Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1) (41 page)

Rhyse ordered Graham to drink from his wrist.
Addison wasn’t sure he should be giving that stuff away, but Rhyse
had been living in that body for a few centuries now and probably
knew how it worked better than she did.

When she approached the demon, she did so
slowly, because she knew next to nothing about demons, and it
looked hugely pissed off.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Davyn shouted
as he reached out to push her away, stopping his hand an inch from
her and yanking it away. “Don’t break the pentagram! He’s a
level-seven.” He glared at her, staying back. “You sure about her,
Vamp?”

“Yes,” Rhyse called back, still with
Graham.

“So level-seven is bad?” she asked the
demon.

“You could say that. But feel free to let him
go if you want to be responsible for a whole bunch of unsanctioned
deaths and some serious mayhem. But I wouldn’t touch him if I were
you.” Then he explained, “Level-sevens aren’t nearly as dangerous
as eights or nines, but in certain circumstances,
any
demon
is deadly. Even really, really extra nice ones like me.”

Addison kinda doubted that.

“And in this kind of situation—not that I’ve
ever seen or heard of or imagined this kind of situation—our
physiology makes our skin lava-hot. Too much stress is unhealthy.
Too much demon stress is deadly, for everyone
but
the demon.
If you touch him now, all of your pretty flesh will melt right off.
Make what happened to your vamp look like a suntan. So I’d suggest
you find somewhere else to stand until we send the seven back where
he belongs.”

“No!” the demon yelled in a panic. “Don’t
send me back. Not yet.”

“Calm the fuck down, and we can talk about
giving you more time topside, okay? I’m sure we can come up with a
timeline that works for everybody, big guy.” He turned to her and
made a face, mouthing,
“No fucking way.”
He pointed to
her
. “Break the line in
—
”
He held up three fingers,
lowering them one by one. Addison jumped forward, sweeping her
hands over the line at the same exact moment Davyn’s arm whipped
out to grab the other demon by the throat and disappeared.

Addison looked for some kind of explanation,
but Rhyse was in a deep discussion with Graham.

By sundown, things seemed at least partially
taken care of and everyone outside of their immediate circle—if you
could call it that—couldn’t remember anything about a being called
dat vitae.

“How are you feeling?” she asked Rhyse.

“You do not want me to answer that
question.”

“Well, at least you have your looks
back.”

He drew her in for a kiss. “Thank the powers,
because what other reason could there possibly be for you to enjoy
my company?”

“What gave you the idea that I enjoyed your
company even
with
your looks?” She smiled. “When are you
going to turn Graham?” He’d go back to being a newbie—little power,
no control—but he’d been loyal to Rhyse and pretty much saved the
entire zone, so she imagined Rhyse would want to keep him
close.

“I am not sure I will.”

“You have to! This better not be some weird
possessive thing, I
told
him to drink from me and he only
agreed because, for some unknown reason, he worships you.”

“It is his choice, and he has decided to
remain human for a time. But of course I will turn him if, and
when, he desires to return. I may imbue some of my power into
him.”

“Imbue your what?”

“I forget how little you know about us. When
a vampire shares their blood, he or she can choose to pass on other
attributes with it. Strength, a particular personality trait, a
talent. Things of that nature. But it is not common and can only be
done by vampires of a certain power, age, and skill.”

“Have you ever done it?”

“Perhaps,” he said, smirking.

What did the smirk mean?

A few days later, Addison had recovered,
physically at least. She barely left Rhyse’s side, only feeling
safe when he was touching her. But this couldn’t be the rest of her
life. Things had to change.

So the next morning, she sat at the kitchen
table across from a very irritated Logan. “You look a lot better.”
Still a little pale and tired-looking, but a lot better. “How was
your trip?” Nervous smile on her side, more irritation on his.

“Great. Your boyfriend’s a hell of a
snuggler. It would’ve been nice to have a little warning before he
kidnapped me, though. Because nobody likes to be kidnapped twice in
the same week. Once is totally normal, but twice? Shame on him for
not knowing that.”

