by J. E. Taylor
Alex had just enough time to crawl onto the covers and drape his arm over me before the door exploded inward. CJ stood in the hallway with a sleepy glare. His gaze went to the bright overhead light and then to us.
“She had a nightmare,” Alex said.
The sarcastic laugh that escaped CJ didn’t calm my heart, and his glare pierced me.
“I’m not sure I would categorize her thoughts as a nightmare. And the fact she blocked me from opening the door again…” He pressed his lips together and put his hands on his hips. “You can’t stay in here.” He turned his sharp glare at Alex.
“Please,” I said before I could stop it. Some of the images from the dream flashed through my mind, and I wrapped the covers tighter.
His brow creased, and he wiped his face and then pointed. “The door stays open, young lady.”
I agreed emphatically.
He looked at Alex.
“And you get your sleeping bag and get on the floor.”
“Yes, sir,” Alex said and rolled to his feet, grabbing his shirt from the end of the bed and strategically used that to hide whatever excitement still remained in his blood. He rolled the sleeping bag out and slid his T-shirt back on before he crawled inside while his father watched.
With the sham pillow under his head, he gave his father a nod.
CJ turned off the light and pointed at the two of us before he headed towards the stairs. I caught some of his grumblings and turned toward Alex with a smirk. The man wanted to be with his wife, but instead, he was trying to sleep on the lumpy couch in the event that Bridget went off the deep end again.
“Your dad is mad because you might be getting a little action and he isn’t,” I whispered.
“I heard that!” CJ’s voice barreled up the stairs.
Alex snorted. “Well, I’m now in the same boat as he is and understand the aggravation.” He winked and rolled on his side, facing me. The humor faded. “Would you have really said yes?”
I stared at his blue eyes reflecting in the hall lights and decided not to answer him. If we had gotten that far uninterrupted… I sighed just thinking about the way he felt molded to me. I wasn’t sure I would have stopped him in my current state of mind, but I had the feeling he was right. I would have regretted being so rash in the morning.
“I love you, too,” I said after a few moments.
He smiled and closed his eyes.
I watched him fall into the slow cadence of sleep and then rolled and stared at the ceiling. Doubts started layering over my thoughts. Doubts about whether I’d made the right decision on not blasting Lucifer back to hell when I’d had the chance regardless of the form he took or the lure he had dangling around his neck.
If I had taken the shot…
A shadow passed by in the hall, and CJ stepped into the doorway.
“You can’t do that to yourself,” he said softly. “Second-guessing your actions isn’t going to prepare you for what’s coming. And while I know Alex is okay with you taking the shot while Lucifer has his soul as ransom, I’m glad you didn’t. It means there is still a chance for him. Besides, I am not sure I could watch my brother die a second time today.”
A lump formed in my throat and I nodded.
“Thank you.”
“You do know I will need to take him out eventually, even if he is in Tom’s form.”
He nodded. “We need to get your powers under conscious control.” He covered a yawn. “Tomorrow, we start those lessons.” He disappeared again, and the stairs creaked with his weight as he descended.
His directive turned my nerves on edge, and I stared at the ceiling, wondering what absolute disaster would rear its ugly head.
Chapter 5
“Again,” CJ demanded. His barrier covered the entire backyard right up to the back door where Alex sat within his father’s protective dome.
The rest of the family stood just inside the glass door, watching me stumble my way through the power control gambit. It was laughable. The only thing I had succeeded in doing was reduce the funeral pyre to ash. My natural talent as well as the added bang of angel fire worked in my haphazard way, but that was the extent of it.
All my attempts at moving things with my mind utterly failed. As did anything remotely similar to what my subconscious had manifested last night. I couldn’t control matter or minds no matter how hard I tried.
I got so frustrated that I burnt a patch of lawn all the way to the rock wall, and my hands were in a constant state of flame. I was surprised I didn’t spontaneously combust.
“Douse the flame,” he ordered as he approached me.
