Ascension (26 page)

“I wanted to tell you,” he said in a tight voice.  “But I could not.  I had to lie to you.  It was the only way.”  Still, he didn’t raise his head.  Selaine had stepped back, and was watching Logan with arms crossed.  How did they know each other?

“Lie to me?” Laura repeated.  “About what?  It was the only way for what?  Logan, what are you talking about?”  Selaine had shifted her gaze, and was now looking squarely at Laura.  Laura could feel her eyes on her.  Judging, and weighing. 

“In time,” Selaine said smoothly, “all will be revealed.  I’ll address your most pressing concerns first.  Yes, Logan and I know each other.  We have for a long time – don’t gape girl, the look doesn’t suit you.  There’s plenty more you don’t know yet, but that is the reason I brought you here.  To explain it all.”

“Who are you?” Laura asked.  Logan had retreated behind Selaine again, almost as if he were using her as a shield.  He held a definite deference to her.  Laura did not know what to think of that.  But she knew one thing.  The old woman was a lot more than she let on. 

“I’m afraid I was not entirely truthful with you either, girl, when we first met,” Selaine said.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Laura said again.  She felt… not helpless, but confused.  Some of those things the elder told her started circling in the back of her mind once more.  She knew them for lies, but…

“Well, let’s start at the beginning,” Selaine said simply.  “You may sit if you wish.  This could take a long time.”

“I’m fine, thank you,” Laura said curtly.

“Very well.  The first thing you should know is that I know who you are, Laura.  I know
what
you are.”

“Well, I kind of figured that, at this point.”

Selaine tsked in annoyance.  “I don’t mean simply that you are
Vassiz
, Laura.  Rather, I mean that I know of the prophecy, and I have for a long time.”

Laura blinked.  “The prophecy?  How?  Who
are
you?”

Selaine ignored the question.  “I also know what you’ve been trying to do.  Your vendetta against the elders has not gone unnoticed.”

“How could you know about that?”

“You think the elders are the ones who pull the strings.  That’s what you’ve been told.  That they are the ones who lead the
Vassiz
race.  Isn’t that right?  It’s what everyone believes.”

“I don’t understand how you know that,” Laura muttered.  “Are you
Vassiz
too?”  If that was the case, why did Selaine have that distinctly human scent when Laura first met her?

“There are more powers at work in our worlds than you know, Laura.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, my dear, that not everything you know about the elders is accurate.”  She inclined her head toward Logan.  “He would be the first to tell you so.”

Laura stared at Logan, who had fixated his attention to something on the floor.  He seemed to cringe when Selaine motioned to him, but did not move otherwise.

Selaine waved it away.  “You can ask him later, then.  What I’m telling you is that the elders are not the ones with the final say over what happens to the
Vassiz
.  Even they answer to a higher master.”

Laura’s eyes widened.  She had thought the elders were the pinnacle of the
Vassiz
race.  She had thought they were the ones responsible for imprisoning the angels, for chasing after her, and for corrupting the whole population of
Vassiz
.  But there was somebody above them?  Somebody that… gave them
orders
?

That changed everything.  Could it mean that what she’d been doing had been wrong?  Had she made some terrible mistake in her effort to see justice served?  Had she mistakenly focused on the wrong enemy?  Suddenly, the elder’s last words exploded in her mind.  He spoke of Selaine, of all people.  But, why…?

“Who?” Laura asked.

“Girl, you’re looking at her.”

The casualness of Selaine’s answer caught Laura off-guard. 
Selaine
was the one who ruled over the elders?  If that was true… but of course it had to be true.  Nobody would be mad enough to make something like that up.  But then, did it mean that Selaine was the cause of all of Laura’s problems?  That she was the one Laura should have focused on?

Laura felt her body instinctively tense.  If Selaine was the one in power, it meant that she was the enemy.  But she had helped Laura once before!  None of it was making any sense.

And what was Logan’s role in all this?  He said just now he had lied to her.  About what?  Was he in on it too?  There was no shock on his face when Selaine revealed herself.  All of it was adding up to something Laura did not want to fathom.

Laura thought she could make out the hint of a smile form behind Selaine’s ancient lips.  Despite the revelation, Laura did not feel
threatened
by Selaine.  But if she were the one in control, the one in power, Laura should very definitely have felt that.  Something about the entire situation was off.

“Of course,” Selaine said after pausing for a moment, “that is the way it is supposed to be.  In truth, the elders have not paid heed to the hierarchy for generations.  They have grown rebellious, and I supposed I have gotten soft.”

“What?”  Laura shook her head.  The shock had just worn off.  But
nothing
was making any sense!  Selaine was the one oversaw the elders?  How?  Who was she, to inherit such power?  “How do I know this isn’t another lie?”

“I know it’s a lot to take, but do try to follow along, Laura,” Selaine said in a tone that was suited for lecturing a small child.  Laura ground her teeth in frustration.  Selaine was not answering any of her question!  “The
Vassiz
are an ancient race,” the old woman continued, “and the elders’ power goes back a long time.  There are many things you don’t know about them, of course.  But I have lived through the histories, have been there at their very creation.  I have seen too much of this world, and of its inhabitants, to not be jaded about the future.  Perhaps that is why I have let things spiral to their current state.”

“What are you talking about?” Laura demanded.  “You’re speaking in riddles!  How old are you?  Why is Logan here?  What does he have to do with anything?”

“He should be the one to tell you that, not I,” Selaine said, waving the matter aside.  “I will, however, tell you of the path that led you here.  Nothing that has happened to you has been coincidence, Laura.  It all began a very long time ago.”

