The Empath : The Alterealm Series Book 3

The meeting went on for an hour more. A location that Crissy had seen needed to be found before anything further could happen. Michael was going to see if he could locate my father through the device he’d never returned, and everyone agreed doing nothing with the number given to me for a day or two was advisable.

I sat there as long as I could, but I was starting to smell everyone in the room, and taking a bite out of someone was an ever-growing possibility the longer I sat there. I made sure not to interrupt anyone before sitting forward in my chair. “I really must go, I have things to attend to.” I stood up.

Crissy smiled. “Oh, you need to feed. It makes sense now… I couldn’t understand why you would be in that club…”

I felt my face flush.

“I don’t think she wishes to discuss it, heart.” Victor said quietly.

Rafael rubbed the back of his neck. “If that’s why you’re going into danger, we can help with that,” he pulled out his phone.

I know my jaw dropped. “Wait…” I didn’t know how to say it. “You have what… dial up…

over here? Like a pizza delivery?”

“Uh…” Quinton smirked, “kind of it’s uh...”

“Remember that time… oh, wait, mixed company.” Rafael nodded and stopped talking.

Leone shook his head.

Michael grinned. “Vic is so old he’s outlived some of the…” He cleared his throat and then sat back as if he’d realized what he was going to say and decided it wasn’t wise.

Crissy leaned against Victor’s shoulder. “I should send them all a thank you note, for looking after him for all those years until I came.”

Victor raised his eyebrows and looked at his brothers with a smug look on his face.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. “I don’t think I’m ready,” I waved my hand around. “I’m not comfortable…”

“Stop you guys. Alona has known about this place for a day. It’s a lot to digest, give her some space.” Daxx told them, in a tone that meant business.

“I can take you back, Alona.” Arius offered getting up. “Just let me change. It’s my turn to check the club for Emil.”

“Thank you.” I grimaced when I remembered. “I’m not looking forward to the nausea, but I do need to return.”

“I’ll be back in five minutes.” He nodded and then walked out into what I now realized must be the kitchen.

“Be right back.” Chase said and followed him.

I stood off to the side observing the interactions around me. They really were a functional family unit. I hadn’t had much experience with this up close in my life, but had always watched it from afar when it wouldn’t be noticed.

Mitz came in and set more food on the table. I had to wonder if she worked around the clock just keeping them fed. I hadn’t met any parents yet, but I felt she was close to a mother to them all. With a caring smile on her face, she came over and held out a little pouch to me. “It’s the blend I use to settle the stomach.”

I took it. “Oh, you are a lovely woman.”

She patted my hand. “You will get used to traveling back and forth, love, I’m sure of it.” With a nod, she turned and went back to her kitchen.

I wasn’t sure about that, but I hoped she was right. Clearly, if I wanted to learn more about myself I would have to come back here.

“Ready?” Arius came in from the hallway.

I nodded and looked at everyone left in the room. “I will talk to you soon.” I glanced to Michael. “Thank you.”

“I’ll let you know if I find out more.”

I realized Arius went out into the hallway and followed him.

He stopped outside the door and smiled at me. “To the club, or did you want land closer to home?”

He’d changed into jeans and a dress shirt, with his hair pulled back. He still wouldn’t go unnoticed, but he wouldn’t shine like a beacon either. “How do you know I don’t live near the club?”

He smirked. “If you live in a penthouse, I know you don’t live on that side of town.”

I exhaled quietly. “No, I don’t. The club is just the easiest place to find someone.”

“I’ll help tonight.” He winked. “I don’t know much of the other side of the city, so give me a big landmark to aim for.”

I thought for a moment. “Do you know the buildings lit in blue at night, on the east side of the bridge?”

He nodded. “I do.”

“I live across from there.”

“Okay.” He patted his chest. “Rest your…”

“Does that really work?” I gave him a suspicious look.

He glanced back to the dining room and smiled. “It does. Leone and I used to take girls over when we were younger.”

“I see. I won’t tell.”

