Dominion 4 - Ascendance (7 page)

You left me, don’t you still love me? Tell me how to fix this.
His voice in my head was filled with hurt and worry. Jealousy was such a vicious animal. It grew and raged, getting louder and larger until all you could hear was the screaming that ate away at your reasoning. I didn’t know how to answer him. He just felt so far away.

His lips pressed against my forehead, scratching my ears just so nicely.

If I weren’t so shaken up from the fairy ring, I might have jumped him right there. Gabe leaned over and flicked the light on beside the bed. I shook out my fur, feeling the chill in the air, then a bit of sadness. Gabe wouldn’t be able to stay. We had no curtains yet. This house was like a death trap for vampires. The silence in my head was more than a little unnerving. He never invaded my mind much when I was in cat form, but I figured he’d feel less distant since he was in the same room as me, only he didn’t.

“I found something while you were out. Want to see?” Gabe went to the closet that was filled with my things, shoved the clothes aside, and pressed on the wall in the back. The wall opened, revealing some sort of passage. “It’s pretty narrow.”

I snuck up close to him and peered inside, looking with my sharp cat eyes but only seeing a tunnel of darkness. Did my father know this was here? Where did it lead to? Stepping inside, the first thing I noticed was that it was clean. Unlike the rest of the house, there seemed to be nothing but the barest of traces of dust. How odd.

“Do you want a light? I can probably find a flashlight.” He saw just fine without it, and after my eyes adjusted, I’d be able to as well. Gabe followed me inside. He had to squeeze and duck through some areas. The inner walls were covered with vines like out of some Armageddon movie. They were comforting, a reminder that the earth had control of this house.

The cracks in the walls from past settling or maybe even earthquakes seemed to be held together with long, winding green-and-brown limbs. It fascinated me enough that I had to shift back to human. It only took a moment for my eyes to adjust, and though I couldn’t see as clearly, I could still see the faint outlines of the walls. They seemed to glow with power. The cold air hit my still-damp skin, forcing me to shiver. Gabe pulled off his shirt and handed it to me. The warmth of it reminded me he’d need grave dirt to stay warm. Had he brought some? A warm vampire was so much better than a cold one.

The tunnel led around, down, and back toward the front of the house. At the end was a door. Gabe insisted on going first, though I don’t know what he expected to be on the other side. Maybe some giant people-eating plant, or a deformed relative who’d been locked away, but it was just a room. Gabe flicked on the lamp to reveal more of the odd space.

Like the hall, this room was clean, cluttered, but mostly free of dust. A cot sat off to the side, made up like a bed with blankets and pillows. A laptop computer sat on the desk, closed but plugged in. The walls were lined with books and odd statues. The room curved, shaped sort of like a large slice of a pie. It was then I realized it had to be above the sitting room, near the tree and the staircase. None of the other rooms accounted for that space.

Gabe was already searching through the many books. I went to the desk, sat down, and opened the computer. It powered on, not password locked, and came up with a user ID for Charles. So this is where he’d hid himself away. I wondered if Timothy knew about this space. I already had a lot to speak to him about. The computer didn’t have much I thought might be important. Just some information on the house, plumbers and things, nothing that sat on the desktop reading “Ascendance.” Had my uncle been part of the good group or the bad one? Did he know about the circle?

“There are journals here, Seiran. Your dad’s and

Charles Merth’s.” Gabe had one in hand and carefully flipped through it. “Only a couple from your dad, and they are in rough shape, but you can still read the writing.” He glanced up, looking me over, for what I don’t know. Maybe he thought I was going to break down just hearing about my dad.

I peered over the crook of his arm at the pages of the book, seeing my father’s writing, which looked just as meticulous as my own. Instead of recipes, he wrote spells, everything from how to do it to how it made him feel, and the results based on the power level of the witch performing the spell. Other pages were just random bits of life, about school, secret meetings with fellow witches, and whispers of hopes for the future. These were the words of a very young Dorien Merth. Before Jamie had been born, before he’d ever met my mother. I wanted to read every page.

“Charles has more than fifty of them. A couple per year. Maybe his son will want them?” Gabe scanned through those as well. “Not much magic in here. It sounds more like raving toward the end.”

