Dominion 4 - Ascendance (8 page)

He moved like a ninja on an assassination mission to save his country, flipping back upright, shaking it off, and heading my way again.

The ground could give me strength, but it couldn’t give me skill. Sam knew how to fight. I was just learning. I staggered to my feet, feeling the warm trickle of blood on my face. He circled me, waiting; for what, I didn’t know. I pulled strength from the earth, let it pour the power into me to make a shield of invisible magic. When Sam struck, the force rebounded him back, slashing through him like a lightning bolt. Before becoming Pillar, I would have never had this kind of control. Now it was as easy as breathing.

This time it took him a little longer to shake it off, and he bled too. I released some of the power back to the earth and sought within the recesses of the soil for strong and willing roots. They moved for me, breaking free and snapping at him. The limbs were thick and grabbing, like some dark octopus rising from the ground. Several roots grabbed his legs. He took them in both hands and ripped them apart.

That stung. The earth admonished me with a pulse of pain before raising thicker brown limbs to the surface. Sam fought with them for a few minutes before putting his hands to the ground and forcing it to move beneath me. I struggled to keep my footing while the earth shook. Then another root popped free and wrapped around my waist, dragging me toward him. He was borrowing my power.

Dammit!

I touched the root, forcing it to curl away, and instead it writhed, shifted, and became a growing sapling. The others coming at me met the same fate, but Sam didn’t stop. He wove around the new trees like some sort of superhero in a comic book. When he got to my side we both moved in unison, fists flying—me thrusting the earth into my punch, and him with all his vampire strength.

The bright lights and sudden overwhelming pain were unexpected. I think I lost consciousness for a few seconds, then blinked my way back to the surface of myself. The bubble of protection had burst. I hurt, but the earth power pulsing through me healed me just as fast, repairing busted veins. Something about being in California brought me closer to the earth, gave me more power, or maybe that was just Sam again.

I struggled to sit up, finding it hard to breathe even as the pain began to recede.

Sam lay about twenty yards away. He moved slowly, a hand to his chest, and shook his head from side to side. The sound of his wheezing and cursing reached me and made me laugh. Wow, we’d really beaten the shit out of each other. And what had we gained?

I touched the blood that still trickled from my skull. He had blood in his lungs, I could smell it. It wouldn’t kill him, but it probably hurt pretty badly. I limped to his side. He flinched, but I put a hand to him and to the earth, pouring the healing into both of us. The shock on his face told me he hadn’t expected my help.

“Are you done now?” I asked him. The power I’d been playing with had taken its toll, making me really tired. Even I could handle only so much of the earth at once.

“You are both done,” a voice said from closer to the street. Gabe crouched beside a nearby tree. How long had he been there? He didn’t look angry, but he didn’t look happy either. He’d changed clothes since I saw him last, now wearing jeans and a T-shirt. When he approached us, I felt his nudge to our link and opened for him. His worry flooded me. “Were you trying to kill each other?”

I flushed, feeling a bit foolish even though I hadn’t started the fight. Sam looked away from both of us.

“Come on, let’s get you bandaged up.” Gabe pulled us with him, and then dragged us away from the park and toward their hotel, probably. Neither Sam nor I protested. We followed along quietly. I couldn’t look at either of them. Had I really used my Pillar power to try to mess up a vampire I was jealous of? How stupid was that? I could have hurt Sam just ’cause I was pissed off.

Chapter 10

T
HE
hotel was pretty plain, but the windows had coverings specific for vampires. The place had two beds, one unmade, the other done up military style like Gabe always did. He shoved me to his bed and dropped Sam to the other before disappearing into the bathroom. The water ran for a moment, then he returned with a first aid kit and a couple of damp towels.

“That was really stupid. What were you thinking?” He handed a towel to Sam, who wiped off his dirty face. He’d already healed and the blood had begun to dry. Gabe dabbed at the cut on my forehead; apparently it still bled, because it made him frown. It stung a little, but the embarrassment of the fact that we had been fighting over him mattered more.

“Seriously?” Gabe asked. He glanced at Sam. “Fighting over me?”

“Not just you,” Sam protested. “I’m just tired of everyone always thinking Seiran is better than me. Pillar, earth witch, whatever.”

