Deceiver's Bond: Book Two of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life (16 page)

Red observed, “It was more than worries about the Devil that scared your mother. She was hiding something.”

“Yes,” Vince replied.

“You knew she was lying. Is that not so?” Red peered at Vince. “And not just your mother. You have a sense for when someone is speaking the truth.”

Vince blew out a heavy breath and nodded.

“Even me?” I asked.

He frowned. “It’s harder with you, not as clear-cut.” He shrugged. “It’s hard to explain.”

I nodded. “What about Michael and Daniel?”

“Same thing.”

“Makes sense. We all rely on having a strong psychic shield.” I remembered my cooling coffee and downed the remains in three steady gulps. “What about other magic users?”

He shrugged again. With his broad shoulders, the action was eye-catching. “No clue. I haven’t needed to question any.”

“Okay.” I set down my mug and looked him over. “What else you got?”

His smile was wry. “What? That’s not enough?”

“To be a member of Club Weird? I don’t know.” I gave him an arch look. “Still a little thin. I think I need to see you in action, first. How about a game of hide-and-seek?”

The crooked smile vanished. “No.”

“What is with people saying ‘no’ to me today?” I stood and rounded the table. I held out my hand to him. “Trust me.”

He glared up at me, but I persisted. “Come on. I won’t leave your side. We’ll hide from Red. It’ll be fun. I promise.”

He slapped his hand into mine, clearly unconvinced, but stood and let me pull him into the family room.

I dropped his hand and considered him for half a tick before glancing up. Throwing a veil was more difficult to pull off in bright light. I flicked off the lights with a thought. Since it was another gray Seattle day, the shadows around us grew noticeably longer.

“Okay. Try to remember what you did when you were a kid, playing with your cousins.” I peered into his eyes. “Can you do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Try.”

Although disgruntled, he seemed to resign himself to the task. He closed his eyes and took a steady breath, his shoulders and arms relaxing. Gradually, almost so I didn’t notice at first, the area where he stood darkened, as though the daylight coming through the windows had been eclipsed. I glanced outside to see if the trees on my patio had shifted in the wind, perhaps casting additional shadows, but the branches weren’t swaying. When I turned my attention back to the room, Vince was gone. If I hadn’t been staring at him just a second earlier, watching the process, I might have forgotten he’d been standing there. It was an odd feeling.

“Nice. I can’t see you. Try walking around. Hold on to the shadow as you move.” I saw a vague shimmer in the quality of the light, then nothing. I cast my gaze around me. I didn’t see any movement but heard a scuffling sound to my right. I turned in that direction, speaking to the air. “With enough practice, you can hide the sound of your footsteps, your breathing, even conceal your voice. It just depends on how skilled you are.”

I scrutinized the air around me and listened harder. Nothing. “Red?”

“He is a natural. On your left now, I believe.”

I turned, sure I detected a change in the light a few feet away, but when I reached out, I came up empty. Jumping at the touch of fingers on the back of my neck, I whipped around to grab what I could. The shadows parted around my hands and I got a peek of his shirt.

“Try to extend the veil to include me. Red, call out whenever you see us.”

“Will do,” Red replied.

The shadow parted and Vince shimmered into my darkened view. I grinned at him. “Just like high school.” I looked toward the kitchen where Red stood on the table watching our position. Inside Vince’s veil, it was dark as twilight. “Red?”

When he didn’t answer me, I returned my gaze to Vince. “You’re good. But, let’s see just how good.”

I skimmed my hands up his chest to the back of his neck, raising myself on the balls of my feet to plant a kiss on his lips. I worked him long and deep, putting everything I had into the effort. He embraced me, responding to my kiss and allowing his tongue to tangle with mine, but keeping up his veil had him notably distracted.

Red’s voice came from the kitchen. “You haven’t moved. I see the gray of your shirt and your hair, Lire.”

“Focus,” I scolded and nipped at Vince’s lower lip. I pressed my body against his, pleased to discover my efforts had a definite effect. I knew for a fact he didn’t keep his gun in his front pocket.

“You’re not making it easy,” he grumbled.

“That’s the idea.” My growing desire made me feel a little wild. I began unbuttoning his shirt, starting at the top.

“Now I can see the both of you,” Red informed us. “I can hear you too.”

