The OtherWorlders

Chapter 28

I blinked and he was gone, my body beginning to tremble as a sob bubbled and rolled in the base of my throat; there was nobody to impress when Justin wasn't around, and as that thought stuttered through my thoughts I hated myself. I turned from the sight of carnage, the smears of blood on the ground and the intoxicating scent of it in the air, wandering off with no destination in mind besides perhaps a clearer understanding of what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to be.

I ran, I flew, through and around streets, my glasses forgotten; I figured that shit had hit the fan, what with the entire human population having seen my real eyes, and I was sick of the dark glasses anyways. Plus, as petty as it was, I thought my lack of stealth might piss Justin off.

I came out of my head and slowed to look around, not recognizing where I was; large warehouses stood on every side of me, the streets were broken and full of potholes, wicked graffiti was plastered on the large cement walls. I kept seeing variations of the same image, some winged creature with toxic colors and complex symbols. In my inattentive moment, I had missed the warning bells, and by the time their incessant clanging broke through, the three men behind me already had me herded directly into the three in front of me.

My heartbeat picked up, and the chuckle from my back rolled over my skin. In the time it took me to turn, their numbers had doubled, and my sense of unease grew; vampyres, their inhuman speed spoke to it and I could smell the pheromones on them. One of the men, the one closest to me, tilted his head as his nostrils flared and he inhaled my scent, his eyes bleeding red. I held out my hands and my power leapt to attention, licking along my skin; since the massacre it seemed to have a newfound respect for me, and it listened much better than it ever had before.

They stepped back from the sparks, hisses flying and teeth gnashing together. One of the girls feinted forward, snarling when she connected with the fire from my figertips, and she stopped when she met my eyes, her own widening a fraction.

"This is Master's pet. The one from the TV. She is his, he is hers, and we are nothing."

One of the men rolled his eyes. "Krystal, you gotta lay off the druggie blood, you're not making any damn sense."

Yet another punched his arm. "Did you even listen Anton? You have to read between the lines a little, sure, but I think she's right. That's the chick that Master brought to his New Years Eve shindig. She was all over the news, remember?"

I watched them all exchange glances, some beginning to fidget, others looking more defiant.  

Before I could think too hard about whether my magick would be needed or not, a limosine of deep forest green careened around the corner and the vamps scattered, taking off down alleys and into the coming night. I looked the car over; it should have looked ridiculous, the color it was, but it didn't, and it called to me.

The window lowered, slowly, and a slender woman with vaguely orange skin and violet hair looked me over sternly. "Dear, this really isn't the place for you to be wandering about, regardless of your powers. No sense in asking for trouble when it's far too likely to find you on its own, you're practically a beacon. Get in."

She swung the door open, scooting back to leave the space empty. Her face peeked back into the opening when I didn't immediately follow, a sharp brow raised. She sighed, pulling back into the car again mumbling about— "Frustrating faerylings, not bad enough without adding a demon to the mix."

The pendulum swung completely to the other side, my mind scrambling to catch up, when one petite faery girl poked her head through the open door, peach pupils twinkling with mirth. "Girl, for real, this warehouse district is depressing, let's go!"