by J. E. Taylor
My first kiss was as heavenly as I’d dreamed it would be.
He pulled away slowly and searched my eyes. His breath was just as ragged as mine. His slow smile nearly dropped me to my knees.
“What are you doing?” CJ’s harsh voice rang out.
We both jumped away from each other, spinning towards CJ.
My throat throbbed with every beat of my heart.
Alex glanced at me, and his cheeks bloomed red. “I was kissing her.” His voice rose in almost a comical lilt. His shrug wasn’t any less humorous.
I touched my lips still awed by the feel of the kiss. Deep down, I knew I should be ashamed for letting someone I just met kiss me. But I couldn’t conjure up an apology, not when I still felt Alex’s breath mingled with mine.
Disapproval rolled off CJ in waves, and I glanced beyond him at Tom. Tom’s brow was creased, but he didn’t look upset the way his brother did. He actually looked quite amused.
“I should go,” I whispered.
Alex sighed, exasperated. “I haven’t shown you what I am working on.” He waved to the computer behind him.
“Tomorrow.” CJ gave no leeway in his tone.
“Fine,” Alex said, but he wasn’t fine. His voice was filled with the same raging disappointment riding my blood.
I scooted by CJ and Tom escorted me out of the house. I crossed to the passenger side of the car and reached for the door handle. Weight slammed into me, and the tiger’s hateful eyes reflected in the window just before my head banged into the glass. I saw stars. Sharp pain pierced the back of my neck. It took me a moment to realize the tiger was biting me. Panic filled me, but then as soon as it came, the weight disappeared. Hot paths rolled from the holes the tiger’s teeth had made. I glanced up, dazed.
Tom stepped around the front of the car. His eyes held fury, and black wings unfurled behind him in in a majestic, angelic display. A shiver cascaded up my back and pulsed in the cuts left by the tiger’s teeth.
Tom looked frighteningly like my father when he was angry.
I made a mental note not to ever get him that mad.
“Cut the shit, Grace,” he growled to the tiger crouching on the ground behind me. He opened my car door.
I slid into the safety of the passenger seat, and he closed the door.
The cat transformed into the woman. “You were supposed to kill her. You promised me!” she screamed.
“I told you if she was evil, I would end her. She is not evil.”
Grace’s face turned crimson. “But Alex... Alex is mine,” she hissed.
Tom pressed his lips together and shook his head. “He isn’t anyone’s property. You know that. What the hell is wrong with you?” He crossed to his side and slid into the driver’s seat.
She lay on the grass, her face streaked with tears and her glare as murderous as Lucifer’s had been.
I felt sorry for her.
Just when I didn’t think it could get any worse, Tom opened his mouth again.
“Grace thinks Alex was meant for her. Alex is a very special child. He has the blood of four archangels. Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Uriel. And if he and Grace were to ever get together, their offspring would be something the world has never seen.”
I shivered. They would produce a child who had bloodlines of all the archangels. What the hell would that do to a child?
Tom chuckled. “I've wondered that for years. Especially being the brother of someone who could end it all with a snap of his fingers,” he said as he pulled out on the main road. He didn’t speak again until we were closer to the house. “What were you thinking?” he asked, but it wasn’t accusatory.
I knew exactly what he was referring to. “I wasn’t thinking anything. Alex kissed me,” I said and glanced at my gloved hands. “It was nice.”
“Nice?” He laughed. “I almost felt the earth move from the intensity between you two.” Humor tinged his voice. “Nice isn’t quite the right word, is it?”
His grin lifted my heart. I shook my head. “It was kind of magical.”
“I know I should be scolding you the way I’m certain CJ is blasting Alex, but I can’t help it. I’ve only seen that look from one person in my entire life.”
“What look?”
“The way Alex looks at you. It is the exact replica of the way my father used to look at my mother. That look could set the upholstery on fire.” He sighed. “There isn’t a damn thing any of us can do now that the train has already left the station.”
