by G. Bailey
Everything about her is real. From her feelings to her friendships, to every smile on her lips. She isn’t trying to impress anyone, least of all me and my brother. It reminds me of my foster parents and everyone back in our childhood. It reminds me of home.
“Where are we?”
“Somewhere in California, I think. Maggie chose the place this time,” I tell her, and her eyes widen in shock. Such innocence, it’s addictive. I remember when I first saw her in the courtroom, though she didn’t see me. She stood tall in front of all the demon leaders, even though her world had been rocked to its core and her parents were locked up. She was brave and fearless. Possibly even reckless in the way she stood up to the leaders and asked to see her parents.
When I heard she knocked out a Heller by simply surprising him, I was damn half in love with her. I had to talk to her, even if it cost me risking my cover by telling her my name. Nothing mattered but meeting her.
I should have known she was my mate right then. I’d never risk a mission from my father to talk to a girl.
But she isn’t any girl.
“I’m getting a drink. Don’t lose her,” Nick tells me before stomping off across the beach. I look around us, seeing a group of students dancing to some music on the sand.
“Take your shoes off and come dance with me,” I tell her, and she shakes her head.
“No, even though you didn’t ask and demanded something.”
“Fine. Please, will you dance with me, Alexandria Cameron? My heart can’t take the idea of dancing without you.”
She tries not to smile, but she fails, and I find I really fucking like how she smiles. It lights up her whole face, makes her even prettier than before. I kick my shoes off and pull my socks off, shoving them in my shoes as she slides her shoes off in a more graceful way. I grab her hand, linking our fingers, which I expect her to pull away from, but she doesn’t. I tug her into the dancers, wrapping my arms around her waist and pull her into me, enjoying the sharp intake of breath I hear her make.
I do affect her, even if she wants to deny it. I rest my head next to hers as I take control of the dance, swaying us to the music and breathing in how she smells of vanilla and peaches. I fucking love peaches. I pull back to look at her, finding her eyes so wide as she stares up at me, her small hands resting on the back of my neck, occasionally touching my hair.
“I—”
“Claus!” Letitia practically shouts down my ear, knocking into us and breaking my grip on Lexi so she steps out of the way, and Letitia takes her place. I push Letitia’s hands away and step around her, taking Lexi’s hand. She smiles up at me, looking surprised, but I don’t know why she is. Letitia is an ex-girlfriend who dated both Nikoli and me, but it wasn’t serious, and it didn’t last more than a couple weeks because she is extremely clingy. And the sheer fact is she isn’t our mate.
Alexandria Cameron is. Even if she never wants us like that, we will never be with anyone else. I fucking knew the moment I tasted her blood. Lexi might not understand the mating draw or anything to do with mating in general, but Letitia does, so I don’t get why she is getting in the way.
“Lexi, I didn’t think parties were your thing, or I would have invited you myself,” Letitia sweetly says. Utter bullshit.
“Parties are my thing, actually,” she is quick to reply.
“How about party games? I was just going to start a challenge! Want to play?” Letitia asks, almost teasing her.
“Yes,” Lexi says before I can tell her that’s a very bad idea.
“Woo! Get the drinks ready!” Letitia shouts and grabs Lexi’s hand, dragging her away from me. In a matter of moments, a table and two chairs appear, followed by a glowing green bottle and two shot glasses.
“This is really fucking bad. Why didn’t you stop her?” Nick asks, coming to my side. He downs his own drink before chucking the cup in a bin nearby.
“Didn’t have a chance,” I explain to him.
“She is too stubborn to back down, dumbass,” Nick tells me what I already know. Shit. Lexi frowns as Letitia gets one of her classmates to pour two glasses.
“The first one to refuse a drink loses,” Letitia declares.
“If I win this, will you leave me the fuck alone?” Lexi demands. Smart girl, make it worth it.
“Sure. If I win, you have to let me test my voodoo doll on you,” Letitia replies. Oh shit.
