by J. E. Taylor
Alex took those down to the car for me, and I stepped into April’s room. She had two suitcases out on the bed and was standing in front of her closet like a lost deer.
“Show me your favorite outfit?” I asked.
She turned to me, blinking as if I had just pulled her from a stupor. This time when she turned to the closet, she grabbed three dresses and two pairs of sandals and dumped them into the suitcase. I grabbed a pair of bright cowboy boots that looked awesome with jeans and put them next to her suitcase.
April gathered her favorite outfits from her drawers as well as at least a week’s worth of undergarments and stuffed them into the suitcase. The pile was so high, I doubted she would be able to close the thing, but she managed to. Then she did the same with the other one. Since she already had two overstuffed bags, she grabbed her little overnight bag and went into the bathroom to pack up her toiletries.
Instead of waiting for her to finish, I trotted down to Bridget’s room. She sat on the edge of her bed in the same near-catatonic state that I had found April in. I crossed toward her and took her hand. Whatever had clouded her mind cleared as she met my gaze.
Her chin trembled, and she bit her bottom lip. “He offered me a life with Tom’s likeness…”
I swallowed hard at the longing in her eyes. “At what price?”
A tear crested and slipped down her cheek, and she squeezed my hand. “He said he would spare April,” she whispered and reached out. Her hand covered my heart as another tear slipped down her cheek.
“No!”
We both turned toward April’s harsh tone.
She glared at her mother. “That would be against everything Dad stood for, and his sacrifice would have been for nothing. Put the knife down. Now.” April’s hair blew in a non-existent breeze, and thunder cracked outside the window.
My gaze snapped to Bridget’s other hand. A sharp butcher knife gleamed in the light.
Bridget glanced at it, too. For the first time since I’d stepped in the house, Bridget’s thoughts and emotions bubbled up to the surface where I could hear them.
I tried to pull out of her grip, but she held tight and raised the blade. Heat engulfed my hands, and I clenched my free fist so the fire wouldn’t get away from me.
She cried out, but didn’t break her grasp.
I didn’t want to hurt her. Despite the conflict in her eyes, I knew she didn’t really want to hurt me, either. She wasn’t in control, and I had a fleeting moment to wonder if perhaps Grace was being manipulated by the master puppeteer himself.
“Mom, stop!”
I put my arm up to block the blow, but before the metal hit my flesh, the knife flew out of her grip and embedded into the wall.
Another clap of thunder sounded. I ripped my hand from Bridget’s, closing my fist as flames licked my fingers.
Alex stood beyond April, his eyes as wide as hers.
Bridget slumped down on the bed and her mind went blank.
I turned back to her and then looked at Alex and April. “Get her to the car. I’ll pack some things for her.”
They both hustled across the room and did as I directed. I grabbed the suitcases in the closet and packed some things for Bridget. I stopped and stared at the laundry basket. The flannel shirt Tom had worn a couple days ago sat on top. After a moment, I grabbed that and added it to the mix in the suitcases.
Alex met me at the top of the stairs and took the bags from me. Without a word, he led me outside, threw the bags into the car, and then slid into the driver’s seat. CJ headed back to his car.
I stopped. Rain poured on the driveway a few feet away from where the cars sat. I was perfectly dry, and so was the walkway to the front door. I turned toward the road, and rain bounced off the pavement. I glanced at CJ and he shrugged.
The sky had been clear when we arrived. So clear that I could see the Big Dipper as we drove across town. I glanced towards the woods that had been burning when I went inside. Steam rose from the dampened fire.
I opened the passenger door and climbed inside the car.
The minute CJ’s barrier came down, rain pelted the cars, but by the time we turned the corner, the rain stopped. I glanced out the back window at the solid curtain of rain and then the clear sky out the front window.
A sensation tickled my mind, and I turned back. The rain trickled to a stop as if someone in heaven had turned off the faucet. I blinked and settled back in the seat as we followed CJ back home.
Bridget stirred as we pulled to a stop outside the garage, but her thoughts were just static, like an old car radio out of range from any signal. I didn’t know if her mind was still compromised. I grabbed my bags out of the trunk and went inside the family room with Alex and April.
Bridget was the only one under CJ’s roof who wasn’t of angel blood, and for some reason, that made me uncomfortable. Especially in light of her warped thought process just before she’d tried to kill me.
“Is it okay if I clean up?” I asked CJ and Valerie. I stood near the cracked garage door with my bags.
“That’s fine.” CJ looked from me to Alex. “Put her in your room. You’ll sleep downstairs with the girls.”
Alex took my bags and headed upstairs. I followed as Bridget stumbled into the house, looking like my mother had after she’d had too much to drink.
“What happened?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.
“You tried to kill her, Mom,” April said.
I didn’t wait to hear the rest, not with the tears stinging my eyes.
Alex put my bags down and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my temple and held me at arm’s length.
“How did you do all that?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“The cars? The rain? The knife at Bridget’s house?”