I didn’t get what he was trying to say.
“That look is the stuff legends are made of.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“You and Alex.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Just be smart,” he said and glanced over at me, raising an eyebrow.
I might have lived a sheltered life, but my mother had already given me “the talk,” and I didn’t need it from Tom too. Heat filled my cheeks. “You aren’t going to warn me to stay away from your nephew?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
He chewed on his lower lip and pulled into the driveway. “First, it would be futile. Second, the same thing that happened to you during that echo, happened to me. You chose a side, and I’m no longer ambiguous.” He met my gaze and threw the truck into park.
“So just like that, you accept me?” I didn’t buy it. Not when this morning he confessed to wanting to kill me the night before.
He smiled. “And just like that, you accept us?”
I turned and stared at the house. “Only if we can get a dog,” I said and slid my gaze to his.
His smile faded. “No.” He pulled the keys from the ignition and got out of the truck.
Moody Man was back. He stopped and glanced up at the sky before he turned to stare at me through the windshield.
I climbed out of the cab.
“I don’t want another dog.” His expression was unreadable. “Sometimes you just shouldn’t tamper with perfection.” He turned away. “Come on. Let’s patch up your neck.”
I had forgotten about the tiger bite, and my hand went to the back of my neck. I winced and followed Tom into the kitchen. He grabbed a few sheets of paper towels and dampened them under the tap.
I pulled my hair up and out of the way.
“Damn it,” Tom muttered under his breath and pressed the paper towel to one side. “Bri!” he called towards the front of the house.
He grabbed another bunch of towels and did the same on the other side of my neck. Bridget stepped into the kitchen.
“What happened?” she asked as she hurried over to the sink where Tom had me leaned over.
“Grace happened. Can you call Valerie? Tell her to swing by, even if she’s already left the hospital. Tell her it’s kind of urgent.” Tom’s voice was calm, but his words made my head spin. He pulled a chair over. “Sit down,” he said softly.
Bridget stepped out of the room.
I took a seat and he pressed both cloths to my neck. The pressure was hard enough to be uncomfortable.
I tugged at the gloves. “If the cuts are that bad, I could cauterize them.”
Tom eased up enough for me to glance up at him. He bit his lower lip and lifted one of the paper towels. All I saw of the makeshift rag was red.
“Won’t that burn?” he asked.
“Yeah, but it will stop the bleeding.”
“Can you focus your power like that?”
I’d had to do something similar to a cut on my foot when we were at the cottage. The pain made me lose control. Thankfully, my mother had a bucket ready and doused the fire. My foot hurt like crazy for a while, but the aloe my mother slathered on it helped.
He checked the cuts again. “You aren’t going to bleed to death in the next half hour, so I’d rather have Valerie take care of this than risk a house fire.”
“Okay,” I said, and he resumed the harder pressure.
“I can work with you on control if you’d like. I could always use the practice,” he
said.
I nodded. The side door opened, and a familiar pair of high-top sneakers and frayed jeans came into view. My backpack dropped on the floor next to the sneakers. Electricity filled the air, and I knew who it was before he spoke.
“She forgot her backpack,” Alex said. He crossed to my side.
“Grace bit her,” Tom said. “We’re just waiting for your mom to stop by.”
Alex’s hands clenched for a second, and then he dropped to his knee so I could see his face. Concern and anger danced in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t bite me. What are you apologizing for?”
He smiled and everything inside me warmed.
“She bit you because she thinks she has some claim over me. She thinks we are destined to be together.” He rolled his eyes. “She’s been like this all my life, and it drives me crazy. I’ve never thought of her as anything but an annoying older sister, and lately, she’s just been creeping me out.” He glanced up at Tom and shrugged. “I think I need to set her straight.”
“Set who straight?” a female voice said from the door.
Alex stood. “Grace. She needs to chill.”
The pressure on the back of my neck loosened.
