Chapter 22 #2
But Greyson had nothing to do with these incidents, and he’d never been on our territory. I would have remembered his face with his striking green eyes.
“I’m pretty sure Greyson is doing this to us to confuse us,” Lucy said as we walked. “So he’s not human, but no other supernatural possesses such powers.”
I only made a “humph” sound as I watched our feet, too afraid we’d trip over something or walk into another wall.
Illusions danced around us, causing us to second-guess our every move. After a moment of aimless walking, getting nowhere on false trails, and wasting precious time and energy, we halted.
“Although we can’t see clearly, we know we are on a floor with offices. It can’t be that complicated to navigate even with the illusion, right?” I asked, and Lucy nodded, but her eyes looked wary. “Let’s keep going, then.”
The various mirrored walls started dissolving around us, revealing another hallway with an exit sign above a metal door. It appeared to be the emergency door at any office building, but the thought that we could accidentally walk out and fall to our deaths on a staircase nudged me.
“I don’t think we should—”
“Ouch,” Lucy said after a loud thud.
She had run into another wall.
“I swear it wasn’t here just a second ago,” she said with a clenched jaw, rubbing her elbow and forearm.
“I believe you,” I said. “Let’s retrace our steps before we get trapped.”
Lucy straightened up. “Let’s turn the corner and see what’s there first.”
I followed her, but at the end of that hallway, an array of office cubicles stretched before us in a never-ending maze.
“How’s this possible?” Lucy asked.
“It’s not real,” I said. “Let’s go back and wait for him in his office. He’ll have to return there. If the man is doing this to us, we must distance ourselves to avoid his magic and not give him a chance to use his powers on us.”
“His illusion power must have a limit. Let’s run, Breanna,” Lucy said and bolted back to the hallway with the mirrored walls.
But there were no mirrors anymore. A beige carpet and brown office doors appeared around us. We kept running and turned a corner, arriving at Greyson’s office door. The distance was short, surprising me because it felt like we’d wasted a lot of time in Greyson’s game of illusions.
“No point in going in circles,” I said and marched inside his office. The door still stood wide open as we’d left it. “He’ll have to be back since this is where he lives.”
“Make yourself comfortable, Breanna,” Lucy said and sat on the foldable bed. “We’re not leaving this place without the crystal.”
“That’s right.”
I swatted crinkled papers off a plastic chair and sat down, and I crossed and uncrossed my legs. The man’s first reaction wasn’t to fight me and Lucy, which was strange for a supernatural or whatever he was.
“He’s hiding something,” I muttered.
“Yeah, the crystal,” Lucy scoffed.
“But he’s also living a hard life here. He lives in his office. If my former boss at the library saw my office in such disarray, I wouldn’t have been employed much longer there.” I paused. “So how is he hiding this mess from others here?”
Lucy scooted deeper onto the cot and leaned against the bare wall. “I don’t know. He probably has no other place to go.”
I darted my gaze around when it finally struck me that I was seeing many hair ties. A hair band lay on the floor, and a hair tie rested next to the toothbrush.
“Did you see if the man has short or long hair?”
“Of course. Short hair,” she said. “I clearly saw his face when he appeared at the door, and then when he ran from me, I saw the back of his head. Definitely short hair.”
Greyson had a lot of explaining to do. That was if he showed up.
We waited for what felt like forever, but it probably was only an hour or two.
Suddenly, Lucy jumped up and dashed to the wall next to the open door. She motioned with her finger to her mouth, and I held my breath. The man we’d chased and waited for appeared at the doorway, his eyes bewildered as he stared at me.
His faint supernatural presence tickled over my skin. He could be very powerful or not. I stared back at him since I couldn’t tell his intentions.
Lucy sprang, grabbed his neck, and shoved him inside the office, shutting the door behind him.
“Got you,” she said. “You made us go tired and crazy with the illusions you cast, Greyson Blair.”
Standing, I put a hand over my bracelet but waited for the man’s reaction. His aura didn’t seem as menacing as Cordelia’s, but I stayed alert.
The man was tall and slender, his shoulders slouched as if he tried to make himself small. I blinked again and again. If Greyson were a vampire or a werewolf, he would have fought Lucy with a back kick and then attacked me with a strike to my gut.
But the man wasn’t moving at all.
“I ran away because I didn’t know you,” he said in a low voice. “What do you want from me?”
Lucy stomped around him and straightened before Greyson, invading his personal space.
“You ran away because you have something to hide, right?” she asked, scanning his body, probably trying to find the crystal.
She circled around him one more time, her gaze sweeping over every part of his shirt and pants and his pockets. With an annoyed huff, she faced him and crossed her arms over her chest.
I should talk to him before Lucy resorted to harsher measures.
“Greyson, we were told you are the exhibit director in charge of the Lunarimar,” I said, watching his green eyes brighten and then narrow at me. “We are here for the crystal.”
“I don’t have the crystal,” he said, but his shaky voice betrayed him.
Greyson didn’t seem like a good liar.
Lucy’s arms hit her sides with a thud of frustration. “Don’t play with us. You wouldn’t have sent us on a wild chase if you had nothing to lose,” she said with a clenched jaw. “Now where is it?”
Greyson twisted his head to her. “Even if I had it, I wouldn’t give it to you.”
A hissing noise escaped Lucy’s lips, and her eyes flashed crimson. Greyson stumbled back, his eyes growing big.
“What-what are you?” he asked.
Lucy sent me a confused look, and then her scowl fell on Greyson. “Have you been living in a ca—?” Lucy’s gaze swept around Greyson’s living quarters. She stopped herself by clearing her throat and taking a deep breath. “Time’s up.”
