Exaltation (20 page)

“Nothing happened to be embarrassed about. I want you to know that. And having a crush on a boy or kissing one is not an odd thing for your age,” she said, as she came out and sat in her chair in front of Raven. “I called Saige. Jamison was with her.”

“Do you want me to wait while you call Miss Thelma Ray? Maybe go door to door in the lower Quarter and just let everyone know?”

Emery let out a sigh as she stared at her. “This boy, this energy between you and him. Does it feel like coming home? Is it rich? Can you sense him even when he’s far away?”

Raven’s eyes rapidly move across Emery, sensing the conviction in her question, as if Emery had felt all of that.

“It was two kisses, and a jolt of odd vim. That’s it, I swear,” Raven finally said.

“Nothing else, just that.” Emery pushed, trying to tell her, without telling, her that feeling should be the bar she set when she looked for the one that was to rise with her.

“I don’t know if I would say that. I mean have you been kissed by a hot guy who was older than you—not like other guys you knew, smooth, charismatic, always seems to be looking a little deeper than most when he looks at you? Someone that can look dangerous one second and innocent the next?” 
Walking sex…

Emery cleared her throat as she adjusted herself in her chair.

“I take that as a yes,” Raven said with a smirk. There was something up with Emery and her dad and Raven knew it. Right then she was going to use her theory to get herself out of the hot seat.

“Raven, listen. There are all kinds of guys out there and as you grow up, you change. Sometimes the guys you date are just a phase or just an idea that you thought would work. Then you find the right one and he sets your soul on fire, he makes you regret ever seeing anyone else before.”

Raven smirked, lifted her chin. “Is that how it was with you and Berries? You regret him because my dad is perfect for you?”

“Raven, stop turning the conversation around. This is about you.”

“About kissing a boy twice, yeah, but seriously, you and Dad side by side for all this time and the first time we see you guys embrace was when you thought we were in danger? What’s up with that? Why the G rated business.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Must be,” Raven said, as she darted her brows up twice to try and get her to laugh.

No such luck.

“Listen, what I went through and what you will go through will not be the same. You’re not going to date random boys while you figure out who you are. You already know.”

“Do I?”
Jokes on you.

“Deep down you do.”

“So you’re going to tell me I’m some kind of special and I should wait for the right boy and right now is not the time to date anyone. I need to control some power I didn’t even know I had, before I cross any more lines and such.”
Yada, Yada, Yada…

“You see what I mean? That balance you have? You see things for how they are and you never let it rock your bliss. You’re still a girl, this is just one boy.”

Raven stared into space. “Rydell doesn’t look at me like some girl…he looks at me like I’m a woman.”

Emery looked away. “Raven, this boy is different. But I’m telling you that you need to be careful.”

“Why? My ‘guardians’ think he’s hot, too.”

Emery met her eyes. “This isn’t funny. The twins aren’t meant to tell you what to do, or Soren for that matter. They protect you when danger is present. They won’t strike until they have to. You have free will and you let this boy close to you.”

“He’s broken, Miss Emery. Someone hurt him. I think he just needs a friend.”

Emery let out a long sigh, not surprised Raven had picked up on Rydell’s...circumstance.

“Sounds like you’re becoming more than friends.” 

Right then Raven heard someone clear their throat.

Jamison.

“I’m going to make some coffee,” Emery said, as she darted toward the door.

Raven blushed, and was hanging her head as Jamison sat down before her. Like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Think only happy thoughts, not about kissing boys, Pops doesn’t not need a visual…
“Dad, please do not mortify me.”

“I don’t need to know the details, Raven. I think you know this is not an ordinary boy if he was able knock down the spells around you. It happened again tonight. Same way, all at once. ”

“What if it wasn’t him? What if it was some kind of evil? Hormones maybe?” Raven asked.

“No jokes.”

“All right fine,” Raven grunted. “What do you want to know?”

Jamison’s gaze moved over her. “What does he talk about with you?”

Raven shrugged. “At school, mostly school. He’s kept Berries off my back so that’s a plus. Tonight. I don’t know, he said he was having family issues, wasn’t sure where he was going. We talked about being happy and such.”

Jamison stared.

“Those are the only details you’re getting,” Raven said with a blush. “I swear it’s innocent between us.”

“Something was odd, though.”

Raven cleared her throat and blushed again. “I can’t control my vim around him. It heats up, then pushes me away, but it pulls me closer first.”

Jamison leaned forward on his knees and hung his head, thought for a second. He had a few theories about where Rydell was right now on his path. Why he was confused. But that didn’t make this any safer. If anything, it could make it harder for Raven to find who was to rise with her. It could make it harder to repair Rydell, ensure he was back where he belonged and with who he belonged.

