Chapter Two
Isis was in over her head.
She could feel the uncertainty, caution and concern that came from being in an unaccustomed situation swarming around her. It felt as though it was lapping at her shoulders, threatening to drown Isis in the palpable fear she could feel shredding through the barrier of security she had erected around herself.
Isis stepped to the left to avoid the gyrating bodies of an amorous couple. She glanced to the right and was caught by the sight of glowing blue eyes. Her heart hammered in her throat as the vivid gaze literally lit up. She held the unknown man’s gaze for a moment as she took a cautionary step back.
Something probed her mind. Ghostly fingertips caressed her psyche. She flinched and broke off the connection. She turned and hurried through the dancing crowd, trying to avoid the eyes of those that glanced in her direction.
Isis took a gasping breath as she reached an unoccupied corner. Sanctuary, her fragile and jagged mind screamed out as she stepped into the dark enclave. She closed her eyes and pressed her back to the cool concrete wall. Her hand landed on her chest, right above her rapidly pounding heart. She was letting her emotions get the best of her.
She could feel the fragile barrier she always kept around her emotions cracking. She had to calm down. If she didn’t…
Isis wouldn’t allow herself to finish the thought. There was no point thinking about a past she couldn’t change. Especially when the future was so uncertain. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed around the large room.
It was filled to the brim with bodies moving in tune to the pounding rhythm of the metropolitan’s latest gothic hit. To unseeing eyes, it appeared to be filled with normal, Goth men and women. And it was. To a point.
From what Isis could see approximately a quarter of the club’s inhabitants were humans. The vast majority weren’t. And they were the ones that made her nerves.
Thanks to her gift Isis had always known that there were beings that weren’t quite human among them. She could sense them, sometimes better than they could sense one another. Her powers, her ability to sense another’s abilities and judge their power, had forced her to live as a hermit.
She rarely went out, always afraid of what or who she would run across. There was nothing quite jarring as running into a succubus in the grocery store. Or a vampire in a nightclub. Or a werewolf on the prowl when coming home from a late night.
No, she’d stopped leaving the family compound when she was only twelve.
Tonight was the first time she’d been out since her twelfth birthday. And she was all alone.
Even her brother had not been able to guide her through these uncharted waters. She blinked furiously as she thought of her sibling, pushing aside the pain that came when she thought of Nate. He was probably going to be hunted for what he had done.
For trying to make sure that the plans that had been painstakingly created never came to fruition.
He’d put his life on the line and she was standing, cowering in a corner. She took another deep, calming breathe and stepped forward. Despite her seclusion, she’d learned to control her abilities. Now she had to put all those lessons to the test.
Someone reached out for her. Callused hands with blunt nails. She turned and caught the gaze of a handsome blond man. He flashed Isis a smile. She gave him a weak one in response. She could feel raw, bright power emanating off of him. As his smile brightened it grew in power. She flashed him an honest smile and continued to walk down the slight walkway against the wall.
He was an unicorn.
She’d never heard of anyone who’d met one before. Their species were rare, almost hunted to extinction because of their pure powers. She suspected that the man who’d reached out for her never told anyone what he was.
She only managed to take three steps away from the beautiful unicorn. A couple stumbled into her path and cut her off. She grinned when she lifted her shocked gaze and noticed the aura surrounding them was red with lust. One of the males and the female was human. Their lust was honest and unrepentant. The third person in the trio was a succubus. His aura was orange, tinted with red hot need and caution.
He was unsure about feeding off the couple. They on the other hand were sure about adding a third to their interactions. The female had been dreaming about a threesome for some time now. Isis could feel her desire, the burning need aching off her pores. The need that seemed to settle low in her gut. Deep in her own sex. Isis gasped as the heat seared her.
Such potent need. She’d never come across such demanding desire. She closed her eyes and pressed one palm against the wall. The coolness of the concrete seemed to be miles away. The passion cursing through her veins was too powerful, too alien. She’d never learned to contain that emotion.
Desire.
Passion.
Need.
The human couple stumbled away, moving far enough that she could push the heat curling through her womb down. She looked up and caught the emerald gaze of the succubus. He gave her a shy smile. He was young, only a hundred or two hundred years old. He had yet to truly get comfortable with his capabilities.
Horny humans and a cautious succubus. What a riot!
Isis stepped past him as she stifled the giggle on her lips. She groaned as her foot hit the painted black cement floor. Her panties were wet. The woman’s emotions had been potent in deed.
She froze as a shudder ran through her body. Someone was watching her. She turned and caught a smoldering red gaze. The eyes seemed to be watching her right through another man’s head. As though the man had eyes in the bad of his head!
But the hell-fire gaze belonged to an entirely different being.
She took a step back and her back collided with the wall. She darted a glance around the room and found no was reacting to the hovering gaze.
“They can’t see me, my dear.”
She swallowed thickly and felt oblivion threatening her consciousness. She was going to pass out if she didn’t keep her emotions under control.
“Only your veil has been torn. They still see through the mortal or immortal eyes, the Fates gave them. Only you have the gift to see beyond.”
She licked her lips slowly as a face and body materialized to accompany the eyes. And what a body. Long limbs, sculptured muscles. He could have been strutting down a catwalk, he was so perfectly made.
Dark hair so black it gleamed, even in the barely lit room capped a face so handsome she wondered how it was her eyes didn’t burn from looking upon his unadulterated beauty. Full lips, broad nose, large heavily lashed eyes, sculptured cheekbones. The only thing that gave away his demonic heritage was his red eyes. And yet, they didn’t depart from his devastating attractiveness.
“Are you…?” She whispered the words through shaky lips. She knew her gifts were unique, but the things he said made it seem as though she was the only one in the world. She had never considered that she was the only one with her powers.
“Am I the devil, Lucifer himself? Yes.” He cocked his head to the left and considered Isis for a moment. She could feel his curiosity washing over her in waves.
Breathe. Just breathe.
“Yes, there are others that can see the powers that make paranormal beings different from humans, but only you can see gods, goddesses, and beings that can not be characterized as either. It is why you are so…desired.”
He flashed her a smile that was at once warm and cold. She shivered when he turned and cocked one eyebrow at the man that appeared beside them. “Markham, I wondered how long before your master called you to fetch her latest jewel.”
Lucifer turned back to her and wicked. “Give ‘em hell, sweetie,” he whispered before walking through the crowd. Isis stared after him for several seconds wondering why she couldn’t shake the feeling that he wanted her to succeed. Turned to the man Lucifer had spoken to. Emotionless eyes caught hers.
“Mistress Solanora will see you now.”
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