Last Ascension

by Rebecca Royce

  “Great.”

  She walked up to him, which he decided to take as a good sign of her faith in Ace"s device.

  “I"m sure it works. Ace can talk to machines. This one must have told him it worked at some point.”

  Enough was enough. He walked into the machine without saying another word. Truthfully, the box looked like some kind of deranged TARDIS from an episode of Dr. Who.

  Lael sat down on the bench inside and looked around. There was little light save for a dim fluorescent right about his head. Ace hadn"t wasted any space on unneeded accessories.

  One red button caught his attention. It said "GO," written in Ace"s sloppy handwriting.

  “Well, I guess that"s what I"m supposed to push.”

  He reached out and pressed down. For a second, nothing happened. Had Ace finally made something that didn't function?

  Lael"s whole body seized. Stars passed in front of his eyes seconds before they were replaced by swirling colors. His head pounded, a loud rhythmic sound. Alice called his name, but then he lost the sound in the distance. Blackness surrounded him, and yet he knew he moved through space, even though he couldn"t see anything but blurry nothingness.

  He slammed down with a loud thud, his ears ringing. In front of him slumped in opposite corners of a cage were Ace and Draco. He tried to call out, but no words formed. In fact, as he looked around he realized he didn"t exist at all, not in physical form anyway. He wasn"t really there. What the hell?

  Ace"s head shot up, and he looked around the room. Lael couldn"t make out anything but his brothers and the sense they were in cages— like the kind used to restrain animals at the zoo.

  “Lael?” Ace"s voice sounded hoarse.

  Draco glanced around. “Are you succumbing? No one is here.”

  Ace shook his head. “No, brother. Lael is here. Sort of. Fucking brilliant. I can feel it. My blood is tingling inside of me. Can"t you sense it, too? They"re using the machine. The one I built so long ago to find you.”

  Draco nodded. “That"s happening to me as well, but I assumed it was just another side effect.”

  “Lael.” Ace called out again. “It"s you, isn"t it? Brilliant.”

  As if he"d been sucked backwards through a wind tunnel, Lael got yanked backwards with a snap. His body vibrated, but he didn"t try to stop the sensation. The machine had been built to do this. Now that he knew where his brothers were, he had to be returned to his body so he could actually go find them.

  Unlike the first trip, he didn"t try to fight the sensation, and it didn"t hurt quite so badly. Not that he wanted to make a habit of traveling this way. Hopefully this was a onetime thing.

  With a jolt, Lael slammed into his own body.

  He blinked and stared up at the Alice"s face. She looked pale, and her eyes were huge.

  “It didn"t work.” She sighed loudly, and her hand trembled when she extended it to him to help him stand. “I"m so glad you"re okay. I thought it killed you.”

  “How long did that take?” He rubbed at his eyes to clear the blurriness.

  “Thirty seconds. You had a major seizure and fell out of the device. I guess my husband didn"t get it quite right this time.”

  Lael took her hand even though he didn"t need help to stand. After a second, he gave Alice"s fingers a squeeze. “It worked. I know where they are. It"s as if a signal beacon has been placed in my head. I can find them. I can get them”

  “Oh,” she gasped. “Lael.”

  “You"ll need my help.” He spun around. Standing by the doorway, looking rumpled from sleep but clear-eyed, was Margot. “Because I think I finally get what"s happening.”

  His stomach tightened. If she told him she worked for his father, he might put his hand through a wall in frustration. Something had to fucking go his way.

  ****

  Margot hoped she looked calmer than she felt. She put her sweaty hands in her pockets and stepped forward. Courage had never been her friend, which pretty much explained her current situation.

  If only she had never called the number in the advertisement.

  “Tell me.” Lael ordered; he didn"t ask. Was it wrong that it made her hot to hear him speak like that?

  Alice Styles, the celebrity chef from television looked between them before she spoke.

  “You"re Margot. You were asleep when you arrived. I"m Alice.” She extended her hand, and Margot walked forward to shake it.

