Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1)

by Lauren Stewart

  “Why don’t we get box seats up there?”

  “In a few human sports, the best seats are courtside. In this and this alone, we are similar.” It also meant they were close enough to the line for her to pour some wine on it. She psyched herself up, wiggled her hands, legs, and feet, ignoring Rhyse’s groan.

  She was here to free a demon, and nothing else. Wow, that sounded like a really stupid thing to do. But it was the only way to help Logan and probably Micah, too, even though the angel might actually have a chance at winning. What he’d said couldn’t have been right—he’d still be an angel if he won. What else would he be?

  Stop worrying about things you aren’t sure you understand and start focusing on things you aren’t sure you can do.

  Another bell—this one much louder—sounded and the champions dug in, preparing for something far more dangerous than what Addison faced.

  “I don’t think I can do this,” she whispered. It was too much responsibility, too many lives counting on her, too many ways to fail. “I can’t do it.”

  “Of course you can.” Rhyse calmly handed her the goblet. “All you have to do is fall.” He shoved her off his lap, directly towards the pentagram.

  Unable to stop her forward momentum, she cried out as the line got closer and closer, wondering more and more if she could pull this off.

  The goblet tumbled out of her grasp, reaching the pentagram just before she did, the wine washing the salt away as it crossed the line. Addison wasn’t that lucky—she smacked headfirst into an invisible wall and fell on her ass.

  All the champions turned to gape at her, but the demon was the only one she looked at. His yellow eyes burned with surprise or confusion. Or maybe even happiness, for all she knew. Demons didn’t have normal emotions or expressions.

  “If you desire to act as champion, Seer,” Rhyse growled loudly, “it can be arranged.” The act was scarily convincing, actually. She apologized as she stood, keeping her head bowed, as if she was afraid. No act there.

  “If not, then I suggest you get me more wine.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Now she was supposed to use the rest of the wine to make the second break. But there was no more wine. Shit! One break wasn’t enough—it did nothing. And obviously, she couldn’t touch the pentagram herself or she wouldn’t have felt a wall smack her in the face. She glanced frantically at Logan, knowing she’d failed him.

  “Seer.” Rhyse’s voice boomed from behind her, even though his volume barely changed. She looked to him for an answer, shrugging.

  He looked at her feet. At her feet? “Be thankful the second bell makes it impossible for living things to pass into the pentagram.” Then he looked at her feet again.

  What? No. Not her feet—her shoes! Nothing animated could pass into the pentagram but her shoe could break the line.

  She pretended to trip, kicking her leg to the side and grabbing the heel as soon as she hit the ground. Unfortunately, before she did anything else, all hell broke loose.

  Part of hell, anyway.

  Thirty-seven

  Addison threw her hands over both ears, but it was too late. The demon champion’s unearthly screech clawed its way through and then boomeranged back in an excruciating echo. He shot straight up—above the spectator seats, all the way to the chandelier.

  What looked like sparks trailing out behind him turned out to be something far more flammable. One demon turned into two, then three, then she lost count. Each appeared in the pentagram, and then exploded out of it like a fireworks show—a terrifying, ugly, deadly fireworks show.

  Addison’s feet left the ground as she was dragged backwards onto the platform, Rhyse’s arm tight around her waist. An instant later, the demons’ howls were matched and bested by a chorus of terrified shouts from the other races. Everyone scrambled backwards, crawling over one another to get to safety.

  “Close the arena panels,” Rhyse yelled. “Champions, get out of here before the floor resets or you never will.”

  A seer was knocked off the upper level and fell onto the ground just in front of Addison. The sand under the man’s head turned red before Addison had finished screaming.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody.” When she turned away, unable to look at the body anymore, she saw something even more gruesome—a mage hanging one-handed from the ledge above. On fire. White demon flame slowly crept over her and all Addison could do was watch and wish the woman would just let go. White flame wouldn’t go out or let go until it had nothing left to consume. So all the mage was doing was prolonging her pain and putting more beings at risk.

  “I’m so sorry,” Addison said. So inadequate.

  “You are not responsible for this.” Rhyse grabbed something from under his chair and phased them up to the ballroom. Seconds before the floor reset itself, Micah flew straight up carrying Logan and the werewolf champion.

  Demons flew like fire-spitting wasps, latching onto the corners where the walls met the ceiling or anywhere else they could get a hold. They were here to have a good time with everyone else’s lives. The angels were going after them but there weren’t enough angels, and demons were next to impossible to catch or defeat.

  “Addison!” Rhyse yanked her around to get her attention. “You must get out. Quickly.”

  “How?” The drapes around the front doors were already on fire. Only those who’d been right next to the exit before the blaze started could’ve gotten out. Everyone else was already being pushed back by the flames. Any second, they would understand that they were trapped and had to find another way to escape.

  Rhyse handed her a key. “This unlocks the door over there.” He pointed all the way across the room to a door painted to blend into the wall. “Behind a Van Gogh is the entrance to a tunnel leading outside. I will meet you at your horrible little apartment.” Then he kissed her. “Lock the door behind you. Protect yourself. Do you understand? No one matters more than you.”

