Page 15 of The Second Sight (Wanderlust Emporium Presents, Season One)

A chill ran down my spine as he listed these magical traits.

The dreams that sometimes came true. The overwhelming emotions that weren’t mine.

The strange sense I sometimes got about people, as if I could see beyond their physical appearance to something deeper.

I’d spent years convincing myself I was imagining these things.

“Did Moira’s glasses enhance these things for you?” He asked and was waiting for my response.

“Yeah, I think so, but I had too much to drink at the Fountain of Youth, so I don’t know what visions came from the glasses and what was just the alcohol.

“Your abilities are already inside you, lying dormant. The glasses just jumpstarted the process.”

This was all too much information for me to take in. “I don’t know. I just—”

“There’s more,” Seven continued. “Yumboe are an endangered species.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought the Bambara Brotherhood wiped you all out over a hundred years ago.”

A hundred years ago? “If my mother is this... Yumboe fairy, like you claim, she’s only fifty-four years old. There has to be a lot more of these Yumboes. She wasn’t even born a hundred years ago.”

“Fairies don’t age like humans. Your mother could be one, two or three hundred years old.”

“What?” If Black don’t crack, then what the fuck was the fairy version of that.

I said, speaking carefully, “then why did she leave me? Where did she go?”

Seven’s expression grew somber. “When did she disappear?”

“Six years ago.” My fingers twisted in the damp towel still clutched in my lap. “I was fifteen. I came home from school one day and found a goodbye note. It said she loved us, but it was safer for us if she left.”

“What did your father say?”

“He was devastated. Confused. He called the police, but they didn’t find anything. No unusual bank withdrawals, no suspicious activities. It was like she just... vanished.” I swallowed. “They couldn’t do anything because they said she left voluntarily.”

Seven’s hand moved closer to mine on the bedspread, not quite touching. “And you? What did you believe?”

“I didn’t know what to believe. Me and mama were close. She wouldn’t have just abandoned us without a reason.” The familiar pain of her absence washed over me. “But I had these dreams of a man chasing her right before she disappeared.”

“A man?”

I nodded, unable to speak for a moment. When I found my voice again, the words came in a rush. “Yes, an African man. He was chasing her, and she cut him with this gold knife, like a blade.”

“On his cheek?”

I gasped. How did he know? “Yes.” He said through gritted teeth.

Seven’s face twisted like he was in pain. His body stiffened and he looked down at his hands that had balled into fists. I waited for his posture to loosen before I spoke again.

“When the man was chasing my mother, I felt her fear. She was terrified of him. I saw the blood dripping from his face.”

“In your vision, did she get away from him?”

“Yes, she ran into the trees, like a forest or something.”

“Good.”

“Why is that good?” I asked yearning for all the knowledge he could give me.

“It leads me to believe she’s still alive.

I believe she had a vision of her own and that’s why she ran off.

She left to protect you and your father from whatever was coming her way.

Yumboes are connected. They care deeply for their Fae family.

She wouldn’t ever leave you without cause. Community is everything to Fae.”

His words gave me comfort. If Seven believed she left to protect us instead of selfishness I was prone to believe it too. Seven was wise, he was four centuries old wise. He didn’t have any reason to give me this gift of understanding.

“I’ve been having these strange dreams about her.

Like she’s trying to tell me something, but I can’t hear her clearly.

I can’t reach her. And these abilities you’re talking about, all my life, I’ve been afraid of them.

Afraid I was going crazy.” The tears came fast, six years of confusion and abandonment breaking free all at once.

“I’ve been so alone with all of this, and I miss my mama so much.

” My voice dissolved into sobs. I pressed my hands to my face, violently swiping away the tears.

I was ashamed of this meltdown in front of a stranger, a vampire, but I wasn’t unable to stop.

I felt the bed shift, and then his arms encircled me, pulling me against his muscled chest. Seven held me carefully, as if I might shatter.

