He switched us again, pinning me beneath him. “What’s happening now?” I brought my arms around his neck, studying it.
“We’re bringing it to the surface,” he said in admiration as he began to make love to me. He gave me everything and more. My power seemed to influence his, shifting different parts of his body over into Grim’s as we stayed tangled together on the rocks until we came apart in each other’s arms.
It was beautiful. Intense. The most surreal moment of my life.
In his room, I collapsed on the bed. I felt wobbly, weak, and satisfied and just when I thought I’d fall asleep his hand would slide across my hip. I shivered and he woke me back up with the help of his power. He’d slide up against me from the back and he would kiss my neck before taking my body once again. He would be soft and gentle this time but just as passionate.
It continued for so long, I didn’t know what existed beyond it. I stayed in a permanent state of fever. We fit so well… so right. Now I honestly thought we were two halves of something whole.
Maybe even then, the reason we were so desperate for one another was because we could already sense what would become of us.
_________
“Melanie,” he whispered, voice tender and full of affection as he hugged me from behind. I had no idea how long we’ve been trapped in his room together, but no matter how much I slept, I was positive I couldn’t keep up with him.
“Hmm,” I mumbled as he lazily guided his fingers across my arm.
“Melanie,” he said again. I couldn’t help but smile with my eyes still closed.
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?” I somehow managed to ask through my sleep deprived mind.
“For existing and for being here with me. For letting me love you.”
I searched for his arm until I found it and wrapped it around me. I fell asleep with the biggest smile on my face.
Chapter Sixteen
Melanie
I was awake the second Killian jerked next to me. I raised up as he moved his arm off me and climbed out of the bed. His jaw was set, and his whole body radiated trouble. I scooted off the bed, still nude. He was already putting on his jeans.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“His death... it’s already here.” I assumed he was talking about Marcus.
I bunched up my eyebrows. “What? How did that happen?” Not that I was complaining, but Killian didn’t act happy about it. “Isn’t that a good thing that we don’t have to wait until Halloween?” I asked him.
He sighed. “If my hunch is right, Melanie, it’s already Halloween.”
That was crazy! “Killian, Halloween is still two weeks away in my world.”
He nodded as he put on a shirt. “I don’t think killing you was his only objective when he placed the ghosts in you. Whatever left your body must have been a time spell.”
“Time spell?” I muttered.
“Meaning, his goal was to slow time here. Slow enough that time in the human world slipped right by while we were here…” Screwing each other’s brains out!
Bile rose in my chest. “What are we gonna do?”
His expression relaxed when it saw my distress. “Don’t worry, we’re prepared,” he assured me. “The other Reapers are always prepared for anything at any given notice, and we made sure to get our hands on every portal chip we could find.”
“Then why are you so tense?”
“I don’t like being caught off guard.” His face darkened again. “When I felt his death crawling all over me, it set me in motion. I don’t understand what good this would have done him; I’ll sense his death, no matter what. Maybe he wanted to throw me off… unless.” He didn’t move for several seconds. “Bloody hell,” he muttered.
There was a knock on the door. “Grim…” Lincoln sounded worried. I looked down at myself and quickly grabbed one of the sheets.
Killian walked to the door and opened it enough so that Lincoln couldn’t see in the room. “Have you tried leaving to the Underworld?” Killian asked.
“That’s what I came to tell you, none of the portal chips are working. I didn’t think much of it but normally we’ll have a Reaper checking in—”
“No one’s checked it?” Lincoln nodded and Killian cursed. “I can’t leave, either. I couldn’t fade.”
“Then the tremors last night were a spell?” I could hear the alarm in Lincoln’s voice.
“Wait for us in the main room.” Killian shut the door and turned to me.
Their conversation set me into panic mode. “Killian… we have to get there before Fear opens that portal.” I couldn’t even imagine what would happen if we couldn’t get there to stop him.
He went to his closet and grabbed a black t-shirt. He pulled the sheet from my body and lifted me to my feet. I couldn’t help but notice my body was sore in all the right places as he did so, even though it was hardly the time. “Here, put this on. You can find you something to change into in your room—remind me to make a place for your clothes when we get back.” I let him put the shirt on me. It fit me like a nightgown. My heart did a little flip when I thought about what he just said.
“What?” I whispered, taken aback.
He smiled. “Round two when we get back?”
I blushed. “I’m pretty sure that was several rounds last night.” He arched an eyebrow at me and I gasped. “That was one round for you?”
He laughed and started walking to the door. “Come on, Love. Let’s end this once and for all.”
Oh, did I love the sound of that.
__________
I changed into a pair of tight black pants and shirt with some lace-up boots. When I stepped back into the ballroom, Killian, Ryan, and Lincoln were immersed in a conversation. “There’s no way to get in touch with any of the Reapers until we can port out of here,” I caught what Lincoln said as I moved next to Killian.
“Then I guess I’ll have no choice but to destroy the spell,” Killian told him. His eyes drifted to me and brightened before turning back to business.