“That wasn’t me,” I said, but even as the words escaped my lips, doubt laced my mind. Hadn’t I wished for rain to douse the fire? The cars were just a protective reflex. I couldn’t explain the knife, except I knew I didn’t want to hurt Bridget.
Alex let go of me, crossed his arms, and raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“If it was me, I have no idea what I did. Where are the towels?” I asked to change the subject.
“The closet in the bathroom has bath towels and different shampoos inside.”
I turned and headed into the bathroom, then closed the door on any more conversation. I found the towels and set a couple on the floor near the tub before I peeled my tacky clothing off and piled it neatly on the closed lid of the toilet. Then I stepped into the tub.
The first spray of water was frigid, and I clamped my mouth closed on a yelp. I forced myself to remain under the stream and was rewarded with the slow warming of the water. When it started to sting, I dialed it back a fraction to a comfortable heat and just stood under the spray until the water at my feet ran clear. I didn’t realize how much blood had seeped under my shirt.
I scrubbed my skin, trying to reconcile all that I had seen tonight. The shower lulled me into an exhausted stupor. By the time I finished, the pads covering the bites I had gotten from Grace a few days ago were soaked through. After I lathered my hair and rinsed, and then just stood under the water until I was sure I would collapse if I didn’t get out and get to a bed.
With my hair wrapped in a towel and my body dried the best I could, I wrapped a second towel around my chest, tucking it in place. The drenched gauze over my stitches peeled off easily, and I threw them away before I picked up my soiled clothing. I stepped across the hall into the room, ignoring the chatter downstairs.
The hall light illuminated the room, and I crossed to the desk and placed my bloodied outfit onto the chair. Alex had laid out a nightgown and underwear on the bed, and the rest of my clothing was neatly stacked on the desk.
For someone without most of his soul, he sure was a sweetheart. I towel dried my hair and grabbed the brush he also had put on the desk. I ran the brush through my hair, wincing at the new aches and pains coming to the surface now
that every ounce of adrenaline had been tapped.
“You need help?”
I hadn’t heard him come into the room. I hadn’t even heard his thoughts among the din filling my head.
Alex closed the door and crossed to me, then took the brush from my hand.
“You did all this?” I waved at my unpacked belongings.
“I figured if I didn’t, you would just do a faceplant on the bed in a towel.”
He wasn’t wrong, but the fact that I was only in a towel and he was less than two feet away from me heated my skin more than the shower had. When he stepped behind me and gently ran the brush through my hair, I thought I was in heaven for a moment.
“Why didn’t you kill him tonight?” he asked after a few minutes of bliss.
“He was wearing a necklace that contained your soul.”
His gentle stroking stopped, and he stepped to my side, hooked his finger under my chin, and turned my head so I met his gaze. “Next time, even if he is wearing my soul, you take the shot. Understand?” His blue eyes blazed through me.
I glanced away.
“Faith.”
I looked back at him and pointed to the rest of my matted hair. He obliged, but this time his strokes weren’t nearly as gentle.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked as he continued to take his frustrations out on the knots in the tangled mess on my head.
He didn’t answer until he finished and set the brush on the table. He moved in front of me and cupped my shoulders tenderly.
“Yes and no.” He glanced down at the towel between us and reached for the edge that was tucked in.
I covered his hand, acutely aware of the desire brewing inside him. “I’m not ready.”
He stepped closer and leaned down, then pressed his lips to mine.
Damn. The boy’s kiss clouded my judgement enough for my hand to loosen, and the towel slipped between us. His arms wrapped around me, turning us so the back of my legs pressed against the bed.
He broke the kiss and slipped my nightgown over my head with a crooked smile. “While I’d love to take advantage of you right now, I know you’d kick my ass in the morning.” He reached over and handed me my underwear.
Then he busied himself with hanging the towels over the back of the chair while I slid my panties on and straightened out my nightgown.
“What do you want me to do with these?” He pointed at the ruined leather.
“They can’t go in the washing machine.” The leather glove incident at Bridget’s taught me enough about leather and normal washing machines.
“I’ll ask my mom how to get them cleaned because I have a feeling you will need your kickass outfit again really soon.”
The warmth he had created evaporated with those words. I didn’t want to think about my next battle. I obviously was unprepared for any of this, and I needed to figure out how I’d made things happen today if I had a prayer of defeating Lucifer.
“I am going to need to find that knife that Fate mentioned. April thinks that’s the key to getting rid of Lucifer for good.” I met his gaze.
Any hint of a smile faded. “That means you have to get within his reach to do any damage.” He shook his head. “I’d much rather you stay as far away from him as you can.”
I closed the distance between us and pressed my palm to his cheek. “I am okay with getting within his reach if it means I have the capacity to erase him from existence.”
A crease appeared between his eyes. “Does erasing him from existence mean he never existed? Or does it mean from this point forward?”
“It doesn’t matter. If I don’t, the world will burn.”
Chapter 4
My scream echoed off the walls. I sat up in a dark room as the nightmares chased me awake. The bedroom door slammed open, and light framed a man in the doorway. I shivered and pulled the blankets tighter around me.