  “But—”

  “Go.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He looked way too amused for the situation. “It has been a very long time since I have fought a demon. There is far too much fun to be had before the evening ends. Now go, before I hurt you.”

  She hurried across the dance floor, beings of all kinds knocking her in every direction as they searched for a way out and ducked from balls of fire being hurled at them from above. Bodies were already littering the floor, but she refused to look down, just in case she recognized one of them. And she had to stay low and move slower than she wanted to, so none of the demons would notice her. All factors that turned the trip from one side of the room to the other into a damn epic journey of survival.

  When she was a few feet from the door, someone careened into her from behind. Only by turning her head at the last minute did she avoid slamming into the door nose-first, her cheek hitting instead.

  Fuck. She was probably bleeding. Her blood was dangerous on her face, but if she wiped it off with her hands, it would be even more so. Even if all the vamps had already phased out, other races were attracted to the scent of blood. Super big turn-on for the supers, the scent of blood. Add that to the enormous list of reasons why she needed to get out of here.

  As soon as she shoved the key in and turned the knob, the door was ripped out of her hand. The were would’ve gone right through the wood if Addison hadn’t so kindly opened it for the bitch. Other beings rushed past her, pushing her farther and farther from the only escape. She glanced behind her, hoping to locate another, instead spotting a group of seers just standing there as if they were cornered animals.

  “There’s no corner!” she screamed, waving her hands to get their obviously limited attention. “Come on!” She followed that up with some more colorful expressions and creative name calling. When they still didn’t budge, she ran over to them and grabbed whatever she put her hands on. “You are going to die if you don’t move. Do you understand that?”

  Jumping, w
aving her arms and shouting obscenities wasn’t working with the seers, but any second now it was going to get her noticed by a demon or two. So as gently as she could, she used her feet, not landing any of her kicks, but using whatever she had to scare them into moving.

  “Please, you have to go. You’ll all die if you stay here. Please!” Finally, one of them ran towards the open door and the entire group followed him.

  “It’s about fucking time!”

  “Get out of here, Addison!” someone yelled. She tried. She really, really tried, but there were too many beings trying to squeeze through the same door at the same time. And because she was bleeding, getting too close to anyone was dangerous. There had to be another door.

  She spun around again, scanning the room, and saw Logan. Even though his back was to her, that stupid champion outfit made him easy to recognize.

  “Logan, run!” But he didn’t. The big idiot didn’t run away. He stood in the middle of the action, right by Rhyse and Micah. The room was in complete chaos, overrun with panic and fire and the wicked laughter of demons.

  Rhyse and Graham seemed to be arguing about something. Addison blinked and Rhyse was gone. No, he’d phased. Appearing inches away from his marshal, he shoved him to the ground and snatched the arm of a demon who’d nearly grabbed Graham from behind. The pain must have been excruciating, but Rhyse only grimaced before hurling the creature against the nearest wall. It slowed the demon down but didn’t stop him.

  Addison screamed Rhyse’s name when she saw the demon rally. But Rhyse seemed to already be anticipating the next attack, knocking him into another wall even harder.

  Okay, so he seemed to be able to take care of himself pretty well without Addison’s pathetic help.

  Angels disappeared with their arms wrapped around whoever they could reach and reappeared with empty arms moments later. The alpha werewolf and a few of his kind were alternately pushing people out of the way and trying to put out fires near the door so others could pass. But this was no ordinary fire—this was demon fire, about a hundred times more unpredictable and hard to extinguish.

  “I told you to get out!” Rhyse’s eyes were large and furious when he caught hers.

  “I’m trying!”

  “Try harder!”

  She tripped over a body, catching herself with one hand, feeling human skin under hers. It was a woman’s hand. And it moved. Addison grabbed the woman’s arms and dragged her towards the door, simultaneously watching how the demon war was playing out.

  Rhyse, Micah, Logan, and Graham formed a wall between the demons and all the beings who couldn’t transport themselves out of this mess. They were going to get themselves killed. All of them.

  An angel standing by the front door shoved his hands directly into the flame and parted it, steam billowing out all around him. A few beings knew what to do and ducked past him, hurling themselves through the open door. When others realized the escape had opened up again, more and more of them ran towards it, knocking the angel forwards. As soon as his hands fell, the curtains of flames repositioned themselves, lighting whoever they touched on fire.

  Everyone who was running that way turned around and ran in every other direction, including in Addison’s. She moved as fast as she could, but the woman she was dragging was dead weight and would only be deader if Addison left her to be trampled.

  When she finally got back to the door, it was closed and the key was gone. “Damn it!” She hefted the woman’s body as far away from the fight as she could, then rattled the knob, pounded on the door, and screamed for someone to open it. She wouldn’t have expected a super to care, but what about the other seers? The ones she’d helped avoid getting slaughtered? “Open the door!”

  “Addison?” Dawn’s head was bleeding, and she couldn’t stop blinking as she stumbled along the wall. Half of her dress was missing, the edges melted.

  “If I can find the key to the door, I can get you out,” Addison said as calmly as she could, knowing Dawn was hearing every other word. Tops. “I need you to help me find the key. Okay?”

