by J. E. Taylor
“No. It was the only black outfit I own.” I held the urn so she could see it, and her gaze softened.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for that. April had a field trip this afternoon,” she said. “If Tom had waited until we got back, I could have lent you a dress.” She pressed her lips together and glared at Tom. “How was your day otherwise?” she asked me.
I didn’t know how to articulate the day we’d had. Thankfully Tom crossed to her.
“We need to talk.” He shuffled Bridget into the office, leaving April and me staring after them.
I turned toward April, and her normally bright sunshine of a smile was absent. The seriousness in her expression made me shift my stance. I didn’t know what to do, so I set my mother’s urn down on the table near the door.
April stared at the office doors and cocked her head. Then her gaze turned to mine and her eyes widened. “You went outside, and you weren’t watching your back.”
I had no idea how she knew, but I couldn’t deny it. Especially after her warning. A warning that hadn’t even entered my mind after taking that grueling test. “Yes. And your cousin paid the price.”
Her eyes darkened in a way I never would have fathomed. The office door burst open a moment later, and both Tom and Bridget stared at their daughter. April’s eyes turned nearly black.
“Remember when I told you York would burn?” she asked, staring at her father.
He nodded slowly, all the color in his face drained.
“The whole world will burn if he isn’t stopped.” April’s eyes rolled in her head, and she started to fall in a dead faint.
Her progression to the floor stopped before she connected with the hard wood, and her body lifted, drifting to the couch. Tom and Bridget were by her side in a flash, and I just stood still in the foyer next to my mother’s urn.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood in limbo, but my nerves started to pulse, and my chest tightened the way it always did before a panic attack started. I wasn’t sure what was happening to me. Black edged my vision, and I tried to blink it away. When the edges turned red like someone had poured fresh blood over me, I shivered.
The door opened behind me, and I turned, welcoming the break of whatever had gripped me. Alex’s bright blue eyes met mine. His gaze slowly dropped down the length of me, and the salacious grin that formed made me even more nervous than I already was.
CJ followed him inside and slapped the back of Alex’s head. “Clean up your thoughts, boy.”
I escaped Alex’s scrutiny, sliding into the family room where April was just coming to.
“Something has happened,” CJ said as he stepped into the doorway.
Tom looked up at his brother. “I felt it, too.” He glanced beyond CJ. “Where’s Valerie and the girls?”
“She needed to change and call Austin and Paige before she came. They all should be here momentarily.”
“Felt what?” I asked when my brain caught up to the conversation.
“The darkness,” April whispered. She blinked her eyes and sat up.
Alex crossed the room and stepped behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck. “You didn’t feel it?”
His breath tickled my neck, and despite how being wrapped in his arms felt like coming home, I didn’t appreciate the display in front of his father and Tom and Bridget.
“What are you doing?” I whispered and looked at him sideways.
“Saying hello.” He acted as if invading my personal space was the most natural thing in the world.
CJ cleared his throat. “Boundaries?”
“Pft.” Alex didn’t’ let go. “She doesn’t mind.”
I glanced back at him.
“You don’t, right?” His forehead creased.
“It makes me a little uncomfortable, especially in front of your parents.”
“Oh.” He let go and stepped to my side, threading his fingers through mine. “Better?”
I squeezed his hand and nodded. I would have to remember that he had no real sense of improper behavior anymore, or if he did, he didn’t heed whatever mental warning came with having a soul.
The squeak of the front door silenced the room. When a dark-haired woman and a taller sandy-haired man walked in the living room, the woman’s gaze jumped to mine. Her tense features relaxed into a smile.
“You’re Faith, right?” She crossed to me and put out her hand. “I’m Paige.”
I released Alex’s hand and shook hers.
She didn’t release mine right away, instead she inspected the glove. “I hope these helped. I wasn’t sure if the dampening spell would be enough.”
“They work fine,” I said.
“Well, if you need more, let me know.”
“She will need more,” Tom said and stood. “Bri washed a pair and Grace stole the other one, so that’s it.”
The front door opened and closed once more, this time followed by the fast patter of feet. I knew even before the twins slid into the room who they were. With all the people in the room, it felt more crowded than the mortuary had.
The squeak of the door sounded once more, and Tom spun towards the hall. His features became guarded, and I tensed in response. I didn’t know what to expect, but a petite blonde stepped into view with a baby strapped to her chest. The room hushed. I understood a moment later when the spitting image of Gabriel walked in behind her.
It was so quiet you could hear the ice machine dropping cubes in the kitchen.
“Well, I haven’t had this kind of reception in years,” the woman said.
Tom pressed his lips together and shot a glare at CJ. “Kylee, Michael, Page, Austin, this is Faith.” He waved at me. “Everyone else has already met her.”
They nodded in my direction.
“Have you been home?” Tom asked Michael.
“No, why?” Michael said.
Tom ran his hand down his face and glanced at me, but before he could tell Michael there was no home to go to anymore, CJ spoke up.
“I figured I would get everyone together and go through this once,” he said. “Please sit.” He waved toward the couches.
I remained in place and leaned against the pool table. Alex stayed by my side and clasped my hand in his as everyone else settled on the couches.
