Awakening (14 page)

“Kim, stop!” Celeste laughed, dragging her he
els and halting her friend’s forward movement. “It’s not going to work; look at who he’s letting in.”

“You’re full of shit, Cel,” Kim retorted, pulling harder. “We totally have a chance. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? He’d tell us to get in line.”

“Fine, we’ll do it your way,” Celeste relented, following her friend. “But when I am refused entrance, I am going to turn around and go home. And sulk.”

“Oh, God, we can’t let that happen!” Kim said with mock horror. Stopping in front of the very large, very muscular man with obsidian eyes, she flashed him a brilliant smile. “Hey, there, I noticed that you were the man in charge here. Is there any chance my friend and I could maybe skip the line?”

*****

Raven’s
eyes narrowed as he looked down at another human – this one blond – trying to break the rules and it was getting annoying. Before he could refuse her entrance, though, his gaze drifted to the top of the brunette’s head. And when she lifted her head and her eyes met his, he felt an odd… loyalty to her. He knew that she wasn’t a fellow
Calix
, but there was something….

The girl smiled and turned her head to the blond and he studied her profile. She was attractive, for a human, though she lacked the
perfect beauty of his fellow
Calices
. Perhaps he would bite her before the night was through…. Except that wasn’t what he wanted to do to her. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do to her.

“Kim, I think I stepped in some gum,”
the enchantress laughed, the sound reverberating through his body doing strange things to his insides. She reached out and unconsciously grabbed his arm to steady herself as she pulled the sticky mess from her shoe, scrunching up her nose in disgust. Her fingers sent tingles of… desire through his arm, making his body respond.  He hadn’t responded to a human in nearly thirty years, when he had been a human.

With a guilty expression she looked at him and released her hold. “I am so sorry, sir.”

“Uh,” he tried to make intelligent speech but words seemed to be in short supply at the moment. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handkerchief, taking the gum from her fingers, “Let me get that for you.”

“Hey! What’s the hold up?” someone called from further down the line.

The interruption seemed to pull him out of whatever strange spell the girl cast over him, though his erection still pulsed with desire for her. Smiling, he opened the door for her and her friend, “Please, have fun tonight.”

“Don’t you have a cover charge?” the blond asked, glancing from him to the brunette.

“Uh, five dollars,” he mumbled, watching the brunette stuff her hand in the back pocket of her very sexy jeans and pull out a ten dollar bill. He wondered what she would look like naked, her human body opened to him; an
Apocritum
could not compare to her. She started to hand the money to him, but he shook his head and covered her hand with his, feeling a pulse of electricity sweep through his entire body. “For you, I’ll let it pass.”

“Interesting,” the blond murmured, pushing the brunette forward and into the crowded club. Smiling foolishly after her, it was a few moments before he became aware of his surroundings.

Shaking his head, Raven turned back and saw the very disgruntled expression of his boss glaring at him. With hands on his hips, his lips in a tight line, his black eyes flashing annoyance, Jones asked, “Who the hell was that?”

“I don’t know,”
Raven answered honestly, still holding the tissue with the gum in his hand. “Just a girl, I think. She was… she was perfect.”

“You should return to the
Adytum
, I think there’s something wrong with you,” Jones said, turning and going into the building to find a replacement. It was not natural for a
Calix
to be attracted to a human.

*****

The two girls made their way through the club to reach the bar, Celeste’s thoughts on the strange bouncer with black eyes. She had been so sure that he wasn’t going to allow them to enter and then he suddenly relented. It was the strangest thing. And if she wasn't mistaken he had sharper than normal canines. “That went better than expected.”

Celeste smirked at Kim’s observation, turning to the bar and attempting to get the bartender
's attention. He looked over and walked the few feet to stop in front of her. His eyes were also black and his canines were sharp. She shook off the shiver that tripped down her spine; it was nothing, simply a coincidence. “A bottled water and a cherry martini, please.”

With a sexy little smile, the man bowed his head and quickly filled the order, placing the bottle
of water and the cocktail in front of her. “Nine fifty.”

Celeste smiled as she handed him the cash she still held in her hand, taking the martini and handing it to a gaping Kim as she grabbed her water. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, Miss?” he fished, leaning against the counter, his dull black eyes brightening the longer he looked at her, more closely resembling Adam’s beautiful…. No, she wasn’t going to think about Adam, not tonight.

She smiled at him, ignoring her
invasive thoughts of Adam, before she turned away. Spying two of the girls from their old sorority standing by the bathrooms, she grabbed Kim’s hand and tried to pull her through the crowd. At the resistance, she turned around and faced her friend, a perplexed expression on her face to match the perplexed expression on Kim’s face. “What is it?”

“
It's very interesting,” Kim smirked. “You seem to be casting a spell on the men who work here.”

Celeste laughed to cover her
discomfort. She was almost positive the two men were
Calices
and that made her oddly nervous and a little giddy. She had been going to the bar for years and was just now realizing the employees all had the black eyes of a
Calix
. Of course she had known the employees were Others, she just hadn’t realized they were
Calices
. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s the girls, let’s go say hi.”

Kim let out a little
groan before she let Celeste lead her away.

A squeal of three girls pulled her back to the present. Shaking her head, she saw Genevieve Hunter and Rachel Blythe,
who were now seniors at their old school. Genevieve and Kim could almost pass as sisters, their coloring was so similar, but Genevieve’s eyes sparked with mischief that was somehow at odds with her angelic appearance.

In truth, Genevieve was positively
stunning, easily one of the most beautiful women Celeste knew, with her long, golden blond hair and large violet-blue eyes; full, pouty lips, slender nose, all on a heart-shaped face. With a lithe body and dramatic curves; she was perfection. Gen was a few inches taller than Celeste, probably Kim’s height of five seven, but she also had the habit of wearing four inch heels everywhere she went and seven inch platform heels while out clubbing. Celeste never figured out how Gen's legs and feet could stand being in that position, let alone managing to dance as well as Genevieve did.

