by Michele Hauf
“I heard that,” he said. “I’m good at picking up thoughts from my blood kin. Asshole. Idiot. Whatever you want to call me, I’m still your daddy.”
And here she had been troubled to learn she was adopted? Not anymore. Josette and Charles Montfort had been the best, and only, parents she’d ever had.
“Why didn’t Fuum leave Savin’s body after they arrived in this realm?” she asked.
“That was the annoying glitch to the whole plan. Bitch tricked me. She didn’t really want to come here and set up house with me. She just wanted a ticket out of Daemonia, so she used me to get you to sit the throne. Grabbed the boy and headed off on her own sweet way.”
“She dumped you?”
Drav shrugged. “No big loss. Hey, I got to claim a daughter as a queen out of it. Do you know the privileges that grants me now? Man! I can waltz into Daemonia with armloads of illegal morphine and toss it around like candy and no one is going to stop me, the queen’s father.” He lifted his chin and pressed a hand to his chest. The entitled mien did not look half as good on him as it did on her.
“How come you never visited me the entire time I was there?” Jett asked. “I should think you’d have a care to thank the one who gave you such privileges.”
“I’m not into family reunions.”
“You’re lying.”
“And you can read thoughts, too.”
So she could. Must be the family blood. Ugh. Jett did not want to know what was going on in the man’s mind.
“I never visited because I didn’t want to get tangled up in the royal mumbo-jumbo stuff. If they had inducted me into your court, I would have been stuck there.”
“Just like me?”
“Oh, come on, enough with the pity parade. I don’t care what your reason for leaving the place was. You needed a vacation? Fine. You’ve had it. Beautiful Paris. Rendezvousing with your lover. A reckoner. Really?” He again dismissed the statement with a sweep of his hand. “Whatever. Women always have such strange taste in men. Now it’s time to skip back to the throne and be a good little queen for our legion.”
“So Daddy’s privileges will not be revoked?”
“You got it, sweetie.”
Jett thrust out her hand, forcing a vile hex at her father. It slammed him into the brick, this time fitting his body into the hard structure in a spume of dust and painful growls.
“I am not your sweetie.” Jett turned and walked toward the canal.
As far as meeting the father for the first time went, she’d mark that one as Avoid All Future Contact. Now she was walking away from him. For good.
When an arm hooked about her neck from behind and her throat constricted, she instinctively bent forward in an attempt to toss off the attack. But Drav clung to her, and everywhere his fingers touched her skin, she felt his wicked influence seep inside and begin to take control.
* * *
Savin walked the streets for hours. This time he was not going home without Jett. The sun had set and the sky was dark, for the moon was new and no stars could ever breach the illumination of Paris. He’d held such intense focus during his walk, senses focused toward any demon he neared, that his temples now ached with a burgeoning headache.
He stopped by the steel guardrail that edged a stairway leading down to the canal. He picked up vibrations from a few demons in the distance, but none felt familiar to him. Not that he’d ever detected Jett. And why was that? Why could he not know—had he never known?—what she was?
Was it because it was better that way? Better for his heart and soul. No matter what makeup she now was, she would always be his girl. And if that meant he had to love a half demon, then he was in for the fall.
When he heard a sniffle below near a patio edging the canal, Savin looked over the balustrade. And saw the lush black hair that glittered without moonlight. Because she always shone to him.
“Jett!”
He rushed down to the patio and she turned and plunged into his arms. He kissed the crown of her head and felt an instant release of the head pain as her warmth melded against his. It never felt wrong to hold her.
“I’m glad I found you,” he said. She nestled against his chest, silent save for tears. “I had no idea CJ was going to react that way. I’m sorry.”
She didn’t speak, only clung to him tighter.
“I love you, Jett.”
She nodded against his chest. “I...I wasn’t trying to hurt him. Maybe...maybe I was.”
“Huh? Jett?”
Then Savin noticed the dark figure sprawled at the edge of the canal, his head tilted back and long dreadlocks swept by the water. His mouth was open and black blood drooled out into the water.
“What happened? Demon?” Savin asked.
Jett nodded against his chest. She tucked herself up even tighter against him and he wrapped his arms across her back. Much as he wanted to inspect the body, he wanted even more to hold Jett.
“He tried to hurt you?”
She nodded.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you. Damn it,” he swore softly. “I can never seem to be in the right place when you need me most.”
And that fact hurt him more deeply than anything ever had. Even the sour looks his father had given him or the vile interactions he’d had over the years with those demons he’d reckoned couldn’t match the utter devastation at not being able to protect Jett.
“His name was Drav,” she said, and lifted her head to meet his gaze in the darkness. “He was my demon father.”
Savin didn’t know what to say. How could she know that? Had he come looking for her? Had she sought him? What was going on?
“He told me everything. And then he insisted I return to Daemonia. He was going to take me there at any cost. And... I almost fell victim to his influence. But you know, men are men, no matter their form and physicality.”
Savin wasn’t sure what she meant.