“I told you that your mother and I were both from a different plane of existence.”

Raven nodded.

“Your energy is very attractive to those from that plane. It has a high vibration, a pull to it, and those from there may mistake it for something it’s not.”

“Like?” Raven asked, with a confused lift to her brow. Reading between the lines, she was sure Rydell was a witch. Apparently a dark one in her father’s eye. But as far as she was concerned, half of that deal was in her. The darkness. Even if it wasn’t, people can change.

“Such as a fever.”

“Like a sickness?”

Jamison shook his head. “That’s what they call love.”

“Dad, I’m trying to follow you, I really am. Love? I got that for everyone. You and Emery are acting like I’m about to run away with this boy. Not even close.”

“To be blunt, Raven, you could very well attract souls from my old life. They may feel a fever, believe it with their entire soul that you belong to them.”

“That’s. Like. Primal.”
Kinda hot?

“We all are deep down. You just need to take this nice and slow right now.” Jamison looked over her slowly. “What do you know about him? Has he said anything odd to you or made you feel uncomfortable? Do you have any warning bells going off in your mind about him?”

Raven smirked. “We call boys like him regrettables, but I don’t know if that’s fair because I really don’t know enough about him to give him that title.”

“Regrettable?”

“Just boys that might be fun for a minute but in the end it will hurt.”

“And you think he will hurt you?”

“Before I talked to him, yeah, now not so much.”

“Can I meet him?”

“Can I at least get to know him first, figure out if I want him around before you put him through some father test?”

“I want to meet him before it gets too serious.”

Raven nodded then cleared her throat. “So, um, you want to tell me how to control my vim so nothing spooky happens if I, um, well…”

“There’s no way to control that. It’s supernatural. And it won’t be that way when you’re with the right one,” he warned, hoping that would cause her to think twice about going too far with him.

Well, guess that means I will not be kissing Rydell in any public places,
Raven thought to herself.

“Is anything else going on at school? How’s Newberry’s class?”

“Boring. He’s just a creep. Rydell keeps Berries off my back though, so I can deal.”

“Just be careful around him.”

Raven nodded as she looked over her father’s worried stare. Which kept moving to the kitchen door.
“Dad,” Raven said to get his attention. When he looked her way she went on. “I get this wait for the right one thing you and Emery are telling me about but not really telling me about—you wanna know why?”

He lifted his brow.

Raven waited until she heard Emery moving her way. “Because I’ve seen it. I was raised by two people that are made of one soul.” A smile twitched on her lips. “Seventeen years, Dad, and you still make her blush, you still make her nervous—the good kind of nervous. All parental figures are up in arms right now. That tells me this family needs to be stronger than ever. It tells me that we should be side by side.” Raven looked him up and down. “Both you and Miss Emery were all about telling me to wait for the right person tonight in your own way.” Raven jutted her chin up. “I think you need to lead by example. Because, so far, all the two of you have taught us is how to wait. Not what to do when you find them.”

Jamison’s eyes lifted to the screen door. Raven knew Emery was standing there; the tension in the air alone told her so.

“We already know,” Raven said as she stood. “All of us. No sense in you hiding it—not unless that’s the example you want us to learn from.”

Raven leaned in and kissed her father’s brow then made her way in and hugged Emery before she headed upstairs.

Emery stared at Jamison for a long second then whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“For?” he asked in a ghost of whisper.

Emery looked down. “For being scared.” Her eyes rose to meet his. “I don’t want to hide us anymore.”

Jamison felt his breath leave him. As soon as he had the strength to stand, he did. When he pulled her into his arms he wrapped his vim around her and moved them to her bed, their bed. He wasn’t going to let her hide them anymore. Raven was right. They had to teach the girls what was worth waiting on, show them how soul mates lived their lives.

They had to show their girls how two powerful souls acted when they found each other, so they would know it was worth waiting for.

Chapter Eighteen

Rydell had been pulled directly to Revelin’s springs—long halls, made of water, in his own level of The Realm. From there Revelin could watch each in his line of Escorts, the dimensions below. At times parts of the streams were dim. They were only that way if the Escort was engaged in a sensual moment or in rare cases like Rydell’s, if the Escort had placed a divide between them and their sovereign.

Even though Rydell was in agony from Revelin’s assaults, his brutal pull which had called him there, he was pleased to see that where his faction was across the dimension below was dim in the streams. That blind spot had grown since the last time Rydell had seen the unprecedented impact his bold moves had made.

