by Lesley Davis
“I’ve got you, and I am not letting go.”
But it was too late for Zachary Phoenix. The shift in position had made him lose his hold and he flailed out of safety’s reach.
Pagan made a last attempt to grasp at him as he fell, but the one hand she could have reached was holding on to the coin. In the other hand was the trigger switch which, with one last look of pure evil, he quickly pressed.
Nothing happened.
As he fell he jammed his finger onto the switch again, but there was no explosion. His “No!” echoed into the night. The useless box fell from his hand as he clutched at thin air to save himself.
Zachary Phoenix, son of Xander Phoenix, fell from Pagan’s reach, his fate clenched tightly in the palm of his hand.
Pagan clung to Rogue’s hand, shaking and gasping for air as she watched him fall to his death on the city street below. Then she was pulled up and back onto the roof and enfolded in Rogue’s arms. She was crushed to Rogue’s chest and she felt lips kiss her head over and over.
“He’s gone,” Pagan whispered. “He’s finally gone, and unlike his namesake, he won’t rise again.”
Rogue relaxed her hold a mere fraction so that Pagan could see her face. “It’s over.”
Pagan nodded. “Erith was right. I may have lost my parents, but I was blessed to be brought up with ones who gave me just as much love and instilled in me their values.” She gripped Rogue’s arms. “In the end, I couldn’t kill him. I was going to try to save him even after all he had done to us.”
“That’s because you are a Sentinel with love in your heart. You’re an honorable warrior who keeps the city safe. You did your parents proud tonight.”
“Can we go home now? I have a promise to keep to my girlfriend that I don’t intend to break.”
Rogue chuckled. “I wouldn’t want to get on her wrong side either. Come on. Let’s leave this building the old-fashioned way.”
*
Once outside the building, Pagan slowly walked over to where Zachary Phoenix’s body lay. His sightless eyes stared up at the August Dawn Bank, his body broken by the concrete he lay on, his hand still clutching the coin that had paid for the deaths of Pagan’s parents. She carefully nudged his fingers with her boot and the coin rolled out. It spun drunkenly on the cement, then came to rest. Pagan looked down at it.
“Heads, I win,” she said tiredly.
She had taken on the Phoenix and lived to tell the tale.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Pagan smiled as she watched a familiar black vehicle pull up a short distance from where she waited with Rogue. Melina climbed out of it, dressed in a long cloak and scarf to conceal her face. Pagan grinned at Rogue as Melina neared and tenderly touched Rogue’s face.
Pagan was looking around her when she saw someone escape from behind the police line and rush toward them. For all the black attire the smaller figure wore, and the very obvious Phoenix bandana, Pagan was surprised to realize it was Erith beneath it all. Erith launched herself at Pagan, who caught her awkwardly and then relaxed as that all-too-familiar body settled into hers.
“What on Earth are you doing here, dressed like that?”
Erith said something against Pagan’s chest.
“I can’t hear what you’re saying,” Pagan said but gathered Erith closer still.
Erith finally drew back and signed to her. Are you okay?
“I’m fine, but you’re shaking like a leaf.” She could feel the tremors vibrating through Erith’s body.
“Your girlfriend had quite the adventure herself tonight. She defused the bomb that Phoenix had hidden away in the vault and rescued Jackson Menard in the process,” Rogue said, eyeing Erith with a whole new respect and admiration.
“You stopped the bomb?” Pagan was torn between horror and amazement.
I’ll tell you all about it when my hands stop shaking!
We saw everything that happened up there through your mask lens, Pagan. Phoenix managed to knock out the Sentinel comlinks for a brief moment until you reinstated them again, but he didn’t knock out the one that is connected to the video link, so we saw and heard it all, Melina signed, then pulled Pagan close and hugged her. Mom and Dad would have been so proud of you tonight.
“I couldn’t save him even though I tried to.”
Then he wasn’t to be saved. He made his own choices and paid dearly for them. It was not your fault. You were so brave. You fought for all the Sentinels tonight, past and present. That won’t be forgotten by the Council. Melina touched Pagan’s wet cheek. I am so very proud of you.
Pagan finally let go of the constricting breath that was wrapped about her chest, blaming herself for the death of Phoenix.
“The Sentinels were knocked out by some sort of neural emitter?” she asked.
Erith nodded and drew back from Pagan’s hold. Who’d have thought that being deaf would have been such an advantage?
We’re all given abilities with which to perform our duties. You proved yourself today, Pagan. Melina turned to Rogue but signed so that Pagan could read what she had to say. Rogue, Pagan has always been safe in your care, and tonight you proved it yet again. She hugged her tightly. Damn, I hate having to hide! I want to kiss you and I can’t! She tugged at Rogue’s hand and gestured for them all to go back to the van. Let’s go. We’re done here for tonight.
Once in the van, Melina threw off her scarf and gave Rogue the kiss she’d promised.
“Hey! Impressionable adults here!” Erith said, removing her bandana. She let go of Pagan and hugged Rogue. “Thank you for saving her, however you did it. I’m sure I’ll hear all the details in time. But I will never be able to thank you enough.”
