Chapter 2

I stood in the closet with the women. For whatever reason, this closet could have been several stores filled with every size, style and accessory possible. I’d discovered, while showering, that during my slide I’d taken several layers of skin off my hip and leg, so the fact that this closet had loose-fitting workout clothes in my size was a plus.

Daxx held up a pair of black sweatpants. “These look about right.”

Taking them, I held them against my waist, they’d work. I pulled them on under the robe.

Pulling a top off the hanger, I glanced at her. “The woman with the crazy man, she said she was an empath?”

Daxx laughed and glanced to the other two women, who were also grinning. “Chase is going to love knowing he met you in that state.” She sobered, “but, yes she’s an empath.”

I turned the top around and held it up against me. How I was dressed was the last thing on my mind at this point. I just wanted clothes on before the men came back. After that, I needed to figure out how to get home. I didn’t even know where I was. “I always wondered if there was such a thing.” I shrugged, “with what I can do, I suspected the stories about others were true,”

Turning, I dropped the robe and pulled the shirt over my head. Pulling it down, I turned to see the not just the women standing there, but Arius in the doorway of the closet.

His brows were furrowed. “Did I put that bruise on you?”

I’d seen it when I showered, the mark from his arm wrapped from my collarbone to under my arm on the other side. I shrugged. “It’s no big deal. If that bruise wasn’t there, I would have drowned.” I touched my forehead. “This one is from bouncing off one of their invisible walls a few days ago.” I shrugged, “thought I’d found a spot without one.” I touched my cheek, “this is from branches.”

His grey eyes flicked to mine briefly, he didn’t look placated by that reasoning. He looked at Daxx. “Have you discussed anything with her?”

She shook her head. “Not really.”

Closing the distance between us in a few strides, he stopped in front of me and leaned down. “I can take the bruising away.”

I gave him a surprised look. “You have a healing touch?” I’d never heard of something like that, but wouldn’t that be cool.

He shook his head. “No, blood.”

My eyebrows shot up. “That’s a little too vampy for me, but thanks I can live with a bit of bruising considering it saved my life.”

He made a sound of displeasure in the back of his throat and rested his hand on my shoulder as he leaned down and looked at me.

I waited for the words, something like ‘please let me take them away’, but he said nothing. His eyes were haunting, but nice to see the pale grey this close. I felt a pressure in my head, a new weird feeling I’d never felt before. I frowned, “are you trying to mess in my head?” I stepped back so his hand dropped. “That’s kind of an invasion of privacy, you know,” I nodded, “please don’t.”

Straightening he gave me an odd look. “You felt that?”

“Yes.”

Daxx came over. “Has that ever happened before?”

Arius shook his head, “not that I know of.” He shrugged, “Troy would know, or someone with a similar ability—” he looked down at me. “What is yours?”

I held up my arm with the red cuff on. “Take this off and I’ll show you. It’s not dangerous.”

His gaze moved over my face slowly, emotion moving through his eyes, but he didn’t say anything. I held his gaze, so he could see I wasn’t scamming him. Looking down, he lifted my arm and pulled something out of his pocket. It looked like a barcode scanner. “This one may not work on an illegal device. If not, I have some older models we can try.”

I nodded and held my breath as he turned my arm over and held it against the cuff. I wondered how he knew where to hold it.

“Your pulse is what closes it.” He said then pushed the button.

It zapped my wrist. I jumped but didn’t pull my arm away.

Moving the scanner, he pulled the cuff off my arm. He looked at it, turning it slowly. “How would they know how to make these? This is almost flawless.”

“We need to figure that out.” Daxx said not sounding happy.

I rubbed my arm where it had rested since I woke up on the island. “Thank you.” I looked around for something to use. I wanted to show them that I wasn’t dangerous. I remembered the cup from my tea. “Come out here.” I walked out of the closet and went over to the bed. Picking up the cup, I drank the last sip as I walked to the middle of the room. I turned to look at them. Tossing the cup into the air, I held my hand up toward it. It stopped falling halfway to the floor, and was suspended in the air. I kept my eyes on it. “I didn’t stop the cup. I manipulated the time around it. It’s hard to explain.”

“Cool is what it is.” Daxx said.

“Where is she?” A voice boomed from the door.

I jolted and a second later heard the cup break.

“Don’t move.” Arius came over and picked me up by the waist and set me on the bed, so I wouldn’t step on the shattered china. He stood against the end of the bed, almost blocking me.

I looked to the door to see a man standing in it—he looked very similar to Arius.

He started toward me in long strides. “You were on the island?”

I continued to kneel on the bed, wondering if I should stand to even the field with the size of these people.

Arius straightened, took a pose that a man getting ready to fight would.