All Escorts resemble their sovereign in some basic way. They all looked the same age on the surface. The detailed features were different but the hair and eye color were the same. Most Firsts are nearly identical to their sovereign. Myth states that it’s because they are to be their fiercest protectors. That if all else fails, they stand before them and let the enemy assume they’re taking down the sovereign.

Which is more than likely why the Creator set the destruction of the current sovereigns the way he did. It makes sense the First is targeted. That they are the
one
kill that never varies when it comes to the five the new sovereigns must destroy.

Rydell was different from other Firsts, always had been. Where he had dark hair, Revelin was dark blond. Rydell’s skin tone was darker, as well, but they both carried eyes that were like ice. A sharp color that could make them look playful or lethal. Right now Revelin was trying to look playful, but Rydell could see the malice behind his smile.

“The prodigal son has returned,” Revelin said, as he raised the golden chalice in his hand and took a sip.

“How could I resist such a warm invitation?”

“Touché.”

The painful grip on Rydell’s energy Revelin had been seizing him with, began to loosen. Rydell didn’t dare to act relieved. He knew Revelin only did that so if Rydell spoke out of line he would be able to bring the pain right back.

“I’m ordering you to bring your faction home. I let you have your fun. Everyone deserves a hiatus. I understand, which is why I have been so gracious with you,” he said as he circled Rydell.

“You know just as well as I do this is not a hiatus. I left you.”

“Nonsense. You don’t have the strength to leave me.”

“If you’re going to kill me do it. I’m not coming back.”

“Trust me, son. I would if this were any other time,” Revelin said, as he stood before Rydell once more.

Now that he was a few inches from Rydell, he could see Revelin looked just as weathered as he did. That was normal. When the First is weak the sovereign feels it. They can sense all of their followers, but the First they feel intently.

“You’ve been busy on the lower planes,” Revelin said, as if this were a casual conversation.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I understand you have decided to explore education. Though I’m not really sure why. It would have to be a bore for someone as well read as you.”

Rydell glanced to the dark streams, not sure how Revelin had any idea what he was doing. “Maybe I’m reliving the childhood I never had.”

At that he laughed. “That or there’s a girl who has your attention.”

Rydell had no choice but to play the cruel card with him. He knew Revelin well enough to know if he was aware Rydell was interested in anything, he would take it away. He had before. “A girl. As if one girl could
ever
keep my attention.”

“You were always the ladies man. If I do recall, that was how I taught you to evoke exaltation in the first place. You’d bring a girl right to her peak then walk away with enough energy, from the emotion we rule, to feed countless members of my line.” He chuckled. “Yes, you were a little devil back then, breaking hearts and souls hour by hour.”

“I don’t like to get personal anymore.”

“Yes, what was it your little faction was doing?” he said, as he folded his arms and circled Rydell once more. “Fairy Godmothers—was that it? Floating around and granting wishes.”

“I don’t grant anything. I do my thing and if someone else gets a kick out of that, we both win.”

Another dark chuckle. “King, you are more like me than you will ever admit.”

“I’m nothing like you. You never give them what they want, only the illusion. You spawn obsession with the act.”

“Politics. We all need allies.”

The lines of obsession and exaltation had been close allies in the past but the line of obsession had moved on to feeding off one host. When that happened Rydell argued with Revelin that they should give the souls what they sought. Let them feel the sweet emotion. Even though his alliances were null and void Revelin didn’t agree. Which is why Rydell left.

“Yet every emotion is to be felt. You never allow them to feel it all,” Rydell argued.

“You think you understand this emotion? The gravity of it?”

Rydell wasn’t going to engage in an argument they’d had a thousand times over.

“It is an emotion birthed in the warriors, the gamblers, the superficial. Driven souls who have a point to prove. Who have overcome fear, disquiet, and grief. Who have to embrace obsession and exaltation, and laugh in the face of anger and shock. Souls that move this world in their own awkward way.” Revelin clucked his tongue, a thing he did when he was supposedly thinking aloud. “At most points in time you only have to deal with one breed of them. But in the point of time you are lurking in, you have them all: warriors, gamblers, the superficial. I suppose if I were to have a temper tantrum like you’ve had I would have gone there, too.”

“Is there a point to this?”

“The point is you broke away from me in order to lead a faction correctly, but you have done no such  thing. All you have managed to do is create a new generation of our line.” He stood before Rydell, unfolded his arms, and pulled his shoulders back. “Your point has been made. You will bring your faction home and I will allow them to continue to grant little wishes across the universe.”

“I don’t want that.”

Apparently he shocked Revelin because he stared at Rydell for an endless moment. “What exactly do you want, King?”

“You cannot have your entire line doing what I do. It’s flawed. There’s a curse that follows every desire we grant. The universe will plummet. Souls would move back instead of forward.”

