Addictive Blood . Amy Blankenship

Skye asked in confusion.

      Kane smiled fondly, “No, I happened to have found him during a very dark period in my life and… changed him accidentally. As far as I can tell, Scrappy will never grow old and never die… though he does seem quite happy with the arrangement.”

      “So he’s a Sun God’s familiar?” Aurora asked curiously having seen demons take on animals in much the same way.

      Kane and Michael looked at each other with thoughtful expressions.

      “It would make sense,” Kane said with a shrug of his shoulders. “He’s just always been Scrappy… I’ve never thought of it that way.”

      “Would either of you care for something to drink?” Michael asked but his eyes were on Aurora.

      Kane raised his hand and wiggled his fingers, “I’ll take some of the best alcohol in the house.” He grabbed his ribs where Michael elbowed him and wheezed, “Never mind… I can wait.”

      Aurora shook her head at their playfulness. “Not right now… but I’d really like to see your library.”

      Michael smiled at the obvious glint in her eyes and gave her a slight bow, “Right this way my dear.”

      When Aurora took Michael’s offered hand Kane leaned in close to him from the other side.

      “Laying it on a little heavy aren’t we?” Kane asked in a stage whisper.

      “You are just jealous because you didn’t think to try kindness as a way to woo Tabatha,” Michael shot back with a wicked grin.

      “That was different,” Kane whined chasing after Michael and Aurora with Skye bringing up with rear laughing quietly at him.

      “How was it different?” Michael asked with playful curiosity.

      “Tabatha is my boss.” Kane stated with authority. “I had no choice but to fall for her charms and stalk her to the ends of the earth.” He paused for a moment and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Then again… she is my soul mate so I guess an eternity of servitude to the loveliest sexiest woman in the world is worth it.”

      “Touché,” Michael muttered deciding Kane’s nonsense sometimes made perfect sense.

      Aurora’s eyes widened again when Michael escorted her into the huge library. The room was circular with high windows all around and there were bookshelves filled from floor to ceiling with nothing but books of all shapes and sizes. Comfortable overstuffed chairs and loveseats were placed around the room accompanied by small elegantly carved tables.

      “Oh wow,” Skye whispered and wandered over to one of the shelves. He ran his fingers over the bindings as he skimmed the titles. All of the ones in this section seemed to pertain to the laws of physics with everything from Plato to Albert Einstein and even more recent works from Nassim Haramein.

      “Is something wrong?” Michael asked when he saw the overwhelmed expression on Aurora’s face.

      Aurora let her gaze drift around the room trying not to feel intimidated. “Where… where would I even start?” she said and suddenly smiled remembering that Skye had said the more she read the less childish her reactions to things would be. She’d argued that she wasn’t a child but secretly, she knew Skye was right. She lifted her chin not wanting Michael to think she was childish.

      “I actually picked out some of the fairytales for Skye to start you out with since that’s what most human’s read when they first learn how,” Michael said and leaned closer as if sharing a secret, “it’s the magic of fairytales that make most people fall in love with reading. I’m not sure what his teaching method is, but if he was able to learn how to read in such a short span of time then I’m guessing it will work the same way with you.”

      “Skye,” Aurora called him over hoping Michael was right about how quickly she could learn to do this. “Can we start with these?”

      Skye moved away from the shelf he was looking at and approached the stacks of books Aurora indicated. “These are good ones to start out with,” Skye agreed seeing some he had really enjoyed and a couple he had yet to read.

      “Oh goody,” Kane said and rubbed his palms together. “I get to play with Michael while Aurora has her reading lessons.” He grabbed Michael by the arm and dragged him out of the library leaving the door open in case Aurora or Skye needed them.

      He smirked at the slowness of Michael’s steps and the way he cast a longing glance back down the hall. “Come on lover-boy, you will only distract her from her studies. You want her to make straight A’s don’t you?”

      Michael turned his head and gave Kane a mock glare, “I know how to behave.”

      “So says the man that has sex in subway tunnels,” Kane shot back with a grin having read Michael’s wishful thoughts of bare skin before he’d even opened the door.

      Back in the library, Skye shook his head when Aurora started flipping through the pages of one of the books, her eyes bright with curiosity. He sat down on the floor beside the stack of books Michael had set out and pointed at the spot in front of him, “Right here bright eyes… and bring the book.”

      Aurora giggled at Skye’s choice of words and sat down facing him to where their knees were touching. She held the book out to Skye anxious to get started and wondering how he was going to teach her. However, instead of taking it from her, he gently pushed her hands down until the book was lying on the floor in the little circle between them.

      “The first thing I want you to do is touch the book with your fingertips,” Skye instructed and smiled at her when she instantly obeyed. “Now, remember what we used to do when I’d go hunting or exploring with the boys from the tribe and you had to stay behind with the girls?”

      “Yeah,” Aurora said with a conspiratorial nod. She leaned toward him and lowered her voice as if it were still their little secret. “You used to show me your memories when you got back. The memories were so vivid that I always felt like I’d been with you… sometimes I could even feel the rain on my face or smell the flowers.”

      Skye nodded, “That’s right, and that’s exactly how I’m going to teach you to read. I’m going to give you my memories of learning how. Clear your mind and come into me.”

      He smiled when he saw that she’d already closed her eyes. Reaching out, Skye laid his hands over hers and let his mind drift back into the past… more specifically to when he’d first found the storage room under the library. He felt Aurora’s hands flinch when she felt his loneliness but he couldn't hide it from her.

      He was lying on the old dusty sofa that had been stored in the basement of the building and out of boredom started flipping through pages of one of the many books that had pictures in it. His eyes snapped up when he heard the door above him slam followed by footsteps. Skye had promptly hid in the darkness on top of one of the high bookshelves as an elderly man came downstairs with a stack of books.

      He listened as the old man muttered to himself, complaining about the wonderful classics being hidden away like something obscene and set his load of books down on one of the many boxes, coughing when a small cloud of dust rose from the impact. The man stood there a moment before lifting the top book from the pile and reading some of it out loud.

      Skye was mesmerized by the spoken words enough to let his aura stretch out and touch the man’s mind while he read. Hearing the words and learning to navigate the letters using the intellect of the old man, Skye realized he’d opened a whole new world of vast information and contentment.

      After the old man left the large storage area, Skye approached the stack of books and began to look through them more closely this time. It was no longer the pictures he was interested in. He’d spent the following days teaching himself to merely understand the contents of the books word for word just by letting his aura reach for the books the same way he’d reached for the man’s mind.

      The words flew through his mind like a breeze of knowledge.