“It isn’t always very clear, dear.” Ellie placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and Ree tried to relax. “You have to trust your instincts.”

“Great,” Ree muttered. “That makes me feel so much better.”

The flash of a yellow jacket in her peripheral vision made her smile. “I guess I should forgive Mel, huh?”

“Well, I do think she feels pretty bad. She was so upset when you ran out of the shop. Sophie told her to follow you. The Greek didn’t think you would be ready to see her, yet.”

Ree turned behind her and looked for her friend. Melanie was standing behind a clothes rack about twenty yards behind them, her eyes barely peeking over the top as she watched them. Laughing, Ree jerked her head to signal she should join them. Melanie emerged from behind the clothes and smiled guiltily before jogging over to them and throwing her arms around Ree.

“I’m so sorry. I should’ve realized how upset you were! Ugh. I’m supposed to be able to tell those types of things.” She squeezed hard and Ree grunted. “Sorry. Forgot, super strength.”

“It’s okay. I was bound to freak out eventually about something, I guess.” Brushing the hair out of her eyes, she smiled at her friend. “It’s just a lot to take in, you know?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely. Sophie told us that because of what we are, we adapt faster to the change and the situation. I guess it has something to do with why the gods made us in the first place. But the Alastriana has to take it all in without any type of buffer. That’s got to be tough.”

“You could say that,” Ree said.

“So, you girls up for some lunch? I’m dying for a fish sandwich.” Ellie threw her arms around the girls and led them toward a small doorway set in a whitewashed-brick storefront. “This place has the best sandwiches. My treat!”

Chapter 9

After spending a couple of hours with Ellie and Melanie over lunch at the tiny restaurant, Ree was loath to head back to the antique shop. Despite her talk with Ellie, she still wasn’t comfortable thinking she was Sophie’s reincarnated sister. Melanie seemed to think it wasn’t a big deal. To her it wasn’t any different than being around any person that might have been connected to you in another life.

“It’s completely different! Those people don’t remember that other lifetime. And if they do manage to remember bits and pieces, there’s a distance between this life and the last one. There’s nothing to put that distance between Sophie and Roland’s memories. It’s still that life for them, but I don’t remember it at all.” Walking backward so she could see Melanie, Ree gestured with her hands tucked in her jacket pockets. “I mean, it’s like they’re just waiting for me to pick up conversations where we left off.”

“C’mon, Ree.” Rolling her eyes, Melanie laughed at her friend. “I don’t think they’re going to expect you to pick up an argument about who forgot to feed the chickens, or whatever they had to do back then.”

“It’s in the way they look at me,” Ree continued. “Like I’m supposed to remember them the way they remember Tria.”

“Well, do you?”

Ree turned back around so Melanie couldn’t see her face. “I don’t know.”

“You know, the lying thing doesn’t work so well if I’m paying attention to your emotions.” Making a tsking sound, Melanie reprimanded Ree.

“I really don’t know.” Sighing, Ree stopped at the crosswalk and hit the button that would let them safely cross Bay Street. “Sometimes, I get this impression like I recognize them. Or more like I recognize their habits or tics. Like, Sophie’ll go blank when she’s shocked about something. And there is something so familiar about the way Roland laughs.” A mechanical voice announced it was safe to cross and the girls quickly moved through the stopped cars to the safety on the other side of the street.

“So, what bothers you the most? That you do in some way remember them, or the fact that you can’t tell if what you’re feeling is from this life or that one?”

“Yes,” Ree replied solemnly.

Melanie’s bright chuckle crackled through the cold air and made Ree smile. “Okay, okay. So, it all bothers you. I get it. I really do; but what can you do about it?”

“Nothing.” Sighing, Ree watched some of the tourists on the other side of the street argue about directions to Forsyth Park. One of the women was wearing a visor with a pink ribbon emblazoned on the front and several others wore pink scarves and jackets. Life can be so short, yet Roland and Sophie have seen so much of it. Looking at Melanie, Ree felt sadness creep into her heart. Her friends would live to see her die, to see the world change and technology grow.

Melanie moved closer to her and bumped shoulders with Ree. “Hey, this isn’t something you have to figure out today.”

