The Blood and Light Series (Six Books Boxed Set)

by Rue Volley

  I raised my eyebrows at him.

  “You think that I am chicken?” I said.

  “No… in fact, I don’t think that you let fear sway you in any way. I just think that you should skip this one,” he said.

  “I want to be able to help,” I said.

  “You don’t need to help,” He said.

  “I have to,” I said, as I walked to Theo and took the glass.

  I stared at it and then looked at Josh.

  “I am going to hurl,” I said.

  “Well, if you don’t… I will smear that shit on your ah…”

  “Yea… no, no thank you,” I said, as I tipped the glass and let the nasty roll down my throat.

  I coughed on the last bit and dropped the glass on the floor.

  It shattered, and I leaned over and felt it swirl in my stomach like a snake.

  “Oh god,” I said, as I stumbled.

  Josh caught my arm and stopped me from falling.

  “It is moving,” I whispered.

  “It is alive… You have to hurl now,” he said.

  I stood up and immediately hurled all over him.

  He stood there and closed his eyes, as I finished and stumbled backward.

  “Oh okay,” Josh said, as he looked down at the mess on his shirt and back up at me.

  “I am so sorry, Josh… I should have drunk it in the bathroom or outside.”

  “No… no. It is just fine. Let’s see. I had to just see your brother, with his butt cheeks spread apart, looking back at me… wanting me to wipe something on his ass, and now you hurl all over me… It’s cool, it really is,” he said, as he left the room.

  I stood there with about a fifteen second delay on the laughter. I felt it coming, and then I got distracted with a different feeling. One that overtook me, this feeling of wanting to protect… wanting to check on Mia. I ran in, and she laid there, all curled up on the couch… with my blanket. I tilted my head, and Theo walked in behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and crinkled my eyebrows.

  “Why do I feel all lovey dovey?” I asked him.

  “It is a side effect of drinking the spell. We are invisible to others but feel everything more intensely now.”

  “I feel like I should be saving the world,” I muttered.

  “As you should,” Theo said.

  Josh walked back down the stairs, as Kai cracked the door to the bathroom open and stumbled across the hallway and into his bedroom. I looked at Josh and grinned.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  He shook his head and walked to the door.

  He stopped and looked back at me.

  “I need you to come with me,” he said.

  I swallowed hard and didn’t know if hanging out with him right then was a good or bad idea. My fingers were tingling. My heartbeat was steady in my chest, and I knew that at this moment I could just pounce on him and rip his clothes off. Mmmm. Maybe I should get him alone.

  He stood there and tilted his head.

  “I… ahhh, okay,” I said.

  Sam cleared her throat, and I looked at her.

  “I ummm, I’m gonna go and uh…”

  She smiled.

  “I don’t care. The rogue juice numbed us to feeling all that stuff for now.”

  I smiled, I had to.

  I started to walk towards him, and the weirdest thought popped into my mind. The one that I would think any girl would think of. I couldn’t remember what panties I put on today. I mean, I could be sporting my cute ones with the kitties all over them, or I could have some on that are beyond hot. I hope that the hot ones made it on me. I really do. I mean, I don’t want to end up… you know, and hearing him laugh about what I have on.

  He cleared his throat.

  “Rue,” he said.

  I looked up and grinned.

  “Okay, I’m coming,” I said.

  He grinned and walked out the door. I followed him and stopped on the porch, as I watched him kneeling down on one knee in the yard with his hand against the ground. I rubbed my arms and could feel the wind. The weather had shifted, and the cool breeze whipped at my face. I stopped next to him and looked down; watching his hand slowly move on the grass in my front yard and for a moment… imagined that he was touching me. I swallowed hard, and he stood up, towering over me, and smiled.

  “Your heart is beating pretty hard in your chest. You okay?” he asked me.