“Grace bit Faith. Think you can fix her?” Tom asked.
I glanced up through the strands of hair that had fallen. Valerie Ryan still wore her hospital scrubs, and even in the unflattering blue fabric, she was beautiful. Her eyes were even kinder than Bridget’s. I had seen her a few times on television with CJ. She was just as pretty in person in her scrubs as she was in her evening wear.
She crossed and shooed Tom away. He stepped back, holding the bloody rags.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. This is going to hurt a little.” She kissed the top of my head.
Nothing happened. I glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow. Her brow knit.
“Fix it, Mom,” Alex said.
“I... I thought I just did.” She traded glances with Tom, and her eyes widened in horror.
Tom turned and grabbed a knife, then sliced his palm. He held it out to Valerie, his eyes just as wide as hers. She placed a kiss on his skin, and light danced over the cut. He winced as it closed, leaving not even a hint of a scar.
They stared at his palm, and then all eyes landed on me.
Bridget stepped into the room as Valerie tried again. The results were not any different. Hot trails still flowed down my back.
“Okay. Looks like this is the old-fashioned way,” Valerie said. “Get me your first-aid kit.” She twirled my hair, took my hand, and put it on top of the messy bun on my head.
Bridget came back with a small first-aid kit like the one my mother had under the sink at the cottage. She rummaged inside, then a cool pad swiped my cuts. The sting started almost immediately, I clenched my eyes shut and a hissing wince escaped.
She worked fast. She finished with the last bandage and then turned to the sink to wash her hands.
“You’re going to want to rinse her hair in the sink and use a washcloth to get the blood off. No showers for a couple of days. I assume she will be at the house tomorrow?” Valerie asked Tom.
“Yes. CJ’s testing her to see if he can apply for her diploma.”
Valerie crouched in front of me. “I may have to stitch one of those cuts tomorrow when you get to the house. Until then, make sure Bri or Tom check the bandage and change all four of them tonight before bed and again in the morning. Does that sound good?”
“Yes. Thank you, Mrs. Ryan,” I said.
Her eyes sparkled with her smile and a blush bloomed in her cheeks. “You’re welcome, and please, call me Valerie.” She glanced at Alex. “You rode your bike over here?”
He nodded. “She forgot her backpack.” He pointed to it on the floor by the door.
“Did you want to hitch a ride home with me?” She stood.
Alex shook his head, and his hands curled into fists. “If I go home now, I’ll end up kicking Grace’s ass.”
Valerie crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze.
“I’m angry and I would prefer to cool down before I head home.” He shifted and shoved his hands in his pockets, keeping eye contact with his mother.
The set of his jaw almost made me swoon, and when his gaze turned to me, the flutters in my chest brought Tom’s words he’d said in the truck home. This was the stuff legends were made of.
Valerie glanced at Tom, and her brow creased.
“He can hang out here for a few if he wants.”
“I can drive him home later. We’re supposed to go clothes shopping when April gets home,” Bridget said, stepping closer.
Valerie pointed at Alex. “Be good.”
“Aren’t I always?”
She smiled. “It was nice to meet you, Faith, despite the circumstances.” She traded a look with Tom, and I swore there was some silent communication between them. She turned and walked out the door.
I glanced at Alex, and that calm warmth spread through me despite the deep throbbing in my neck. I tore my gaze away from him and looked at Bridget. “How bad is my hair?”
She crossed and took my hand. “Let’s go get you cleaned up, and then you can visit with Alex in the family room.”
The avoidance of a direct answer was clear. I was a mess.
“I’ll be back,” I said to Alex.
“I’ll be right here,” he said, and I believed him.
Chapter 7
Bridget led me into the bathroom and folded a towel, then put it on the edge of the sink. She helped me with my sweater and stepped back with a wince on her face. “I think we need to take the shirt off before I help you clean up.”
