Forsaken (22 page)

Albert's
shoulders dropped a little but he shook his head. "Just because
you're 'not that girl' doesn't mean anything else has changed. Can I
ask you a question now?"

"Yeah.
I'll try to answer whatever you want to know."

"Is
it Graves? Is he the reason?"

I
would have been less shocked if he'd reached over and slapped me. Not
just because of the question, but because of the way every fiber of
my being yelled that it was indeed Alec who was the reason
Albert and I couldn't be together.

"I...I
guess it is. If you'd asked me that a week ago, I probably would have
said no, but I think Alec is part of the reason that I'm not the one
for you."

"I
thought the two of you were over. I've heard that he's dating someone
else now."

My
nod was jerky, but I managed to keep the tears at bay.

"We
are. We're through, but that doesn't mean that I don't still love
him. I left him, but I still love him desperately. I'm sorry, Albert.
I didn't mean to lead you on; I've just been in denial this whole
time. It's stupid. I should move on, but I can't. I can't go back and
I can't move on. I'm just stuck here with no way out."

Albert
reached out and wiped a tear off of my left cheek. "You'll
figure it out, Adri. You're special somehow. Every guy in school
could see it almost from the first day you arrived in Sanctuary, it
was just that only Brandon and Alec had the guts to go for it. I'd
better go. I know I'm absolutely no help in the crazy world that you,
Ben and Dom seem to live in, but if you need something, just call me
and I'll do whatever I can to help you. Always."

Dominic Sanchez
Upper East Side
Manhattan, New York

I'd
felt bad eavesdropping on Albert and Adri, but they hadn't activated
their privacy generator and after everything that had happened over
the last couple of hours, I hadn't been able to justify turning mine
on while I still wasn't sure whether or not we'd managed a clean
getaway. It had been obvious that Albert was head over heels for
Adri, but it was harder than I'd expected to hear him admit it and
then hear her turn him down. They were both such nice people. I kept
wishing that there was a way for me to help them find happiness, Adri
especially.

I'd
quietly called a car service as their conversation had wound down. A
motorcycle would have gotten Albert to his show faster, but that
wasn't a particularly smart way to go during the winter, so there
wasn't anything to do but get a car and hope the driver would be able
to get him there on time. I walked Albert downstairs, told him a car
was on the way, and reiterated the need for secrecy about everything
that had happened.

He
despondently affirmed that he'd be discreet, and then seemed to want
to be alone so I returned upstairs and found Adri crying in her room
with the door shut. I debated going in there to try and comfort her,
but then my phone started ringing.

It
was Ash. "Okay, I think we've got all the loose ends tied up. My
guy has deleted the entry for Adri's sim card. You'll have to pick up
another one for her. I'd recommend a prepaid sim. He confirmed that
nobody had accessed her information in the last eight hours as well.
Have you heard anything from your guy in Wyoming?"

"No,
nothing. I'm starting to worry that Ben didn't make it out."

"Are
you going to tell her?"

I
sighed. That was the question, but I'd been avoiding making a
decision. "I'm not sure. Definitely not tonight. Probably not
ever unless she asks. She's going through a lot right now."

Ash
seemed to chew on my response for a few seconds and then he sighed,
too. "We're probably okay unless they pull the information
straight out of Ben's mind. How does Adri keep getting involved in
this kind of stuff?"

"I
don't know. I'm just glad Alec wants us to keep an eye on her. She's
not ready to survive in our world without some kind of help."

"Okay,
you headed to bed pretty soon?"

"No...I
have somewhere I need to be. I was considering breaking the
appointment, but it's important, so if you're comfortable that we got
away clean then I'd like to try and make it still."

"It
wouldn't be my first choice, but I'll try to avoid spilling the beans
to Alec."

"Thanks,
Ash. Tell Kristin hi for me."

"Sure
thing. Have a good night."

The
crying from inside of Adri's room had died down. I tiptoed down the
hall until I got close enough to confirm that she was sleeping and
then went back to my room and wrote her a note.

Adri,
I had to leave. I'm sorry—call me with the burner phone in the
study if you need anything, but hopefully I'm back before you wake
up. Please don't leave the apartment.

I
hung the note in the hall across from Adri's bedroom and then left.
The trip to where Mrs. Valencia had asked me to meet her went
quickly, almost too quickly. I really hadn't liked Danny, but in all
fairness, some of my frustration tonight had been driven by my
nervousness about the meeting I was headed to right now.

I'd
debated for days before finally calling and arranging to meet her. I
was having second thoughts, especially about the fact that nobody
knew where I was or who I was meeting, but I was still headed towards
the agreed upon location so apparently my worries weren't strong
enough to overcome the lure of spending more time with her.

An
hour later I stepped inside an old, but well-maintained, building and
made my way up to the fourth floor. Mrs. Valencia answered on my
first knock and smiled when she saw that it was me.

"Dominic,
please come inside."

I
paused halfway inside the apartment. "How do you know my name?"

Her
smile this time was a little wistful. "We have...I guess
you couldn't say that we have a mutual friend. Let's say that I have
a friend who has kept a watchful eye over you for a number of years.
He's told me a lot about you. That's part of why I extended an
invitation to you to come here. You're his grand experiment."

"Who
are you talking about?" The question was reflexive. I already
suspected that I knew who she was talking about, but it was a memory
I didn't particularly like revisiting. I had almost no decent
memories from the time before Alec's pack, but the one she was
referring to was more disturbing than most.

She
looked at me for several seconds. "Do you really not remember?
Think of a time when you thought you were surely going to die and
that is your first clue."

"The
Hunter."

"Yes,
that is as good a name for him as any. He's very proud that you've
proved him right so far, but that isn't why you are here."