Rachel had short
, fire-red hair and warm brown eyes, just a little shorter than her best friend Genevieve and almost as beautiful. Whereas Genevieve looked like an angel, Rachel looked more like a naughty imp, her eyes always lit with wicked determination. Like Kim and Celeste, Gen and Rachel were rarely apart and they were closer than sisters.

Celeste wrapped one arm around Rachel’s shoulder and the other around Genevieve’s as she hugged them, grateful for the somewhat secluded corner. With the barrier blocking out the music, it wasn’t too difficult to talk either. “It’s so good to see you guys again! I hadn’t realized how much I missed the two of you!”

They returned the hug with equal affection as Genevieve spoke, “I know! It’s been miserable without you guys here.”

“You should have joined us in Europe,” Kim grinned, hugging the two girls. “It was
a blast; Celeste even gave up her V card.”

Genevieve raised an expressive eyebrow at Kim’s words
and then glanced at Celeste. Smiling her perfect smile, the two little indents on either side of her mouth making her look incredibly sweet, Genevieve turned to Celeste and said, “So, you finally had sex.”

Celeste’s eyes widened in humor and embarrassment as she bit back a smile, “I guess you could say something like that. I never knew it would be so intense.”

“Are we going to meet this man?” Rachel asked eagerly.

Celeste shook her head, smiling so she wouldn’t cry, “No;
I decided it was best if we went our separate ways after Paris. He… It just wouldn’t have worked out.”

Rachel scowled, “What a bastard.”

“No; he was…” Celeste’s lips curved up in a smile as she thought about Adam. “He was extraordinary. He asked me to stay but, you know, I have obligations and stuff.”

Genevieve had a slight scowl on her face, which surprisingly did nothing to mar her features; she was still absolutely stunning. Grabbing Celeste’s hand, she pulled her away from the other two, exchanging a meaningful glance with Rachel over the top of her head. “Come, I need to ask you something.”

“Oooookay,” Celeste replied a little hesitantly, unsure of what Genevieve wanted with such urgency as she dragged her to the bathroom. 

As soon as the door closed, Genevieve glanced around, frustrated by the number of women in there. Closing her eyes briefly, she
murmured a simple, “Leave.”

Celeste stared at her for a moment as they waited for the half dozen, or so, girls to exit the bathroom, leaving just herself and Genevieve. Gen moved to the mirror and stared at her reflection pretending to fix her hair. In the reflection, she met Celeste’s eyes, “Well, I should have noticed right away but there were too many people out there.”

“What are you talking about?” Celeste was confused, shifting slightly as her skin prickled under Genevieve’s gaze. “Notice what?”

“Your smell,” she said casually. Without waiting for Celeste to question or comment, she turned around and looked at the girl, crossing her arms under her generous breasts. “It’s purer; like the wrapping paper has been removed and your true self has finally been freed. It’s…
delicious.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Celeste lied, chewing on her lower lip.

Genevieve laughed out loud at her friend’s willful ignorance. Placing a hand on Celeste’s arm, she grinned, “It’s not so bad, Celeste, honestly.”

“What’s not so bad?” she ground out, afraid she knew the answer and really hoping she was wrong.

“Being Other,” Genevieve said warmly, kindly. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, moving her head in an arc. Frowning, she inhaled once more, “I can’t place what you are, which is odd. I'm usually really good at this. It's like you're human but somehow more.”

“
Wh…what are you?” Celeste asked. Now that they were alone, she was aware of the… unexpected smell of Genevieve, something that went deeper than the surface. Throughout the past few days she had smelled similar scents on other people but didn’t realize the significance at the time. Perhaps they were angels….

“No,” Gen said with a wicked smile, reading her friend’s rather loud thoughts. “Demon; I’m half succubus.”

Whatever it was that Celeste expected to hear, it definitely wasn’t that. Her gasp made Genevieve laugh even harder as she explained, “My mom is a full succubus; my dad was, well, not. He was human.”

“Ah,” Celeste nodded her head, wrapping her mind around this new information, trying to reconcile Genevieve’s angelic beauty with her demonic nature; her supposedly very sexual demonic nature, though Genevieve was adamant about remaining a virgin. “How….”

“It’s because of what I am that I refrain from sex,” Genevieve explained. “My father, God bless his soul, died a very, very happy man on the night that I was conceived.”

“Oh,” Celeste nodded her head again; that actually made sense. A thousand thoughts crashed through her head, mostly regarding th
is new ability to detect demons and wondering if it might be able to detect other Others as well. Probably; she was aware of several different scents; the one associated with Clare the most prominent; most likely human. Strange, Kim’s scent was not exactly unique but it was rare. Maybe she had some fairy blood in her, which would be awesome.

Once, while at work, she walked by a room and had a brief whiff of
Adam even though she knew it wasn’t him; the overtones were wrong. At the time, she smiled sadly and thought nothing else of it. But now…. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “I slept with an
Apocritum
.”

“Ah,” Genevieve murmured, a slight scowl marring her forehead
. Studying Celeste, she cocked her head to the side and her frown deepened. “He bit you, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” Celeste nodded, leaning against the sink next to Genevieve. “But he didn’t feed me afterwards.”

“Of course he didn’t,” Genevieve said matter-of-factly, as if there was never a doubt in her mind; which there probably wasn’t. “Although I doubt it would have mattered; your scent is very… unique; but there is something else there as well.” Smelling the air once more, she smiled slightly, “There is allurement in it; very potent and compelling.” Grinning at Celeste, she added, “I'm sure he wasn't able to resist you, was he?”