Visci (Soul Cavern Series Book 2) Read online

  By the time she got to the house, she wasn’t sure who she could trust or what she should believe.

  She checked her phone as she shrugged off her coat and tossed it on the coat rack in the foyer. One message.

  Jorge: Thanks for talking with us today. It was great meeting you! :)

  She puffed out a breath and shoved the phone into her back pocket.

  “Hey, honey,” her mom said when Jenny came into the kitchen. She’d set up at one end of the table with her laptop open. “I wasn’t sure when you’d be home, so I ate. But there’s a plate in the microwave for you.”

  Jenny approached, and her mom looked up at her.

  “Where were you last night?” Jenny asked.

  “I told you. I went to see Claude.”

  “And magically became the leader of Atlanta?” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. She wasn’t sure whether she even wanted to.

  The surprise on her mom’s face told her everything. Jenny shook her head and turned away.

  “Hold on.” The chair scratched against the floor as her mom stood.

  Jenny didn’t stop.

  “Jennifer Aileen.”

  The mom voice.

  Jenny’s step faltered, mainly out of habit, and so she paused. Was she obligated to turn around?

  “I did go to meet Claude. And there happened to be a Council meeting going on when I arrived.”

  Now Jenny turned.

  “So, yes. I guess I did ‘magically’ become the leader of Atlanta.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I needed time to wrap my head around it. I had planned on telling you tonight.” Her forehead furrowed as she frowned. “Jesus, Jen, I get to have time to figure things out too.”

  Jenny considered that. Maybe her mom was going to tell her, and Jenny hadn’t given her a chance. A part of her wanted to believe that. “I guess.”

  Her mom took an audible breath and said, “I know that me keeping you from Visci society may not have been the right decision. But the last thing I want is for you to get embroiled in that mess. It doesn’t make for a happy life.”

  “You don’t get to choose that for me, though.”

  “I did when you were growing up. It’s my job.” Her mom’s stony expression softened. “But you’re right. I don’t get to choose that for you now. I’m sorry.”

  Jenny stared at her, only blinking. Her mom wasn’t big on apologies. As in, she never apologized.

  Her mom tilted her head. “How did you even hear about the Council meeting?”

  Jenny weighed whether she wanted to share her experience with Jorge and Helen. Even though her mom hadn’t told her about the new “job” right away, that didn’t mean she’d actively been keeping it from Jenny. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours yet. Was Jenny being unreasonable? Maybe.

  “A couple people—Visci—approached to me outside the hospital.”

  As if in slow motion, her mom lowered into her kitchen chair and closed the laptop. Jenny sat in the chair beside her.

  “Who?” her mom asked.

  “A guy named Jorge and a woman. Helen.”

  Her mom shook her head. “I haven’t heard of them.”

  “They seemed young.”

  A smile. “We all seem young.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “They just came up to you and told you about the Council meeting?”

  “No…” Jenny frowned. “Hybrids are disappearing.”

  Her mom’s eyes widened a tiny bit. “What?”

  Over the next ten minutes, Jenny explained what Jorge and Helen had told her about hybrids being taken and then showing up dead.

  Her mom glanced at the ceiling in thought and looked back at Jenny. “There is a lot of animosity brewing right now, from what I’ve been told.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have stayed away so long.”

  “They don’t think it’s about that. They think it’s something else.”

  “Why?”

  “Because there’s no obvious cause of death. Apparently, that’s a big deal.”

  She’d never seen her mom chew her lower lip before, but now she was.

  “It is a big deal,” she said. “Because we heal so quickly, you can’t poison us. Even being shot won’t kill us unless it’s directly in the head. Even then, we might not die, but we’ll be useless mentally. So all the ways we can die tend to be violent and are quite clear after death.”

  “Can you find out anything about it?” Jenny asked. “The hybrids?”

