Wicked Lucidity

by Wicked Lucidity [lit]

  Black shadows rushed at me from every angle whispering, “He knew. He knew all about William and wanted the human to kill you after he was done teaching you a lesson. He never looked back. Give in. Kill him.”

  “No.”

  The evil ripped me up into the air and slammed me into the brick wall. Still, I remained strong. “I won’t let myself hurt him. I won’t let you take me to that point.” Reaching out, I gathered what power I was still in control of and shouted out, “Knife!”

  One of my knives began to move all on its own, shaking on the cement. It lifted high into the air and came barreling at me full force. Pushing to my feet, I shook slightly, my body riddled with pain and waited for the end to come. I took a deep breath in and tipped my head back. Something slammed into me and it wasn’t the knife.

  Suddenly, if felt as though strong arms were wrapping around me. My breath grew short as an intense heat washed over me, drawing my energy back to me. It ran through me hard, leaving me crying out in agony. The arm-like feeling brought me up and off the ground a second before darkness washed over me.

  Chapter Eight

  After adjusting the baseball cap on my head, I then pulled on the ponytail that hung from the back of it. I glanced down at my cut-off, orange T-shirt and loose thin cotton grey exercise pants. I walked towards the kitchen and smiled wide as I found Amber there.

  “Mmm, I knew I smelled coffee.”

  She gave me a nervous look. “You okay this morning?”

  “I actually feel amazing.” It was the truth. I hadn’t felt his good since I was a child. “I haven’t a clue how I got home or how my bed got put together and I don’t care. I can’t believe I slept in this late. I never sleep in.”

  “Pfft, correction. You never sleep,” Amber said, wryly. “Also, you slept for two days, sweets. It scared the hell out of me but Riston assured me you were fine.”

  “Two days?” I asked, positive I’d heard her wrong.

  She nodded. “Two days, sleeping beauty. I checked on you all the time and you were dead to the world. I have to say, it was hard to get past Riston. He watched over you like a hawk, Karri. He even helped me get you cleaned up. He brought you to my house and I gave you a bath.” She smiled wide. “Though, I’ll tell you now that he had to lift you but I tossed a towel over the front of you even though I know you and know that you wouldn’t have cared if he saw you naked or not”

  Dead to the world? Riston watched over me? Tossed a towel over me? For me to sleep for two straight days I had to have expelled a hell of a lot of power and energy. If that was the case, I was damn lucky I wasn’t dead. “How did I get home?”

  She shrugged. “All I know is that Rison showed up with you in his arms and from there, he’s done nothing but watch over you. I think the boy has it bad for you, Karri. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think you have it equally as bad as him.”

  “If you give me some of your famous coffee you can say whatever you want about me.”

  Amber gave me a cautious look at she poured me a cup of coffee. “You need to eat.”

  “Yeah. I need to go grocery shopping first. If I beg will you come with me? You get everything I need. When I go alone I get half, forget the rest and end up mad and throwing things away.”

  She winked and opened the refrigerator. “I already handled that. Now,” she tossed me a banana and winked, “eat.”

  I was starving so I didn’t argue. Instead, I began to peel the banana.

  Amber seemed pleased with herself. “Karri, I worried about how you would survive without me cooking for you. I can’t believe that I had to show you how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

  I took the cup of coffee from her and smiled, my mouth full of banana. “Hey, my ‘guardians’ taught me to dance with live snakes. Not cook.”

  Her green eyes widened.

  “Lighten up, Amber.” I put the banana in my mouth and wagged my brows, holding it there with my lips.

  As I went to take a sip, the door to my left opened fast. I hadn’t sensed anyone else in the house. I drew in a sharp breath and dropped my coffee. A large hand shot out in front of me and caught it, never once spilling a drop. I visually traced my way up the arm, following every curve, bulge and tawny inch of glory. The second I found myself staring into a pair of crisp blue eyes I backed up so fast I cracked the back of my head on the kitchen doorframe. “Ouch, okay, hitting the one has already begun,” I mumbled with the banana still in my mouth. I pulled it out fast.