Two others came through the door. “Dad.” The blond said, reaching the angry looking man and grabbing his arm. “They’re going to ask her. Calm down.”

Troy and the tall, cold-looking redhead came through the door next.

“Emil.” Troy didn’t sound pleased. “She’s barely regained consciousness.”

The man, Emil, shook his head. “If she got off the island, then we know how to get on.”

Arius shook his head, his hands on his hips. “She dove off a cliff, barely missing the rocks at the bottom.”

Eyes wide I looked at him. I hadn’t seen rocks.

“Did you see this woman on the island?” He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a few times. Coming over he gave Arius an odd look, and held his hand out toward me.

I took the phone and looked at the screen. My heart beat harder. I nodded. “Yes, she’s there.” I straightened my arm, giving him back the phone. “She’s only been there a few days. She’s treated better than most of the girls though.” I looked to Daxx, then Bethany. “I don’t know why some are treated better than others.”

Daxx sighed. “I think I do.” She turned to Troy. “I’m willing to bet those with changing eyes are prized more than the others.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” I climbed off the bed.

Arius put his hand out, so I wouldn’t move toward the glass. With his boot, he pushed a piece further from me.

I turned and looked at Crissy, “if the mages and witches’ eyes are purple, what is the significance of the others?”

“She’s human.” Emil said looking at Arius.

Arius nodded. “She is.”

“She doesn’t have to wear a device?” The tall blond next to Emil asked. “So, she was born on this side?”

I frowned. “What device? He just took the red bracelet thing off.”

He held up his arm, a small watch-like thing was on his wrist. “One of these.”

I shrugged slowly. “No idea what that is.” I looked to Arius. “This side, where?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked over at Troy.

Troy sighed. “I think we should go to the dining room and get comfortable.” He offered a small smile. “We have much to explain.”

I looked down at my feet. “Can I get some shoes first?” The sooner I got to see where I was, the faster I could figure out how to leave.

~

I stared down the table, my mind was trying to process everything they’d just told me. So many eyes and they were all on me. The scary redhead, Victor sat at the opposite end of a huge table with at least twenty chairs. Currently all were filled but six. It had been decided that they would let the crazy man and his wife Alona, sleep. I wasn’t sure why he’d been so super-charged, and what it had to do with her being an empath, but not having that distraction was good. I was trying not to have a meltdown at the moment.

Emil and his two sons seemed interested in the explanations I was getting. Unlike me. they accepted everything that was said.

I held up my hands to the thirteen people looking at me. “I just need a minute.” I stood up and looked at the wall lined with portraits. Putting my hands on my hips, I lifted my chin and looked at the ceiling. Blowing out a breath, I tried to stop the information from swirling in my head. “Where to start?” I whispered more to myself than anyone in the room.

Dropping my hands, I glanced back down the table. “So all of you, except,” I pointed to Emil’s two sons, “are brothers. Including the crazy twin.” I glanced to Troy; his lips quirked but he still nodded. “And you are both kings?” I looked to a few of the others. “Is that wise? I mean I know it’s not my place, but a leader with…” I paused, “issues. Have you tested him for ADHD, because you may want to think about it.”

There were several snickers and snorts of amusement around the table.

Emil looked at them. “I feel like I’ve missed something.”

“I will fill you in later, brother.” Rafael said.

At least I think it was Rafael. I went over everything flying around in my head, trying to grasp at just one thing that I could ask. “This,” I motioned in the air, “other side is actually another realm? And no one in my realm knows it exists.” I shook my head, “Clearly the government doesn’t know, or the whole planet would be aware and taxed for existing.” I paced away from the table then turned to see all were nodding. I paused, noting that Arius’ gaze never left me. His family looked to one another often, but he was like a breathing statue. Unmoving.

Turning on my heel, I looked to Victor. “You’ll understand if I’m struggling with that.”

He inclined his head. “It is quite a lot to grasp at once.”

I nodded. “Quite.”

I put my hands over my mouth and moved just my eyes to study them. Checking and waiting, hoping one of them would crack a smile and tell me this was an elaborate joke of epic proportion. Then I remembered waking up on the island. I dropped my hands. “I’ll come back to the realm issue in a minute.” I glanced around and went back to Victor. “That island—of insane people you are fighting and trying to stop? Because they are, aside from kidnapping women, trying to bring down some barrier—between realms which is very bad for both sides.”

Their relaxed expressions changed to hard looks, some lethal and cold, so that conclusion was, at least, very true.

I tilted my head and huffed out another breath, still trying not to freak out. “I am all for stopping them after the last few weeks of complete insanity.” Pausing, I rubbed my hand over my temple. “So, aside from people with other abilities,” I pointed at no one in particular, “and I must say this is a huge selling point for me in this entire scenario—because as you know I have a little something extra myself…”

“Oh? Like?” Michael asked.

