by G. Bailey
God, I hate him as much as I like him.
“Why are you here?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“You’re mad at me,” he muses, his gravelly voice doing all sorts of things to me that it shouldn’t. He left me.
“No shit, Sherlock,” I reply.
“Come with me; I want to show you something,” he asks, holding out his hand.
“No. Where is Sera? Is she safe?” I demand.
“Of course she is. She is my sister,” he replies, like I’m crazy to be worried at all.
“Then leave. That’s all I wanted to know. Tell her I miss her, Javier,” I reply.
“No. Do you miss me?” he asks, taking two steps closer to me, and I take one back, moving towards the fire.
“Why would I have?” I ask, lying through my teeth. I’m not admitting anything more to this wolf. He smirks, taking two more steps forward, and I move right back until the heat of the fireplace lets me know I can’t move anymore. The wolf has me cornered.
“I told you not to lie to me, my little demon,” he warns.
“You lied first,” I respond, arching an eyebrow at him. “You played me, and I was a fool. Is that what you want to hear? That, for me, it was real and fucked up, but it was real. It was so, so real, and you hurt me.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. The truth,” he softly replies, taking two more steps until he is right in front of me. My eyes close as he cups my cheek, and I flinch in pain as he softly touches the swelling he finds there.
“Don’t play games with me. I have enough to deal with, Javier,” I warn him, my heart pounding loudly in my ears with every breath I take.
“This isn’t a game, Lexi. You were right, I lied. I lied, and I was a fucking coward, because I should never have left the academy without you at my side. And the wolves too, because they were my people whether they were bastards or not.” I open my eyes in shock, parting my lips, and he doesn’t wait before he kisses me. Oh, holy god, he kisses me. His lips are soft against mine as he takes everything I have, mind, body and soul, in one scorching kiss I know I will never forget. I only flinch when he moves away from my lips and kisses my jaw, his hand cupping the nape of my neck. “I want to take you away from him so he can never hurt you again.”
“How do you even know I would go with you?”
“Because you give too much away with your eyes. I know how you feel, Lexi. I think it’s only you that doesn’t know,” he tells me.
“You are so pig headed that you couldn’t cope with the possibility that I might not like you,” I retort.
“You like me,” he smirks.
“Nope,” I reply.
“Liar,” he replies, and I grin, the grin soon fading as I remember where we are.
“I won’t leave, not without my parents. I can deal with him for another week. That’s all it is,” I say.
“Then what? He won’t just let you go, Lexi. He thinks you are his, and he needs you for the war he is going to start. He is planning it with my father now, and everyone is in danger. I know he will use you to win the war he is going to start,” he tells me. “And I won’t let you be used like that.”
“Morgan is making a plan. He will fight him if it comes to that,” I say. “There won’t be a war. Wait, a war between who?”
“The angels, the ones who banned him from ever returning to heaven. Wait, who is Morgan?” he asks.
“My teacher and—” I pause because I really don’t know how to tell Javier this.
“The angel I can smell all over you, I presume?” Javier asks with anger burning in his eyes, and I nod once. Nodding is really my only response right now. Somehow, I’ve gone from a girl who has never kissed anyone to one who has far more guys interested than I thought possible. Hell, my parents did ask me to date more…though I suspect my line up of guys wasn’t what they were thinking. “Tell him he will have me to help him take Lucifer down…as long as he doesn’t stand in the way of us being together.”
“I will fight him too. I am not weak anymore; my demon is bonding with me, and we are strong,” I tell him. “And how exactly can we be together, Javier? It’s all messed up.”
“It will take more than one angel, one wolf and one nearly complete demon to take down the devil,” he replies, more to himself and ignoring my worry about us being together. Apparently, that isn’t an issue he is concerned about.
“Maybe the sons of the devil himself might help us,” I reply.
“Nikoli and Claus? The ones who left you with their father?” he asks in anger.