“What’s wrong?” the shadow asked.
I blinked and then looked at the man again. “Alex?”
“Who else would you think would be at your door?” He stepped inside and closed the door before switching on the overhead light.
I squinted from the sudden brightness. “I thought you were downstairs with your sisters.”
He shook his head. “Bridget is down in the basement on the couch, and Dad’s downstairs in the family room. After what happened at the house, they all thought it was safer for everyone. April is sleeping with Amber and Ariana in their room, and I’m in the guest room down the hall.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder.
He crossed to the side of the bed and took a seat next to me. “Are you okay?”
I didn’t know how to answer him.
The nightmare still lingered, and I didn’t know how to articulate it. Blood. Smoke. Fire. And endless screaming. But it was the last image that had brought my scream to the surface.
And that image remained like a sick joke—Grace bent over a table with Alex screwing her as the glowing necklace that Lucifer had worn bounced against her chest in time with his thrusts. My dead eyes had stared on as blood seeped out of the hole in my chest.
My stomach rolled, and I covered my mouth, willing myself not to empty the contents all over the bed. I pushed him aside and launched myself towards the bathroom. I made it to the toilet just as hot, bitter bile spilled over between my fingers. The plume of liquid was vile, and I gagged again.
When I was certain there was no more, I flushed the toilet and washed my hands before I rinsed my mouth and cleaned the taste out with toothpaste. My legs wobbled as I crossed back into the bedroom.
Alex still sat on the edge of my bed, and I was so thankful he hadn’t followed to witness the bloody gore that had come from my stomach. I crawled back under the sheets, and he tucked me in, scooting me to the inside before he stretched out on the covers next to me.
He ran his fingers through my hair, and the silence of both his mind and his mouth unnerved me. I glanced over my shoulder at him. He smiled and continued to comb my hair with his fingers.
“You’re going to get into trouble,” I whispered.
He lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “I’m not under the covers with you, and you left the door open. This way, I will actually get some sleep. Before, every little creak of the house made me jump thinking something might happen to you.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Bridget wasn’t the only one who that bastard was trying to manipulate.” His lips pressed together in a hard line. “She’s just the only one he was able to get control of.”
I stared at him as his meaning sank in. “He tried to get into your head?”
He nodded. “He tried to manipulate April, too.”
The nightmare came back in full force, and my stomach clenched again. This time, I was able to get a handle on it. “I thought you were more vulnerable than Bridget.”
He chuckled low. “No. I’m not vulnerable to being controlled. I think it’s the angel blood that gives me a little more willpower than someone without it, despite the loss of most of my soul. And I’m not interested in what Lucifer has in mind.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“He wants the perfect archangel bloodline mix.” He met my gaze. “He wants this specific form because he already has the one bloodline that I don’t possess under his thumb.”
I swallowed a line of creeping bile, shivering at the nightmare. “That’s what the nightmare was. You and Grace… together…”
His gaze softened. “I’m in love with you, Faith. Heart. Mind. Soul. Or at least what’s left of it is yours. I know it’s not much.” He traced my lips with his fingers. “I’m still smart and resourceful, even if I no longer have a filter.”
His smile was so endearing that I rolled onto my back and pulled him to my lips. Ridged surprise gave way to a gentle kiss. But it soon transcended into something wild that I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to erase my nightmare with something real and tangible. Something no one could take from either of us.
&n
bsp; The door swung closed, and Alex pulled away, glancing at it. When his gaze came back to mine, it was downright carnal. He grinned.
My heart thundered at the look in his eyes, and as he came closer to kiss me, I blurted, “I don’t want her to be your first.”
He stopped and pulled away, tilting his head. “Her?” Confusion creased his forehead, and then it smoothed out into annoyance. “That nightmare really did a number on you.”
I bit my lower lip and nodded.
“And that’s why you want to do this?”
“Does it really matter what my reasoning is?”
He licked his lips and stared at mine before meeting my gaze. “I wish I could say no, it doesn’t matter. Well, I can say that,” he said and smiled. “But in the light of day, you will regret making a rash decision based on a nightmare, no matter how amazing I might be in bed.”
Heat filled my cheeks. I knew he was right, but in this moment, I was willing to find out just how amazing he was. I pulled him to my lips, and he fell into the kiss as fully as I did. Before I knew it, his shirt was off, and he was under the covers with me pinned under him.
“Damn,” he whispered as he broke the kiss. His hips circled against mine, and the warm flannel of his pajama pants created such heat between us. His hand caressed me through my shirt, and he leaned forward and nipped my earlobe. “I can feel your heartbeat,” he whispered in my ear. He licked a line down my throat, then sucked the spot where it seemed to be pulsing in a wild beat. “I want to taste you.”
A loud knock on the door stopped Alex’s downward progression. He glanced up at me with wide eyes and an open “oh shit” mouth.
“Alex?” CJ’s annoyed voice echoed in the hallway. “Open the goddamn door.”
CJ could open doors with just a thought. The fact he couldn’t open Alex’s bedroom door chilled me, and I blinked in shock.