I stared at my clenched hands and slowly opened my palms. A bead of sweat rolled into my eye, and the sting caught me enough off guard that I almost rubbed my eye while my hand was fully engulfed.
CJ grabbed my forearm.
I stared at the flames near enough to my face to feel the heat, and the shock of it sent a chill through me. The fire went out, and I looked beyond my hand at CJ’s concerned stare.
“Let’s try something different.”
“Okay,” I said, relieved when he led me to the lounge chairs and took a seat on one, indicating for me to sit on the one next to him.
“We are going to try to isolate the grace within you. You have both Lucifer’s grace and Raphael’s grace. I’ve got Michael’s, Gabriel’s, and Uriel’s grace. I’m going to pull Michael’s into my hand, and I want you to try to pull Raphael’s out, okay?”
I was glad he hadn’t asked me to pull Lucifer’s because I wasn’t sure I could without causing major damage at a cellular level.
“Think of your hand as a magnet and the grace as a cluster of steel pieces inside you. First, close your eyes and imagine those pieces pulling together into a tight ball in the center of your being.”
I closed my eyes and concentrated, using each inhale as a sweep of more pieces of the fragmented light shone in the center of my body. With each breath, I could feel that mass growing, solidifying into a power source all on its own.
“Now the magnet,” he said.
I put my hand over my chest, and I arched into the pull. The orb inside nearly flew out of me like a grenade launcher. Heat fanned my hand, and I opened my eyes. The bright glow of grace radiated from between my hand and my chest.
I glanced at CJ and the equal ball of light trapped between his hand and his body. He grinned.
“Now push it back in.” He pushed the light back into his chest, and light radiated outward from his skin before settling back to his usual aura. His quirky grin matched Alex’s.
I repeated his actions, and the same anomaly occurred. My skin shone like a beacon before fading back to my normal hue.
“That looked pretty effortless for you.” He glanced across the expanse of the backyard at the can of beer he had placed on the rock wall and tapped his palm. “Magnet,” he said and aimed his palm at the beer. “Aluminum.” The beer can flew across the yard and into his waiting hand.
I got the concept that he was trying to teach me, and I glanced at the partially melted Gatorade bottle sitting on the rock wall. I put out my hand, hoping I didn’t make the thing explode or something equally as embarrassing as the rest of the day had been. The power I’d used to pull the bits of grace into a ball flared, and I tapped into it, imagining my hand as a strong magnet.
The bottle trembled on the rocks, then burst into flames and fell into the ocean on the other side of the wall. I stared at the spot as my mouth popped open. I hadn’t shot a flame over the distance. I had envisioned it coming to me the way his can had come to him.
CJ pressed his lips together. I couldn’t tell whether he was aggravated or suppressing a smile. “Well. That was certainly interesting.”
I closed my hands into fists. “I tried…”
He put his hand up, and I quieted.
“I know you tried. But the opposite of what you wanted happened. What happened was what you actually hoped wouldn’t. I think your underlying expectations a
re sabotaging your powers.”
I huffed and crossed my arms. “Don’t psychoanalyze me.”
I yawned. All this work was making me tired, and I had no idea why I couldn’t just do things as easily as Tom considering I’d absorbed his power.
“You need to master this shit,” CJ said. “Because a storm is coming that I don’t think you’ll be able to weather without using these powers.” He sighed and rubbed his face.
“My dad is right,” Alex said, moving my legs to the side so he could sit on the chair with me. “You need to figure out why it worked yesterday with the car doors and again with my bedroom door. Once you figure out why it worked in those situations, then maybe you’ll be closer to the key.” He took my hands in his, and the heat in my palms cooled.
I squeezed his hands. If only I knew what I had done in each case.
I met his gaze as the truth clicked. “You are the common denominator.”
Alex laughed.
I pulled my right hand out of his grip and pointed my palm towards the wall, wishing for the bottle to come to my hand. When the blackened plastic catapulted across the lawn like a stray bullet, my eyes widened.
