by Gray Holborn
El stomped over, pushed Jax’s arm off my shoulders and grabbed me to her side. For someone so small, she packed a lot of force. “Dess isn’t just a human,” she paused muttering softly to me, “not that there’s anything wrong with being a human,” and then looked back at Soren. “She’s my family.”
“No.” Soren’s hand came down loudly on the counter, a startling contradiction to the soft and threatening timbre of his voice. Somehow, his quiet intensity only made him more frightening than if he’d just screamed. A muscle was ticking quickly in his jaw. “I’m family. She’s just been a poor substitute for the last few years.”
“Soren, of course that’s not what I meant. You’re obviously my family. It’s just that Dess. Well, she is now too.” Her hand slid down my arm and squeezed my hand. “Look, Soren, there’s some leftover pizza in the fridge from dinner tonight. Why don’t you and Jax grab a slice and chill here. I need to talk to Dess for a few minutes.” Without another look she stood up and walked towards my bedroom, before coming back to grab a piece of pizza for herself. Then she disappeared back into my room, leaving me with nothing to do but silently follow her.
Chapter Five
El plopped down on the green and gray blanket on my bed. “Ask your questions, I’ll answer everything that I can.”
“Okay, let’s start with the most obvious. Why is your brother in our house?”
She took a long swig out of her beer, and though she didn’t say anything, I could almost sense the relief that it didn’t taste like bourbon pass over face. “It’s not really an easy question to answer without talking about why I left the Veil in the first place. You know I came to Seattle after my mom died, right?” I nodded for her to continue. “Well, what I didn’t tell you was that my mom was murdered.” She made the ‘dun dun dun’ Law & Order sound, but it didn’t have quite the mood-lifting effect she was likely aiming for.
“Holy shit, El, I’m sorry. That’s crazy.”
“Crazy yes, but that’s just part of the story.” She shooed my sympathy away quickly, raining crust flakes across my bedspread. “The thing is, they never caught the person responsible, though it’s always been assumed it was orchestrated if not carried out by Insurgenti—they’re sort of like the Veil’s version of anarchist rebels. But Soren and my father were worried that I was in danger in the Veil until her murder could be solved.”
My stomach dropped. “What? Why?”
“There was this prophecy years ago that someone in my mom’s line would bring great change to the Veil, blah blah blah. Before you ask, swallow your food. Yes, prophecies exist in the Veil but, no, they don’t really mean anything. Only crackpot old ladies believe them—and the rebels too, apparently. Most of them never come true anyway, and those that do are so vague that it’s hard to tell whether it meant anything in the first place. Not to mention that when they are fulfilled, there’s the whole question of did the prophecy come true because it’s a prophecy, or did it come true because you found out about the prophecy and made it happen? It’s the whole chicken and the egg thing all over again.”
“This feels like a really effed up magical philosophy class right now.”
“Right? And you know me. Philosophy has always felt like a big clusterfuck of brain power that doesn’t actually result in anything useful. So anyway. That’s one theory about my mother’s murder. The other theory is that people were after her, and by extension me, to get to my dad. He’s kind of like a ruler over a very large section of the Veil and has very big, very powerful enemies. I spent a lot of time in the human world with my mom and Soren growing up. I actually preferred it over here. So, my dad and Soren decided it was best to fake my death and send me here instead for a little while, until the political climate calmed down or they got to the bottom of my mother’s murder.” She paused, absentmindedly pulling gray threads from the blankets piled on the foot of my bed.
I looked up, confused. “Wait, why didn’t Soren come with you then? To live here?”
“Soren’s actually my half-brother. He’s three years older than me, so twenty-six. My dad had him before he married my mom. His mom died giving birth to him and so my mom raised him like her own. But he’s not part of her line and it’s well known that my father would never give him the throne, so there’d be no reason to go through him to get to my father.” Her lips quirked in a small smirk. “Not that many people really stand a chance against Soren.”