  “Anyone who has ever been to a grocery store knows who you are. Your frozen green bean casserole is extraordinary. It doesn"t taste like frozen food.”

  The other woman laughed. “Thank you. We"re very proud of it.”

  “If you two are done exchanging pleasantries, I"d kind of like some answers.”

  She knew she couldn"t put it off any further, and the truth was she really didn"t want to.

  Better to pull of the bandage than let the wound fester with no air.

  “Your father both lied and didn"t lie to you, Lael.”

  Her words met silence. Both Alice and Lael stared at her, and she didn"t want to fathom a guess about what either of them was thinking. Since no one remarked on her statement, she continued.

  “I woke up with my memories. I am Margot Fox. That much I always had right. But I"m not from Trenton, and it"s not my entire name. I think if you google Margot Fox Manning, you"ll find me more easily. If it matters, I grew up in Austin, Texas. But I"ve been living the last few years in Anchorage, Alaska.”

  “How did you end up in Alaska?” Alice"s tone didn"t sound hostile, and Margot decided to take it as a good sign. Of course, Lael still hadn"t spoken.

  “Anchorage was the last place we lived when my father worked for an oil company. He and my mother were killed in a car accident five years ago. My aunt moved up there, so I didn"t t have to change schools. I imagine she has filed some kind of missing persons report by now or maybe she didn"t. We"ve never been what you would call close.”

  She"d been an angry teenager. Her parents were dead, and she"d spent every waking

  moment wondering when her time was coming. Probably what she needed was a therapist, but no one had ever suggested it to her and instead she"d answered an advertisement she wished she never saw.

  “Go on, Margot.” Lael"s eyes met hers, and she let herself stare into their blue depths. He could be an asshole when he was mad, she"d learned, but ultimately he was still the kindest being she"d ever encountered. He"d tried to help her, and, for that, she would return the favor. Even if he never wanted to speak to her again afterwards.

  “I had some…issues. I went to school. Studied Communications. But it didn"t take.” She choked on the word. Even now it was hard to admit to needing help. “And I ended up answering an ad in a magazine I"d found on the sidewalk. It was a place claiming they could help make me not afraid anymore, to literally take the fear from me.”

  “The Organization.” Alice nodded. “Ace said they were trying to find people to do their dirty work. But Draco thought he had stopped it.”

  “Well, if he did, it was after they had me. I don"t remember much after my initial

  consultation interview. I think there must have been something in my iced tea. Bits and pieces of things. They made me think I was seeing aliens. Sometimes they even dressed up.” The lengths they had gone to screw with her mind made her hands fist. Had they put on costumes or resorted to mind-controlling drugs? She had no idea.

  “Why aliens?” Alice took her hand and squeezed it.

  “Because they were setting her up to be sent to me, and, given my father knows all about my mother"s mental health problems, he knew she"d get my attention.”

  “I"m not sure what they wanted me to do, Lael. My training got interrupted.”

  “How is that possible? The truth remains they dropped you off practically on my doorstep where I was sure to find you, one way or another.”

  “Not exactly. Remember I told you your father lied and didn"t?” She really wanted him to listen because what had happened next ma
de all the difference. Margot dropped Alice"s hand and walked slowly to Lael. She didn"t touch him, but she wanted to feel his warmth again.

  “How did he lie?”

  “He isn"t the reason I ended up with you. Draco and Ace did stop him. The day they got trapped. Draco managed to get me out. He had little time to save me. He had to go back for Ace, but he dropped me at the apartment, said he owned it, had bought it recently, handed me a little money, wrote me a note to be careful, and told me his brother Lael would find me. If he himself

  couldn"t get back to help, he had left me where he knew Lael could help, one way or another.”

  She swallowed. “And you did.”

  “Holy shit.” Lael ran a hand through his hair. “This is unbelievable.”

  “I"m so sorry. They might not be stuck there if not for me. If I hadn"t answered that ad….”

