by Janie Marie
Ryder? Jane looked around the room, noticing the confused expressions from David and Gawain. Then she felt stupid for expecting him to walk up to her husband and introduce himself as the Angel of Death.
Jason’s bravado slipped at the sound of Death’s voice. She had talked to him so often and felt bliss at his smooth tone, but she knew the power hidden in his words must intimidate anyone he spoke to.
Once again, though, Jason looked down at hers and Death’s joined hands. “Jane.” He held out his hand for her. “Please come here.”
Without thinking, she looked to David for approval. If he was okay with it, it should be safe. He smiled and nodded. “It’s okay. We are right here.”
She didn’t move, though, and glanced up at Death.
“Go on, babe. I’m not going anywhere.”
Jason glared at the exchange between all three of them but softened as she prepared to step away.
Her chest ached when she moved away from her immortals. She tried to breathe evenly and barely controlled flinching when Jason’s fingers touched her cheek. She smiled, but inside she wanted to move away from his slightly warm touch. There were no shocks, no tingles, no addicting fire from his skin on hers. She smiled sadly, and she felt horrible because her husband’s touch was not the one she craved.
The last time she’d felt cared for by him was when she was dying. She couldn’t recall the last loving gesture she’d received from him before that time.
“It’s you,” Jason said. “You’re really here.”
“It’s me.” She nodded. “I’m so glad that you’re all safe.”
Jason shook his head before yanking her into a tight hug. Tears filled his eyes and he pulled back, cupping her face in his hands, looking between her eyes as though he still couldn’t believe she was there. “I thought I’d never see you again,” he whispered, running his fingers through her hair.
Without warning, Jason pulled her face to his and kissed her. “God,” he said against her unresponsive lips. “I love you so much, Jane. I thought I lost you.”
He kissed her over and over, but Jane could only stand there in shock. She wanted to cry for the fact she should be happy to be home with him, but she wasn’t. It didn’t feel like home anymore. Jason had never been who she felt peace or protection with, and it had been so long since he gave her a real kiss.
Home, she thought, quickly shifting her eyes to David’s but then looked forward so she wouldn’t get sucked in by those turbulent, blue orbs staring at her.
When Jason seemed to realize she wasn’t responding, he pulled back. She couldn’t look him in the eye and looked away from his gaze. He gripped her face a little harder. “What’s wrong?”
She still kept her eyes away from his while Jason glanced around the room.
Death kept a blank expression, but David’s was unmistakable. He was absolutely furious. His icy glare settled on Jane’s turned head. She still avoided looking at Jason but slowly made eye contact with David and almost smiled when his rage vanished.
“What was that?” Jason yelled as he roughly pulled her face back toward his.
“Jason.” She stared wide-eyed at the hate in his dark eyes.
“Don’t fucking Jason me!” His voice grew louder and more enraged with each word. “You left us! I’ve been losing my mind thinking you’re dead—I thought you died, Jane! But no—you’ve been with these people—these men—while I’ve been taking care of our children!”
Both David and Death moved closer, but Jason ignored them and continued yelling in her face. “You have no idea how hard it’s been—how awful I’ve felt thinking you were dead. Do you have any idea what you’ve put me through? What our kids have been dealing with?”
Her heart throbbed painfully. She hadn’t meant to hurt him so badly. She hadn’t meant to forget about them. She had only pushed them far enough out of her active thoughts so she wouldn’t break. Jane whimpered and tried to look away from him. She hated herself for leaving them—for not dying like she was supposed to.
Jason looked away from her to glare at David. “Is it because of him that you didn’t want to come back?” He looked back at her, and Jane gaped as she stared between both violent-looking males. Rage flitted across Jason’s face. “It is, isn’t it? Was this the plan all along? When you first met him? Pretend to be sick so you could be with him?”
Jane shook her head, frantically. “That’s not what happened, Jason. I never talked to him that first night… And it hasn’t been easy for me! I wanted to come back from the very beginning—I just couldn’t. You don’t understand what’s happened. Give me a chance to explain.”
Jason gave her a dirty look. “Bullshit, Jane. I always knew if you got the chance, you would spread your legs for the first man who looked at you.”
She gasped at the same moment David let out a dangerous snarl and yanked her so she was behind his back.
Before Jane could comprehend being shoved behind David, Death had also gotten in front of her, and she watched him squeeze David’s shoulder. Hard. She figured this was Death calming or simply restraining David, but it had to hurt.
David didn’t flinch.
No one spoke for a full minute, simply watching the angry stare-down.
Jason didn’t see the true threat, apparently, and when he looked down at David still holding Jane’s wrist, he snapped. “Get your hands off my goddamned wife, you son of a bitch!”
Blood! All she wanted was Jason’s blood. Nothing made sense or mattered, and she moved.
Death didn’t react fast enough. In an instant, she was standing between David and Jason, hissing and preparing to rip off his head.
David still had a hold of her wrist, though, and he held her back.
“Don’t talk to him that way!” She tried to hit Jason, but David secured his arms around her waist, keeping her from tackling her husband to the ground. “You have no idea who he is. I’ll kill you!” She thrashed in David’s arms. “I’ll let him kill you. How can you say that about me? I hate you!”
