Duality (Cordelia Kelly #1): Empath Urban Fantasy (15 page)

Tara
.

“Tara? Honey, are you okay? Where are you?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know. He’s not moving. Something happened. I don’t know.”

Click.

The connection broke and the phone went dead in my hand. “Tara, oh no,” I whispered on a hoarse breath and gasped, every thought and battle screaming to the forefront of my head, my mind struggling to keep up, too much happened in such a short time. My heartbeat drummed in my ears and suddenly I couldn’t draw in enough air to breathe. Anxiety, along with numbing fear surged through my limbs and every place in between. A thin sheen of sweat covered my body. A collision of hot and cold slithered over my flesh, heat on the right, cold on my left, then they'd switch sides.  

The world spun out of control. I squeezed my eyes shut and a kaleidoscope of nightmarish visions streamed behind my eyelids. I saw the dead body of Dixon Sharpe laying at my feet, killed by me in righteous self-defense. I relived the joy of my near-death celestial visit with Grams, my dead maternal Grandmother. The horror of learning that Carol, my paternal Grandmother, was responsible for Gram’s death, and knowing she wanted me dead, too. In my mind, I saw the evil Pandora, who murdered my Grams on Carol’s orders, incinerated without a trace by my magic fire. I swallowed and shivered as I remembered the thrill of Pandora’s power and malignant energy coursing through my body.

How much more could I handle, alone?

I screamed, but no sound escaped my mouth. My eyes snapped open and Sol’s face filled my vision, his dark countenance marred with concern. No, I wasn’t alone anymore...I had Sol. He was my sunshine, my heart, and my soul. He’d saved my life in more ways than one. Without Sol I’d still be hopelessly lost and unable to merge my dual natures in harmony. I loved this man with every fiber of my being. I was safe, nestled in Sol’s strong arms.

I was glad he carried me because otherwise I might have collapsed. I finally had Sol back where he belonged, with me...but wait, where had he gone? I shook my head, trying to dislodge the fog and tingles.

His lips moved, but I couldn’t hear a word he said. In fact, I couldn’t hear anything other than my own ragged breathing.
What the fuck is going on? Am I losing my mind
? I opened my mouth to try to scream again, but Sol leaned forward and sealed his lips to mine. His thick tongue snaked inside my mouth and I kissed him with fierce desire as though he were my lifeline. My love and passion for him exploded in my heart. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tight. My eyes drifted closed as his kiss calmed my swirling mind and soon, sanity returned to the world.

“Hey, you two should get a room,” a disembodied voice shouted in the distance.

Sol broke our kiss and I opened my eyes. My vision was blurry, as though I was awakening from a dream. Sights, sounds, and smells assaulted my senses. I looked around and I couldn’t believe my eyes. We stood on the sidewalk somewhere in the shopping district. People walked by, either heading home from a long night of partying or going to start their work day. A Metro bus rolled by and a little old lady gawked out the window at us. The fumes from the bus’s exhaust almost choked me.

I shifted my eyes back to Sol’s face as a frown darkened his eyes. “Baby, are you ok?” he said.

I thought about his question for a moment, my mind still processing. I licked my dry lips and cleared my throat. “No, yes. I don’t know. We have to find Tara. What the hell just happened?”

“I heard the conversation. We’ll find her. Take a few deep breaths and settle yourself.”

He walked over to a nearby covered bench at the bus stop and sat me down. He plopped next to me and held my hand. I’d gotten used to Sol’s public displays of affection. In fact, I dare say I might secretly enjoy the touches. Not embarrassed anymore but filled with pride. His huge hand dwarfed mine and I drew strength from our bond. For the first time my senses cleared and I noticed Sol was missing his shirt. The sight of his bare chest suddenly made my nipples ache. His pants were bloodied and torn. I looked down and my clothes faired no better. My jeans had faux ‘designer’ rips in them, so most people would glance over the new tears, but my yoga jacket had a gapping blood stained hole over my heart. The fight with Pandora had taken a toll on our clothing. We couldn’t sit here for long or we’d be arrested for vagrancy, or asked where we'd hid the body. Neither boded well.