“You’re leaving me with him too. Don’t judge them…but maybe Nikoli might help. Claus, I don’t think so…” I drift off, looking away.
“He hurt you?” Javier asks.
“Claus did what he is good at, and he ran away when things got tough. I don’t know why it hurts that he did,” I admit. “But it’s not important right now. What are you going to do? You can’t seriously go through with this mating thing?”
“I am going to go through with it because it won’t work,” he tells me. “Not with anyone but you.”
“What? I don’t understand,” I question, and he looks down at my arm before lifting it up and rolling the sleeve up to reveal the marking. Pleasure bursts through me, strong enough to make my legs wobble as Javier runs a hand over the marking, and it glows green. I look up at Javier as he stares at the marking, an expression I can’t quite read in his eyes just before he looks directly at me. “My wolf chose you as his, this is proof. You are the only mate he will ever want or accept, so it doesn’t matter if I meet a hundred wolves tonight, none of them will be you.”
“Do you choose me though? Or is it just your wolf?” I ask, still feeling breathless and weak kneed. I want to push him onto the sofa and rip off his clothes, and my demon only wants the same. I’ve never felt this…desperate to make sure Javier is mine.
“I will be honest, at first, I was horrified. Never in history has a wolf marked a demon for their own, let alone an alpha’s son. It’s unheard of and dangerous for us both. I knew I marked us both for death if anyone knew…so I thought it would be best for us not to see each other. The ball and Lucifer was just a reason for me to try and push you away and give myself time to figure out what to do. Only, every second I’ve been away from you has been torture. Hurting you with a lie is something I will always be ashamed of. Always. I have no intention of being anything but on your side, Lexi. I promise never to lie to you again, and one more thing,” he adds, pausing and letting go of my hand. He sinks to his knees in front of me and looks up. “I am sorry, so deeply sorry for my actions. Will you forgive me?”
Alpha wolves never say sorry.
He told me that the first day we met.
“I already did,” I admit, kneeling down and wrapping my arms around his neck, resting my head on his forehead as we both sit in silence.
In the darkness of our past, we have found something neither of us are going to give up.
Something not even the devil himself can take away.
Chapter 38
Knock once for hell, two for…
Javier’s hot breath blows against my ear for a moment as he leans back and tilts his head to the side to look at me. I’m pretty sure he is going to kiss me again when the door opens once more, and we jump away from each other, only to sigh in relief when I see it’s Sera. Sera looks between us for a second, a frown on her pretty face, before she runs to me and hugs me as tight as I hug her back.
“I will see you both later. I have to attend the meeting with Lucifer and my father. You have a few hours before he will be back,” Javier says, walking to the door, and I look up at him as he opens it, meeting his gaze and knowing we have a lot of unfinished business. “I made you some cookies, Lexi, your favourites. Bye, and be careful.” With that warning, he walks out and the door slams shut. I lean back, looking over my best friend.
She looks happy, though tired and possibly needs some more sleep. Her wavy brown hair is braided, and s
he is wearing jeans with a white blouse. It looks far better than the uniform she had to wear at the academy.
“How are you here?” I ask her, holding her arms because I don’t want to let go. She frowns and reaches up, not touching my cheek but hovering her hand over it.
“Who did this to you?” she demands.
“Lucifer, and it’s nothing. I’m more interested in how you are here—”
“How is that nothing? Half your face is swollen, Lexi!” she scolds me. Typical Sera, always caring for me, and I honestly love it. I missed her. “I know this place has a medical box. I will be right back.” Before I can tell her not to leave, she runs off into one of the other rooms, and I sink down onto the sofa as I wait for her to come back. My cheek does hurt now she mentions it—seems Javier is a good distraction. Sera comes back and sits on the sofa, turning my face gently towards her before looking through a white box in her hands.
“How are you walking around safely?”