“Just love her, that’s all I ask.”
Erith slipped her arms back about Pagan’s waist and nudged at her side to get her attention. “Your family is so cool.”
Pagan nodded in agreement. “I am so glad you’re safe. I was frightened for you when your dad got his visitor and the whole evening just spiraled out of our control.”
“But you saved me. And then I got to do some saving of my own. Guess I showed the city that not all the Baylors are intent on watching it go up in flames.” She looked through the windshield over at the crushed body of Phoenix. “He doesn’t look much like a guy who could make a man turn away from his family and follow blindly down whatever path was marked. But then my father followed the older Phoenix too, so there must have been something that called to him in that family.”
“This Phoenix won’t hurt anyone else now, but someone, someday, will come and take his place, and the fight will start all over again.”
“But we’ll fight them together, side by side. It’s what families do. And I’ll be your guardian angel like you are mine,” Erith said.
“That sounds good to me.” She grimaced slightly at her own choice of words. “I need my aids back.” Erith tugged on her hand and Pagan looked down at her.
“You did brilliantly without them,” Erith told her. “From what I understand, you brought down the city’s crime lord.”
Pagan cast a small glance back outside the building where the body still lay. “No, he brought himself down. He just couldn’t hold on to his father’s ghost any longer.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ronchetti Security with its famed lighthouse was a welcome sight to Pagan’s tired eyes as they drove back home. The black van was parked in the underground garage, safe from curious eyes. The four women stood silently in the elevator and then made their way back into the lighthouse’s center.
“I can’t believe he wiped us out by using our own equipment against us,” Rogue growled.
Melina patted her arm. “Look on the bright side. It gives you a new project to work on. You can have the gizmo from Pagan tomorrow. That will be soon enough for you to take it apart and examine it.”
Pagan began to remove her uniform, wanting to take off the whole night piece by piece and discard it. She saw Rogue beside her, just looking at her.
Pagan raised an eyebrow, wondering what was going through Rogue’s head.
“Do you know how very proud of you I am?”
Pagan smiled. “Yes, I do. But in the end, Rogue, you saved me. You let the Sentinels dangle you by your boots over the edge of the wall to grab my hand.”
“I’ll never have you fight alone, not while there is breath in my body.”
“I know. Even when you’re too old to be by my side in the battle, I’ll still know you’re there.”
“I will never be too old to take you down.”
Pagan laughed. “I know that too. Thank you for not letting me fall.”
Melina leaned back against her desk and caught Pagan’s eye. “All of the Sentinels are accounted for, and all of Phoenix’s men are in custody, including the one who kidnapped Erith earlier. The hideouts are being checked out as we speak. The Sighted are back in their rightful places and the wounded Sentinels being cared for. Save for a headache or two, everyone seems to have survived the mental blast without too much damage. Tomorrow we will sit together, watch what happened tonight, dissect it piece by piece, and learn from it all. But for now, you need to go to bed. Pagan, you look dead on your feet.”
“I save the city from a madman, and my sister still tells me when to go to bed,” Pagan grumbled halfheartedly, removing her jacket. She responded to Erith’s touch on her skin and looked where everyone’s eyes were firmly fixed. Pagan saw the very clear imprint of a hand that had held her so roughly on the ledge. She flexed her neck. “It doesn’t hurt yet,” she said. “If he had just listened to me,” she began and then shrugged. “But he wouldn’t.”
“Let’s get you in the shower,” Erith said “Get a hot spray on those muscles. Try to wash his filthy touch off you.”
Pagan lifted Erith’s chin and smiled at her. “His father’s touch has been something I have felt all my life. He took away my parents, he hurt Melina, and he stole my hearing. These fingerprints are nothing compared to what his father did. These will fade.” She brushed at the marks as if they were of no consequence. She moved to hang up her jacket and hesitated. She reached into a pocket and took out the silver disc Phoenix used, then held it out to Rogue. “You might want to have a tinker around with this before I forget.”
Rogue let loose a delighted whoop. “You got his gadgetry off him. Melina said you had.” Her keen eyes were already looking over the casing.
Melina removed it from her grasp and muttered, “Not now, I said. You and Erith can play with it tomorrow.”
Pagan hung up her uniform. “I will see you both in the morning, when I hope I might be able to make more sense of the day’s events. I just want to not think about it all for a while. It’s overwhelming, and more than a little frightening.”
Melina waved to attract Pagan’s attention. “You two go get some rest. It’s nearly dawn. We’ll talk later when everyone is more coherent.”
*
Pagan wandered into her bathroom and started the shower. She stripped out of the remainder of her clothes and climbed in under the water. She closed her eyes against the spray beating on her face. Without warning, she was drawn back to the rooftop when the rain had stung her eyes and she thought she was going to die. She gasped and jumped as she felt slender arms snake around her waist. She was instantly soothed by small hands that reached around and finger spelled hi for her to see. Pagan relaxed and began to breathe easier again. Then the reality of the situation dawned on her and her pulse started to race. She could feel Erith’s naked flesh pressed against her own. Breasts were pushed against the firmness of her back; hands were now tracing lazy designs on her stomach.
