Chapter 24
I didn’t recall much of what Val had explained after he put a name to what I had become or perhaps had always been. He had provided an overly technical explanation while my ego soared at how rare my abilities were.
Instead of spending over an hour diving into dull historical accounts and scientific reasoning, he could have summed it up in a sentence or two.
When I fucked—or got fucked as seemed to be the trend—I temporarily consumed abilities through Ace’s dick and could echo them right back. The process could be fatal if inflicted on certain other supernatural beings.
At least my powers understood survival of the prettiest—fittest, whatever.
Ace didn’t let the opportunity go unseized to declare how his prestige as a Knight of Hell put him above others. Something about weaker cretins and his superior genetic stock.
The exchange between Valphyr and Ace at the door was too low to hear, and I wasn’t inclined to move from where I was perched on the arm of the sofa. Instead, my thoughts drifted.
If there was one thing that stuck out in my head, it was how Val mentioned that lineage played into the echo variant entity subclassification.
Old familial lines. Rare enough that only one or two known families carried the ability, one that often remained dormant until shaken free from its confines.
My brother was an incubus—or claimed to be. He fucked around enough that I didn’t question it and would have rather lost all my eyelashes than have proof.
Our dad often spoke of his ancestors, respected hellwardens who dedicated themselves to the civil service of watching over the souls trapped in the nine circles. My precognitive abilities had come from him. This I knew for certain.
Out of everybody in our family, he was the only one who could get one step ahead of me.
When I had asked him if he could see into the future, he’d brushed me off with some half-assed explanation.
Said he’d spent too many years anticipating the desperation of fraudsters damned to eternity in Malebolge.
It was the wink he had paired with the knowing glint in his eyes that told me the truth hidden beneath his words.
Mother, on the other hand, spoke very little of her past. She had little tolerance for my mental abilities, dismissing them as child’s play. Her commentary was that her daughter was bound for greater things.
If only she could see me now.
That prompted a dangerously intrusive thought.
Maybe she ought to see me now.
Opening my precognition, I adjusted the range in my mind’s eye to see where I might encounter her. I discovered that the closer I metaphysically felt to Ace, the more I could fine-tune my abilities.
I mentally ran through a series of scenarios of adjusting my future actions to suit what I was truly after.
The scent of Faevian coffee invaded my senses through my mind’s eye. A snapshot of a café nestled between a sketchy pharmacy and an even more suspect massage parlor.
Inside, the ting-tang of a busted bell rattled as the door opened.
Outside, dawn’s light barely seeped in through the windows covered in local advertisements.
Perfume wafted from the far back corner—desert roses with charred petals. Classic Mother, beauty and destruction prevailing under the harshest of circumstances.
“Genevieve, look how you’ve grown.”
The firm click of the front door closing chased the rest of the imagery away from my mind’s eye.
I turned and watched as Ace crossed the living room to where I sat. He stopped in front of me, his hand scratching at the thin layer of stubble on his jaw.
“Did you hear what Val told you?” he asked, eyeing me with deserved suspicion.
Looking up at him with innocence in my glimmering blue eyes, I asked, “Which part?”
“Don’t fucking play coy with me right now, Eve. The most important part.” His tone sounded more weary than agitated.
With a soft roll of my eyes, I straightened up, crossing one leg over the other and resting my hands on my knees—the spitting image of a lady who knew her worth.
“Yes, I heard him,” I said before repeating Val’s unnecessary warnings. “I need to keep my temper in check, and I need to be aware of my surroundings.”
“And?”
Of course he wanted to turn this into a pop quiz.
“And I need to limit how far I push my powers,” I finished with a flash of a sweet smile at him.
He nodded with reluctant satisfaction but seemed unable to drop the issue.
“Do you know what happens if you don’t, Little Spade?”
It didn’t take a genius to state the obvious. “I’ll pass out again.”
A look of disapproval from Ace as he encroached on my personal space, forcing me to lean back.
“No,” he said curtly.
His hand shot out, gripping my chin firmly enough to force me to stare up into his darkening evergreen hues.
Ace’s voice took on a deep rumble, like thunder’s whispered promise of a storm ahead. “I will give you an attitude adjustment until the only thing your mind is capable of is thinking about how good my cock feels.”
The threat felt more like a dangerous temptation.
“Understood?” His hold on me tightened marginally.
I managed a slight nod as I responded. “Every word.”
“Good. Now, head downstairs and see Ignatius. He’s expecting you for some plans I’ve made for us this week.”
He released my chin and stepped back enough to give me space to stand.
“What type of plans?” I asked as I rose to my feet.
The spark of amusement shone in his eyes. “Treating my Little Spade to some luxury relaxation.”
Well, that was intriguing. But before I could interrogate him further on the details, he was already on his way up the stairs, heading towards his office.
My mind ran wild with the possibilities.
Several days later, I forced myself awake before the sun chased away Superbia’s nightlife.
Ace had been spending his evenings managing the casino’s security, calling in favors to track down Rip, and burning the candle at both ends while attempting to familiarize me with the abilities I picked up through him.
