Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

he was. And if he got free, he
wouldn’t hesitate. And he wouldn’t feel bad about it either. And he
wouldn’t be standing around like an idiot, having a silent
conversation with himself and trying to figure out what he should
do.
    She pulled the drapes open. When the sun came
over the building and through the window, he wouldn’t be her
problem anymore. It wouldn’t be pretty or fast because, while
sunlight burned them, it took a really long time for them to dust.
But it would get the job done, and it wouldn’t entirely be her
fault. Mother Nature would have a larger hand in it than she did.
And nobody could kill Mother Nature.
    Afterwards, Addison would buy a new bed.
Didn’t they take away the old one for free? They probably wouldn’t
even notice a layer of ash in the shape of a man. Okay, they would.
So she’d wrap his remains in a little care package for the human
trash collector and be done with it. And him.
    “You intend to have me meet the sun.”
    She didn’t want to look at him. It seemed
harder to set someone up for death if they watched you do it. “You
could always leave first.”
    “If I had the power to leave, I would also
have the power to shut the curtains.”
    “Why are you giving me more reasons to stake
you?” she asked, spinning to face him. Damn it! She didn’t want to
see him.
    His eyes dared her, challenged her, and his
jaw still jutted out. Still proud, or maybe it was stuck in that
position from too much practice feeling superior. But she knew he
was ashamed of his weakness, of being at the mercy of a lower
being. How ironic—he was finally experiencing what seers felt like
all the fucking time.
    “You are so easily read, Seer. A higher being
will know everything as soon as they are within ten feet of you. It
is too bad your kind cannot shield your minds from us, is it not?”
There wasn’t an ounce of pity or empathy in his tone, but there was
a whole lot of arrogance and patronization.
    “ All higher beings?” If so, then it
was a done deal. She couldn’t avoid them forever. Someday one of
them would read her and find out what she’d done and she’d be
killed in a really, really terrible way. Really, really slowly.
    “The skill varies from being to being, but
yes, we all can see into a human mind. They are quite weak…and
easily breakable.”
    Addison knew that. Just like she knew she was
going to die. To keep her neighbor from getting wiped, she might as
well have shoved a stake into her own heart. The only thing she
could hope for now was that it would be fast and not too
painful.
    Every seer died twice. The first time, as a
child, brought them into this hell. But no one came back the
second time. In a way, the realization was freeing. After twenty
years as a seer, six of those as an official member of the Heights,
she finally had nothing left to fear. It didn’t matter what she
said or did—the inevitable was inevitable.

Six
    Her expression defeated, the seer moved
slowly as she shut the curtains. She couldn’t possibly be surprised
by how weak the human mind was, or how strong his was. Rhyse had
little experience with humans and seers—a master didn’t spend time
with his servants or his food. But as surprising as it was, his
wound still had not healed and he had nothing else to keep him
occupied.
    “Come to me, Seer.”
    “No.”
    This stubborn, ignorant disposal technician
would have a very slow death . His power took more energy
than speech did, but it was necessary. If only to see her obey. No
one disobeyed him.
    “Come to me,” he commanded with his mind and
his tongue, though the latter was no longer important.
    He watched her face change as she felt his
demand, her body struggling against her mind. She held power, this
one. All humans and most other beings would already be on their
knees begging for permission to please him.
    With a sigh, she came within striking
distance. But he wouldn’t strike. Not yet. Not until she learned to
obey without his