H.U.M.A.N.S (The Veiled World Book 1)

by Susan Reid

  She gave a sarcastic chuckle. “Satisfaction, strength, maintaining fear and superiority, the warmth and taste, and habit. It’s an intimate and almost erotic experience…if you’re not intending to kill the donor. This is my choice and how I choose to live for me.”

  I could respect that if she was telling me the truth.

  “So you don’t consume blood at all?” I had to repeat for my own understanding.

  She shook her head no. “There’s really no need to but those in my family and many others don’t like that ideology. If they were to change the way they feed then they wouldn’t seem as dangerous and threatening to other races. It’s the other reason I ran away and they’re afraid that I’ll start spreading that idea around to others, and that other beings will come to know and understand just how vulnerable we really are.”

  Interesting.

  “How long have you been without actual blood?”

  “For the last ten years of my life, when I was old enough to make my own feeding choices. I met him about a two years ago, my friend.” She said shyly, looking down when she mentioned him. If what she was telling me was truth, it would be a huge mistake to kill or just toss her out to the wolves.

  “Just a friend? Where is your friend now?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in a while.” She stopped abruptly, sucking in a sob and turning her face away from me.

  “My father tried to keep me under his thumb when he found out by having his garde secretly follow me around. I knew they were only trying to find out who he was so that they could kill him or something later, so I had to avoid seeing him at all. This last time, I tried to lose them quickly so I ran through the first large gateway that I came across the first chance I got. I guess they managed to track me pretty fast after I did.

  I hurried back out of the club. I assumed you must have been waiting on something or me but when I saw you leaving, I hurried to catch up with you. I followed you and swam a little ways before stealing a speedboat and keeping far enough a distance from you so you wouldn’t get suspicious. I lost you for a little bit but when I saw the island surrounded by magical energy in the distance, I ditched the boat and swam straight for it but they were already on my tail. I didn’t mean to lead them here.” She finished, wiping her nose with a sniff.

  If she was pretending, she was a damned good actress but I had to maintain a level of neutrality. She could be trying to play on my emotions even though I was starting to believe that she was telling me some truth.

  “You took a huge risk. You could have been jumped and killed on sight. In fact, you came this close.” I pinched my index finger and thumb together with a barely small space in between to illustrate my point.

  She knew what I meant after witnessing the slaying of her pursuers by both Gage and I. She barely nodded, wide-eyed and chagrined with a slight shoulder shrug as if she agreed but didn’t think about it at the time.

  “Who’s your father?” I then asked.

  “Melvick Cristorus.”

  Though I could guess that he was a pretty powerful Nocturna, the name didn’t sound familiar to me. Then again, I don’t know much about the Nocturna history past what they are as a race, and that they’ve always been enemies of ours. We had plenty of regulars that did though, like Noemi, and I wondered what she managed to find out.

  “Can they track you now?”

  “I’m connected. Our crest is internal, it’s a permanent mark and it can only be broken if either I or my father dies.”

  Son of a bitch! Yeah, she was definitely going to have to go.

  “Where is the mark?” I was serious now, looking over the parts of her skin that were visible. We couldn’t waste any more time with her.

  She turned around slowly and carefully reached around with her chain bound wrists, lifting her shirt slightly. My first thought was tramp stamp when I saw the purple and black markings, but then I began to make out a letter C formation wrapped up in thorns and ivies. It was surrounded by three symbols that resembled hexagonal crescent moons.”

  I sighed angrily and rubbed a hand over my forehead.

  “Then explain to me why you keep running away if it’s pointless?” I looked at her as if she were an idiot and getting really annoyed with her now.

  She was silent and then she smiled to herself, almost creepily.

  Glancing down at the ground she replied. “It takes a while for any of them to find me and it pisses my dad off.”

  “So this is a game to you? Is that what you get off on?”

  She looked at me again and then shook her head emphatically.

  “No. I want to be free and on my own.”

  “Then do it. What the hell is the problem?” I was raising my voice now.

  “You don’t understand!” Her bottom lip was quivering and she was on the verge of tears.

  This conversation was doing nothing but making me angry with her. I exhaled slowly to keep from reaching for and shaking the shit out of her to awaken some sense of logic in her brain.

  Finally, I turned to leave but she stopped me when she quickly spoke, not wanting to be left down here alone again for who knew how long.

  “Wait, can I ask you something?”

  I didn’t feel like talking to her anymore right now but I reluctantly stopped and turned around to face her again, clearly agitated.

  “You bite as a weapon to kill, I get that, but why feed? I’ve never known hunters to behave like…” She trailed off.

  “Like you guys do?” I cut her off with a single raised brow.

  She appeared hurt by my harsh tone and answer but she didn’t reply.

  Stealing part of Gage’s words, I added, “The universes are very large places. There’s a lot that many of us don’t know and have yet to discover.”

  We’re not much different from humans at all.

  I purposefully refrained from telling her anything about my new status even though she had divulged quite a bit to me.

  It was quiet for a moment.