  Lael interrupted her. “Then someone else would have. Someone else who might not have your strength in remembering this.”

  Alice marched forward and put her hand on Margot"s arm. “This is what Draco, Ace, and the others do. They save people. Sometimes for money—as the media likes to point out—most of the time just because it"s the right thing for them to do. They"d never want you to feel guilty about this. They"re Guardians. They save people. Don"t they, Lael?”

  “If you"re trying to make me remember I"m a Guardian, Alice, I"ll to have to remind you I quit. I don"t want it anymore. But I will save my brothers. Because it is the right thing to do—

  and that"s how you all raised me.” And because he loved them. Not that he wanted to get all that mushy talking about it.

  “I can help you.” She needed to do this. Fear couldn"t dictate her life anymore. She couldn"t hide in small closets or never leave her apartment or jump at shadows. Her cowardice could not continue.

  She had to return to the lion"s den, even if the thought made her want to curl up and hide.

  “You don"t have to come. I have their signal in my head now. I don"t need you to show me where it is.”

  “Good, because I"m not sure I could have found it. I have no idea where Draco took me from.”

  He raised a blond eyebrow. “Then how were you thinking you could help?”

  “I can get you inside. The machines, they respond to me. Whatever they were setting me up to be able to do, I can make Ben"s toys sit down and behave. You saw it yourself in the warehouse, which I have to believe Ben set up in anticipation of my being there with you. I can help. You need me. Your brothers and the others were caught unawares. They"re in trouble. Let"s not wind up the same way.”

  “Come with me.” He extended his hand, and she took it. “We"ll see you later, Alice. I trust you"ll let Wendy know what she needs to hear.”

  “Oh, I met her. She sent me down this way. She"s in the kitchen.”

  Alice sucked in her breath. “God forbid, she"s cooking. Okay, be careful, you two. I trust you, Lael. You"ll bring Ace and Draco home to us.”

  “I will.” He squeezed her hand. “Because Margot will help me.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. Relief mixed with utter terror causing her hands shake. Lael couldn"t have missed the tremors, but he didn"t comment. Instead, they walked down the hall together in silence. Were they going to plot, figure out how to do what they needed to in order to get into the Organization"s headquarters?

  Two seconds later, he pressed her against the wall, his mouth coming down on hers. He kissed her, hard, demanding, stealing her breath. When finally he pulled away, his eyes were heated but serious.

  “If you think I"d take you anywhere near danger, you"re out of your fucking mind.”

  Chapter Eight

  Lael should shove her in a room and lock her in, but all he could focus on was the heat she gave off, the way she felt pressed against him, and how he wanted more. Right then.

  He was most likely flying off to this death. For once in his life, he"d do what he wanted, and that meant getting Margot naked and beneath him. Assuming she wanted him, too.

  “Am I feeling this alone?”

  She shook her head and kissed him, pulling his head down to accomplish the task. With one arm he lifted her and pushed her against the wall so they were eye-to-eye. Sometimes it helped to be super strong.

  Margot grinned before she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. His cock surged to life. By all that was holy, he wanted that woman, and he knew despite his passion for her he"d have to hold himself in check to ensure her safety when they joined. He always did.

  The women who could handle a Guardian at full force sexually were few and far between.

  But he"d handle it and Margot would be worth the discomfort of holding back. She never had to be aware that he did.

  Keeping her in his arms, he carried to her an empty bedroom. His brother had designed the place to hold up to thirty people, and right then he"d take advantage of the privacy.

  With one hand, he opened and closed the door to the bedroom. Margot deserved to be

  seduced, pampered, turned on, and fucked to her heart"s desire for hours at a time. But they didn"t have that kind of evening. He had to get to his brothers, so he needed to make what little time they had together count in momentous ways.

  “You"re so beautiful.” He kissed her chin. God, he loved her chin. Had there ever been one made so perfectly? The shape of it and the slight cleft made her even more adorable than she already was.

