Cursing myself, I scrambled up and around Gideon to get to Lex.
His attention remained glued on Gideon until I reached his side. “You should go.”
I barely recognized the cool distance in his eyes. I wasn’t an idiot. I had a good idea of what was going through his head. But I was innocent. Kind of. “Let me explain.”
“Not necessary.” He slid an arm around my waist, steering me out the den. Once we were in the foyer, his arm dropped away.
“Lex,” I tried again. “That wasn’t what…” I trailed off as he strode ahead to open the front door wide, clearly not interested in anything I had to say. “Can we at least talk about this?”
“I told you, it isn’t necessary.” He leant a shoulder against the door frame. “Please?” he ground out.
Fine.
Whatever.
I meant to march straight past him, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t leave us like this. I paused on the threshold, tipping my chin to catch his eye, but he avoided my gaze like the plague.
He’d shut me out.
Completely shut me down.
He looked like he had a dozen important worries on his mind, not one of them about me.
I was just the girl he was desperate to usher out the door.
“You know what?” I muttered, storming away from him and down the driveway. “Forget it!”
3
LEX
Tension pulled at every muscle I possessed as I watched Sage walk away from me.
She threw me one last thunderous look that rivalled the storm clouds darkening above before she climbed behind the wheel. I was surprised she didn’t flip me the bird. I was going to pay for this, but I was too angry, too damn scared, to discuss anything with her right now. I didn’t even know what that conversation would look like. I wouldn’t know until I’d had this out with Gideon.
I watched as she over-revved her cherry red Fiesta and sped off. You had to admire her commitment to a furious exit. And that sweet, puckered mouth. Those warm brown eyes. The list went on.
She was breath-stealing.
Intoxicating.
She’d had me the moment she’d uttered those three little words with her soft, silken laugh. Angel, sin and serpent.
She was my angel. She was my sin. Right then and there, I’d known she was going to be the fucking end of me.
My jaw ached from grinding my back teeth as I slammed the door and returned to the den to confront Gideon.
He was lounging on the couch, one leg squared over the other, an arm draped along the armrest. He smiled lazily as he marked my approach. If you didn’t know Gideon, you’d think he didn’t have a care in the world.
I knew him.
I threw myself down on the couch across from him. “What the hell were you doing with Sage?”
He drummed his fingers, studying me. “Not much.”
“You were compelling her.”
“Puppy commands,” he said dismissively. “I was interrupted before I got to the good stuff.”
My stomach fisted. Gideon could be a soulless bastard when he wanted, but he never abused his power for the sheer hell of it. And while there wasn’t a lot that scared me, Gideon on a mission made the cut.
I’d known something was up when he rocked up out of the blue this morning.
Now I knew that something was Sage.
I leant forward, elbows digging into my knees. “Spit it out.”
“You’re not going to like it,” he warned with a smirk.
I said nothing.
He drew out a sigh of the eternally bored. “I was about to compel her to stay away from you.”
“Since when do you give a shit about my love life?”
“Sage Daniels isn’t your love life,” he informed me like an audio instruction manual. “She’s just your latest hard on.”
I schooled my expression, playing his game for now. “Why would you want her to stay away from me?”
“Because it would be a bad, a very bad idea,” he stressed, “for either of you to start thinking you have feelings for each other.”
“You can’t compel feelings,” I said, suddenly not sure. Gideon wasn’t your run of the mill warlock. He was the Moon Heir. “Definitely not an emotion as strong as love?”
“You think she loves you?”
“I think it’s none of your damn business,” I shot back. “Why don’t you answer the question?”
“Whether I’m strong enough to compel emotions?” His brow quirked. “None of your damn business.”
My jaw tensed. This conversation was going about as well as I’d imagined it would. Nothing was ever straightforward with Gideon.
“Of course I can’t,” he surprised me by relenting. “Have you forgotten everything they taught you in Warlock 101? No one, not even me, can bend the rules of magic.”
