefly.”
She went back to stirring. “I am a wrath sin.” It was astounding how easily she said it, but then again, she’d had eons—as she claimed—to say it with a straight face. “I married Acheron’s father who was Rem. Then, after he died, I returned home.”
“So are all your children Rem?”
She took a sip of her tea. “Not all, but those in Luxuria are. I have a few in Hybris and Ira and a few in other regions.”
It was probably not wise to call my grandmother any names. She was older than me and I was taught to respect my elders. Also, who was I to judge? Yet I couldn’t help thinking, holy cow.
“So each child would be calcified differently, right?”
“The Sire blood is always the strongest. The child belongs to the legacy of his or her father.”
“Or mother, right? I mean if the Sire is a woman … there are women Sires, right?”
Odalyn nodded. “Of course. Two of our regions right now have women rulers. Hybris and Ira. Both are women you do not want to meet.”
“So how come Quain is the Sire of Ira and not you?”
“I ruled at the side of one Sire, I have no desire to take on such an ego-infested task. Those who crave it usually have their own agenda.”
“Does Acheron?” I wondered.
Odalyn gave an airy wave. “It has been so long that I no longer care to remember.”
I couldn’t understand it, but I swallowed audibly. “Just how old is he?”
“Darling, I cannot even tell you how old I am.”
Then came the most dreaded question of all. “Does Acheron have kids? Other than Lally.” And are they all as crazy?
Odalyn exhaled and rolled her gaze heavenward. “To know that, I would first need to know the number of children I have and the number of children they have and so on and so forth.”
“So you don’t know?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, love. But I will tell you this, he has never brought any of them to my attention. Lally is his most recent as far as I know.”
“So he and Celia only have the one?”
“Oh I’m certain Celia has others, but as I said, Lally is the youngest to date.”
I had no idea how to take in any of this information. On one hand, I was all jazzed by the fact that I had siblings. Hopefully none were as loony as Lally, but it was exciting all the same. On the other hand, my dad was a man-whore, which apparently ran in the family.
“You think we are awful for being so … loose, with our morals,” Odalyn teased.
I shrugged. “I don’t judge.”
“My dear girl.” She set her cup down and faced me squarely. “We are sin embodied. Without us, mankind would have ceased to exist before they were even created. We are everywhere. That would be impossible to accomplish if we were not many.”
So you multiply like rabbits? Yeah, I kept that to myself.
“So do you grow like … people?” Even I had to frown at the way that came out. “Like your children, do they grow—?”
“For the first few centuries. Then the aging gets slower until you’re barely aging at all.”
I thought of Isaiah and his rapid aging the first year. It hadn’t happened since, but there were still times when it was impossible to tell his age just by looking at him. I started to wonder how Garrison did it. How he managed to boost his growth like that and only for that one year. How was Isaiah able to keep his mentality? By all sense, he should have been an infant in the body of a ten year old. But his mentality had grown with him. The whole thing never made sense to me, but Isaiah was proof. Sitting there across from my grandmother, I couldn’t help wonder if maybe, just maybe, Isaiah was one of them … one of me. But he’d been called human enough times to squish that theory.
“Can I ask you something else?” I said slowly.
“You may.”
“Why do you think Ashton invited you to meet me?” Especially after he made me swear not to tell anyone who I was. Granted, he hadn’t really told them either, but for someone who wanted me to be part of a secret, he hadn’t wasted much time introducing me to his family—evidently a very small part of, but still a part.
Odalyn grinned a little. “I thought that would be obvious, love.” Her smile broadened at my bemused expression. “He is proud of you. He may even love you. That is a huge feat in our world. But I also think it is because of what you are that makes you so special.”
I suddenly wished I hadn’t asked.
“What’s that?”
“Come now.” She tilted her head to the side. “I can smell the human in you from a mile away.”
I stiffened. “What?”
She ignored my squeak. “There are rules against us procreating with mortals. We can influence them. We can corrupt them. But we are in no way permitted to physically harm or touch them. Offspring of such a union are mutated abominations. They are frowned upon and banished from our world. I do not know how Acheron accomplished to create you, but he will regret it.”
Wow. Way to make me feel warm and fuzzy, Grams, I thought.
“Because of the guard?” I asked instead.
“Yes, but also because of the fact that what he has done is highly illegal. Also, how can you belong if you do not know where you belong? Do you belong with the humans? How long before they sense that you are not one of them? How long before they realize you do not age? Eventually, your human will die and every lover after will do so as well, and you will be alone. Yet you do not belong here, not with your human blood. You will never be accepted.”
It was impossible to hate her, to even get angry, when I knew she was right. Truthfully, I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I could deny it, say that I belonged where I wanted to belong, but she was right, neither world felt right and I didn’t really belong to either. I could have flown into a fit of rage. Maybe have thrown the tea in her face, or at the very least have thrown the set at the wall. It would have been satisfying. I even considered it, but I didn’t have the energy. I just wanted to sleep.
“You are angry with me,” she said calmly, but with a hint of remorse. “I do not say it to be hurtful, love.”
I met her gaze. “I’m not. I don’t know what you want me to say.”
For a moment, she actually looked sad. She even opened her mouth as though to respond when another voice interrupted us.
“There you are, Mom.” Vinnie poked h
er head into the room. “I thought maybe you’d left.”
“I was just having a nice little chat with our guest.”
Vinnie’s gaze shifted to mine. “I’m headed out if you’d like a lift.” The words were spoken to me, but meant for the other woman.
Odalyn rose from her seat. “That would be nice. I think Fallon and I are finished for now.” She dropped those hazel eyes to mine. “We will talk again, dearest. Perhaps not for a while, but soon.” She walked around the table towards me and lightly rested a hand on my cheek. The warmth of it sent shivers down my spine. “Keep that pretty chin up. You are after all one of mine. We do not concede defeat easily.” With an affectionate pat, she turned and strolled to where her daughter stood, watching us.
“Later, chica,” Vinnie said as she pushed off the doorframe and turned to follow her mother.
I gave a feeble wave I was sure neither of them witnessed and slumped back in my seat with a defeated huff.
It was unclear how long I sat there. It could have been five minutes, although it felt like hours. Time was an iffy thing when I noticed there were no clocks anywhere in sight. What made it even more hysterical was the fact that, while I sat there, probably looking like I was thinking something deep and profound, my mind was absolutely blank. I never thought that was a possibility, the ability to just not think anything. Yet, there I was.
I was still there when Ashton knocked softly on my still-open door. I stole a glance in the direction of the tea set, which had miraculously vanished, before getting to my feet to face yet another distraction I didn’t want.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” He said, taking a single step over the threshold into my room.
I shook my head. “No.”
He nodded slowly. “Where’s Isaiah?”
“With Archer somewhere. Manly bonding or something. I think he misses never having friends.”
He had the decency to avert his eyes. “Despite what you might think, I didn’t force him to stay with you. He could have left at any time. He’s the one who wanted to stay.”
“He didn’t know any better,” I retorted sharply. “He was just a kid. I wanted to put bobby pins into the light socket, but my mom never let me do it. You were supposed to protect him.”
Touching Fire (Touch Saga) Page 20