Was that something I had to look forward to if I lived a long life? Or had something made Charles Merth very afraid—for example, a fairy ring used to kill people and spread their power to other witches?

“I want to read them all,” I whispered, my voice still a little rough from the shift. “Even my uncle’s. I want to know my family.” I grabbed the stack of my dad’s journals. “I’m sorry. I need some time.”

Gabe nodded, his face somber but curious, an unusual expression for him.

Why wasn’t he saying anything? Was he still mad? Why didn’t he rave or say sweet things? Anything? Sure, I was still hurt. Still trying to sort out the awful things he hadn’t meant to say but had said, and my feelings felt like a pot of bad all swirled with grim. Something seemed off about him, too, though what, I wasn’t quite sure.

“Take your time. You don’t have to read them all in one night. I’m going to read through some right now. Call if you need me.”

That’s all we had now, wasn’t it? Time. I fled through the tunnel back toward my room, pondering Gabe and the words Max had spoken to me. The old have a hard time feeling anything, he had said, so sometimes they created trouble just to feel something. That sounded so crazy. Yet I knew when a cuddle was all I needed to make the world right. Those times, and the times I just wanted to run from the pain, those were moments when the numbness faded. What if I was always numb? What length would I go to just to feel? Without thinking much, the answer was a lot.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable in the room with the tunnel in it, I dressed, then headed down the hall to Jamie’s room. He wasn’t there. Had he gone out? Why hadn’t he said anything to me? Gabe hadn’t followed me out of the tunnel. Was he really going to read when we were still fighting?

Argh! This was all such a mess.

 

My phone beeped with a new text. Oddly enough, it was from Sam.

 

Can we talk?

I blinked at it a few times, feeling weirdly mixed about what to do. Maybe we could hash out whatever made me hate him. Or maybe we’d just yell at each other a bit. It had to be better than the silence.
I sent back,
Where?
He sent me a link with a map to a park that was in

walking distance. Was he staying nearby? I loaded up the journals into a backpack I’d found and headed through the night. The air felt a little cooler, but still so much better than the cold Minnesota weather I had left behind.

Chapter 9

T
HE
park was a typical expanse of grass and trees, a playground to one end, benches on the other. It smelled unused, like earth, soil, and pollen, heaven to my nose. Sam sat on one of the benches farthest away from the road. His back to the trees, he gazed out at the street beyond. He looked a little more human than he had a few days ago, but still stared off in the distance with a blank expression.

I crossed the park, feeling a little uncomfortable with such a secluded setting. He must have gone out of his way to pick something comfortable for me and remote enough for him. The smell of blood made him hungry no matter how much he ate. Gabe told me it was normal, and that Sam would grow used to it. It sounded dangerous to me.

“Hey,” I whispered, afraid of startling him.

He threw me a tight, forced smile. “Sorry, was just thinking. You look okay.”
“Yeah. I’m okay. How are you doing?” And boy, wasn’t that a loaded question. I sat on the opposite side of the table from him.
“Seiran, you don’t have to be nice to me. I know you don’t like me, and that’s fine. Unlike the rest of the world, I don’t need your divine opinion to exist. I just don’t like seeing Gabe so torn.”
Ouch. Torn. What a word. Would Gabe pick Sam over me? Was that why he wasn’t talking to me? I swallowed hard, wondering if I’d survive him saying it was over. Probably not. My eyes betrayed me by tearing up, forcing me to look away from Sam and into the dark shadows of the tree line. “I don’t dislike you.” The words came out somewhat broken. What the hell did he mean, divine opinion? Since when did anyone value my opinion on anything?

Sam touched my hand and the power of earth flared up within me, almost bringing on my change to lynx. I had to rip myself away from his touch. Shit, that had been unexpected, but he was nodding. The residue of his power remained on my hand, stinging a little, like an electrical shock.

“This is my curse, Seiran. No one else can mentor me because I will fuck with their power. Gabe is all I have. If he abandons me, the Tri-Mega will kill me. The Dominion already wants to. Who knows what the Ascendance wants. It’s National Fuck Up Sam Year. Didn’t you know?”

