The Dawn of Dae (Dae Portals Book 1) (30 page)

The scorn in Rob’s voice helped, but I wasn’t sure why. His opinion didn’t matter to me.

That he shared my disgust and loathing soothed me a little. “I don’t understand. He’s weak? He can turn into a living pillar of flame.”

“There are two primary types of dae. There are external types, like me, and there are internal types. Internal types usually manifest as shifters, what you’d call a vampire, and others. Ah, what do you call them nowadays? Witches? It’s as good a word as any, I guess. I suppose you’d best label them as magic users. Fire-breathers are usually internal, but they sometimes manifest as external. Judging from how he wanted to use you, he’s likely an externalized dae who consumed his bonded human. Now he has no one to give him strength and has to harvest power elsewhere.”

“Harvesting.” Saying the word was enough to make my stomach churn. “And how do you feed?”

Rob’s eyes widened, and he stared at me for a long moment before sighing. “That’s a rather personal question, Miss Daegberht. Many dae would view that as a rather significant breach of their privacy—and get violent with you for even asking. You can control a dae if you know how to cut off his or her source of energy.”

“Are you going to get violent with me?” I challenged.

Laughing, he shook his head. “If you want to know how I feed, then you’ll have to share something equally personal with me. I would be giving you a very potent weapon against me. You can begin by telling me your kidnapper’s name.”

I scowled. “And I already told you he’s mine.”

“Don’t be greedy, Miss Daegberht. I propose we work together to rid Earth of him. I’ll ensure you can take him out when he’s on even footing with you.”

“No. It’s more satisfying if I do it myself. I’ll break him.” I lifted my chin and glared. “I want to see his face when he realizes he’s been ruined and beaten by a human.”

“The way you say that, it makes me think you believe humans are inferior.” The disapproval in Rob’s voice cut deep.

“Aren’t we?” I demanded, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

There was a sad quality to Rob’s smile. “Why would you say that?”

“I can’t breathe fire, I can’t turn into a dragon, I can’t drink blood like one of those vampires, I can’t—“

“You met a vampire?” Rob straightened, and once again, his eyes hardened to glittering diamonds, bright blue and shining.

“Well, yes,” I stammered.

“Did you feed a vampire?”

“I thought I was on drugs, so I went to get tested, and I got a tattoo at the same time. It’s no big deal. Clean girls sell their blood so druggies can beat the system. It’s done all the time. Turns out I was clean. I needed the money.”

Rob scowled. “You really shouldn’t just give you precious blood away like that.”

“Precious?” I blurted. “What, are you a vampire, too?”

“No, I’m not a vampire.”

“He paid me good money for it,” I replied, clenching my teeth. “I didn’t give it away.”

“He didn’t pay you enough.”

The unexpected reply caught me by surprise, and I was silent a long time thinking about it. I had done well enough for myself, progressing through schooling and succeeding when so many others failed. I doubted Arthur and Donald’s discussions of my worth, but the way Rob spoke made me hesitate.

I was a child of the fringe, a dock ward rat who fed off the scraps of the rest of society. My status as a Bach student elevated me, but on a probationary status. I hung between the castes, welcomed nowehere, not until I proved myself or failed trying.

“You don’t even know what he paid me,” I snapped, deciding it didn’t matter what Rob thought. “Who cares? I’m not a dae. I can’t vomit fire, turn into a wolf man, or fly, or do anything like your kind can.”

“You don’t understand what we are,” Rob replied, and he sighed. “A woman like you will never have a dae.”

“What do you mean by that?” I searched for any sign of his usual smugness, but his expression was serious. If he so much as smirked, I was going to rearrange his face for him with my fist.

“If you want to know, Miss Daegberht, I’m going to have to insist you share your kidnapper’s name with me.”

“You’ll kill him.”

“That is the idea.”

“He didn’t do anything to you.”

“He hurt you. That’s the only reason I need.”

My mouth dropped open, but I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. By the time I regained my wits, Rob was grinning at me. My face burned. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“You’re so flustered, Miss Daegberht. Let’s make a deal. Tell me his name. In exchange, I will tell you everything that has happened since you were kidnapped and explain why you’re so valuable to him. If I can, without putting you at risk, I will even tolerate you getting your revenge personally. Make no mistake, however. I will destroy him if he hurts you again.”

I straightened as I thought it through. Rob wanted to lay some sort of claim on me, just like Arthur did. Did Rob want me because he could also harvest
something
from me? If he fed from pain, he was doing a miserable job of sustaining himself. What did Rob want from me?

He had to have a reason for wanting me.

When I thought of it that way, it was easier to ignore the way he stared at me and concentrate on his offer. I frowned, staring down at my hands. He wasn’t a vampire, but he was interested in my blood. What made me special to him?

“You’ll also tell me how you feed and what it has to do with me,” I demanded. “For that, I will tell you his name.”

Rob frowned, meeting my glare with one of his own. “That’s a hard bargain you’re driving.”

“Do you want to know who he is or not? And don’t even think of lying to me, Rob. If you do and I find out, I’ll kill you right along with him.”

“I’m beginning to see where Kenneth Smith went wrong with you,” the dae replied, his tone full of his satisfaction. “He truly had no idea what he could have had with you. I will not make that mistake.”

“You’re speaking in riddles. Do you agree to my terms or not?”

“Very well, Miss Daegberht. I will tell you what you want to know in exchange for his name. I keep my word. However, I do insist you allow me to aid in your revenge. He may be weak, but he’s still dangerous.”

It took every bit of my will to swallow my pride. I reminded myself several times I wasn’t asking Rob for his help; he was demanding to assist with my plans. I could use Rob to obtain my revenge. If I learned more about the dae, dealing with Arthur would be easier—much easier. “Fine.”

