“If it’s there, you’ll know it when you see it,” he said.
Well, that wasn’t cryptic or anything. Typical vampire.
I shrugged. If that was how he wanted it, I wasn’t going to argue. I took a deep breath, centering myself.
I glanced away from Liam, turning my attention to the rest of the world. Sometimes, looking at a powerful source of magic right away disoriented me. It was kind of like looking right at the sun, blinding, with odd halo effects afterward.I’d found it was easier to start small and ease into looking at something powerful.
It was hard to describe to others exactly how I used the othersight.I’d tried before with Liam, once we’d figured out the mechanism. It wasn’t like a switch in my head that could be flicked on and off. It was more like I relaxed a muscle that I kept constantly flexed, allowing the magic in the world to filter into my senses.
I blinked as I looked around. The world was the same yet different. Everything was a touch out of focus, hazy and indistinct.
Certain cultures in the world believed all things contained a spirit or essence. Whether animate or inanimate, they had a spark, oftentimes so small as to be barely present. Looking at the world through my left eye, I could see why they might believe that.
Most items I viewed had a soft glow. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a spirit, but there was a speck of something. A presence, even if I got the sense the essence wasn’t entirely sentient.
An antique lamp in the corner was rimmed by such a glow, its light warm and comforting, as if the lamp sensed its purpose and was happy to fulfill it. The painting above the mantel displayed an essence considerably stronger than the lamp’s, and much darker, as if the painter had been in turmoil when he’d created the piece, or perhaps the painting had witnessed some horrible event that had steeped it in darkness.
Both thoughts might have been fanciful, but without someone available who understood this power and could explain it to me, I was left with instinct.
I turned to Liam, keeping my gaze to the right of him. I stared at a speck of space, not seeing it, as I let my peripheral vision get a sense of him. Slowly, I looked at him full on.
His power clung to him like finely honed armor. He shone brightly, a well of strength at his core surprising in its depth and intensity. He’d gotten considerably stronger since the last timeI’d done this. Maybe not quite as strong as Thomas who was nearly blindingly bright, but close. This power was more controlled, answering eagerly to his call. A sleek jungle cat waiting to pounce, more interested in slipping in unseen and unchallenged rather than barging in like a battering ram.
As I scanned him, I got the briefest sense of wintry ice and biting wind. It should have stung my senses, repelled me. Instead it brushed along them with an almost physical sensation as it purred in contentment.
To my eye, he looked the same as always, only there was more of it. The power flickered around him, a small strand reaching out to where his mark tingled on my forearm, not quite touching before it dissolved.
I moved around him to make sure, scanning him twice in caseI’d missed something the first time.
Nothing. No tell-tale signs of other magic, no shadows lurking within. There was zero indication as to why he’d felt the need for my presence.
“I don’t know what you thoughtI’d find but you look much the same as always,” I told him.
His shoulders relaxed and I thought I saw a faint flicker of relief, though his expression remained grave.
“I’ll need you to perform the same task with Eric,” he ordered.
I gave him a dour look but didn’t argue, waving my hand to indicate my consent. Might as well. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to be tonight.
Liam fell silent, his focus turning inward. Eric appeared in the entry to the room. He moved forward on quiet feet, his attention going to where Liam waited, hands clasped behind his back.
Liam looked at me with expectation, eyebrows raised, arrogance stamped on his face.
I didn’t bother arguing before focusing on Eric. I didn’t know the quiet enforcer’s power signature the way I did Liam’s, so I couldn’t say for sure, but to my inexperienced eye it looked no different thanI’d expect.
Where Liam’s power felt like the coldest of nights during the deepest parts of winter, Eric’s was an electric blanket that crackled and rumbled, the distinct opposite of the way he presented himself to the world.
It made me wonder just what went on behind the quiet, imperturbable facade, and if beneath the surface there was a volcano of feeling and emotions just bubbling away.
I shook my head at Liam. If there was something there, I couldn’t see it.
Liam lifted his chin at Eric, dismissing him without a word spoken. Eric spun and walked out of the room without a backwards glance or even a question to ask why he’d been called in the first place.
I couldn’t help but be impressed. Most individuals wouldn’t have been able to suppress their curiosity or annoyance at being summoned and then dismissed without a word. Either Eric knew about my abilities despite Liam’s assurance to the contrary, or he trusted Liam on such a profound level that something like this didn’t bother him.
Liam’s expression grew contemplative as he considered whatI’d told him.
I waited, tapping my finger on my thigh. Curiosity burned inside me as I wondered what exactly he thoughtI’d find. I held my questions back.