“My year too.” Something else we had to share. The Ascendance would love Sam. He could probably make more powerful witches without killing anyone. It was a really bad idea for him to be around them. He’d made Kelly the Pillar of water and turned Jamie into a level-four witch, all without trying. I couldn’t imagine what he might do to my power.

“Look. You know there’s nothing between Gabe and me, right?” His brown eyes looked me over. “I mean, even without the hair, you’re breathtaking. You’re short, pretty, but have a great body. You’re smarter than most guys I know and have crazy power. I’m just Sam. I get it. I don’t know why you don’t.”

“But Gabe is spending all his time with you.” I probably sounded like a grade-schooler complaining, but Gabe had been hard won for me, even if battling my own emotions was the cause.

“Not really. He’s always working, trying to make the bar more efficient so he can take more time off. He’s been trying to convince Mike to take a manager role for ages. Then he works when you’re working, just so he can watch you. And good God, he can’t keep his eyes off you. I’m surprised you don’t feel him fucking you with his eyes.” He waved his hand. “These super senses I have really suck. Telling me when people are turned on, angry, or whatever. I hate always knowing. It makes me afraid of how people are affected by me.”

My brain moved like molasses to process all he said. Gabe watched me when I worked? Like a lover and not like a boss? And he wanted Mike to be manager? I’d wondered why the vampire had been picking up so many hours.

His last words made me study him again. “But you still feel things, your own things, not just other people’s things?”

“Uh, yeah. Like mad, sad, happy, whatever, yeah. Why?”
’Cause apparently that’s something vampires lose over

time
. Sam probably felt my jealousy and anger, but that didn’t stop him from pissing me off. “So you’re not attracted to Gabe?”

He looked uncomfortable. Damn. The jealousy roared to life in me again, rising up like a monster of the deep. I wanted to break Sam’s nose, maybe a limb or two. Instead I gripped the table to keep from lunging at him.

He sighed. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Huh?”
“You can create a protection bubble, right?” he asked.

I snorted. “Of course.” That was a Spell Casting 101 basic. The protection bubble kept magic from leaking out and harming others while in heavy use, but couldn’t stop major damage like earthquakes or floods. They also couldn’t be used anyplace that water disrupted the flow. Thankfully this little park appeared to be dry.

Sam motioned to the open area between the benches and the tree line. “Let’s do it, then.”

It took me about half a second to realize he meant he was going to fight me. Of course, he said he felt my emotions, but he didn’t wait for me. Sam leapt, picking me up like a doll and tossing me away from the table. I used the training Kelly had been giving me and turned the fall into a roll, but it still knocked the wind out of me. Sam landed on me just as I was stopping. “Create the bubble and let’s play.” His knee dug into my back. “I’m tired of everyone thinking you’re better than me. I’m sick of feeling you’re always an inch away from attackingme. Now is your chance. Do it!”

The lunge of his fangs toward my neck had me up and moving. I cast the spell with little thought, giving us enough space to move, while I kicked him in the back of the head with my heel. He paused but didn’t stop, so I awkwardly slammed the palm of my hand into one ear. He howled and rolled away.

I jumped to my feet, letting myself flex and prepare for the fight. The few weeks sparring and training with Kelly had given me some defense knowledge, but I knew if it came down to hand-to-hand combat, I’d lose.

Sam moved back until he hit the wall of the spell that trapped us in together and protected the rest of the world from our battle. “Good space,” he said. He launched himself at me again, speed blinding, but not as fast as Gabe.

I dodged left, throwing myself out of the way. “What’s the point of this, Sam? I beat you up, you beat me up. Who really wins?” That had always been the reason I never started it. No matter how much I wanted to choke him sometimes, nothing would change. But the way he moved meant he took it seriously. Would he kill me? For some reason I didn’t think so, and I had no intention of killing him, but he could probably hurt me pretty bad.

“Fight back, damn you!” He flew across the grass at me.

I put my hands to the earth and in a half second a dirt wall flew up between us. He slammed into it but moved around it too fast for me to counter. His fist found my face before I could react, snapping my head back, and I toppled to the ground. The pain stung briefly. Since he was already coming at me again, I didn’t have time to be shocked. I pretended to be more hurt, lying in wait, and when he lunged at me, I kicked upward with both feet, smashing into his torso and making him fly backward. He landed with a grunt but didn’t stay down long.