Unbalanced

XI

Nicoleta

Half an hour later they were stepping into Café du Monde for beignets and debating what to do next. Nic suggested getting their fortune read, by the psychic whose nearby cart offered palm readings and tarot card readings in bold green letters. “Oh, come on,” she said, bumping Lucien with her shoulder. “What else do we have to do?”

“Fine,” he conceded. “If it’s that important to you.”

It wasn’t particularly important that she have her fortune told, but she’d take any excuse to stay outside; she already dreaded the idea of going back into that too small apartment. It was like Lucien’s aura was just too big to be there; it made her claustrophobic. She could feel him everywhere, as if he was breathing down her neck even when they were in different rooms. It didn’t make any sense, she knew that. They had been in two different hotel rooms together. One of them only had one bed. Who was she kidding? She knew exactly what the problem was. She wanted him and that terrified her.

She’d never been with a man. The monster in the alley had seen to that. She liked to look at them, of course, but had never even wanted to do anything more than that after that night four years ago. Honestly, she had begun to think that she never would. Maybe, she thought, she was gay and just hadn’t realized it before that incident. She was only fifteen when it happened, after all. It was possible, wasn’t it? Not anymore it wasn’t. She groaned internally as her thoughts churned back around to him. She was always thinking about him. How stupid could she be? Not only was he a man, but he was a gods damned wraith! There weren’t many places their relationship could go, and none of them were happily ever after. Mom and dad did it, she reasoned before shaking her head in frustration. That had worked out beautifully, hadn’t it?

Back in reality, they took their beignets to go, the café was too crowded to sit inside. Though, she would have insisted on it either way. As they ate, they wandered from one cart to another, browsing the art and trinkets being sold. When Nic finished the last of hers and dropped the napkin in a nearby trash bin, they made their way to the fortune teller. First, Nic decided, she wanted her tarot cards read. She wasn’t sure if she believed that the woman doing the reading was the real deal, but she did believe in magic and the like. Honestly, she hunted wraiths for a living. It would be pretty stupid to assume anything couldn’t be real.

“Shuffle the cards,” Madame Solara instructed, placing the deck in her hand.

Nic did as she was told and handed the deck back. She watched as the woman laid the cards on the cloth covered counter in a pattern that had four cards in a column to the right of a six-card cross.

She began speaking as she overturned the cards, one by one. The first, was the Death card. “It appears that you have had a new beginning, recently, yes? One journey ended, and a new one has begun, yes?”

Huh, Nic thought. That’s pretty accurate, I’ll give her that. Hell, the new journey was even set into motion by death.

“It looks like you have many obstacles to face yet,” she continued. “Though, you have a loyal companion to see you through these trials.”

Nic looked to Lucien and wondered if the seer was referring to him.

“There is betrayal in your future, though. I cannot see how he journey will end,” she said with a puzzled expression on her face. "There is some decision that has not yet been made, some pivotal moment of your journey that will determine your fate. I cannot see further than that. It seems, my girl, that you have some demons to face and darkness to shed if you want to make it out the other end.”

Ah, well that seemed like enough fortune telling for one day. She grimaced at Lucian and decided to forgo the palm reading. She didn’t expect it would include rainbows or butterflies. They wandered a short while longer with no particular destination in mind, simply taking in the beautiful city. As the sun abandoned it’s place in the sky and streets darkened, they decided it was time to head back to the apartment. There wasn’t much more she could do to delay the inevitable. Of course, she was dreadfully underestimating her own bad luck.

The streets emptied quickly after the sun went down. Nic figured the locals liked to be home safe before the predators came out; both supernatural and human. They were about halfway back to the apartment when they felt the power they both knew so well. There was a wraith nearby and it was not being subtle. She snapped her head to look at Lucien and he nodded, signaling to keep her own power under wrap for now. She agreed. Better not announce their presence and send the creature running if they can catch it here and now. She released the snaps on the insides of her wrists and felt the cool steel slide into her palms. She really couldn’t imagine a more comforting feeling, although she did spare a second to wish she had carried her mothers chakram to the Quarter.

She entered the alley first, Lucien a step behind her as they crept down the alley. The wraith seemed too engrossed in teasing his meal to even notice them. The waves of fear inducing magic were strong enough to keep her on her toes, but apparently this guy wasn’t the sharpest tool in the chandelier.

“Hey dumbass,” she said, stopping several feet from the wraith and his terrified, but still alive, victim. The blond’s eyes widened incredulously, either shocked by the interruption or concerned that Nic wasn’t aware of the fight she was picking. Nic smiled and winked at her before turning her attention back to the wraith. He may have shown his cards, but she hadn’t shown all of hers. Lucien, apparently, seemed content to stand back and let her have her fun. She was the Boogeyman the monsters feared, after all. She didn’t think the overconfident dimwit even noticed that she wasn’t alone.

“Well, hello,” the wraith purred, overtly dragging his eyes from her boots to her eyes and licking his lips to ensure she understood his intent. “Coming to join the party?”

A low growl rumbled from behind her and she laughed to cover the sound. She had certainly faced bigger threats than this, though possibly not more revolting. “Oh, I came to play,” she told him. “But I doubt you’ll like the game.”

Recognition finally dawned in the moron’s eyes, for what she was if not who. “Well, I’ll be, I’ve found myself a Raz w***e,” he announced to nobody. Well, maybe he was announcing it to Nic like she’d never heard the term before.

“Oh, sweety. Ugly and stupid? You poor thing,” she crooned. If this went on much longer, she was going to get bored. Luckily, the jab found it’s mark.

The wraith tossed his victim to the side in favor of lunging at Nic. Like she said, ugly and stupid. It was too easy, really. She stepped to the side, reached her left arm out to catch around his chest and slammed the stiletto in her right hand through his back. The mess would take care of itself. Mother nature had a way of erasing what never should have existed, or so that’s what the elder’s said. It wasn’t a satisfying answer by any stretch, but it’s all they ever said on the matter.

The problem was that now Nic was overconfident. She spun around to receive her ovation from Lucien when she felt power slam into her like a tidal wave sending her reeling. She had barely made sense of what happened when a wraith grabbed her from behind and held a knife against her throat, pressing hard enough to draw blood. The wraith’s power whipped through her, sending her heart racing despite knowing the power that caused it. She clamped her power down hard, refusing to show her hand too soon. At least until the b***h laughed in her ear and she focused her eyes on the scene in front of her. Lucien was caught, on his knees, between two tank-sized wraiths.

“Lucien!” She struggled against the female holding her, but only succeeded in cutting herself deeper.

“Lita, no,” he said with a slight shake of his head before he lifted his gaze to meet her eyes. He was still reigning in his own power. Why?

“Isn’t this interesting. A wraith on his knees, surrendering to protect a Raz Whore.” The tank on his left spat.

“f*****g pathetic,” Tank number two added as if it was vital to the conversation. She was relatively certain that neither of these soulless gorillas were the brains behind the operation.

She was losing her grip on her power. None of their lessons had ever taught her how to keep the power in. It had never been a problem before. Lucien must have felt her control slipping; his head snapped up so quickly she thought he had been hurt. She surged froward in response.

“Lita, please,” he pleaded, his eyes still the color of a storm ravaged sea.

It didn’t help at all. It only made her angrier. She wanted to scream at him. Why was he doing this? She had felt his power. She knew he was stronger than both of those blockheads combined. She- wait. He was stronger than both of them. She took a deep breath to steady herself and keep her power concealed. Then, she nodded at Lucien and surrendered.