  “You and your brother are nearly identical in the face, minus the hair and the obvious gender differences. He’s a hottie. I’m really fascinated with the whole twin thing.” She suddenly said with a smile.

  I remained silent. She was obviously trying to soothe over my irritation with her by changing topics and throwing in compliments.

  She went on, “I do a lot of reading and studying because I like to learn about other classes, races, and humans. I hid out among Shaolin Monks for years learning to fight. I finally had to leave when my father’s guys caught up with me again. I didn’t want to endanger them because they were so kind and hospitable to me. Even though the Monks knew what I was, they never said a word to the citizens.”

  “Why can’t you just emancipate yourself and tell your father that you want to be independent?”

  I wanted to know the answer to that question.

  She snorted and shook her head, pinching her eyes shut to restrain the tears from escaping.

  “A Nocturna without a crest is fair game and you quickly become a vulnerable and targeted rogue. My mark keeps me protected under my father and my family but I’m the black sheep. They don’t like that I associate with and consider humans as friends rather than food.”

  I could relate to her enough about the frustrations of being a young female in our world but that was about it. I understood her plight but I didn’t feel completely sorry for her either.

  “Then you need to decide which means more to you, your friend and your freedom to be who you are, or your daddy’s money and power to protect you. In which case, stop playing games and running away from them. I don’t care what your power is, there’s always someone bigger and badder out there and one day you will get yourself killed if you’re not careful.” I stated flat and callously.

  Her eyes were round and unblinking at my forewarning. She clearly had no rebuttal or comment because she knew I was right. Apparently, no one has ever talked to her like this before either. That much I
could tell by her expression alone.

  She appeared to be thinking. Chains clinking, she slowly stepped as close to the bars as she could get without touching them. She was probably about an inch shorter than me. I could see the color of her hair now that it had dried. The lustrous jet black, color was ashy and washed out, caked with sea salt.

  “I didn’t come here with bad intentions. I just wanted to have a place to go and make friends, that’s all. I’m sorry I shocked you.”

  I took her genuine sincerity and all that she told me to heart and consideration.

  That was one of the whole reasons behind the bar’s creation and existence but she was a Nocturna. She was a natural, known, long-time enemy to many of us, and now she was going to end up leading an entire army of them right here to the island. Even though it was out of her control, we had to get rid of her now.

  My tone softened slightly despite the emergency but my expression remained stoic. “And I’m sorry that I kicked your ass. I’ll be back down shortly.” I said before turning to leave.

  Chapter 33

  I needed some time to think long and hard about Nailah’s future but I didn’t have that time. Though I would probably seek out advice and opinions from everyone else, the ultimate decision would be mine to make. I could put her on a plane and fly her somewhere else but that wouldn’t solve the problem and innocent humans could end up getting caught in the crossfire over her.

  In the meantime, the most important order of business was to prevent her father and more of their kind from spilling into this region.

  Everyone was waiting for me when I returned upstairs from the cellar. The television mounted above the liquor display was on and they were all watching the news. I guess they know about the new bodies now.

  The seating area of the bar was already filled with a few customers, some with their kids but our group was gathered around the bar counter.

  I didn’t see Gage though, no surprise there, and I wondered where he went this time.

  “What’s the verdict?” Cole asked.

  “You’re right. They’re able to track her via her crest and she’s singing like a bird, thanks to Gage, but we have got to get her off the island quick.”

  Cole’s eyes widened. “You can’t just leave her to wander now that she knows who you are and where we are. You’re gonna have to kill her.”

  I pressed my lips in frustration. “Really, Cole? You’re about to be a father, how can you be so cold? Killing her would be like killing Twinkie. I’ve looked into her eyes and I’ve engaged in meaningful conversation with her, I can’t do that even if it would be a good idea.”

  He looked at me wryly. “She’s an indirect threat to our entire existence here.” He warned.

  “I’m aware of that.”

  “Gage will be back. As far as her crest being a tracking device, she’s safe as long as she remains inside the bar. With all the wards and spells this place is protected by, they won’t be able to track her here. Now if she’s outside, that’s a different story, so I wouldn’t worry about it as long as you keep her in the cellar for now.” Erian informed me.

  I was relieved.

  “Even a Nocturna link?”

  “Especially theirs. When you get a moment, we should head upstairs and talk about my findings in your blood sample.”

  I nodded with a deep exhale. “Okay. Then that gives me a little time to think about this then.” I replied.

  Cole then said, “Don’t completely discount what you may have to do though, Kai.”

  “I am not going to kill her, Cole.” I snapped in a whisper.

  He held up his hands. “Hey, I didn’t necessarily mean kill but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do for the safety of all others.”

  “Well, thanks for crowning me the executioner.”

  “Look sis, I’m there for you and whatever you decide. We’re closing early tonight around eight. Three more human bodies is not acceptable. It’s gonna start drawing more and more attention.”

  Clee took a moment from setting up the arts and crafts table to join us at the counter.

  “Kai, can you get a hold to Marq and Syhenna? We’re really going to need them for this plan that I’ve come up with to work.” She asked.

