“His name was Maedoc and he was the first man I killed. It was no accident when I ran him through. I felt…better…somehow after that.” His eyes cleared and he added in a matter-of-fact tone, “My father buried her near an old Druid site. After that, we moved to another town and we stayed there until…until…well, until I became a Primani.”
“What did your dad do when they came for her? Didn’t he try to protect her?” I was angry for him.
“Of course he did! But it’s complicated.” He tapped his fingers against his leg, searching for the right words. “My mother wasn’t praying to God. Christianity didn’t exist there. She was a Druid priestess. Her family grew up in Northern Ireland and embraced the old ways. My father and most of the soldiers came from Europe and didn’t believe in the same things. My mother and the others kept the practices of their religion hidden as much as possible to keep from losing it altogether.”
“How on earth did they get together in the first place?”
He laughed out loud at my question. “Destiny? He was a Celtic warrior and she a Druid priestess. He took one look at her and couldn’t walk away. Put them together and you get me. Raphael tells me I have a special purpose--up until now, I didn’t believe him. Since I’ve met you…I’m beginning to think he’s on to something!” He kissed me quickly and started to pull me towards the trail.
I dug in my feet and he stopped. “You left something out.”
He raised an eyebrow at me.
“What year were you born?”
“112 A.D. Give or take a year.”
Chapter 6: Unwanted House Guests
“OKAY, DANI, TAKE CARE! See you later!” I practically threw her out of the car when we pulled up to her house. She was speechless as we drove away.
Dec said, “What on earth is the matter with you? Are you crazy?”
I swung around to face him. “Not a chance! Spill it, you. When were you born?”
He jumped like I’d scalded him. “Sean? What’s she talking about?”
Sean rolled his eyes and turned down the music. “The day you were hatched! You might as well just tell her. She won’t let it go.”
“Did you, uh, tell her when you were born?”
“Yep. The whole story.”
“Really? You told her everything?” He seemed skeptical and looked at me with a frown.
“Come on, Dec. Just tell me! What will it hurt?”
Resigned, he said, “Okay, fine. I don’t know exactly, but sometime around 426. We didn’t keep good records back then so I’m not positive.”
For the second time today, my mouth dropped open and I was speechless.
“And Killian?”
They looked at each other, unsure. We were pulling up in front of the house and the car was silent as Sean shut off the engine.
“And Killian?” I repeated my question.
“920 B.C.,” Killian said from behind me.
Shocked, I repeated, “920 B.C.” and fainted.
Someone dragged a cold wet rag over my face and I sputtered indignantly and pushed myself up onto my elbows. My audience wore identical amused expressions. Killian looked vastly more entertained than the other two though. He just smirked, smiled, and shook his head.
“Okay, so I was surprised. Don’t laugh at me. I’m new to this magical lifestyle, you know.” I studied their faces and felt the bond we shared.
My locket twitched against my chest and I smiled. Yes, we were connected by something extraordinary.
Killian broke the extended family bonding with an announcement that we had a new problem.
“So what’s going on now?” I asked.
Instead of answering me, he turned on the television and switched the channel to local news. After a short piece on the rising price of gas, the anchorman cleared his throat and put on his serious news face. A woman’s body was found in a cemetery near the old Plattsburgh Air Force Base. The local police department had not released her name, but she was described as an athletically-built brunette between the ages of 17 and 25. She had been raped and beaten. The cause of death was strangulation.
“That poor woman! That’s awful. But what does she have to do with us? Was she one of your charges?” I asked.
Dec’s face was white as he absorbed the news. Killian waited for me to catch up. I glanced between them for a moment before slowly sitting back down.
“I should’ve killed him when I had the chance!” Sean said harshly.
Killian raised a hand to settle everyone down. “We don’t know for sure it was him; could’ve been anyone. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
Sean looked incredulous. “Who’s jumping? I’d say it’s pretty obvious.”
