by Vivi Anna
"I will."
"Why don't I believe you?"
"Because you just finished saving my ass from getting pulverized?"
He brought my hand up to his mouth and pressed lips to the back. However chaste it was, the contact still sent a rush of pleasure over me, balling tightly right in the middle of my belly.
"Just so you know though, if you're not back in twenty minutes I'm coming to get you."
I wondered when this was all over if he'd be my boyfriend. It was crazy to be thinking about that in the middle of all this craziness but it made me feel normal to think about it.
After giving me his phone and instructing me on a million worst case scenarios, Trevor finally let me go across the hall to return Thane's clean clothes.
I knocked on the door and Thane opened it immediately. "Jesus, what took you so long? I thought maybe Devon ate you anyway." He opened the door wide for me. "Then I'd have to go get a bunch of new clothes. And I really hate shopping."
"Wow, I'm touched that you were so worried about me." I carried his bag in, looking for the green one to set it next to.
I spotted it in the corner in the same place I'd left it. Thane hadn't gone out of his way to hide it so maybe I'd been wrong and the box wasn't important. Or was too arrogant to care whether I'd seen the box or not.
I glanced at his face and he gave me that smug grin of his. I was voting for too arrogant. He probably thought nothing could touch him, especially not the likes of me. Some groupie he almost killed and dumped in the trash.
I set the black bag beside the green one, giving him my back. "Here's your dumb laundry back."
"Did you use fabric softener?"
"You're lucky I even used detergent."
He came up behind me. A shudder rushed down my spine. I had to dig my nails into my palms to compensate for the urge to run away surging through me. It was almost unbearable to have him so near.
"You know, just because I told Devon not to kill you doesn't mean you can be a smart ass to me."
I risked looking at him. "What, you're going to kill me even though I did such a good job with your shorts?" I unzipped the bag and showed him a neat pile of folded clothes.
"No, I suppose you have your uses."
I dropped my gaze not liking the way he was eyeing me, like I was lunch.
My gut churned. I didn't think I could do this. I couldn't let this monster touch me again. I wouldn't live through it.
I stepped away from him.
"You know something, you're not ugly."
I swallowed. "Ah, nice of you to say."
"You're definitely not the best looking girl I've had but you know beggars can't be choosers."
He moved closer, which made me take another step back, except if I kept retreating, I'd be up against the wall. Just where he'd want me.
"What do you think you're doing?" I tried to put force in my voice so I didn't sound as scared as I was. Not sure that it worked because his grin broadened.
"What does it look like, sugar pop? Getting my dessert."
I put my hand out to stop him from advancing any further. I knew it wouldn't really stop him. He'd take what he wanted. Just like he had in the first place.
I couldn't stop the shudder this time as it racked my entire body. Oh God, I was going to be sick.
He reached for me. But before he could touch my face, there was a loud knock at the door. At first, I didn't think he was going to answer it, but the knocks became louder and more insistent.
"Hold that look of terror. I'll be right back."
I let out my breath as he walked out of the sleeping area to answer the door. "What the fuck do you want?"
I heard Trevor's voice answering him. I smiled. He saved me.
The second Thane was out of my view, I unzipped the green duffle and reached in for the box. After taking it out, I used Trevor's cell phone to take several pictures of the designs and symbols etched into the polished wood. I tried to pry it open but it was locked. I took a picture of the lock as well. Once I was done, I put the box back and zipped up the bag, my hands shaking the entire time. I hoped the pictures turned out all right.
Taking in a few cleansing breaths, I crossed the room to the door. I saw Trevor framed in the doorway, his face an angry mask, arguing with Thane. I knew the second he spotted me because his face softened, his eyes lit up.
"Well, I think I'll be leaving now." I brushed past Thane but he grabbed my arm before I could get into the hall.
"I'll say when you can leave," he snarled, his eyes going jet black.
I swallowed hard and glanced at Trevor.
"Look, Thane, we need to get down to the club so we can set up the sound system for your gig," Trevor offered. "You can always torment her later."
Thane didn't look convinced but he let go of my arm. "Whatever the two of you are planning, it's not going to work." He shrugged. "Just thought I'd let you know that."
I stepped out into the hall next to Trevor. As soon as I was clear of the door, Thane slammed it shut.
We didn't say anything until we were safely inside our room. I collapsed onto the sofa, my hands still shaking.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes," I breathed out. "Thanks to you."
"I came early. I couldn't sit here any longer thinking about you in that room with him."
I smiled. "Thank God, you did."
He sat beside me, and ran a hand over my head. I liked the contact. It was comforting and seemed completely natural and normal. I leaned against him. He dropped his arm to around my shoulder, pulling me tight into his chest.
"Did you find anything?"
I took out his cell phone and scrolled through the images I'd captured. "Recognize any of these?"
"No, but I'm not exactly the scholarly type." He smirked. "They look old though."
I flipped through them again. "Some of these look Celtic to me. Lots of loops and knots."
"Did you get a look inside the box?"
"No. It was locked."
"Then it must be important."
"I guess."
Trevor lifted my chin with a finger. "We'll figure this out. We'll do some research online. Find out what those markings mean."
