Exaltation (15 page)

Rydell moved his head side to side, not believing this kid thought like that.

“Call her friend then, the one who’s not hooking up. Tell her you want to introduce us since this is our first year in this town.”

“Raven? Yeah right. Not happening,” Kade said.

Before Rydell could say anything Dagen halfway positioned himself between the pair, clearly trying to save the boy’s life.

“Why is that? You’re hurting our ego,” Dagen teased.

“Meant no foul. The girl will not sit still long enough for anyone to hit on her—on or off skates.”

“She hasn’t hooked up with anyone?” Dagen tried to confirm.

Kade nodded to a car on the starting line. “As far as I know Tyler came the closest. Last summer they spent a few minutes in a dark corner at the rink, or so he claims. He said he was going to hit that up when the school year started back up but they moved schools again. He started winning races so he never goes inside the rink anymore. Raven is like a unicorn. You’ve heard of her, you think you’ve seen her, but you’ll never catch her. The twins aren’t much easier—hence why I have to play this right with River.” Kade glared at the starting line. “Even if you do have the fastest car in town there is no guarantee they’ll stick around—not materialistic girls.”

Rydell glanced at the nineteen eighty Camaro and took his frustration out on it. One hard glare from him disintegrated the water pump right as Tyler was revving up his engine. A loud pop, white smoke, and it was all over. The boy ran like a girl from the car.

Dagen glanced down at Rydell with a half grin. Rydell felt better so he smirked, nearly laughed.

“Looks like you’re in the race now. Let’s take a look at your car,” Dagen said.

Dagen glanced back at Rydell to ask if he was coming. Rydell shook his head no.

He was heading to The Realm. He wanted to ask around some more about this hell he was in. He had to figure out how to get around it. Fever or not, thinking of killing this girl didn’t sit right with him. She was downright innocent. Her vim was pure joy, not quiet exaltation, but more like bliss, the ride down from the rush of the emotion Rydell fed from.

Before she was just a name, something that had to be dealt with. Now it was something else…

Inside The Realm Rydell not only sensed Jamison, but Raven, too. He searched high and low for them, following the scent. He couldn’t find her and was sure they had her cloaked.

He was leaning over a rail, peering down at the first level of The Realm. Box seats is what they called this manifestation Rydell was standing on. Escorts could see all the little fantasies and nightmares below from there.

The scent of cinnamon wafted in the air. Rydell glanced to his side.

Britain. Awesome,
Rydell thought.

He’d heard he was lingering near where the Helco faction was camping out.

“You on the hunt for your mark?” Rydell asked him nonchalantly.

Britain wasn’t dressed for a hunt. Rydell was sure his suit cost a fortune in the real world. It gave him a well-deserved royal air. Britain’s image resembled a twenty year old at best, but even someone that had no knowledge of vim would be able to discern his power.

Rydell had always liked him. His line was obsession which meant their hunts were usually close. Obsession drove the souls to find that next emotion of exaltation. Rydell respected his line, too; they didn’t follow the norm. At least not all the way.

They would find a host, a being with a lot of power and light and live next to them for the duration of the human life, feeding off only one. It wasn’t a fever or rush kind of thing, it was survival.

They had class. Britain’s line sat down to a gourmet meal every night. The others didn’t care where the emotions came from or what soul was behind them.

Rydell had thought about adapting to their style when he created his own faction but exaltation was not an emotion that one soul could feel over and over again, and surely not constantly like obsession.

“You boys finally decide to join the game?” Britain asked as his gaze moved around the dimension below. “Haven’t seen your sovereign out lurking.”

“Makes two of us.”

“Trouble in the party house?” Britain commented wryly.

“When is there not?”

“That’s right, rumor has it you’ve begun your own little faction. How many followers so far?”

Rydell was somewhere past twenty million but that was only a drop in the bucket compared to what the sovereigns led, so he was not in a position to brag.

“Not in that game. Just want to be free,” Rydell said, clearly pointing out he had no dreams of being a sovereign one day.

Britain tensed next to Rydell then looked deep in his eyes. “That right?”

“Who doesn’t? I don’t want any part of this curse you boys are toying with.”

“Like we did.”

“Did anyone ask the Creator how to get out of it—I mean maybe a ‘hey, pops, didn’t mean to act out. I’ll play nice now.’”

Britain chuckled. “Even if he would listen, if all of this was not deep into play, we would not change.”

“We deserve a chance,” Rydell bit out.

“You took one. Did you change?”

Truth hurts. “Wasn’t hurting anyone.”

“And, all in all, we’re not either. We rarely end life; we just make it more uncomfortable. No one is changing and the Creator is nowhere in sight. He set a trap and I’m sure he will pop back in when it is all said and done and see who’s still standing.”

“No way out?” Rydell pressed.

“You really want my advice?”

One nod.

“You can’t trust anyone. I mean anyone. We’re in survival mode. There are only two ways out. Death or getting one of them to fall for you. The latter will not happen.”

“Why is that?” Rydell asked, wondering if Britain was about to assure him he did not, in fact, have a fever for this Raven girl.

