God's Eye

by Scudiere, A. J.

  “No, we won’t!” Katharine stood and stretched her legs, grateful for the feeling of muscle and tissue. She didn’t know how much longer she would have it. She had to make a deal with someone, and probably soon. Just look what happened to Mary Wayne when she made the wrong deal. Katharine turned her thoughts back to Margot. “You have a date tonight with Liam; you will not be talking to me.”

  There was a hint of a grin on her friend’s face as they hugged good-bye. The hug was new. It meant both of them knew they were getting closer to the end. Closer to Katharine having to make a choice.

  Within a few moments, she was in her car and headed back to work. Back to her office. Back to the space she shared with a creature that she knew wasn’t really of this world. But what was he?

  The problem was, he wasn’t saying, and neither was Zachary. It seemed they couldn’t. They were bound from telling her what they really were by these mysterious deals they had made. But did it matter? A demon would probably lie about what he was anyway. And she would still have to choose by her own wits. But how did she choose something knowing that it would kill her if she chose wrong?

  That was the problem. She couldn’t tell what was what.

  She turned the car smoothly into the parking garage. The car seemed to move of its own accord; her thoughts were elsewhere. But she still noticed the Coffee Bean she passed just before the garage entrance. Avoiding the elevator, Katharine took the garage stairs to ground level and went into the small wood-paneled shop. She wanted to enjoy something. She wanted a nice taste, a nice texture, the feeling of a cold, iced cup on her hands. She would sit on the patio and enjoy the breeze. She would watch the people pass by and listen to snippets of their conversation.

  For a moment, she would just be.

  • • •

  Zachary watched as the two of them sat in the sand.

  He had been keeping a closer eye on Katharine of late. Too many things had been escaping his notice, and that needed to be remedied. The endgame was coming up on all of them, and quickly. So he had followed her most of the day, leaving her side only when he was called away or when she was asleep. Though even then he could move her forward if he chose. But she’d been out with Margot, talking about him–and about Allistair.

  For a moment, things had turned mundane, and he had left, intending to be back soon. When he returned, he found her sitting at the coffee shop outside the Light & Geryon building, simply relaxing and enjoying her drink. He was worried about her, sitting there. She needed drive, ambition. Instead, she relaxed there, showing the exact opposite, and he was afraid that was due to Allistair’s influence. How would she accomplish all that she could in this life if she sat still and watched it go by? But there was nothing he could do on the crowded street that wouldn’t call attention to him or to her.

  Though he could appear to her in any form, right there on the sidewalk, it wouldn’t be wise. She might jump up and yell at him–a creature no one else could see. Though he could do damage control and erase the memories of those around, there were so many that it would be a horrendous cleanup job. He simply couldn’t afford for Katharine to see him right now.

  He didn’t need Katharine to get any more attention than she had. The people at her job had already started to take notice. The neighbors had called about her screaming once, and they would more readily do so if they were bothered or concerned again. She already had enlisted her friend. No, she needed no more attention than she already had.

  But in the end, Katharine would need to make her own choice, and it would be better if she could do it on her own.

  So he stood back and waited, then followed her up to her office.

  She had tried to confront Allistair again. She asked pressing questions, Zachary knew, because he was starting to get some of them from her, too. His rival balked at a few, and he waited for Allistair to slip up, break the rules, get yanked. His opponent had messed up too many times. But maybe he had learned something from it. Zachary hoped that wasn’t the case.

  Then again, maybe he simply felt Zachary watching over them.

  When Katharine had finally gone into the office, Allistair had taken her hand and pulled her out the door and back down the elevator. “They’ll never miss us.” He showed her how Lisa didn’t see them as they walked right past.

  Katharine protested. “The cameras will see us!”

  Zachary tensed as Katharine got closer to a truth. Allistair shook his head. “Yes, but cameras can be erased–edited–very easily.”

  “That’s exactly how Mary Wayne got past me!” Katharine stopped dead and yanked her hand back, but Allistair grabbed her by the wrist this time and pulled her along. “Who walked Mary Wayne out of here? Who made her … invisible?”

  Allistair stopped and looked her in the eyes.

  Zachary waited. What would he say? And how would Katharine take it?

  “Those are two different questions, Katharine. The first answer is ‘no one,’ and the second I can’t tell you.”

  She got frustrated then, yanking her arm away from Allistair again and making Zachary happy. Every inch of distance she put between herself and that reject was another step in the right direction.

  Though she didn’t touch him, she followed Allistair along the sidewalk and three blocks over to the marina. She checked out the faces of people as they passed, marveling at how they seemed to somehow step out of the way without knowing she was there. Her face showed traces of both awe and confusion; she seemed to want to wave her hand in front of someone’s face, to try to get someone’s attention. But Allistair kept the pace just a shade too fast for her to do that. And he kept it up all the way until they reached their destination.

  The edge of the water here was rocky, and there were only a few places where the coastline wasn’t privately owned. But since no one saw them, Allistair seemed unconcerned about this. He settled them both on a dry patch of smooth pebbles and told her to ask what she would, and that he would answer what he could.

