Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1) (42 page)

“I’m not your mom, Addison. I’ll be
fine.”

“I said no!”

“Do it, Vamp.” Logan’s voice dropped by at
least an octave, almost as if he was daring Rhyse. But this wasn’t
a game anyone could win.

“Teach him how to shield, Rhyse. Please,
teach him and then it’ll be fine.”

“He is a toy.” The word dripped off his
tongue like something he couldn’t bear to swallow.

“He’s my friend,” she whimpered. “You taught
me, so teach him. Please.” She touched his face, making him look at
her. When he did, the muscle in his jaw twitched as it clenched and
unclenched.

“I will not risk you,” he whispered.

“Just do it,” Logan said.

“Please, don’t. It doesn’t just wipe away
memories. It wipes away part of the person, too. It would be
different if you guys could tell how many times someone’s been
wiped. But since no one can, one more time might be the one beyond
what his mind can take.”

Rhyse blinked as if she hadn’t been in focus
before. “Who told you that?”

Not now. She didn’t want to talk about it
now
. “It’s common knowledge.”

“Not about the mind-scraping. Who said we
cannot tell how many times it has been done?”

When she paused, not wanting to get into this
now…or ever, Logan cursed. “You’re sleeping with him and you can’t
tell him about her?”

“About who?”

Two against one. Addison had already lost.
And it was her fault…again.

Addison spoke quietly, knowing Rhyse could
hear her just fine. “Most seers cut all ties with their families
when they turn eighteen and get drafted. I didn’t.” Her mom
provided a bit of normalcy and a sense of belonging. To someone who
didn’t belong to her. Not really.

“One night, my mom followed me to work. She
was worried I’d gotten into a bad situation because I worked at
night and never talked about it. She saw two dead weres, and then
she saw me dispose of them.”

Why stop now? Why not just relive that night
however many times she could? Because it hurt. Because
she
hurt. She’d been stupid not to say goodbye to her mom sooner, but
her mom was the one who’d been punished.

“We had to go in front of the Council.” Her
voice dropped even further once her lip started shaking. “She was
so scared, Rhyse. She didn’t understand, and none of them were
using their glamour.”

“We are forbidden to use glamour at
Council.”

Made sense but didn’t help. “They gave me the
same choice you just did. I chose the wipe. I didn’t know she’d
already been wiped. It didn’t take, and she remembers everything.”
Something that was supposed to take away her memory, took her
sanity instead. “So her reality is a continuous nightmare.”

Rhyse didn’t move. “I was not there.”

It wasn’t a question, but she answered
anyway. “No.”

“Who was?”

“I don’t know. A couple vamps, weres, maybe a
witch. I wasn’t really focused on them. Does it matter?”

“They were wrong, Addison. Perhaps
deliberately, or perhaps accidentally, but they were wrong.”

“About what?”

“Do you know why mind-scraping is so rare?
Why the last occurrence in this zone was well over a century ago?
Because there are protocols, laws all higher beings must follow
with regards to wiping a mind. Your mother is completely human,
correct?”

She nodded.

“Then the number you are looking for is
seven. The human mind can be wiped seven times. A seer’s eleven.
Each of the other races is different. After that number is reached,
wiping is forbidden.”

Seven
.

“If I had known…” He held her close and spoke
into her hair.

“Knowing the number wouldn’t have mattered,”
Logan said. “They would never have just let her go without the
wipe.”

“The law states that when a human is wiped
for the sixth time, they must be relocated to a country close to
the equator where they are far less likely to run into any
supernatural being. They are given appropriate memories to prevent
them from wanting to visit densely populated areas or even travel
abroad. They are also given enough money to live the rest of their
lives in comfort. The seventh wipe is almost never used and the
eighth…is illegal.”

Logan cleared his throat. “Have I been
wiped?”

“I would need to touch you to know.”

“Of course you would,” he grumbled. “Go
ahead. It’s nothing fucking new.”

“Believe me, it will not be pleasant for
either of us. Because I must close my eyes, if you move I will
assume you mean to kill me. So keep your hands to yourself.”