  Riston stared at me intently, seeming to soak me in with his hot gaze. He arched a brow. “Glad to see you’re up and about.” He glanced at the coffee in his hand. “Drop something?”

  I couldn’t seem to get my mouth to do anything other than hang open as I stared at him. I actually considered putting the banana back in it just to act as a filler. If Amber’s theory was true then Riston was the man I’d waited all my life for. He couldn’t be. Could he?

  No. He can’t possibly be RJ. He’d have said something. Right?

  After giving it some thought, I realized how ridiculous I was being. PJ was not Riston’s sister.

  “Karri?” he asked, giving me a smug smile.

  I nodded. “Umm, why were you in the basement?”

  “I fixed your hot water tank.”

  “You did?”

  He laughed softly and took a step towards me with my coffee in hand. “I also hooked up your washer and dryer. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Wait, are you telling me that I’ll now have the ability to have a hot shower and clean clothes?”

  “Yep.”

  I arched my brows and smiled. “You’re making me wet here, buddy.”

  “Karri!” Amber shouted.

  “What?” I thought about what I’d said and laughed harder. “Opps, fell out. Sorry, RJ ... err ... umm, Riston.” I stared at him, waiting for him to yell at me or show some sign of being upset that I’d slipped up on his name.

  He just smiled. “Dare I tell you that I hooked your stereo system up?”

  My eyes widened as I tossed my arms out and around his neck, still holding the banana in one hand. I kissed his cheek and squeezed him tight. “I think I love you.” The second I said it, Amber dropped a dish. I released my hold on Riston and I backed up fast hitting her. “Shit, sorry. Are you okay?”

  She looked at me with wide eyes. “Oh, great and you?”

  “Great.”

  Riston chuckled and we both looked at him. “I’ll stop laughing if someone gets me some coffee too.”

  Amber actually raised her hand. “I’ll do it. Umm,” she leaned in close to me and whispered, “your cell phone rang while he was in the basement. The guy said his name was Jason and that he’s your husband. When in the hell did you get married?”

  I walked cautiously past Riston, as though he’d bite and unplugged my cell phone from the wall. “Amber, where did you put my PDA?”

  “It’s in the drawer,” she said, sharply.

  I rolled my eyes. “You can stop now. I’d have called to let you know I’d gotten married. Geesh. I’m a lot of things. But come on.”

  She turned around and glared at me. “I took the message right, Karri. He asked for Hope and when I said you were indisposed, my standard response, he asked that I tell you that your husband Jason called.”

  “Amber, he’s one of my men.”

  Her eyes grew even larger. “One? How the hell many husbands do you have?”

  “At present count forty-two. I also have thirty-one fiancés, twelve brothers, countless lovers and about six cousins.”

  “What?” she asked looking as though she was going to strangle me.

  Unable to help myself, I laughed as I reached over and took my coffee from Riston’s hand. As my fingers skimmed over his, heat flared through them. I kept my gaze on Amber enjoying the look on her face too much to stop teasing her.

  “I lost count of kids. That’s why I needed my PDA.” I wiggled it as I searched for Jason’s name.

&nb
sp; Amber charged at me. I moved to the side and hit a solid warm wall. Leaning into it, I laughed more. She looked like she was about to spit fire. “Karri, what in the hell happened to you?”

  “Well, you left and there was no one to invent new theme parties with. Jean-Paul sucks, pun intended, at being social with anyone so I went into that call girl business you always accused me of belonging to.” I backed up more into the mass of muscle. “Thankfully, only half my men are into role playing.”

  She smacked me in the arm. “You ... you ... oh, you.”

  I took a sip of my coffee and was vaguely aware of an arm around my waist as I smiled at Amber. “Amber, say that you’re married. Your husband has been out of the country for months on business, leaving you with,” I peaked at the PDA, “three children. What’s the one thing you’d want him to do?”

  Tipping her head, she gave me a dirty look. “I don’t know. Come home I guess.”