Did he think I wanted all this? To be Pillar, to be singled out? I sighed.

Gabe pulled a bottle of some type of glue bandage out of the kit and squeezed the wound together while painting it on. I tried not to move, though it hurt. “Sei?”
“He started it,” I protested. He’d come at me.

“And you could have put him in a binding spell and ended it immediately. I know Jamie has been teaching you and Kelly defensive spells. Sam’s not a witch. He can’t counter your spells, even if he borrows your power. He’s shown no control over spells. All he can do is enhance and redirect ones others create.”

True. I hadn’t even thought of it. I guess I really had wanted the fight. The sad thing was it hadn’t solved anything.

“What is there to solve?” Gabe sounded exasperated. “You fly out here without telling anyone, slam the door in my face, and then decide you need to beat the crap out of Sam. Please tell me what this is doing for you?”

“I came here because I wanted to learn about my dad.”
And to get away from the growing gap between us.

“And you couldn’t have said, ‘Gabe, let’s go to California so I can learn about my dad?’ A relationship isn’t just about love and great sex, Sei. It’s about compromise, talking to the other person, and trust.”

“Like you’re one to talk! You never tell me anything.”

“I don’t tell you things that can hurt you, Seiran. You have enough trouble in your life—I know I don’t need to burden you with mine.”

“You just said a relationship is about compromise and talking to each other. What do you think that means? I don’t want your crap any more than you want mine, but I’m here to help you deal with it, whether you like it or not. So stop being an ass and share already.”

His shocked expression meant I probably got through. I totally expected him to throw me out or rage at me again, but he said nothing.

“I was stupid for just up and coming here. I know that.” My cheeks felt hot. The moment that had driven me to go seemed unimportant now. It had been the pride Gabe felt toward Sam. I wanted him to be proud of me, love me, and not some ex-boyfriend cast-off. “You were proud of him. I felt it through the bond. I was jealous, and so I made a bad decision. We all fuck up, even you, Gabe.”

Gabe burst into movement again, blotting away the rest of the blood. He spoke quietly. “I am proud of him. He’s learning fast, working hard to hold back the hunger and only take what he needs. The first few months are horrible for a new vampire. More than half have to be put down because they can’t handle it.” He put away the kit and glared at both of us, who were covered in dirt. “The faster he learns, the faster he can live without constant supervision. I’m not doing this for me, Sei.” He sat back on the bed next to me and swept his fingers through his hair. “Yes. I fuck up too. I will try to share more. It’s just hard. Been alone a long time.”

I stared at him, feeling foolish and tired, but no way could I sleep alone tonight. Whatever stupid things we did to each other, I still loved him, and he loved me. I felt it through the bond. He needed me more than anything, and I needed him too. “All things worth fighting for take work, right? I’m willing to work on this, on
us
, if you are.”

He nodded, palmed the back of my head, and pulled me in for a kiss. His lips on mine felt so sweet, water after a drought to my parched earth. “I’m sorry,” he whispered between little kisses and flicks of his tongue.

Sam cleared his throat, got up, and threw his dirty towel into the bathroom. “Do I have to be here for this?”

The comment made me want to punch him again. Gabe kissed my forehead and the emotion suddenly vanished into a calm sea of peace inside my mind. I felt very tired when all the adrenaline from the fight rushed out of me.

The hotel looked iffy, but if Gabe stayed here, I’d have to try. The shake began in my hands, warning me of a pending panic attack. The nausea in my gut swirled like it hadn’t in weeks. Had I taken my pills? Yes. Religiously. Jamie had been good at drilling that into me. Exhaustion could bring on the attacks despite the medication, and I’d pushed myself pretty hard. Still, I had no reason to feel this shaken up.

“Do you have your phone on you?” Gabe asked.

“Yeah.” If it hadn’t been broken in the fight. I pulled it out of my pocket. The gorilla glass I’d paid extra for was still intact. The thing seemed to be working okay.

“Call your brother, please.”

I frowned at him. Was something wrong with Jamie? I’d just talked to him a few hours ago. After hitting the speed dial, the phone rang in my ear. Hopefully he wasn’t asleep yet.

Jamie picked up on the third ring. “Sei?”