  Zachary sat behind them, seeing the breeze in their human hair, seeing their words carried on the wind. He knew there was salt and pollution in the air. But none of it filtered through the veil.

  Allistair sighed, and something about it told Zachary that his rival knew he was there, that he watched and heard everything. He waited to be snitched on, for Katharine to look around and try to see him after her officemate told her he was just behind them. But Allistair did no such thing, and Katharine didn’t seem to sense him.

  She simply started in with her questions, asking about her name and its meaning. She asked if the meaning had any real purpose in her life. So Zachary waited.

  “Your names don’t make you who you are; they just give you potential. Options.”

  She asked if there was demon blood in her.

  “Somewhere back in the line, yes. That’s how a human gets that last name.” Allistair sifted his fingers through the rocks on the shore. He clearly loved the feel of it. It was pathetically human and Zachary started to feel the pinch of pity.

  But he started at Allistair’s next words.

  “That’s funny, Katharine. Look at your hands … you’re rolling the rocks around, like me.”

  Her eyes widened. “Is that a good or a bad thing?”

  This could be it. Allistair could ruin himself if he answered this. Any higher being with even a small amount of skill would not, but Zachary clung to his belief that Allistair would shoot himself in the foot.

  He didn’t take the opportunity.

  “You have to decide that, Katharine. I can lead you, and I can ask you, and so can Zachary, but neither of us can make you do anything. As much as we would each like to, we can’t make the choice for you.”

  They talked longer, and Zachary grew bored. Allistair told her a little about the veil, only confirming what she had already surmised with the help of her friend. He told her about the earth and how it really only existed on this level, as did the animals and people who lived there.

 
“But why do we have drawings of angels that look like people, if people are the only things that look like people?”

  “Because you cannot see beyond yourselves, cannot imagine a creature so different from yourselves. Most cultures still have trouble recognizing plants as creatures. You cannot come to terms with us yet.”

  Zachary tried to wait while Allistair philosophized, but he was suffering the same inaction that he had accused Katharine of earlier. He gave Allistair one more chance to impress him.

  Though Zachary was mad when Allistair leaned close to Katharine, the words were innocuous enough.

  “If you want to know where a being is from, look into its eyes.”

  She nearly laughed at that. Good girl. “Windows to the soul and all that?”

  “No.” Allistair smiled, and Zachary watched as Katharine smiled back.

  Damn him! He was charming her in entirely human terms. Zachary found himself angry with her; he had thought she’d gone beyond the usual frail human susceptibilities.

  Rocks tumbling absentmindedly through his fingers, Allistair continued. The smile still played around his lips. “Eyes are the windows to your origins. Just think of the things you’ve seen. And think of people. Human eyes come in blues and greens and browns–sky and water and land.” He waved his hand at the scene before them. “Earth colors. People are of the earth.”

  Frustration flowed through Zachary. If Katharine was falling for this, then there was nothing he could do about it, except let it play out. He would simply have to counteract Allistair later. Which meant there were things he had to do, and he couldn’t do them here, hovering.

  He was pulling away when he heard Katharine’s next question.

  “Can Zachary really give me the Kingdom he showed me?”

  Tell her, tell her, tell her.

  Stopping dead, he felt the very human idea surging through his brain. Allistair had to answer her truthfully. This was not forbidden. He waited while Allistair hesitated. And waited. Until his rival was forced to say it. “Yes.”

  Good. Allistair had just worked things in Zachary’s favor. And if he played his cards right, Zachary could build on that. Sometimes, the deals they had made worked in his favor.

  Now, now there were things to do.

  • • •

  Katharine returned to her condo that night thinking of Margot and her date with Liam. She thought about what Allistair told her, and about how she wanted to look this Liam in the eyes before she left Margot with him. She remembered the eyes of the two beasts and became even more convinced of which was which.

  So that meant she could tell the two creatures apart, and she knew now not to be afraid, but she didn’t know the rest. She was still no closer to knowing which man was which. Though Allistair had let her stare into his eyes for as long as she wanted, it had been to no avail.

  She settled into bed without calling Margot. She was happy for her friend, but it was all moving so fast now that she wanted someone to talk to. Tonight. But she also didn’t want to interfere with her friend’s new joy, especially when all she had to offer were more questions and concerns.

  Katharine drifted into sleep wondering what the next step was, what was in store for her now.

  She didn’t have long to wait.

  She woke peacefully a few hours later, feeling rested and safe. As she sat up on the side of her bed, she saw the man in the shadows. Unlike the inky blackness of the past, he was outlined by light, though she couldn’t make out his face.

  She was learning, though. Maybe it was better that she couldn’t see his face. She couldn’t trust his face.

  As she watched, he became lit from within, and gorgeous feathered wings unfolded to nearly the width of the room. His hand came out to her, palm up.

  It wanted her to put her hand in his.

  But still she waited, unsure.

  A whisper echoed around the room.

  Katharine, come with me, come with me, Katharine

  CHAPTER 22

  Katharine curled into the heat of him. Here was everything she wanted. He was what she wanted.

  Here, with him beside her, was safety, strength. She sighed against him, into him.