Chuckling he shook his head. “Troy and Chase taught us, so it’s not a secret. Well, maybe from Victor. But I suspect he wasn’t always so proper.”

I took a deep breath and held onto the little pouch Mitz had given me. Stepping closer, I put my head on his chest and closed my eyes. At least they all smelled good. His hand rested on the back of my head and then my stomach lurched.

“Keep your eyes closed and breathe for a moment.” He murmured.

I’d learned what sudden movement did the last time, so this time I complied. I still felt woozy, but it wasn’t hitting me in waves. “I’m afraid to move.” I confessed.

He chuckled. “There’s no hurry.”

Opening my eyes, I assessed how I felt, surprised it wasn’t too bad. “I might live through this.” I said as I slowly lifted my head off his chest. “I’m still a little off, but nothing like before.”

Arius nodded. “It still hits hard when I have to pop and run in the same motion.” He shrugged. “I just got used to it.”

I looked around and realized he’d put us squarely in a darkened location, out of the glow from the streetlights. “Do you ever land in a crowd?”

He shook his head. “Not yet, but it’s bound to happen someday.” With a sweep of his hand, he motioned to the restaurant across the street. “Do you have a preference? Male or female?”

I looked over to see a group of people coming out. A couple said good night and then started walking down the street. “I usually pick female because they don’t get touchy feely.”

He grinned. “There won’t be any of that with my help.”

I was intrigued now. We started to follow the couple. “Why is that?”

“I have a gift.”

I looked at him briefly. “One like Chase’s charm, or an actual one?”

Laughing quietly, he put his hand behind me so I would walk a bit faster. “Oh, no mine is quite real.” He pulled out his phone and then walked quickly toward the couple. “Excuse me, I think we’re lost. The map says we’re in the right place, but I can’t find the address we need.”

They couple stopped and the male came toward him. “I swear the maps on phones never make sense.”

“Tell me about it.” Arius said looking at his phone. When the man came up beside him, he put his hand on his shoulder and looked at him for a moment. The man just stood there. As the woman approached them, Arius turned and put out his hand. “Hi.” She took his hand and he looked at her face briefly and then she just stood there.

Turning, he grinned at me and motioned to the shadowed awning of the next building. I gave him a puzzled look but went over to it.

When I got there, he was leading the couple toward me, with just a hand on their arms. “You have about two minutes before they’re back with us.” He said quietly.

I know my eyes were huge and I had questions, but this was the easiest choice ever.. I took the man’s arm and turned him into the shadowed corner. He even let me tilt his chin up so I could get to his neck.

Licking across my bite, I moved away and turned to see Arius grinning at me. With a wink, he walked the woman over and put her arms around the man’s neck and backed up. “Let’s go.”

We quickly crossed the street. I glanced back, but kept going. “What if they’re not a couple?”

He paused in step. “I hope they’re not brother and sister. That will mean years of counselling.” He chuckled.

I motioned to cross when we were back where we’d started. “How did you do that?”

Tucking his hands in his pockets, he walked beside me. “I can suggest things to people.” He shrugged. “Most people.”

I paused and looked up at him. “I would have loved that gift about seventy years ago. It’s been a constant struggle to find ways…”

“It’s not always a good thing.” He grinned, “Okay it was fun as hell when my brothers and I were younger.” He frowned. “And I think I’m the reason there are no pets in the royal chambers now.”

I realized we were getting closer to where I lived, and I needed to decide if I would tell him that. “It’s much more useful than what I have been handed, trust me.” I stopped and looked down the street to the building I lived in.

He stopped and looked in the direction I was. “You can trust me, but I suppose everyone says that.”

I did want answers. I studied him for a moment, I couldn’t completely feel his emotional state, but I also didn’t pick up anything dangerous from him. “How do you feel about wine?”

“Fondly.” He smiled.

“I just had a case imported. I’d be willing to share in exchange for a few answers.” I started walking toward the entrance.

“I can’t say no to that.” He had no problem keeping up my speed as I walked, his long legs striding confidently at my side.