“It was the only way to get you here.” She
needed to speak to him in private, far away from any super, and the
only place she could do that was at Rhyse’s mountain house. Rhyse
thought Logan was here so she could say goodbye, and Logan had no
idea why he was here. “You wouldn’t have wanted him to accidentally
drop you somewhere along the phase, would you?”

In the barn, Logan had been so weak and out
of it he hadn’t been aware of what happened or the part Addison had
played in it. But it was time to come clean with her best
friend—her most trusted friend, a guy who’d been tossed around in
the Heights more than anyone else she knew.

“I…well, I…” Not the world’s most eloquent
beginning.

He sighed. “Are you gonna tell me what the
fuck is going on, or should I just guess? Here’s what I got so
far.” He held up his index finger. “Number one: The vamp knocked
you up and you want me to be the kid’s godfather.” Then he tucked
the finger into his fist. “Can’t be that because it would have to
be a miracle baby, and we all know miracles don’t happen.”

He held up his finger again. “Number two:
They’re going to make you an angel because you’re so honest and
forthcoming with your friends.” The finger disappeared into the
fist. “Sure as shit can’t be that.”

Before he gave her the finger again, she
said, “I’m part of a race that has been extinct for a couple
hundred years.”

He shrugged. “Okay, we’ll call that number
three. Why not? It’s as good as any I came up with.”

“Except mine’s the truth.”

“Is it the long-term exposure to the dusting
powder?” he asked, laughing. “I knew that stuff wasn’t safe for the
living. It’ll put you in the loony bin.” Then his smile fell and he
grabbed her hand in his. “Oh, shit.”

She sighed. He understood. “You’re not afraid
of me or anything, right?”

“Afraid? Fuck no. The whole thing with your
mom seemed really weird when you told me because I’d never heard of
it. So if it’s not the mind-scraping…” He squeezed her hand. “Is
there any kind of medication that will help?”

Okay, maybe he didn’t understand. “What are
you talking about?”

“Lots of people with mental illness live
normal lives, Add. I mean, not your mom, but you…” His lips clamped
shut and ran both hands over his face. “I’m screwing this up. I’m
sorry. What should I do?”

“I’m not mentally ill, Loge, and neither is
my mom. She
was
wiped too many times, and I
was
telling the truth.” She leaned closer. “Have you ever heard of the
dat vitae?”

“Is it something your mom gets?”

“This isn’t about my mom! The dat vitae are a
kind of super. But they were all wiped out a really long time ago.
Because of what they—
we
—can do.”

He pulled his hand out of her grip. “What are
you talking about?”

“Dat vitae means Bringer of Life.” She went
through the list of each race and what would happen if they came in
contact with her blood. “That was why M and Rhyse wanted to know if
you could see them as they really are—because you touched the blood
on my dress.”

“I
could
see them.”

“I know.” She couldn’t take his disbelief
personally—she wouldn’t have believed it either. “Best guess is
that the blood loses power with exposure to air. It worked on the
were because he bit me.”

“That dog…”

“Was a were, yeah.”

“The witches. You stopped them?”

“Yeah. By taking away their magic.”

“Take away mine,” he said quietly.

“No! No, I can’t.”

“Why not? If you take it away, I won’t have
to go back to the box. Or to her. I can be human. Fuck, Add. Think
of it—a normal life.” His smile grew from wonder to joy, and
Addison had to take it away.

“Never knowing that the person standing next
to you is a demon or fae playing with your mind. Or a vamp who’s
about to feed from you.”

“Trust me, it’s no better if you know.”

For a moment she considered it. Not because
she thought it was a good idea, but because he wanted it. “I can’t.
They’ll find out.”

The witches had been explained away—a fire
broke out in the barn they’d been celebrating the solstice in, and
they all died, exactly like twenty years ago. Hopefully, whichever
coven was here in twenty years would be smart enough to take a
hint. But a seer shouldn’t have been there, and without a body,
Logan’s boss would assume he’d run. He’d be looking for Logan.
Because no one wanted to lose something that belonged to them.

“So what?” he asked.

