Fate Succumbs (18 page)

“
It’s not supposed to be
pretty, it’s supposed to help you navigate the wilderness and
protect your feet.” She looked at the shoe and wrinkled her nose.
“And of course I take orders from Liam. He’s a Dominant, and I’m a
Seer.”

“
But you’re like his
step-mom. Moms don’t take orders from kids.” It was something my
mother reminded me of often during my middle school
years.

“
If they’re going out
during the winter she’s going to need a mountaineering boot instead
of a backpacking one,” Spence interjected. He grabbed one of those
silver foot measuring things I’ve never actually seen anyone use
from a bench. “Sit down and take off your shoes,” he said to
me.

I thought about resisting, but realized it
would be a bratty, spoiled child-like thing to do.

Miriam put her selection back in its spot.
“Even those of us who don't fully support our Alpha Pack have
certain rules to follow. It’s part instinct, but mostly it’s to
ensure that chaos doesn’t reign. Liam is a strong, trustworthy
Dominant. He loves and respects me, so if he asks me to do
something, I do it.”

“
And if one of the Alphas
asked you to do something?” I asked as Spence grabbed my foot and
put it in his contraption. The metal was cool and his fingers soft
as he arranged it just so. I bit my lip to suppress a completely
inappropriate giggle.

“
Outright defiance is
harder for us,” Spence answered. “Since she can get into our heads
anytime she pleases, we have to at least have the appearance of
being her loyal servants.” He finally stopped tickling my foot and
released it. “Wait here. I’m going to grab a few different styles
for you to try on.”

There was something about what he said that
was bothering me. “She can reach you guys anywhere, any time,
right?”

"Yes," Miriam answered, "the Alpha Female is
able to contact her Seers no matter the distance or time of the
month.”

“
So, she can only do the
brain-talk thing with Shifters when she’s in a certain
range?”

“
Yes. Like the rest of us,
she has to be within a few miles during the full moon to
communicate with a Shifter.”

“
But not just during a full
moon.”

Miriam’s attention had returned to the shoes
on the wall. “No, it’s just during the full moon. Her connection to
Shifters is no different than mine or Spence’s.”

“
That’s not true,” I said
as Spence came from the back room with a stack of shoe boxes there
was no way he could see over. “When they had me captive she
mind-melded with me in the middle of the day, and it was a few
nights after the full moon.”

Spence dropped his haul without an ounce of
grace. “She knows you exist? You’ve talked to her?”

“
It wasn’t voluntary on my
part,” I said. “Although, it’s hard to refuse when she’s got you
locked in an electricity-fortified steel cage.”

“
The Alphas had you
captive? And you got away?” Spence’s eyes nearly popped out his
head. “How?”

I shrugged, hoping I made it look like it
was no big deal. “Charlie, Liam, and I killed some Stratego, and
then Liam and I made a run for it.”

His wide-eyed gaze swung to Miriam. “You’re
going to get me killed!”

She ignored him to focus on me. “Are you
sure? Sarvarna spoke to your mind in daylight?”

“
Well, I can’t be sure
about the daylight part since I was in a basement, but I do know it
wasn’t a full moon.”

Miriam’s face, which always held a kind of
softness before, hardened into a mask of complete seriousness.
“What did she say?”

“
I don’t remember exactly.”
A lot had happened between then and now. “She was talking crazy.
Something about how I didn’t think she would find me and how I was
breaking some sort of rules. It didn’t really make any sense to me,
although she really thought I should know what she was talking
about. I think she thought I was someone else. She even called me
the wrong name.”

“
What did she call you?”
Her voice was high and reedy.

“
Ummm… Lydia? Lilly?
Lilith?” That was it. I remembered thinking I had heard that name
used in some sort of mythology before. “Yeah, Lilith.”

Miriam visibly paled.

“
What is it?” Spence asked.
“What are you thinking? How much danger are we in?”