"And what if they don't mean anything?"
"Then we'll find another way."
I snuggled into him, draping my arm over his chest. Closing my eyes, I drank him in. I could've just stayed like that for an eternity. He was warm and comforting and smelled like chocolate. What more could a girl ask for?
"We could just run away together. They wouldn't bother looking for us. We could disappear in L.A or New York. We could sneak across the border and live in Toronto or Montreal. They would never expect to find us in Canada."
He squeezed my shoulder and pressed his lips to the top of my head. "Could you really leave, knowing Thane will do this again and again to girl after girl? None of them would be as lucky as you and survive."
I didn't want to hear it but he was right. Right that Thane would continue sucking the life out of random girls and right that I couldn't leave knowing it.
"Where's your laptop?" I sat up. "I'll start looking up those symbols."
Chapter 26
For the next hour, I looked up various ancient symbol websites. There were a lot of websites on the subject. Six million, nine hundred and thirty thousand to be exact. The major problem was narrowing it down to culture. All old cultures used symbols in some way. I decided to go with my hunch and started with the Celtic histories.
After browsing fifteen websites, I'd found nothing that matched the etchings in the pictures. Besides that the research was cut short because true to Trevor's word we had another gig to set up.
I'd always thought being a roadie would rock. Hanging out with the band, drinking beer all night, absorbing the music and the mayhem that went with it. But the reality of it was, it was a lot of hard, late nights, and zero respect. And for a girl, there were the added inappropriate comments and sexual leers. I had to
say I was extremely thankful that Trevor had my back. When he was around, everyone basically behaved.
A couple of hours later of moving equipment and setting up instruments, Trevor and I were free to chill. The last place I wanted to chill was at the club but I had no choice. Trevor had to stay in case there were problems and then we had to take everything down again after the show.
To kill some time, I wandered through the club, drinking a Red Bull and watching people. Although Malice didn't go on for another hour, the place was fairly crowded. To think only a couple of weeks ago, I'd been one of these desperate looking groupies scrambling for a spot up front for one chance to make eye contact with any of the band.
It was amazing what almost dying and becoming half-demon can do to a person's perspective on life.
I'd finished one full circuit of the club before heading backstage when I spotted something in the crowd. It was a tattoo on some tall dude's neck. It had the same spirals as one of the symbols on the box.
Pushing through a bitch of bleach blondes, I bee-lined for the guy. He was uber tall so not hard to follow through the crowd. The top of my head just reached his shoulder. I had to tilt my head way up to talk to him.
"Hey guy?" I tapped him on the arm.
He peered down at me. "Whacha want?"
"What's that symbol on your neck?" I pointed to the one on the right side, with the three armed spirals.
"It's Celtic."
"What's it called? Does it have any meaning?"
"It's a triskele. Has some religious meaning or some shit. I just like it. It looks cool."
"Thanks." I gave him a bland smile and moved on.
Armed with the new knowledge, I hunted Trevor down in one of the back rooms. He was messing around with some wires in one of the speakers.
He smiled when he saw me approach. "I'm hungry. Want to go get a pizza?"
"I found something."
"What?" he asked half-heartedly as he continued to strip and tie the wires.
"You know. Something."
His head came up at that. He glanced around to see if we were alone. A couple of security guys were hanging around at the door's entrance. One of them I knew was also a cambion. He was the dick who wouldn't give me a backstage pass back in Boise.
Trevor slid his wire cutters into his back jean pocket then came around to swing his arm over my shoulders. Together we pushed through the small crowd milling about backstage and headed toward the back exit. He pushed the door open and we went out.
The security dick's voice followed us out. "Don't forget to wear a rubber."
"I hate that douchebag."
"Me too." Trevor grabbed my hand. "So, what do you got?"
"I saw one of the symbols on some dude's neck. I was right. It's Celtic."
"What does it mean?"
I shrugged. "The big idiot didn't know. But at least now I can look it up. It's called a triskele or something like that."
"Cool. We're one step closer."
"I want this to end so bad. I don't know how much longer I can handle it."
He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist. I settled my head against his shoulder and inhaled his scent. His smell never failed to ignite a fire deep in my belly.
"It'll be over soon. Then we can run off somewhere together."
I pulled back and looked up into his eyes. It was the first time he mentioned still being together once we achieved our goal.
"Really? You want to...to be with me even after this?"
He bopped me on the nose with his finger. "Yeah. I do."
I wondered if he'd like living in Boise because that was where I intended to head after this was done. I missed my mom, and Chloe and my life there. Trevor would make a fine addition to that ensemble. I thought that my mom would even like him. Once she got past the cambion thing of course.
I was about to say as much before there was a ripple in the air next to us and the four demonic members of Malice stepped out of the shadows.
"Well, looky here." Thane smiled. "If it isn't my favorite washer woman."
Devon pierced me with her lethal gaze. "How's the arm?" she cackled, then pushed past us to go into the club. Quinn and Seth followed her barely acknowledging our existence. This didn't bother me too much.
"Guess what? I totally wrote a song about you."
The groupie in me would've wet her panties to hear that, but for me, it was a nightmare.
