Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1) (37 page)

“Dawn said you refused.”

Well, she’d have to thank Dawn for sharing.
“Vamps are really territorial. I couldn’t just RSVP ‘yes’ with the
Prime standing right next to me, could I? Then he’d end up crashing
the party and drinking everything. I mean, every
body
.”

“We’re not going to hurt you.”

“Great news. Why don’t you give me back my
body, so we can go? On the way there, you can fill me in on what I
do, besides not getting hurt.” Unfortunately, Herrick didn’t seem
convinced, at least not fully. Her legs were released, but
invisible shackles attached her ankles together, completely wiping
out a chance for any fleeing she might want to do. But admittedly,
it was impressive. She’d been under the impression witches needed
more prep time to do stuff like this.

After they got frustrated by her mini-steps,
they dragged her into a street free of anyone who could help
her.

“You guys can’t make money, huh?” she asked
as they shoved her into a Honda Civic. She asked question after
question, needing answers for herself and for Rhyse’s voicemail.
But Herrick wasn’t a big talker and Addison wasn’t sure the two
women up front even
could
speak.

“What am I supposed to do while you guys are
working on the ritual?” she asked as they got to a more rural area.
“Do I clap or sing along or what?”

Herrick eyed her. “Your blood will increase
the power of our magic.”

“You’re going to bleed me,” she said slowly.
“So before, when you said you weren’t going to hurt me, you were
just joking?”

“We will only take what we need.”

That was hardly reassuring.

He adjusted in his seat to face her more
directly. “We are doing this to recreate our world, Addison.”
Recreate the world. Sure and, undoubtedly, the witches would get
all the box seats. “The Rising will come to pass.”

“I keep hearing about that, but no one ever
tells me what it is. Wanna share?”

“Legend says a being will cause a power shift
for all supernatural races. A great war will overturn the Treaty’s
laws. The weak will no longer be weak and the strong will pay for
their sins. The seers will control the higher races and a new world
order will be created.”

Addison was pretty sure anyone who used the
phrase ‘a new world order’ was insane. “Where are the witches in
all this?”

“Do you know why we are called a ‘low race’?”
He didn’t wait for her answer which would’ve been a hardy, ‘
I
don’t care!
’ “Because we are primarily human and aren’t as
bloodthirsty as the higher ones.” Said the guy who just admitted
they planned to
bleed
her.

“Angels aren’t bloodthirsty.”

“Angels are the exception—powerful enough to
kill relentlessly, but curtailed by their goodness. They weren’t
always that way, though.”

Angels weren’t always good? That was another
thing she had to learn about. But she wanted him to keep talking
about her
current
problems and not ones that hopefully would
never
be her problem.

“I can’t imagine the seers being in charge.
Or even imagine they’d
want
to be in charge.”

“They will need guidance,” Herrick said.
Ah-ha. And guess who they’d be guided by. Oh, and
controlled
by.

“All seers want is to live their own
lives.”

“The Rising is the only way that will ever
happen.”

She thought of her vision—is that what it
meant? What caused the grief on Rhyse’s face and the distance
between them? Were the rows of bodies the result of this shift of
power and new world order?

It couldn’t happen like that. Addison
couldn’t let it.

Great—finally making a decision did
absolutely
nothing
to change the situation. What she needed
to do was figure out how to stop it from happening. Unfortunately,
she couldn’t even rely on her power—witches didn’t bite, so
Addison’s blood was just as useless as the rest of her. Pretending
her collarbone was sore, she ran her hand over the pen still in her
bra.

All she could hope was that six years of
disposing of supers’ dead bodies would help her dispose of a few
live ones.

“I really like this place, Vamp,” the demon
said, taking the chair by the fire and scooting it even closer.
“Most offices aren’t cold, damp, or vamp-centric enough
nowadays.”

“Did you come here for a tour or do you have
news?” Rhyse asked.

“You weren’t this grumpy before you got
staked.” Because he’d had less to lose. “I found the warlock, but
you might not be too happy about it.”

That was highly probable. “Why did you not
bring him to me?”

