Andrew strikes, throwing a punch at the man's gut, not once but three or four times. Then he spins him out of Connor's grasp and into his own.
"Who are you?" I hear Andrew growl. His voice is deep, scary and demonic. The muscles in his back shift as he strains harder against the man in his arms.
Connor is on him fast with a blade at least six inches long pointed at his chest. "I will run you through. Who are you? What are you doing here?"
The figure in Andrew's arms shifts and morphs. His skin takes on a darker tone, almost black, mixed with green. His hair disappears and...horns?
"Jesus, a shifter." Connor spats. "Who sent you?"
"Who do you think? I've come for her. I've come to take her to Him," the demon snarls the last word.
"I don't think so," Andrew says, and in one fast move he's turned the shifter around and pushed him to the floor. Andrew’s legs are entangled with the intruder’s and his hands are pressing hard into his shoulders.
Before I can even worry about the fact that the demon’s hands are free, Connor is on them, holding them down as Andrew reaches inside his boot and withdraws another six-inch knife. This one looks like it’s made out of gold.
"Take her, now!" Andrew shouts at Red.
In an instant I'm engulfed in a bubble-like shell, and then I'm standing in a solid white room, much like the room from my dreams. Elysium.
TWENTY-EIGHT
My heart races and blood pulses behind my ears. I can't even begin to imagine how I've managed to get here, let alone so quickly.
I pinch my arm. "Ouch!" Nope, I'm not dreaming.
"What the hell just happened?" I nearly scream.
"Calm down, Vivienne, no need to get worked up. That was a shifter."
"How did he get past Andrew and Connor?" Come to think of it: "And how did you get here? You're supposed to be with Mikah."
Red takes a seat on the white couch. His face wears a soft expression that I find comforting. "I'll explain it all,” he says. “Have a seat, take a breath. You're alright, and we'll discuss it."
I start to pace.
"Vivienne, please, sit. Everyone is fine. No one is harmed.” I try to sit, but I can't, at least not in a chair. My wings are still in full extension. I take a seat on the bench opposite the couch.
“Shifters are something of an in-between. They are not exactly human, but they are not demonic, either.” I never noticed Red's accent before, but the more he talks, the more I hear it. “They have the ability to travel between realms, but the catch is that they can only project themselves. They are not actually present until they complete their transition. They project to an area where they want to be, which in this case was the end of the ringing line. Where you were. When you answered the phone he honed in on your position and projected to it."
"But he looked like Mikah," I say, completely breathless.
"He took the shape of something you wouldn’t run from." He twirls his wedding band around his finger. "He needed you to keep the connection open long enough for him to fully teleport into the room. That's when Andrew and Connor intercepted. There’s an alarm system in the house to warn us of intruders, but it doesn’t always detect shifters when in their projected form. He pauses to take a deep breath. "When he tried to complete his teleport, it set off all the alarms and connected to my phone. When it went off, I came as fast as I could. I shielded you so that the shifter couldn’t see you when he teleported into the house. He’d be confused, allowing us to take him down as we did.”
I look up at him, confused. Then Zirah's words from earlier come back. "Shields?" I whisper.
"Yes, darlin’. All of us - Andrew, Connor and myself - have the ability to create a camouflage of sorts that will turn anything behind it invisible."
I put my head in my hands. "This is all...it's too much."
"Breathe. You’re safe, and your location is still undetected."
My head snaps up. "You're joking, right? He was in the apartment."
"No, his image was. All this one saw was the inside of an apartment, but the location of that apartment is covered up by the securities we have in place. Think of him as a hologram.”
"A what?"
"It's like a three-dimensional picture. You can see it, but if you touch it there is nothing there. Shifters are different from holograms in the sense that they shift into the dimension they're after, and though they are not solid, certain supreme beings have the ability to touch - or make physical contact with - and control them. Myself, Andrew and Connor are three of those people.
“The location is safe because your shifter was unable to move, unable to fully shift into the apartment because of the protection we have in place."
"So now I have to worry about holograms showing up in the apartment."
"No," says a voice behind me. I turn to the sound and it is Andrew.
"Gah! Jesus, stop that, would you?"
"Sorry." He looks from me to Red. "We're in the clear." He looks cautiously at me then back to Red. "It's been taken care of."
I need no more explanation from him; I know what he is saying without him actually saying it.
"We've added additional protection to the building, especially the apartments."
"Aaron?" Red says.
"Aye, he's taking care of it."
"Wait a minute, who's Aaron?" I interrupt them.
Andrew kneels down next to me. "Are you okay?"
"Who's Aaron?" I repeat.
The way he shakes his head gives me the distinct impression that Mikah has done a thorough briefing with him about my stubbornness.
"Aaron is another one of us, but he has the ability to provide an additional protection, the ability to stop shifters from coming into an area that's protected by him. He's placing protection on the building, as well as on you. No matter where you go, you'll be safe."
I feel a knot of stress form in my back and my wings respond by quivering.
"Can you pull them back in?" Red asks.