“Javier brought me back to the pack and made it clear that if anyone touches me, including our father, he would kill them. It was pretty terrifying, and I’m sure half the pack nearly wet themselves. Since then, I’ve moved into the pack house in the room next to Javier’s, and for the first time in my life, they are treating me as if I am one of them,” she admits with blushed cheeks. “My father is even talking to me, like nicely. I suspect he missed me, but he won’t actually admit that.”
“You’re safe then,” I say with a sigh of relief. Sera is like the sister I never had, and I honestly don’t think I could cope with losing her.
“Well, until everyone knows about that mark on your arm, yep,” she says, tutting at me as she unscrews a tin. The moment it opens, an ungodly bad smell comes out it. “You had to fall in love with my brother, didn’t you? It had to be complicated to the point of dangerous for us all. I am happy for you, because you and Javier are as stubborn as each other, but this is all levels of scary and unheard of.”
“I don’t even know what to say,” I admit, and she just smiles at me with a long sigh.
“This stuff smells bad, but it works. It will heal your face within the hour,” Sera says, dipping her finger into the red goo and carefully rubbing it on my cheek before I can say no. “God knows what’s going to happen when Javier tells the pack he is in love with you and marked you as his own.”
“He hasn’t said he loves me, and why can’t we keep us a secret? The moment he tells anyone, Lucifer will find out and try to kill him. We have to keep it quiet,” I tell her. “Lucifer is dangerous.”
“But he has to choose a mate soon. Father won’t let him walk out of the ceremony tomorrow without choosing someone,” she tells me, making me worried. “Though Javier is good at sweet talking our father, so he might be able to get out of it.”
“Know anyone that would like to pretend to be his mate for a while?” I ask her. “I mean, just for a week or so until my parents’ trial. After that, we are going to leave, and if Lucifer follows, Morgan, Javier and I will kill him.”
“Morgan? As in the sexy teacher you hate?” she asks with a teasing smile.
“Not so much hate anymore…” I mutter.
“Wow,” she chuckles, and I grin, feeling my cheek less sore already as she gets up and finds a towel to wipe her hands. “I’m seriously happy for you, but I’m worried. No, that’s a lie. I’m downright terrified for you. I don’t want you to die, because you are my sister. Not by blood, but by everything else. You treated me like an actual person when you didn’t have to, and not only that, you were always there for me. We might be different, but you have never made me feel like that. I knew we were going to be family one day even if you didn’t mate with my brother. We have always had this connection, and I never want to see you hurt.”
“I’m not going to die,” I say, although the warning Gabriel gives me flashes into my head for a brief second. “I’m too stubborn to die, and I feel the same way as you do. No matter what, I am your best friend and sister from another mother.”
“I like that saying, it’s cute,” she says with a big smile. “Come on, why don’t I show you around the pack grounds? Sitting in here, talking about possibly dying, isn’t going to make us do anything but worry,” she suggests, though her eyes still hold the fear in them that she doesn’t want me to see. Shame I know her better than she thinks.
“What about the red crap on my face?” I say, and Sera grins as she shakes her head at me.
“All gone. It absorbs into your skin to heal you. Don’t worry,” she says, walking to the door and opening it, holding the door as I walk to her side. Sera automatically goes to walk in front of me as we step outside onto a long wooden porch, and I catch her elbow.
“My best friend walks at my side, not in front,” I gently tell her, and she blushes as she stops and hooks her arm in mine.
“I forget we aren’t at the academy anymore,” she admits, and I pause, looking at the forest around us. The cabin we are in is in its own clearing, with picket fencing surrounding the area. Our limo is parked at the side of the dark wooden cabin which is all one level with several chimneys on the roof and a wraparound porch. I can hear the distant sounds of people and smell smoke in the air, likely from a bonfire.
“You aren’t a slave, and you won’t ever be again,” I tightly say, trying to be happy that she is free, but a tiny part of me is jealous. I want the same freedom she has found; I want more than being at DA. “Honestly, you were part of what kept me sane in DA. Now that you’re gone, I only have a talking cat and moody guys to send me crazy.”