“
So
, they’ll hunt you down, and
they’ll kill both of us. Before I can do anything good.” She
glanced at the door and then leaned in close. “Seers need to come
together. We need to organize ourselves against the supers. The few
of us who rebel are killed almost immediately because they are
alone. It won’t happen without a leader.”

“You’re not a leader, Add. You’re a
keep-your-head-down-and-pretend-you-don’t-see-anything-er.”

“Not anymore. Not with your help.”

“I can’t do anything.”

“Not directly, but…” She grimaced, regretting
what she was about to say before she’d even said it. “The rogues
almost always come from the boxes, right?”

He hesitated, but eventually nodded.

“I need someone I trust to point them in my
direction. Even after you move into disposal, you still know
people—”

“I’m not moving into disposal.” His voice was
flat and, after the week he’d had, she was shocked he could even
speak. “
She
realized I’d be working at night and wouldn’t be
available to her. So I’m staying in the box.”

She—his patron. Addison’s heart clenched.
“Oh, Loge. I’m so sorry.” They were silent for a moment. When she
spoke again, it was quietly. “There’s safety in numbers, Logan.
Power in numbers. If the seers who go rogue find me, I can support
them. I’m no tactician, but I know where we can at least start and
from there, with enough seers, we’ll stand a better chance at
changing things. And then you and everyone else will be out of the
boxes permanently.”

Seers didn’t need power. They needed freedom,
choice. Addison was the only one who could help them get it.

“Why don’t you go ask your boyfriend to
change things?”

“It’s not that simple.” She’d thought about
it. Oh yeah, she’d thought about it. And she’d come up with a lot
of reasons. “He believes the system works better than it does
because he’s never seen it from our perspective. I know he’ll come
around eventually, but it will take time and proof to change his
mind. But even after he comes around, it’ll be better if he’s still
the Prime. He could take little steps until we’re ready for
something big. It has to be slow, because if he started changing
things all of a sudden, the other vamps and races would gang up on
him and probably kill him.”

Logan shook his head. “It’s not going to
work, Addison. Nothing will ever change.”

“Especially if no one ever tries.”

“Are you still fucking him?”

She paused. “Are you saying no because you
think it’s a bad idea or because of who I’m sleeping with?”

“You can’t be…
working
both sides
simultaneously. People will find out. Anyone I send to you will
find out eventually.”

“I’ll deal with it then. But this is
possible, Logan. You
know
how many of us there are. The
numbers don’t lie. If we band together—”

“We’ll
all
get killed.” He’d proven
himself to be unbelievably strong by fighting the demons, being
chosen as the seer champion, and living through the witch’s
torture. But it was his life as a toy that had defeated him.

She took a deep breath. “Okay. I understand,
and I didn’t mean to put you in a shitty position. Take it as a
compliment that I trust you so much.” She stood, disappointed and
with nothing more to convince him. “Rhyse can take you back to the
city.”

Logan held her hand as they left the room.
“It’s not a bad idea—it’s just a really fucking dangerous one. I’m
not sure there are enough of us willing to take that risk.”

“It’s okay. But you can’t tell anyone about
me and the whole dat vitae thing. If they find out, they’ll
hunt—”

The thunder of Rhyse’s voice came from
downstairs. “You told him!” And then he was right in front of them.
Logan stumbled backwards, but Addison stood firm.

“I trust him,” she said.

“It does not matter if you trust him.” His
anger knocked her back a step. “He is a diversion. A toy. Someone
will read it in his mind eventually.” He bypassed her and went
straight for Logan. “Say goodbye, because you will not remember her
for long.”

“What?” she shouted. “No!” She yanked on
Rhyse’s arm, trying to turn his focus away from Logan. He couldn’t
do it, she wouldn’t let him. “No!”

“I wipe him or I kill him, but he cannot just
leave. He is around other beings all the time, Addison. Someone
will read him, and they will all find out. I cannot protect you
from everyone.”

“Stop!”

“Do it,” Logan said calmly, centering himself
and glaring just as hard at Rhyse as Rhyse was at him.

“No!” She squeezed between them and pushed
against Rhyse’s chest. “No, please. You can’t.”