“How do you plan to deactivate a spell—you may have a few tricks you can do with your powers, but a spell is a spell,” Lincoln said as we followed Killian out the castle doors. Ryan sent an uneasy glance my way—the charred blackness covered half his face now. It spread a lot through the night. Panic gripped me, but I swallowed it back down.
Killian turned around with an arrogant smile. “The way I take care of everything else,” he replied cockily and my stomach fluttered. His eyes caught mine again as if he knew.
“How’s that?” Lincoln asked, crossing his arms across his chest.
Killian shimmered—fading in and out as he turned into Grim. His scythe materialized in his hand, he placed both hands on the rod and brought it above his head. No one had time to question what he was doing; his blade was in motion, breaking through the pavement. He lifted the scythe back up almost like he expected something to happen.
Lincoln sighed. “Brute strength isn’t going to work this time.”
“Yes, it will. It always works.” Grim was already lifting the scythe back over his head. Only this time, his blue essence traveled away from his bones and wrapped around his scythe. He swung down—the ground trembled beneath our feet and a violent wind came from the ground where he hit. Ryan and I hunkered down until it was over.
“Show off,” Lincoln grumbled.
“Did it work?” Ryan asked.
He got his answer when several Reapers started appearing around us. “Grim!” I could hear the alarm in his voice. “We haven’t been able to get in this place, we didn’t know what happened,” one of them said.
Another added, “We thought something happened to you…”
Penny appeared with a scowl. “What—” She stopped and closed her eyes. “We were all guessing it was Fear, but that’s not the problem.” Dread pooled in my stomach at her words. “Fear’s already in that town these two are wanting to protect so bad.” I
assumed she meant Ryan and me.
“He already opened the portal?” Ryan asked, fists clenched together as if he were keeping himself from going berserk that way.
“Not yet,” Penny told him.
“Make sure the Reapers are prepared,” Killian told one of the males. He nodded and left.
“What about my mom and brother?” I asked Penny.
“They’re fine, but you’ve been missing for two weeks…” Penny trailed off and looked to Ryan. “As for your sister, she’s no different.”
I hated to think what they’ve been through the past two weeks. Ryan took my hand and held it. “It’s going to be okay,” he told me. Only it wasn’t. He might not last another night before the demon overtook him completely.
Lincoln handed a bag to Killian—who must have switched back from Grim while I was talking to Ryan. Killian opened the bag and flipped it over. Hundreds of portal chips fell out. He moved his hand above them and they all started lifting from the ground, flying in the air—they connected and formed a circle, forming a massive portal in front of us. An eerie, dark mass twirled around inside it.
“What’s the portal for?” I asked. “We don’t need one.” Because he could fade us anywhere we wanted.
Killian looked at me and smiled. “Who said we were using it?” Devilish smile, cocky attitude—what was he planning? I knew the moment Rixen and Sky dropped down in front of us. My mouth hung open.
“They are coming, too?”
“Not just those two; all of them.”
“Dragons in the human world?” I shook my head. “In Denver?” I asked.
“Man, this is going to be interesting,” Ryan muttered next to me. Not interesting, more like chaos.
“We need all the help we can get,” Killian said to me. I liked the idea of Sky being by my side but people seeing her? Some idiot with a gun would try to shoot them! “Don’t come through the portal until you get my signal,” Killian told Lincoln, and he nodded.
“They aren’t coming right now?” I asked as my gaze fell on Sky. She tilted her head at me.
“No, they’re our leverage. I’m hoping to close the portal before bringing them in.” Something black formed in his hand and once it was completely visible I saw that it was a cloak. He placed it over me. “When I’m Grim, I want you to draw power from me instead of yourself when you use your power.” I smiled. He said ‘when’ instead of ‘if’ almost like he accepted the fact that he couldn’t keep me from using it.
“Is that even possible, and how do I even do that?” I asked.
“That’s what the cloak’s for, steal from my power that way,” he answered. “Truthfully, I don’t know if it’ll work, but I’m counting on the fact that we’re linked by our fates that you can take from me in a way that no one should be able to.” He didn’t give me a chance to respond. He tossed a portal chip to Ryan and he caught it. “If you plan on coming, that’s your only way,” Killian told him.
Ryan looked at it. “How the hell do I use it?”
“Just press the damn button and think of where you want to go,” was Killian’s answer. Ryan muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t hear.
Killian’s eyes were on me again. “Are you ready?”
“To get rid of Marcus and hopefully sever our link to Fear once and for all? I arched an eyebrow at him. “What do you think?”
“It won’t be easy to stay next to you once we start dealing with all the demons.” He tucked my hair behind my ear.
“Let’s hope this power of mine decides to help me out,” I said to ease his mind.
He sighed. “Your safety will always come first no matter how many demons I’m dealing with.” He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into him.
The darkness came.
________
He took us to my bedroom. Ryan wasn’t with us; I had no idea where he took himself. My room was a mess like someone had torn it apart looking for something. We hurried out of my room and I could hear Mom’s panicky voice talking to someone. “She’s been missing for two weeks!” She was on the phone. “You guys haven’t even been looking enough!”
