Stay (12 page)

She was brash and crude and utterly fascinating to me.

I’d always preferred to go by the rules, which meant, never to let your job see you. It never occurred to me to pay attention to the others, those people you glanced at briefly but never bothered with on the street. It was nice to speak to one of them for a change. I smiled and Ms. Nguyen shook her head, tilting it at a curious angle.

“You sure are a strange bird,” she commented. “
Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers! At least Cain’s bringing home a new girl, finally. Could never figure how a good hunk of meat like him refused to take up all the offers thrown his way. Because let’s face it, honey, we both know he’s a Grade A, prime cut, first-class piece of bonafide
man
.” Blowing a fresh stream of smoke out the corner of her mouth, she finished, “And you are just too adorably perfect to be real. Whatcha do? Find you a rich check book to pay for those implants?” She winked at me to take the edge off her intrusive questions.

I laughed aloud, surprising
and finally pleasing my temporary neighbor with this unexpected response. She nodded to herself as if deciding something.

“You al
l right, sugar?” she said. “Knock if you need anything. Pay attention while you out there. Most of them ain’t as good as Cain. Hope you know how lucky you are.” And with one last flick of her cigarette Ms. Nguyen returned to her cracked-open door, leaving nothing but a trail of ashes behind.

I left feeling sure of myself and the human streets I walked. For the first time, I passed through not as an immortal apparition, but of the masses. A whole new world of smells and textures had awakened in me because of my time with Cain. He reminded me what it was to feel again, of what friendship and love could be. It was bittersweet knowing my time among them would end as soon as I completed my mission. After this, I would return to the shadows and an endless existence of
being
and only feeling enough to preserve and rescue doomed love.

Was it truly wrong of me to
try and savor it while I could? Was I wrong to try and snatch up as much of this freedom as I could? Seid had not appeared from the sky or called me to his palace to punish me for this indiscretion. No higher power over him had done anything to stop me.

Or stop Seid fro
m cursing me in the first place
, I bitterly reminded myself.

It took much longer to find Derek’s high
-end flat on foot than using my supernatural gifts. Part of me feared using my gift again and losing the liberty of humanity. But if I was going to make it to Lissa in time, I needed speed. Closing my eyes made it easier to see the unseen world shifting around the human city. Lissa and Cain’s thread that had tied them together now hung fragile as spider’s silk.

Pushing my guilt to the bottom of my heart
, I let the curse expand from that tightly bound place in my soul to trickle back into my skin. Already the bronze shades of my skin began to reflect a rainbow’s array of color and my need to be invisible had returned. At least people easily forgot me once I was gone. It reminded me of my one consolation and sorrow. In giving into Cain, I was forced to accept how easily he would forget once I left.

Before entering I wrapped the cloak over my shoulders and donned the hood so it shaded my face. Derek’s apartment suite was squeaky clean, refreshed from his maid’s recent buffing. Judging from the continuous high buzzing of cleaning machinery nearby, the maid hadn’t left.

My chin snapped to the left
as I heard the click of her heels on the tile. Lissa wore the same ensemble she had left the club in days before. By the confident sway of her hips and obvious meticulous primping she had managed to gloss up better than ever. I took a step back before she knocked into me on her three-inch stilettos and watched her pause before the hall mirror. Her luscious curls spilled over her face and her lips parted with a faint gasp. Green eyes widening in fear, she quickly reached inside her clutch and pulled out her makeup. Covering the bruise on the outside was the easy part, I wanted to tell her. What Derek had done to her wasn’t something she could cover, nor
should
she have to cover it.

After twisting her neck, chin to shoulder and back again
, she nodded with grim determination. “It’s for the best, chica. Derek’s gonna give us what we always wanted, remember?” Her voice trailed off the moment a uniformed maid peeked her face around the corner. Lissa stiffened and replaced her despair with a stronger mask. The maid watched her with open disdain, hidden beneath a blank stare. The message was loud and clear.

Guilt infested me as
I followed Lissa out of Derek’s apartment.

It’s your fault. You were selfish staying with
Cain and not looking after her.

We crossed many intersections
alongside hubs of people who switched streets in well-trained herds. Lissa was trying hard not to act like the looks some gave her bothered her. Here was where the wealthy and powerful ruled. Even to my untrained eye, she didn’t fit in with this uptown crowd.

Sliding into the cab before she closed the door was more of a challenge. But it allowed me
the rare opportunity to ride inside the chipped yellow vehicle. And as she twisted her fingers and picked at her nails, a wild idea began forming in my head.

Chapter 11

Convincing Lissa

Within the hour we arrived back where my journey began. The club looked dead from the outside, along with the rest of this sleepy, older section of the city. Lissa pushed her hand through me to reach the door
of the cab. I shuddered on contact and pushed aside the feeling of depression that lingered within her touch. Humans accidentally brushed through me sometimes, but that was usually when I was less
human
. Usually I only caught glimpses of the strongest of their emotions, not this breath-knocking, mind-reeling force of feeling.

Brushing the sensation aside, I followed her entrance t
hrough the secret door at the front of the building and down the luxurious staircase. The club looked bright and polished in the light of day, or rather the false electric lamps. Lissa paused at the foot of the dance floor, shifting on her heels and gripping her clutch until her knuckles turned white.

Meanwhile I
watched the service man cleaning the floor between the many booths and tables lining the edge. At its peak, this place must have been dressed like a palace. Much of the original gold plating and filigree had survived, aged like perfected wine. Obvious care had been taken to preserve the old grandeur that Cain’s uncle maintained. The floor space was vast, bordered by the long strip that made up the stage and the kitchens on the opposite side. At either end of the bar a stairwell led up to the exit behind and a balcony on the other. It was almost impossible to tell how far this second floor went, but it seemed the ideal place to find privacy.