“Fucking vampires.”

“Turn around.”

Logan groaned. “Ah, come on. Seriously?”

“I am not forcing you to do anything. You
asked
me
.”

“I know. Just do it.”

After Addison got out of the way, Rhyse
stepped in close, his chest an inch from Logan’s back.

“I swear to the powers, Vamp.”

“He’s not going to hurt you,” Addison
said.

“And I am certainly not going to fuck you,
Toy.”

Logan bristled.

Addison smacked Rhyse. “Did you really think
that would make things easier for anybody?”

Rhyse put his hands on Logan’s shoulders,
closed his eyes, and then leaned forward until their heads almost
touched. When Logan flinched, Rhyse hissed. “Do not move.”

“Motherfucker,” Loge grumbled.

“Completely incorrect. While I admit to more
than my fair share of sins,
that
was definitely not one of
them.”

Logan chuckled but stayed still until Rhyse
pulled away. “So…?”

“You are a seer, therefore your mind is able
to accept a wipe better than a human.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He paused. “More
than once?”

Rhyse’s pause was longer. “Nine times.”

“No joke?”

“I have very little sense of humor.” He
nodded to Addison. “Ask her.”

“Nine wipes,” Logan muttered. He was quiet,
still, except for his eyes which seemed to be unable to stop
searching for something. Or maybe reliving something. Then they
began to shine, fill. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would they?
Nine times? Fuck, I still remember what they do to—” He ran his
hands through his hair and tugged on it as if he could somehow
reverse it all. “Some of the shit that has happened to me…Fuck!” He
looked at her through the glistening eyes of a wounded soul.
“Nine.”

Addison realized how much he’d been holding
back, keeping inside, because, in his eyes, she saw the damage he’d
been hiding. She wanted to reach out to him, hug him, make
everything different, hold his hand so it would stop shaking. “I’m
sorry.”

“I may be able to give your memories back to
you,” Rhyse said, “if you want them.”

“Fuck, no.” Laughing bitterly, he ran his
hands over his face. “I have some seriously fucked-up memories. I
never, ever want to know what the bastards
didn’t
want me to
remember.” He walked into the next room with a purpose Addison
didn’t understand.

“Lo—”

Rhyse held her arm. “Let him go.” They heard
Logan cry out from a room down the hallway, then the sound of
something heavy get knocked over and glass shattered.

“It is just furniture,” Rhyse said quietly.
“He needs the violence, to express what words cannot. We must
respect that.” He took her by the shoulders and turned her towards
him. “I did not know about your mother. I am sorry, but I cannot
bring her back to you.”

After another crash, Logan came stalking back
in. “So if this would be the tenth time, that means I should be
sent off to Bora Bora to drink cheap booze and fuck whoever I want
to, right?”

Rhyse nodded. “If that is what you wish to
do.”

When Loge looked at her, she didn’t know what
to say. She knew what she wanted to scream, which was: ‘Hurry up!’
He would be free—of the box, the supers, this entire life. And damn
it, she would miss him.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s exactly what I want.
But if no one else can know, are
you
gonna cough up the
dough and take me there?”

“Yes.”

“Fucking A. I’m getting out, Addison. I’m
free.” When he threw his arms around her and swung her in a circle,
she heard Rhyse growl. Loge must have too, because he set her down
quickly and did an exaggerated bow to the vampire. “One more thing,
though: I don’t wanna be wiped.”

“That is non-negotiable.”

“I’ll be in the middle of fucking nowhere,
tanning my ass, and drinking myself into an early grave. I promise
you, if a super gets within ten yards of me, I will run for my
sorry-ass life. I will stay out of trouble. But nothing else gets
taken out of my head.” He looked at her. “I have a few memories I
want to keep.”

Rhyse studied him for a while, occasionally
glancing at Addison, who tried to send as many positive vibes as
she could. “There are conditions.”

“Done.”

“Hear them before you agree.”