I wasn’t comfortable with undressing in front of a stranger, but one glance in the mirror told me to shelf my modesty. “I’m sorry about the shirt.” The blood stains covered the shoulder and seeped downwards. I didn’t want to see what the back looked like. I could already feel the tacky quality of my hair and I cringed.
Bridget helped me with the shirt, clipped my hair up, and gently cleaned the blood off my skin. The white basin streaked pink each time she rinsed the cloth.
“Now the hair,” she said and patted the dry towel.
The gentle strokes of her fingers through my hair relaxed me.
The water shut off and I started to stand, but Bridget put her hand on my shoulder.
“Not yet.” She grabbed the towel on the rack, wrapped my hair in it, and squeezed out as much of the water as possible. Then she wrapped it around my shoulders. “Now.”
I stood, and she picked up the brush and gently combed the knots out while I stared at our reflection in the mirror.
“I’ve only seen Valerie’s healing power fail once.” She sighed and continued to work the knots out of my hair. Her gaze finally lifted to mine, troubled.
I was afraid of the answer, so I didn’t ask the question.
She smiled. “Let’s get you dressed.”
She led me into the bedroom, picked up the flowing black shirt, and helped me into it. She retrieved the bloody towels, shirt, and sweater from the bathroom and headed down the hall to a small laundry closet, then dumped the soiled clothes inside the washing machine.
She turned to me. “I think those gloves need washing, too,” she said and put her hand out.
I gulped the sudden swell in my throat. “Are you sure?”
“You don’t just spontaneously combust, do you?”
I shook my head.
“Then I think you will be okay for a couple hours.”
I peeled the gloves off, and she dropped them in with the rest of the laundry and started the washer before she escorted me downstairs to the front of the house.
The family room encompassed the entire left side of the house. The front atrium had a desk in the center and what looked like an office on the other side. I turned back to the family room, and I didn’t know where to look. The most inviting-looking couches graced the middle section as I entered. To my right sat a bar with bar stools and
a large television over the top, and near the front was a billiards table.
Tom and Alex were studying the colorful balls, and Tom glanced over at us.
Alex turned and smiled. “Hey. Want to play?” He waved to the table.
“I’ve never played before.” My skin itched with a sudden bloom of nerves, and I curled my hands, so I didn’t start sparking.
Alex leaned his stick against the table and came to me, took my hand, and led me to where he had been standing. The contact of our skin settled calm over me like his father’s music used to.
“Can you sing, too?” I blurted.
Alex grinned at me. “What do you want me to sing?”
“I think I’ll leave you two to finish this game.” Tom hung his stick on the holder in the wall and left, shuffling Bridget with him.
His exit was as subtle as an anvil falling from a cliff in a cartoon.
Alex leaned close. “Are we going to do this or what?” he sang and winked. His voice was much like his father’s, lyrical, and almost a spiritual experience.
And I knew the song.
Blood rushed to my cheeks, and I shifted as he finished the chorus.
His gaze flicked to the door and then back to mine. He closed the distance and planted another kiss. Heat filled the space between us, and it wasn’t coming from me. Alex moved me backwards until I was pressed against the wall. Our tongues intertwined, and his hands gripped my waist.
“That’s not the kind of game you should be playing in my house.”
My heart leapt into my throat. Alex pulled away from my lips and glanced at Tom, but he didn’t jump away like he had in his basement.
“It’s not a game,” Alex said.
“You are sixteen.”
Alex laughed. “From what I understand, you weren’t exactly a saint at my age.”
Tom’s stare made me push Alex away.
“Come on. Teach me how to play this.” I didn’t want to be the cause of tension, and as much as I enjoyed kissing Alex, there was something deeper at work between us. Something ignitable. Maybe even legendary.
Tom smirked and headed back into the office across the hall.
“I’d rather kiss you,” Alex mumbled and grabbed a stick off the wall. He turned toward the table while handing me the stick. “Are you any good at geometry?”