“No—”
“Deal,” Lexi says, both of them ignoring me as they cut me off. Fucking hell, she needs to win now. Nick just groans as Lexi and Letitia down the first drink, and Lexi coughs a few times, but Letitia doesn’t. The crazy bitch has been downing this demon magic drink since she was ten. Or so the rumours say.
“She is going to lose,” Nick grumbles.
“Not if we support her,” I mutter to him. “Go, Lexi! You can do this!” I shout at her, and a few people start cheering for her with me. Seven shots later, Lexi is swaying a little in her seat, and even Letitia is looking a bit pale. By twelve shots, it’s a wonder either of them is still sitting upright. Fifteen shots in and they are both shaking with bloodshot eyes and struggling to pick up the sixteenth shot. Everyone is cheering their names, including both Nikoli and me. We all tensely watch as they both pick up the sixteenth shot, and at the same time, they both start falling out of the chair, their eyes closing. Letitia hits the sand first as Lexi manages to straighten herself up for a moment before collapsing. The crowd cheers as Nick and I run to Lexi, and Nick picks her up. I chuckle as she wraps her arms around him and starts kissing his neck, whispering things I can’t hear until we get out of the crowd.
“You two are hot assholes. Not the kind of hot assholes you get after eating curry, but the kind you find in strip clubs. That kind of hot asshole,” she slurs.
“Glad you clarified what kind of assholes we are, Lexi,” I mutter, trying not to laugh as we get to the portal. She soon passes out, resting her head against Nikoli’s chest.
“We should take her to our room in case she gets ill. I’m sure her demon healing will kick in, but I don’t want to risk it,” Nick comments, his tone thick with protectiveness. Almost like he can’t stand the idea of having her out of his sight. I feel the same, but man, I didn’t expect that from Nick.
“Careful, Nick. Sounds like you care,” I say, and he narrows his eyes at me. I smartly shut up because I want nothing more than to take our mate back to our room, even if it is to look after her.
“Open the fucking portal before she is sick on me.” I chuckle at my brother’s comment as I do just that.
Chapter 18
A little bit hungover and one mad angel
Everything hurts as I open my eyes, especially my head, and I blink a few times, wondering why my bed is so warm and the blanket is so heavy. It takes less than a few seconds for me to realise the blanket has two arms above it, wrapped around my stomach and there are people on either side of me. I’m cocooned in warmth to the point I don’t want to move, that is until my brain seems to clock the fact I’m not in bed alone. Or my bed at all. I turn my head to the left, seeing Claus fast asleep at my side. I’m somewhat relieved it’s him, though I don’t remember how I got into his bed. I turn to the right to slide out of bed only to see Nick on my other side, though he is awake and looking far too smug. His swirly green and purple eyes remind me of lavender growing in the fields behind the church back home. The mix of purple and green is so pretty in the morning light.
“How did I get in this bed with you two?” I demand, my voice croaking, and my throat damn well hurts. I feel terrible...in fact, worse than terrible.
“You weren’t making good choices last night, so we stepped in around the time you told us, and I’m quoting you here, ‘You two are hot assholes. Not the kind of hot assholes you get after eating curry, but the kind you find in strip clubs. That kind of hot asshole.’ ”
“I did not say that,” I say, feeling horrid as I sit up, pushing Claus’s arm off me as little flashes of last night appe
ar into my head. Dancing with Claus, loving it, and then drinking with Letitia.
“You did,” Claus mutters as he sits up, and the blanket falls down his chest in almost slow motion. Or at least my eyes sure do make it seem like that. I gulp at the ripples of muscles on his chest and the shiny six-pack just there.
“Wait, did I win the drinking game?” I ask, praying that I did, because I do not remember. Whatever that drink was, it was nasty and strong.
“Yes, you did, you crazy girl,” Nick mutters.
I shake my head and climb out of the bed, freezing when I see the clock that says it is six thirty in the morning.
“Shit, shit, shit. Mr. Morganach is going to kill me,” I mutter, picking my shoes up off the floor and sliding them on.
