Two Halves Series (78 page)

I looked at him inquisitively.

“I breathe, and so do you. I die, and so do you.”

Was this normal? For our lives to dependent on each other?

“What about the keepers’ inquisition?” I asked.

“They’ve already decided not to go ahead with it.” He smirked. “Come. Let me show you this life.”

I stepped behind Vulcan into an elevator which took us fifty stories down to the lobby. We strolled through the busy streets; each person we passed beamed with a different frequency of energy. Though we traveled like humans, without a vortex, time passed for me in a haze. The buildings, cars, and streets seemed to blend. The power Vulcan spoke of vibrated through my body. The life evaporating from the humans soaked my skin. Their exertion was our source of life. Everyone stepped out of our way.

We walked past a winding line of people waiting to enter a nightclub. I scanned the tops of their heads, wondering whether I’d recognized anyone, but the countless braids on the forefront of their heads extinguished that hope. Yes, that’s another thing I knew—I wouldn’t like a woman with braided hair. She’d have to be more natural. Face free of makeup. Fluttering hair. This crowd was over powered by women in their twenties: all powdered up and smelling of expensive perfumes. Did they bathe in the stuff? The spray tans varied from bright orange to dark brown. I liked the bronze skin, but natural, not tanned. Caramel, that would be nice.

Vulcan grazed to the front of the line, and I followed his lead. The security guard clicked open the rope for him, blocking off the crowd with his arms. We passed through a hall lit with black lights. Lasers, fog, and loud music lifted the room to an atmosphere I had not experienced before in this life. Caged women danced in their bikinis atop raised platforms. No, I didn’t like that.

We moved across the floor. I wasn’t sure how Vulcan was able to walk through the crowded bodies that seemed to rub off one another, but he did. People stepped out of his way. I felt a tingling in my neck, then understood his power of persuasion. A gift to make people do what he wanted without having to ask. That gift now belonged to me as well.

After we’d passed, they resumed their dance, moving to the sound of music like a unified wave. Each person bobbing like a drop of water, then blending into their partner.

Hidden out of direct view, we sat in a private booth cornered off by round velvet couches and white sheers gathered at each end of the cubicle. The fabric opened to the dance floor.

A waitress entered our secluded space, balancing a tray. Her white top rose just above the aquamarine gem in her belly button and hardly contained her spilling front. For a petite figure, her breasts seemed abnormal. The pumps gave her too much height; a pair of stilettos would have suited her much better.

She bent lower. “Straw?” Her bosom bulged with gravity’s pull but held in place.

My gaze flew to Vulcan as my brows narrowed.

“It’s what they do here.” Vulcan pointed to the crowd.

A girl tipped a straw into her companion’s mouth. He swallowed the powder, and his eyes turned white, almost translucent. Then she took a hit herself. He wrapped his arms around her, and they both swayed, lost to the blaring music, off beat.

“It’s a hallucinogen mixed with sugar to hide the bitterness of the drug.”

Sugar.

An overwhelming sensation flew through me. Like I’d forgotten something important. My insides warmed. The word strung deep within my heart. It sounded familiar and foreign at the same time, and I wondered where I’d heard it before. My pulse sped and head hurt as I tried to recall a memory that’d made me happy when I spoke the word. I felt Vulcan’s gaze on me, magically slowing my pulse, washing the happiness away until I couldn’t remember what I was thinking about. For a moment, my gaze flew toward the moving crowd in search for someone important, but I didn’t know who.

Then I forgot why I focused on the crowd. The tension in my muscles remained. My gaze returned to the glass container holding the white sticks.

“Why drugs?” I asked.

“It relaxes them. Looks like you need some too.” Vulcan picked two straws and nodded to the waitress to leave. She placed a flask of liquid and two glasses on our table before heading into the swarm on the dance floor.

I followed Vulcan’s lead and tipped the straw up. The powder dissolved on my tongue. The blended taste of sweet and bitter raspberries stirred in my mind.

My brother stood. “Enjoy what this club has to offer. I’ll see you in a few hours.” He winked, disappearing toward the bar. Before he’d left, his eyes paled, turning white.