“I kicked him in the crotch and that bought me the few seconds I needed to pull up everything I had within me. I ripped out his heart and tossed it in the canal.”
A matter-of-fact recitation of a truly nasty encounter. Yet Savin was only glad she had triumphed. He kissed her forehead and tasted her sweetness.
“I don’t want the darkness to win,” she whispered. “Help me?”
“Always. Come on, I’m taking you home.”
They stood and, upon considering Drav’s body for a moment, Jett suggested Savin shove it into the canal. The demon would decay quickly and become but a thick sludge in less than a day. It was the way of those born completely demonic. Death in the mortal realm did that to their bodies.
They walked hand in hand in silence. No words were necessary. Savin understood she was helpless regarding the demon inside her. Her darkness? Now that her greatest threat had been extinguished—the father who wanted to send her back to Daemonia—he would do what he could to help her rise above the demon she still wore within her. He’d read all the books, master all the spells, even consult witches, wizards or warlocks, if that was what it took to save Jett from her darkness.
At his place, he took down the wards and then left them down after he’d closed the front door. He knew it drained her to have them activated. He’d risk it for tonight.
Jett wandered quietly into the bedroom and pulled off her clothes. Savin stood by the wall, watching as she undressed. With no moonlight sifting through the clouds, shades of gray filled the room, but he saw the shape of her against the bedclothes. So beautiful. A match to the darkness he held within his soul?
When she turned and held out her hand to him, that was the only invite he needed. Savin pulled off his shirt and unbuttoned his jeans. He crawled onto the bed and kissed her.
Chapter 27
The next afternoon, Jett walked into the living room, which resounded with acoustic guitar music. Savi
n did not play the diddley bow, thank whatever gods for that. Instead, it was a classical piece that featured rapid arpeggios and some high notes that sang to her inner desire for all things beautiful. She lingered by the wooden support beam, not wanting to interrupt and hoping he’d continue through to the end.
He was a dichotomy of dark and light. As was she? Perhaps. But did their opposing sides balance each other out when needed? Or when they were both at their darkest, would they be hell to deal with? Maybe that was what was required to see this current situation to a resolution? Both mining their darkest powers to fight it back?
It was an idea. But she wasn’t sure Savin would get behind it. She had exercised her greatest skills last night to defeat Drav. So easy to rip out a demon’s heart. To hold it in her palm and feel the beats that had given her life. That had marked her as not completely human. An outcast in the mortal realm. She hated him for that, for his callous decision to use her as a means to get Fuum out of Daemonia. And for what? Fuum had ditched him immediately and remained in Savin. And Drav had walked away. Just another failed romance.
Jett closed her eyes. She had been a pawn. Who had risen to queen.
She did not want that. She wished to shuck any part of Drav from her body and bones. This morning she felt the exertion as an all-over muscle ache. Every day she grew...lesser. The sheen was getting easier to keep up because... Was she losing the demon inside her? There was less and less to hide now.
The music ended abruptly. “Didn’t see you standing there.”
“I didn’t want you to stop,” Jett said. “It’s beautiful.”
“Some Scarlatti. I like the classic stuff as much as the blues.”
“I remember you started taking guitar lessons that summer before we...” She didn’t need to finish that sentence. “You wanted to be a rock star.”
Savin set the guitar aside and patted the couch beside him. Jett joined him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her in to hug against his chest. “Doesn’t every kid want to be a rock star?”
“I don’t remember what I wanted to be.”
“A nurse,” Savin said easily. “Don’t you recall all those times you’d bandage my wounds after our adventures? And that time I actually broke my arm?”
“Oh hell, I do remember that now. Your mother was so freaked that I’d splinted your arm with branches and your torn T-shirt.”
“I think the emergency room doctor was impressed. I was.”
She snuggled her head against his chest and listened to his calm heartbeat.
“How are you today, Jett? After...last night.”
“I’m tired, but not upset. It was either him or me.”
“I know that. You did what you had to do.” He kissed the crown of her head. “I think I’ve always loved you, Jett.”
She closed her eyes, letting the words flow in, but a little unsure how to process the confession.
“You’re my friend, my confidante,” he said. “My partner in adventure. You know me.”
“I knew you,” she clarified. “We used to be those things, Savin. And...much as I would like to continue the way we once were...can that be so?”
“We just have to get through this mess with the open rift and the queen,” he said. “Then it can be. If you want it to be.”
“I do. I mean, I think I do. I’m not sure I know what love is.”
“You loved your parents. You loved that mangy cat that used to hiss at me every time I’d come over.”
“Oh, Snoodles! I forgot about him.” Memory of that ginger cat dashing up and down the carpeted stairs after a piece of string warmed her heart. “I really did love that stupid cat. He hated you.”
“I put up with the scratches because I wanted to be near you. I didn’t know it when I was a kid, but you were my world, Jett. And it feels like now you’ve stepped back into my world for a reason.”
“What if that reason is to challenge you? To make you stand up to the darkness I am and send me away?”