She stepped into his personal space.
The man attempted to retreat, but his legs hit the desk behind him. “Why are your eyes red?”
Lucy’s head tilted to the side, and her gaze narrowed at Greyson. Her expression remained serious and determined, her crimson eyes unblinking.
“Why are you not answering my questions?” Greyson asked, blinking repeatedly.
Lucy gasped and then pinched her lips together. Her eyes darkened as she kept looking at Greyson. The man glanced at me, seeming confused.
“Why is it not working?” she mumbled and let out a heavy sigh.
Lucy must have tried to compel Greyson.
“A witch’s mind can’t be compelled,” I said.
First, I’d never met a male witch or knew if they existed. Second, his supernatural presence was faint and…different.
“A witch?” Greyson repeated, grimacing.
Lucy ran her hand over her face. “I’m so confused.”
“We need to start over,” I said, looking at Greyson. “I’m Breanna, and this is Lucy. I’m half witch and half werewolf, and Lucy is a vampire. Have you met our kind, other supernaturals, before?”
“N-no,” he said, sitting slowly on the desk without disconnecting his gaze from mine.
“I believe you,” I said and walked to Lucy. “Have you lived in your office for a while?”
“Five years,” he said. “I’m mostly…indoors, so I haven’t met other supernaturals. Sometimes, I would feel their presence in the nearby convenience store, but I’ve never talked to anyone.”
Greyson seemed more at ease, but Lucy’s shoulders remained tense. She must not have liked the idea of another supernatural who couldn’t be compelled. We still couldn’t tell how dangerous this man was or what he was.
“So you have to stay close to your home?” I pointed around the room. “You can’t venture out a lot?”
Greyson’s green eyes lost their spark, and he turned his head, looking out the window. “Since I arrived here when I was twenty-one, I haven’t gone anywhere else.”
His voice held longing and sadness.
Lucy nudged me with her elbow and mouthed, “Crystal,” nodding toward the man. If vampire powers didn’t work on this man, we would have to talk our way out of here, convincing him to give us the crystal.
I sent Lucy a sharp glance and mouthed, “Okay.”
“Greyson, we’re not here to harm you. We desperately need Lunarimar. It’s a life and death situation for us,” I said.
“It’s the same for me too.” His wary gaze traveled to Lucy. “Would she drink my blood?” He paused. “I’ve only seen vampires in the movies I watch on my computers…and they drink blood.”
Lucy stifled her laughter, lifted her hand, and examined her nails. “I won’t if you start talking.”
I sighed. “Lucy is on our side. She won’t harm you, Greyson. But it’ll help us if you tell us what you know about the crystal’s location and what kind of supernatural you are.”
Standing, he nodded. “I’m half fairy—"
“A what?” Lucy gaped at the man. “I thought fairies were only in fairy tales.” She looked at me. “We share our realm with fairies? Did you know that, Breanna?”
I gave my head a slight shake. But we didn’t share our realm with the fairies. I recently learned of the fairy realm, and a witch book provided me the portal’s location. Perhaps after Cordelia corrupted the fairy realm, just like the three witches had escaped it, Greyson did, too.
“I was born in Northern California. My mother was a human, and once my physical appearance started changing, she confessed that my father was a fairy man.” He gazed at the stained carpet.
My theory about Greyson’s origins was incorrect.
“We moved a lot. She home-schooled me for a while until my mother died. Then I lived in various orphanage homes where doctors and priests would examine me,” he said in a low voice.
“I ran away after the last blood draw. I couldn’t take it any longer to be looked at differently.
Then, after I turned twelve and my body changed, I was treated as if I was the dangerous one when the humans didn’t realize they were the ones who put my health in danger. ”
Cold chills ran down my spine. I sucked in a sharp breath.
Greyson crossed his arms. “Years of homelessness, hiding, living on the streets covered in cloaks and robes, I accidentally stumbled onto the doorstep of the university exhibit.”
I stepped in front of him, facing him. He finally lifted his gaze to mine.
“I felt my powers multiply as I got close to the crystal. It was a coincidence that saved my life five years ago.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “The Lunarimar is your lifeline. But how?”
If this were true, it would be bad news for us since we also needed the crystal.
Greyson nodded. “The crystal amplifies my small fairy powers to a level that allows me to deceive the humans around,” he said and sighed.
“As you saw in the hallways, I have the power of illusion, but my magic is too faint without the crystal. And even with the crystal, I can’t hold the illusion for a long time. ”
Lucy grimaced. “Power of illusion,” she mumbled.
Now the mirrored walls made a lot more sense. Lucy running into walls appearing out of nowhere sounded reasonable for a supernatural who could twist reality and change others’ perceptions.
But it was bad news. How many more fairies lived in the human realm, fooling us and the humans?
Then it struck me. Torin was deceived into drinking poisoned water, and I was also deceived into believing Torin had kissed Layla. There was a fairy in the kingdom. Otherwise, I couldn’t explain the illusions.
Greyson seemed thoughtful as if he re-lived his painful past. If I had to guess, his resume for the exhibit director job was an illusion. He must have cast an illusion over his office if anyone entered it. Greyson must have done everything possible to stay close to the crystal.
“My entire life is one big trick played on the humans around me,” he said, his voice breaking at the end.
“You mentioned your physical appearance changed,” I said. “But you look like a human.”
Greyson attempted a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“I carry the crystal to constantly power the illusion of my appearance,” he said. “Would you like to see my true form?”