The bitterness remained in my mouth, and I washed the taste with water. My sight became clearer and vibrant. I bit my lip, wishing to explore what the crowd had to offer. I stood up, and my pulse raced. The pack of dancers in front of me mashed together, but at the same time, I saw certain people, females in particular, stand out.

Brunettes.
I smiled. I could only see the dark-haired women with bronze skin; everyone else faded.

Not a bad drug after all
.

I moved forward, trying to control the urge to sway to the music. With my focus sharpened, I glided between the dancing divas. They pressed against me with hunger, and I let them take me away.

Eric? Where are you?

My eyes burst open. I scanned the room for the mysterious voice, but my focus remained on the brunettes.

Eric. I’m worried. What’s happened to you?

I realized I heard the voice in my head.

Who are you? And why am I hearing you in my mind?

It’s Sarah, Eric. Are you with Vulcan?
She took a longer pause.
Oh, no!

What? What happened?

Her voice didn’t come back. Who was she? Was it the drug? The name resonated with someone I once trusted. But Vulcan had told me not to trust anyone. Was she from my previous life?

A firm grasp on my shoulder startled me. “Are you enjoying, my brother?” Vulcan grinned, and I forgot my thoughts.

“I am.” I nodded at the brunette grinding against my leg.

“I have some business to take care of with that blond.” He motioned his head toward a secluded booth. “Come back to the apartment when you’re done here.” His grip tightened once more before he released me, then left.

I resumed the dance I’d been lost in. Another dark-haired woman butted in my partner’s place, but I didn’t really care. They were one and the same to me.

After an hour, new faces began to come in focus, the music didn’t seem to match my tempo, and my bladder felt at its capacity. I weaved through the masses toward the corner of the club, focused on the sign of a glowing muscle man. Inside the restroom, the release felt more liberating than I thought it would, and I was certain most of the hallucinogen had just emptied out of my body. When I stepped out, the music switched to a calmer beat.

It was just after midnight, and most booths were now filled with smooching couples. A face in the crowd made my next inhale sharp.

Who was that?

I pushed past the bodies lost in their own escapes. The face zoomed through the crowd again, then disappeared behind one of the cages in the middle of the dance floor. I’d never seen such skin color before, or have I?

Where are you?
I rushed toward the platform.

Was it the drug making me react to her this way? No, it couldn’t. The exhilarating pull I felt toward her was true. The silky caramel skin was one of a kind. One I’d been searching for unknowingly all along. No one else in the room had that particular tone. A color so sweet, only a goddess could wear it.

A goddess.

I imagined grazing my palms against her arms up to the neck to cup her face and taste her lips. My tongue would play under her earlobe, savoring its saltiness and sweetness at the same time. Then I would devour her in all ways a man could. The anxiousness rose through my body, and I couldn’t get past the swarm fast enough. Finally I reached the cage and made my way around it.

My mouth watered, and I saw her again. Three feet in front of me. Her eyes narrowed, and the rims of her pupils outlined concern. Perfect lips ajar just a little, inviting me in. My pulse raced as I stared at the creature I wanted to belong to.

“Hi,” she said. I heard apprehension in her tone. She rushed at me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and snuggling into my neck. I held her in a natural embrace, savoring her curves against my body. The rush of hormones exploded in my head, and there was no other place I’d rather be. Ever. This felt more right than I’d known all my life—although I didn’t remember my old life.

“Hi,” I replied.
Have we met before?
Her peppermint and raspberry scent overwhelmed my senses and stirred hidden memories of a past. The aroma flowed through my lungs, penetrating all tissue down to the bone. A flash of a forest appeared behind my eyelids, her naked body lying on a field of grass, covered with leaves and moss while my hand traced the outline of her curves. My lips followed a tiny path from her navel, to her chest, and up to the collarbone. When our eyes met, a divine smile stretched on her face.

Then the memory faded, and a new one began. I remembered admiring a young doe the same way—its fur shined an identical caramel coat, beckoning me in. And a cougar whose eyes beamed the same shade of gold this creature’s did.

My neck tingled, and the scene disappeared.

