Unbalanced

II

Nicoleta

He tilted his head to the right and said, “I must have hit you harder than I thought.”

Sucking in a breath, Nicoleta stepped back. “No. You can’t be,” she shook her head as if that would change the nonsensical words he had just spoken, “your eyes are blue.”

She gasped as she watched the black leak from his pupils and fill the rest of his iris, then the whites of his eyes until they were nothing but pools of obsidian. Her heart started thumping wildly against her chest as the gorgeous man in front of her transformed into a wraith. His power thrummed though the room and she struggled to shake the fog from her brain.

"You can control it? How is that possible?" The words tumbled out of her mouth in her surprise. She had never known they could hide their powers or alter their aesthetic before. Of course, she had never taken one down that cared to try. They usually just attacked. Savagely.

"Of course I can," he said, tilting his head further and turning the answer into a question, “How do you not know that?” He asked quietly.

She didn't know if he was asking her or musing to himself, so she didn't bother to answer. Not that she had an answer, anyway. Why would he think that she should know that? Should she? Did the elders?

“What do you want from me?” She asked, confusion crinkling her brow. “Why did you bring me here? Why not just kill me?”

“I want you to listen to me. That’s all.”

“I think I’d rather kill you,” she replied.

“Listen, first,” he argued. “If you still want to kill me after you hear what I have to say, I won’t stop you.”

“Why would I trust you?” She laughed.

He gestured toward the stiletto she had forgotten was in her hand, "I am unarmed. You can search me if you'd like," he smirked. With the three days’ worth of stubble across his strong jaw and the dark shadows under his eyes, he didn’t look soulless or evil. Honestly, he looked exhausted. “Because I am not the one who has lied to you, Lita," he said after a moment.

“Is that so? Who has lied to me, then?” Crossing her arms over her chest, she wondered why either one of them were wasting their breath. What was he up to? He may not look like a monster, but he was. She couldn’t deny her curiosity though, and she was armed. One wrong move and she’d kill him. That’s what she told herself anyway, in her attempt to justify her lack of action. There was something about him that made her want to believe him though, and she was fairly confident that it had nothing to do with his dimples.

Okay, it might have had everything to do with his dimples. Gods, he was the sexiest male she had ever seen. Man or monster.

Leaning back, he ran his hands through his hair, leaving it to stick up at adorable points. “My name is Lucien. I knew your mother,” pausing, he slid an old photo across the table, “I knew your father, too.”

Stepping forward she picked up the photograph. There were three faces smiling back at her. Lucien was on the right, looking exactly the same as he did seated in front of her. Her mother stood in the middle, her blonde hair being swept across her face by the wind, and the smallest hint of a baby bump. She never met her mother, but the elders had given her photos of her and she would recognize that face anywhere. She could feel her face screw up as she failed to find a plausible reason for her mother to be standing there, with him. Her arms on the shoulders of the men on either side of her. She didn’t recognize the man on the left, but he had dark hair and eyes that just a little more purple than blue. Just like hers.

“Is that him? Is that my father?” For a second Nicoleta couldn’t breathe. It felt like all the oxygen had been sucked from the room. She never thought that she would get to know anything about him, and here’s this wraith with a picture of her parents, smiling like they were totally comfortable with him being there.

“It is,” Lucien leaned forward again, as if to emphasize his words. “He was my best friend, and he loved your mother more than anything.”

“Why did you kill her then? Did you kill him too? Was your immortality worth more to you than their lives?” Shaking with anger now, she fought back the tears she could feel building in her eyes.

“I didn’t kill either of them,” he said through gritted teeth. He looked down at the table and then back up to her face, “The Surori Războinice did."

Taking a step back, she shook her head. “Why would they do that? We hunt monsters. Creatures like you, not humans.”

Lucien smiled, though there was no joy in the expression, and leaned back in his chair again, “Your father was like me. You are like me, I’d bet.”

“You’re lying,” she spat. “I don’t have to hurt people to survive. Besides, my mother was part of the Surori. She would have killed him.”

“Neither do I, and not all of us do. We’re immortal with or without soul stealing. We were cursed, a very long time ago, by a group of powerful witches. We don’t feel certain emotions as strongly as mortals do, as strong as we used to. The soul stealers are seeking that in a way. Taking another soul gives them a rush of heightened emotions and senses. It’s like getting high and it’s addictive. Also, your mother was sent to kill him. It just didn’t work out that way.”

“You have killed 13 members of the Surori Războinice in the past year.” She said, refusing to let him paint himself as the hero.

“They deserved it. They killed my friends and took their daughter. Not to mention, they were trying to kill me."

She couldn’t stand there anymore; her knees were going to give out. She crossed the space between them and sat down across from him, setting her knife on the table in front of her, but keeping her hand on the hilt. “What was my father’s name?”

“Fane. Stefan, actually, but everyone called him Fane.” He answered easily.

Of course, she couldn't believe a word he said. She just couldn't figure out what he wanted. Why tell her this dark fairy tale of his. Why not just kill her. What would he gain from turning her against her sisters? She had to play along if she wanted to find out what his game was, find out what he wanted from her. Now, she also had to play his game long enough to find out why he had these photos and what he really knew about her parents, about her. Then she could kill him.