“You’re right. Let’s get back to the shop. I’m getting tired of the cold.”

“You? Tired of the cold? Miss I-hate-the-hot-summers?”

“Hey, I didn’t say I wanted it to be ninety degrees out here! Just, you know, not forty and rainy!”

“Let’s go, then.”

Cutting through one of the narrow side streets, they bypassed the more congested walkways. The haunting feeling of cold water running down her spine caused Ree to stop near a shadowy alley. Melanie immediately stopped walking and sniffed at the air. The Guardian reached down and snagged a short knife from the cuff of her black boot. She looked at Ree in question and jerked her head toward the alley. When Ree nodded in confirmation, Melanie swiftly moved between her and the dark corridor. A scrambling sound echoed toward them and Ree felt her breath catch in her throat. Reaching out with the power, Ree could feel something dark and sinister just out of sight. However, it didn’t have the same cold, dead feeling of a Dark One.

“What is it?” Melanie asked. “It doesn’t smell dead like a Dark One.”

“I have no idea.” Ree’s voice was a hushed whisper. “It almost feels like Shannon and Michael.”

“Huh. Stay here in the sunlight.” Melanie started toward the shadows.

“What? You can’t go down there.” Ree grabbed her friend’s arm.

“I think it’s following us. I smelled something at the crosswalk, but I thought it might have just been from last night.” Melanie smiled at Ree. “I’ve got this. We need to know what they’re after.”

Ree hesitated, her heart beating hard in her chest. She mentally commanded her fingers to release her friend’s sleeve and nodded. Spinning the knife on her palm, Melanie winked before quickly disappearing. A loud thud followed by a deep grunt sounded loudly through the alley. Ree let the power flow through her body, gently pulsing around her hands as she widened her stance in anticipation.

“Stop thrashing around!” Melanie’s voice preceded her as she walked out, dragging something behind heavy behind her.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.” The voice sounded dry, as if the person had not had anything to drink in days. White skin flashed at Ree from the ankle exposed between his shoe and pant leg. Melanie gave an irritated jerk on the foot she was holding and the man growled. Ree was disgusted to see the dark, almost black veins on his hands and arms as he clawed at the ground for purchase. His gaunt frame was drowning in the dirty clothes that covered his dirty body.

“Quit fighting me, or I’ll take away the option all together.” Melanie jerked him toward the opening of the alley, but he howled and his efforts doubled. “What is with you? You aren’t a Dark One. You can go out in the sunlight.”

“Wait, Mel.” Ree stepped closer and squinted at the man on the ground.

At the sound of her voice, he whipped his head to the side so he could see her and hissed in hatred. “I knew it was you. I knew it.” Suddenly he was more than willing to leave the alley. His fingers reached blindly for Ree, opening and closing in their eagerness. Melanie rolled her eyes and twisted the foot she was still holding until he howled.

“Get a grip,” Melanie said. She put one leather-shod foot on the back of his neck and grimaced. “God, you stink.”

Ree shook her head as she looked at them standing half in the shadows. For some reason the fact that Melanie was wearing her school uniform seemed almost obscene. She wasn’t a large girl, yet she had a grown man subdued and whimpering on the ground.

“A darkling?” Ree asked. Bite marks ran the length of his neck and were crusted with old, dried blood. “He looks like he hasn’t been treated well.” She moved so she could see his face. Hate-filled black eyes glared back at her as he continued to hiss in pain. “What’s your name?”

He gave a croaking laugh before gasping. Melanie ground the heel of her boot into the back of his neck. “Answer her question.” Melanie’s fangs shot down from her gums as she growled at the man on the ground.

“Scott.” He grunted when Melanie twisted his foot again. “Chaney. Scott Chaney.”

“Why are you following us, Scott?” Melanie leaned down and glared at the writhing man stuck under her foot.

“Information. I can sell information.”

“Sell it? For what?” Ree moved so she could see his eyes clearly.

“Blood, Ree. He sells information for their blood.” Melanie let go of his foot, but kept her boot on the back of his neck. “He’s a junkie.”

Trying to not let her shock show, Ree looked down the narrow little street before responding. The very next time she saw Sophie, the woman was going to answer her questions. There was so much she still didn’t know.