  “I’ll try. He might not be too enthused about doing much for me lately since Gage walked into the picture.”

  Clee nodded in sympathetic understanding of what I meant and why.

  “Poor Marq.” Isis said, returning to the bar with a set of empty glasses.

  “Don’t rub it in.” I replied.

  “So I guess that means that you two are cozying up to each other? I can’t say that I blame you.” Isis grinned.

  “When you two get a chance and all this is over, tapas and drinks at our usual cantina spot on the mainland. I have some interesting info for you, Kai.” Noemi informed me and Isis with a smile when she returned to retrieve her order of drinks.

  “Is it something we’ll need to know by tonight?” I asked.

  She shook her head and smiled. “It’s more for you. I was right about her eyes and royalty though. Cristorus is the family name.”

  “Yeah, she told me.”

  “Cristorus? Uh-oh.” Clee replied.

  We all looked at her.

  “I’ve heard of that one too.” Isis added.

  “Erian said that as long as she was inside, she was untraceable.”

  “That’s true but you’d better get rid of her soon. Keeping her around will end up in confrontation after confrontation, if not worse.” Clee warned.

  I groaned internally. “I know.”

  “See if you can try to contact Marq anyway. We’re really going to need him, it’s the only way.” She then said.

  “Alright.” I nodded for Erian to follow me up to my apartment.

  “I’m coming with too.” Isis invited herself.

  “You guys go on up. We’ll help tend things until Riza gets here and you can fill me in later.” Cole said nodding towards Clee.

  Twinkie meowed and trotted off to head downstairs as soon as I opened the door.

  “Have a seat guys and give me a sec.” I said heading into my room.

  I called Cole and asked him to bring Nailah a protein drink and some snacks from the kitchen, and a warm bucket of water, towels and soap. I had to tell him that she didn’t drink blood at all when he questioned it, explaining briefly what she told me. Like me, he was shocked.

  “Kai, I know what you might be thinking and planning but you can’t save every stray that comes along. She is Nocturna. You don’t know that she’s telling you the truth and she’s probably being tracked as we speak, especially after those others followed her here. Hell, she could be a decoy or something. She is more of a liability and risk that we can’t afford to take unless you want to have to relocate again.”

  “Just trust me on this one Cole, okay?”

  He sighed and was silent for a minute.

  “Alright.” He finally agreed.

  “Damn, Kai why does it reek of hot, steamy, no-holes barred sex in here?” Isis was leaning against the the doorjamb of my bedroom, grinning devilishly with one brow raised and noshing on a handful if grapes.

  I pitched a pillow at her that hit her dead in the face and then I fell back onto my bed. I was weary, not wanting to divulge anything that went on in here right now, especially with her man in the other room.

  “Hey!” She giggled, diving forward to land and bounce twice on her stomach next to me.

  “You know, you have the face of an Angel but the mouth and mind of a molesting gutter drunk.”

  She laughed, apparently pleased with the comparison.

  “Which is why we were drawn to each other and quickly became best friends.”

  I couldn’t help but shake my head and laugh too because it was true.

  “I demand to know everything. Was it Gage? I want details!” Her eyes were wide, excited at the prospect and beaming with perverse curiosity. I pursed my lips and nodded to
wards my still wide open bedroom door.

  “Oh.” Isis groaned with a roll of her eyes.

  She made a motion of throwing something with her hand splayed out and a burst of air pushed my bedroom door shut.

  “That was faster than I calculated. How was he?” She popped a grape in her mouth, grinning from ear to ear as she chewed.

  “I’ve never had my world rocked like that in my entire life.” I spoke low.

  “Shit! Seriously? Not even with Marq? Wow, I will never look at him the same way again...at least not in the face anyway.” Isis smiled encouragingly and then laughed.

  “Um, if we do end up dating or something, I don’t want you staring at his crotch every time he comes around.”

  Isis chuckled. “I was only kidding! So, could this be a new relationship and possibly more then?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know? You may as well now, there’s not much else to discover except for his favorite color and music.”

  I looked at her wryly.

  “If it happens, it happens.”

  She gave me a questioning look. “What did Marq say?”

  “He was hurt but he said it would be hypocritical if he were to get angry. He told me that he was in love with me.” I looked at Isis.

  Her face turned serious. “For real?”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “I care about him, a lot…and I guess I do love him.”

  “But you’re not in love with him. At least you were honest with him though. Hey, what’s in those bottles in your fridge?”

  I cleared my throat, “Oh. It’s ah…”

  She froze with round eyes and grimaced, sticking out her tongue out as if gagging. “Don’t tell me it’s what I think it is?” She stopped stuffing her face with the grapes.

  “It is.”

  “Eww!” She pretended to puke and set the grapes down as if they had suddenly become toxic.

  “Thanks.”

  “Sorry.” She sat up, wiping her hands on her shorts.

  “Wait a minute,” She then said, looking over my comforter and bed as if the realization of what had occurred recently suddenly hit her.