Death moved in front of her. “David, take her out of here. Gawain, go with him. I will be with her in a moment to help calm her.”
David didn’t argue, and she faintly realized he’d been whispering in her ear to relax. But she kept her bloodthirsty gaze on Jason as she let him drag her out of the room.
Once she was out of the room, Death turned his attention to Jason. “Talk to her like that one more time, and we’re going to have ourselves a serious problem.” Jason visibly swallowed before Death spoke again. “She has been through hell and back. Do not think for one moment she has been having the time of her life. She knows that it has been difficult for you—we all do. But it has been a living nightmare for her.”
“That man”—Death jabbed his finger toward the archway where David had taken Jane—“is the best man that I have ever seen, and he saved your wife. You owe him as much as you owe these men who have been guarding your home and bringing you supplies.
“As for me, I’m not afraid to tell you I love her. You, nor anyone else, will destroy what she and I share. And I don’t give a fuck what you think about that. Try to keep her from me, and I will break your goddamned neck.
“You can try and test me all you want, boy, but you will show those two the respect they deserve. And if you hurt her again—and I’m not simply talking about this shit you just displayed.” He smiled in a terrifying way. “Yeah, I know all about the shit you’ve put her through. You’ve let her break and fall down again and again, ignoring or kicking her every time she tried to get back up.”
Jason’s eyes widened.
“There it is,” Death said, sniffing deeply. “You should fear me. I promise when you fuck up—and I know you will—I will enjoy watching you beg for your life when I take it in my hands.” He smiled and stood tall. “Do I make myself clear?”
Jason nodded quickly. “I understand. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. It’s just overwhelming to see her again.”
Death
eyed him before taking a step back. “Arthur will discuss the plans regarding your departure. I don’t expect there to be any problems with his offer. But in case you feel like throwing a tantrum—remember this—the kids go with Jane whether you like it or not.” He didn’t wait for Jason to reply and left the room. It only took a moment for him to find Jane clinging to David down the hall.
He made eye contact with David who carefully moved Jane so she could be pulled into his embrace.
“Shh…” Death squeezed her trembling body and kissed the top of her head. “It’s fine now. You did really well.”
She shook her head. “I almost killed him!”
Death chuckled. “No, you didn’t. I wouldn’t have let you.”
Any further discussion on what had just happened came to a halt when a voice down the hall drew all their attention. “Mommy?”
JANE FELL TO HER KNEES at the sight of her son standing at the end of the hall.
“Mommy,” he said with his eyes wide.
She nodded, crying. “It’s mommy, bubby.”
David knelt down beside her, smiling at the little boy while Death squatted behind her, rubbing her back.
Nathan ran to Jane, and she quickly pulled him into a hug. Tears streamed down her face as Nathan smiled and cried, “Mommy” repeatedly into her shoulder.
Gawain’s voice joined Nathan’s, and Jane looked up to see him carrying Natalie. Her little curls were all tangled and her sleepy face had failed to register the new occupants in the room.
“Look, Natalie,” said Gawain, “you’re missing all the fun. Don’t you want to see who I’ve brought to you today?”
“I’m sleepy.” Natalie yawned, still oblivious to the three adults staring at her.
“Just like her mother,” Death whispered softly in Jane’s ear.
“Mommy home!” Nathan chirped.
At her brother’s words, Natalie’s eyes flew open and connected right with Jane’s. The small girl blinked a couple times but stayed quiet.
Gawain whispered in her ear. “She’s real, Natalie. Mommy’s home.” The knight placed her down on the floor and finally Natalie sprang toward Jane as she held her arm out.
Jane cried tears of happiness, unable to form words while Natalie cried touching her face as if to confirm she was really there.
Jane couldn’t believe she held her children in her arms again. They smelled so much more like their baby smell than she ever recalled. Between the tingles from Death’s touch against her back, the heat from David beside her, and the softness of her children in her arms—Jane felt peace.
It took nearly five minutes for their cries to quiet down. Jane looked at David and smiled the happiest she could give, hoping her gratitude showed on her face. She was with them again because of him.
David reached out and gently caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers, using his thumb to wipe away some of her tears as he nodded.
She leaned into his hand for only a second before she tried to hold the kids away. Nathan, however, wouldn’t budge and clung tightly to her neck. She sighed, already knowing he was not going to let go anytime soon. “I want you guys to meet some very important people.”
Finally, both children looked up, registering the two enormous men next to their mom.
First she gestured to David. “Nathan, Natalie, this is David. He saved me when I got sick. He cured the sickness mommy had.” She smiled at David. “I care about him a whole lot.”
They looked at David as if he were a superhero.
He chuckled and held out his hand to Nathan. “Hello, Nathan.” David waited for him to take his hand, but Nathan only stared at the hand being offered.
Jane smiled at David’s adorableness when he shot her a pleading look, and she took Nathan’s hand to place in David’s. She prompted her son. “Say: Hello, David.”
Nathan looked to his mom and copied, “Hello, David.”