I felt my mouth drop open stupidly. “Throne? El—are you, like, a princess?” I paused, frowning. “Because come to think of it, that totally makes sense. You act more like a princess than anyone I know. I mean, you’ve been bossing me around since the day we met.”
She smiled and shoved me over with a strength that still managed to catch me off guard after all these years. “I guess you could think of my dad as a king and me as a princess if it makes your freak flag fly. We don’t really use those terms though and he doesn’t control the entire Veil or anything like that.”
“But then why wouldn’t Soren be a prince?”
“My father is a bit of an elitist asshole. In the Veil, it’s all about merging powers to make sure the next generation is as powerful as possible. My mother was a manipulator, a panther like my dad and me. Soren’s mom was not. To be honest, I think the only reason my dad kept him around is because he could sense that Soren was very powerful, even if his lineage was ‘impure.’” Her nose crinkled at that last word as if it were a curse. “The Veil’s prejudices are just as awful as the prejudices in this world. My mom adopted Soren and treated him like a son, but my father never really acknowledged him as such. He was kept on officially to be my guard.” We both stared at the wall for a while, absorbing everything that had been said.
“So Soren being here then, is that good news at least? That the political climate has neutralized or that they captured the asshat who murdered your mom?” I asked.
Her face took on a worried look I wasn’t used to seeing. “Not exactly. It seems that someone found out that I’m still alive. In fact, I suspect that’s why the supe activity has been so heavy stateside lately. Not just because of me, but my father’s rule has been challenged multiple times over the last year and a few of the regions are on the brink of war. Soren came here to bring me back so that my father’s guard could protect me.”
“What? You're leaving?” I scrunched my nose realizing how selfish that sounded. “I mean, I want you to feel safe, but dude I don’t want you to leave.” I paused, staring down at my fingers which suddenly seemed super interesting. “And how selfish do I sound right now? Voicing my own pity party when you are potentially in danger right this minute?” I was babbling, we both knew it.
El tackled me into a lopsided hug, spilling drops of beer. “That’s the thing, I don’t have to leave, but I don’t want to put you in danger either. I’ve convinced Soren that I’m safer here, so long as no one knows exactly where I am. Safer than I would be back in the Veil, most likely.”
“Oh. I mean did he buy that?”
“Totally. And it’s true. I think regardless of whether or not we stay in Seattle, he’ll want to keep me as far away from the Veil as possible. The more supes around, the more difficult it becomes to decipher who we can trust.”
“So you might not stay in Seattle?” This conversation, scratch that this whole night, was giving me some serious emotional whiplash.
“This is the part that’s up to you. Not only would I be bringing all of my baggage to your front door. Potentially literally. But Soren will only let me stay here if he and Jax act as my guard. And once I mentioned that you can spot supes with that freaky sense you have, he warmed up to the idea more. I told him it’s kind of like you’re my built in neighborhood watch.” Her finger peeled off the bottle wrapper into tiny, uneven strips. “It would be a huge imposition on you and Sam. Knowing Soren, he’ll hardly let me out of his sight. And while he isn’t the same level of elitist asshole as my father, he’s still not a fan of humans. And he’s still kind of
an asshole.”
I picked up the threads from El’s label and tied them into little tension-filled knots. “If having them here is the safest way to keep you here, that works for me. What do we tell Sam and Luis though?”
“With Sam, we tell the truth. It’s only fair and I trust him like I trust you. Soren won’t like letting someone else in on the situation, but this is Sam’s house and it’s only fair he has a fully informed understanding of the potential danger I’m bringing into it. If he says no, which is totally understandable, then we’ll be out of here first thing tomorrow.” She bit into a piece of crust, swallowing before she continued. “Luis, we just tell him my brother is coming to stay with me for awhile. It’s a complicated situation and I only want people, including you, to know the bare minimum. Truthfully, the more anyone knows, the more it can come around to bite them in the ass. He’s better off knowing as little as we can get away with.”