“Are we going to wait for the rest of my family?” Michael asked.
“No, we aren’t,” CJ said.
Michael jumped to his feet, and his eyes shifted between CJ and the door like he was going to bolt at any moment.
CJ put his hands out. “They are okay. Just sit.” He waited until Michael lowered back onto the couch. “There was a… situation.”
“Does it have to do with the devil’s daughter?” Michael snapped and waved at me.
CJ glanced at Valerie and then at Alex. “She was involved. Yes. But only because Grace went off the reservation. She hasn’t been right for a while, and bringing Faith here just seemed to push her off balance in the worst of ways. Because of Grace’s actions, your mother’s house burned to the ground.”
He blinked and then turned a glare in my direction. I shifted under his dark stare.
“Grace was a total fucking cunt,” Alex said, and everyone’s gaze jumped to him. “She’s gone dark.”
I jerked away from him, shocked by his vulgar language. I wasn’t the only one. Everyone in the room sported the same open-mouthed look of surprise.
CJ’s face reddened. “Language,” he snarled with his jaw tight.
Valerie blinked a few times, and then she looked at her husband. “What’s wrong with Alex?” she said with a voice that shook.
“Grace made a deal with a soul eater,” CJ said.
“Why?” Valerie asked.
“Because she said you can’t have a soulmate when you don’t have a soul,” Alex said with such venom, I shrank away from him. “She was dead wrong.” He raised our clasped hands.
“He doesn’t…” Valerie began, and then she covered her mouth.
�
��Grace let those things take most of my soul today. And then she tried to kill Faith, but Faith defended both of us, and got us the hell out of Naomi’s panic room before we died.” Alex’s grip on my hand tightened with each word.
Michael crossed his arms. “Is she controlling you?” He nodded towards me.
“No. She isn’t.” Alex squeezed again, but loosened his grip when I winced. I could feel the build up of anger through the connection between us. “Your sister made it so I can only feel two distinct emotions. The rest are gone. One minute I was me, and the next…” He snapped his fingers. “Can you guess what she left me with?”
“Anger,” Tom said.
“And desire,” CJ added.
“And I only feel when I’m around Faith. When I’m away from her, I’m an empty wasteland. So, when you see your sister, tell her I said thanks. Thanks for stealing my compassion. My humanity. And if I ever see her again, I will kill her.”
I tried to pull my hand away, but he clamped down harder.
“You can also tell her, whatever she did had zero effect on what my heart wants. So, she failed.” Alex glanced at me and slowly loosened his grip.
His blue irises sparked with both emotions, and they traveled into his fingertips, transferring into me like some mystical connection between us. I needed him to dampen my fire abilities, and he needed me to feel human emotions.
God help us both.
“And Fate can’t retrieve his soul?” Kylee asked. As if on cue, the image of Fate appeared from a swirl of smoke near Kylee.
“It’s not that simple,” Fate said.
“Doesn’t the soul eater pass through Purgatory?” Kylee pushed.
“They were already escorted to their destination.” Fate glanced at the ground before sending her sharp stare at CJ and Tom. “If you had told me right away, I possibly could have intervened, but now…”
“But there is a way?” Valerie interjected, her eyes begging for the answer she wanted.
“No. Not without releasing every monster imaginable from hell, and I can’t do that.”
“There has to be a way.” Valerie bit her lip and glanced at Alex.
“I’m afraid what was taken is gone,” Fate said and gave Valerie’s hand a squeeze.
“I’m still me,” Alex said, irritation flushing his voice as well as his cheeks. “Albeit with zero filter, but it’s still me in here, so stop looking at me like I’m already dead.”
Valerie recoiled, blinked like salt had gotten into her eyes. “I’m… I’m sorry.”
“Give her a break. She just found out her son’s soul was severely depleted,” I muttered in Alex’s ear.
He nodded and gave me a sideways look that nearly scalded my insides.
“Do you have heaven’s blade?” Fate asked Kylee.
Kylee’s head jerked back. “That exists?”
“Yes, and she is going to need it,” Fate said, pointing at me. “If Tom can’t give her Lucifer’s grace…” Her lips pinched together. “Then that knife is the only thing that can stop Armageddon.”
The color in Tom and Bridget’s faces drained, and April’s chin quivered. A shiver started at the base of my neck and cascaded down to my toes. I didn’t realize I was shaking until Alex pulled me into his arms.
He still had the seeds of compassion inside him, or otherwise he would have just let me fall to pieces right then and there. I knew what was coming, even though I didn’t want to hear the words. I started out of the room with Alex on my heels, but I wasn’t fast enough.
“The breach is weakening.” Fate’s words followed me into the hall.
I let go of Alex’s hand and ran. I couldn’t get up the stairs fast enough, and I then threw myself face first on my bed. People were going to die, all because of my weird time travel.
The mattress depressed next to me, and I looked over my shoulder. I already knew who it was because of the calm that seemed to blanket me, but it didn’t stop the tingle over my skin when our eyes met.
Alex smiled, and his hand drifted from my calf up my leg.
I rolled to my side and batted his hand away. “Stop.”