Words
couldn't possibly have served to convey the level of shock I was
feeling, but I found myself stepping the rest of the way inside the
room so she could shut the door.

"Why
am
I here, Mrs. Valencia?"

"Please
call me Vanessa. You're here because you have a role to play in the
events that are about to unfold. I suppose in the larger view you'd
have to say that everyone has a role to play, but your role is
special. Rachel and Jasmin couldn't have done it all by themselves,
but I suppose I'm speaking out of turn."

"Rachel
and Jasmin couldn't have done what?"

Vanessa
shook her head. "I really shouldn't have said anything. Suffice
it to say that you're important in ways you don't yet understand,
Dominic."

She
paused for a second and then gave me a searching look. "Why do
you think you're here? What was it that made you accept my
invitation?"

I
debated lying, but it just wasn't part of my nature. "I'm here
because you did something to me the last time I saw you. I've been
tired and weak for weeks now, but the night I saw you all of that
went away. I was strong again, maybe even stronger than I'd been
before I started getting so tired."

There
was a hint of a smile to her face now, but it was overshadowed by
seriousness. "Being strong is important to you?"

"Yes.
I don't expect to be able to stand toe to toe with a hybrid, not
generally speaking, but I need to be able to carry my own weight
inside of the pack. I need to know what you did so I can repeat it in
case I start getting sick again."

"I
thought your kind couldn't get sick, Dominic."

"We're
not supposed to be able to, at least not for long, not really, but
somehow I'm sick. So are Rachel and Jasmin."

The
hint of a smile was a little more pronounced. "An apparent
contradiction."

"Yes,
I guess so."

"Dominic,
I've lived a very long time. I no longer believe in contradictions.
One of your premises is wrong."

My
respect for her work was starting to be overshadowed by frustration
at the vagueness of her answers.

"Which
premise is wrong?"

Another
headshake. "It's not for me to tell you, not right now. If it
makes you feel any better, it should become apparent to you before
too much longer."

I
sighed and turned to go, but she stopped me with a gentle hand on my
arm.

"Where
are you going, Dominic?"

"You
said that you could heal me. You pointed at my scar, but then I was
strong again. Tonight you tell me that the exhaustion can't be
healed. That was the only kind of healing that could really help me.
The scar doesn't matter, not really."

"I
can see why you made it out of that snake pit your father left you
in. You're incredibly stubborn. Very well, I can see that I'll have
to tell you some things in order to help you fulfill your purpose.
Please follow me."

I
put my hands on my hips and waited for several seconds before finally
going into the room she'd just entered. It was small but warm with a
massage table in the center of the room and bottles of oil in a
warmer off to one side.

"You
have the ability to heal, but right now it's locked away inside you,
Dominic. I would like to help you unlock that ability. It isn't going
to help with what you, Rachel and Jasmin are going through right now,
but it will help with other things you'll face in the next little
while. It will also allow me to help restore your beautiful face."

Her
explanation wasn't much more enlightening than what she'd been saying
before, but I pushed the frustration aside and focused on the
important thing she'd finally let slip.

"Why
do you think I have the ability to become a healer? That goes against
thousands of years of history. Southern shape shifters don't develop
extra powers, at least nothing beyond the ability to track. Surely
you mean that you're going to heal me."

Vanessa
shook her head. "No, Dominic. I have certain gifts, but healing
is not among them. I can however help you unlock your potential. I'll
step out of the room so you can undress. There's a sheet on the table
that you can cover yourself with for modesty's sake."

She
walked out of the room, and I was left looking at the table by
myself. After a little while, I took a deep breath, pulled off all of
my clothes and then piled them in a corner of the room. Once I was
safely under the sheet, I called her in.

"Very
good. I'm going to start with the soles of your feet and work up. The
key to all of this isn't for you to
try
and heal yourself;
it's for you to relax as completely as possible. Once you relax
sufficiently, the healing will happen on its own. You are the thing
that is currently standing in the way of your power."

It
initially felt odd to have a near stranger rubbing my feet, but I
found myself starting to relax into the firm, smooth pressure of her
hands.

"What
are you?"

"How
do you know I'm not a shape shifter like you?"

I
tried to think back over our conversations, but I couldn't remember
if she'd ever told me that she wasn't a shape shifter.

"I
don't know. You might have told me so, but I'm not sure. For whatever
reason, I feel like you're different than me. You...you don't
feel like a shape shifter."

"I'm
not, but why do I have to
be
anything? Can't I just be another
human?"

That
one was easier. "No, there is a sense of power around you that
is too great for a human."

I
could hear another smile in her voice as she switched to the other
foot. "You're still very young, Dominic. You might be surprised
at how powerful some of the 'normal' humans out there are. Still,
you're right; I'm not a normal human. So if I'm not a normal human or
a shape shifter what does that leave?"

"You're
not a vampire. I'd have been able to smell it on you if you were. You
can't be a werewolf because werewolves attack shape shifters without
provocation."

"Do
all werewolves attack without provocation, Dominic?"

That
was an easy answer. "The Southerners only have fragments of oral
histories and rumors, but the wolves have thousands of years of
written history. I've read through some of Alec's family journals,
and they all seemed to take it as a given that werewolves attacked
for no reason. Shape shifters and vampires especially, but humans
sometimes too."

She
paused for a second as if debating something, but her next question
distracted me from thoughts of what it was she'd been trying to
decide.

"You've
eliminated four different species. What's left?"

I
tried to sort through rumors and legends. I was pretty sure there
were other things out there that were even rarer than shape shifters,
but nothing seemed to explain anything I'd seen out of her yet.

"I
don't know. You must be something rare though for me to have never
run into another...I mean for me to have run into only two of
you. The Hunter has been a dark legend in my country for hundreds of
years at least, so you must be long-lived."