The First Touch (40 page)

She shook her head frowning, “I need to handle this one by myself.” Grayton nodded, and she continued sounding serious, “Stick to the plan Grayton; no one knows that Ivan might be my mate. If you have to ensure that, get Helen to work her magic. Just keep him in his seat until the test is finished so that I can concentrate. Then once it is done. I will take him away for a bit and explain and apologize.”

He
replied, “And if you fail?”

Autumn nodded, “Then he will never know and you will comfort him until he heals.”

Grayton turned grey, “Yes of course
.”

She smiled and hugged him, breathing in his sent again, “You know I think it may be the power that I smell.”

Then she turned and walked away and Grayton called after her, “Three days
Autumn
” She nodded as she walked from the clearing. Grayton plopped down, and pulled a phone from his pocket.

He dialed, “Henry
,
she said she will be ready to test in three days time.” Then he hung up abruptly and lay back in the fresh hole in the ground.

Back A
gain

Three days later
,
Autumn
washed up on the shore her eyes normal looking and grumbling to herself. The search had not been fruitful; Gregory had managed to evade her though she did not know how. His scent had been quiet strong in several places that she had visited. Perhaps he had
ability
, a danger meter like
herself
. Either that or he had someone taking care of him. She looked up to find a roving guard staring at her slack jawed.

She approached him cautiously and said, “I am here for the test.” He nodded scanning the beach for a boat and saw none. The beach was completely deserted, then he turned back to look at the woman only to see her disappearing behind a large tree some fifty yards away. He called it in
,
and followed after her
on foot
. Ivan heard the call first and headed toward the court yard to greet her.

To his surprise she never appeared in the court yard, though several guards and clan members from other clans app
eared looking for her as well. Even
Henry and Flora came out
,
looking at Ivan
,
who shrugged in response. Shuffling coming
from up stairs sent all of their
eyes back towards
the
castle and the front doors opened and a few men bowed at Henry and Flora and said sounding confused, “She is up stairs my lord changing in her room.”

They all headed up,
including the visiting clan members, who whispered to their staff, who
in turn,
scurried off to tell others. She was brushing her hair when Grayton bu
r
st into the room, slowly tr
ailed by a few others from the
clans. Autumn smiled warmly sitting on the ledge of the fireplace drying her hair
.
Her clothing was dry and her feet bare, her eyes normal and clear.

Grayton looked worried, “They are not pleased. They have asked that you be taken to the dungeons to ensure that you do not escape again.” As he said this he gestured towards two guards.

Autumn nodded, “Fair enough.”

Grayton looked angry, “Mirth’s Idea.” She looked at a young veiny woman who hissed at his words, and he shrugged, “It’s true.” She slid on a pair of black slippers and pulled a blanket from the bed along with her pillow heading towards them.

Then she caught a whiff of a familiar smell and stopped and impul
sively threw them into the fire
place. They all watched her in surprise, then she said without looking at anyone else, “He’s been sleeping in here.”

Grayton
nodded
, “I will see to it that more are sent down to you.”

She smiled at h
im and said, “Thank you Grayton,
”
as she slid a pack of cards into her pocket, to ward off boredom.
The two guards lead her down
a
winding stair ca
se
while Grayton and the other clan’s vessels
followed close behind.

The light
became less and less gro
w
ing
colder and stagnant as they moved further down. It took near
ly ten
minutes to get her to the small metal room in the east corner of the castle. The room had no windows and only one door. As she walked inside she fel
t him before she saw him. A
large lanky man with bluish veins that sent chills through her. The guard
s on the ot
her hand did not acknowledge him
,
closing
the door behind her.

He did not greet her; he only eyed her for a while until she spoke, “So are you going to be in here with me until tomorrow morning?” He
squinted
his eyes and then nodded
slowly and slid back in
to the corner
. She mumbled to herself, “Well they must be really worried that I am going to escape.” She stopped staring feeling his discomfort, and
sniffed the air instead. A
familiar scent of dried blood and tears, one that she had smelled the night she
had first awoken
,
came rushing back
. She closed her eyes trying to block it out and began to feel his eyes on her again. She finally turned towards him again looking at him more closely trying to distract herself.

He was slightly shimmering now and she tilted her head to the side and asked, “What is wrong with your...your body?”

The shimmering stopped
,
and he asked in a gruff voice, “You can see me?”

She smiled
,
“Yes, you guard a lot of vessels?”

He nodded and then adde
d, “Not many have seen me
.”

She smiled warmly
, “
I figured that, but you do still have a high creep fact
or going for you. Kind of like D
eath without the sickle, so you will have no problems with me tonight.” He a
lmost cracked a smile, and
she continued, “So no one has ever seen you?” He nodded, and then she clarified, “No one save
Isisa
I take it.” He nodded again, she continued, “Well then, that should be a good sign for me. I am being tested tomorrow.”