“Because he and a few of the other champions
are currently in a barn about forty miles away, chained to a wall
surrounded by witches. I’m pretty sure they’d notice me walking him
out. Hey, this isn’t a part of the contest that I don’t know about,
is it?”

“Hardly.” Although, today it would end the
way the contest normally did—with the witch dead.

“Since this will probably be my last job
before I go back to hell for a reboot, I’m going to tell you a
little secret.” He leaned closer with a smirk on his face. “While I
was there, I heard some witch chatter.”

“About what?”

“It seems somebody new is in town. A dat
vitae.” He threw his hands up and laughed. “It’d be fucking
hysterical if it wasn’t so terrifying. Am I right? It’s kind of
hysterical, anyway. All the hard work it took to get rid of the
little bastards and one pops up outta nowhere. Glad I’m not in
charge.”

“I must go there. Now.”

“It’s a bit sunny out, isn’t it?”
Damn
. Sunset wasn’t for hours yet. Human modes of
transportation were too slow.

“You will take me there now,” Rhyse said
after only a moment’s thought.

“Only if I get to borrow your Bugatti,
though. Does it have a lot of trunk space? I hope you don’t mind if
the seats get a little melted. Just kidding…mostly.” He walked to
the door. “Since we got a little time to kill, do you have anything
solid to eat? It’ll help me stay cool.”

“A car is too slow. You must take me there
now.”

“While I probably wouldn’t even if I could, I
can’t phase more than myself.”

“Then you will take me through hell.”

“You mean through the portals?” He laughed.
“Are you fucking kidding me? The Prime of North America in hell
even for a short time? No way, Rhyse. Too risky for me, too painful
for you.”

“You only go into the first level, don’t
you?”

“Yeah, but it’s not a nice place down there,
even on level one. No way, Vamp, not gonna do it.”

Demons made deals. It was their duty, their
greatest joy, and one of the ways they burned off excess heat.
Rhyse was asking a lot of Davyn, so he’d have to offer a lot in
return. Money wouldn’t do—it was too pedestrian.

“Take me through,” Rhyse said, “and, in
return, I will speak to your master and request an extension of
your tour.” It would also postpone the series of excruciating
ordeals the level-one demons went through to remove any humanity
they accumulated while living topside.

His eyes widened. “How much time are we
talking about?”

“I will not know until I speak with him, but
I will do my best.”

Davyn clicked his teeth together. “Why would
he agree?”

“Because I will offer him a soul he will find
great joy in.” The soul of someone who, because he’d defied the
Treaty, would not be allowed into the great beyond. Lamere would
end up there eventually—he should have been executed centuries
ago.

“You will have to track him down, of course,”
Rhyse said. “Therefore I will require your assistance topside for
longer.”

“A soul for a trip across town? That’s nuts.
Do you have any idea what you’d be in for? An eternity in level
nine with even
half
a soul is—” He shook his head. “You’re
kidding.”

“You will take me to him, Demon.”

“No, I won’t, Vamp.” When Rhyse opened his
mouth, Davyn flew out of the chair, shoving him in the chest.
“Don’t say it. Don’t you dare say it, asshole.”

“I want to—”

“Don’t say it!”

“—make a deal with the Devil.”

“Fuck!” The word echoed off the walls. “You
idiot! Why’d you do that? Fuck!” Davyn paced an angry line, cursing
Rhyse and his mother and a few beings Rhyse didn’t even know. “Why
didn’t you offer me something else, something that didn’t have to
go through him? I wouldn’t have agreed to do it, but… Shit, Vamp,
whatever your reasons, they aren’t worth it.”

“Yes, they are,” Rhyse said calmly. “I made
the declaration. You are required to take me now.”

“You think I don’t know that?” the demon
growled. “Fine. I don’t want to hear any complaints while we’re
down there. And no tears. Because this is your doing.”

“I neither complain nor cry, I promise
you.”

“Be careful what you promise a demon.” He
shook his head. “I almost liked you, Rhyse.”

“Almost.”

“Mostly,” he said with a sad grin. “To get to
him
, I need to go deep.” He tapped his head. “In here. And
you need to come along. It’s going to fucking hurt your head.
Almost as much as level one will hurt your body.”