He had spent a lifetime honing control over them, living with the smoldering power beneath the surface. Echoing an ability that lasted only temporarily became a task far more challenging than it should have been.
For all my hard work, I deserved a break to do as I pleased instead of being lectured by an arrogant Knight of Hell with a fascination with discipline and control.
In fact, I think I deserved a Faevian coffee—even if it was overpriced.
Entering the same nameless cafe I had seen through my precognition days ago, I scanned the occupants in search of a familiar face.
The crowd of people was a mix of those seeking out a morning ritual to start their day and those trying to caffeinate away their hangovers.
Squeezing between the cramped tables, I made my way towards the back. Halfway there, it hit me.
Burnt desert blooms.
The alluring scent seemed to tether itself to me, pulling me towards its origin.
When it released its hold on me, I stood at the edge of a round wooden table tucked into an alcove barely big enough to seat two people.
There she sat, looking precisely as she had the last time I’d seen her. Raven hair cropped short, pale blue eyes, and a slender figure that was all grace and sharp edges.
Mirra Bechette had never been a particularly warm woman, but she always kept a watchful eye on her children.
“Mother,” I greeted softly.
She stood, opening her arms for me to come to her. When I did, I wrapped them around her waist, and she closed her embrace around my shoulders.
“Genevieve, look how you’ve grown,” she said in a state of awe against the top of my head. It felt like being a small child all over again.
My mother pulled back just enough to cup my face in her hands as she gave me a once over, seemingly looking for something specific.
Whether or not she found it, I didn’t know. She released me and gestured to the seat across from hers.
“Sit. We have much to catch up on.”
Once I lowered myself into the worn chair with a wicker seat, she sat as well.
“You visited Tighe.” It wasn’t quite an accusation, but it was an observation that she hadn’t bothered to come looking for me before seeing him.
“You visited Tighe,” she echoed back at me as she picked up a spoon and stirred the cup of tea in front of her in small and controlled movements.
“He’s my brother, and he took the fall for some son of a bitch who framed him. So yes, I went to visit him.” The response came with a spark of heat to it.
She set her spoon on the table and lifted the cup to her lips, taking a drawn-out sip of the steamy liquid. After she set it back down again, she looked at me like I hadn’t said a word at all.
“I’m surprised you managed to find me here. Your father would be proud.”
A waitress approached our table, looking uncertain as she placed a Faevian coffee I hadn’t ordered on the end of the table and nudged it forward warily.
Mother gestured to the drink. “Yours. I know how ornery you get without a bit of a pick-me-up in your morning.”
Somehow she had known I’d come here.
Before I could send the coffee back, the waitress had already scampered off.
I slid the warm mug across the surface of the table until it was in front of me.
The pool of liquid shifted colors, never settling on any particular one for very long. Once my hands settled around the exterior of the ceramic drinkware, the drink inside shifted into a glittering gold hue.
“Interesting,” Mother said as she intently watched the color turn. “You have nothing to be anxious about, darling.”
Traitorous coffee.
I released the mug and dropped my hands into my lap.
“No? Tighe is wasting away inside Blackscale, and the demon who put him there is trying to play games with his life.”
Her face softened as she leaned forward, dropping her voice into something soothing and reassuring. “Oh no, your brother is safe. Nothing will happen to him while he’s there. I can promise you that.”
“You can promise me that?” I scoffed. “Did you tell Tighe that too when you went to go see him?”
She reached across the table to take my hand, her thumb brushing over the back of it in small and gentle motions.
“I had to see him for myself. He needed to know that ensuring his safety is my top priority. Being locked away in Blackscale can be challenging on the psyche. I didn’t want to risk him slipping into a place where the mind becomes jagged cliffs and gluttonous shadows.”
It sounded like she knew from experience. Though I had no reason to believe she did.
I watched as her hand continued to rub circles across my skin. Beneath the surface, Ace’s hellfire remained dormant but prepared to erupt if circumstances demanded it.
Without words exchanged between us, the background noise of the café breathing life into Superbians via caffeine and concoctions was nothing short of melodic.
Finally, I looked away from our hands, meeting my mother’s eyes instead.
“What do you know about our family’s history? Not Dad’s, yours.”
Her thumb stalled its movements.
A slip of a smile curved over the painted red of her lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”
She slid her hand away from mine to sit back in her seat, settling in for what promised to be a lengthy conversation.
“Drink your coffee, Genevieve. There is much for you to hear.”
I sure hoped so. And it had better start with who was responsible for turning me into a paranormal vacuum who fucked and sucked the powers from others, then blew them back out.
My hands grabbed the coffee mug again. This time, the steam rising from its contents cleared, revealing the beverage had turned a shade of frostbitten blue.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I challenged.
That’s when she looked at me not as her daughter, but as her protégé.
“Be cautious of what you ask for, my little vice. Some truths are too risky to ignore and too expensive to sell.”
I reflected a facsimile of her mercurial smile right back at her.
“The odds are mine, and I enjoy fine things. Try me.”