I look at him and my wings twitch. "I think so. Though I've only done it once."
Red cannot hide the shock on his face. Obviously that was not something he was expecting to hear.
"I sort of woke up with them this morning. That's how I found out about what you guys are. Which is why I'm not so much shocked by what you've done, but rather by that thing finding me in the first place."
Andrew chimes in. "I'm not convinced he knows what he found for certain. Red was quick with the shield, and we’ve taken care of him so he cannot return and report.”
"I just need to know that I'm safe and that this won't happen to me again."
"No, ma'am," Andrew says.
I scowl at him but I don’t want to fight right now about him calling me Vivienne, so instead I focus on reining in my wings. I lower my head to my hands, placing the heels of my palms against my eyes and closing them tight, and I concentrate on my wings.
TWENTY-NINE
After I manage to pull myself back together, Andrew leads me to a door opposite where we were sitting and I magically walk back into the apartment. It looks exactly as it did when I answered the phone.
I need a serious amount of something to process all of this. It's just too much.
Connor and Celeste are in the apartment when Andrew and I walk in. Red doesn't follow us.
"Where's Red?" I ask.
"He went back to Mikah. They're on their way home," Connor says.
I nod. "Now what?" I say.
Celeste steps forward. "Now you have a spa appointment."
"You're kidding, right?" I retort.
"Nope. Come on, grab your stuff," she says.
"Please tell me you're joking. After that?" I say back.
Connor speaks up. "Mikah does not know about this, about you, or about us. Proceeding with the day as planned is the best way to keep it that way."
"Why is hiding who and what you are from Mikah so important?" I ask.
They all look at each other. Andrew is the one who a
nswers. "Mikah can and will know about us, but him finding out about a shifter here will send him over the edge. We are just trying to take it slower on him." He pauses. "He is having a harder time adjusting to what he is than you are."
I look at all of them, puzzled. "I'm not sure I'm handling any of this, to be honest."
They all laugh, just a little.
"Yeah, you are,” Celeste says. “You've yet to freak out."
I laugh. "I guess it is just a matter of accepting my fate. It is what it is, and until it affects me to the point of spending every day in Elysium or in fear of someone or something getting to me, I'm not sure there is much I can do about it." I also take into consideration that the one person I seem to want to spend all my time with is just like me. But I don't tell them that.
"That is a beautiful attitude. I wish we all had that kind of outlook when we found out." Celeste is still smiling as she says this. "That is how we know that you can handle this more than Mikah can. Eventually he will step into his own role. We just need to give him time."
I nod. "Okay, then. I guess we're going to a spa?"
THIRTY
A little over three hours later we arrive back at the underground garage of the condo. Andrew and Connor are both there to escort me into the elevator. However, neither one of them join me on my way up to my floor. When the doors open, Red is in the hallway.
"Good afternoon and welcome home, Ms. Vivienne."
"Thank you, Red. Is he home?"
"Yes, ma'am. He's inside waiting for you."
"Thank you."
I'm immediately surprised when I walk in: Lining the hallway are candles about every three feet. They've been placed so nicely that they almost look like they’ve been there forever.
I don't see Mikah anywhere, but I can hear the shower in the guest bathroom. He must be in there. I pause by the door, tempted to open it and let him know I'm here, but decide against it.
Instead I follow the path of candles to the breakfast bar. Sitting atop the bar is a vase containing two roses: a beautiful red rose in full bloom and a baby Fire and Ice rose. I smile. Next to the vase with the roses sits a package that looks similar to the one that contained the original Baby Callahan picture. A note on top says Open Me in Mikah's script.
I pick it up and rip open the paper to reveal a black box. I pull the top off, and looking back at me is a silver frame engraved with the words It's a Girl along the top and Baby Callahan, taken November 9th, 2012 at the bottom. The frame is empty. I remember the ultrasound pictures Dr. Alston gave me yesterday and I know the perfect one.
I head over to the coffee table, bypassing the other candles. I'd like to put the picture in this frame before Mikah gets out of the bathroom so he can see it.
Grabbing the envelope off of the table, I flip to the one of her beautiful profile and lift the frame from the box. I'm surprised to find another frame underneath, this one an exact duplicate of the one he gave me before, picture and all. He's given me back my picture.
I slide the picture into the first frame and stand it up next to the vase, then pick up the other frame and set it up on the other side.
I’m about to throw the box away when I notice that it contains another, smaller box, a black velvet one. It's a jewelry box. Puzzled, I open the lid hesitantly and gasp.
Inside is a silver bracelet. It has a small heart locket near the clasp. Hooked onto the heart is a pair of miniature baby booties with pink gems on them. It's beautiful.
I slip the bracelet onto my wrist and I'm instantly in love with the way it looks and the way it feels. It is, of course, too much, but it is something that he's actually thought about, like the frames. And it symbolizes our baby girl.
Whoa, did I...? Yeah, I did. But I’m surprised to find that, rather than feeling really awkward, I take comfort in the idea of our.
I look at the bracelet as it sparkles in the shimmering light of the candles throughout the apartment.