  I took another bite of banana as I laughed. “So, say you’re an operative. You’re up a creek without a paddle, knowing the enemy is watching and listening to everything you say and do. You also know you need to get out fast. You call someone you trust. Someone the enemy would never suspect would one, know you’re into that life style and two ever know enough about it to help you. Who do you call and what do you say?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “I’d call a female operative. If she answered, I’d tell her that I missed her and couldn’t wait to see her again. If someone else answered her phone, I’d leave my name and the fact that I’m her husband. Because she’d then know....” Riston stopped short of completing his statement.

  I handed my banana to Amber who gave me a stern look. “You took three bites. Eat more.” She shoved it at me fast, practically cramming it down my throat. I let my throat relax and took it all the way in. Her eyes widened. “Only you would deep-throat a banana.”

  I laughed, pulled it out and threw it at the trashcan. It hit the lid and fell straight in. I snorted. “And Branson had the nerve to say I throw like a girl. Mmm, now back to Jason. Riston is right.”

  Reaching up behind me, I cupped the side of Riston’s neck, caressed it gently and nodded at Amber. “Leaving that message would let her know that he needed to come home and soon.”

  “Oh,” Amber said.

  “I need to get him out of there. Phone.”

  Amber tossed it at me. I caught it and handed her my coffee.

  I pushed twenty-four on it. It rang twice before a man picked up. “It’s Karri-Lynn. I need to get an extraction unit to Jason within the day.”

  “Will do,” the man on the other end said. “I can have it there by eight.”

  “Thanks.” I ended the call and scrolled down to the number Jason had called from. I hit send. It rang four times.

  “Hello?”

  “Jason, honey is that you I think my connection is bad. I hate our cell phone service. You should have gone with the one I told you to.”

  Jason sighed, clearly happy to hear it was me. “Yes, Hope, it’s me, hon. I’ll change the service the minute I get home. I miss you.”

  “I miss you too.” I held the PDA up and read the names of our supposed children. “Little Jason is so excited he made the soccer team. Oh, and Christopher finally slept through the night.”

  “Mmm, good you got some sleep then?”

  I rocked against the warmness that held me close. “I did get some sleep. Couldn’t you tell? I only yelled a little about the phone service.” I pulled the phone away, covered it and stared at Amber before pinching her arm fast.

  “Owe!”

  Smiling, I brought the phone back to my ear. “Hon, Fern just scrapped her knee.”

  Jason let out a soft cough. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

  “I know she’s fine but she has a dance recital at eight tonight and I can hardly take her looking like she got hit by a bus.”

  “It’ll be fine,” he answered.

  “Well, I’m so happy that you don’t see a problem with this. You’re how many miles away while I’m here. The idea of taking her up there, you know what ... forget it. I need to go. I’ll call you back when I drop everyone off at school.”

  “I love you,” he said, softly.

  “Ditto, hon. Ditto.”

  I shut the phone and handed it to Amber. She looked extremely confused. “What did that mean? You never once told him that you found a way out for him.”

  Riston chuckled. “Amber, she picked an argument about the phone service because I’m guessing she’s not one hundred percent sure Jason would be the one to pick up.”

  “Yep.” I traced circles on the large arm holding me.

  “He answers back that it’s him and seals it with a promise to change the service as soon as he gets home. See, he wants to come home. Following?”

  Amber nodded.

  “Great, the by referring to a little Jason making the soccer team, Karri was telling him that she had gotten the ball rolling on his extraction. When she mentioned the sleeping through the night, he knew that it would take place tonight. The part about the recital and the knee told him when and where.”

  “How did it tell him where?” Amber asked, her brows drawn in.

  He snickered. “Did you catch the mention of Fern looking like she’d been hit by a bus?”

  “Yes. Oh, he needs to get to the nearest bus station at eight.”

  “Right,” Riston answered softly.

  Amber put her hand up and motioned with the phone to me. “So, why did you say ditto? See I wasn’t close enough to hear Jason’s side too.”

