by Ivy Sinclair
Riley’s hand jerked away from mine. My eyes flew open, and I saw him shaking his hand with a chagrined look on his face. “Well, I guess that worked.”
I held out my hand. I couldn’t think any more about the revelation of how I felt toward him. That would have to wait. I had a far greater purpose at the moment, and so did Riley. “Teach me more.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN – RILEY
The hours passed by all too quickly. One thing was certain though; Paige was a quick study. I worked with her for several hours before I had to call a time out. By that point, she had mastered enough that she was starting to pull on my energy, and although she wanted to keep going, I saw the dark circles developing under her eyes.
“You’re trying to run a marathon when you barely know how to walk,” I told her. “What good are you going to be if you’re exhausted when we get there?”
It was logic that she couldn’t argue with. “Fine,” she said. “But just for an hour.”
I pulled down my seat so that it formed a small bench. She laid down on it in protest but was asleep barely five minutes later. I moved quietly up the front of the van to the passenger seat.
“You okay?” I asked Klein. “I can drive if you want to get some shut-eye.”
“It’s more important for you to get some,” Klein said. “I’m just the sidekick, remember? Can’t have the superhero show up exhausted to the fight.” It was logic that I couldn’t argue with any more than Paige could.
“We need to stop before we reach the city,” I said. “I’m guessing we won’t be able to catch the ferry over to the island if it’s even still running. We’ll probably have to call in a few favors.”
“That’s assuming the relic is still even there,” Klein said.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” I said.
I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. The slowing of the van woke me. I opened my eyes and put up my hand to block out the morning sun. It felt as if I had just gone to sleep, but it was evident I had been out for a while.
“Where are we?”
“Thirty minutes from the bay,” Klein said. “I figured we’d better get our act together.”
I sat up and looked in the back. Paige was slowly sitting up. “Are we there yet?” she asked.
“I’ll check the latest status,” Klein said. He got out of the driver’s seat and moved into the back of the van. Paige smiled at him as he passed her. “Morning, sunshine,” he said to her.
“Morning, Klein. Morning,” she said to me. Her smile was shy, and I wondered why.
“Let’s stretch our legs,” I said to her. I got out of the van and slid open the back door for her. I helped her climb down. I looked around. Klein had parked in the back corner of a gas station parking lot. I could tell by the amount of traffic passing by us that we were getting closer to civilization. It would be a welcome change from the isolation of the rural countryside of the last few days.
“We’re close,” she said, looking around.
“Have you been here before?”
“No. Once I was on the island it basically took a crowbar to get me to leave. Benjamin always wanted me to go to Seattle with him on his business trips, but I told him I didn’t want to. I felt safe on the island. I didn’t see any reason to leave.”
“I’m sorry that it is almost guaranteed to be a difficult homecoming,” I said. I massaged her shoulder, and she leaned into me. I had slept on that bench in the van many times, and I knew that it was less than comfortable.
“It’s okay,” she said. “It wasn’t real. It was all an illusion, and I’m finally willing to admit that. I got a reprieve, and I got to experience what seemed like a normal life. That was nice. But normal people don’t walk around with gaping holes in their memories. The person I became was a reflection of who I thought I was supposed to be. That was wrong too. I’ve done some pretty horrible things, and I was able to find a balance when you think about the persona I built for myself there. Today is real.” She took my hand, and then brushed her lips across the top of my hand. “You are real. This is real.”
I cupped her face in my hand. “It is.”
She smiled at me, and I leaned down and kissed her. She clung to me, and I let my hands roam down the sides of her body. My thoughts turned to a completely different vein, and I wished that we had risked stopping so that I could have had one more night with her.
“It’s a good thing we stopped when we did,” Klein said as he emerged from the van. He turned red when he realized that he had caught us necking again.
Paige stepped away from me, but she didn’t go far. “What do you mean?”
“Well, we know all shit broke loose on the island. It looks like things have spilled over to the city. There are demons all over the place.”
I swore under my breath. “That’s a problem. The demon officials had a picture of Paige when they were looking for her before. We can’t just ride into town and expect that she won’t be recognized.”
“So what do we do?” Klein asked.
“That thing that Benjamin did where he transported us from Calamata to the convent. Can you do that?” Paige asked.
I shook my head. “That takes a hell of a lot of mojo. Way above my pay grade.”
“Do you know how to do it?” she persisted.
“Even if I did, we don’t know that you’d be able to do it,” I said, knowing the direction her line of thinking was headed in. “Plus, we don’t know where to find him.”
“Do you have a cellphone somewhere in the van?”
“You’re going to call an archangel?” Klein gaped at Paige.
Paige laughed. “Believe it or not, Klein, we’ve all moved into the twenty-first century.”
“You’re calling from inside,” I said. “He won’t be able to track the call. Otherwise, I wouldn’t put it past him to just pull you right to him.”
“Deal,” Paige said.
“Give her your cellphone,” I said. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Are you sure about this, Riley? This is a half-baked plan at best.”
“And at worst?”
“It’s fucking craziness, and you will bring an archangel right to our doorstep.”
“It’s worth a shot. We need to get to the relic. This is the first step.” The next step is to lure Proctor to us and kill him before he does anything else to my family.” It was hard for me to disconnect myself from wanting to go after Proctor first, but as long as he thought Paige and I were doing what he wanted, he’d leave my family alone.
