Greys III - Revelations

Chapter 20 - Sins of The Father

A few short hours and we were already well on our way to the Vault again. Kael was exhausted from working the electrum and layering as many cloaking spells onto Malachi as he could. Now, all we could do was try to get to the Vault as quickly as possible, before circling back out into the city for Chi and her Clan.

Our walk to the nearest road had been uneventful, Malachi finally and thankfully silent. Nevaeh had quickly 'convinced' a passing SUV to give up their vehicle, and to not report it stolen for a day. And now Malachi sat in the middle row, wrists and forearms bound with so much electrum it almost looked comical, flanked by Nevaeh. Ailech sat in the back with a dozing Kael so he could watch Malachi for any escape attempt. And I sat up front with James.

Unfortunately, that meant the rearview mirror perfectly framed our newest guest, who hadn't taken his eerie eyes off of me the entirety of the trip. His eyes without his Shift were somehow even more unnerving, unearthly, than his black ones. They were like James' deep blue but, just like everything else about him, the opposite. So different yet so similar. They were such a pale brown they seemed truly yellow or gold, like an animal, not something a Human should have. It was unsettling, like his grin, like his hair, like his beauty. But even with their pale color, they were sharp and bright in the low light of the car, almost glowing, only adding to their animal-likeness.

James and Malachi's other similarities, though opposite too, also unnerved me. I had always thought that James seemed to reflect the sun, or maybe not reflect it, maybe he was the source of the golden light, like it emanated from inside of him. He had always seemed bathed in gold, warm light, even now when his hair wasn't blonde, even now when he was pale from his winter in the city. He still somehow looked like a sunset radiated from underneath his skin, despite the changes his physical body had gone through.

But Malachi, he was the Human manifestation of moonlight, the same but different, opposite, like the light was still coming from him, but pale and cold, a haunting beauty. He was the other side of the coin to James' warm glow. His yellow eyes seemed to smirk at me from the mirror and he stuck his tongue out, biting it and showing a silver piercing before snapped his teeth with a wolf's grin.

He's trying to scare you. Don't let him get in your head.

James' words filled my mind and I realized I had been staring into the mirror, watching Malachi watch me, pulled into his eyes like I often was by James'. I tore my gaze away and looked out the window, but I could still feel those unnatural eyes on me.

Is that what you were trying to do when you used to look at me like that? Scare me?

I continued to look out the window, determined to not let Malachi know how we could speak in our secret way. Trying to hide our conversations from Nevaeh was enough for me.

What do you mean? I don't think I ever scared you, you made that very apparent. Frequently.

I caught myself before I rolled my eyes, keeping my face placid instead as I watching the roadside whizz by.

In my store, the first time we met. It felt like you were trying to drown me in your stare, on purpose. That's just one example...you tried that a lot in the beginning.

I did not.

Yeah, actually, you did. Often. And he does the same thing. You two are similar and it's creepy.

You think I'm creepy?

I said your similarities are creepy. He's an evil version of you, can you not understand how you - minus the good - is unsettling?

I don't see it.

I finally caught the humor in his words, in his refusal to concede. I spared him a casual glance, figuring that not looking at him could be just as much of a tell as looking at him if it was too long in between. He was near-smirking as he continued to watch the road, both hands on the steering wheel.