"It's called Domestic Slave. Do you like it?"
Forgetting I was supposed to be terrified of him, I took a step toward him. "Fu..."
Trevor squeezed my side. "Salem," he warned.
Thane laughed. "Listen to your dark knight, sugar pop. You'll live longer." He stepped around me and went into the club, happily slamming the door shut behind him.
I took a running kick at the door, forgetting I wasn't wearing my steel-toed Doc Martens.
"Shit!" I hopped backwards on my left foot. "I broke my toes."
Trevor grabbed me around the waist, picked me up like I weighed nothing, and carried me back into the club. He set me down on the nearest chair and stripped off my boot. I cringed thinking about foot odor. I was sure that the inside of my boot did not smell good at all. But he didn't seem bothered.
"Wiggle your toes."
Biting my lip, I did as he asked. Pain shot up my leg.
"They're not broken." He knelt down beside me and slid my boot back on. "Next time aim for something not made of metal."
Setting my boot on his bent knee, he proceeded to re-lace my boot and tie it.
It was the nicest, sexiest thing any boy had ever done for me. If I hadn't been falling for him before, this would have sent me tumbling head over heels.
Thane was right. Trevor was my dark knight. He'd been there for me from the beginning. At first, it had been in the background, in the shadows, watching and waiting, but now he was here in front of me, on his knees, doing everything he could to keep me safe.
Chapter 27
The show went on without a hitch and we packed up the gear once it was over. Trevor and I dragged our asses back to the room at about two a.m. I should've been dead on my feet but I was too amped up to go to sleep right away. I wanted to do more research first.
As I did a Google search on the triskele symbol, Trevor served me some leftover pizza and a soda. He plopped down beside me on the sofa and chowed down on his own slice.
"All this junk food all the time and I'm going to get fat," I commented as I tore into the cheesy wedge.
"Nah. You can't get fat. Cambions have furnace like metabolism. We can eat whatever the heck we want."
"Awesome to know." I chugged the soda, and let out a less than dainty burp.
"Nice." He elbowed me in the side.
It felt good to be sitting here with Trevor doing regular teen things like web surfing, chowing down on pizza, and laughing. Maybe I could still have that normal life again. Just because my genetics had been altered into something inhuman didn't mean I'd lost any of my humanity. I was still a teen girl with wants and needs. I was sitting next to one and chowing down on another. Not so weird.
I scrolled down the list of sites about the triskele. My gaze landed on one that piqued my curiosity—The Triskele and Merlin the Magician. I clicked on the link and started reading.
Then my heart started to pound. "Listen to this. ‘Merlin is traditionally cast as a cambion, born by a mortal woman and sired by an incubus, from who he inherited his supernatural powers and abilities'." I stared at Trevor. "Did you know that?"
"No, why would I?"
"Didn't you do any research on cambions when you found out you were one? I did."
He ignored my barb. "What else does it say?"
I continued reading. "It says he often wore a robe with the triskele symbol on it, as a sign of his position as a Druid priest."
Trevor popped the tab open on another soda and took a swig. "What website is this?"
"It belongs to some psychic named T
he Morgana." I scrolled down to the bottom of the page. "And guess what? She's in Seattle. Maybe we should go see her?"
"I don't know. Is there anything else important on the site?"
"Just some stuff about Druidism...oh wait, here's something. ‘Merlin was said to have been pierced by an enchanted sword and put into an eternal sleep by the huntress Nivaine, a woman he desired and relentlessly pursued, a woman he taught all his magic to.' Merlin was stopped so maybe we can stop Thane and the others."
"Could be all a bunch of bullshit. Merlin was a myth. He didn't really exist."
"So says the real as shit cambion sitting beside me." I smirked. "Maybe he was real, Trevor, and somehow Thane and Devon and the others are descendants of his." The minute it came out of my mouth, I fully believed it to be true. This was the answer, I was sure of it.
Trevor sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine. We can go see this woman tomorrow morning. I'm hoping it's something, Sale. Because after tomorrow we're on the move again. And eventually they're going to ground. When the weather turns cold, they'll be gone."
I punched him in the arm.
"Ow," he rubbed at the spot, "What was that for?"
"For keeping that information to yourself. Hello? Maybe you should've mentioned that little tidbit sooner."
"Sorry. I just didn't want you to feel pressured."
"Well, I'm feeling it."
In the morning, Trevor and I went down to Cherry Street near the water to meet with The Morgana. I wasn't sure what to expect but it definitely wasn't the two hundred pound woman with Betty White's smiling face answering the door. She looked like my grannie and not some Celtic psychic. She even smelled like cinnamon from what I soon found out was from the organic cookies she'd just made.
She'd invited us into the parlor, sat us down at a small round table, gave us each a glass of milk and a cookie, then sat across from us and smiled a matronly smile.
"So, what can I do for you two dears, today?"
I glanced at Trevor. He was busy chewing the cookie, so I cleared my throat and said, "Um, we were wondering about the story about Merlin the Magician."
"Oh, he wasn't a magician, dear. He was a great Druid priest."
"Right. And he was also a...cambion?"