I fell back against the couch again, shoving a hand through my hair, trying to clear my head so I could think straight. “Then what—”
“Stay away from her before your heart starts playing tricks on you and we have nothing to worry about,” he cut in with a slow drawl.
“Is this why you drove all the way down from Philly?” I said, unamused. He’d driven through the night to get here. I had a shitload to worry about. “To spare me the tragedy of falling for a local girl? Was that your idea or Callum’s?”
“My father has nothing to do with any of this,” Gideon said, his voice sharpening. “He doesn’t know I’m here. He doesn’t know you’re here. Let’s make sure it stays that way.”
Gideon had asked me to stay under the radar when he sent me here, but he couldn’t compel my absolute obedience. Compulsion didn’t work on Eclipse Warlocks. My magic had manifested at sixteen like everyone else in our coven. My powers may be piss poor, a fact unlikely to change since I had no intention of invoking, but I was still an Eclipse Warlock.
Gideon watched me, waiting for my response, the look in his eye dead serious now. We were done playing games.
Frankly, his actions surprised me, that he was capable of defying his father. If that’s what this was. The Crest family had ruled the Moon coven for generations. His grandfather. Now his father. Gideon was next in line and there’s one sure thing about warlocks, especially powerful ones—they’re fucking devoted. Coven. Cause. Family and loved ones. In that order. To the exclusion of all else.
The more powerful the magic in their blood, the stronger their devotion.
Our scripts called it Duty Bound.
I called it obsessive. Then again, I didn’t have a fraction of the kind of power that Gideon had running through his veins. Magic wasn’t my life, it was something I had to live with.
But there was something I did have that ran strong and true through my blood. Gideon. He was my brother in every sense except biology. Even on his worst day, I trusted him with my life.
“I haven’t made contact with anyone and I don’t intend to,” I promised him. “Now do you want to tell me what’s going on and what Sage has to do with it?”
He scrubbed his jaw, searching my face for a full minute before he said, “She’s an Eclipse.”
My heartbeat stilled, stunned. “Moon or Sun?”
“Not a warlock,” Gideon said. “An Eclipse.”
I stared at him blankly, my head refusing to wrap around that.
An Eclipse.
A bridge.
The one who walks between.
The Holy fucking Grail.
“No.” I cleared my throat. “There haven’t been rumors of any Eclipses for over a century.”
“Doesn’t mean they’re not out there.”
“Out there.” Not here. “And I just happened to stumble across her …”
Right. Of course I hadn’t just stumbled across anything.
Gideon confirmed, “Why do you think I sent you here to the ass end of nowhere?”
“You found her,” I said grimly, my throat dry, that fist grinding into my stomach again. The question wasn’t what he had p
lanned for her. It was when. “Gideon, you can’t do it. I won’t let you.”
“I don’t plan on doing anything.” Bringing his squared leg flat to the ground, Gideon sat forward, hitting me with a hard look. “She’s not for me, you idiot.”
The fucking penny finally fucking dropped. “That is not happening.”
“And I’m not having this discussion while your boy hormones are in a twist,” he said. “Stay away from the lovely Sage and we’ll talk again. Meanwhile, I’ve got an actual problem to deal with.” His mouth kicked into a grin. “We have a demon in town.”
4
SAGE
@hawk
No idea what just happened.
I wasn’t going to cry about a boy I’d met three days ago.
Lex and I—none of it felt completely real anyway. The irresistible draw, the karmic harmony, the perfect kiss, last night…
It read like a fairytale and my life was anything but.
Still, it had been nice.
While it lasted.
@hawk
I blame Gideon Crest. The guy’s a walking cliché. Sinfully Sexy = Arrogant Asshole.
The heavens finally broke in a torrential downpour during the lunch rush hour. After that, there were no more tables to turn over, just customers dragging out their orders over desserts and Irish Coffees and glasses of wine while they waited for the weather to clear. Which made for a long, slow afternoon with too few distractions since Haley wasn’t working today.