In the silence that followed, Nicoleta started trying to fit this man, this abomination, into her story. Nothing about this made any sense, but she had been suspicious of the Surori for a while, at this point. She knew she was missing pieces and she needed to find them if she wanted to put this puzzle together.

The order had told her that her parents were killed by the wraith in front of her and that there was no reason for it; they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They told her they would train her to avenge her parents and to protect other people from such an awful fate. They pretended not to notice that she was different from the other warriors, but she was. Nicoleta was faster, she was stronger. She had better senses, better instincts. She was the well known as the best of her generation, maybe the best ever, for a reason and she was sent after the toughest targets. Yet, they hesitated to send her after this one. They let him take out too many of her sisters before they let her go. As she watched him, she considered his words. If what he said was true and he had been waiting for her, it would explain why the only bodies left in his wake were those of the warriors sent after him and why they wouldn’t send her until none of the more experienced warriors were left. Maybe he knew something. She just had to find out what.

"They know I’m here,” She realized, “if that’s true, they would never have trusted me to come after you without watching me.”

"I know,” he sighed. “There are others in town. No doubt, they have contacted the horde and told them that I captured you.”

No later than the words came out of his mouth, the door burst open and three Surori warriors filed into the room. Their faces were covered with scarves, so Nicoleta wasn’t sure which of her sisters they were before they attacked. Her. They attacked her. Why would they attack her? Why were they even here? This was her assignment. They had never shown up on one of her assignments before. Never had they not trusted her to complete her mission. Why is this target so different than any other?

She had to admit that this attack lent some credibility to the wraith's story. There was something shady going on, and she didn’t appreciate being left in the dark. She knew now that she had to stick with the demon and find out more. She could kill him after she found out the truth.

“What are you doing Nic?” the first attacker spat, nodding toward Lucien. “Why isn’t he dead?”

Ah Serena, her own bunk mate was here to kill her. Perfect. “He had some interesting things to say.” She told the girl, shrugging.

Shifting her aim to Nic's, Serena cursed just before she pulled the trigger on her small and outdated handgun. Nic always did hate those things. If you need one of those, you shouldn’t be doing this in the first place.

Somehow, Lucien managed to knock her out of the way before she was hit; he herded her around the corner into a small bathroom and closed the door. “Neither one of us has a gun,” he said, “We have to get them away from theirs if we’re going to make it out of here.”

“My daggers.” Nic replied.

“Here,” Lucien said as he handed her the weapons. “Can you disarm them from here?”

“I can if they don’t shoot me first.” She said, rather impressed that he thought to grab the knives until she noticed the blood on his arm, as well as the overwhelming impulse to get away from him start to rise within her. “You were hit," she pointed out.

“I’ll be fine. I heal fast,” he said through gritted teeth as his eyes faded and darkened to black.

“Your eyes weren’t black before,” she observed, “and I wasn’t afraid of you a minute ago. Did you just turn it all back on?” She was still struggling with the idea that they could control the features that marked them for what they were so easily. She wondered how many were out there, posing as humans. She also wondered if it was possible the Surori didn’t know this or why they wouldn’t tell the warriors if they did.

“Not exactly. It happens when I use my power. To heal, to frighten humans, to compel them, whatever.”

“Are you doing that now? Compelling someone?” She asked.

“Nah. Just healing faster than I would without it. And, maybe keeping your friends out there a little nervous,” he smiled.

Nodding her head, she reached up to open the door. As the warriors turned in her direction, she threw the daggers, stabbing Serena through her wrist and the woman to her left in the hand. Both of them dropped their weapons, however there was still a third problem and she was out of daggers.

“Put the weapon down,” Lucien said from behind her, and she felt the power crawl over her skin.

The third woman glanced around, unsure of what to do. In the end, she decided against putting down her gun. However, the momentary confusion allowed Nic to get a jump on the warrior and bring her to the ground while Lucien kept the other two busy. The weapon wasn’t helping her any as long as Nic was sitting on her back and wrenching her arm as far back as it would go. Eventually, she dropped her weapon as well, and the battle became much easier to manage.

Lucien narrowly avoided being stabbed through the chest for the second time that day when Nic threw one of her rediscovered daggers into the warrior he didn’t have his eyes on. As she fell forward, Lucien pulled the dagger out and tossed it back. Without hesitation Nic ended the warrior underneath her and regained her feet. Truthfully, she wouldn’t lose much sleep over killing her sisters. They weren’t allowed to care about each other much. The elders always said that warriors died young and they couldn’t afford to waste time on feelings every time one of them didn’t come home. They couldn't afford to waste time on feelings. Period. Being emotional would only make them weak.

“I never thought I’d be on this side of the fight,” she sighed.

"Thank you for the assist,” Lucien replied.

“Returning the favor. Besides, it turns out, I am interested in hearing what you have to say.” She shrugged. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be praised for saving a wraith that she was supposed to be killing.

The third warrior was still trying to put up a fight, but she was no longer a threat. It looked like her shoulder had been dislocated during her struggle with Lucien and she couldn’t put any weight on her left leg.

“I’m not going to kill you,” Nic told her as she stepped forward. “Go back to the Surori. Tell them I'm not returning until I know what happened to my parents, and they better hope they weren't a part of it."