After a few moments I pull the box off the counter, again intending to throw it away, and this time I spot a card taped to the counter underneath where the box sat.
Leave the box. There is something else waiting for you in the bedroom.
I notice now that the shower has stopped, and I get a tingling feeling that Mikah has been watching me from the bathroom. I smile but don't turn around as I head off toward my bedroom.
THIRTY-ONE
Stepping over the threshold into my bedroom, I notice that there are no candles in here but that the lights are on and dimmed. Lying on the bed are three boxes: one huge, one about the size of a shoe box, and one smaller still.
"Mikah, what have you done?"
The biggest one says Open first across the top. I smile and pull the paper-wrapped lid back to find pink tissue paper.
I slowly pull the paper back.
And gasp.
Any doubts that Mikah has been sharing my dreams with me are swept away. Inside the box is the very same dress that I've been wearing in our dream: the white tank top dress with silver accents beneath the chest and atop my baby bump. The straps are accented with the same design at the top. These accents hold the flowing gossamer train. The back is wide open, allowing room for my wings if they were out.
Peeling my eyes away from the first box, I sidestep to box number two.
Tears prick my eyes as I pull the lid off the box. Inside is a pair of white ballerina slippers that have long ribbons attached, no doubt to wrap around my calves. They're very pretty.
Finally, box number three.
These belonged to my mother.
I cover my mouth to hold in my gasp. Why would he give me something from his mother? Do I really mean that much to him? Then I remember our dream. Yes, I think I do.
I slowly open the last box and slide back the tissue paper. Sitting upon a shiny material are two bracelets. The bands that I'm wearing in the dream. In the center of the swirls are the white pearls. Also sitting among the material is what appears to be a headband of sorts, or a tiara.
My fingers gently glide along the smooth silver.
"You don't need to wear it all tonight."
I don't jump because I've had a feeling he was watching me. "I don't know what to say."
"Say you'll wear it."
I nod my head enthusiastically. "Of course I will."
I turn around to face him. He is standing there barefoot, in dress pants, no shirt, and his hair is still wet and dripping slightly.
The sight of him has me weak in the knees, but a huge weight dissolves almost the instant that I look into his bright, brilliant blue eyes.
"Hi, beautiful," he says and smiles that gorgeous smile he has that no doubt has the ability to bring any woman to her knees.
"Hi," I breathe.
He makes no move toward me, so I cross the room to him and throw my arms around his chest. I accidentally touch the wings on his back, and a tremor runs through his body.
He wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head.
"I missed you," I mumble into his chest.
"I can tell. I missed you, too."
He rubs along my back, and my body shakes in response. A desire to be closer to him grows hot within my body and it frightens me. I don't have a clue what this means. I've never felt anything like it before.
"You look beautiful," he says quietly.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, we need to leave in about twenty minutes. Will you be ready?"
I nod into his chest once again and he pulls back slightly.
"Good. Now we both need to get dressed," he says, kissing the top of my head again and pulling free of my arms.
I reluctantly let him go.
He turns toward the other bedroom and I see his beautiful wings shimmering across his back, vivid and alive.
THIRTY-TWO
I change quickly, starting with the shoes. I slide them onto my feet and crisscross the laces up each calf. Standing straight again, I replace the tan bra I'm wearing -
which would’ve worked well for the dress I'd planned to wear - for a white, lacy one. I also pull on a pair of white lace boy shorts to match. I’m relieved to notice that although the back of the dress is open, it will still cover up my bra.
I slip easily into the dress and guide one bracelet over each of my wrists. I cannot bear to part with the locket he gave me earlier, so I decide to leave it on, too.
I cannot help but smile at the beautiful woman staring back at me in the full-length mirror. She is elegant, graceful, and classically beautiful. With her hair pulled back off of her face and cascading down her back, she looks like Cinderella, ready for the ball.
I'm overcome by the idea of what people will think, seeing me on Mikah's arm. I will become the center of attention; I can feel it already.
"Get a grip," I say quietly to myself. I've never cared what anyone has thought of me. Why start now?
I feel a tingle of excitement right as the knock comes. "Viv, it's almost time to go."
"I'll be right there," I say back loudly.
I reach for the little purse I bought yesterday to go with the dress I'd originally planned to wear. That dress is similar to this one, but it will sit unused in the closet. I wonder if Celeste can return it for me.
I sneak one final sideways glance at myself in the mirror. My bump is more pronounced from this angle, but for some strange reason, it's a very welcome sight.
When I step out from the bedroom, I see Mikah standing at the breakfast bar with his back to me. The candles are still lit, but the light over the bar is on. He's changed his pants. He's now wearing white pants.
I take a few steps in his direction and he turns toward me. As he turns I see that a thick silver stripe runs up the outside of his pants and that he is wearing a silver vest and tie under his white jacket.
I can't help the fascinated smile that spreads across my face at the fact that we match.
"Hello, beautiful," he says, and I blush. Not from his words but because I actually feel beautiful.
Give Me Desire (Reason Series) Page 9