Page 13 of Saving Destiny

I understand his frustration, but I can’t give him what he wants, even though I want the same thing. We have to consider my mentor’s and Bren’s warnings. “Does the library have any books on the combination of magic and advanced electronics?” I ask the goblin still hovering over my shoulder. I could ask Sage through our mental link, but I’d have to repeat everything she says aloud. This way is the most efficient.

Gilly contemplates my question as she flaps her wings. Her alien features portray distorted mimics of human expressions that might be disturbing if I hadn’t grown accustomed to them already. “Advanced electronics are a relatively recent event in human history,” she replies thoughtfully. “The library possesses few books on the subject, and I’m uncertain whether they’re useful or up-to-date. Considering that supernaturals evolved alongside the magicless, it makes perfect sense that they’d develop ways to utilize the most recent technology.”

My brow furrows, but the curious cat within me blinks awake with excitement. The goblin has just implied that she doesn’t consider herself a supernatural. Or does she mean human? Even the Fae are considered supes despite their otherworldliness and their dependence on the ether. It’s difficult to stay on topic when this tangent is more interesting.

“What do you mean when you say supernaturals evolved alongside magicless humans?” I think I know the answer to this, but I want her to confirm my suspicions.

Instead of giving me the answers, Gilly looks at me slyly. “Now that you’ve shifted, you can access all the knowledge you desire in a more efficient way than reading. Your brain possesses a repository that matches the library’s catalog. If you concentrate, you can find all the information you need … or want. This is the reason sphinxes are special and perfectly suited to be librarians.”

I gape at her. Did I understand that correctly? Garrett sounds just as surprised as I feel when he speaks. “Are you saying that Zosia’s brain has a copy of every book in this entire building?” His eyes are wide and his jaw is half-open.

I might be offended if I didn’t share the shifter's disbelief. I suppose I don’t act like someone who can instantly access an infinite well of knowledge. However, having knowledge isn’t the same as using it.

“In a sense,” Gilly replies casually, as if we're talking about something as common as speaking.

I contemplate the revelation as I extract the sliver from Avery’s arm. It slides out easily, and I watch with wonder as his skin knits back together. When I lift the antiseptic wipe, his pale, creamy skin appears as unblemished as before. Besides the tear in his shirt, there’s no sign that he was ever injured.

“I heal quickly,” Avery murmurs. He can probably see the bewilderment in my aura if my understanding of his strange sight is correct.

“I guess so,” I mutter without bothering to disguise the envy in my tone. If I healed as quickly as him, I wouldn’t be crippled for life.

Although I no longer have a reason to retain it, I don’t immediately release Avery’s arm. His soft, warm skin comforts me. When I study his face to see if this bothers him, his silvery eyes shift away as if he’s nervous. He’s rarely unsettled, and I doubt his mood is attributed to his rapid healing abilities.

“Is there something wrong?” I immediately regret asking as my mind imagines everything that could possibly be wrong. Hadn't I just listed them in my mind earlier? I wait nervously while Avery considers how to respond, but half of my attention remains on Kodi. What if it has to do with my best friend. What if we didn't save him after all?

Chapter 8

Zosia

The vampire's lips purse as he considers how to answer. Several fine wisps of loose hair float around his face and shoulders as if they’re weightless. They’re the color of snow under moonlight – white and silver. I’ve never seen such beautiful hair, and it definitely outshines the dull brownish-red hair on my head.

“I heard Walthers talking to himself after I left, and I’m uncertain whether he intended me to hear his words or not.” Avery frowns. “I believe the magic has corrupted his wits."

Avery’s assessment is likely correct, but I’m still curious to know what the insane jerk said. Garrett takes a step closer and Bren appears to perk up. He seems lucid despite a drawn, weary expression.

“Walthers said that he created us; he specifically said all of us, in fact. Then he said that he could unmake us, but the boast didn’t seem as confident as his primary claim. I might have dismissed it as the ramblings of a troubled mind, but the particulars of our situation beg an explanation. Garrett’s beast is a griffin. Not only are they extremely rare, but I've never heard of one being sired by a wolf. We have spoken before about the improbabilities surrounding my existence. Although sphinxes are also unique, I don’t believe he meant to include you, Zosia.” Avery’s words trail into silence, but I don’t need to hear his conclusions to suspect the direction of his thoughts.