When the silence stretched she added,
“I heard that she was a ver
y great woman.” He nodded, and she asked
, “If no one has seen you then how do you
eat? And h
ow do you ever see the
light
of day down here
?”

He answered gruffly, “I will
leave when you leave, and I can
not stand the light.”

She frowned, “Are you a different kind of vessel or something else?”

He winced at he
r
words and replied
, “
I am a vessel.”

“Then I am sorry for your luck. It is amazing that you have survived those are some pretty crap
py cards.” He nodded, and she
continued
, “
Speaking of cards I have a deck
,
would you like to play a hand or two?” She slid her hand into her pocket and pulled them out showing them to her.

He didn’t answer, then she urged him again, “I do not think that I will live through the tests tomorrow. So think of it as a woman’s dying wish.” He grinned and stepped forward and then stopped hearing the latch outside of the door open. Autumn stood and watched as a slim lanky man entered the cell. He said something in a foreign tongue and the door closed. He was carrying a candle, a blanket and a pillow.

His eyes bore through her instantly, though not in the same way that the shimmering man had. He looked hungry and his eyes were blood shot. He set the blanket and pillow on the edge of the bed and set the candle on the end of the thick wooden bed frame. Autumn asked, “Are
you Mirth?”

“Yes.” His voice was surprisingly gentle though a bit hollow sounding.

Autumn said then, “Thank you for bringing me the blanket and pillow, it is terribly cold down here.”

Though she
did not reach for the blanket, when Mirth offered
, “
You did not complete
your transformation?”

She smiled, “I think that I have finished. I slept, I woke, and I drank.”

He eyed her carefully
, “
Your eyes are not ripe”

She replied unsmiling
, “
They change.”

He seeming slightly more interested as he stepped a bit closer, “Change?”

She blinked
, “Yes they change.”

Autumn felt the shift in the air and the shimmering man was next to her. He did not touch her but he did not leave her side
either
. Mirth asked, “May I see the change?”

She replied still calm,
as the shimmering man reached out to steady her,
“You will see them tomorrow just like the rest of them.”

Mirth narrowed his red eyes and replied, “No I think I will have a look at them now.”

He stepped forward, and
Autumn
closed her eyes squeezing them shut and tucked her head to her chest. The man closed his fingers around her forearm and gave it a jerk. Pain shot through her arm as she heard the snap, and the door to the cell jerked open suddenly. Grayton stood in the doorway sneering at Mirth
, “
Why are you in here alone with her?” She tried to pull her arm from his grip, and he tightened it.

Grayton stepped closer growling, “Let her go.” Mirth loosened his grip, and
Autumn
pulled her arm back and tucked it protectively to her chest.

Grayton did not move a muscle as Mirth pulled
his hand back and stepped away
from her. “She is weak.”

Grayton replied unemotional, “Out. She needs to rest.”

Mirth hesitated still looking at her, “She is not the eye.”

Grayton replied coldly, “That is for
the others
to decide.”

Mirth shot from the room and Grayton followed behind him
,
without another word to
Autumn
.
The door closed behind them and
the locks fastened, swiftly
. Then she listened as they headed up the staircase and back towards the light. The shimmering man finally pulled his hand from her shoulder then, and stepped away watching as she snapped her arm back into place.

T
hen she blinked a few times, her eyes turning
black and then she hissed wh
ile her arm mended itself. Afterwards,
she moved her fingers
,
testing them and
stretching for a moment. S
he closed her eyes and opened them again,
switching back, and they were their usual
color once again. The shimmering man watched quietly
, before questioning
, “Why do you hide it?”

Autumn smiled to herself
, “
If they see it then they expect more.” He nodded, and then she pulled the deck from her pocket again.

She began shuffling the cards and then stopped and smiled at the shimmering man, “My name is
Autumn
,
what is yours?” He did not answer her, and then she prodded, “I am probably going to die tomorrow so you will not have to worry about me telling anyone about you.”

He still looked at the ground shimmering again, “Utvic
,”

S
he smiled, “Well Utvic it is nice to meet you.” He nodded.

As she
began laying the
cards
out
, he
spoke first looking at the cards in his hands, “He will kill you tomorrow if he gets the chance.”

“Yes I could feel
it
in his touch, he is lacking something
vital
.
” He nodded, and then she continued
, “
A
soul perhaps?”

“No he has a soul, though it is black.”

Autumn
smiled brightly, “So he is
strong?”

Utvic nodded, “Yes.” Then she looked at her hand and pulled two cards from her hand and drew two m
ore. Then he pulled one and
drew one more in return.

Then she continued, “So how did you get this job?”

Utvic replied, “
Isisa
offered it, she needed someone to keep time for her.
”