I pushed away from the bed and brushed the crumbs off of my shirt and onto the floor. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going? Dess, it’s after three a.m.”
“Sam probably just got home, let’s go do this conversation now. The faster he says okay, the faster we can figure out all of the logistics of where to house Jax and Soren.”
She laughed, shoving off my bed after me. Her eyes glanced impishly down at my uneven wooden floors for a moment. “I’ll go talk to him, why don’t you go grab a drink and relax.”
I walked back to the kitchen, confident that Sam would make sure El stayed with us, whether we had to
house two surly supes or a million. She was family, that was that. Her brother though? I would’ve been perfectly fine with Sam kicking him to the curb.
The faint drum of water against linoleum carried into the hallway. Either Jax or Soren decided to help themselves to a shower. I leaned back in the kitchen chair, trying to process everything I’d learned in the last hour, when I felt a presence behind me.
“That was fast El, did Sam tell you that you were crazy for even thinking his answer would be n—” I stared down at my chair, noticing two very not-El hands on either side of it. Turning I found myself caged by Soren, his large frame looming over mine. “Uh, do you need shampoo or something?” I bit my lip nervously. He might have been El’s brother, but I didn’t trust the guy farther than I could throw him. And, well, I couldn’t even pick him up so that wouldn’t be very far.
“Jax will make do with whatever he finds in your bathroom. He’s known for making himself at home almost anywhere. Where’s El?” He hadn’t moved since pushing my chair in, and I felt my breath pick up as I took in how close he was. His scent washed over me, a mix of rain and something distinctly masculine. His gray eyes pierced mine and I found myself fixated on the scar through his eyebrow. I never thought a scar could make someone look more appealing, but somehow this one did.
“What’s the matter? Two minutes on the job of protecting El and you’ve already lost track of her?” I cocked my eyebrow, secretly pleased to push his buttons.
His nostrils flared slightly. “That’s what I’m doing. Right now the biggest threat I see to her is you.” My stomach dropped as he pushed off my chair and moved to sit on the other side of the table, his eyes never once leaving mine.
“Me? How am I a threat? I’m human.” His accusation was absurd, but the glare he was sending my way was effective enough to push me on the defensive.
“Human-ish. Jax just told me that when he met you at that bar last night, he couldn’t feed off of you. Like there was some kind of block. He can always easily feed from humans. Our kind occasionally takes a bit more effort, but he rarely has difficulty. Add that to your supposed ability to visualize energy auras, and it’s painfully obvious that you haven’t been honest about who you are. El and Jax might trust you. But in case it wasn’t clear, I don’t.” The muscles in his jaw were flexing and I could tell he was trying to hold back some of his anger, albeit unsuccessfully.
“What’s your point? It’s probably just a random genetic thing I inherited. Sam is a persuasion-manipulator, but he and my dad were half brothers, so it’s totally possible I just a watered down trick.” I turned back, hoping either El or Jax were back. No such luck.
“Blocking, I could buy. There are people in the Veil who develop that ability to a certain extent. Or they seek energy manipulators who can create blocking spells. The more powerful you are, the less susceptible you are to feeders. From Jax’s description that doesn’t seem to fit you. You weren’t attempting to block him, and he said he felt as if there was some sort of barrier between your energy and his. That’s not normal. And your ability to sense supernatural energy isn’t connected to manipulation either. I’ve never even heard of something like that. So I’ll ask again, who are you?” He leaned back into his chair. Though the position looked more casual, it felt intimidating. I could feel him studying me, reading more than just my verbal responses.
“I’m Odessa Black. I don’t know what more to tell you. I didn’t even know about the sense thing until I moved in with Sam six years ago. We just assumed that his persuasion-manipulation didn’t work on me because it was a weaker expression—it doesn’t work on El either. Maybe I just have some built up resistance somehow in my family tree. That’s all I know.”
“What about the other half of your family?”