  “I’ll try.” She said nothing for a long time. “It might take some time. I’m acclimating right now. Older Visci know me, or at least know of me. Younger Visci, not so much. So I’m treading with care right now.”

  Jenny remembered Jorge’s fangirl reaction when talking about her mom. “Why didn’t you tell me that you left when you were supposed to take over for Grandad? And that the whole reason the royals stopped ruling was because you stepped down?”

  Her mom’s eyes widened. “Did they tell you that?”

  She nodded. Jenny hoped that there was a good reason for her mom leaving that part out of the story. Her ass cheek vibrated. She ignored it.

  “Wow. They’ve done their homework.” She gave a short bark of laughter.

  “So it’s true?”

  “Strictly speaking, yes. But it isn’t as simple as that. There were things going on beyond me and our family. My stepping down was only a small piece of what happened.”

  “Tell me,” she said.

  Her mom shook her head. “It’s very long and complicated. I don’t want to get into it right now. It’s true that I didn’t want to step into my father’s shoes. But I would have, if I’d had to. It worked out that I didn’t have to.”

  Jenny let that settle in for a moment. She still wanted details. But she supposed they could wait. Other things seemed more important. “I want to go with you.”

  “Go with me where?”

  “To wherever you go. Where the Visci are.”

  “No,” her mom said. “Until I can get a handle on the politics and power dynamics, I don’t want you there.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. The compound is a dangerous place, especially at the moment, with everything in flux. If you really want to get involved with the Visci society, I can’t stop you. You’re a grown woman. But you have a lot to learn first.” She opened her laptop, and Jenny knew the conversation was all but over. “I’ll teach you, but I have to understand what’s happening first. And for that, I can’t have you around.”

  She wrenched her phone from her pocket with a loud grumble as she walked away.

  Jorge: Would you want to grab dinner or something sometime?

  Jenny stared at the screen as she climbed the stairs to her room.

  How much more complicated was this going to get?

  The phone rang in her hand as she entered her room.

  Mecca.

  “Hey,” she said as she closed her door.

  “The doctor came by. She’s going to release me tomorrow!” The excitement in her voice made Jenny grin.

  “That’s great!”

  “Want to grab dinner or something Saturday?”

  “That’s only a few days away. Are you sure you’ll feel up to going out?”

  Mecca made a snorting sound. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. She is astounded at my healing ability.”

  Jenny still wasn’t sure. “How about I come get you and we spend the night at my house?”

  “Sure. That would be fun. We haven’t had a sleepover in ages.”

  “Awesome. I’ll pick you up at your dad’s?”

  “No. The dorm is fine.” Her voice sounded frosty, cold.

  “Okay. I’ll text you Saturday, and we’ll figure it out.”

  “Cool. By the way,” she said, “I’m really glad you’re home. I missed you.”

  “I missed you too.”

  Jenny listened as the guard who’d handed her the Visito
r Pass gave her directions on how to get to the Medical Examiners’ offices. Clipping the pass to her shirt, she thanked him and headed in the direction he’d indicated.

  When Helen had called the day after Jenny had confronted her mom about being the Visci leader of Atlanta, she’d been wary of what the older woman had wanted. But instead of drilling for information, Helen had asked if Jenny wanted to meet to talk. When Helen said she’d answer Jenny’s questions about the Visci, that was all she’d needed.

  Jenny took the turns the guard had told her and found herself at a door the unappealing color of institutional puke.

  Helen Parkes.

  Jenny wasn’t sure she’d known Helen’s last name until now.

  She knocked, and the musical voice from the other side told her to come on in.

  The office was smaller than she’d expected; it reminded her of a college professor’s office. Not a tenured professor, but the associate professor’s digs. Smallish, with a couple of cheap bookshelves, three metal filing cabinets, and a matching grey desk.

  Helen stood out brightly against the sad, institutional background with her cheery green and white dress. The matching headscarf let her scalp peek out, showing the origins of her thickly braided hair. The remaining long strands cascaded out the back.