The three of us settled back in the seats, and then Klein handed Paige the phone. She looked at me. “Assuming he answers, what do you want me to say?”
“Ask him where he wants to meet. You can tell him that you know that the island is dangerous, but that it is important that you speak to him. Keep it short. Put it on speaker.”
There was nothing other than her face turning a slightly paler shade to tell me that she was feeling nervous. She took a deep breath in, and then dialed the phone and set it down on the table.
The line opened when someone answered almost immediately, but no one spoke a greeting.
“Benjamin?”
“Paige?” I had only met the archangel after I saved Paige’s life, and our interactions had been brief and terse. But it was his voice despite its hoarse raspiness. “Is that you?”
“Yes. I need to meet you. Now.” I watched Paige’s face. “It’s important.”
“Tell me where you are, and I will come to you,” Benjamin said. “I thought that you were being held by Bruno Proctor.”
That seemed like ages ago, and it was clear that Paige thought so too based on the surprise on her face. “I escaped,” Paige replied. “It’s better for me to come to you.”
“Calamata Island isn’t safe,” he said.
“There must be somewhere safe enough,” Paige said, following my instructions. “You know the island better than anyone.”
There was a pause.
“Is Stone with you?”
Paige looked up at me. “Yes, I’m here,” I said. “Paige is in trouble. I can get her to you, but I just need to know where. You are the only one she trusts for this.”
“Row ten. Habernathy.” Then the line went dead.
“That was strange,” Paige said. “He’s never hung up on me before without at least saying goodbye.”
“Things are a bit different now, don’t you think?” I had a bad feeling about this plan all of the sudden, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. “I’m assuming you can decrypt what he just said?”
“His favorite cemetery is the old Jewish cemetery on the far west end of the island. He liked to visit some of the old tombs there. The Habernathy crypt was one of his favorites.”
“Creepy,” Klein said with a visible shudder. “So now what?”
“Now, we get to see if Paige can really do what she thinks she can do.”
“Do you trust me?” Paige asked.
“You know that I do,” I said. “But first, I think we should probably gear up. Klein, you’re going to stay here. We need to keep home base as far away from the demons as we can.”
“Right,” Klein said. He didn’t look that disappointed at being left behind. “Okay, let’s load you guys up.”
Ten minutes later, with a plethora of knives and guns on my belt, in my boots, and in my hand, I was ready to go. Paige had chosen a Glock 42. Klein gave her a belt that allowed her to carry both the gun and a pair of knives while leaving her use of her hands.
In our earlier lessons, we had managed to move to the point where Paige was able to harness her magic simply by touching me. She started to move toward the door, but I stopped her. “If he’s got any kind of tracking on you, he could find you if we get outside of the van. We have to jump from here.”
“Are you trying to make this more difficult?” she asked.
I smiled at her. “You can do this.”
“Okay.” She took my hand and closed her eyes. Then they flew open, and she gave me a small grimace. “I’m sorry in advance if I end up dunking us in the bay or something like that.”
I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her lips to mine. I knew that we were about to embark on something impossible, and I might not have the chance to kiss her again. I would do everything in my power to keep her beside me. I couldn’t lose her now.
As I pulled away, I kept her lips close and spoke the words that had been bubbling in my mind for what seemed like forever. It was time. “I love you, Paige.”
The air between us began to shimmer. “I love you too.” Her voice was a whisper in my mind. When the air solidified though, she was gone.
I stood up and spun around. I had been in enough cemeteries in my day to know where I was. I was inside a crypt.
“Riley?” I heard Paige shout. It sounded like she was outside the walls.
I ran to the door and started to pound on it. “Paige! I’m in here.”
“There’s a chain.” Her voice was closer now. It was right on the other side of the door.
“You can break it,” I said. I put my palm against the door. “Just use magic.”
“But you’re in there, and I’m out here.” Her voice sounded pained.
“My hand is on the handle,” I said. I knew that she had progressed far enough in her studies that she didn’t need me, but she had to believe that first. “Concentrate.”
“I’m trying. It’s not there. Shit!”
“What is it?”
“I heard something,” she said.
“You need to get this door open,” I said as calmly as I could. “Just concentrate.”
“Benjamin? Is that you?”
There was a pause.
“Paige? What’s happening?” I pounded on the door again. Then my body flew backward as the doors bounced open. I put up my hand to shield my eyes from the bright light of the sun. Then I scrambled to my feet and raced outside. Paige stood there, her face slack. I skidded to a stop as my eyes finally focused, and I saw past her. I understood why she had panicked.
Benjamin had arrived.
And he wasn’t alone.
To be continued…
Protect Her: Part Seven is available now!
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About Ivy Sinclair
Ivy Sinclair cut her romance teeth on classics like Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, An Affair to Remember, and Sabrina. She is a firm believer in true love, a happily ever after ending, and the medicinal use of chocolate to cure any ailment of the heart. Ivy's guilty pleasures include sushi, endless Starbucks lattes, and wine. Readers of Ivy's stories can expect smoldering sweet stories of romance that tug at the heartstrings.
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Titles by Ivy Sinclair:
Bittersweet Junction
Where My Heart Breaks
Grounded By You
Cupid’s Cupcake
Protect Her: Part One
Protect Her: Part Two
Protect Her: Part Three
Protect Her: Part Four
Protect Her: Part Five
Protect Her: Part Six
The Protect Her Box Set: Parts 1-3
The Protect Her Box Set: Parts 4-6