Sensing Ree’s confusion and frustration, Melanie offered an explanation. “Sometimes, when a Dark One finds someone they like, they allow them to drink some of their blood; it can give them a tiny touch of the Dark One’s abilities.”

Looking at the pathetic man on the ground, Ree was sure that it wasn’t worth the trade. No matter what the blood did for him in the short-term, the long run would leave him with a broken soul. The power that flowed through her veins had already proven he was no longer fully human. His soul was sick, broken, and withering away.

Chapter 10

Getting Scott to Sophie’s shop was more than difficult. There were a lot of problems with bringing someone who was basically a hostage through streets crowded with business people and tourists. Not only did Scott have an aversion to sunlight, he quite obviously did not want to be with the two young women. Melanie kept an iron grip on the darkling’s left arm and Ree held the power ready to use if he tried to escape.

Despite Scott’s obvious displeasure, people seemed to be more concerned for the two uniform-clad schoolgirls walking with him. Looking at him, Ree had to admit that he did indeed look scarier than the two girls with him. Of course, the passersby couldn’t see Melanie’s fangs or the swirling silver of Ree’s eyes. She was pretty sure if they were to notice those things they wouldn’t be worried about anyone but themselves. Telling Sophie what had happened had also been an adventure. Using the new cell phone Roland had given her, Ree had called the older Guardian and received a surprise tongue-lashing for going after the darkling.

Melanie had been insulted, but Ree was more bothered by the change in Sophie’s normally stoic manner. She had never raised her voice to any of them before, and while she hadn’t screamed or cursed, the anger had been palpable. Ree suspected the change in attitude had to do with the acknowledgment of her past life. It looked like Sophie was going to have to come to terms with the idea as well.

Once they got to the back door of the shop, Sophie joined them under the small awning that shielded the back door from the elements. Looking Scott up and down, she grimaced and shook her head before yanking the door open and practically throwing the darkling through and onto the floor. Almost immediately, Scott was on his feet and headed for the front of the store. Flicking her hand in his direction, Sophie used the power to throw him to the ground once more. This time though, she used the power to keep him in place.

“You’re wasting my time, darkling. Who do you sell your information to? I want names.”

“What am I going to get out of it? If I tell you, they’ll kill me.”

“They are going to kill you no matter what you do.” Sophie squatted down so she was sitting on her heels. “One way or another, you were dead the moment you decided to play lapdog.”

“They’re going to turn me. If I tell you, they won’t. No one wants a narc around.” He tensed his muscles, and Ree could tell he was trying to fight the invisible bonds holding him down.

“It’s been a long time since they’ve given you any blood, hasn’t it? What makes you think they still want to have you join their ranks?”

“They need me.” He glared venom at Sophie.

“They don’t need you. Your blood is too diluted to fulfill their needs. That’s why they’ve thrown you out.” Some of the anger in Sophie’s tone diminished and Ree could feel the woman’s pity.

“What the hell do you know? You think because you’re some type of Guardian you know everything?” He did his best to spit at Sophie. The glob of saliva managed to rise an inch above his mouth before falling back onto his face. He sputtered in disgust, causing Ree to bite her lips to keep from laughing. Sophie, however, tilted her head back and laughed, exposing her elongated canines.

“Look, if they were going to keep you, they wouldn’t have let you live in an alley. Tell us what you know and we will be more lenient.” Sobering, Sophie looked at him, her fangs still causing dimples in her bottom lip. “No matter what you think you were going to bring back to the Dark Ones, you would not have lived the night. I’ve seen this very scenario played out a hundred times over the years. You want what they have, and they use your desires against you. They drink from you, even giving you a taste of their blood here and there. They tell you it will start the change, and you believe them because you can see better at night, hear more, and are stronger than usual. Only it doesn’t last, does it? You go back for more, only this time they drain you to the point that you are sick. They pass you around like a toy. As an afterthought, they give you a little more blood to heal the damage they have caused.”

Strain tightened Scott’s face, fear and denial warring in his eyes. “I can offer them things that no one else can. I had access to the club they wanted into! Only I could get them the people they wanted. They need me.”