With one hand stroking my damp hair, he gave me the comfort I craved.

It should have been frightening, being held by a predator.

Instead, all the fear and confusion of the past twenty-four hours rushed out in a flood of tears against his designer shirt.

I inhaled his fresh scent and was struck by how delicious he smelt, like some pastry baking in the oven.

“You’re not alone anymore,” Seven muttered, his chin resting atop my head. “You’re not crazy. And we’re going to find out what happened to your mother. I promise.”

We? We are? We’re?

Despite everything I knew about him, which was basically nothing, I believed him.

I believed his words. The warmth of his body against mine should have been uncomfortable, but somehow it wasn’t.

It was a physical reminder that all of this was real.

The supernatural world existed. My mother was a fairy.

I was half-fairy. The vampire holding me was possibly the only person in the world who understood what that meant.

I don’t know how long we stayed in the embrace. With his arms around me I cried out six years of uncertainty. Eventually, my sobs quieted. I should have pulled away then, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.

Seven pulled back slightly, his fingers lifted my face.

With surprising gentleness, he wiped away the tears trailing down my cheeks, his thumb traced the damp path they’d left behind.

In the soft lamplight, his pale eyes seemed almost human, filled with an emotion I couldn’t name but recognized.

We were close. Too close. Our faces were inches apart in the private sanctuary of my bedroom.

All I could think about was how the air between us seemed to crackle with electricity, and how his touch left traces of fire on my skin.

“You’re not what I expected,” I whispered.

His lips curved into a devious smile. “And what did you expect?”

“Someone less human.” I swallowed hard, aware of his thumb still resting against my cheekbone.

“I haven’t been human for a very long time,” His gaze dropped to my lips for the briefest moment. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten what it feels like.”

I don’t know which of us moved first. Maybe we both did.

We were drawn together by something older than reason, and stronger than fear.

His lips met mine. The kiss was gentle at first. He gave me every opportunity to pull away.

Why would I? I leaned into him. My hands found his shoulders and gripped the solid muscle beneath his shirt.

A sound escaped him. I sound I hadn’t heard before.

It was somewhere between a groan and a sigh, and the kiss deepened.

His tongue traced the seam of my lips, seeking entrance that I willingly granted.

He tasted like nothing I could describe, and I refused to try to.

My heart hammered against my chest like when I drank an energy drink.

His hands slid into my damp hair, cradling my head with a tenderness that made my body ache. I melted against him, the fear of being drained of my blood didn’t seem so bad in this moment.

Seven broke the kiss first. Why? I screamed inside my head. He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes. “Kasi Bacchar,” he said, my name like he was asking me a question.

“Don’t stop,” I breathed, surprising myself with my boldness.

He studied my face for a long moment, probably searching for any sign of hesitation or fear. Finding none, he lowered me slowly onto the bed, his body following mine until we were laying on our sides facing each other.

“Your heart is beating so fast.” He said.

“I’m sorry.”

He cracked a sideways smile and sucked his bottom lip into his mouth. His nostrils flared. “You know I’m going to fuck you, right?”

“Uh, you are.” I was so unprepared.

“Yes. I know you’ve never fucked a vampire before, so I won’t bite you or break you.”

“Ah, break me?” What did that mean?

Seven reached out and grabbed my neck with his hand. His thumb pressed into the middle of my throat, not too hard but definitely not soft.

“Wait.” I whimpered as he moved closer to me. “I, I’ve never...” I began, heat flooding my cheeks as the words got caught in my throat.

Understanding flashed in his eyes. “Never been with— anyone?”

I nodded as best I could with his hand around my neck like a choker. Embarrassment made me want to look away, but he was holding me still. “No, never, I’m a va-virgin.”

His devilish smile returned, along with his fangs. Where did they even come from?

“Well,” his eyes narrowed but were still laser focused on me. “I retract my previous statement. I’m going to break you.” He said with eyes so truthful and serious I didn’t have any choice but to believe him.