I gossiped with (sorry, trained) the new hire, Brenda Allenby. We knew each other from school, although she’d been a year above me and we hadn’t run in the same circles. I learnt she’d just done her first year at Nottingham College and it was a riot. Hmm… Really?
I reorganized the supply cupboard and repacked the condiment baskets and updated the inventory on Sandy’s prehistoric computer in the back office. I did everything I could to not think about Lex, and I didn’t, but he was still there, a persistent fly buzzing against the window I refused to open.
@hawk
Nottingham will be a riot.
Nottingham will be a riot.
Nottingham will be a riot.
I said it three times.
I kicked my heels together.
Doesn’t make it true.
On the way home after my shift, I stopped by The Studio and signed me, Haley and Kenzie up for bi-weekly Beginner’s Yoga classes. I could just imagine what Haley would have to say about it. This is exactly the kind of shit you do when you’re bored. She may be right.
I whittled down the next hours with George Ezra blasting through the house, swaying my hips and crooning out the lyrics while I cooked up a massive batch of spicy tomato sauce from scratch. The bulk of it went into containers for the freezer. I boiled penne pasta to go with my sauce and sat down with Netflix to eat.
Then it was time to get ready for my night. A long shower and a short, floaty skirt, cropped knee suede wedge boots and a chiffon halter neck that fell open down my spine. I rarely put in the effort, but I needed the boost today and this outfit could make any girl feel like a million sexy dollars.
I was just applying some lip gloss when Grant texted to let me know he was outside. I slid my phone into a dainty purse and hurried out the door.
The rain had petered out to a drizzle whipped about on humid gusts of wind. Smoothing my hair back into a handheld ponytail to prevent an epic hair fail, I dashed down the path and bundled myself into the passenger side of his jeep. “Hey.”
Grant lazed back against his door, one brow creeping up beneath the blond locks falling over his forehead. “You look smoking hot.”
“Why, thank you!” I grinned. “I feel smoking hot.”
He kept looking, drumming a thumb on the wheel.
“What?”
“It’s just…” He grinned like a devil who’d just stolen a soul. “I can’t remember when I last saw you all dressed up. Does this have something to do with Lex?”
“Lex who?” I bit back sharply.
“Ouch.” His grin shrugged slowly off his face as he sat forward. A moment later we were pulling away from the curb. “So…” He glanced at me. “That guy in the woods, that was sick shit, huh? You dealing okay?”
“Your father told you they suspect suicide,” I surmised from his sudden tenterhooks.
“He didn’t,” Grant said soberly, “but it’s all over town.”
Of course someone leaked it. “Do you also know he supposedly died the night before we found him?”
Grant stabbed me with a what-the-fuck look that slipped out his mouth when he realized we’d veered into the oncoming lane. He yanked the wheel and pumped the brakes for the approaching crossroad. “Jesus, that means—”
“Can we please talk about something else?” I cut him off. “Literally anything else.”
He snuck me an understanding grimace that quickly evolved into a teasing smile. “Anything on your mind that is safe to talk about?”
The subject of him and Kenzie leapt to the forefront, but that might be a tad hypocritical seeing as how I’d shut him down cold on Lex. Nothing wrong with a shot from the side, though. “Are we picking up Kenzie?”
“Are we?” he asked, idling at the stop sign, watching me and waiting, as if I was the one having a scene with her.
How the hell was I supposed to know the dynamics of their summer fling? I delved into my purse for my phone and sent Kenzie a text.
Her reply was instant. “Already here with Haley, waiting on your bitch asses,” I read out.
“Cool.” He hooked a left onto Main and kept his eyes trained on the road.
The Barn was a converted warehouse on the outskirts of town, part nightclub, part pool hall. The bouncer, Jeremy Littleton, who also worked as a mechanic at Auto-Repair, greeted us by name as we gave him our wrists for the underage stamp. Of all the little things, that sent my thoughts into a downward spiral.