It crashed into my hand, and the sea water still coating the plastic sprayed us. I stared at it and then dropped it like it was still on fire. My heart pounded in my chest. I couldn’t have Alex with me when I faced off against my father.
I looked at CJ. His expression matched my horror.
I pulled my other hand out of Alex’s and met his gaze. “You can’t be near me when I try to take down Lucifer.”
“Faith,” he started.
I shook my head. “No. I’m not going to let him get his filthy hands on you. Understand?” My nightmare flooded back, and I shivered. I swallowed hard and got up, then walked across the blackened grass to sit on the rock wall. I crossed my legs and stared out at the ocean towards the light house where Tom and I had dumped my mother’s ashes.
I needed my mom. Tears tugged at my eyes.
“Faith.” Alex’s hand landed on my shoulder. “I can hold my own against Lucifer.”
I glanced up at him and then over where we had been sitting. CJ had left us alone, but I already knew his thoughts on the matter. He knew better than anyone here. He wanted Alex as far away from the devil as humanly possible. And I couldn’t have agreed more.
“No, you can’t. Even with all the power your dad has, he still got duped by Lucifer, so you haven’t got a prayer against him. And if he gets his hands on you…” I shook my head and glanced out at the ocean again. “I can’t let you walk into the devil’s lair with me.”
He sat next to me and tilted my chin so I would look at him. “If you go, I go.”
I went to speak, but he covered my lips with his. The kiss muffled my thoughts. By the time he pulled away, my mind was swimming with the connection between us.
“If you go, I go.” There was no leeway in his tone, or the tight set of his jaw. “If you die, I die,” he added softly. “I don’t want to be left here without you. I’m still me when you are around.”
He had said that before but this time, I was privy to his thoughts, his fears. He wasn’t kidding. The small amount of time I was away with Tom, he had lost the capacity to feel emotion. That was only hours.
I caressed his cheek. “I can’t have you with me. I can’t chance it.”
His gaze grew hard, and he stood up. Before he could march back to the house in anger, I grabbed his hand. He stared down at the connection and then at me, unswayed by my physical contact.
“If Lucifer gets you and possesses you, I do die. I’ve seen what April has seen and it’s horrifying.” I blinked back the sudden sheen of tears and looked away. “I know you’re scared. I feel it every time you are near me, but I… I can’t.” I swiped at my hot cheeks and met his gaze. “I care too much about you.” Both desperation and a darker component of the grace inside gripped me like an icy vise.
“I resisted him at Bridget’s house, so what makes you think I won’t be able to do that again?”
“You were locked in the car.”
He laughed and looked out at the water. “He didn’t try to coerce me when I was in the car. It didn’t happen until I was in the house just far enough away from my father that he chanced it.” He pulled his hand out of mine and crossed his arms. “We aren’t ever going to agree on this.”
I fisted my hands, frustrated with his lack of understanding. I wondered if he would be this way with his soul, and deep down in my core, I knew soul or no soul, this is who he was. He would never let someone protect him from harm.
“Damn it, Ty,” I whispered.
He froze in place, and the smile that appeared flashed in one of the memories I’d downloaded from Tom, another gift, along with the transference of his powers. Alex looked exactly like his grandfather had. I had no idea whose memories I possessed, but that grin and the light, impish, dancing in his eyes was a mirror image.
His reaction was immediate, and he stepped close. “You really shouldn’t use my given name unless you mean it,” he purred in my ear and then licked a line down the side of my neck.
The sudden switch from anger to seduction spun my head and warmed my skin.
“Alex.” The sharp call from the house interrupted whatever had ignited.
A cloud of irritation passed over his eyes, and he turned, staring at his father in the doorway. The tight set of his jaw was back, and he headed towards the house in that funky, aggravated mood again.