Killian said, “Look, our instructions are to warn Mica and keep her safe. That’s it. We have other orders that have priority. We need to follow up on some intel about Dagin. Rumor says he’s acquired a new supply of chemicals and two new scientists to resume production. Alex has the whole east coast looking for the new lab.”
“And Flynn? What do we do about him?” Dec asked.
“Officially? We do nothing. Not our focus.” He held up a hand again when we all protested at once. “Unofficially, however, we take him out if an opportunity presents itself.”
Sean’s smile was feral. “I’m counting on it.”
“Well, I’m totally freaked out now. I’m going to bed.” I yawned hugely and stood to go.
“Good idea, Princess. We should all get some sleep. We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. Everyone meet up at 8:00 and we’ll go over the plans.” Killian searched my face for…what? Stress? Fear? Something else?
Setting my jaw, I gave him a look that he understood. We’d shared this look a thousand times while Sean was gone.
It simply said, “I’ve got this. No worries.”
And I did.
I was humming “Chasing Cars” in the shower when the clear curtain slid back. Sean leaned against the sink letting his eyes drift lazily down my soapy body. He still wore jeans but the button was undone and they rode low on his hips. He’d already stripped off the t-shirt he wore today. I licked my lips and tried to say something sexy but nothing came out. My tongue got stuck in my mouth. Instead, I stepped back to make room. The jeans hit the floor in a blink of an eye and his hands were everywhere at once. With my back against the warm tile, I closed my eyes and let the sensations overwhelm me. He dragged his lips away from my mouth and smiled wickedly. Nonplussed, I started to ask what he was up to, but it came out as a yelp when he scooped me up and wrapped my legs around his waist. His arms cushioned me from the hard tile as he impaled me with one quick thrust.
“Oh. My. God.”
Moving against me now, he bit my earlobe and murmured, “Not quite.”
After using all of the hot water, we stumbled to the bedroom to work out the bed. Exhausted and limp, I trailed my finger through the fine black hair that formed his happy trail and said, “There is no way that you’ve never had sex before me. You’re like a porn star.”
“A porn star?” He propped himself up on his elbow and frowned at me.
He looked so disgruntled, I started to giggle. “Baby, wait. I meant that as a compliment! You’re just so amazing when we…uh, do it.” I blushed.
“You’re a mess. You know that? Of course it’s amazing! Hello? Supernatural beings here! Our souls are connected; we share the same saol. God Mica, when I see you my brain and my body go into hyper-drive with awareness. I’m aware of every breath you take, every heartbeat, every emotion. When I touch you, I feel your blood flowing under your skin. I feel it under my fingertips. I have the power to draw it to the surface anywhere I want. Do you know how hot that makes me? I want to lose myself in you.” He gently traced the pale blue vein on my chest with his thumb. It pulsed in response. “I can give you pleasure because I feel what you want when your breath catches just so.”
My breath caught as he nipped my collarbone with his teeth. I felt my bones turn liquid again and knew he was right. I
felt the same things when I touched him. I was turned on just standing close to him. He hummed with energy that I felt on every inch of my skin. I assumed everyone in love felt this way, but maybe he was right. Our souls were entwined as much as our bodies. Maybe this was special.
He peered up from the vicinity of my naval and asked, “Besides, what made you think I was a virgin?”
Whoa! What did he just say? I started to sit up when a loud crack of thunder sounded close by, and I jumped out of my skin. The glass in the window rattled, and a bright flash of lightning lit up the room. Domino jumped up and barked madly at the window. In a flash, Sean was up and dragging on his shorts. He stood near the window and listened. Not tonight! I knew the drill. Freaking demons again…
I threw on shorts and a tank top and combat boots. I’d rather fight naked than barefoot. I hated fighting barefoot. I always ended up hurting my toes. I didn’t hear anything unusual but Domino continued barking madly. She was in anti-demon mode. Dec rematerialized next to me and tapped my arm to let me know he was there. Grateful for another body, I squeezed his arm in response.