Daxx grinned. “Watch this.” She grabbed a glass off the table and glanced at me.

I nodded.

Pushing her chair back, she tossed it in the air.

Lifting my hand, I made it stop before it crashed down.

“She manipulates the time around it, not the object, Victor. Isn’t that fascinating?” Crissy sounded very excited.

“Indeed, heart, it is.” He replied.

“Someone catch it.” I dropped my hand and looked down.

Troy caught it before it hit the table.

“Can you do that to something living, or only to inanimate objects?” Quinton asked.

“Both. If I can see it, I can stop the time around it.” I shrugged. “There’s a distance and size restriction, but for the most part I can manipulate time for just about anything.”

“I’ve never met a Chronos before.” Leone said. “I’ve read about them…”

“Since when do you read?” Rafael smirked.

“Not now, brothers. Paisley wasn’t finished speaking.” Arius told them with barely a glance to them.

I took a deep breath, finding my place again. “Right, then aside from not being the only freak for once—the changing eye colors feels about the same as when I tell someone I can manipulate time.” I held up my hand. “So, purple is magic for your people.” A few nodded. “And Chase, the crazy king, his are yellow, which signifies he feeds on emotions. I can’t even think of how that works right now.”

More heads were nodding. That did provide more clarity to what Alona had said, before chasing after her husband down the hall. “Right. Red eyes are essence feeders?”

More nods.

“Okay, so that feels like a soul sucker. A person’s essence is their actual being, and that goes soul deep to me.”

“From a philosophical point, one could say that.” Victor nodded slowly, “but the essence we’re referring to could be more accurately described as the energy or vitality in a person’s veins.”

“But not blood?” I really needed clarification. I put my hands on my hips and stared at him.

“No. Not blood. It’s carried through the body in their blood, but we do not feed on that blood.” Victor held my look.

I nodded slowly. Then shook my head. “I’m still stuck.”

“It’s quite complex to accept and rationalize.” He sighed. “Of course, with the vast number of vampire and horror movies in the last millennium, minds are programmed to accept a certain image, making the reality even stranger.”

I nodded. “It’s very hard to erase and rewrite the things etched in my head.”

“I would think it would be.”

“I think I’ll just shelve the eyes and feeding topic for the time being and move on.” No one said a word, so I decided to proceed. “You speak of millennia or,” I point to Troy, “your rambling twin said for two hundred and sixty years—that, that ah,” I motioned around the room, “you clearly live a lot longer to speak of time as if it is infinite.”

“Not infinite.” Troy said quietly.

“Okay, so ballpark number here. Who is the oldest in the room?” I crossed my arms and looked around, none of them looked that old. All eyes turned to Victor. I raised my eyebrows.

“I’m five hundred.” He said.

“Five hundred? Five. Zero. Zero. Five hundred?”

He nodded.

I slowly looked around the table. “You’re all in your—hundreds?”

Bethany shook her head. “It’s hard to grasp. When I found out how old Leone was, it was,” she looked at him, “shocking.”

I huffed out a breath. “Yeah. So, you’re…what?”

“In my twenties.” She answered quietly.

I puffed out my cheeks, trying to sort that. “Well, that takes the May-December thing to a whole new level, doesn’t it?”

She smirked and nodded.

“Paisley?”

I turned to Emil.

“I realize this is a lot to take in. I recently had to sort through it myself, am still sorting through it, but if you could explain how you got on that island…” He gave me a strained look. “My daughter, I’d like to figure out how to get her off.”

I put my hands over my face for a moment. Then dropped them. “I don’t know. I woke up on it, with that red cuff around my wrist.”

Victor looked to Troy. “If they knew she had an ability…”

Troy nodded, “they’ve been observing her.”

“What do you mean you woke up on it?” Arius asked, his voice low.

I waved my hand around. “I feel like a complete idiot. For not seeing the signs that he was some sort of—” I sighed, “I don’t even know.” I sighed. “I thought,” I shook my head, still mad at myself over it. “A guy—I thought was into me and loved music as much as I do,” I motioned in the air, “I thought I was going to a private, invite-only performance.” Frowning, I stared at the floor, “he was totally sweet and didn’t appear insane,” I shook my head and looked up to Daxx, “until I woke up and he had done a complete three sixty, and was nothing like the guy I’d met at the coffee shop.”

“He drugged you?” Arius asked.

I shrugged, “I guess. I don’t know when or how. One minute I’m walking to the pier, the next I’m waking up on that island.” I scowled. “I’ve had no music since. I don’t know where my phone or tablet are, but I’ve been losing my mind with no music.”