“Wait, talking cat?” she asks, squeezing my arm in shock, and we both pause, staring at each other. “Amethyst talks? Like actually talks to you?”
“Yes, and I swear I’m not crazy. She has talked to me since I got her from a rescue,” I tell her, and it feels good to tell someone about Amethyst. I honestly didn’t think anyone would believe me for a long time, but coming to DA, I’m learning a talking cat really, really isn’t that strange.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks, sounding hurt.
“I thought you’d think I was mad,” I admit.
“You know, Amethyst always confuses me. She isn’t like a familiar, but she is loyal enough to you to know she cares. Then again, she is always leaving your side, whereas familiars usually always want to be with their owner. I’ve seen familiars before, and she really isn’t one. Now you tell me you can hear her talk to you. That is not normal, Lexi,” she tells me. “Plus, familiars have powers, ways to protect and fight beside their owner. Amethyst left you alone with a wolf threatening you, rather than protecting you. It’s weird.”
“Amethyst isn’t normal. By the way, she constantly complains about missing your cooking…and I complain with her,” I try to change the subject as my throat clogs up with fear.
“Be careful around Amethyst, Lexi. If she isn’t your familiar, then she is a magic cat who shouldn’t exist,” she tells me. “And it makes me wonder why she is following around the supposed Queen of Hell. She may be using you for a bigger picture that we can’t see yet.”
“Do you have a library around here? Maybe we can look up talking cat books. I would check the library at DA, but after Morgan said a book killed a student, I’m too scared to open any of the books there,” I try to joke, trying to change the subject once more.
“Lexi, I’m being serious, don’t try to make a joke of this,” she warns me, stepping in front of me and placing her hands on my shoulders. “If Amethyst is dangerous, she lives with you. She could kill you in two seconds flat.”
“I know you are trying to protect me, but I can’t add another thing to my already full plate right now. Amethyst is just my cat, who I love and is all the family I have left if my parents’ trial doesn’t go well. I can’t think about this right now, Sera,” I admit to her, stepping away and shaking my head. Amethyst is just my cat. That’s it.
“I will research what I can and figure it out. It’s going to be okay,” she
says, pulling me into her arms. “Now, for the tour I promised. It will be a good distraction, I promise.” I give her a shaky nod and hug her once more, feeling like I won’t get another chance any time soon.
Chapter 39
A demon and a wolf are drinking in a pub…
After walking down the only pathway to the cabin I am staying in, we come to a village in the middle of the forest, full of wooden cabins of all different levels, all within a circle of the clearing, where the sun is shining down on the tops of the cabins, making the light wood glow a soft brown. I feel like there are a dozen things to look at, from the red pebble pathways to the water fountain I can see at the end of the pathway in front of us, looking like it is in the middle of the village. Of all the cabins, one stands out right at the other side of the village, mainly because the cabin is painted green. It’s much, much bigger than any of the others here, towering over them almost.
“Welcome to the pack. This is the main part of the pack, but to the left are the fields of plants we grow, and to the right is the hunting area, filled with deer and so much more to keep our wolves busy. The alpha’s house is the massive green one you can’t exactly miss; that’s where I’m living, by the way,” she explains to me as I look at the streetlights, the flowers in pots outside the houses, and the general atmosphere of the pack. It’s peaceful and quiet. You’d never know they were wolf shifters and they gave away their bastard children to the devil.
“Seeing as Lucifer is going to be there, we should go somewhere else,” I say, clearing my throat.
“I have the perfect place. I want you to meet someone anyway,” she tells me, nodding her head to the left.
“Let’s go,” I say, patting her hand hooked in my arm. We make it a few steps before a bunch of young kids run into our path, stopping and staring at us.
“Sera, is your friend really a demon?” a little boy of around eight asks, grinning with two teeth missing and two trusting eyes fixed on me and Sera.