“Such foul language in the morning,” Nick mutters with a groan. “Will you be quiet and come back to bed?” I ignore them both, picking up Claus’s hoodie off the chair in the corner of the room and looking back to ask if I can borrow it, but the twins are lying back down, facing away from each other as they have gone back to sleep. Such assholes. I’m totally stealing their hoodie. I pull it on, doing up the zipper before leaving. I run out of the bedroom, passing Santino in the kitchen, who I see wave as I pull the door open. I race down the corridor after slamming the door behind me and get to the stairs, looking down to see I’m three floors up. Crap, I’m going to be so late. I don’t know how long it takes me to run down all the stairs but I need to be quicker. I run as fast as I can, almost missing the door as I get to it and pull it open. I run up the steps and get to the top, where Mr. Morganach is still as he stands right in front of me.
“I’m so sorry I’m late. I messed up,” I admit to him, walking around his slightly stretched black wings to meet his gaze. His eyes look like the death of everything in the world as he moves toward me in one swift motion, grabbing the top of my arms tightly and lifting me off the ground.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you,” he asks me, almost calmly. I know him well enough to realise he is always calm. Always. Even when he is angry and pissed off. I bet he is even calm when someone he loves dies. It is just who he is on the outside all of the time. The inside? Not so calm. More like a storm on fire with flying trucks in it.
“Because being late isn’t a death penalty,” I nervously suggest.
“I’m done with you. I’m fucking done.” He angrily drops me to the ground, and I cry out as I land awkwardly on my arm, feeling shooting pain down it. I roll to my side, lifting myself up as tears prick my eyes when I lift my arm to my lap. To my surprise, Mr. Morganach is leaning down, and his fingers gently pick up my arm, pushing my hoodie up even though it hurts. He strokes my arm, pausing near my elbow when I can’t hold in the little cries escaping my lips. He sucks in a deep breath and rests my arm back on my lap before walking away to the back of the library. I just watch him go, expecting him to leave me and fly out of the window or something, but instead he comes back with a black wooden box. He sits opposite me and opens the box at his side which holds four different coloured liquids in glass vials. He picks the red vial and pops it open before handing it to me. I use my arm which isn’t sore to take the vial from him, holding it as I’m not sure what I’m meant to do with it.
“Drink it,” he explains, and I do as I’m told, coughing as the thick liquid burns my throat. He takes the vial from me and closes the box. We sit in silence like this, and it’s strangely comfortable between us.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I didn’t mean to sleep in.”
“I’m sorry for hurting you. I honestly don’t know who I am sometimes,” he mutters. “My parents, my brother...they would all be fucking disappointed in the monster I am.”
“You’re Mr. Morganach, and yes, you have anger issues, but I don’t think you are a monster—wait, what is your first name?” I ask him.
“Austin, but call me Morgan. Everyone does,” he tells me, and I’m utterly shocked he is opening up to me.
“Careful now, I might start to think we are becoming friends,” I warn him.
“We are a long way off that, Miss Cameron,” he replies with a small amused smile.
“Lexi,” I correct him, and he smiles at me. A real smile that just makes me like him a tiny bit. Only a tiny bit. I also jump away when his hand comes down on my leg, where my dress has risen up my leg and thigh, revealing the birthmark I was told to hide.
“Is this—” he stops, standing up and moving away from me. “You are not possible.”
“It’s just a birthmark,” I apprehensively say.
“How long have you had it?” he asks me, crouching down in front of me this time and offering his hands out to help me up. Considering my arm hurts quite a bit, I let him help me before stepping away. He just steps closer once again.
“Since forever. My dad told me not to show it to anyone; why is it important?” I ask. “You aren’t going to tell anyone are you? Please don’t. I promised my dad.”
“That is an angel blessing, Lexi,” he tells me. “And I won’t tell anyone. You have my word.”
“Thank you. So I’m going to die soon? And become like you?” I ask with wide eyes. “I don’t want that. Can you get rid of it?”
