Dangerous Lovers (206 page)

The only reason I believed, besides the truth I read in their eyes, was because I knew of the paranormal world. Not as extensive as they made it, but I knew my father was not entirely human. He had shown me that. He had punished me for not being like him. He demanded many times when I was growing up to change into something. The something was lost deep within me somewhere; I knew that. I was too scared to say anything. If I were to remember what it was, would Nixie and Stone try to force me to be something that my father had been? Would they punish me as well for not doing as they asked?

Marcus had told me about wraiths after I had asked Stone to tell me, and his face turned angry. They all seemed cautious about telling me about wraiths. I kept remembering Elijah’s cold eyes when I had first met him. They had told me wraiths were a sort of mystery in heritage, and they kept mostly to themselves, so what people knew was from experience. Marcus told me in a very animated voice how it was rumored that wraiths came straight from hell. They were technically the regrets of hell. In their true forms, they were just spirits that could enter any body they wanted. If the wraith stayed long enough, it would slowly kill the person within. Marcus said it was rumored also to be the worst pain imaginable but no one really survived to tell the tale. That got Stone growling, and we all turned to look at him. The conversation about wraiths ended then.

We talked about other paranormals, but we didn’t get very far because of the dinner crowd. Stone and Marcus said that we would continue tomorrow, but I wasn’t sure if I was prepared to learn more. What I had learned so far was overwhelming as it was. I wondered what it all had to do with me, though. I tried to push it all to the back of my mind and tried to sleep.

That night I dreamt of the last time I saw my father. In the dream, I was in bed when it happened, but in my memory, I knew I was in the kitchen. I just felt safer in my small room. I could hear the noises muffled through the door that were amplified when I was standing in the middle of it. I was only fifteen years old when they came. I was in no way a child, even then, but I felt small and brittle.

The crashing became louder, stomping feet came to my room. The door was thrown open. My father’s slitted eyes watched me.
Get up!
He growled, his voice deeper when he was angry. I threw away my covers. He grabbed my arm and started to pull me from the room. I tried to reach out for my only companion - my stuffed dragon. He was missing an eye and worn out, but he was mine. He was my only friend. I needed him. As I tugged my arm from my father, he pulled me harder.

“You fool! We have to leave now!” But I was irrational. I needed my dragon. I had named him Aiden, and I loved him. I couldn’t leave without him; he was my only source of comfort. Pulling away from my father was my mistake. Ripping my arm from him only resulted in my arm ripping from its socket. As he dragged me along, I was blinded by agony. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t focus, and I couldn’t breathe. He tried to lift me, I think. I remember a blinding pain that caused me to scream until my throat was raw. In the dream, I moved seamlessly from that night to the next moment I could remember.

I preferred the dreams of the white room. Not this room. Any room but this one. No. No. No. Not this room. The room that was carved from stone. It hurt to sit, it hurt to lie down. It was meant to hurt, hurt, hurt. I stayed there a year. Each day visited by creatures from my nightmares. Men with soulless eyes, not ones like Elijah. No, these men had no excuses besides their desire to inflict pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. So much pain. Each day it became harder to be. Each day it became a struggle to exist. Each day, I became less. At least with my father, I had his love, even as twisted as it was.

They beat me until my skin resembled the ashen ground I lay on; they touched my developing body roughly and without bounds. They screamed at me. They would destroy me and put me back together again. Over and over. I lost track of time in there. I was then moved to the white room. I was moved because I couldn’t tell them where my father was. Because I could not be what they demanded I be. One of the guards let it slip what the year was; I had lived in that hell for one year. He became my favorite. He hit a little less hard, and he screamed a little less loud. He touched my face with a loving caress. The side without the scars. He’d tell me what a shame it was. I couldn’t remember if this guard was a dream or if he was real. He might have been real to an extent and, romanticized by my hope for something, or someone better. In such a dark place, it worked. I had survived. . .almost.