“Where’s Killian?” Sean asked.
“Out. It’s just us. Who is it?”
“I’m still listening. I can’t pick up his thoughts in this rain.”
“Mica can. She does it all the time.”
He whistled softly. “That’s new. Give it a try, would you?” Sean nudged me.
I moved closer to the wall and closed my eyes. The rain and wind could be distracting, but I’d learned to tune them out. I did that now. I sent my mind out to probe for any other mind that might be loitering on the property. At first there was nothing. But as I focused on the back of the house, I sensed two others: one human, one demon. Hmm. That was interesting. Without breaking my connection, I held up two fingers--one on each hand. That was the code Dec and I came up with this year. Right hand for demons, left for humans.
“Back door,” I whispered and finished scanning. “Only the two.”
Sean said, “Let’s go then.”
He took the lead and we made our way through the house. All the while, I listened for more intruders. Finally, I stood still again and probed the human’s mind. It made me queasy.
This motherfucker better not stiff me my money. I don’t know why I had to bring him at all. I don’t need help to snuff a couple of losers.
“Jesus! He’s here to kill us.” I repeated the human’s thoughts.
Sean smiled whitely in the darkness. “He can try.”
Dec chuckled and tensed. I sensed rather than felt their bodies prepare for the fight. I called it going into soldier-mode. They called it “supernatural flight or fight response” minus the flight part--they never ran from a fight. They didn’t know how that would feel. We were spread out a bit so we couldn’t all be shot at once. Sean was closest to me so I glanced at him and suppressed a shiver. His body was taught like a wire, and I could already feel the waves of heat coming off of him. Dec’s eyes were gleaming hotly when he turned to look at me. I knew they would be fully ready in another second or two. Suddenly my vision wavered oddly. The room brightened like I had on night vision goggles. I wasn’t wearing them now, but I could see everything clearly, including the two bodies that were approaching the door on the porch. I could see straight through the walls. I bounced on the soles of my feet and glanced around. It was the oddest thing. I felt light as air…I wanted to fly.
Sean gave the signal and both of them disappeared and rematerialized behind the intruders. The human took one look at Sean and bolted for the road. Dec’s hand whipped up and he hit the demon right between the eyes. The demon screamed shrilly and disintegrated into ash. Okay, well now I had nothing to do. There was no one to fight. So I waited while the adrenaline, and whatever new fluids I had, flowed through my jerky muscles. I sat down heavily and focused on trying to breathe. Dec strode inside covered with ash and paused when he spotted me.
“Whoa, darlin’! You don’t look so good. What’s going on with you?” He came over and looked closely at me.
His eyes still blazed and they hurt mine when he looked into them. I winced and squeezed them closed.
“Sorry! Hang on a sec and I’ll help you.” Completely unselfconscious, he pulled the ash-covered t-shirt over his head and tossed it in the corner. He stuck his head under the kitchen faucet and rinsed off the ash. Demon ash burned the hell out of human skin. I learned that the hard way…
My muscles were settling down again, and I was only sporadically jerking now. My arms were twitching uncomfortably like I had been hit with a stun gun. I really, really needed a pair of rubber shoes. He came over dripping wet and knelt in front of me. His hair hung in wet clumps in his face.
“You…lllook lllike a drown…ed rrat,” I stammered out.
“Yeah, yeah. Hush. I’m working here.” He studied me and then ran his wet hand down my arm from shoulder to fingers. He repeated this with the other arm. His touch quieted the twitching. Then disaster happened. It always did. I’m not sure why I didn’t expect it. Just as he reached up to feel my forehead, my leg shot upward. His mouth made an “O”, and he rolled over into a fetal position.
“Oh, Dec! I’m so sorry!” Mortified, I kind of fell out of the chair and crouched next to him.
He wasn’t in the mood for help though. Through stiff lips he said, “Go away!”