  I hunched my shoulders, and he took my hand and started to head towards the trees. Oh crap, we were going into the woods. I tried to not let my energy get all squirrely, but it was hard. I kept getting flashes of memory… of him and I together. The ones that make you sweat a little and give you butterflies in your stomach. He squeezed my hand, and I just knew that he could feel me.

  Crap. I was in so much trouble.

  He continued to walk, no flashy business… which I kind of felt better about. I mean, if we did flash, I may hit a tree and end up looking like some teenager, all jacked up on wanting to hump on him. Oh god, I used the word ‘hump’… that is ridiculous.

  I held onto his hand and let him lead me to a clearing. He let my hand go and walked out in front of me and turned, placing his hands behind his back. I stood there and rubbed my arm again, not from being cold, but from feeling awkward about the fact that I don’t know how to initiate the…ahhh, you know, between us. He placed his feet apart, pulled out his blades, and placed them on the ground in front of him. I looked down at them and then back up at him. I have no idea what to say.

  He finally decided to talk.

  “Rue, you need to ground yourself,” he said.

  I looked at him and tilted my head.

  “Ummm, okay,” I said.

  “Place your hands out, palms up, and close your eyes.”

  I closed my eyes and grinned.

  “If you end up kissing me, it’s okay,” I said.

  I heard him laugh a little, and found it strange.

  “Now, I want you to visualize all your energy… as a ball in your stomach.”

  “Gotcha,” I said, as I could see it, but I wasn’t taking it seriously.

  I thought for sure that he would be on me any second.

  My mind took me to a dirty place, and I bit my lip.

  “Uh huh... what now?” I asked him.

  I felt the heat from his body behind me, and I just ached for him to touch me.

  Just one initial push and I am throwing him down… I swear to god I will.

  He leaned up in my ear and whispered.

  “Now, start to push it down… into your legs, through the top crust of the earth… Keep pushing it, until it reaches the core itself.”

  I watched the ball of energy, rolling like white light in my mind… I could see it clearly, as clearly as I see my hands in front of my face. It started to travel towards the core, and I wondered if this was some kind of foreplay, the kind that Josh would use to rock the shit out of me, as he had in my room.

  “Now let it connect with the core, Rue. Let it gather her strength in it and start to pull it back… through the earth… Has it changed color yet?” he asked me.

  I felt his fingers on my palms, and I jerked a little. I could hear him breathing harder. I tilted my head, as the ball of light in my mind swirled from white to gold and started to shimmer like the sun.

  “I do… I see it, Josh,” I said.

  “Now let it rise, through the earth and into you,” he said.

  I pulled it towards me. It travelled slowly at first, but made its way up through the dirt and I felt it in my feet. I ‘oh’d’ out loud, and Josh moved away from me. I knew he did because his heat dissipated, and I let the energy rise through my legs and into my hips, where it lingered for a moment. He laughed.

  “Pull it into your chest, Rue, and let it radiate throughout your body,” he said.

  I did. I mean, I couldn’t have it humming in my you know for long; it will cause my knees to buckle and then I could just hear Josh, dying laughing as I try t
o control myself from making the kind of noises that I wish he was making me do. I let the energy flow through me, and then I felt something hard and vibrating placed in my hand. I smiled and had the dirtiest thought for a moment.

  I mean, he didn’t just put his ah… stuff in my hand did he? Oh god.

  “Open your eyes,” he said.

  I did, as I grinned, half nervous… but so ready to drop to the ground and scream out ‘take me’ like some cheesy paperback romance. I looked into his eyes, and they were swirling in color. I decided to be brave and peek at my hand. I crinkled my eyebrows when I stared at the blade.

  He grinned, showing his canine teeth.

  I looked like the definition of confusion, I am sure.

  “Ummmm,” I said.

  “You are naughty,” he said, as he backed up from me.

  I sighed, as I gripped the blade in my hand.

  “No, I ahh… I just, ummm,” I said, as I let my hand lower and pointed the blade towards the ground.