  He was thrill and comfort, all soothing touches, soft lips against her temple. This was what she had waited for, even though she hadn’t even known she needed it or wanted it. It was simplicity wrapped in complex passion. In a word, love.

  His hands stroked the sides of her face, laced into her hair, while his mouth wandered over her eyes, nose, cheeks–until his mouth found hers and he settled into kissing her, deep searching kisses of need layered with trust.

  Beneath her palms he was supple muscle and smooth skin, moving against her not in the way of just a lover, but of someone who loved. Deep inside her, soft heat built into a roaring inferno for him. She wanted. She needed. Katharine.

  Her name escaped his lips as his legs entwined with hers. The silk of her pajamas prevented her from touching all of him, but she wasn’t quite rational, wasn’t quite able to do the logical thing and simply take them off.

  He didn’t pressure her. He waited, kissing, tasting, touching her. He caught her sighs in his mouth, and answered back with her name again.

  Katharine.

  She opened her eyes to see his as he watched her unravel for him. Eyes like bittersweet chocolate looked deep into her own, and for a passing moment she wondered what he saw.

  His hand traveled over silk, down her side and across her hip, tucking her close, keeping her body flush with his.

  His name came out of her mouth as a wistful sigh.

  Allistair.

  “Allistair!” That time she hissed it.

  Her eyes flew open wide as she pushed at him, yanked herself back from him, wondering what he had done to her. Then not wondering, as she realized she had pressed up against him, that he had taken advantage of her while she slept.

  “Katharine, don’t–”

  She shoved at him again, but he didn’t move. He protested again. “It isn’t–”

  Lightning fast, her hands shot out again, giving another quick push. This time she managed to catch him by surprise and he toppled out of the bed, sputtering her name. “Katharine!”

  “Get out! Get out! Get out!” She yelled it until she was hoarse, until she was more angry than scared.

  Until he stood, blank-faced, then turned and walked out of the room.

  It took only a few heartbeats for her anger to drive her after him, to yell some more.

  But as she entered the living area, she caught the last glimpse of the man as he lowered into the floor, leaving a pile of black ash in his wake.

  For a moment, she stood there in shock and stared at the pile of soot. Then, as it sank in, she began to shake. Great, head-to-toe spasms shattered any sense of peace she had clung to before she’d gone to sleep.

  It was simply too much. She couldn’t take any more than she had. Keeping it together now took the very last of her reserves; she just might break next time. The tremors overtook her for a few minutes and she had to brace herself against the doorway, her hands against the jamb while she sucked in air and fought back tears. The scariest part was looking back at how much she had wanted him. She had needed him. And there, in her bed, the desire had felt so real.

  Standing, shivering in her doorframe it no longer did.

  After more deep breaths than should have been necessary, she turned to go back into her bedroom and cut her foot on a shard of glass.

  • • •

  “Margot, if Liam’s there just please tell him your crazy friend needs you,” Katharine pled into her cell phone as she drove the nearly deserted predawn streets.

  Though still a little sleepy-sounding, Margot’s words proved she was alert. “He isn’t here. I don’t put out on the first date.”

  It hit Katharine then. “Oh, my God! I’m a total slut.”

  “No you aren’t, you were … coerced in some way.” She could hear Margot moving around the small apa
rtment. Something clattered softly in the background. “That sounds really bad … just know that you aren’t a slut. Do you want to tell me now what happened to get you up in the middle of the night, or do you want to wait until you get here?”

  “Both.” Katharine turned the key as she parked the car and was out and hobbling across the lawn and heading up the stairs before she managed the next words. “I’m already here.” She clicked the phone shut just as Margot opened the door for her.

  “Come in.”

  Katharine managed to half walk, half hop over to the couch and plopped down as Margot closed and bolted the door.

  When her friend turned, the worry on her face couldn’t be hidden. “What happened?”

  “I stepped on glass.” “On my lawn?”

  “No, in my bedroom.” Katharine slid off her shoe and peeled back the Kleenex she had tucked in there to keep it from bleeding. “Do you have Band-Aids?”

  “Sit tight.” Margot went into the bathroom and rummaged around. All of this was amazingly calm of her, as she had to know there was something up. Something big enough to send Katharine running to her place at 4:00 a.m. with a cut that she hadn’t even attempted to bandage.

  Suddenly, Katharine realized she had done all this in her silk pajamas. This was it then–the moment when she realized she had snapped. That must be why Margot was being so calm. When Katharine was half a second from breaking down, Margot came back with a stocked white box with the big red cross on the front and Katharine nearly laughed. “Of course you have a full first-aid kit. You have everything.”

  “Actually, I got it last week. I figured we might need it, so I splurged and replaced my rinky-dink one with the biggest home kit I could find.”

  That explained why she had what basically amounted to a red plastic suitcase stuffed to the gills with rubber tubing, gauze, sterile wipes, and bandages of every size. She handed over one of the wipes and waited while Katharine cleaned out the cut, hissing between her teeth the whole time. A few moments later, a large cloth bandage covered the wound and Katharine began talking at about a mile a minute.