  “I"m not beautiful, but thank you for thinking I am. You should since you"re getting ready to see me naked.”

  The things she said. He kissed her again because he had to, stroking her mouth with his tongue. She tasted of strawberries, and he moaned, loving the flavor of her on his tongue. After a second, she opened her lips and he pushed in further. Their tongues danced together as he showed her with his mouth what he wanted to do to other parts of her body.

  She stroked the back of his neck gently with her fingers. Every movement she made sent pleasure up his spine. He"d never known he had an erogenous zone on his neck, but it seemed when Margot touched him there, it really, really worked for him.

  He let his hands wander, stroking her between their bodies, exploring Margot"s hot curves.

  She sighed deeply in his mouth, and he grinned. Lael wanted to pleasure her, and if she reacted to just being touched between their clothes, she"d be a hell of a responsive lover when he finally got her naked.

  “It"s been a long time for me, Lael.”

  He raised his eyebrow. That seemed highly unlikely. Men had to scamper after her in droves. Everyone had a different definition of what a long time meant. “Do tell.”

  “Maybe four years. And, even then, that was first time, and I wasn"t very good at it.”

  “Huh.” He grinned. It really shouldn"t be giving him so much pleasure that she was all but a virgin. But her inexperience brought out something primal in him. The imbecilic ass she"d been

  with before had clearly not known what he was doing if she thought she wasn"t skilled in bed.

  The way she responded? She"d be a wildcat when she finally got going.

  They had far too many clothes on. She didn"t have anything to change into so he controlled his need to rip apart her outwear until he could get her completely nude beneath him. The need to claim her rode him hard, not a good sign since he had to keep in control the whole time they were together.

  Still, he didn"t doubt he"d find a way to manage. This was too important. Taking Margot as his burned in his soul. He needed to be deep inside of her before the night was over the same way he required air to fill his lungs.

  She smelled fantastic, as if all his favorite flavors had mixed together to give her a scent of perfection. His mouth watered. He wanted inside of her right then and there, as if he"d flown back in time and was suddenly fifteen years old again.

  “Huh? That"s all you have to say about my lack of experience and or talent in the bedroom?”

  Lael ran his finger down the slope of her nose. “I"m thrilled y
ou haven"t been with a tremendous amount of guys. Makes me feel all caveman-possessive of you. But, having said that, I wouldn"t give a shit if you had been. In this bed, right now, there"s no one else ever but the two of us. It"s starting anew for both of us. A sexual rebirth or something. I"m not deep, okay? But I care about you so fucking much, and I know we"ll be dynamite together."

  “Lael.”

  He wasn"t certain what portion of what he"d said made her sigh like that, but it had to be the right thing because her eyes went dreamy, and her body completely unstiffened beneath him.

  Whatever she"d liked about it was fine by him, he"d meant every word.

  He needed her naked, and time was of the essence, so he quickly disposed of her clothes.

  Bras had always been his nemesis. Why the hell did they have to be so constantly complicated?

  Some of them clasped in the front, others in the back, and no one mechanism worked the same as any other. But Margot"s seemed simple enough, closing in the front, and he managed to remove the thing, despite his large, clumsy fingers, without floundering around too much.

  She sprawled beneath him, and he suddenly understood why people wrote poetry about the people they loved. Some moments were so charged with electricity, they warranted being captured in time for all eternity.

  His mouth went dry, but he found the means to speak. “I just told you I cared about you a lot. I don"t think the word"s adequate. I think I need better words.”

  She shook her head. “We don"t need to speak. Let"s just say we both understand.”

  Could it be so simple? Was it possible Margot understood him after so little time together?

  Didn"t it take years to grasp each other? Or had the universe, via Draco, given him a woman who might actually understand all the things about him he had a hard time articulating?

  “You have too many clothes on.” She complained, and he grinned.

  “I don"t know. I kind of enjoy the disparity of this. You naked and glorious, like my own personal plaything, and me able to keep myself dressed so I don"t lose control and come too soon.”