“What are you talking about?  Who are you?”

“Just listen!  I will start at the beginning.  There are not many alive today who still remember who I am.  None but the elders, in fact.  I believe some of they may even think me dead.”  She barked a laugh.  “Of course, that is not the case.  Ancient
Vassiz
lore speaks of a single ruler of the race.  A
succubus
, as it were.  She is the one responsible for the delicate balance that exists between humans and vampires.  That is who I was; who I am.

“I was not the first, nor will I be the last.  I inherited the position from one before me.  I do not know how many others there have been.  What I do know, and what I can tell you, in answer to your question, is that I am the oldest being that walks in our worlds.  In both the dream realm and the human realm.”

“Are you saying you’re older than the angels?” Laura asked.  She had gotten used to long lifespans since Logan revealed his real age to her, but it seemed Selaine was suggesting… that she had lived not hundreds of years, but
thousands
!

“Much older than the surviving ones, yes,” Selaine said.  “The ones you know – Gabrielle, and the others – are not the first generation.”

“Just who
are
you?” Laura asked again.  She thought she should have felt fear, but all she knew was wonder.  Wonder that Selaine was telling her this.  And wonder at herself for not feeling scared.  “Were you there when the angels were imprisoned?  When the elders locked them up?”

“I was, yes,” Selaine said softly, and Laura thought she could hear a touch of bitterness in her voice.  “I had become sufficiently distanced by then.  The trials of our worlds did not matter to me, much less the worries of the inhabitants.”

“But that was your responsibility,” Laura said.  “You said as much!  To rule over the
Vassiz
, to preserve the balance of the race?”

“With humans, child, not with angels.  Apathy had taken hold of me by then.  The elders did what they wanted, and I did not interfere.”

“Why?  You could have prevented it from happening!  You could have seen justice done.  Why didn’t you do anything?”

“I was always watching, but the desire for action escaped me.  As long as the balance between humans and
Vassiz
was maintained, I was untroubled.  But recently, I noticed an alarming trend to the elders’ actions.  They have become not only irreverent of their positions, but entirely out of control.  When they first went after you, that was when I knew I could not stand by any longer.”

“You know about what they did to me?”

“I know everything about you, Laura.  As I do about all
Vassiz
, and all
Vassiz
-to-be.  I know how Logan first showed you the dream realm.  I know how you were forced out of your home by the zealous elders.  I know how you were chased, and I know the entire journey that led you to meet me in Nakusp.  I know your fears, your hopes, your dreams.”

Laura frowned.  “How?” she asked softly.  “You’re not… some type of
god
?”

“No, no,” Selaine said, waving the suggestion away.  “You have more smarts than to believe something like that.  What I am, is someone who has very many connections to the outside world.  I may have refrained from acting, but not once did I cease watching.  There are people who tell me things they see, and others who see things they tell me.”  She winked.  “I can enter anyone’s dreams undetected, and glean from there the entire workings of their mind.  Or so I like to say.”

“You invade people’s
dreams
?” Laura asked, abashed.  “You’ve been in
mine
?”  She felt violated.  “Why? 
How
?”

“To better understand what the elders were attempting,” Selaine said.  “That is why I brought you here, just now.”  She motioned to the
torrial
on the table again.  “With that, of course.”

Laura looked from Selaine to Logan.  He still hadn’t moved.  In fact, it was almost eerie how still he was.  “What do you want from me?”

 “When I…
disappeared
,” Selaine explained, “my extended absence sparked a rebellious attitude within the elders.  They started to believe they ruled the world, not me.  But they were cunning enough to not count me out entirely.  They knew of the prophecy that spoke of you, and thought they could
use
you against me to solidify their powers.  They thought that if they held you in their grasp, they could be rid of me forever, and truly rule the world as they saw fit.

“They have intentions of enslaving and eradicating humanity.  They see themselves as the superior race.  Why hide from humans, goes their line of thought, when they could simply overtake the world?  But they could not do that unless they were sure I was dead.  None had such proof.  And I, in truth, had simply retreated.  But that did not stop them from planning the succession.”

“But… they could not do it without me?” Laura asked.  “Why?  Why was the prophecy so important?”

“Because it says you will bring a new order to the world,” Selaine explained.  “With you in their grasp, they hoped it would be in their vision.”

“But… why me?” Laura asked.  “Why is there a prophecy about
me
?  What have I done to prompt anything?”  She had accepted herself as being the one prophecy spoke of when Gabrielle told her, but only because she had seen him as something akin to an omnipresent being.  Now that she knew that Selaine was even
older
, and was truly omnipresent, in a sense, Gabrielle’s proclamation seemed to deserve more scrutiny.  She could not just blindly accept it anymore.

“The prophecy is about you, my dear,” Selaine said shrewdly, “because you are the next succubus.”

Chapter Twenty

~Revelations~

Laura’s jaw dropped open.  Her mouth worked, but no words came out.  She was speechless.

“Cat got your tongue?” Selaine joked, and barked a laugh.  “Don’t pretend you didn’t know you were special.”

“Yes, but how… I mean, when…?” Laura trailed off, unable to even finish her sentence.  The news was too much.  Logan looked up, and, for only the second time, met her eyes.  Laura had an uncanny déjà vu of what happened in the dream, when the elder’s representation of Logan looked at her.  But this was the real Logan.  She knew his eyes.  She could see into them.  They were the deep eyes she had lost herself in so many times before.