“See, the thing is, you are a demon, Lexi. You can’t become an angel; only humans can do that when they die with that mark and are born again in heaven,” he explains to me. “But if you died, your soul belongs to Lucifer and hell. It can’t belong to heaven and hell. It’s impossible in every sense.”
“So I’m not going to die?” I question. “I’m confused.”
“I don’t know. I need to speak to my old professor about this, with your permission, of course. He is a good angel and the only person in the world I trust completely,” he tells me, and I can only nod. I want answers, and I trust Morgan, even though I shouldn’t. “But, baby, your dad was right. You must not show that mark to anyone.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because it makes you different, Lexi. Different in a fucked-up world that already has your parents locked up,” he tells me. “Promise me you won’t show it to anyone. No one.”
“Okay, got it. I won’t show anyone it,” I reply, not that I planned to. I wasn’t going to show him, but it was an accident.
“It means more than what I told you,” he explains to me. “But that isn’t important at the moment. I can see you look freaked out enough.”
“I’m not the only one looking and acting freaked out, Morgan,” I muse.
“Yeah...” he mutters, though he clearly has his mind somewhere else.
“Can I go back to my room?” I ask him, and he nods, though he isn’t looking at me. I walk to the door, and his voice makes me pause.
“I’m not going easy on you because of today. If anything, you need to be better and stronger than you currently are if you are going to survive,” he warns me. “I need you to survive.”
“Do you want me to survive?” I ask him, though I don’t look back, only hearing my heart beating in my chest. I shouldn’t have asked that.
“To my own surprise, yes,” he tells me, and his voice sounds as astounded as I feel hearing him say that. “Don’t make me regret it, Miss Cameron.”
“I won’t,” I answer before heading down the stairs. It’s a quiet walk back to my apartment, and I open the door, finding Sera and Javier in the kitchen as I shut it behind me.
“Are you okay?” Sera asks me, rushing over. “I got worried as you didn’t come back last night. Santino told me the twins took you back to theirs because you drank too much.”
“Yep, didn’t realise they have magic drinks here, and I’m okay,” I tell her, and she sighs in relief. “Did you have a good night?”
“I just chilled and watched some soaps. I can’t wait to tell you what happened in EastEnders.” I grin at her, wanting to know, but she changes the subject. “Did you go to your private lesson?” she asks.
“Yes and no. I’ll explain later when we are alone,” I say, seeing Javier list
ening in as he sits on the counter, this time thankfully wearing clothes. “Hey, Javier.”
“Want to watch a movie with us?” he asks, and I look to Sera, who seems as surprised as I am. I carefully eye Javier, wondering if this is his twin with a much better attitude or something. He only smirks back, his eyes fixed on me, and I see as his gaze drifts to my hoodie and back to my eyes. I imagine he can scent Claus or Nikoli on the clothing.
“Sure. What are we watching?” I ask.
“Javier is a massive Adam Sandler fan, and there is this new detective movie he made with Jennifer Aniston. It looks good,” Sera replies. “I made toffee popcorn for us to share.”
“I wanted to watch that, it sounds lovely. Give me a few minutes to get changed,” I say, placing my hand on Sera’s arm before walking away. I look back to see Javier watching me, his calculating eyes no doubt thinking up a load of trouble.
“The dog is back,” Amethyst says as I go into my room and shut the door. “And you are a dirty stop out. Then again, you are a teenager.”
“Sera is also a wolf, and you are rude,” I tell her. “And going to a party isn’t a crime, Amethyst.”
“Sera doesn’t smell so bad,” she huffs, lifting a paw and licking it.
“I don’t think he smells,” I reply, because he actually doesn’t. Both he and Sera smell like a forest with an undertone of something I can’t quite place.
“That’s because you like him and his sexy abs,” she replies, stretching out and heading to the door. “Maybe sexy abs will let me sit on his lap, and then you can be jealous.” She pulls the door open with her paw and heads out, her tail sliding across the door.