Arius made a sound in the back of his throat that sounded like a growl, then turned to look at Michael. “Are all the photos processed and on file now?”

Michael nodded.

Arius pulled out his phone and tapped out a text message.

“You think we may already have him?” Daxx asked.

Putting his phone down, Arius took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “We can only hope.”

I looked from one to the other. “Wait, you-you have some of these people?”

Daxx nodded. “Yeah in our prison.”

Relief flooded me when I saw they really were trying to stop them. “I just have one more—,” I snorted, “okay I have hundreds of questions, but I there’s just one I need to know,” I looked at Emil, “and then I’ll draw a map of the island if it will help. I was all over the inside of the building we were in, except on the top floor.”

“What’s the question?” Troy asked.

“Your crazy brother, what is his thing with my name?” I shrugged, “he was quiet…”

Troy nodded. “Yes, he was.” He glanced at Victor slowly, then back to me. “One of our elder’s surnames is Roan.”

My eyebrows went up. “So you think we’re related?”

He shrugged. “It could be coincidental.” Glancing to the others, his gaze came back to me. “But recently, we’ve discovered nothing has been placed in our paths that is a coincidence.”

I opened my mouth, closed it and gave him a stupefied look. “I might—I could have relatives?” I blew out a breath, “I don’t even have friends. It’s just been me for ten years.”

“Warden, here is…”

I jolted and spun around and threw my hand up. A large man carrying a tablet stood frozen on the spot. I lowered my hand and he took a step, but paused and frowned. “And that is why I don’t have friends.” I said quietly.

Arius appeared beside me and held out his hand to the man. “Thank you.” He took the tablet.

The man was still frowning but turned and left.

“Sorry.” I said quietly. “I’m a little bit jumpy.”

“With good reason.” He motioned to the chair. “Please, sit. I’d like you to scroll through some photos, maybe identify the man responsible for you being on the island.”

I sat down and watched as he set the tablet in front of me. I leaned forward and then stopped and looked up at him. “Do you think, at some point I can go see if I still have a place to live? I just rent a room, but I’d like…”

He leaned one hand on the table, hovering over me. “We’ll go check on that once you’ve eaten and aren’t so shaky.”

I lifted an eyebrow at him. “The shaky is more from the information overload than diving off the cliff.”

Amusement briefly flashed through his eyes.

“Oh, good you’re still here.” The sweet redheaded lady came into the room. She held up a small jar. “It’s ointment, love, for your scrapes.” She set it on the table beside me. “Just to help them along.” She gave me an understanding smile. “Until you’re able to grasp and accept blood healing.” With a quick nod, she turned and walked out just as quietly as she’d entered.

“Thank you.” I wasn’t sure how she knew, but had noticed when I sat down that the scabs on my hips pinched with the movement.

“You’re injured?” Arius asked frowning down at me.

I shrugged. “It’s nothing, just slid across the ground a few feet when I was running.”

He continued to look down at me for a moment, his jaw clenching. Giving me an abrupt nod, he motioned to the tablet. “Please.” He turned and walked to the other end of the table and leaned down to speak to Troy.

I looked down at the tablet and tapped the screen to start scrolling through the photos. I don’t know what I expected to see, but the first few photos were very angry, scary men. I looked up to see most eyes were on me.

There were so many faces, I focused on each one seeing if there was anything familiar about them, drowning out the conversation around me. More questions were forming as I looked, like how had people with glowing eyes not been noticed in all of time? They walked among us and no one knew it. I looked up around those in this room, they seemed normal. Maybe a bit larger than average, but still. Glancing back down, I tapped to go back to the previous photo. His eyes were yellow, but his face looked familiar. I looked up to Daxx.

“You see him?” She stood up.

All conversation in the room stopped. All eyes turned to me.

I looked at it again. “I’m not totally sure. His eyes were not yellow…”

“Shit.” Arius said venomously.

“That would explain it.” Quinton nodded, looking around.

I looked to him. “Explain what?”

“If he feeds off emotions, how he was able to know what you were feeling and adjust his behavior accordingly.” Victor said while watching Arius.

I opened my mouth to deny, but realized they were right. “He always said—did the right things.” I sat back feeling completely defeated. “I’m such an idiot.”

“It’s not your fault.” Arius came down the table in a few long strides and picked up the tablet. He studied it, a nerve in his jaw clenching as he did. “Come down to the cells.” He turned and walked out of the room.

I watched him leave and then turned slowly to look at Daxx. “The what?”

Everyone stood up.

She motioned to the door. “I guess he wants you to be sure that’s him.” She gave Troy an odd look as she came towards me.

“Oh.” I stood up. “Okay.”