He sighed and hugged her tighter. “I hope not. I really hope not. But if anything were to happen to me, just know that I love you. From my heart. In every way possible.”
She pressed her lips to his hand and kissed it. She didn’t know how to say she loved him. Wished she did. But for some reason the word didn’t feel right. It could be her darkness. It could simply be that she had so much learning and growing yet to do.
“Do you remember when we would sing?” she asked.
Savin chuckled. “Oh yeah. All those Saturday-morning-cartoon songs? Ha! We knew every single one.”
“And we’d sing them at the top of our lungs while perched in the massive oak tree in your backyard.”
“Those were good times.”
“Savin.” Jett swallowed and lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Those songs kept me alive. When I needed to not lose hope and remember that I was human and that I might someday escape the terrible place, I’d sing one of those songs. Only in my thoughts, mind you. But I’d hear your voice singing along with me. You were always there with me.”
He bowed over her and hugged her tightly. And Jett thought she heard him sniff at a tear. Her heart warmed and she clung to her sexy lover. She never wanted to let him go. His heartbeats buoyed her. Maybe she did love him.
* * *
Jett sat before the laptop computer that Savin had placed on the kitchen counter and inspected the screen. After his mother had refused to help with further liaising between Jett and her mother, she did forward Josette’s email address to Savin. He’d sent Josette an email stating he had some information about Jett, and Josette Montfort had replied with a desperate plea to learn more.
So now Savin suggested she send her a letter online. This email program would enable her to write to her and send it. Her mother would have the letter as soon as she clicked Send. And then it was in her hands to reply or not.
Heartbeat thudding, Jett closed her eyes. She needed this to erase the lingering foulness of meeting her demon father from her very soul.
Savin leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “I know. Give it some thought. You don’t have to tell her all the details.”
“I can’t lie or make something up. You said you told them we were kidnapped by humans?”
“That’s what I decided I needed to tell the police and our parents so they wouldn’t think I was crazy. Later I told my mom the truth.”
“But my mother only knows that original lie?”
“Yes.”
So she must have concluded that her daughter was harmed, maybe even abused or tortured, and very likely dead by the hands of cruel humans. What a terrible mistruth to have to live with. Yet it had been twenty years. Surely, her heart had healed and she had moved on. “I don’t know how to do this.”
“Maybe just start with a hello. I’m going to head out and scavenge up some food. Give you some time to yourself. When you’re done typing what you want to say, just hit the send button and then I’ve shown you how to close the program.”
She nodded. Her fingers shook over the keyboard, so she pressed her hands together and tucked them between her legs. “Thanks, Savin. Pick me up something sweet?”
“You always were a sugar freak.”
That made her smile. Would they ever get back to the way they were twenty years ago? She didn’t want that childhood friendship anymore. She wanted them as adults, in love and sharing their lives. And he’d said he loved her.
Did she—could she—love Savin Thorne?
The front door closed behind him. And she missed him already.
* * *
He’d lied to Jett. He would pick up something to eat. But first a detour was in order. There were things he needed to take care of. Much as every mile he drove farther from Jett killed him, Savin pressed onward until he arrived at the field where it had all begun.
Savin walked out into the field beneath the rift. A man couldn’t see the tear between the two realms, but he felt it. The air was still. Quiet. He didn’t sense any demons lurking or coming through. But it wouldn’t remain so for long. The afternoon was growing into evening. He’d left Jett before the laptop, knowing she needed some time alone for such a momentous thing as contacting her mother. He didn’t know how to help her with that. It had been difficult for him, as a ten-year-old, navigating his own return and concocting the story about being kidnapped.
Yet here he stood. He’d survived and thrived. And he’d walked a path he hadn’t chosen but had been led toward. Never would he have purposely sought to reckon demons. But really, what other choice had he? And he did the job well. But he didn’t take pride in it. It was just the thing he did. To survive. To move along with life. To exist.
Just as Jett had done for so long.
Was there something else out there for him? Could he have a real life? What was that to him?
Family was the first word that popped into his brain. Yet the image of green grass, a picket fence, a puppy and a backyard swing set replete with one or two children made him shake his head. A foolish notion. Who was he to believe he could father a child and take care of it and teach it morals and values when the only example that child would have was a man who sensed, talked to and reckoned demons?
No life for a child. Nor for a wife who just wanted to be normal. Because a wife was necessary for a child. Savin had never looked at a woman in such a manner as future wife potential. He had promised Jett when they were kids they’d get married. Stupid kid stuff. But...not really. He’d meant it last night when he told Jett he loved her. Now, as she was. As the person—part demon—she had become. He could imagine spending his life with her. They got each other. And they each had secrets that only the other could understand. She fit him.
But there was only one way to keep her safe in this mortal realm. And that decision suddenly became less tough than it had been years ago when he first learned the only way to get the Other out of him. He knew what he had to do. And he would do it for the woman he loved. Because if he couldn’t have the picket fence, she deserved a chance to live as a human and to have that opportunity at building a family.