  I looked down as I heard a small crack, like electricity, and watched Blue sparks come up from the ground and make a connection with the tip of the blade.

  “Oh,” I said, as I raised it and looked at the Blue sparks racing across the metal and continue to make small cracking noises.

  “You see, any blade can be your weapon… If you happen to lose yours, ground yourself and draw the energy into it,” he said.

  “Okay,” I said, as I looked at it and then lowered it to my side again.

  “Thanks for the tip.”

  He pulled his blade and smiled at me.

  “Rue, I need for you to be on point,” he said.

  I tilted my head and stared him down.

  “Me...? No, you are the point guy… I am the ‘I don’t know how the hell I pulled that off’ girl,” I said.

  “That changes now,” he said.

  “I… ahhh, sure okay,” I said, as I decided to not fight him on it.

  The truth is I am just disappointed that he’s not rolling me around on the ground.

  “Listen to me, I may not make it through this, and I need you to be on point,” he said.

  I gritted my teeth and stared him down.

  “I don’t like the sound of that… I mean, come on… you...? Not making it? Whatever,” I said, as I used my hands to talk with the blade in my hand.

  I watched color trail behind it and tried to not get mesmerized by it.

  “Don’t… you need to listen,” he said.

  I lowered the blade and looked at his face.

  He actually looked serious.

  “You can’t be serious,” I said.

  “I am,” he added.

  I took a breath and stared at the blade.

  I looked back at him and dropped it on the ground.

  “I am outtie five thousand,” I said, as I turned and started to walk.

  He flashed in front of me and shook his head.

  “Pick up the blade, Rue,” he said.

  I crossed my arms on my chest.

  “You pick it up,” I said.

  He grinned and looked me over.

  “Why are you all mad?” he asked me.

  I sighed and rolled my eyes.

  “I am not doing this; you are the Lord,” I said, as I quoted the word “Lord” in the air.

  “I am not, and I need for you to know how to fight,” he said.

  I shook my head.

  “I know that every time that I do, somebody dies or blows up… that is good enough for me,” I said.

  He tilted his head at me.

  “Sheer luck,” he said.

  “Oh, okay… maybe, but I get through it and so will you,” I said.

  “I won’t this time,” he said.

  I looked at him, and my arms relaxed.

  “You sound all emo,” I said.

  He laughed and reached out towards me.

  “That I am not; I am being realistic,” he said.

  “Do you want me to get you a journal so you can write this all down?” I said.

  He looked down at the ground. I expected him to roll with laughter, but none came and that in itself made me nervous. He looked back at me and had a soft look on his face.

  “I am not Johnathan, Rue,” he said.

  I swallowed and looked at him.

  “You are serious,” I whispered.

  He nodded to me, and my heart sank in my chest.

  “Listen to me, we will all be fine… all of us,” I said.

  He looked up at the sky and hesitated for a moment.

  “Rue, I want to make sure that whatever happens tonight, you survive,” he said.

  “We both will,” I said.

  “Maybe, but maybe is so not good enough,” he said.

  I sat down in the dirt, and he sat down in front of me.

  I looked down at my hands and then up at him.

  “I can’t have you saying this stuff… I mean, you never doubt anything,” I said.

  “I am not doubting, but we are up against a powerful Demon, who has every intention of killing us… and I will not watch you fall,” he said.

  I took a slow breath and stared into his eyes. He was serious, about all of it, and I had no jokes coming to mind that would make it any better. I didn’t know how to pull him out of this thought, and then I did it. I started to unbutton my shirt, like my body decided to do it, before my mind caught up.

  He leaned back and bit his lip.

  “What are you doing?” he asked me.

  “I am going to hump this out of you,” I said.

  He laughed and pushed himself up.

  “Oh my god,” he said, as he started to pace.

  I pulled my shirt over my shoulders, and he stopped and looked at me.

  “Put your shirt back on,” he said.

  I shook my head ‘no’.