“It is not one soul that will take you down. It’s two souls made of one. No one can break that bond, or so lore states.”

“Not a fever?” Rydell said with a smirk. He knew Britain had a similar issue. He had a thing for a girl who had tried to kill him more than once.

“A fever, a rush—that’s not the same as being made of one. They feel what we cannot.”

“Do they know who they are? The souls that are hunting you,” Rydell asked.

“The ones that are hunting all of us? No. Blind. That’s the only advantage. Half the time they’re looking for the one that completes them. If you can stop that you can slow it down. Donalt has been doing so for a solid eternity now.”

Donalt was the King of Fear, and a total ass when it came to most points.

“I’ll be sure to tell my sovereign that when I see him,” Rydell said, meaning never.

Britain smirked. “He has a hunting party out for you. He wants his boys home.” Britain tried to hide a grin. “Would be a shame for him to lose his First.” Under his breath Rydell thought he heard him say, “Jalle.”

Rydell knew he couldn’t have heard him right.
Jalle
meant ‘again.’ Rydell had only run from his sovereign once.

Britain glanced over Rydell. “I sense Revelin close, you might want to head back.”

Rydell furrowed his brow, wondering why it took him a second to feel it, then hoped it meant he really was breaking free from that ass.

He vanished.

Chapter Fourteen

By the time dawn had arrived Jamison was sure the girls, along with Soren, could hold their own in a battle. If it ever took a second to get to them like it had in the past.

They went back to Emery’s and crashed.

Raven was up by one. Knowing that if she didn’t get her sleeping patterns flipped back Monday was going to blow.

Once she was up and about and had taken a shower, she packed her bag. That was her Sunday routine. She had everything packed up before everyone came over to Emery’s for the cookout, and then she went home with her dad.

Raven breathed in, smelling Thelma Ray’s fried fish wafting through the house. She turned all the lights on and pulled the covers off the twins before she went downstairs.
Sleeping was overrated—who could sit still that long
? That was Raven’s view on the topic.

Downstairs she snuck up behind Miss Thelma Ray and gave her a bear hug only to hear her chuckle. “Child, you ain’t spooking me. Your vim thrashes into a room long before you do. Go on now, your daddy is waiting for you.”

Oh yeah. I have a date with death,
Raven thought as a groan left her.

“Hush now, unless you want me to be sittin’ in your classes with you. You know I will.”

And she would. She ‘volunteered’ at the school where that girl teased Raven for months until the girl mysteriously transferred away.

Three grills were going out back—ribs, chicken, crawfish, you name it. Raven found Jamison in the mix of neighbors. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world. Which would be the only reason everyone else looked so calm. They feed off his vim.

“Ready?” Jamison asked when he saw her.

“We going to a graveyard or something?” Raven quipped.

“You want to?”

Raven loved and hated the graveyards. She liked the history, but hated seeing how close some of the dates were on the tombstones. Short lives back in the day.

“Don’t need a bummer, Dad.”

“Balcony,” he said, nodding for her follow him.

He put his hand on her back and led her upstairs, then out. “Is this going to be hard or easy peasey like The Realm?” she asked.

“Different kind of dead people.”

“Whatcha talking about?” Raven asked reverently. She saw no ghosts the night before.

“The Realm is made up of energy, energy that is so dwindled it cannot take form on its own. How did you think you were manifesting everything you did?”

“I didn’t think I was using dead people as clay!”

“Not dead people. Energy,” he said with a laugh. “Everything is energy.”

“And this is different because?”

“These people know they’re dead, that they existed.”

“Why are they hanging around then? Is it like a waiting room or something?”

Jamison pursed his lips before he spoke.

“Sometimes people want a time out and sometimes there are other reasons.”

“Like?”

“Like let’s take one lesson at a time, little one.”

Raven raised her chin. “All right then. How do I get in?”

“In old cities the Veil is thin. You have to merely adjust your eyes, see the division, and step in.”

Sure. Simple as that,
Raven thought. “Just in the Quarter or can I do this everywhere around here?”

“You can do what I’m going to teach you now anywhere you normally roam. Other cities not so much. Now pay attention. When you went into The Realm that was your soul. This will be your entire form, that’s why I want you to grasp this. It will be easy to hide this way.”

“The bad guys can’t go in here?”

“They can. But the souls here will help you. It will be like you’re running through the neighborhood asking someone for help. They can read your emotions, feel what you’re going through. They’ll help you.”

He reached for her hand and nodded for her to gaze down at the street. There was a carriage ride rolling by. The tour guide was telling old stories about fires and past owners of the homes. Even explaining the colorful broken glass bottles that were cemented above the fences as old fashioned security measures. Old fashioned or not, Raven knew she would still not climb over it on her most daring day.

“Fall back in your thoughts. Like meditating, but feel the air, feel the energy,” Jamison told her.

As she did she heard more than one carriage. She heard tons of horses moving through the streets. The streets became crowded. They were all wearing old-fashioned attire. The air was thick with fog and smoke. When Raven looked closer she could see wounds on some of the people. Raven tried to tell herself it was costumes but knew better.