  As soon as Jenny entered, Helen came from behind her desk, that infectious smile gracing her lips. “Jenny! I’m so glad you came,” she said, the accent thick today. She captured Jenny’s right hand and squeezed it with both of hers.

  “Thanks for inviting me.” The pleasantry came automatically, but she found herself matching Helen’s smile without realizing it at first.

  Helen motioned toward one of the two barrel chairs that looked less retro and more like they had been in this office since the 60s. “Thanks for letting me change the plans at the last minute. I am sorry we’re not checking out that new Japanese place though. I definitely want to do that.” When Jenny settled into one chair, Helen dropped into the other. “I sent my assistant out to the food trucks around the corner for some burgers. Does that work for you?”

  Jenny nodded and fidgeted with the zipper on her purse. “Thanks.”

  Helen came dangerously close to frowning. It looked strange on her face. “There was an apartment fire overnight, so things have been very busy here today.” She shook her head. “Enough of that. How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay.”

  “We dropped some crazy stuff on you the other day.”

  Jenny snorted, and Helen laughed.

  “Yeah,” Jenny said.

  “I know. We wouldn’t have come to you if it weren’t a matter of life or death.”

  That someone would come to her in such a dire situation still blew Jenny’s mind. “It’s not really about me though, is it?”

  Helen didn’t break eye contact with her as she lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “It’s about all of us. You’re no less valuable than me or Jorge or anyone else.”

  “Well, except my mom.”

  “Certainly, your mother may be able to do more things directly. That doesn’t make her more valuable as a person. It only makes her situation more useful. But it’s not a competition, either way. And I didn’t invite you out here to talk about your mom.” She tilted her head to the side and gave her a wink. “Unless you want to talk about your mom.”

  Jenny had no idea whether or not she did.

  “I thought we could get to know each other and maybe I could answer questions for you about the culture, since you weren’t raised in it. You can ask me whatever you’d like.”

  “Why would you want to help me like that?”

  “I’m sure that your mother wanted to protect you—Lord knows that our kind can be…well, sometimes terrible, to be honest—but I still think it’s a shame you’re not familiar with anything about us, about your people and culture. So, here I am.” She spread her hands. “I’ll admit too, that I’m curious to hear how it was to be raised outside the Visci influence. It seems like it would be freeing.”

  “I don’t think I would know the difference.”

  Helen gave a light laugh. “Well, I suppose that’s true.”

  A soft knock came on the door, and an African American man, around Jenny’s age, with a short fade cut and hazel eyes poked his head in. “Got your burgers, Doc.” He stepped into the room far enough to hand a medium-size paper bag to her. The scent of charbroiled burgers came to her and woke her stomach. With his other hand, the young man offered two cans of Coke. “No root beer. Sorry.” He gave a nod and a grin to Jenny as he held out one can.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking it.

  “No prob.” He dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a couple bills and some coins. He held them out to Helen, who was unpacking the bag.

  “These smell great, Jeremy. Thanks for running over there and getting it.” She noticed the money and shook her head. “Keep it.”

  “You sure?”

  “I am.”

  “Thanks.” He gave her a broad, pearly smile and pocketed the cash before stepping out and closing the door behind him.

  Helen handed her a paper-wrapped burger and looked into the bag. “Looks like the fries are family style. They fell out all over the bottom of the bag.”

  “It’s fine,” Jenny said, unwrapping the thick burger, grease covering the tips of her fingers. She licked it off, tasting the grill. Her stomach growled, and her hand pressed on her belly instinctively. She flushed.

  Helen laughed. “Eat, then.”

  Jenny hadn’t realized how hungry she was. The burger was juicy and good.

  “I came here from Jamaica for medical school. Emory. I’ve been here ever since.” She leaned forward, almost conspiratorially. “I thought you might want to hear more about me, since I know a bit about you.”