  “Maybe if we ahhhh… you will come up with a better idea.” I said.

  “No,” he said, as he flashed to me and pulled my shirt up around my shoulders, and stared into my eyes.

  “Do it, Josh… you know you want to,” I said.

  “Holy crap,” he said, as he pulled my shirt closed over my bra and smiled at me.

  I stood there trying to not feel rejected.

  I pushed that out of my mind and stared at him.

  “I know you want me,” I said.

  He stepped back and looked me over.

  “I do… but more than that, I need you to live,” he said.

  “I will and so will you,” I said.

  He pulled his blade and held it out in front of him.

  “Pick up the blade or fight without it,” he said to me.

  I tilted my head at him and let my shirt hang open.

  “No,” I said.

  He lunged at me, and I had to duck and roll from the blade, as it sliced through the air.

  I rolled onto my back and pushed myself up quickly.

  “Stop it,” I said to him.

  He stood there, gripping the blade tightly in his hand.

  “Pick it up,” he said, as he tilted the blade in his hand and pointed it at me.

  “Nope,” I said, as I turned and started to walk away from him.

  “Rue Volley, pick it up or I will stab you!” he yelled out.

  “No, you won’t,” I said, as I started to button up my shirt.

  “Fight me,” he said.

  “You can kiss my ass!” I yelled back at him.

  “I will, if you fight me,” he said.

  I stopped and turned to look at him.

  He grinned and pressed his foot into the ground.

  I grinned back at him.

  “So… I fight you, and then we can ahhh…”

  He nodded.

  “That was the plan, you brat,” he said.

  I smiled and looked at the blade on the ground.

  “Sweet,” I said, as I flashed to the blade and grabbed it up.

  He lunged at me, and I pulled the blade up and his hit mine, the metal crac
king with sparks of light. I gritted my teeth and felt the energy surge through my hand. He smiled, and I pushed him off of me. He slid backward, stopping himself with his hand, to the ground.

  “Now we get to the foreplay,” he said.

  I gritted my teeth, just knowing that this was going to be one of those moments… the ones that you never think will happen, but when they do it is the shit. Bigger than the shit… monumental shit, on top of shit mountain. I lifted my hand and waved him on.

  “Show me what you got,” I said.

  He muttered something, and I had no time to try to figure it out.

  He knocked me back quickly, and I stumbled, a little surprised that he was being so aggressive.

  “In a hurry?” I asked him.

  He smiled at me.

  “Why...? Are you?” he asked me.

  “Well, now that you ask… yea, kinda,” I said.

  He grinned, and then his blade started to pulsate with light. I turned, as it flashed by my head, and my eyes got big… just shocked that he tried to stab me in the face.

  “Josh… what the hell?” I said a little annoyed.

  “What?” he said.

  “Do you think that you could possibly not stab me?” I asked him.

  “I need for you to survive this,” he said.

  “I know. I know… the demon…” I started to say.

  He came at me, and then his blade made contact with my arm. He cut me; it wasn’t deep… but enough to sting. I stumbled and grabbed my arm, shocked that he had actually done it. I pulled my fingers away from my arm and looked at the blood on them.

  “No you didn’t,” I said.

  He paced in front of me, and I looked at him.

  “You cut me!” I yelled at him.

  “Yea, I did,” he said.

  “What the hell?” I yelled back.

  “This is a battle, Rue… you need to fight me.”

  “Screw you,” I said, as I threw the blade on the ground and started to walk away from him.

  He yelled out, as he flashed towards me, and I instinctively leaned to the side, grabbing the hilt of his blade as he moved past me. I brought up my elbow and hit him in the mouth. I tried to pull the blade from his hand, but he had a death grip on it. I flashed back, and he stood there, wiping the blood from his lip.

  “That was better,” he said.

  I rubbed my elbow.

  “Stop it,” I said.

  “Sorry, not gonna happen,” he said, as he pivoted on his foot and brought his blade up over his head.