A/N - I'm a week or two behind on my replies to comments, but I hope to catch up this weekend! 😁
Also, there's a glitch happening (I know on the WP Web version and I think also on the App) where pages are getting cut off and it looks as if the scene ends abruptly. It's super frustrating, but I wanted to let y'all know. If a chapter seems super-short or stops mid-scene, just refresh the page and you'll get the whole chapter.
Previously on "The Otherworlders" - Master Liu leads Fiona and Sebastian to an underground, makeshift Donor Feeding Room. Fiona is nervous but Sebastian reassures her it's no big deal since he's an old hat at this (but he doesn't talk about that part).
Fiona is stunned when she sees her donor, Marcus, a gorgeous young Shifter who looks like he just stepped out of the pages of GQ. Fiona asks if they can talk a bit before they get to the feeding and Marcus is glad to oblige. He shares some of the history of Live Feeding that he learned from his orientation with Master Liu. They also discussed his motivation for donating blood.
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A young man about seventeen, with tousled blond hair, a rosy complexion with light freckles dappling his skin, and tortoiseshell glasses walks into the room where Aidan has been left to consider his options.
Aidan, who'd just been wriggling in his chair, straining against the zip ties binding his hands in an attempt to escape, abruptly stops and instead looks up at the ceiling and begins to whistle, casually, as if he's just sitting there chilling, with nothing better to do and all the time in the world.
Avoiding eye contact, the young man walks over and puts a glass of water with a straw in it and a small bowl of fruit on the empty table next to Aidan.
When he spots Aidan's split lip and sees the zip ties restraining his hands, the young man frowns.
Quickly, he straightens. And at first, it looks like he's going to turn around and leave. But instead, he begins to slowly pace in front of Aidan, and then after a moment, he reconsiders, pulls up a chair, and sits down next him.
"I'm Stephen." he says, instinctively thrusting out his arm to shake Aidan's hand. And when he realizes, of course, that's not possible, he apologizes. "Oh, yeah, right... Sorry, but I can't untie you."
Aidan shrugs, feigning a casual demeanor he doesn't really feel. "Eh... It's fine. Don't worry about it," he says coolly. "I've had worse greetings before."
Stephen's mouth quirks into a subtle smile.
A long beat of silence passes between them before Stephen reaches for the glass of water and holds it up in front of Aidan, positioning the straw so that he can take a sip.
Aidan leans forward and sucks on the straw for a long time, taking a few big gulps, then he pulls back and swallows, assessing Stephen with a curious gaze. "Thanks," he says.
"Sure. No problem," Stephen replies as he sets the glass back on the table.
After another beat of silence, Aidan quirks a brow. "So, what's your story?"
"Huh?" Stephen straightens, surprised by the question. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Aidan says. "You don't strike me as the henchmen type, and you're certainly not the evil minion, so..." He lifts a casual shoulder. "What's your deal?"
Stephen chuckles lightly. "What's my deal?" he says, parroting Aidan's question. He gives him a fragile smile. "There is no deal," he says, then shrugs. "I'm just a nobody."
"Well, that can't be true," Aidan replies with a tilt of his head. "They sent you in here, with more than just fruit and water. They sent you in with an agenda, didn't they? Clearly, that means you're someone."
"No, trust me." Stephen scoffs. "Around here, I'm less than nothing. I just do what they tell me to do."
"And that's because...?" Aidan prods.
Stephen's eyes narrow, "Because I don't have a choice!" he snaps, unable to keep the bitter thread from his voice. He bows his head, and pinching his nose, lets out a beleaguered sigh. Leaning forward with his arms on his thighs, he says, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk to you like that."
Aidan shrugs it off. Stephen being rude is the least of his problems.
Stephen sits up and removes his glasses. He begins to clean them with the hem of his shirt. "Look," he says, "I'm just a guy who got caught up in something far bigger and much shadier than I thought it was," he admits. "But I'm not like those other guys. Trust me. I am, though, the lowest rung on the ladder which means, given the hierarchy here, I do what they tell me to do, no questions asked." The corner of his lip dips into a frown. "Plus, I owe Minuk a significant debt."
Unsure of what to make of Stephen's explanation, Aidan grimaces, wondering if this guy is as innocent as he claims. Or if the sob story he hinted at is part of an elaborate scheme to gain Aidan's trust. There's definitely more to his story.
But Aidan nods sympathetically and decides to give Stephen a chance, give him the benefit of the doubt... for now.
In response to Aidan's continued silence and critical appraisal, Stephen looks around the largely empty room, searching for signs someone might be listening. Satisfied they're not being monitored, he says in a conspiratorial whisper, "You know, if you just do what they want, they might let you go. Minuk can seem scary and harsh, but he's not all bad. He's been known to show sympathy on occasion. But if you decide to resist, things could get... well, things could get ugly."
"Yeah, I picked up on that," Aidan says with a hint of snark. Then he lets out a breath. "I hear what you're saying, but you've got to understand, Stephen, as I told the gentlemen earlier, I'm pretty sure I can't do what they're askin' me to do." He shrugs. "It just doesn't work like that. Also, I've seen every action flick on Netflix okay? I know how these things go down. Even if I could do what they were asking me to do, they're not lettin' me out of here alive. So you might as well tell me what they're up to. What do they want this spirit for?"
Stephen chews his bottom lip. He looks over at the door again and then turns back to Aidan. He lowers his voice. "They're trying to release Mai-coh, the only god who can summon Skinwalkers."