A deep boo
ming voice startled both of us. “Analissa Sanchez! Where in God’s name have you been? Chloe said something about that rich suit you were cozying up to the other night. I thought I told you to stay away from him.” The well-dressed figure that approached us had the same russet-toned skin as Cain, only his was a shade darker, and his black hair was shaved close to his head. He was beautiful in a dark and powerful way. I knew instinctively this was the cousin.

Lissa walked
up to him with an easy swagger and purred while pressing a hand to his arm, “Don’t be like that, boss. I didn’t want to bother you. And Derek was…
there.
”

He chuckled low and with false tenderness removed her hand. “Don’t feed me more of your usual crap, baby. I’m not Cain. S
o I don’t think you hung the moon with your cheap—ah—assets.” He wagged his eyebrows suggestively at her. Before she could protest he continued, “Then again, now that you dumped him, I doubt he’d believe a word coming out of that easy mouth of yours.”

Lissa hugged her chest and lifted her chi
n in defiance. “You used to believe me.”

His laugh was sudden and pained. For the first time I noticed the small glass in his hand when he
tossed back the amber liquid. After setting it to rest on the nearby bar he turned to face her and smirked. “You took care of that real quick, didn’t you, baby? Taught me a lesson I’ll never forget. But hey, let’s not forget the rules of the game. All’s fair in hate and war after all.”

“Shut up
, Jude! I’m hungover and not in the mood.”

H
e reached up and barred her path with his arm before she could walk away. Curiously, I noticed for the first time a twisted, multiple-knotted, scarlet cord connecting the two of them. I had seen many connections in the past, the color of the cord typically revealing the nature of the relationship. Never had I seen one the color of the bleeding sunset.

“You and I have always had a good relationship, haven’t we Lissa?
” Jude said. “I’m letting you live with me, because otherwise we both know you’d just be another rat in the gutter. Lucky for you, you happen to be the best vocalist we’ve had in years. So how about you do us a favor and take care of yourself? Try to not act like a hooker with
all
my clients, baby.” With these parting words he winked and blew her a kiss before disappearing through the dark doorway he’d come.

Lissa stood rigidly after
ward and, if I wasn’t mistaken, seemed on the verge of tears. Instantly I understood that while she attempted to be tough on the outside, she was just as vulnerable within. Women like her made it their mission to never reveal their gentle souls. Even if they were paralyzed with fear, as long as others remained oblivious, that was all that mattered. I understood because once, I was one of these women.

A short
man dragged his instrument onto the stage and began to tweak the knobs at the head of its neck. His instrument was much larger than Cain’s, more polished and fashioned from solid wood rather than plastic and metal.

Lissa
jumped when he began to tune the weather-strained strings. A faint smile pushed her full lips as she called out, “Yo, Nicky!” She offered a slight wave of her hand and her posture shifted from defeat into ease. Already she was adopting the people-pleasing mask she had perfected. Nicky, the strings player, shot her a wink back.

I followed the click of her heels to a door beside the stage, up a flight of steps and down a burgundy
-painted wall. The door she led us through revealed a dressing room, complete with light-studded mirrors and clothes strewn about the many chairs and racks. Lissa inspected the room before sitting in front of her mirror. Once she was sure she was alone her mask fell. With great effort she contained the trembling of her lips and the spilling of tears.

“You’re okay, baby,” she soothed. “
Jude may think he’s got you figured out, but nobody really knows the truth and that’s how it’s gonna be, chica.” Finished with her pep talk, she picked up a small stick, twisted it and applied the bright pink paste to her lips. My eyes wandered as she covered her bruises with makeup a shade lighter than her bronze skin.

Her bruises made me wince and look away. I turned my attention to
some of the other dressing tables and marveled over the endless bottles and cases, the brilliant sequins and bold colors of the dresses. Everything about this underground world was of false beauty. It reminded me of my past. My sisters and I were pressured into enhancing our looks in any manner we could, be it oils, spices or superstitious remedies. Father had been so proud of my golden locks, a rare feature in our part of the world. I was his prize and he had sold me to the highest bidder, until Seid found me.

I stared so long at my reflection, I was unaware I
had let my cloak slip. Cain’s jacket felt oppressively warm just then, yet before I could shrug it off I realized my mistake.

Lissa gasped and
caught the glass vial she’d dropped before it crashed on the ground, then stood. “Hey! I—uh—didn’t think anyone else was in here.”

Shame filled me. How could I have revealed myself to her so unwittingly? Now I was more than convinced Cain was a bad influence. Could I dare speak to her and expect her not to remember me after I left?

Wishful thinking, Orona.

“Forgive me, I did not mean to startle you,” I said. At last I lifted my eyes to mee
t hers and was surprised by how vividly green they were. I faced the full brunt of her curiosity and could see her trying to work it out, to pin me into a comfortable place. Humans always tried to write off the supernatural with some rational explanation.

A smile spread over her face as she tapped
a pink, perfectly manicured, fingernail to her lip. “You must be new, eh? How much Jude offer you up front? Better have been higher than minimum wage, for what the other girls have to put up with. Don’t give him an inch. He likes to cheat you for all you’re worth.”

I
fought the unease creeping beneath my skin the closer she came and gripped the cloak in my hands. This was the second time I had willingly broken the rules and spoken to a human. What made talking with her so different than Cain, I asked myself.