  And the answer was…no answer. Dawn stared blankly at Addison as she slumped into an antique chair, her eyes falling to half-mast.

  “I’ll get you out. We’re not going to die here.” Hopefully.

  Thirty-eight

  The key had to be somewhere. Addison’s gaze darted around the floor, searching for a flash of metal. She fell to her hands and knees, looking under chairs and everywhere else she could. But all she saw were bodies and fire and fear.

  She screamed as nails dug grooves into the back of her neck. She was yanked off the floor by her hair, and then slammed against the wall. Her body went limp, her mind and vision blurred.

  “Open the door.” The were towered over her in all directions, no more than two inches separating them.

  “I can’t.” She had to yell to be heard over the noise. The pressure of the increased volume felt like a spear being shoved into her head. “I don’t have the key.”

  “I saw the Prime give it to you, so open the fucking door!” His beast began to surface, his eyes darkening, his lips curling up to make room for longer teeth.

  “Why would I still be here if I had it?” Pinned between him and the wall, her only way out was to convince him she wasn’t lying. “Someone knocked it out of my hand.”

  Unconvinced, he shoved her chin up so hard, her feet lifted until only the tip of one toe still touched the ground.

  “I don’t have it.” Without any air, her voice was barely a whisper.

  “Useless seer bitch,” he growled, his voice altering as his nose and jaw elongated into a muzzle.

  She felt the earth under her feet again and even got a good breath in before he moved to strike. She couldn’t duck fast enough, only throwing off his aim by a few inches. His teeth dug into her skin where her neck met her shoulder, instantly immobilizing her body as if he’d just flipped her on/off switch. Someone called her name. Then the were yelped and was gone, his body flying across the room and hers slowly…sliding…down…the wall.

  Strangely, the pain wasn’t as bad as she would’ve thought. Or maybe it was so bad her mind had already red-zoned and stopped feeling anything. Nope, it wasn’t that. She definitely felt the ground hit her ass. Or was it the other way around? Was the room moving or was she?

  She looked down at all the blood. That was hers, and it ruined her dress. I liked this dress…wanted to keep it…wanted to keep that blood too. She tipped over, unable to sit up anymore, even with the wall helping.

  Shit. I’m dying right now. I kinda thought that wouldn’t happen. The last thing she would ever see was the ceiling. Wait. Was Rhyse. She smiled up at his beautiful face. Even though it was a hallucination, it was way better than the ceiling. Then it bit the underside of its wrist.

  “Drink from me.”

  Her smile grew. It could speak. “You’re sickeningly handsome, you know that?” It reacted with only a slight grimace. Maybe it didn’t hear her. “You’re—”

  “Addison, take my blood, or you will die.”

  “Noooo.” She shook her head. “That’s gross.”

  “Drink, but do not move. Our blood cannot mix. Do you understand?”

  Not at all.

  He tore at his wrist again and put it an inch above her mouth. Blood dripped onto her cheek when she turned away. “Open your mouth.” Not really knowing why, she did. “You will enjoy it, I promise.”

  A drop landed on her lip. Eww. She tried to get it off with her tongue and then realized what a stupid mistake that—

  Oh, shiiiiiit. She opened wider as his blood poured in, instantly knocking her out of her stupor, tossing her into a whole new stupor—a way better one. When he lowered his arm onto her lips, her tongue snaked out for more. Just to taste his skin, to taste him. When she felt a drip escape her mouth, she formed a seal covering the gash, so none of him would be wasted.

  Heat filled her body. Heat and pleasure and lust and satisfaction and confidence, as if not
hing could ever hurt her again as long as she had this. And life was wonderful and simple because all she needed was this.

  They moaned in tandem, and she knew it would feel exactly the same when he sank his cock into her. That moment of stillness when two people come together in pleasure, unwilling to move for fear the sensation would end if they did. Before the feeling changed and the need for friction grew to an overwhelming level. Like now. She didn’t need to suck but she did, wanting to pull him inside her however she could. Deeper. Until he filled her completely.

  He held her eyes, his lips mirroring the pulls hers were making. If she didn’t stop, she would come right here. She didn’t want to stop. Ever.

  He closed his eyes and sighed. “Enough.”

  Not even close to being enough. Theoretically, women could have multiple orgasms. And a theory should always be tested. Now seems like a good time. Her hips searched for his, but they were so far away.

  “Enough, Addison,” he groaned. “Please…no more.”

  She whimpered as he tore his wrist away from her. He leaned forward as if to kiss her but stopped.

  “You will not leave me until I have felt you come around my cock as many times as I desire you to.”

  What a great idea. She felt herself nod, her body melt into the floor.

  He looked at her with pained eyes, and she wondered if she’d hurt him. “But not now.” Her disappointment hit as hard as the realization of where they were and why now was a bad time.

  Right. She jolted up, wondering why she’d ever thought she was going to die. She’d never felt bett—Oh crap, she just drank his blood. Gross.

  “Your power and I have guaranteed the werewolf will not bother you again,” he said. “But if the demons get hold of you, they will. I have told you repeatedly to leave. This time, listen to me.” Before she had a chance to tell him about losing the key, he disappeared, back to join the other idiots still fighting.