“Yeah, what’s up?” At three o’clock in the morning. I glanced at my watch.
“You’re okay? Kelly said he got a text, but I’ve been so busy with Hanna….”

Huh? “What’s wrong with Hanna?” Is that why he’d disappeared from the house?

 

“She was bleeding.”

My weary brain took another minute or so to process that. Then it clicked that she was girl bleeding, and probably shouldn’t be since she was pregnant with our babies. Now the panic was really eating at me. “Are the babies okay? Is Hanna okay?”

“They’re all fine. Resting. Hanna is on bed rest for now. It happens sometimes, but we’re keeping an eye on her.” My stomach flipped over. “Where are you?”

“At home right now. I left Hanna’s after midnight once she was tucked in. Ally said she’d call me if anything went wrong. Kelly’s got his phone on too, just in case.”

He was at home, like Minnesota home? With Kelly? How was that possible? “When did all this happen? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“I got the call after we dropped you off with your gifts. Your phone kept going to voice mail, and I’d already left a message. I figured you’d call. Kelly said he got your text but hadn’t heard from you since. I didn’t want to worry you.”

So he’d never left home. The room suddenly seemed to spin. Who had I let into my house? Who had hugged me when I cried? Gabe’s arm snaked around my waist. He had my phone for some reason. He spoke to Jamie. I just let the last few days replay in my head, heart pounding like crazy. “Come home with me,” I begged Gabe.

“Are you going to let us in this time?”

He’d already been inside. But my heart thumped in a crazy beat while my head replayed those moments. Something had been off about him. That “something” meaning it hadn’t been him. Oh blessed earth. Someone was pretending to be Gabe and Jamie; at least I hoped it was the same person both times. I’d let them in the house, past the wards that had been built up for decades, and hadn’t even felt the difference? What was wrong with me?

My world dissolved into black and white stars spinning about my head. The room lost all its air. Gabe was saying something, his arms wrapped around me, but I couldn’t understand the words. His voice broke through in my head first.
Sei?

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to me, not for a kiss, but to sniff his hair, which smelled like that awful fake cucumber-mint shampoo he always used.

“I invited someone in. Another vampire, I think.” I had invited Jamie in. Only it obviously wasn’t Jamie. Was there a way to undo it? Who was it? Max? But then why introduce himself to me if he was already pretending to be Jamie? And then at the fairy ring, only to meet me back at the house as Gabe? Who else could it be? Caleb? Timothy? Mr. Odagiri? My heart seemed to be beating too fast for me to catch my breath, and my sight was spotted with black dots.

Gabe and Sam led me out to a rental car. Sam got behind the wheel while Gabe and I sat in the back. I couldn’t focus my mind enough to even care where we went. Maybe they would just take me home to Minnesota. But what if whoever was in my dad’s house destroyed something? Maybe took something that would have led me to more information on my father? I blindly reached for the bag with the journals in it and found it in Gabe’s lap. The tremble in my limbs shook me like a seizure. I couldn’t breathe.

“Sei, you need to focus on my voice, okay? Your mind is retreating to your cat form. Don’t let the panic force the change. We can fix this, but I need you functioning as a human, not a lynx.”

“Are there vampires who can change shape?” Sam asked from his seat behind the wheel.

“No. Whoever is doing this is good at illusions. To fool an earth witch of Sei’s level, he’d have to be really damn powerful too.”

The earth welled up around me, offering comfort and peace, rest. A sharp pain pierced my arm. I blinked away the stars and looked at Gabe, who’d pinched me really hard. That would bruise.

“Stay with me, Sei.” He kissed my cheek, then the other, his lips like soft caresses. My right hand gripped his blond curls so hard it probably hurt, but he didn’t pull away or reprimand me. He tried to hold me still, keep the shaking down, but my teeth chattered. I was losing focus again. “Seiran Rou, you will stay with me,” his voice commanded. “Breathe, calm and slow. I’m here.”

The fire of our mingled blood kicked at me, telling me to obey. He didn’t often use that power. Having become his focus had faded most of the ability. Yet I wanted to give myself over to his control. The tears that blurred my sight and the feelings of helplessness would pass eventually. If I could give him the reins, he would take away the fear, steer me back to a sound mind.

“We’ll have to put up new wards. I can’t do that. Even with his power,” Sam was saying.