This was starting to feel like an interrogation and I could feel my anger rising. I knew that Soren was here to protect El, I just hadn’t assumed that doing so would require him to see me as the enemy. How could I be blamed for something that I didn’t even understand? “My mother? I don’t know anything about her. She died shortly after I was born and nobody talked about her. My father wouldn’t even tell me her name.”
Sam told me a few years ago that my dad met her in the Middle East, which made sense considering my darker complexion. But it was beyond frustrating that the only thing I knew about her was something that I could trace through my own skin—something I could find out by sending my DNA to one of those expensive ancestry readouts. I looked more like Sam than I did my dad, so I figured everything else I got from my mother. It was non-information. I wanted to know the things no one would tell me. What were her favorite things to do? Did she like thunderstorms as much as I did? Did the sound of people chewing drive her as crazy as it did me? What kind of mother would she have been if she survived? I craved the answers to these questions something fierce, but with my dad gone it was as if the last thread connecting me to her was severed. Sam never met her and my dad never told him anything about her either. They weren’t close and Sam didn’t even know I existed until my father left me on his doorstep. He liked to pretend his lack of relationship with my father didn’t bother him, but I knew better. Sometimes, the people who pretended not to care were the ones who cared the most.
“And what of your father?” Soren asked.
I looked down, my face scrunched in ambivalence. “He left me here six years ago, I haven’t heard from him since.” It wasn’t something I talked about anymore and Sam never mentioned him. I looked up at Soren, a small crease had formed between his eyebrows. I refused to let him dissect my emotions. Especially after he had been such an asshole. “I don’t have anything to tell you, because I don’t know anything more about my family than you do. I can promise you though that I would never do anything to hurt Ellie. She’s my sister by everything but blood.”
“You’re naive. There’s so much you don’t know, can’t know, about Ellie and our world. You might not intentionally put her in danger, but seeing as she’s strapped you with that necklace, she cares deeply for you. When you let people in like that, they become a vulnerability. She won’t leave you behind, won’t put herself before you. That makes you a threat. You are dead weight.”
My fingers clenched over the sides of my chair, my knuckles growing white. If the cool metal hadn’t been protecting my palms, I knew I would have drawn blood already. Don’t call him an asshole, don’t call him an asshole. If he
was going to live with us as a permanent shadow, I needed to make this work.
“Why are you such a dick?” Damn. Well, I held back the asshole part. That should count for something. Points for effort, as Ellie would say. “If I’m dead weight, then teach me how to defend myself and her. You’re here to protect her right? Then teach me how to help and not be a liability. I can’t shift into a panther, but I can see threats coming before you probably can.” I sat straighter, trying to look as intimidating as possible. Judging by the smirk on his face, I didn’t achieve the effect I desired.
He said nothing for over a minute, weighing my words.
“Sam wants us to say,” Ellie’s cheerful shriek made me jump. I turned back to see her grinning ear-to-ear. “Jax can stay in the extra bedroom downstairs in Sam’s apartment tonight and Soren you can take the couch in our living room.”
Jax walked out of the bedroom dripping wet and wearing one of Ellie’s bright pink towels wrapped around his waist. “You guys have any extra pajamas I could borrow?”
Soren shook his head in amused annoyance and pushed up from the table. “I’ll run and grab some of our stuff. I’ll be back by morning. Jax take the couch tonight.” He left immediately and I heard the unmistakable thrum of a motorcycle taking off from across the street.
Jax rifled through the bag of junk food from the corner store, settling on a bag of Sour Patch Kids. “So how did you and Ellie meet, Desi-girl?”
I pulled my eyes up from the fluorescent towel that barely closed and the smooth light brown skin of his bare chest. How could someone look so beautiful and so absurd all in one go? “She stalked me in panther-form while I was wallowing by a pond,” I answered.
El crossed her arms in feigned frustration. “Hey! I did not stalk you. You were the one who approached me and decided to scratch my ears and name me Bagheera. I was too shocked by your stupidity to do anything but sit there.”
