Under Her Skin
Page 22

"Yes?"
"You have to be quiet now. They're here."
He stared at her, stunned. Grace shouldered her bag and walked on.
They reached the end of the hallway. The man was gone, but Grace didn't worry about it. She headed to the twin slope of escalators. Behind her Gerald mumbled something to himself. They took the escalator down to the baggage claim.
"Grace!" The shot laced her ears. She wheeled about and saw her mother on the escalator rising in the opposite direction. Her mother stared at her, a horrified expression stamped on her face.
"Mom!"
"Grace! What are you doing here?"
Mother turned around and clutched the escalator handrail, trying to head down, but two people in grey blocked her. She pushed against them. "Let me through! Gerald, you old fool, what have you done? I've lived my life, she hasn't! She can't do this. Damn it, let me through!"
The escalators dragged them in opposite directions. Grace spun around to run up the moving steps and saw the man with green eyes blocking her way. He towered behind her uncle, immovable like a mountain. Green eyes greeted her again. Power coursed through them and vanished, a sword shown and thrust back into its scabbard. Uncle Gerald turned, saw him, and went white as a sheet.
They reached the bottom. Three people in grey waited for them, one woman and two men. Grace stepped onto the floor, lightheaded as if in a dream.
"I've done... I've done the best I could..." Gerald muttered. "The best. I—"
"You've done wonderfully," the woman said. "Nikita will escort you back to your plane."
One of the men stepped up and held out his hand, indicating the escalator heading up. "Please."
The green-eyed man stepped past them. His gaze paused on her face. An unspoken command to follow. Grace clenched her teeth. They both knew she would obey, and they both realized she hated it.
He strode unhurriedly toward the glass doors. Grace matched her stride to his. She supposed she should have bowed and kept her mouth shut until she was spoken to, but she felt too hollow to care. "You robbed me of what might be my last moment with my mother," Grace said softly.
"It couldn't be helped," he answered, his voice quiet and deep.
They stepped into sunshine in unison. A black vehicle waited for them, sleek and stylish. The trunk clicked open. Grace deposited her backpack into it. The man held the rear door open for her. Grace took her seat on the leather.
The man slid next to her, filling the vehicle with his presence. She felt the warmth of his body and the almost imperceptible brush of his magic. That light touch betrayed him. She glimpsed power slumbering inside him, like an enormous bear ready to be roused and enraged in an instant. It sent shivers down her back, and it took all of her will to not wrench the car door open and run for her life. "You're him."
He inclined his head. "Yes."
The car pulled away from the curb, carrying them off. Grace looked out of the window. She had made her choice. She was a servant of Clan Dreoch and there was no turning back.
* * *
The scenery rolled by, scrawny shrubs and flat land, its sparseness mirroring her bleak mood. Grace closed her eyes. A whisper of magic tugged on her. It was polite touch, an equivalent to a bow. She glanced at him. Careful green eyes studied her. "What's your name?" he asked.
"Grace."
"It's a lovely name. You may call me Nassar."
Or Master, she thought and bit the words before they had a chance to escape.
"How much do you know?" he asked.
"I know that my family owes your family a debt. One of you can call on one of us at any time and we must obey. If we break our oath, you'll murder all of us." She wished she had been told about it sooner, not that it would make any difference at the end.
His magic brushed her again and she edged away from it.
"What else?" Nassar asked.
Say as little as possible. "I know what you are."
"What am I?"
"A revenant."
"And what would that be?"
She looked him in the eye. "A man who died and robbed another of his body so he can continue to live." The cursed revenant, Gerald had called him. A body snatcher. An abomination. Monstrously powerful, clouded in vile magic, a beast more than a man.
Nassar showed no reaction, but a small ripple in his magic sent her further away from him. She bumped into the door.
"Any further and you'll fall out of the car," he said.
"Your magic... It's touching me."
"If all goes as planned, you and I will have to spend the next few days in close proximity. I need you to become accustomed to my power. Our survival will depend on it"
She sensed his magic halt a few inches from her, waiting tentatively. She was a servant; he could force her. At least he permitted her an illusion of free will. Grace swallowed and moved within its reach. His magic brushed her. She winced, expecting his power to mug her, but it simply touched her gently, as if her magic and his held hands.
"I won't hurt you," he said. "I know how people in your family see me. Body thief, aberration, murderer. The Cursed One. What I'm called doesn't concern me. Neither I nor my family will torture, rape, or degrade you in any way. I simply have a specific task I need completed. I need you to want to succeed with me. What would make you want to help me?"
"Freedom," she said. "Let my family go, and I'll do whatever you ask."