“Yet you engage this curse daily. The curse I admittedly warned you about.”

Not anymore. “I’m exploring this. I can control my faction. The entire line will lose control. You know they will.”

“Then I would suggest you come home so you can teach them the right way to ‘grant wishes.’”

“Not until I understand the curse.”

“That’s what you want? If you understand the curse you will return?”

Rydell’s stare met his. “You know how to stop it?” If that were true it would take everything Rydell had not to strike him. Rydell may have hid behind the “circle of life” phrase or even “they do it to themselves,” but it never settled right with him. He didn’t even want to think about all the souls who had perished because his faction engaged them.

“I am your sovereign. I rule this emotion. It is my divine charge.”

“A charge that is being challenged if the barest of rumors hold any truth.”

A wry smile emerged. “Why would you say such a thing? Why would you assume this line is challenged by the five deaths?”

“You tell me. You’re the sovereign. Felt a little weak lately? I know nothing beyond the other lines are at war, and we have no justification to be excused from such a war. As far as I know we’re the cruelest.”

“The cruelest? Do we terrify souls? Do we shock them to the point where they trust nothing, or worry them to the point where they are wrought with anxiety? Do we bring them grief; enjoy watching them ache from the pains of those emotions. No. We simply allow them to chase a desire. And every once in a while we give them a taste of victory.”

“You’re stopping evolution. Bringing dark times.”

“And why should that stray me from this path? Even in the darkest times our emotion can be found.” He smirked. “If not in the arms of a passionate embrace it can be found by giving them food, or saving them at the last moment. We will
never
starve.”

“I want to understand the curse.”

“Why?”

“So I can figure out how to do your job the
right
way.”

Rydell braced himself for a blow but one never came.

“I’m going to tell you. You want to know why I’m going to tell you?” Rydell said nothing. Only stared forward. “I’m going to tell you because you’re a spawn from me and I know that you could not bear the weight anymore than I would or could.” His iced eyes stared into Rydell’s. “They call us the party house. The fun ones. The ones that excite the souls but that is a myth.”

He tilted his head. “Our charge is the hardest of them all. The other kings are only meant to relieve the emotion. To serve as protectors. We are to pick and choose.”

Rydell had never heard this before so Revelin had his rapt attention.

“That’s right. Exaltation is a driving force that pushes souls forward. It rewards them with satisfaction and evokes cause to seek it again, to move more people forward. But you see, my First, not all souls are driven the same. We are meant to look deep in the soul. To look through the soul’s entire life just before and just ahead and decide if they are
worthy
of the emotion. If their intent is pure, if they want their desire to help mankind or to appease a status among men. It’s exhausting and absolutely no fun at all to be judge and jury. I have the hardest rule of all the sovereigns, and long before you arrived I decided it was not fair that the Creator bestow such a heavy burden. So, I as you say, decided to never allow them to reach the emotion. I decided that way the ones that really reached for it, who finally got their desires, deserved it the most.”

“Do you honestly think self centered people would not be driven to go all the way? If not more so.”

“Not at all, and if they do, bravo. That’s when the curse comes into play.”

“You’re telling me the curse is only in play when the reasons are selfish?”

“Correct. So, my precious First, that would mean all this time, each time you have witnessed a curse, represents a time where you have failed. Where you decided to give an unworthy soul an emotion they did not deserve. You do not have the strength to rule this line the way the Creator meant for it to be ruled. No one does, not even me. Apparently not even him since he decided to push it off on me.”

“That can’t be all of it. There’s more to it.”

“You asked about the curse and I told you why it exists.” He raised his chin. “Now I’m done being pleasant. It has come to my attention you have stolen from me.”

“How is that news?”

“You stole a soul from me which was designed differently from the others.”

Rydell had stolen several souls from him. That was his first game plan, before others started to follow him on their own.

“Who do you want me to send home?”

“All of you.”

“You either kill me or let me return to my faction. You explained the curse therefore I will return the soul you feel I stole from you.”

“No need. He found his way to me. We had a nice warm chat. And I bestowed upon him what you robbed from him.”

“Which is?”

A sardonic grin came to him. “Let’s just say it’s a birthright.”

Rydell didn’t bother to respond. Revelin was threatening to take Rydell’s status as a First away from him. Rydell could read between the lines. And he wanted him to.

“This is your last chance, King. You come home now. Stand with us. Allow your line to show a united front, or you will leave me no choice but to act accordingly to your actions.”

“If you’re going to kill me, do it. This conversation bored me years ago.”

Revelin pinned Rydell with his ice glare. That was the last thing Rydell saw before excruciating pain began to shred his soul, piece by agonizing piece.