The touch still lingered. This time it was on the wrong side of my face. That was what I remembered the most-his soft touch. Now it was as if I could still feel it. I moved my face so that the feeling wouldn’t stop. I wanted more of it. I breathed in, the air tasting different. It tasted of sandalwood and hints of forest pine. My eyes opened to soft, violet-colored eyes. They changed rapidly from the violet to an ocean blue. My hand moved on its own to push Stone’s hair from his eyes. He watched me, schooling his shock, as if not to scare me away.

“How did you sleep?” he asked, as I pulled my hand away.

“I slept.” With nightmares and memories mixed together so much that I wasn’t sure what was reality and what was fiction anymore. He smiled, and I saw the emerging of light yellow in his eyes. He was truly laughing.

“Come on. We have a lot more to teach you today, and so very little time before Jacobs decides to throw you into the mix.” Stone left me alone so that I could dress in different clothing. I hadn’t had the choice of so many different outfits in so long that I had tried to sleep in what I was wearing. Nixie had laughed so hard about my attempt to wear my nightclothes that tears formed in her coral eyes.

When I came out of the room, I was wearing a dress with a sweater on the top part of it. It reached well below my knees, but I still felt exposed. Unfortunately, it was the only thing I had been given that fit properly. I looked up at Stone’s sharp intake of breath. My eyes widened with fear, and I frantically looked to see what had caused his shock. There was nothing else in the room but us. When I looked at him, his eyes roamed the length of my body. The look made me feel
uncomfortable,
but not in the way I expected. This was a different kind of uncomfortable. While other stares made me shrink in fear, his made me squirm with embarrassment. I felt as if I had something to hide.

“I can change.” I started to turn away but Stone grabbed me before I could get too far.

“No. Gods no. You look…amazing.” His voice was almost breathless.

He stood so close, too close. Yet somehow farther than I wanted him to be. I didn’t dare look past his chest, which was level with my eyes. His hands, Gods they were the softest things I had ever felt on my skin. I closed my eyes against the assault. I felt him lift my chin, and my entire body followed. I didn’t want to let his touch go. For once, the touch of another, besides my Aiden, had made me feel safe. I didn’t know why.

“You should stand tall. Stop hiding.”

His breath feathered over the sensitive skin of my lids. I couldn’t have kept my eyes open even if I tried.

“Audrey.” His voice was so, so, so close. I felt his hands move through my thick hair, the strands wrapping around his fingers, knotting and refusing to let him go.

“Audrey! Are you-? Well, if this isn’t the most awkward time to walk in,” Nixie practically sang as Stone and I jumped away from each other. My heart was racing to the point I thought I would collapse. I looked away from Stone, feeling too horrified to look into his eyes. He looked beyond irritated. I wasn’t sure if he was angry with me or something else.

“Yes, Nixie, a horrible time to come in. But now that you are here, I suppose we can head down for breakfast.” Stone stomped out of the room.

“Well, what fish swam up his ass this morning?” Nixie looked at me with a bright smile. “Look at you! You are practically glowing! You are looking very alive this morning.” She offered me a huge wink.

I moved my hair in front of my face, in front of my scars, in front of where he touched me so tenderly. My skin felt branded by the heat that was left behind.

“Well come on. You can tell me all about your steamy moment I interrupted while we head down to the cafeteria.” Nixie grabbed my hand, the contact with her was becoming oddly normal. On the way down, Nixie started to tell me more about the siren song as the elevator started to move.

“Really sirens can use it on humans only. I think I am one of the only existing sirens that has managed to use it on paranormals. But don’t tell anyone,” She winked at me with a large smile spreading across her face, “Well, almost all paranormals. I can’t on wraiths, or a few others. Mostly the spirit element paranormals, like wraiths, Djinns and creatures of that nature. And, well, the legendary dragon shifters as well but I think it’s because they are so iron willed. No one actually believes in the dragons anymore. They became extinct, I think it was over three hundred years ago or so. Shame, they were dangerous, beautiful folks. Of course it is not like I met one before but man they had to be the most possessive creatures out there. I heard the males were like a pack of Alpha werewolves mixed with leprechauns.” I wanted to ask what kind of element the dragons had lived under, what elemental God did they belong to? My …someone from my past had told me about the Gods, I could remember that. I could remember that the dragons had three out of the five elements of the paranormal world. Nixie broke my train of thought as she moved on.