“What’s his name?” Rob demanded.

“Arthur. His name’s Arthur Hasling.”

In Rob’s smile I saw Arthur’s death.

Chapter Nineteen

We stared at each other for a long time, and I had no idea why I refused to be the one to break the silence. There was a challenge in the way the dae glared at me, and I answered it by clenching my teeth and scowling at him.

Rob pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear. He met my gaze and pressed a finger to his lips. I kept on glaring at him.

“Find Arthur Hasling. When you do, call me.” Without waiting for an answer, Rob hung up and returned the phone to his pocket. “Having a name will make hunting him down far easier. Then we can deal with him once and for all.”

“Who did you call?”

“Someone who owes me a rather large favor at the moment. Ask your questions. My word is good, and I owe you information.”

“Start with what happened at the college. All I know is Arthur didn’t want the children to be used by the elite,” I said, tucking my feet close to me and snuggling into the blanket. “He decided the problem could be solved with a liberal application of fire. Colby was with me.”

I didn’t understand how my roommate had survived, but I wouldn’t question it. Grateful it had survived, I clutched at the blanket for the soft comfort it offered. A yawn slipped out of me before I could stifle it.

“You’re going to fall asleep and make me explain it twice, aren’t you?” Rob accused.

“Maybe.” I yawned again on purpose to annoy him. “Telling me twice won’t kill you.”

“It might.”

“Excellent. I’ll use it as the foundation of my plan to get rid of you once you’ve outlived your usefulness.”

Rob laughed. “You’re something else, Miss Daegberht. I’m afraid you’ll have to work a little harder than that to get rid of me.”

“Pity. Start talking. What happened?”

“How familiar are you with hurricanes?”

“Hurricanes?” The sudden change of subject threw me for a loop, and it took me several moments to force my thoughts to shift gears. “The storms? We get them here sometimes. What does this have to do with Arthur?”

“You’re aware of the structure of a hurricane?”

“The basics, at least,” I replied. “It’s a big storm with an eye.”

“He fashioned a firestorm similar to a hurricane; the temperatures in the eye were low, with the flame illusionary in nature. Outside of the eye, he increased the heat and lethality, using a hurricane’s spinning formation to suck in air to feed the fire. Most of the survivors were in the eye, close to where he grabbed you, or outside of the storm itself. He lit several of the campus buildings on fire, killed a bunch of dae on his way to the gates, and made his escape under the cover of smoke. It’s unknown how many accomplices he had, unfortunately.”

Rob fell quiet, and for a moment, I thought something across the room had captured his attention. When he shook his head and sighed, I wondered what he wasn’t telling me.

“And?” I demanded.

“Of the children, he kidnapped thirty of them, killed three, and the others escaped. Most of them were critically injured and are still recovering at the hospital.”

I tensed as what he told me sank in. “He killed children.”

When I killed Arthur, I would add interest to the suffering he caused me and give him a taste of what he’d done before finishing him off.

“Yes, he did.”

I wasn’t about to ask for Rob’s help. I was merely guaranteeing I had sufficient backup and the necessary resources to cause the maximum amount of suffering before I ended Arthur’s miserable life. “That list of yours. The one with the cuts and shit.”

“What about it?”

“My feet hurt a lot, and I’m pretty sure I’m dying of some sort of plague. Add those to the list. It’s also going to cost me a lot of money to get good weapons. That should be added, too.”

Rob stared at me, and after a moment, his mouth twitched until he grinned. “Understood. Consider it done.”

“From my understanding, they didn’t cooperate with him, so he lashed out. He gave them a choice to come with him willingly or die. Witnesses claim he was carrying you at the time, making everyone wonder if you were his original target.”

“Why would he want
me
?”

“You’re unawakened,” Rob replied, and his eyes turned a steely gray-blue. “Most dae probably think you’re an aberration, but Arthur likely realized you could fuel his fire the instant he got near you. He probably consumed his partner during the dawning. Free dae are beginning to learn the consequences of murdering their creators.”

“Their creators?” I blurted. “The dae were created?”

“By humans, yes.” Rob leaned against the back of the couch and stretched out his legs. “It’s more complicated than is easily explained, but I’ll try to simplify it. We’re created from the stuff that dreams are made of.”

“The stuff that dreams are made of,” I echoed, wondering what Rob meant. “That makes no sense.”

“That’s because you don’t have your head in the clouds.”

I was pretty sure I was at least a little high, considering Rob was sitting right beside me and I didn’t mind it too much, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead of making an ass out of myself, I shrugged.

“Of all the species on all the worlds, humans are truly the most interesting,” Rob said, drawing a deep breath to sigh. “So many of them spend so much time grasping for something so far out of their reach they have no hope of ever achieving it.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You don’t chase dreams. You make goals, you make plans, and you do it. You don’t ask for help because you are so determined to create your success with your two scarred hands. Hands tell a story, Miss Daegberht. You don’t need a dae.” There was something rueful about Rob’s scowl, and he snorted. “You don’t want one, either.”

“I could see uses for breathing fire and flying.”

“Do you want them enough to rely on someone—something—else to get them?” Rob crossed his arms over his chest and arched a brow.

“Bite me.”

The way Rob smiled and leaned towards me sent a shiver racing from my head all the way down to my toes. “I’d like that. Seems fair, since you’ve bitten me several times already.”

I scooted away from him, sliding along the leather couch. “Figure of speech, not an invitation.”

Rob pouted. “What if I asked really nicely and said please?”

“Why don’t you tell me why I can’t have a dae,” I suggested.

Wrinkling his nose, Rob ceased pursuing me to return to the arm of the couch. “Dae are created from the dreams, wishes, and desires of their bonded humans—from the
unobtainable
dreams, wishes, and desires of their humans.”