I was still hovering when Sean walked in pushing the human in front of him. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I needed to talk to these guys about sending me telepathic warnings. Constant surprises couldn’t be good for my heart. Holding my pounding heart, I checked out our would-be killer. He didn’t look so hot. To start with, he was blindfolded and blood was running out of his nose onto his faded Metallica t-shirt. Unfortunate, that; I loved Metallica. His hands were tied behind him and he was limping badly. He was missing a shoe and his baggy jeans were ripped and bloody in several places. Domino peered around his legs and smiled an evil doggy grin. I told him not to run…
“He’s getting blood on my kitchen floor,” I commented to Sean.
He shrugged. “I’ll be in the basement.”
Dec moaned and tried to straighten up. “Wait for me, bro. I’m coming.”
Sean tilted his head curiously at me. “It was an accident!” I cried.
“It always is.”
Chapter 7: Vanishing Act
“OUCH! OKAY, THAT STILL HASN'T CHANGED. Well, that sucks.” I rubbed my burning hand and started for the sink to wash it.
Killian watched from the doorway. “What are you doing with that shirt?”
“Demon guts.”
He peeled away from the wall and crossed to me. “Demon? When? Are you okay?” He grabbed my shoulder and held me at arm’s length. Scowling, he looked for injuries. Finding nothing obvious, he relaxed his grip on me and asked again, “Want to explain about the demon?”
He seemed cool, but I sensed his tension. He was afraid for me. I patted one of his biceps and gave him a reassuring smile. I filled him in on the night while I scrubbed the ash off of my hand.
“So do you think my powers are evolving again? I was hoping to be immune to the ash, but that isn’t the case.”
He thought for a minute before answering me. “Well, it sounds like your optical vision is evolving to give you greater sight like your telepathic powers. That would make sense if your vision is your greatest power. We have the same ability to see things in the dark, and the fight response works to sharpen that. It makes us more powerful.” He tented his fingers and considered me with new intensity.
He stared at me for so long I squirmed uncomfortably. What was he doing? Was I giving off some kind of weird psychic vibes?
Finally he shook his head a little and said, “I’m just not sure about your description of feeling like you could fly. Have you felt like that before?” He paused and said urgently, “Tell me you haven’t actually tried to fly?”
“What? No, I’m not an idiot!”
He snorted like he could
argue that point but didn’t. Smart man. We stood there for a minute just looking at each other until a muffled scream drifted up from the basement.
He smiled nastily and headed to the basement door. “I’m glad you’re okay. Do me a favor and stay that way.”
The lights were off in the basement, and I had to pick my way carefully down the stairs. No one had bothered to finish this side so the concrete walls and floor were bare and cold. The only things down here were the furnace and hot water heater. Even the washer and dryer were upstairs. There had been two tiny windows, but Killian covered them over to keep anyone from getting in. Sean turned to greet us when we rounded the corner.
“Good, you’re here. Meet our houseguest, Ramon. He’s been very cooperative so far.”
“Is he conscious?” I asked skeptically. He didn’t look conscious…his head was lolling against his chest.
Sean nudged the man with his boot and ordered, “Don’t play dead. Say hello to your target, asshole.”
Ramon immediately raised his head in our direction and woodenly said hello. Huh. He was being cooperative. That’s a surprise. He also looked very, very stoned.
“Uh, hey killer, can I talk to you for a second…privately?” I asked Sean.
Patting Ramon on the top of the head, he said, “Don’t go away.”
I pulled Sean into the other side of the basement and hissed, “What are you doing to him? He’s like a zombie over there!”
Firmly dragging his hand out of mine, Sean crossed his arms. “Nothing painful, he’s just groggy. But I could torture him for information if you’d prefer that.”
“No! That’s sick. Don’t hurt him any more than necessary.”
“Make up your mind. Do you want me to torture him or not? We don’t have all night.”
I threw up my hands. “Oh, do whatever it takes. I just don’t want to hear the screaming!” I said the last part as loud as possible. Hopefully our houseguest had good hearing.
The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) Page 33