David grinned. “It’s nice to finally meet you, little man.” He let go of his hand and turned to Natalie. “Hello, Natalie. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well. You’re just as beautiful as your mommy.” Jane blushed and Natalie hid her face. David chuckled and took her little hand before kissing the back of it.
Jane laughed at her daughter’s obvious captivation with David and continued her introductions. “And this is Ryder,” she said, gesturing toward Death. “I met him when I was a little girl. He came back to me.” She held Death’s gaze. “He’s always been there for me. I would not be here without him.” She looked back at her children. “He’s my angel.”
“Like a real angel?” Natalie asked, looking a little stunned as she stared at Death while Nathan seemed less interested.
“Do you believe in angels?” Death asked her.
Natalie nodded, blushing more than she was before, and Jane wondered just who her children saw when they looked at him. “Mommy said they’re real. But she also says we’re angels.”
“You don’t have wings.” Death didn’t show an ounce of emotion as he spoke to her daughter. It baffled Jane completely to see him so stone-faced.
“Neither do you,” Natalie pointed out, making David chuckle.
Death didn’t even smile, but he did turn his head to look at his shoulder. “Maybe I’m using magic to hide them.” He looked back at the girl, still without a hint of warmth in his gaze.
“Dea—” Jane stopped and corrected herself. “I mean, Ryder.” He moved his eyes to her and only then did she see his green eyes warm. She had never noticed it before, but now she recalled he looked at everyone without an ounce of feeling. Except her.
“What?” he asked.
She gazed at his face, her eyes moving over every perfect feature about him before looking at David. He gave her a sympathetic smile, and she looked back to Death. “You have to be sweeter with her.”
He tilted his head a little as if he didn’t comprehend the request, then looked back at her daughter. Once more the warm glow in his eyes dimmed.
Despite the cold change in his expression, Natalie smiled at him. “Your magic hides them?”
“Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe I’m not an angel.”
“Mommy doesn’t lie.” Natalie retorted, and Jane sighed. Natalie was impossible to argue with.
Death looked at Jane, his lips curving upward a tiny bit. “Hm. I’m sure she’s lied about a thing or two before.” He looked back at Natalie, again, completely neutral. “So, what do you think? Am I a real angel? Or just some sexy guy your mom can’t stop staring at?”
Jane slapped her forehead as Natalie and Nathan giggled. She pulled her hand away, glaring at Death.
“What? I’m sexy,” he said.
David chuckled and turned to speak to her daughter. “I think there are different kinds of angels, princess. You’re still your mommy’s angel.”
“Oh,” said Natalie. “But I don’t have wings.”
David grinned. “I think that’s because you’re a special kind of angel. The other angels might be jealous because you’re already so pretty.”
Natalie smiled brightly and turned back to Death. “Is that why you don’t have wings? Because you’re so pretty the other angels will be jealous?”
Death actually smiled and looked back to Jane. “Like mother, like daughter.” He turned his gaze back to her daughter and dropped his smile. “But don’t call me pretty again. Only Sweet Jane can call me pretty.”
Natalie giggled at that exact moment Arthur and Jason walked around the corner.
All smiles, even her children’s, disappeared at the sight of the two unhappy men.
Jane nodded to Gawain, signaling to take Natalie. He did. She then whispered into Nathan’s ear that she wanted him to go to David. Surprisingly, her son held out his arms for David without protest.
David stood and quickly pulled him from her arms. Jane was temporarily captivated by the sight of him holding her son so naturally, but Death standing up behind her, and sliding one hand around her waist to lift her up, snapped her
out of her dreaming.
Finally, standing, she glared at her husband. Jason’s hostility toward Death and David wasn’t something she was willing to accept. They were her protectors. Her lifesavers. Despite their abilities to protect themselves, she couldn’t stop herself from needing to defend them.
“Jane,” Arthur said. “Jason has agreed to come with us. We’ll start packing what’s important to you and head over to the base. Our plane will arrive in seven hours.”
Jason sighed and took one step closer. “I’m sorry, Jane.”
“Don’t apologize to me!” she said, feeling a fiery rage simmering under her skin. Death pulled her back flush against his body.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “It’s all right, Sweet Jane. David is a big boy. Let’s just play nice. Remember, your children are watching.”
Jason eyed Death’s hold on her but said nothing as Jane barely picked up on the action. She had always cuddled with Death; it felt natural to have him so close anyway. But right now, she wanted to make sure David was okay.
She looked at her vampire and received a nod from him, a silent confirmation all was well, and she huffed before looking back to Jason. “Thank you.” She barely contained the hiss wanting to slip out of her mouth. “I’ll handle getting my things and checking over the kids’ belongings.”
“Can we talk for a minute?” Jason asked.
“I have nothing to say to you right now.” That time her sharp tone was unavoidable. “You made it clear to everyone how you see me. I can’t be around you without doing something I’ll regret. You have no idea how—” Jane let out a frustrated growl as her temper started to get the best of her and quickly walked toward the kid’s room, thankful Death let her go without a fuss.
She couldn’t even look at Jason without seeing his face as he’d said what he said. It hurt that he’d apparently always thought she’d do that, but the worst part was, in a way, she had. She had crawled right on David’s lap, accepted his sweet words and touches, and eagerly accepted more affection from Death.