Sol squeezed my hand and smiled, while I tried hard not to stare at his well-defined chest. At some point during the fight, his ponytail had come loose and now his thick curly hair draped across his muscular shoulders. Whenever he wore his hair down, he reminded me of Scar from the Lion King. Not the personality, thank God, just in swagger and demeanor. Sol was the king of my heart. I had a sudden urge to bite him as if he was one of my favorite buttery croissants. Despite my wooziness, looking at his half-naked body made my sex twitch. My mind was seriously fucked up.

A flicker of amusement danced in his chocolate brown eyes and the corner of his mouth lifted in a wry smile. His handsome ass knew where my head had wandered. “Well, if I had to guess what happened to you, I’d say the effects of Pandora’s cloaking spell are finally wearing off,” he said.

I shook my head and scowled. I hoped utter confusion showed on my face because I had no idea what he was talking about.

He chuckled and I pinched his chest…hard.

“Hey, why did you pinch me?” he asked and tilted his head, studying me.

“Because pinching you felt good and because you laughed at me. Now stop whining and tell me about this damn cloaking spell.”

His eyes twinkled. “I wasn’t whining. You’re packing a lot of power in your petite, sexy body. I can barely wait to….”

Bless him for trying to lighten the moment. Minutes ago I had snuffed out a life, albeit an evil one, but a life nonetheless. Perhaps I should be disconsolate, but for now, I needed answers, so I cut him off. “Sol,” I cautioned.

A mix of emotions twisted his face as if he was trying to decide how much to tell me. I squared my shoulders and stared at him unblinking then opened our new mental link and kicked his metaphorical shins. "I’m a big girl Sol, I just kicked the wicked bitch’s ass, talk to me."

He sighed. “Pandora cast a cloaking spell over the entire alley where you two fought. I don’t know how you and Pandora ended up there, but when I found you, the spell was in full effect. The magic prevented any human from hearing or seeing what was going on in the alley. Didn’t you wonder why no one called the police with all the mayhem going on?"

"Not really, I was rather busy dying. People watching us was the last thing on my mind." I interrupted.

He closed his eyes then opened them and blew out a breath before continuing. "Because you’ve had no experience with how to see or hear through the cloak, it also muted your senses. The spell can also distort time. What seemed like minutes to someone under the influence of the spell, might actually be hours."

The sky above us turned a light dusty rose, sprinkled with orange. I glanced up, then tilted my head at him, waiting for him to keep talking.

"Yes. That’s why it’s sunrise now. When we left the alley the affects of the spell dissipated and your senses overloaded.”

My turn to sigh. “I’ve got a lot to learn. Shit, do all empaths know about this cloaking stuff except me? Can you teach me the spell? Hey, what kind of being was Pandora anyway?” 

Sol’s gaze bored right through me. For a brief instant, a dark shadow passed over his eyes and then it was gone. In its aftermath, an icy shiver raked my spine.

“Why are you looking at me as if I have a wart on my nose?”

“Pandora was the offspring of a dark witch and a dark Royal. She used her shadowy magic and her empathic heredity to wreck havoc on the souls of anyone who crossed her path. She toyed with humans the way a sociopath pulls the wings off butterflies.”

Crap, dark Royals are the original spawns of Lucifer, malicious empaths whose sole purpose in life is to rob the world of joy and happiness. Dark empaths existed to counter the light empaths created by God.

“I don’t suppose Pandora’s mother was Glenda the good witch? Is the reason she can cast a cloaking spell because she is part witch or is the magic something you can learn?”

Sol snorted. “Hardly, Pandora used to boast her lineage traced back to the infamous sorceress Morgana le Fay, the nemesis of King Arthur and Merlin. Yes, I'm fairly certain you need witch blood in order to cast the spells, but anything is possible. I've learned never to say impossible.”

Wonderful, this gets better and better. “And what else?” I prodded. “I know you Sol. I can tell when you’re holding something back.”

