Order of the Omni: A Supernatural Romantic Suspense Novel (The Immortalies Book 1) Penny Knight (100 best novels of all time TXT) 📖

The door opens, and she walks out of the restroom.

I watch from the inside of the car, unable to go out to be there to comfort her. If she’d let me, that is. But the sun has not set, so Broderick and I wait for the door to open and Elita to walk out. Still a vision even if she is unwell. Her face glistens with water that has been splashed on. Her tired, sunken cheeks don’t overpower her beauty.

Her mouth is moving angrily, and the two boys laugh.

“You get used to it,” Lucas says as they walk closer to the car.

“Will I?” she asks with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t I see you throw up just before we passed the checkpoint?” she says.

That is met with a scoff. “That’s because of the bad sushi I ate last night.”

“Yeah, right.” Elita throws a mint in her mouth. ‘Sure it is.”

“All good?” I ask when she’s closer. Her eyebrow answers me instead of her mouth. A small smile escapes me.

“Why is it always me that has to be the one to throw up?” She crosses her arms.

“Come on, trouble, in the car.” I nod to the open door. “Change of plans, Broderick. You ride with the boys. Follow us and signal if you need to stop.”

There are things I need to tell her. Things I need to get off my chest. I haven’t been this nervous in a long time. How will she react when I tell her I can enslave people? This does not go over well with humans. I don’t blame them. Once they know, there always be the question whether they have exercised their own free will. Or if it’s me that planted what they believe to be true of the actions they take. Not even the humans that work for me know about enslavement. She may hate me when I tell her what I did to her best friend, her brother, Topher.

We’re just outside of Mount Martha, the suburb that her mother now lives in, a coastal residence in Victoria.

Her leg bounces up and down, her eyes fixated out the side window watching the scenery flash by as we drive. But I doubt she is taking any of the coastal scenery in as her mind looks to be racing a mile a minute.

“What was she like?” I ask softly.

I’m surprised her head turns to me.

“From what I remember, your standard junkie. There were moments where she was nice and even funny, but they were rare. She didn’t want me there. It was obvious even as a child. I guess that’s why she left.” There’s no emotion in her voice as she talks. She’s resigned and detached, accepting her past and the trauma. I hate this woman already.

“You’ve never looked for her?”

“I thought about it.” She shrugs. “But then I realise there’s no reason to find her. There are no words that would make what she did okay. And I stopped thinking of her as my mother a long time ago. Obviously, she couldn’t raise a child, she wasn’t fit for it. I know how addiction works, I lived with her.”

“Do you think she knew about this world?”

She laughs. “She hardly knew what day it was.” She exhales a long breath. “Honestly, I don’t know. She never told me anything about my father and I never really wanted to know. I just assumed it was one of the many men that would come in and out of the house. Maybe not them, but someone like them. Maybe I need to find him, maybe he knows why I can do what I can do. Maybe he can, too?”

“Maybe,” I say. “I haven’t come across anyone with your powers before. It doesn’t mean there aren’t more like you. I could just simply not know.” I try hard to ease her worry. Being alone with a gift like hers must be difficult. “I have known mentalist that claim to read the minds of people, but it’s more like hypnosis, implanting information. But with you it’s like an open tap, it’s a gift, a power.”

“Yeah, that’s what I saw online, too. It’s not really the same and honestly I always thought that was bullshit.”

I chuckle.

“There are some that are better than others. But no, those things can be learnt by mind control and hypnosis. Actually.” I take a deep breath. “There is something I need to tell you. I want to be honest with you and I want to help you.”

Her head swings back towards me, her eyes wide, “I don’t like the sound of that.” Her body goes still and her eyes lock on me. Neither do I.

“When you watch these videos of hypnotists or mentalists, or you hear about people being brainwashed. I know you said something earlier about a cult, and the leader of the cult probably would use some of these techniques. Humans, over the years, have gotten better and after a lot of training they can do substantial damage with their techniques that they develop. They are not like yours, but most things can be learnt. I’m over 2000 years old and I have been specifically trained to enslave people.”

It’s quiet.

My body, my mind and my god damn heart wait in anticipation. Praying she doesn’t run out of this moving car. Or worse, I lose this. Her openness, her trust. Her.

She’s quiet as she processes the information. “Enslave?” She narrows her eyes. “Can you explain that a bit more?” Her voice holds no emotion. Not a good sign.

I nod.

“I think the best way to explain it is using your vampire theory.” She’s quiet as she listens. “In most vampire movies or literature, they can gaze deeply into someone’s eyes and control their mind, body, actions, even their thoughts.”

“You can do that?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

“I can.” I nod. “I haven’t with you.”

“I should bloody well hope you haven’t!” She looks aghast.

I’m quiet.

She watches me, her eyes