  Jenny wiped her mouth with her napkin as she finished chewing. “Both of your parents are Visci?”

  Helen nodded and finished unwrapping her own burger. “Yes. I’m an only child, as are most full bloods. Most Visci couples aren’t even lucky enough to have one child together. A family with two full-blood children is rare.”

  “What was it like growing up?”

  “Well, Jamaica is much different as a community than Atlanta. There are only a couple handfuls of Visci in both of the major cities and a few more handfuls scattered among the other island towns. Mostly we lived our lives like everyone else.”

  “What about the royals? Or the Councils?”

  “Technically, Jamaica falls under the Council of the Central Americas, but I wouldn’t say we’re particularly active in it. We have a representative. I’m not sure who it is now, actually. But Jamaican Visci tend not to get involved in the politics of other places.” She grabbed a fry from the bag and grinned. “I suppose that’s why I’m not very good at all of this cloak and dagger here.”

  “Well, you’re better than I am, I’d guess.”

  Helen only shrugged.

  “So you did all the regular stuff like going to school, prom, working fast food?”

  “Yes. Like you, I expect.”

  “Is that normal for Visci?”

  She shrugged again. “I think so. Jorge did the same. I think in the past, growing up in a Visci household might have been different. What we would call home-schooling, not letting kids interact with humans. But I don’t think that’s really possible anymore. Not in the information age. So I expect that most of us came up this way. Probably more politics for some, like your mom.”

  Jenny ate the last two bites of her burger in silence and wiped her fingers on her greasy napkin. It would probably put five pounds on her hips, but man, it tasted good.

  “You did the prom, working fast food?” Helen waved a French fry at her.

  “Yep. The idea that I wasn’t human—I mean, my mom didn’t even tell me until I was like twelve. And even though she told me I was different, she didn’t specifically tell me I was Visci. That came later, I guess.” Jenny tried to remember when,
but couldn’t pinpoint a particular time. “She said I would be faster and sometimes stronger than others and to be careful not to let people notice it.”

  Helen’s thoughtful look made Jenny wonder what was in her head. Was she judging Jenny’s mom for telling what amounted to a small white lie?

  “Did you tell anyone?”

  “No. Mom said not to. I almost told my best friend more than once, but by that time, I’d worked out that I wasn’t human.” She looked blankly at Helen. “And then how do you start that conversation? ‘Hey, let’s do our nails. By the way, I’m not human.’” Jenny rolled her eyes.

  “Yes,” Helen said, leaning back a bit in her chair. “That is not an easy conversation.”

  It occurred to Jenny that Helen had grown up similarly. She must have had more human friends than Visci friends. “You told your best friend?”

  She nodded, her shoulders stooped a little more than they had been before. “I wish I hadn’t.”

  “It went badly?” That was Jenny’s biggest fear: losing Mecca because of the truth. It was what had kept her from sharing her secret all these years.

  “More badly than I had expected. She rejected me, and that was bad. But later, she told everyone at school that I had a dirty secret, though as far as I know, she never said what it was. But the rumor gangs only need a hint to prime their machines. People talked about all the horrible things I must have done. No one wanted to be seen with me.”

  “That’s terrible.” Jenny couldn’t ever imagine Mecca doing something like that. But she guessed that Helen had thought the same thing of her friend.

  “Well, luckily high school is only four years long, so it had a shelf life. I left Jamaica for college and haven’t looked back.”

  Helen offered her the fry bag, but Jenny shook her head. “I’m good.”

  “You know,” Helen said, setting the bag aside, “I admire your mom for pulling out and for sheltering you.”

  Jenny jerked her head back in surprise. “Really? Why?”

  “Atlanta isn’t a simple place, like where I grew up. Just working here”—she motioned around her office—“I see things about Visci culture that feel…difficult, stressful, manipulative. And that’s my take as an adult. I couldn’t imagine growing up in it. I wouldn’t want to raise children in that environment either. She did the right thing.”