“Oh and if you think leprechauns are possessive, you should have met this gargoyle I went out with once. Hot, especially with that tail! Gods the things that man could do with his tail… Of course they are only playful with their tails when they really like you.” Nixie drifted off as we entered the cafeteria. Stone was already sitting at the table in the back corner. I felt a pang of something deep in my heart. He was being considerate. The thought almost put tears in my eyes.

“I will grab your food. Is there something you want in particular?” Nixie asked.

I started to shake my head, but I did have a request.

“Grapes, please.” My voice was still barely a whisper, but I noticed how it was getting stronger with more use. It sounded less rustic and more musical. Nixie’s face broke out into a shining smile, her matching coral lips spread wide and thinned. She squeaked and wrapped her arms around me in a quick hug before she disappeared. Stone saw and made a move to get up. I headed in his direction.

Chapter Twenty

Stone

Gods, seeing her in that dress. Those long narrow legs, granted skinnier than I liked, but it was the most skin I had seen on her since I had met her. I wanted to touch every exposed piece of skin I could find. My skin practically itched for me to do so.

Standing so close to her, I could smell her unique scent of jasmine and lavender. I moved closer, I couldn’t seem to stop myself. Gor once, she didn’t move back or flinch, but she wouldn’t look at me. She wouldn’t stand to her full height. I wanted her to be proud of who she was. I wanted her to know how beautiful I saw her. How the world saw her.

I touched her scars again. I knew how they felt; raised, leathery, and tight. When one grew into scars, the skin around didn’t grow quite right.

I forced her to look at me, seconds from pressing my lips against hers. Then Nixie came and stole her away.

I broke free from the memory of our almost kiss when I heard Nixie’s delighted squeal. Looking up, I saw Audrey looking slightly lost, but heading in my direction. Our last kiss lingered on my lips. The next time I kissed her, she would know it was me, and I would take more. I could not settle for less. I would not. I started to stand, the black sweater she wore over her dark green dress made her hair all the more prominent. I thought back to when my fingers had tangled around her locks. Her hair looked coarse and almost dry but touching it was like touching silk.

“What were you two discussing?” I asked as she arrived. She sat next to me, at least a foot away from me, too far for my liking, but I knew she needed to come to me, not the other way around. I didn’t want to push her.

“Mermaids versus sirens. It was…enlightening. Is there more you could tell me about?” She looked up at me with those eyes, almost as if she could trust me, and I felt my entire insides tighten.

“There is so much to tell you, I don’t even know where to start. I guess I should explain the paranormal world to you. We used to be split by races, and we kept to ourselves. Some had rivalries, like angels and wraiths. They can’t be near each other. Ever. That’s just asking for disaster. Witches and wraiths as well. Never a good combination. About four hundred years ago, humans started learning about the paranormal world. It didn’t end well for us. Humans played on our rivalries and pretty much had us destroying ourselves. Some races became extinct because of that. Some became endangered and extremely rare.”

“Like dragon shifters?” Audrey gave me a strange look. I couldn’t understand the look, but more importantly, I was baffled that she knew about dragon shifters. It must have shown, because she said, “Nixie told me a little about them.”

“Yes, like the dragon shifters. They were a proud, powerful race that a lot of paranormals feared. They became a target, especially for their hearts.” Audrey gave me a look of utter horror. “If someone possessed half of a dragon shifter’s heart, they not only controlled the shifter, but could tap into the dragon’s power. Anyway after that, powerful families within the community decided to take it upon themselves to offer protection to certain races.” I gave her a wink to try and lighten the mood again. “The paranormal world is no longer divided by race but divided by name. The family you belong with says a lot about you. Some families, steal and force you into their clans. Like the Vedenins who held you captive.” She flinched away, but there was nothing I could do about that. She needed to know the truth about our world. We weren’t safe, or happy or anything quite like that. Paranormals, much like humans, were greedy for power and willing to do almost anything to get what they wanted.