After Logan nodded, unsuccessfully trying to
contain his grin, Rhyse continued. “You never go to any major
city—in this zone or any other.”

“Done.”

“You never speak Addison’s name or expose
what she is in any way to anyone. Ever. Do you understand? Not the
woman you are fucking, not your wife, not your psychologist.”

“Done.”

“You will learn how to shield your mind. And
once you know how, you will practice. And once you are good at it,
you will get better at it.”

“You’re gonna teach me?”

“Do you agree?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, if you can learn to my standards, I
will let you go, but you should expect regular visits. I will check
on you, and I will test you—while you are sober and while you are
drunk. And if you are not following any of the conditions, not even
Addison will be able to stop me.”

“I’m in, Vamp. I’m so fucking in.”

It was decided that Logan would stay with
them until he learned how to shield. The look on her friend’s face
when Rhyse notified whoever he was supposed to notify that Logan
wouldn’t be going back to the box brought tears to her eyes. He was
going to be free. And happy. When he grabbed her for another bear
hug, Rhyse threw a hissy fit again. But Addison only scowled at
him, too excited for Logan to want anything to ruin the moment.

When the men went downstairs to begin,
Addison realized that no one had brought up the idea of her doing
the same thing. Not even her. Was she so committed to this insanely
dangerous plan that she’d give up a chance at total freedom for it?
She and Rhyse could still see each other if she lived on an island
in the middle of nowhere. He could probably
buy
them an
island in the middle of nowhere. But then she’d be stuck
there—unable to return on a whim, to visit her mom, to create the
kind of future she wanted for all seers.

When Rhyse came into the library, Addison
opened her eyes and sat up to give him room on the couch.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I have a headache.” She lowered the hand
she’d been pressing on the side of her head. “But don’t worry—I’m
not trying to get out of having sex with you.”

“I would never worry about that.”

She laughed. “Of course you wouldn’t. Because
it would never happen.”

“Why does your head ache?” he asked, rubbing
the base of her skull with just enough pressure to feel awesome and
not enough to break her neck.

“I think I’m just dehydrated. All I drink
here is blood.” She grimaced when she heard what she’d just said.
“Oh, man! Sometimes you don’t know how truly horrible something is
until you say it out loud.”

“I quite enjoy it,” he said, getting up and
disappearing. Thirty seconds later, he was back with a glass of
water and what looked like aspirin.

“That’s a heck of a convenient skill you have
there.” She took both gratefully.

“Those are the last. Evidently Logan has gone
through an entire bottle and blames me for it.” Learning how to
shield sucked.

“How’s he doing?”

“He is more disciplined than you and is
taking it more seriously, although that is not saying much. He
needed a break, so the young witch took him into town with
her.”

“Felicity,” she corrected.

“Yes, Felicity, the young witch.” He lifted
her and set her on his lap.

“About that other thing…”

“Your mother.”

Okay, about that
other
other thing.
“She’s not really my mom.”

“She treated you as her own for twenty years
of your life, and you never knew differently. Has she not earned
the right?” How did he know that was exactly what she needed to
hear?

“Why did the Council lie about the wipes? Why
would they do that?”

“I think the first question is
who
would do that, and I will find out.”

She knew what he’d do then. “Don’t do it. At
least not right away. I want to know, but…I don’t know.”

He smiled. “That makes no sense.”

“What do you expect from someone who’s only
pretending to be human?”

He kissed her forehead. “A great deal.”

They spent the next few hours in front of
the fire. He held her while she told him everything she remembered
from her youth. Since she didn’t have many memories from before she
woke up in this body, most of them were real.

“What are you doing in here?” Addison found
Logan in front of the kitchen fireplace, his head between his
hands. “You okay?”

“This shit is torture. My brain feels like
it’s about to come flying out the top of my skull. I figured it
would be easier to clean up if it happened in here.”

“Rhyse is being kind of rough, huh?”

He shrugged. “S’all good. I mean, yeah, but I
get it. He needs to know I won’t accidentally tattle on his
girl.”

Am I ‘his girl’?
That would take some
getting used to.