  “I said ditto because he said I love you--or translated is thank you.”

  She grinned. “What? Is ditto, you’re welcome?”

  “No. Ditto is my way of avoiding saying I love you back without saying it.”

  She shrugged. “What’s the big deal with just saying it? It’s all an act.”

  I let out a soft laugh. “Yeah, it is one big, dangerous production. I have so many supposed relationships that I need a PDA to keep them straight. It’s impersonal even when I’m standing with them playing the role in real life. It’s removed. A lot of these men have wives and children at home waiting for me to return them in one piece. And I’m not looking to fuck anyone. Most of them don’t register on my radar as anything other than as a co-worker.”

  “Most?” Riston asked.

  I ignored him. Talking about Tripp wasn’t something I wanted to do.

  Amber snorted. “It’s three words, Karri.”

  “I know. If I love you, I tell you. If its business you get any other form. I have given this cause, these men so much of me. I’m allowed to hold a little bit back. It’s also hard not to remember my dad doing all this. My mom was his world and he was hers. Should he ever have had to call for help similar to what I offer, I’d have wanted to know he kept it all business and saved himself and his heart for mom.”

  “He did,” Riston whispered in my ear.

  Confused, I glanced back him. Realizing how close he was to me, I went to pull away. He held me in place. “Karri, I’m not working today unless something dire comes up. Would you like to spend the day together? I know you have a lot do here so we can work on that if you want?”

  I looked at Amber, my eyes wide and my heart thumping a mile a minute. Normally, I was Jenny on the spot when it came to polite turn downs. Nothing came to me. It hit me then that I actually wanted to spend the day with him.

  A shit-ass grin spread over Amber’s face. “I should probably go down to the coffee shop and check on things. I’m sure Wendy has everything covered but it’s good to stay on top of things.” She locked eyes with me. “I’ll be sure to take Hilary with me. I’d hate for the two of you to have any interruptions.”

  Groaning, I patted Riston’s arm. “I smell a fix up.”

  “Me too,” he said, his warm breath skating over my neck, making my entire body stiffen. “I don’t know if I could stand to see Amber upset.
She does so much to help my niece and brother-in-law out that I felt like I owe her.”

  I tossed my hands up and made a T. “Time out. I get a day out of you because you feel obligated?”

  “No,” he laughed, “you get it because I asked and you don’t want to turn me down.”

  “Oh, I don’t, huh?” I shook my head and smiled. “Mmm, I’ll tell you what. I have to get a bit of real work done today and I think its going to take up a huge chunk of the day.”

  Riston rocked our bodies slightly. “I’ll help. That’ll still count as time together. I think you’ll find that I can stay out of the way, almost like I was invisible, but be there the instant you need me.”

  There were so many ways I could read into his statement that I didn’t even bother trying. “Here’s the deal. I am one hundred percent sure that vampires, lycans and demons are not only real but everywhere. I sensed power in Hilary so I get that you aren’t an average guy, but I don’t need another guy hanging around me telling me I’m crazy.” I pointed at Amber. “I have her for that. I don’t want to spend time pretending that anything I am willing to offer extends beyond a bedroom, backseat, shower, broom closest, confessional booth....”

  “Karri! You’re going straight to hell,” Amber said, laughing.

  “Thanks.” I glanced back at Riston. “If you’d like to meet up around six or so I’d be more than willing to fuck you but I have to leave by ten. I have a previous engagement and cannot cancel it. It’s work related. As for my day, unless you can help me out with the paranormal para-military team I’m looking for then I’ll have to put you in for six.”

  “Did you just tell him that you’d fuck him at six?” Amber asked, sounding excited. Since she was never pleased with me when it came to men, I looked at her.

  “See, I did the spiel that makes all men run and you go ape-shit. Why is he still here and why are you smiling?”

  “My guess is that he’s happy he’s getting some at six.” Amber winked. “I’m smiling because I couldn’t agree more with your decision. Doing Riston at six is just what you need.”