Page 57 of Absolution
Luca looked thoughtful. Seiran seemed confused. Con was frowning.
“What?” I demanded.
“Seems odd that you manifested as an air animal,” Seiran said. “Your power never seemed set to one specific element. Maybe it was because Roman was your sire?” Andrew Roman had been an air witch, and because he’d fed from me until the point of death, Gabe had been able to bring me back as a vampire. So technically Roman was my sire, though Gabe had been the one to give me his blood to raise me. Did that mean I still maintained some of Roman’s abilities?
“Vampires don’t change,” Luca said.
“Vampires aren’t normally witches,” Seiran pointed out.
“I think it’s sort of my fault,” Con said. We all looked at him. “He’d been under so long, and I knew they’d tried blood, but I went to the grave and thought if I added a little of my own, maybe it would help?”
We all blinked at him, processing his words. It was Seiran who said it first. “Can you change on the new moon?”
He nodded. “I don’t have to. Not every month. But I can.”
“And it’s a raven?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Never seen my bird. Just that I fly. I’ve always been alone. Cat didn’t know. I don’t think she could change. It started for me after Kelly and I broke up and I lost the baby…” Around the same time Con had turned to cutting as his past time.
“So I can borrow a shapeshift now?” Was that possible? I looked at Seiran who didn’t seem to have any answers either.
“We can try on the next new moon. See if you can borrow from me or Jamie. It’s in a couple weeks.”
I’d be sad not to fly again. If I borrowed it once, would I have to keep borrowing it to use it again? I still felt Seiran’s power and Kelly’s. Hell, I was pretty sure I could still pull up a null field of Matthew’s power if I really tried. It all sat like seeds of energy inside of me. What if I was just collecting everyone’s power and it never faded? How much would be too much?
“I’ll talk to Max. He might have heard of it happening before,” Luca offered.
“Galloway had obviously seen it before,” I said.
“Galloway doesn’t answer questions. I’m not sure he’s all there or still half asleep. I think the death of his Focus really screwed him up,” Luca said.
“I don’t trust Galloway,” Seiran said. “Or Max.”
“And we can’t trust Gabe,” I pointed out. “So who’s left? The Dominion doesn’t know. Are there any vampires left who might know and we can trust?”
“Mike?” Seiran asked.
I shook my head. Mike was old but only a few centuries old. “I’m pretty sure Luca knows more than Mike.”
“I’ll vouch for that,” Luca said. “Super nice guy, but not quite two centuries old and since Gabe is his sire, Gabe could keep him from sharing stuff with us.”
I hadn’t thought of that, and neither had Seiran from the expression on his face. He sighed. “Fine. You can ask Max.” He cut furiously into his steak, breaking it into small pieces. The babies started to fuss. I patted Seiran’s wrist and got up to take care of them so he could eat in peace.
We needed some answers. I wondered if there was anything in those books I had hidden. Maybe I’d take a short trip to retrieve them. Although if Gabe was coming for me after dark, I had a feeling the evening would not be headed in a positive direction.
Chapter 17
The sun set and I felt Gabe at the door almost like he’d magically manifested there. He looked tired, thin, face stern. He didn’t even look in Seiran’s direction. I could feel the anger wafting off him. “Let’s go,” he said and turned to leave, not bothering to see if I was ready or not.
Seiran gave me a shooing motion, begging me to go. He wanted to know what Gabe was doing, only I knew that was masochistic. Neither of us wanted to see Gabe fall apart. Seiran because he loved Gabe, and me because Gabe was my mentor and I looked up to him.
I waved to Con and Luca and followed Gabe out. He said nothing as we got into his car. “I know how to hunt,” I told him as he pointed us toward downtown.
He said nothing.
“Why won’t you drink from Seiran?” I asked.
“Because Seiran feels pain when I bite him.”