Wait, was she saying what I thought she was saying? “Are you asking me to find him?”
“Yes.”
Oh crap.
Chapter Two
Eve wanted me to find Cain. She wanted me to actively pursue the immortal who’d been trying to kill me for months.
I stared at her in horror. “Are you serious?”
She stared back at me unblinkingly.
Okay, so she was serious. “Look, Eve… Can I call you Eve?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, Eve, even if I wanted to help you, I have no idea how to track an immortal witch… Warlock? What is he?”
“He’s both, and you would do it with this.” She pulled a silver cuff out of nowhere and handed it to me.
It was warm to the touch, and my fingers prickled a little when they made contact with the smooth metal. It was obviously charged with some kind of power.
Why me? “Let me guess, you want me to put this on him.”
“Yes.”
Of course she did. “Right, so you want me to find an ancient, powerful witch-warlock who happens to be part celestial, with a chip the size of Everest on his shoulder, and cuff him?”
“Yes.”
Wow, she was really going for it. “If you hadn’t noticed, I have your face. He’ll see me and my cover—whatever fucking cover I have—will be blown.”
“No.” She smiled. “Cain doesn’t work that way. He’ll want to talk. He’ll want to persuade you of his cause, whatever it is, but you must remember that his cause will always be vengeance. You will listen, and you will fake empathy, and then, when the moment is right, you will cuff him.” Her eyes gleamed bright. “No hesitation. No doubts. We cannot afford them.”
“I turned the cuff over in my hands. “And if it goes another way? If he attacks me.”
“Right now, he’s weakened. He needs to gather his strength. He’ll lay low until he’s at full power. You have seven days until he’ll be too powerful to take down with the cuff. You must find him before then.” She grabbed my wrist and looked deep into my eyes. “Listen to me carefully, child. The power he wields is unmatched. If he’s allowed to gain his full strength, then he will be unstoppable, and who knows what shape his vengeance will take. What I can tell you is he will bring down anyone and anything standing in his way.”
Shit. It didn’t look like this was one I could walk away from. And I’d so hoped for an interlude before war in the Underealm. Just Grayson, bed, and a bucket of chicken wings, then to the Dominus quarters for some Uri and ice-cream for dessert. But no. I had to do this.
“How do I find him?”
“The cuff will act as a beacon. It will lead you to him by allowing you to see through his eyes.” She looked down at it almost lovingly. “It belonged to him. It was gift from his father. He wore it all the time until… Until Samael marked him. The cuff carries Cain’s essence, and through it you will be able to connect to him. Sleep with it under your pillow. Handle it often in the next few hours and it will help you find him. You have been touched by him, and it will recognize that and open to you.”
She looked over my head, her gaze turning unfocused. “You should go now.”
I stood with her and she held onto my hands for a moment, stroking the backs of them with soothing sweeps of her thumbs. “Do not waste time, child. Find him and the cuff will send him home. To me.”
She stepped close and brushed her lips across my forehead before touching my hair lightly. “His hair was the same exact shade. Like the rays of the moon.”
And then she shoved me, and spring tunneled away.
“Fee, fee!” Grayson shook me gently.
I opened my eyes and looked up at his concerned face.
“What happened?” he asked.
“So much”
I was getting sick of blacking out and waking up to people scrutinizing me with concern. For once, I wanted to be the concerned party hovering over someone. No, that wasn’t it. I just wanted a few normal days. No blacking out or being taken or losing anyone.
I sat up and rolled my shoulders then looked down at the cuff in my hand.
“Did she give you that?” Grayson followed my gaze.
“Yeah, we talked for a while, then she gave me this. I need a minute to process. Sorry if you were worried.”
He gave me a quizzical look. “Fee, you vanished and reappeared in a matter of seconds. There was no time to worry.”
“No.” I looked up at him with a frown. “That can’t be right. I was gone for at least an hour.”
“No, you weren’t.”
Wait, what had Eve said? This place exists out of time.
“I think time is different where she took me. I think there is no time.”
“Are you all right?” He cupped my cheek and I leaned into him. “I will be. I need coffee, and I need to think.”
“I can help with both of those.”
My stomach grumbled. “And donuts… I could really use a few donuts. I wonder what’s keeping Uri?”
Grayson chuckled. “You were gone two seconds,” he reminded me.
Oh shit. But I wanted a chocolate frosted one…
Uri
There is too much to choose from. In the Beyond, food is simple and always the same. It’s routine, but here… Here there is color and variety and so many smells. It’s why I love the human world so much. They feel so much, and through them I can feel too, but it’s different now.
Ever since the divine let me go, my senses are heightened. I’m more connected to the human realm than I ever was as a Grigori.
And what am I now?
I push the thought away.
I’m with Fee.
I am with the woman I…I love. Yes. I love her, but it’s too soon to claim her in that way. I need to give her time. These emotions are new and frightening. This tightness in my chest, this heat in the pit of my belly, this slow warmth that blooms in my heart when I think of her and when she touches me is all new.
New and frightening but mine.
“Hey, gorgeous.” Leana, the owner, grins up at me. “Have you decided which donuts you want?”
I came for donuts, but they seem so mundane compared to all the other treats, and Fee deserves the best.
“I’ll take one of each.”
“One of each donut?” Leana asks.
I lean on the counter and smile sweetly at her. “Two chocolate covered donuts and one of everything else.”
I don’t know why I choose chocolate; it just feels right.
Her eyes go wide. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
“I better get some boxes then.”
I wait as she makes up pastry boxes and absently watch the other patrons. There are a few familiar faces here. Fae mainly. Lumiers’ clientele attracts otherworld creatures. I’ve never had to interact with them though. A Grigori is concerned with keeping humans safe and the shining ones, as they were once called, don’t interact with humans much any longer. They keep to their spaces of in-between: ley roads, deep dark forests, shimmering lakes, nooks found under bridges and mountains. I sometimes forget their existence.