“Mom!” I ran down the stairs. All I wanted to do was ease the worry I knew she must have been feeling this whole time.
“Melanie?” Her voice was barely even a whisper… I wondered if maybe she was second guessing if she heard me. I heard her set the phone on something and a second later she was standing in the hall. She saw me and broke completely. She was ugly crying as she ran to me. “Oh, Melanie, my baby,” she sobbed as she spoke. “Where have you been? Do you know how scared I’ve been? How much everyone’s been searching for you?”
I let her hug me and I hated that I couldn’t give her more comfort right now. I pulled away from her. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, I’m sorry. I don’t have time to explain. The town’s in danger!”
Her tears stopped and she just looked at me… maybe I shouldn’t have said anything right now… maybe we should have dealt with Mom after we saved the town. “What are you talking about?”
“Sis?” I looked to the top of the stairs and saw Alex—so much emotion filled that one word and the look on his face. He came running down the stairs, pushing Killian aside and threw his arms around me.
“Hey.” I had no clue what to say to him or Mom. “I’m sorry.”
“We’ll explain everything as soon as we get back,” Killian informed my mom. He looked to me with urgency. “We have to go.”
I nodded. “Just what is going on?” Mom no longer looked happy—she was furious as she glared at Killian. “You’re not going anywhere young lady.” She turned on me.
“You guys go, I’ll stay with her family,” Miles told us as he appeared next to Mom.
Killian nodded a silent ‘thank you’ and then he was taking my hand, and we were running past Mom as she screamed bloody murder. “Melanie Rose!”
Killian opened the front door and I turned around to look at her. “Sorry, Mom!” I said hurriedly as we ran out the door.
She was not far behind us, but by the time she would get to the door, we’d already be gone.
_____________
We stood in front of the town library. The portal was even bigger than the one opened at his place. It was right above the library—across the street was Deb’s Diner where so many were eating right now. And Fear had to choose Halloween of all days, the town was crawling with people. The line at Wendy’s was backed up.
The worst part of it all, everyone could see the portal. People were already gathered around the library taking pictures, pointing, gasping, and whispering with bewilderment—some were smart enough to look afraid while others took it as a joke.
Everyone was in costumes—families stopped with their kids and studied the portal. People were even stopping and getting out of their vehicles. My nerves were tingling against my skin, crawling with unease. The children’s laughter only made me worse.
I took a deep breath. We must end this.
Killian was holding my hand. “I’m going to protect these people,” he told me, whether to ease my troubled mind or his, I didn’t know.
I noticed something against the Library window—a picture. “Is that…”
“Yeah, it’s a missing person’s photo of you,” he told me. I would make it up to Mom, Alex, and—
“Melanie?” I heard Tess scream my name. I turned around to see her running across the two-lane road—through the traffic. How could she tell it was me from that distance? Only I didn’t get to think much about it, I took one look at her face and released Killian’s hand so I could brace myself for the hug she attacked me with.
Her shoulders shook violently. She was… crying. “Melanie… I thought we agreed that we’d always have each other… you asshole, how could you leave like that?” she said through violent sobs. She squeezed me tighter. Her words made me understand how devastated everyone would be if something were to happen to me… or if I’d leave. For good. I bit my bottom lip to keep fr
om crying with her.
“I didn’t leave.” I didn’t know what to say to her.
She pulled away from me. “Do you have any idea how much we’ve been searching for you? We gave them Killian’s description,” her eyes went to Killian next to me, “and they couldn’t find anything on him… it was like he didn’t exist. We were thinking the worst.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll explain everything later, but right now I need you to go home. It’s not safe here.”
She looked at the portal. “Does it have something to do with that?” she asked. When I didn’t say anything she added, “Just what is going on? You’re scaring me, Melanie.”
A deep, menacing laugh—that was engraved into my memory from my childhood—came from the top of the library. Everyone went silent. People were turning their heads in the direction of the library, if not looking already. The look on Tess’s face as she saw Fear on the rooftop was what I imagined mine looked like all the times I had encountered him before. He was in his ugly form—his truest—with his horns, jet-black hair slicked back, glowing red eyes, pale skin, and giant tail that matched the color of his hair.
People were screaming and a few generics laughs were in the mix as well. “Nice costume,” someone yelled, having no idea that they were baiting an immortal entity—the monster that preyed on my childhood.
“It looks so real,” a girl said as she giggled with her friends.
This was bad. There was a giant hole above the library with a horned demon about to unleash Hell upon the town and everyone was taking it as a joke. “Get the hell off the roof, man,” the same guy as before said to Fear. Several laughed.
Fear ported and Killian faded the same time he did. Fear reappeared in front of the guy that had been laughing—claws going for his chest—who had no idea how close he had been from dying just now, but Killian faded in between Fear and the guy. The guy staggered back. “Killian.” Fear sneered. “Or should I say, Grim? How do you plan to keep all these humans safe when you can barely keep one girl alive?” I saw Killian’s jaw tighten even from this distance.
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