“What am I going to do about you?” I whispered, staring at his back. My gaze lowered to his tight pants. I looked away, but not before the urge to ravage him surfaced.
I stood and started across the yard, but motion from the property next door made my heart pound. I turned and started to raise my hands.
“Don’t. It’s Naomi,” CJ snapped, and I closed my hands.
I didn’t feel like talking at all, so I bypassed CJ and the crew in the family room, including Bridget, and headed down into the quiet of the cellar.
Before I could slump on the couch, Alex grabbed me around the waist and backed me into the computer room to the farthest corner where access to their panic room resided. He pressed the code and maneuvered me into the dark room before I could drum up an argument. The door closed, encasing us in blackness, although Alex’s aura was bright enough for me to see his face. He navigated to the far wall and pushed me down on the couch.
His aura was in chaos, dark and light pulses. Reds predominantly swirled, announcing his mood like a wild tribal beacon. He ripped at my shirt, tearing buttons off as often as unthreading them.
“I need you,” he whispered against my lips, and then crushed down in a kiss that was part passion and part desperation.
I had a door into his mind, and heat filled every inch of me at his explicit thoughts. Moments flashed like an iconic movie in my mind, bringing with them the embarrassment of walking in on someone, but also the heat of the greatest love story this side of heaven.
Would our story be as brutal? Would it be full of a love so deep neither of us could breathe without the other?
I gasped as he kissed my throat and moved lower and lower, peeling off clothing as he went. I couldn’t reconcile the ancient memories with the insistence of Alex’s hands and mouth. It all blended into one blinding moment when Alex penetrated me, claiming me, making me nearly cry out in the dark. His irises nearly glowed, and the colors threading through his aura heated as much as I did.
We moved like we belonged together, frantic at first, then languid as if we had all the time in the world. His kisses became soft and as loving as his caresses.
“I need you, Faith,” he whispered. “Even more than I love you.” His voice squeezed tight and his arms followed. “Oh Christ.”
Everything inside me exploded into an array of lights, blinding me. I clenched my fists, praying. For what, I didn’t know.
Not to harm Alex, not to forget this heavenly feeling, not to burn the house down. B
ut most of all, I prayed I would experience this magic again.
Chapter 6
Alex stayed on top of me, just running his fingers through my hair and tracing my lips. He sighed. “I wish I could see your face.”
I put my hand out over the open space and willed my flame to lick my fingers. The soft glow lit up the room, and he glanced at my hand and then smiled at me.
“I forget you can do shit like that.”
He had no idea that I could see him throughout. His rapture, his absolute bliss washed over me like a gentle wave. I was sure I would have never hit that plateau that had reached almost a religious experience without him.
I couldn’t speak. I was too choked with emotion. I hadn’t anticipated our first time to be so frantic and beautiful at the same time. I also knew we were in a ton of trouble.
Alex traced my lips, his eyes tracking his motions, and he sighed, meeting my gaze. “My dad knows, doesn’t he?”
It wasn’t totally framed as a question so I shrugged. I didn’t want to run into a lecture right now. I just wanted to feel him against me for just a little longer.
“Are you okay?” he asked after studying me.
“Yes and no,” I whispered, and closed my eyes at the concern that bloomed in his gaze and the thoughts galloping through his head. “I would have said no if I didn’t want this, Alex,” I said, my voice snippy at the direction of his thoughts.
Worry bled from him making his shoulders sag with relief. “So why aren’t you okay?”
My chin quivered. “Because now that nightmare is so much worse.” Tears blurred my vision, and I bit my lower lip. “There is no way in hell I’m letting you anywhere near either of them.” I kissed him, silencing whatever argument he had lined up.
I sobbed with the kiss, and he hugged me, pulling us into a sitting position with my legs still wrapped around him. I closed my fist around the flame lighting the room.
“I want to see you,” he said.
I glanced towards the light switch, wishing I could reach. Lights flooded the room and I looked up at the ceiling and back to him.