He scowled and his sudden serious expression made me nervous. “I can teach you certain techniques, but your powers are almost equal of mine, despite the fact I've more years than you. What you did to Pandora was…impressive to say the least. However, you will need to spend time at the Sanctuary, studying with the Masters to learn how to harness and focus your tremendous potential. My friend Kelvin is one of the top pedagogues at the Sanctuary. His lineage is Dark Royal father and a small amount of fairy from his mom. Unfortunately, his dark side is dominant and he likes it that way. Still, he’s a hell of a teacher.”

Sol watched my face intently. I supposed he was concerned about how I would react to this information about his friend who lost the battle to meld his dark and light natures though our lineages are way different. For the moment I was numb. 

I shrugged. "What the hell is a pedagogues?"

"Of all the information I told you, you latch onto one word?" He chuckled. "A pedagogue is a mentor."

"Why didn't you just say mentor? Why the dictionary lesson? Generally speaking, at least according to that famous author, you should use the common word so as to not make people feel stupid."

Sol’s voice came out soft and low. “I've lived a long time. My vocabulary is vast and I speak multiple languages. I'm sorry if the word I used was too big for your young ears. I'll keep that in mind." He raised a brow and the side of his lip quirked.

I let the banter go, too tired to play.

He sighed and continued. "As empaths, we absorb the emotions and feelings of others. However, as our powers manifest with time, we have the capacity to absorb the abilities of other supernaturals as well. Most empaths can only absorb small amounts of power from another supernatural, and often only temporarily." He got lost in the thought for a second then he shook his head and kept talking. "I wonder if you possess the capacity to permanently retain the power and mystical abilities of others. Apparently your Grams thought so.” His scowl deepened. “And so does Carol.”

“Is that why you’re able to shape shift? I blurted out.  

“Yes,” he said in a voice laced with worry. “Only very old empaths can manifest the power of shape shifting. Shape shifting is the most difficult power for an empath to absorb because the magic alters our DNA. I’ve been able to change for a few years.”

“How long does it take, exactly?”

He sighed. “For an empath to acquire the ability to change forms, it occurs over an extended period of time and requires multiple feedings off true shape shifters. Not all empaths live long enough to acquire the ability. Not to mention it’s not easy finding shifters who are willing to allow an empath to feed off their energy. There is no way to predict when an empath will acquire the ability or even if it will happen.” He paused and locked eyes with me. “When I fed off Zach I went berserk before my body adjusted to the magic in his blood.”

My senses overloaded, and now my brain seemed as though it might explode. Is this what the kids mean when they say too much information? I’d picked Zach up in a bar one evening with the plan to have a one night stand and ravish him. I hadn't been thinking clearly that night, thanks to the guilt and bad side effects I experienced after killing my would-be rapist Dixon Sharpe. Sol intervened and my moral compass kicked in before Zack and I had sex. I’d left the room while Sol feasted on Zack.

I opened my mouth and then closed it without speaking. My brain needed more time to process what I just heard. Slowly I connected the dots.

“Are you trying to tell me Zach is a shape shifter?”

His voice was flat. “Yes, Zach is a werewolf.”

My eyes widened and I shook my head in disbelief. “Wow, I had no idea. I knew there was something drawing me to him, but I couldn’t pinpoint the attraction. I should have known.”

“Cordy, in the state of mind you were in, you obviously didn’t care what he was…you just wanted to feel. It’s a good thing I interfered before you took from his energy, because you haven’t feed off the emotions of a shifter before. He might have changed into wolf form and ripped your throat out. Oh, least I forget, technically you bewitched and kidnapped a pack Beta. An indiscretion that could have made you an enemy of their pack and you really do not need any more enemies. Fortunately, I’m acquainted with the pack’s Leader, Seth Daniels, and I smoothed things over when I escorted Zach back to the pack’s territory.” Sol paused and winked at me. I wanted to punch him again. “Of course, it helped Zach is smitten with you.”

Now it was my turn to laugh. It was only the ass-crack of dawn, but I seriously needed a drink, or better yet, a cup of my coffee confection. I should have been surprised to hear Zack was smitten with me, but at this point, I was ready to believe anything.