Keystone (Crossbreed #1)(49)
“How much did all this cost him?” I asked.
She found shelter beneath a tree and approached an old statue. “This estate has been in his family for over three hundred years—long before humans colonized this area. Viktor comes from a line of wolves, so his pack once lived here.”
I wondered if Blue was also a wolf. She didn’t seem to have the same mannerisms I’d seen in Shifter wolves. “Where are they now?”
She circled the statue while I sat on the bench, the air chilly against my legs. “Who knows? People move on. Shifters wage private wars and slaughter families for land. Viktor doesn’t talk about it, so I haven’t asked. Sometimes it’s better to let a scab heal than to keep picking at it.”
“That would be a pretty tragic story. This house could easily fit a hundred.”
“You have unusual eyes,” she said absently, not looking directly at them.
“Kids teased me with all kinds of names, but eventually I hit high school and liked standing out. People thought they were cool. Most adults don’t say anything, but they stare. I never wanted to hide them behind sunglasses until I became a Mage. It was like reliving elementary school all over again. I learned how to avert my eyes or show someone my profile so they don’t notice them right away. I didn’t realize how prejudiced immortals could be over something so superficial. It’s not like I have a nose growing on my forehead.”
“Some of the ancients are superstitious, but most are looking for anything that makes you inferior to them.” Blue looked up thoughtfully. “My tribe believes that people born with mismatched eyes were meant to be someone else—that their body was given one soul, which was quickly replaced with another.”
“So I wasn’t supposed to be here? That’s uplifting.”
“It means you were chosen for a reason—to serve the fates. Anyhow, that’s just what my tribe believed. Everyone has a different story.”
Blue draped herself over the back of the kneeling statue—another winged man, only this one had his face in his hand, as if grieving. “Isn’t he handsome?” She pressed the side of her face against the back of his head, her arms spread out as if she were embracing him from behind. “I think this is my favorite thing about this place.”
“He looks broken.”
Blue slowly stood up. “Maybe that’s why I like him the most.” She circled around it and sat to my right. “Is it true what Viktor says, that you’re a killer?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that. While it was true, I was finally coming to terms with how other people saw me because of it. “He speaks highly of me.”
She turned to face me, bending her left knee. “Do you think the blade on my axe has never been stained?”
When she lifted her shirt on the right side, I noticed a short handle and a black sheath against her belt.
Blue covered it up and sat back, crossing her legs and putting her arms over the back of the bench. “You either carry the guilt for your sins or you don’t. I do whatever I can to avoid bloodshed, but I still know how to protect myself. Just be sure you’re not doing it for pleasure, or you’ve crossed a line you might never return from.”
This conversation was treading into uncomfortable territory, so I quickly stood up and folded my arms. “Does your family know where you are?”
She uncrossed her legs and looked skyward. “If any of us had family, would we really be here?”
“Has anyone ever left Keystone?”
“We’re the originals,” she said. “I suppose someday, if we live that long, we’ll eventually want to leave. I can’t imagine that far off—this is the only future I see when I dream at night.”
“Why?”
She stood up and reached for a low branch. “For the same reason you’re still here. Viktor has a way of channeling our talents into something that’s helping people. Every criminal we take down is saving future lives.” Blue’s feet lifted off the ground as she swung. She laughed, looking up. “This old tree puts up with me, but one day he’s going to drop his limb on my head for tugging on him so much.”
“It might if you put enough weight on it.”
She set her feet on the ground. “Our cultures are so different. My tribe believes everything has an awareness of its surroundings. Has Niko told you that he can see most living things because of the energy?”
“Yeah, so?”
We strolled toward the veranda.
“Energy is a real thing. Plants don’t think the way we do because they obviously don’t have a brain, but on some level, they’re aware of positive and negative energy. They react to it. People who talk to their plants aren’t crazy. Some believe the extreme weather in this city is driven by all the Breed energy.”
“So if we all start singing happy songs, the sun will come out?”
She laughed and touched my shoulder. “You first. My voice could shatter windows. Do you want to hang out with me in the rock-climbing room?”
“Sure.”
Blue closed the doors behind us. “It’s one of my favorite things to do.”
Blue had a smooth, matter-of-fact way of speaking. I could sense the wisdom she must have acquired from her tribe, but she seemed to blend really well with the modern world considering she was a transplant. From what I knew, Shifter tribes were steeped in tradition and culture, often separating themselves from other Breeds. Where was her tribe now, and why wasn’t she with them?