I shot Vince a wicked smile. “You heard Red. Unless you want him to see you in a
very
compromising position, I suggest keeping up the veil.”

Vince grunted a mix of surprise and mirth. “There’s no way.”

I kept unbuttoning. “I’m not kidding.” I stopped to poke his chest. “Concentrate.”

“This will be interesting,” Red piped up.

Vince grabbed my hands, stopping my advance. “Just …” He shot me a look of exasperation before stepping back. “Hold on, okay? This is … I … need a minute.”

The ambient light of my apartment broke through as he dropped his veil. He wandered away from me, running his fingers through his hair, and stopped at the patio doors.

I told myself he wasn’t backing away from
me
, per se. It was the idea of being capable of magic that he didn’t like. It freaked the hell out of him.

And I’d just rubbed his nose in it.

Moron. No wonder he spent the last three weeks avoiding you.

Wary of saying anything that might spook him, I waited while he stood rigid at the double French doors and stared outside.

After a minute or two of silence, he issued a sigh and moved to sit on my couch. He planted his left elbow on the padded arm and rubbed his hand over his jaw and chin.

“I’m sorry,” I said, voice low.

He nodded, jaw tight, and then looked away. No knee-jerk reply, like, ‘That’s okay,’ or ‘It’s not your fault.’ Not that such a non-response response would have done much to alleviate the heaviness in my chest, of course, but it would have been nice just the same.

He blew out a loud breath and leaned forward, pinning his forearms on his thighs. “How the fuck is this even possible? How can I be an elf and not have any family members who know about it?”

I dropped into my leather club chair, which was adjacent to the couch. “I don’t know. You’ve not told me much about your family, other than your mom’s … discomfort with anything magical.” I wondered whether he truly wanted my input, but plunged ahead anyway. “You said you knew she was hiding something because of the way she reacted the first time you veiled yourself. Is it possible she knows? Maybe the reason she’s so magiphobic is because of something that happened in her past.”

He frowned. “I guess it’s possible.”

“Don’t get mad at me for asking, but … do you … I mean, uh, are you one hundred percent certain your dad is your biological father?”

At his shocked expression, I blurted, “I’m not implying your mom was reckless or unfaithful. The sidhe can glamour, remember?”

He jerked to his feet and paced away from me.

I stood, quickly explaining, “If you’d only managed a weak shadow, or didn’t have your other abilities, I might have been inclined to think your sidhe connection wasn’t so direct. But, Vince, you have
three
abilities. And your skill in throwing a veil, without much in the way of practice, is nothing short of extraordinary. I don’t know much about the sidhe or how magic is inherited, but in light of your mom’s behavior, it’s something to consider. Don’t you think?”

What was the matter with me? Why the hell couldn’t I seem to leave well enough alone?

After another long minute of watching him stare at my patio, I drifted over to him. “I guess Club Weird isn’t all fun and games like I said. Reconsidering that membership now, aren’t ya?”

He snorted and shook his head, finally turning away from the view to consider me. I frowned at the pained creases around his eyes and reached out to caress his face. When I slipped my arms around his neck, his first reaction was to simply place his hands loosely at my waist.

My lips just below his ear, I said softly, “I know this must be hard for you. I’m not happy always being the one to throw these things in your face. I’m sure it doesn’t make you all that excited to spend time with me.”

He sighed, briefly hugging me back. “No. It’s not that …” His voice trailed off and he rubbed my arms before saying, “I’ll work this out.”

“I know.” I pulled away, fighting like mad to keep my inner turmoil from showing. “I haven’t had lunch yet. You hungry?”

Twenty minutes later, we sat down to eat, the smell of onions, green chilies, and eggs perfuming the air, hitting me with a heady dose of normalcy. Until I’d met Vince, sharing meals with friends or loved ones had always taken place outside my apartment. Most people didn’t want to be swaddled from head to toe, just for the benefit of visiting my home, no matter how nice the kitchen or compelling the company. I couldn’t blame them. Wearing a skin-suit wasn’t fun.

I examined him while sipping from my mug. “Are you sure you want to go through with this meeting of Daniel’s?”

He shrugged and scooped a load of omelet onto his fork. “I guess.”

“It’ll be okay. Maybe we’ll learn something important. You never know.”