“Lovely.”

The security guard gave Arius an odd look, but I paid well for privacy and discretion, so not a word was uttered as we got on the lift.

“How did you land a place like this?” He walked around the sitting area that over looked the city.

Taking off my boots, I set them by the door. “I start looking for the next location as soon as I move. This place was put on reserve for me long before there was a need.”

He paused and looked out the window. “That’s a hard way to live.”

I didn’t know how to explain my life to a man that had been surrounded by an entire population that knew and accepted what they were. “I suppose to you it would be, but self-preservation required that I become well versed in vanishing.”

Arius settled on a chair I often sat in to look out at the city. It was a wonderful view.

“Is white agreeable, or would you prefer red?” I took off my jacket and placed it on the sofa. I left the blade strapped to my back. I only took it off when I was alone.

“Whichever you’re in the mood for will work for me.” He gave me an easy smile. “Haven’t had a lot of time to just relax since Marcus went rogue.”

Another question I needed to ask, what Marcus going rogue meant, exactly. “I’ll just be a moment.”

Pouring two glasses of my preferred mellow white, I took it out to him.

He was looking around casually, probably trying not to seem rude. “I have to wonder if my lost brother is doing as well as you are.” Taking a sip, he nodded. “That is nice.”

I settled on the chair across from him and realized I’d never had company here. Holding the glass between my hands, I gave him my opinion. “If he’s had three hundred years of living here, I’m sure he’s gotten good at it.”

Leaning back, Arius sat quiet for a moment. “Hopefully he’s good at the right things.”

I hadn’t thought of that. “Yes, I suppose that could be a concern.” Taking a sip, I watched him just sit there and watch me. He wasn’t very vocal, if the long silences were any indication.

“I’m just trying to figure out how you live like this.” He smirked.

“Ah, well, I realized right after the seventies society seemed to recycle. Trends, lifestyle, clothing, each cycle was the same, only a little more modern each time.” I motioned around us, “So I tried my hand at predicting what would be the next big thing in the markets.” I smiled. “After a few mishaps, I got it right.” I shrugged, it was more or less the truth.

“You got all this playing the stock markets?” He tilted his head, a look of doubt on his face.

“Oh, I don’t play. It’s not a game to me. It’s the difference between living with a measure of security that I require, or turning into a quivering basket case.”

“How so?”

I thought how best to explain it. “I don’t handle being around others well. Where your gift is something you can choose to use or not, mine allows no choices.” I took another sip and let the flavor of the wine sit on my taste buds while he considered what I’d said.

Taking a drink, he motioned to me with his glass. “I don’t have Troy’s ability to look inside a mind, so you’re going to have to give me more to go on if you want me to understand.”

I leaned forward. “He can do that?”

Arius nodded. “With most, yes.”

Sitting back again, I shrugged. “That’s intriguing, and so much cooler than the burden I bear.”

“Like Crissy, I imagine. She can’t shut hers off either.”

Sighing, I set down my drink and clasped my hands in my lap. “I’m feeling guilty now, I thought she was just a bit off-center.”

Arius chuckled. “She’s that too. Her life wasn’t easy, but she made the most of it, in her way.”

“I don’t know about that, or her visions, only that she feels about ten different emotions a second, it’s quite overwhelming.”

Placing his glass on the table, he leaned his elbows on his knees. “You’re an empath?”

“Yes.” I shrugged, “at least that’s what my research says. My label is an intuitive empath, but I’m sure they’ve never had a case like mine for their research. I’m more of an emotional sponge.”

His brows furrowed. “And you can’t shut it off?”

I shook my head. “Not completely. I’ve learned how to build a resistance to it, erect a psychological wall best describes it, but sometimes even that doesn’t work.”

Leaning back, he studied me. “I can’t even imagine having to feed and ward off an emotional onslaught at the same time.”

“The first few years of perfecting the selection was, well, let’s just say I was ill often. At that point, I soaked up every emotion anywhere near me.”