“What are you doing here? We were worried.” She held out an olive envelope I hadn’t seen before. Today’s date was scribbled on the cover. “If not for this, I wouldn’t find you. Is Vulcan here?” she whispered in my ear. Her breath warmed the side of my face.

“No. He left. What is this? You know Vulcan?” I asked.

She pulled away and covered her full lips. Her breathing deepened, and eyes widened.

No, come back. Don’t cover your face.
Did she fear me? Why did she take away the only moment of peace I knew? What did I do? What did I say?

“What’s my name?” Her eyes glistened, reflecting the flood lights from above. I saw the pulse in her jugular quicken.

“I… I don’t know. Should I know?” I asked, worried to say something else that would scare her.

“Dip it in extra sugar,” I overheard a server instruct his co-worker behind the bar.

Sugar.

“Sugar,” I said. “You’re Sugar.”

She shook her head. “You call me that, but what’s my name, Eric?”

I liked the way my name rolled off her tongue, but her voice was urgent and demanding. I heard a slight tremble in a tone she tried to disguise.

“You know me?” I took a step toward the beautiful creature who graced me with her presence. Why did her company make me feel so warm inside? What power did she hold over me?

My caramel goddess’s mouth opened in surprise, and she shook her head. “No.”

“She’s here to stop our mission. It’s time to leave, Eric,” Vulcan warned. He took a hold of my arm, and the quest to kill the keepers became number one priority in my mind again. No one could stop us. Including Sugar.

Vulcan hauled me back. My neck tingled, and I knew he was ready to return to the apartment. One more step back and I would leave.

“Wait.” I didn’t move from the spot.

“What did you do to him?” Sugar accused Vulcan, her voice strong and furious at the same time.

“Nothing he didn’t want done.” Vulcan’s eyes glistened an orange spark. “If you want to live, you will not interfere.”

“You don’t know who you’re threatening,” she growled.

The contours of her face sharpened, and darker shades outlined her jaw. Sugar took an offensive stance. Her eyes narrowed, and cheeks firmed. I thought I recognized anger build up inside her, and her skin took on a greenish shade. Her incisors sprang onto her lower lip like a vampire.

I inhaled.
No, she’s not a vampire.

She seemed like a different creature. I liked it. None of the other women here intrigued me as much as she did, and I wanted to know more about her. It wouldn’t take much for Sugar to launch at Vulcan. A second perhaps. No, quicker. But I didn’t want her to get hurt; that’s what Vulcan wanted. His spite brewed inside me. Why would my brother want to hurt this woman? I wouldn’t stand in his way if he fancied someone, so why would he not allow me to get to know her?

“Neither do you,” Vulcan warned, squaring his shoulders. A long rumble escaped from the back of his throat.

People moved away, leaving us in a semicircle. On the outside, they didn’t seem to notice, like they’d all been hypnotized, or perhaps still drugged on the straws. They continued their dance, oblivious to our oncoming quarrel.

I looked from Sugar to Vulcan and back again, perplexed. Vulcan’s eyes told me it wasn’t the first time he’d seen my caramel goddess. Did he want her for himself? No, I couldn’t let that happen.

My brother squeezed my shoulder, and his fury transferred to me. Waves of revulsion made their way toward my insides. The rage boiled in my veins the same way it had in his. Vulcan was prepared to strike Sugar with enough force to kill her, and now, so was I.

Why? How?

The anger swelled with each second, and I felt the same spark of hate in my eyes as Vulcan had. The tingling in my neck intensified as electricity zoomed through my body toward my fingertips. Yes, this is what I wanted. I wanted to bend. But not her. I couldn’t imagine hurting this beautiful creature and fought Vulcan’s influence.

“Don’t, Vulcan.” I took his arm off mine, and my anger pacified.

Vulcan stepped back; his eyes clouded, and jaw tensed. The brisk flame disappeared from around his pupils.

Did I do that?

“We share our powers,” I remembered Vulcan explain.

Could I control his behavior the way he controlled mine—the way he seemed to control everyone around him?

“You’re strong but not yet strong enough to stop me, brother. She will die if we don’t leave,” he threatened, resuming his intimidating growl toward Sugar.

“You’re not going anywhere, warlock.” A male voice sounded from beside the goddess.