"Skinwalkers?!" Aidan's eyes go wide with shock. Okay now, that really doesn't sound good.
"Yep," Stephen confirms, nodding grimly. "The Resistance believes that by releasing Mai-coh, we'll have control of these Skinwalkers and can build up an army to help level the playing field."
"Level the playing field? For what?!" Aidan shrieks.
"Level the playing field between Shifters and everyone else within the Otherworlder realm," Stephen asserts. He leans back in his chair, finally convinced that Aidan poses no threat to him. And by the looks of it, he isn't planning an escape any time soon either, which means Stephen can relax a bit.
"You have to admit" he says, "Over the years, Vampyrs have accumulated far too much power and wealth, and they've done that to the detriment of everyone else. They rose to power on the backs of the Shifters by enslaving and oppressing us," he argues. "You Enchanteds, you all survived the Shadow Wars by cutting political and economic deals with the Vampyrs, so I'd say all-in-all, you came out unscathed in the end."
"Well, I don't know about that," Aidan rolls his eyes and scoffs. "I mean we were indentured servants for, like, decades. And true, we weren't put into shackles or anything like that, but that doesn't mean that our lives weren't torn apart and our freedom taken away from us. Believe me, we have significant scars left from the way Vampyrs treated us and those scars run deep."
"Oh, yeah?" Stephen crosses his arms and arches a brow. "Just how deep?"
"Like, deep, deep!" Aidan exclaims. "I'm talking super deep!"
"Mm-Hmm..." Stephen shoots Aidan a skeptical look. "Short of genocide, scars don't run much deeper than the ones caused by being enslaved for centuries on end, wouldn't you say?"
"Okay, fine!" Aidan huffs. "You're right. Shifters win the coveted 'Generational Tragedy' award. But do you really think starting another war is going to fix that?" He levels a sharp gaze at Stephen. Honestly, he doesn't mean to come across as snarky or disrespectful, but every Otherworlder race has survived a period of struggle and strife, at least every Otherworlder race that he knows of.
"Not necessarily," Stephen adds. "But after the war, you Enchanteds were allowed to practice magic again, and so now you're on your way up. But where does that leave us Shifters, huh? I mean in the grand scheme of things, when the crap hits the fan, it's us -- us Shifters -- who get it in the face, just like we always have, just like we always will. That is unless..." Stephen holds up a finger, "...we change the equation."
At first Aidan stares at him, confused. He has no clue what this bloke is talking about.
And then the pieces start falling into place as it dawns on him just how serious these rebels are about starting a war. He also realizes just how dangerous they are and how much damage they could cause.
"Okay, look," Aidan says, calmly. "I get it. I get the whole fighting for your people thing. Really, I do. But I don't think your friends fully understand just what you're messing with here when you mess with Spirits. They're very, very difficult to control," Aidan admits. "And believe me, it can be like trying to wrangle Frankenstein's monster while he's hopped up on steroids. Seriously. When that happens, your lack of control quickly breeds chaos, especially if you don't know what you're doing."
"But that's what they have you for, isn't it'?" Stephen counters.
"Yeah, right!" Aidan snorts. "If your whole strategy rests on me being able to conjure up and control a Shifter god and his brigade of zombie skeletons; well then, I hate to tell you but you're going to be sorely disappointed!"
"Aidan," Stephen asserts. "I know this all sounds really scary. But I'd advise you to rethink your position on this one. You were definitely onto something when you assumed that you probably wouldn't make it out of here alive. And you certainly won't if you refuse to help them. However..." Stephen leans in closer to Aidan and says, "If you dig deep and leverage all of your knowledge and skills to find a way to release Mai-coh's spirit, then I can help you get out of here. Trust me when I say, those guys will be so overwhelmed and distracted trying to create all their Skinwalkers, they won't have the time or the energy to dispose of you right away.
"Oh, great! What a relief!" Aidan exclaims, as he shakes his head, incredulous. "So, let me get this straight. You're advising that I unleash some powerful Shifter god that's been imprisoned for centuries, so understandably he's probably pretty cranky, just so Minuk and his men can start a massive war against all Otherworlders, including my own people?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm suggesting," Stephen says. "I'm sure Minuk will want to keep you around, at least for a little while, just in case he needs your magical skills again. Think of it as keeping you around on retainer. More time, more opportunities to escape." Stephen claims. "So, what do you think?
Aidan's face scrunches up in disbelief. "So wait, does that mean you'll help me? Is that what you're saying?"
Stephen nods, silently, and lifts his hands up to his shoulders as if to say, Dude, don't make me say it out loud, but yeah, I think you get my drift.
Aidan purses his lips as he weighs his options.
All along, he'd been working under the assumption that there was no way he could use his magic to summon this Mai-coh god of theirs. But he didn't actually know that for sure.
And even if he could awaken Mai-coh's spirit, maybe Stephen's right?
Honestly, the chances of Patrick and Farid showing up to break him out of this makeshift prison is damn near close to nil.
So, maybe if Stephen was being honest about helping him, it'd be worth it if that meant that he could, at least, stall for time?
*********
A/N - Well, it looks like we've got a little foreshadowing there. I wonder what will happen in the next chapter. 🤔
See you next week.
Enjoy!
~ Paula ❤️
And Inez says she'll play you a song if you share The OW with a friend. She'll be taking requests at the end of the month. 😎