Blowing out a breath, he shook his head. “Wow, I don’t even know how you’ve managed.” He smiled. “If Lou had of tried to feed off you, I guess he would have got more than he’d bargained for.”

“How do you mean?”

“The yellow eyes mean they’re emotion feeders, for lack of a better name.”

I sat there looking at him. There was such a thing? Others that actually wanted what I was cursed with? “Really? So, your brother, Chase?”

He nodded. “Yeah and he’s turned it into a skill, he can use it against someone as much as he does for sustenance.”

I couldn’t even picture that. “That’s intimidating.”

Arius snorted. “Don’t tell him that. He already thinks he’s perfection.” Sobering, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, you had questions and I’ve been doing more asking then answering.”

I smiled. “No, that’s perfectly fine. I’m still learning about all of this—everything, that I didn’t know existed.” I blew out a slow breath. “I still can’t quite grasp the idea that my father may still be alive.”

He rubbed his temples and then held up a finger. “Pause for one moment. I need to call older brother before he gives me a migraine.”

I must have looked as puzzled as I felt because he grinned.

“My brothers and I can demand each other’s attention through our family blood bond, and right now he is calling, probably to check that you made it home safely.”

“Oh.” I motioned so he would call. The very idea they could do that was astounding, but with all I’d been finding out the past day, I wasn’t even sure if it was on the high scale of amazing or a lesser one.

Arius stood up and pulled out his phone.

I sat staring out the window, not wanting to eavesdrop, but he didn’t move out of the room either.

“She’s fine. Yes, we’re just sitting talking.” He chuckled. “No, not at the club.”

I picked up my glass and took a sip, still trying to seem like I wasn’t listening in.

“I helped her feed, and before you ask no, not some low-life from the club.” He made a sound of exasperation. “Is there a problem I’m not aware of?”

Getting up, I decided I would top off our glasses. I moved past him to the kitchen and got the bottle.

“We’re sipping wine and talking, Chase, stop sounding like I’m fifteen.”

I smirked, unable to resist as I stepped by him to refill his glass.

Walking back toward the window, he rolled his eyes at me. “I’ll be heading back shortly, I’m exhausted and you need to go do something like, oh, take care of daywalker business or something.” He hung up and tucked the phone in his pocket. “I think one of our kings needs a vacation. He’s very moody today.” Sitting down, he picked up the glass and gave me an appreciative nod.

I set the bottle on the table and sat down again. “I’m sure his responsibilities are many. I don’t quite understand this two kings and half a realm thing.”

Nodding he sat there for a moment. “I’m trying to think of the easiest way to explain it.” He took a sip and the exhaled loudly. “Alterealm, in the time of my grandfather’s and father’s rule was not a peaceful place. So, all criminals were put on one side,” he shrugged, “more or less. The real dangerous ones were imprisoned, obviously. That was during my father’s rule.” Arius rubbed his jaw and then smirked. “I’m trying to remember my history lessons.”

I smiled, never having had suffered through much schooling myself. Everything I knew had been learned through my own hard lessons, from reading to the math that helped me amass the money I lived on.

“It’s very complicated to explain all at once, it was prophesized that twins would be born into the royal family every five hundred years and from there they would rule equally…”

“Your brothers are the first pair of twins?”

He nodded. “So, the sides were split, day and night. Meaning if you’re from the daywalker side, your day time is actual day time. On the night side your day time hours are technically in the middle of the night.”

“Oh, I see. Chase griping about sleep loss makes more sense now.”

Arius laughed, “Chase always gripes about that, even when nothing disturbs his sleep.”

“So, the sides have nothing to do with whether a person is an essence feeder or emotions?”

He shook his head. “No, nothing to do with it at all. Everyone on his side aren’t bad, it’s just easier to monitor trouble during the daylight hours… so, day king and night king were born.”

I took a drink and thought about it. “It’s quite ingenious if you think about it.” A few more things came to mind. “Each of you brothers have leading rolls in the maintaining of these kingdoms?”

