“Sorry,” she said, seemed to feel an awkward silence. “I think I left my credit card.”
The monster called Ash, the one who owned me and all of Ticonderoga Falls, stood behind the counter. He found the card, held it in his hand, lifted it, stared at the woman.
A cold electricity flowed through the room.
The woman walked toward him with a grin, lifted her head and sniffed. I could smell it, layers of shadow, the heady fragrance of the forest at dusk. The scent hung in the air like droplets of water, sparkling, spinning. She had to walk through the mist to get her card and her eyelids blinked like she was fighting a dream.
One hand outstretched, fingers wrapped around her card.
Ash didn’t let go until she looked into his eyes.
“I’m glad you decided to stay,” he said with a grin.
“Me too,” she answered.
The wrong answer, of course. I could feel it, vibrating beneath the floor. Gears set in motion, cogs and sprockets instead of emotion, metal and sparks instead of flesh. I couldn’t look at the monster’s face, it just wasn’t allowed in situations like this. So I stared at the woman instead. I wished that I could tell her to run, wished my mouth would open and a warning would come out.
She pocketed the card, turned and left.
She didn’t notice the silent plea in my weary, sleepless eyes. Didn’t hear the word run get tangled and erased by the Beast’s machinery. Silver wires laced through my brain, stole my strength. Forced my knees to bend, to stay in the chair although I longed to follow her out the door, to see the stars, to walk so far away that no one would know my name.
I should have cried help. Next time I would.
Then, as soon as Madeline walked out the door, electricity sizzled through the air and the transformation took place. Fake human flesh dissolved like ashes in the wind. And I was surrounded by monsters once again.
Chapter 14
Human Blood
Elspeth:
The house sighed and moaned, shutters rattled and boards creaked as soon as the human woman stepped outside the door. A restless hush teased lace panels, making them dance, ghostlike, against wooden floors. I followed the human woman out of the house to the wraparound porch. There I stood quiet and still as a shadow, watching as she jogged back toward her cottage, toward the child and dog that waited for her. Then I glanced back through the leaded-glass window on the front door and saw my father inside, wearing his true Darkling skin. I saw the fear on Driscoll’s face.
Stupid, weak humans.
I kicked the railing that ran the length of the porch, then quickly glanced down to make sure I was wearing the right skin. Can’t be calling attention to myself unless I’m dressed properly. Can’t embarrass Father. I leaned against a column and felt the vibrations that flowed through the house. Every time I visited earth, I was drawn back here, to the Driscoll mansion, no matter how I tried to fight it. I hated this house, hated every piece of furniture and every painting, hated the stench of human pride that had soaked into every crevice.
Hated the fact that I was the only one in my clan who could walk through doors or windows uninvited.
Hated my human blood.
“Shouldn’t hate what you cannot change, my pretty.”
One of my cousins stood behind me. Thane. I gave him a quick glance and a nod. Ran my gaze up and down his shape, then wrinkled my nose. Broad shoulders and long limbs, narrow brow and probing dark eyes. But his feet curled up at the toes and his skin had a green cast. He never could get the human form quite right. Didn’t have the eye for shape or color.
Barbarian.
He snickered and took an unwelcome step closer, placed one long finger under my chin. “You don’t want to hear the word that comes to mind for you, love.”
My spine turned rigid, fingernails curved into claws.
“Better learn how to hide that anger, little one. Or you’ll lose the Hunt.” His breath was hot on my face. No one ever got this close to me. “And then your father would be displeased. Might not give you a seat at his table.”
“Your father spent so much time training you, did he? Oh. I forgot. Your clan doesn’t train for the Hunt, do they? You’re supposed to work in the fields or the factories. Beasts of burden. I heard that you and River haven’t even been taught the gift of discernment—”
“Fair and square, we’ve had our training, sure enough. Wait and see, my precious. Wait and see who goes tumbling through midnight sky because they can’t keep up with the rest of us.”
“I’d race you now, if the humans weren’t still awake. Perhaps we should cast a sleep enchantment together and then see who—”
“Elspeth.” My aunt Sage stood beside me. Tall and majestic and beautiful, everything I would never be.
I lifted my chin, could still feel the warmth of Thane’s finger pressing into my skin even though it had been gone for several heartbeats.