She swallowed deeply and smoothed her hair
down. “Spence, dear, let’s see what treasures you’ve brought
us.”

“
You promised me when I
moved here I would be kept safe,” Spence said, jaw clenched. “You
said I could stay out of all of it, live my life like a normal
person under your protection. Now you’re bringing a girl who throws
off enough Dominance to make the hair on my arms stand on end, and
has murdered part of Her Majesty’s Elite Guard into my store and
asking me to aide her. That isn’t staying out of if, Miriam. That’s
standing right in the middle of it with a bull’s eye painted on my
chest.”

Her eyes didn’t even flicker. “The boots,
Spence.”

“
Tell me why, Miriam. Who
is she? What’s going on?”

Miriam walked over to the pile of shoe
boxes, picked up the one on top, flipped open the lid, and dug out
a boot. “There’s nothing to tell,” she said, handing me a monstrous
shoe. “You now know what I do. The girl is a Shifter, she was being
held by the Alphas, but she escaped.”

“
There’s more.”

Miriam sighed. “There is always more, but I
don’t know what that is any more than you do.”

Spence wasn’t buying it. For the record,
neither was I. “That name, what does it mean?”

Miriam bent down to help me with the
laces.

“
Who is Lilith?” Spence
asked, growing more agitated.

Still no response.

“
I’m curious as to the
answer to that one myself,” I said as she shoved the boot onto my
foot with way more force than necessary. “Is she another Seer or a
Thaumaturgic?”

“
Thaumaturgics aren’t
real,” Spence said condescendingly.

I glared up at him. “Glad you think so. I’d
hate to see your reaction to finding out I was convicted of being
one if you were a believer.”

He threw a hand over his eyes, using the one
hand to massage both temples. “God, this keeps getting better and
better.”

“
Really, Spence, your
theatrics aren’t entertaining anyone. Get a grip.” Miriam twisted
my laces together so tightly I feared I would end up losing a foot
from lack of blood flow. “Get up and walk around a bit. Make sure
your toes have some wiggle room and the width doesn’t pinch or
slide.”

This time there wasn’t even the thought of
not doing as she asked. Her tone and face were still completely
schooled, but she was one second away from snapping. I didn’t fear
her physically, but Miriam was a tough lady, one whose path I
didn’t want to be in when she went on a rampage. I had a feeling
anyone equipped to keep a young and angry Liam Cole in line could
handle me with little thought or effort.

“
Like Thaumaturgics, Lilith
is just a myth and legend,” she said as I walked up and down the
aisles trying to decide if the boots were supposed to be this
uncomfortable. “We can’t know what Sarvarna was thinking by calling
you that. Maybe she really believes you are her reincarnation, or
maybe it’s another one of her ploys.”

I wiggled my toes. “Am I supposed to be able
to feel the stitching?”

“
No, try these,” Spence
said, grabbing a box from the middle of the stack without making
the whole thing topple.

“
So this mythological
Lilith, who is she?” I asked as I sat down and began wrestling my
way out of the boots.

“
According to legend, she’s
the first Seer.”

“
You mean the chick who
fell in love with a wolf?” It was the Shifter and Seer origin story
Talley told me. “She has a name?” I tried to remember more details
from my best friend’s disturbing supernatural bedtime story. “Wait.
Does your version say what this Lilith person looked
like?”

It was Spence who answered as he helped me
into the second pair of boots, which were slightly less hideous
than the previous pair. “She was the moon incarnate.”

“
So, all monochromatic and
silvery?”

“
I think the word my mother
used was ‘luminescent’.”

“
This doesn’t make sense.
Sarvarna definitely thought of Lilith as a bad guy. If she was the
first Seer, shouldn’t she and the Alpha Female be BFFs?”

Spence snorted. “Sarvarna? BFFs with a more
powerful Seer? What kind of fairy land are you living in?”

“
There is another version
of the story,” Miriam said. “In it, Lilith was a manipulative
demon, so evil all the color had leeched from her. Of course, that
is just a warped version of the true legend used to frighten
children.”