Nodding, he took another drink of the wine. “Yes. Victor is our justice. Basically, any decision, verdict, or punishment handed out goes through him.”

“That explains his cold and rigid demeanor.”

Arius grinned. “He’s always been stiff, that I remember, but he was two hundred and fifty when I was born, so he may have just been set in his ways by then.”

The mere fact that he mentioned age like it was nothing special, reminded me that I wasn’t alone in the ageless plight.

“Quinton is now one of the huntress’s captains, so he’s chasing down people on both sides of the realm, and on this side as well.”

“Daxx is the huntress, yes?” I took a sip, finding this all very intriguing.

He nodded. “Yeah. She was a bounty hunter on this side, so she still comes back to track down people when needed.” He smirked. “She just likes kicking ass, so she’ll use any excuse to do it.”

“Yes, I caught that in something she said already.”

He took a drink and savored it for a moment. “Michael is like our lead detective, he’s the law that works closest with Victor.”

I chuckled. “I thought he looked like a cop.” I grimaced. “I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit eluding them…” I motioned with my glass, “before I figured out how to feed unnoticed, that is, not because I’m a criminal.”

“He does look like a cop, you’re right.” Grinning, he took a deep breath. “Leone is our enforcer, so he tracks down anyone breaking actual laws. Rafael is like the leader of the guards, but works with Leone and Michael a lot.”

“And you? What is your official purpose?”

He smirked. “I am usually in charge of the cells, our prison, but I help whichever brother is in need.” He shrugged. “Our prisoners can’t escape, so it’s a boring gig.” Picking up the glass, he winked. “And I like fighting as much as my brothers, so I tend to go where the action is.”

“I gathered fighting was a favorite activity by the sheer number of weapons you all carry.”

Arius laughed, “Says the woman with a blade strapped to her back.”

I shook my head. “Oh, I am not fond of fighting, but self-defence is required from time to time, so I got good at it.” I glanced around the room. “I haven’t always had a secure building to live in, so anytime I was able to study with masters of the combat arts, I have.”

Tilting his head, he studied me for a moment. “That sounds intriguing.” Then his brows furrowed. “How are you able to fight, wouldn’t there be a backlash of pain, from your opponent’s feelings?”

Blowing out a breath, I nodded. “Yes. It didn’t take many skirmishes in my life to realize I couldn’t stick around afterward.”

“No doubt.” He shrugged. “But it’s good you can take care of yourself. We had to work with Crissy about defensive moves.” He shook his head. “Just so we all aren’t half out of our minds with worry when she is out of sight.”

“I suppose you have all lived long enough to perfect your combat skills.”

He grinned like an eager child. “Next time you’re on my side, I’ll show you the royal family’s practice room. Maybe you can show me what you’ve learned.”

I inclined my head and grinned. “Perhaps.”

His phone chirped, so he pulled it out and checked it. “I’m afraid I need to go. I’m needed at the cells.” He sighed loudly. “I don’t know if I helped with your questions or not.” He stood up.

I nodded. “I’m understanding more and more.” I got to my feet. “It’s going to take me some time to absorb all of it.”

He offered me a sincere smile. “No doubt. Finding out that things you thought were absolute aren’t, actually can be a bit of a shock.”

I flipped my hair back from my face. “Considering that a few days ago I thought I was a spawn of Satan and my father deserted me… yes, there’s some adjustments to make with all of this.”

He chuckled. “You are definitely not satanic, there’s too much good in you.” He winked. “Call me tomorrow, after it’s dark here is then my day, if you have any questions.” He shrugged. “I’ll help where I can.”

“Thank you. I do appreciate you taking the time.”

“Anytime.” He gave me a regal bow and then was gone.

I had been about to say I didn’t have his number then he vanished. I stood there looking at where he had been standing. I wasn’t sure if I was in a nightmare or a dream, or even if I wanted to wake up and find out at this point. Seeing the rest of the wine in the bottle, I decided my best action would be to finish it and go to bed.