“You are all the way in now.”

“How did I get in?” Raven asked with wide eyes.

“You are a powerful soul, Raven. You told yourself to enter. You moved across the line. Slid behind the curtain, if you will.”

“Are those people real live dead people?”

One nod.

“I don’t get why they’re here. Do I walk through them daily?”

“In a vague sense. Most can’t see you when you’re not in the Veil. Those that you are seeing now are comforted by you being here. They manifested this. It will look different as we move through it. One second it will look like the Quarter, the next New York, and so on.” He went to turn to go into the house and Raven stopped him.

“Can we climb down?”

He shot her a perplexed expression.

“Dad, it was one thing to assume there are spirits in the house you live in and an entirely different thing to know without a doubt there is. I would like to take a shower or change my clothes without having to worry about Casper getting a few kicks.”

He slid the ladder down without a moment’s hesitation. He had never once allowed Raven to fear anything. He always watched over her. Which might be why Raven tended
not
to freak out and accepted things with an odd ease.

Once they were on the streets they moved through the people as if it were an ordinary day in the Quarter.

“Okay, you’re solid here so you can’t manifest anything but you can move in any direction and that direction will take you deeper.”

“Just walk?”

“No. Emery told me to use this analogy. Pretend you’re sliding through images on your camera. What you see changes but you’re staying still. Or if you want to zoom in on the image—the same image is before you, but you’re moving around on that image. But you have to give the image a command. Like north, east, west, up down.”

“Do I want to know where south leads?”  Raven quipped.

“Out.”

“Good to know.”

“Move us,” Jamison said with a slight smile.

He had his hand on her back and Raven thought east then down just for the fun of it. The Quarter vanished. She was now in a war zone. She could see bloody people all around her. The sky was full of crows waiting to feast, bellowing war cries could be heard in every direction. “Daddy!”

“Move again,” he said calmly.

Raven thought north and up. The scene changed. Normal. At least Raven thought it was. It was a town that could not decide if it wanted to be modern or historic.

“You all right?” Jamison asked as he moved his hand across her shoulder.

“Were—were those people in pain?”

“No. Most of the time they carry their marks of death to remind them of that life.”

“No one here has those marks,” Raven said, as she caught her breath.

“They may have decided they like it here. Some do. It’s a middle field. Just like any place in the world, there are good neighborhoods and bad ones. If you ever had to hide I think staying near the Quarter would be enough. I just wanted you to see this and understand it if you ever had to move further in.”

“Can I get lost? I mean will you be able to find me in here? Or when I pop out will I be where I started or somewhere else? What if I can’t get my eyes to see the curtain to get into the Veil because I’m scared?” Raven had a million more questions but she had to breathe.

“I feel like you will always be able to see the curtain. And I will always find you, little one.”

Inward sigh.

Raven was not known for having a long attention span and apparently the Veil did not hinder her virtue, or curse, depending how you saw it. She heard music, a
guitar
.

Raven took a step toward it and as she did she felt a wave of electrical energy come over her. Her entire body was humming. She felt like she was waking up from a thick, languid dream. Like she was coming home. She had to get closer.
Needed
to get closer.

Right as she started to move toward a wicked cool looking house her father clasped her elbow.

“Raven. Focus. Any more questions?”

“Can I find the dead musician? Oh. My. God. Is Elvis in here?”

If there was one thing Raven could do it was make her father laugh. She loved doing that. But right then she was doing it so she could slowly edge toward that sensation she was feeling. It made everything move slower yet intensified everything. She had butterflies for the first time in her life and she had no idea why. Yearning, it was so rich that it almost hurt.

“All right let’s practice getting out. Think of home.”

Raven didn’t want to go home. She had to chase this feeling. “But—I.”

“Show me you can get out,” he said with a raised brow.

Out
Raven thought with a pout on her face.

As soon as Raven left the Veil the feeling left. She was never a fan of reality before but it had never felt as heavy as it did then.
This blows.

She’d lost the sensation she felt near the music and wanted it back—so much so that she was prepared to barter anything to get back there, even skating. She tried after dinner, but Jamison told her she needed rest.

Raven laid awake that night thinking of the sensation, that sound. She thought of it more than all she had learned about her past, her future, all of it. She’d never once become so instantly addicted to something, and it was driving her mad.

The next morning she was still in a haze thinking about it. So it took her a second to realize she had a new schedule to follow now and that she was stuck going to Berries’ class.

Soren was now in Raven’s second, third, and fifth period. So she was on her own for the first hour. Raven hesitated as she walked down the stairs to the hall that ran under the school.

Then she remembered what period she was going to, and once she mapped out her path in her mind she realized that even though she would be in the hall at the same time as mystery boy later today—they would be going the same way—she was sure she could hide in a crowd.

Raven was carefully plotting out a way to persuade her father to take her back to the Veil, to that sound, when she felt a hand slip around her waist and a scruffy cheek against her ear. She may or may not have quietly yelped.

“Can I smell your hair?” she heard a deep, sensual voice say against her ear, his breath skirting down her neck.

Oh my god
, Raven thought.
Play it cool.