Someone has a fake ID.
You don’t?
The look shared between us across the picnic space we’d made on my lounge floor. I wouldn’t normally be encouraging bad behavior. The glint in his honeyed eyes suggesting otherwise as his mouth inched closer and closer... my stomach pinched with anger and regret, and something else I couldn’t name.
I shut it out.
All of it.
Inside, The Barn was running on empty. To my left, I counted maybe two dozen people losing themselves to electronic hip hop beneath the strobe lights. A handful clustered around the bar. It was easy enough to spot Haley and Kenzie on one of the soft couches by the pool tables.
Losing Grant along the way to a dart challenge game with some of his fellow Black Horns, I flopped onto the couch between my friends. “This place is dead.”
“You missed all the excitement,” Kenzie drawled. “Here, I saved one.”
She reached for a scroll tucked between the cushions and dropped it on my lap. My mouth twitched as the flyer unrolled over silhouette figures dancing around bold statements.
Free Music
Free Booze
Free Your Mind
“Some dude dropped these off a short while ago,” Haley supplied.
“More like rained them down on us,” Kenzie said. “You should have seen the show. He came in with a stack of flyers and a freaking leaf blower. It was awesome.”
Venue: Pottridge Field (an abandoned airstrip not far from here.)
When? Now and Forever.
“How did he get past Jeremy?” I wanted to know. “And we are going, right?”
“Don’t know, and hell no,” Kenzie said. “Jeremy called it in as soon as the guy left. That party is going to be so busted and I’ve had my quota of run-ins with the Sheriff for this week.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
“You look stunning, by the way,” she added, and nudged my shoulder. “Does this mean the delicious Lex will be joining us?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” I slid lower into the couch. “But I did s
ign us up for Yoga classes. Monday and Thursday at 9am sharp. Bring your inner calm and don’t be late.”
Haley groaned. “This is exactly the kind of shit you do when you’re avoiding.”
I sent her a sly smile. “I know you so well. Except I’m not avoiding.” I flipped a hand up, studying my nails. “I’m bored.”
“The last time you were ‘bored’,” Kenzie air-quoted, “we landed up with green belts in Krav Maga.”
I gave her a look. “And that’s a bad thing?”
She shrugged grumpily, a Kenzie specialty that came bundled with a pout and a hair toss.
“Come on,” I wheedled, glancing from her to Haley. “It will be fun.”
“At least you give your crazy a healthy outlet,” Haley conceded.
“Speaking of ‘bored’…” Kenzie’s eyes tracked across the room, taking mine with her.
Lex, weaving a path through the Perspex poseur tables and high stools between us and the dance floor.
He shoved a hand through his waves of honey hair and kept it there, his square jaw flexed to granite as his gaze latched on me.
My pulse spiked. I squashed that before it grew wings, flat-lined my heartbeat until it was deader that this club. I had some serious talent when it came to deleting boys who treated me like shit, raging hormones be damned.
By the time Lex stopped in front of me, I had cool disinterest plastered all over me.
Haley gave him a small wave.
Kenzie beamed him a smile. “The night just got interesting.”
“Haley, Kenzie,” he greeted them with a sober grimace before his attention rooted on me. “Can we talk?”
Now he wanted to talk? “I can’t imagine what there is to say.”
“Um…” Kenzie popped to her feet and leaned across me to grab Haley’s hand, hauling her off. “There’s a pool table with our name on it.”
Traitors.
Lex stood there, drowning me with those gorgeous, soul-searching eyes.
I blinked long and hard and came up for air, averting my gaze for good measure. If Lex was waiting for an invitation to sit, he was fresh out of luck. “How did you know I was here?”
“Gideon.”
My note. So he had read the other side before his childish song and dance. And he’d passed the message on. Thump. That was the sound of my jaw hitting the floor.
Torment: Dark Paranormal Romance (Eclipse Warlocks Book 1) Page 5