“What are you doing?” Pagan asked with a catch in her voice.
Washing you, Erith signed. She reached around Pagan to grab for the soap and began to lather it up in full view of Pagan’s eyes. Pagan tried to turn around, but Erith firmly kept her facing away and smoothed the lather over her shoulders. The soap covered Pagan’s back and then Erith soaped along her sides. She twitched involuntarily and looked back to see Erith laughing.
“You’re ticklish,” Erith said aloud now that Pagan could read her lips. “I’ll have to remember that. I might need such a weapon in my arsenal against you.”
Pagan turned around slowly under Erith’s ministrations. She caught her breath at the sight of Erith naked before her. Pagan’s mouth dropped open enough for water to fall into it and she had to spit it out quickly.
“Like what you see?” Erith asked shyly.
“I love what I see.” Pagan ran her hand over Erith’s collarbone and down to a bright pink nipple that stood to attention.
Erith shivered at Pagan’s touch. She went still as Pagan explored further and with both hands cupped her small, firm breasts.
“You fit in the palm of my hand,” Pagan said in wonder. She watched as Erith laid down the soap and repeated what Pagan was doing to her.
“You spill out in mine, lucky me.” Erith brushed her thumbs over Pagan’s darker nipples.
Pagan shuddered at the jolts of desire that burned in her belly. She grabbed for Erith’s hands. “Doing this in here might not be the best choice. You’re making my knees weak, and I’m liable to slip on the tiles. Hurry!” Pagan quickly finished washing, handing Erith the soap so she could do her own, and within minutes they were both wrapped in towels, drying off as best they could. Pagan took Erith’s hand and led her into her bedroom. For a moment she hesitated and looked down silently at her.
“I want you,” Erith said. “As I watched what was happening tonight, I promised myself no more waiting, no more hesitating. Life is too short and it can all be taken away so fast. I want to be with you. I need to be with you tonight. I need to know you’re here with me and safe.”
Pagan let her eyes run lazily up and down the length of Erith’s naked body. “And I want you so badly I can taste it. No more waiting, no hesitation or shyness any longer.”
“And I don’t want to wait any longer to show you how much I love you.” Erith pushed Pagan onto her back on the bed and leaned into her, kissing her sweetly and then with increasing passion.
“Wait.” Pagan pulled back. “I should put my aids in so I can hear you if…I need to,” she finished weakly.
“No aids for this time, my love. You do perfectly well without them, and I want this to be as natural to you as anything can be. Just you and me. And don’t worry. I’ll be sure to let you know everything I am feeling.” Her soft mouth captured Pagan’s and silenced her in a most effective manner.
Pagan surrendered to the moment. She wrapped her arms around Erith’s smaller body and let her hands lazily wander over her flesh, delighting in the sensation, loving how Erith truly looked beneath the clothes she usually hid herself away in.
“You are beautiful,” Pagan mumbled around Erith’s kisses as her hand tangled in the hair that framed Erith’s pretty face.
“I love you, Pagan.” Erith kissed her way down Pagan’s neck, making her squirm beneath her lips. Erith mapped out Pagan’s body inch by inch with kisses and a warm tongue.
Pagan nearly sat upright when that warm mouth latched to her right nipple. Her moan vibrated in her chest. She felt Erith smile against her breast as she tugged a little on the taut bud and sent fiery bolts of electricity coursing through Pagan’s body. Pagan’s hands did their own exploring, and she reached for a breast and fondled it, marveling at its firmness and the rigidity of Erith’s nipple. She grinned smugly when she felt Erith shudder in her hold as she flicked at the tip of her breast.
“I like that,” Erith said before sucking more of Pagan into her mouth and lashing a tight nipple with her tongue. She held on as Pagan bucked beneath her. “And I guess you like that.” She grinned at Pagan’s flushed face.
Erith continued exploring Pagan’s body with her roaming hands. She took a leisurely pace, touching Pagan everywhere, learning her body with her fingertips. She finally stopped her torture of Pagan’s nipples and lowered her mouth to kiss across muscles that twitched
in Pagan’s stomach. Pagan took in a deep breath when Erith moved even lower, needy and yet nervous all at the same time. She was bewitched by the sight of bright red hair trailing a path down between her legs. She could feel her control slipping away, and it both frightened and excited her. She gave herself up into Erith’s care.
“Let me see you.” Erith mouthed the words clearly, expressing her intent.
Pagan complied without hesitation. She spread her legs for Erith, who instantly settled between them. She watched intently as Erith ran a finger through the soft folds that nestled between her thighs. Pagan let out a gasp as Erith’s tongue followed the same trail her finger had taken. “God, that feels good,” she moaned as Erith ran her tongue over her skin. Pagan began to shake as Erith brushed over one specific spot, gauged her reaction, then did it again more firmly. Erith’s tongue felt like concentrated fire, burning through Pagan’s most intimate softness.
“You’re so hard,” Erith said as she looked up briefly at Pagan’s flushed face, flicked her tongue once more to catch at her clitoris. “And so very wet,” she added and stuck her tongue in deeply where Pagan was the most moist.