I glance quickly toward the looming shifter as I recount one of the more disturbing memories I'd uncovered. “When I remembered … um ... in one of my memories, Addington said he wanted his eldest son to impregnate me. I was only twelve when they mentioned breeding me like a cow or a horse.” My spine stiffens with the insult, and my cheeks heat when I notice Garrett’s direct stare. “They wouldn't have waited until I was older. I also remember Addington saying that a fetus is composed of raw magic.” My stomach clenches with anger and revulsion. Kodi sacrificed his life to protect me from the violation, and I’ll always be grateful to him.

Inhaling deeply, I continue. “The memory corroborates Walthers’ words. What did they do with the magical power or essence that they stole from the supernaturals? Could they implant it inside a person? What about inside an egg or an embryo?”

Silence reigns as we consider the horrifying possibility. When Garrett speaks, his tone and expression are grim. “Addington encouraged me to spread mywild oatsthe minute I reached puberty.” His fingers form air quotes around the wordswild oats, and I barely resist rolling my eyes.

Although I push them away, a few dark thoughts creep past my walls. Had the hormone-driven adolescent been thrilled with the plan? Did his father bring him women or just encourage him to date? While I sympathize with the boy he used to be, a strange sensation accompanies the more innocent emotion. It resembles jealousy, but I have no right to feel jealous of women in his past.

“I eavesdropped on him discussing a grand plan with one of his colleagues. I must have been about seventeen, which was eight years ago," Garrett continues. His gaze is unfocused, as if he’s trying to recall memories. “Addington was worried that I was too soft. He didn’t think I would comply easily and mentioned using Bren to encourage me. While I was still stewing about that, something happened. We never knew what it was, but it made him angrier than we’d ever seen him, which is saying something.” The shifter's dark brown eyes study my face. “How old are you now? How old were you when you escaped?”

“I just turned nineteen, although my actual birthday is uncertain. It’s been about seven and a half years since I escaped, so I must have been about twelve? Maybe thirteen? Either way, the timeline matches. Their intentions are what finally spurred Kodi to free me; he’d overheard their plans and told me about them. I’d begged him to kill me instead of allowing it.” I frown as I remember how some of my memories had returned as perfect images.

How did I recall events that occurred while I was unconscious? My mind shouldn’t have been able to record those moments, let alone release them to me as if I were an observer and not a participant. When I’d dived into my subconscious, I'd been overwhelmed by the recollections and didn't have the presence of mind to question it. I do now. It was almost like I’d traveled back in time or watched a home movie, albeit a sick and twisted one, instead of accessing memories.

“Is it possible that Walthers, Addington, and their allies tampered with our mothers’ pregnancies or our births?” Avery asks, and the keen inquiry rouses me from my confusion. “My mother died in childbirth, although I’ve been told that no woman has ever survived carrying a vampire babe to term. It’s impossible to know for certain because of the scarcity of data; even those few instances are kept as secretive as possible.” Avery squeezes my hands before releasing me and rising to his feet. I’ve never seen him agitated, but I remind myself that I just met him.

“The woman who raised me, a former maid of my mother’s, told me the peculiar circumstances that forged me. My mother was a shifter with Fae blood.” He grins ruefully, but his gaze isn’t directed at any of us in particular. Can he sense our collective shock? Shifters can’t bear Fae blood, and the opposite is true as well; the two war within the supernatural and eventually destroy the body.

“It’s quite all right if you don’t believe me because I didn’t believe it either,” he continues. “My mother’s Fae blood was supposedly dormant, but she still traveled frequently into the ether. She needed it to sustain her, and I do not. As you can probably guess, neither the shifter community nor the Fae-kind accepted her mixed blood. She was bitten by a vampire while she was pregnant. That vampire is not the same one who impregnated her, by the way. No one knows my father’s identity or no one would tell me. Every time I inquired about him, my vampire nanny buttoned up her lips as if affected by a spell. I don’t know if she’d been enchanted or if she was simply unwilling to speak of it.

"Nevertheless, I was born just before my mother succumbed to the vampire’s attempt to turn her. Either my birth prevented the turn from succeeding or the labor was more violent than my nanny admitted. The vampire who tried to turn my mother allowed the woman to raise me. He is a master vampire and one of the highest-ranking sires in the world. I wasn’t born blind, and I believe he had great hopes for me. I started losing my sight just before he intended to train me. Once my sight was entirely gone, he decided my destiny was as a servant.”

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