He eyed me. “Any idea what it’s about?”

“Not exactly. But I learned a few things from Michael’s memories. He doesn’t know much more than I do about the fae, but for as far back as any of the telepaths can remember, Invisius has had an ongoing relationship with the sidhe. As a matter of course, the telepaths keep track of any humans with sidhe lineage and report them back. What Invisius gets out of this arrangement, I’ve no idea. Michael seems to think it’s a matter of mutual preservation—both groups want to stay off human radar—but I have my doubts about it being the only reason for their cooperation.”

Vince narrowed his eyes. “Why do the sidhe want to know about humans with their lineage?”

“Michael believes it’s for the same reason Invisius keeps track of any new telepaths. To add to their power base and prevent exposure of their existence.”

“But faeries aren’t a secret. They might be rare, but humans know about them.”

“Yes, but humans don’t know the extent of their powers or that the sidhe have been purposely breeding with them,” I blurted.

Vince lowered his fork and stared at me. “Breeding? What are you talking about? Like some kind of deliberate campaign?”

Considering the source of this suggestion, I kicked myself for saying anything. “I don’t know for sure. It’s mostly speculation. But can you imagine what would happen if humans discovered the sidhe were waging a concerted effort to create a race of half-fae who can glamour them? People would go nuts.”

“Michael believes that? What about Daniel?”

“No, no. Neither.” I flapped my hand dismissively. “It’s stupid. Forget I mentioned it.”

“Why would you think such a thing?”

I shrugged, feigning ignorance, and took a bite of toast.

“What are you hiding?” He scrutinized me.

Terrific.
One look at his stony expression and I knew he wasn’t about to let this go.
Me and my big mouth
.

I stared down at my half-eaten omelet, no longer hungry. “It’s nothing, really. I just … I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Worry me how?”

I pushed some stray onions around my plate. “The demon, Paimon, has been visiting my dreams, telling me stuff. It told me about the breeding thing.” I looked into his eyes. “That’s why I said it was just speculation. A demon isn’t the most reliable source of information. It could be lying to make me distrust the sidhe.”

“It talks to you while you’re sleeping?” Outrage amplified his voice. “How is that possible? Wait. How do you know it’s not just a dream?”

“Trust me. I know.”

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again without word. He sat back in his chair, glowering, jaw clamped.

I thrust my hand toward him. “There you go, blaming yourself again. That’s exactly why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Blame has nothing to do with it. You’ve got a problem—that monster is still attacking you—and you didn’t tell me.”

I nearly snapped that he’d been too scarce over the last three weeks to tell him much of anything, but I stopped myself at the last second. Hurting him was the last thing I wanted, and I’d only sound like a bitch.

“I didn’t want to make you feel bad, and there’s nothing you can do about it anyway. It’s just something I have to find a way to live with.”

“It’s still a dream though.” He examined me. “The demon can’t physically hurt you. Has it tried … not what it did to—?”

I cut him off before he could mention Brian’s grisly death. “No. And I don’t think it will. It wants something from me, but it’s smart enough to know hurting me isn’t going to make me particularly helpful.” I shrugged. “Anyway, it’s my dream. I’m in control. It can’t hurt me unless I allow it. And that’s not likely, is it?”

His eyes narrowed intently. “What does it want from you?”

“No idea. The past two nights it’s been going on about an impending demonic invasion scheduled for the not-too-distant future. Apparently, I can save the world, or some ridiculous nonsense like that. Because, you know, I’m such a superhero and all. In my copious spare time, I’ll be reordering Invisius
and
holding off demonic hordes. One handed.” I stood up. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go leap a tall building in a single bound.”

He shook his head at my antics as I scooped up his empty plate.

“You don’t need to worry,” I said. “I’ve told Red everything. He’ll tell me if I need to be concerned.” I put the dishes into the dishwasher and then glanced at him. “Talk to Red about it if you want. I need to freshen up and then I’ll call Daniel to tell him we’re ready.”

As I trudged upstairs, my stress level increased with each step. Why did this sidhe gabfest have to follow on the heels of that damned dream with Paimon? All of the demon’s warnings had left me feeling like a necrophobe in the lobby of a funeral parlor. I silently cursed Daniel for pushing the meeting on us, even though I knew it would be good for Vince to get some answers about his lineage.