To prevent a war and see exactly what the
witches knew about Addison, Rhyse would do anything.

“Be careful what you say to him,” Davyn said.
“If you trip over your words and say something you don’t mean,
he’ll hold you to it. And he doesn’t negotiate or do backsies. He
probably won’t even speak.”

“How will I know if he agrees?”

“He’ll let you come back up,” he said after a
pause. Then he held up his hands. “I gotta hang onto you, but I’m
running really hot right now. If you give me a little time to cool
off—”

“You are taking me to hell, Davyn. I am not
concerned with the heat of your hands.”

The demon’s touch burned like the sun, the
sizzling of his skin blocking out all other sound. But Rhyse kept
his promise. He breathed slowly, not fighting the pain but moving
through it. Trying to control pain was useless.

“Here we go, you idiot,” Davyn muttered.

“When we return, we will discuss the way you
will address me in the future.”

“
If
we return…you idiot.”

Rhyse inhaled sharply as he felt himself be
dragged into darkness. His teeth slammed together—an ineffective
defense against the agony that seeped into every cell of his being,
overwhelming every other sense.

“Welcome to hell, Vamp. How do you like
it?”

“I…have felt worse,” Rhyse lied.

“Good, because this is only level one. We got
eight more to go. And it’s going to get worse. A
lot
worse.”

As the unseen ground beneath him gave way and
Rhyse felt himself fall, he understood all that pain could truly
be. He managed to keep the scream inside. Barely. Instinctively he
fought it, pulling against the force drawing him forward. It wasn’t
Davyn—it was something else, something evil. Something impossible
to fight because it was not matter, not living or inanimate.

It was nothingness.

He saw only black—the kind of absolute
darkness exclusively found above the crust deep inside true caves.
There was no sound, even though he felt as though he was falling
fast enough to hear the sound of air being displaced.

“Almost there,” Davyn said.

Just before his mind cracked, Rhyse made it
through, or rather, the Devil got through to
him
. The pain
was replaced by something far worse—a horrible emptiness,
hopelessness. The nothingness he’d felt drag him under now filling
his body and mind.

For an entire generation after he’d become a
vampire, Rhyse had felt the heavy burden of what he was. But it was
nothing compared to this. No wonder the demons did whatever they
could to get out.

He fought as long as he could, trying to
focus on Addison and his responsibility to all the beings in his
zone. But everything good and pleasurable and hopeful and trusting
in him drained away until he was nothing, mindless, void. All he
knew was the dark presence filling him.

In one more push to control his own mind, he
held to the image of her face, her lips curled into a teasing
smile. Because it was the only thing of pure beauty and light in
his life. He would give up anything he had to see it continue.

“You’re on, Vamp.” Davyn’s voice came from a
great distance. “Good luck.”

“Sounds like you guys have things all figured
out, then.”

The witches’ car drove through a metal gate
and down a long gravel and dirt driveway. Addison should’ve called
Micah by now to make sure he was on standby. Instead, she’d
listened to Herrick blabbing about the new world order and other
fun stuff they had planned. She needed as much information as she
could get to stop them, but she had a sinking suspicion things were
about to get out of hand.

“
Micah?
” She called him, asked for
him, begged him, clicked her heels together with her whole damn
heart, but he didn’t answer. Where was he? It wasn’t as if he had
office hours. Maybe he’d meant it when he said he might regret
telling her his name. First Rhyse and now Micah. Was there another
party happening somewhere?

Shit
. Okay, so no angel. But she still
had a vamp…kind of. Or she
would
have a vamp as soon as the
sun went down and he picked up his voicemail messages. So all she
had to do was keep her hosts from killing her for another few
hours. Then Rhyse would come rescue her…hopefully. She peeked at
her phone and pressed ‘end,’ just in case the message wouldn’t show
up in his box until it finished recording.

Her plan D was to go along with everything
the witches wanted, pretend she’d accepted there was no way out of
this until they trusted her and until she knew if they were really
planning to use a child. And then she would find both of them a way
out. The ‘how’ couldn’t be figured out until she was there. So
until then, she had nothing to do but doubt herself.