Of course it was. Although, now I could kind
of see where Sarvarna was coming from. A female with pale skin,
silvery hair, and icy blue eyes? Not a ton of us running around out
there. And if she actually believed that version…

On second thought, I didn’t really see where
she was coming from at all.

While I was dismissing all theories which
turned me into a demon, Miriam came over, hunkered down in front of
me, and fixed her eyes on mine. I thought she meant to grab my
attention before saying something profound, but she just kept
staring deep into my eyes.

“
Ummm…” I couldn’t think of
anything to say other than, “
Get out of my
face.
”

“
It’s not working,” she
finally said with a sigh as she stood back up. “You’re going to
have to try.”

I expected outrage or dramatics, but Spence
simply said, “No.”

“
I’m not strong enough.
Hank is my mate and I can’t connect with him if he gets more than a
quarter mile away during the full moon.”

“
I won’t.” His voice was
calm and quiet. “I don’t even know if I can.”

Miriam placed her hand over his. “Of course
you can. Just let it go.” He shook his head in silent refusal, but
at the same time turned his hand over and laced his fingers with
hers. Then he closed his eyes and did as she asked. I knew because
I felt it. His power rushed over me like flood waters breaking
through the dam. When he opened his eyes, they were locked onto
mine.

“
Can you hear me?”
The voice in my head was identical to his speaking
voice, which probably said something profound about what kind of
person Spence is, but I don’t really know what that something
is.

“
No.”
I didn’t want to be able to hear him. I wasn’t buying into
this reincarnated first Seer crap, especially since I don’t See
anything, nor did I want to.

The corner of Spence’s
mouth tilted up. “
Are you saying you want
me to pretend that I can’t hear you? That you’re not what Miriam
suspects?”

“
I’m not.”

“
You could change the
world.”

“
I could get a bunch of
people killed because they believe a lie.”

Spence nodded ever so slightly. “Sorry,” he
said aloud to Miriam. “Nothing.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Then what was that nod
about?”

Damn, she was sharp.

“
I was simply acknowledging
that I was right.” He pointed at me and then mimicked walking
around with his fingers. “I can’t do it. After more than fifteen
years of repressing it, I don’t know how to See
anymore.”

“
Malarky. You can’t lose
your ability to See any more than that girl can stop the Change
under the full moon.”

I saw jock straps and cups at the end of the
aisle and quickly turned back around. “Actually, Liam thinks I
should be able to start and stop the Change at will. He’s really
sold on the whole idea despite the fact I can’t even get my body to
even consider the possibility.”

Miriam leveled me with a classic mom-look,
which must be taught to all females at some point.

Spence ignored my
interruption and Miriam’s annoyance. “Yes, well, a male Seer never
lives past the age of twenty either. It seems I can be quite
exceptional when my life depends on it.” He clapped his hands
together and turned on the ball of his foot. “Enough of this
dreadful
True Blood
wannabe stuff. Elizabeth, how do those boots feel?”

It took me a second to realize he was
talking to me. I lifted one knee chest-high and then the other.

“
Heavy.”

“
Are they too
tight?”

“
No.”

“
Too loose?”

“
No.”

“
Can you move your
toes?”

“
Yes.”

“
Then quit being a whiner.
If a ninety pound backpacker can walk in those, so can
you.”

I ended up getting that pair of boots,
although Miriam and Spence made me try on five more pairs. I also
got three sets of what Miriam called thermals but my family always
referred to as long johns, and a package of really expensive socks.
Spence refused to let the conversation return to anything Sifter or
Seer related. I think Miriam felt sorry for him, but she gave up
with less of a fight then I expected. Then, as we were leaving, he
reached out to me telepathically again.

“
Don’t let them give you
any of that ‘greater good’ shit,”
he
said.
“You’re too young to be a sacrifice
in an unwinnable war.
”