His smile faded. “You can’t stand to be near me anymore.”
I closed my eyes and fell onto my back, covering my face. “Not true. You just have to be patient with me.” I moved my hands down so I could see his face. Just staring in his eyes flushed my skin. “I still feel the electricity.”
The crease of concern between his eyes smoothed, but his expression remained serious. “I’m not okay. I know I should be afraid, but I’m not. The only instinct I have is to protect you.”
I sat up and took his hands. “That’s sweet, but in case you didn’t notice, I can protect myself.”
He barked a laugh. “No, you can’t. You don’t have mastery over your fire. You need to have that before I will believe you can take care of yourself. Until then, I’m at your side. And I need you to keep me grounded. You. Not my parents.” His hand drifted to my thigh. “Grounded and in line.” His fingers walked higher, and he looked at me and licked his lips.
I grabbed his wrist when he reached mid thigh.
“Aren’t you the least bit curious?”
“No. I’m not ready for all the repercussions that come with it.” My heart galloped in my chest. “Besides, we have only known each other for what, two days?”
His smile softened. “But you are my soulmate.”
I brought his fingers to my lips. “But I’d like to be friends, too, before we go down that road.”
He blinked and sighed. “The old me would have been cool with that no matter how disappointing those words are.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “What if when you get to know me, you don’t like this version of me?”
I looked at the floor. I didn’t have an answer for him.
He tilted my chin back up and planted a soft kiss. “When I kiss you, I can feel my soul flare. I feel whatever emotion I had for you before Grace tried to take it away,” he whispered against my lips. Then he continued the kiss, and when I opened my mouth to protest, the swipe of his tongue silenced me.
My soul screamed for him. The connection was as solid and complete as the fire locked within me. My need for him terrified me, and I pulled away. I went to stand, and he stood with me.
He pushed me against the wall and crushed my lips with his. His fingers dug into my waist, and an animalistic growl came from him.
The feel of his weight against me ignited my own desire. We fit with one another. Ying and yang despite the loss of most of his soul. We still molded to each other in all the right ways, and all the right places. When his hands slid under my shirt and slid up my sides, I pressed my palms on his chest, and pushed gently enough to break the kiss.
He didn’t seem deterred. He stared into my eyes as if we were the only beings on the planet.
“Alex.”
“My first name is actually Ty. I’d like you to call me by my first name.”
Something about the name triggered a heat so all consuming that I nearly lost all sense.
His hands slid higher, and my brain kicked back into control.
“Stop… Ty,” I whispered and moved my arms over his in an attempt to stop his progression.
He actually shivered when I whispered his name. The slow grin that surfaced along with the spark in his eyes weakened my knees, and I wasn’t sure I could really say no to him. Not with that consuming look in his eyes.
“But I don’t want to,” he said and leaned in for another kiss.
“You better before I launch you across the room,” Tom snarled from the doorway.
I jerked at his voice. Alex never looked away from me, although his hands did stop their upward movement, and he paused just before his lips met mine. His thumbs caressed the skin right below the fabric of my bra, sending a web of goose flesh over my arms.
“Ty Alexander Ryan, step away from Faith.” CJ stepped into sight behind Tom. His voice was less menacing and sterner than Tom’s.
The heat inside me turned to icy mortification, and I pushed at Alex’s arms.
Alex turned to his uncle and his father, pulled his hands out from under my shirt, and stepped away with his hands up. He looked squarely at Tom. “You really shouldn’t be one to give dating advice. From what I’ve heard, you were quite the stud in high school.” He cocked his head, challenging Tom.
“Enough, Alex,” CJ said, but his admonishment didn’t stop Tom’s face from going beet red.
“It’s a real good thing that you are my nephew, because that would have earned you a black eye if you were anyone else.” Tom stepped into the room, crowding Alex.
Alex stood his ground. There wasn’t a hint of fear or regret in his frank stare, but I held enough of both for the two of us.
“Alex,” I whispered, and he raised an eyebrow. “Fine. Ty. Stop this.”
“You can’t use that name,” CJ said, glaring at his son.
Alex laughed. “You’re the one who gave me that name. It’s clearly printed on my birth certificate, so I have every right to be called by my first name if I choose.”
CJ’s lips pressed together, and he and Tom exchanged a glance. “You’ve always been Alex to us.”
“Well, I want her to call me by my first name,” he said and pointed at me.
“Why?” CJ asked.
Alex crossed his arms. “Because hearing it actually makes me feel something. And I like that feeling.”
“What it makes you feel is not appropriate for a sixteen-year-old boy.”
Alex laughed. “So, you are going to stand here and tell me you didn’t experience the same things at my age?”
“No. But I didn’t act on it at sixteen,” CJ said. He glanced at me and then back to his son.
Tom kept his mouth shut and looked out the window. “Why don’t you two come back downstairs and help us all figure out the next step.” He met my gaze. “That isn’t a request, either.”
That was the last place I wanted to be with everyone staring at me with an accusing eye.
“They don’t blame you,” Tom said to me. “Michael is just coming to terms with the fact his sister has chosen a path he doesn’t agree with, and it’s easier to place the blame on someone he just met than on his sister.”