by Weil, J. L.
I rolled my eyes.
“Good. This is good.”
Oookay. How he thought this was good was mind boggling.
“Now I want you to take her hands,” Ives instructed.
Chase looked at him from across the desk like the man was insane. “So she can bite my head off. No way. I’m not stupid. I don’t see what the point of this is,” Chase argued, clearly not feeling this little test.
Ives lifted his brow challenging him. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a quitter.”
Ding. Ding. Ding. Thanks Ives for pushing Chase’s manhood button. Of course he wasn’t going to back away from the test now. Turning in his chair toward me, he held out his hands. I didn’t move and kept my arms crossed. No one said I had to cooperate in this twisted game.
“Angel,” Chase growled.
This was stupid. My eyes were like little blue flames as they attached with his. There were tiny specks of gold breaking through the icy silver. “Fine,” I spat and laced my fingers with his, expecting nothing to happen, except many more irritation. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Or maybe I was being difficult because I was more afraid of what would happen.
The instant his skin touched mine, a cool wash of calm overcame me. I knew I should have been annoyed, but I couldn’t think past Chase touching me, watching me so intently with those silvery eyes. Maybe if I was made of stone, instead of the pile of mush he turned me into.
“Did I mention that I hate tests,” I said sulking, my eyes still captured in his.
Ives chuckled from behind his desk. “Success I presume.” He seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. It was kind of warped in my mind. He propped his elbows on the desk. “With that out of the way, let me ask you…have you noticed any additional attention Angel? Like making more friends or guys suddenly noticing you?”
“Errr, maybe,” I replied, thinking about Brody and a few others. I wasn’t sure I was going to like where this was heading.
“You know that Divisa ward off human contact, but Angel in your case, it seems you give off the opposite – you attract them.”
Chase straightened in his chair, ears perked and attention at full alert. “You’ve got to be shitting me. Is this some kind of cruel joke?”
“Afraid not,” Ives reassured with just a hint of a smile, knowing very well what was going through Chase’s head. “At least until the bond is fully complete. That is if you decide to complete. Until that time though, she will draw all manner of attention. It’s proven to be different for each link.”
Chase frowned.
“And to think I thought it was my sparkling personality,” I said dryly.
Ives grinned, shaking his head at me. “If I was twenty years younger, I just might have given Chase a run for his money.”
I felt Chase stiffen beside me.
Did he just make a pass at me? Stranger things have happened true, but this took the cake. I was starting to like Ives. At least he had good taste.
“But something tells me that he wouldn’t let you go without a fight. I’ve heard the rumors swirling about you Chase Winters. I don’t think I would like to die just yet.”
Oh just dandy.
His reputation preceded him.
“You mentioned that there were three kinds of bonds,” Chase said, moving things back to safer ground. I’d forgotten that little bit of info.
Ives nodded in affirmation. “Yes the triforce. We have already distinguished soulbond which is what you two have. There is also heartbond and bodybond.”
Interesting. I’d like to know how the others varied from ours, but Chase rattled off another question before I had a chance to ask.
“Is there a way to break the bond?” Chase asked, moving right on. I figured he didn’t even want to touch upon Ives harmless flirtation.
My heart rate went through the roof. Chase’s gaze slid to mine, and I knew he could sense my panic. This whole emotion sharing thing sucked big time.
“Death,” Ives said simply.
Well that put the atmosphere in a somber mood. My expression fell just as Chase’s phone rang. He excused himself and walked to the back of the room.
“I don’t know if I envy him or pity him,” Ives commented in a low voice.
“I can’t decide if I should be flattered or offended,” I retorted.
He laughed, his eyes crinkling at the ends. It was a pleasant sound. “I can see why he made such a vast sacrifice. Most of our kind don’t socialize with outsiders. Not to say it doesn’t happen, but it’s less complicated if we don’t. That said, I don’t know if there is another girl with the gall to stand up to Chase. He is enamored by you and you with him.” He lounged back in his chair, twirling a pencil between his fingers. “To truly keep the other safe, you must bind more than just your souls – soulbond isn’t enough. You need to complete the triforce – Heart. Body. Soul.”
“Heart, body, and soul?” I mumbled confused.
“You got it. Otherwise, forces beyond your control will make it next to impossible to survive as you are, sort of in limbo. You aren’t human, but you are tied to a half-demon. There are other things as well, abilities that could have been transferred from Chase. Your bond was forged by desperate love. Love is powerful. Don’t under estimate its strength.
Stop the presses. There was too much going on in his words. He had me bouncing from left to right. What I did get was…he thought Chase loves me. I might have powers, and something about us being binding our heart, body, and soul. Was that something other than what our current state was?
There is one catch however…” Ives said.
Of course there was.
“It’s never been done before,” he finished.
I am pretty sure my eyes bugged out. So what I gathered from all that mumble jumble was that the binding triforce had never been completed before. Yet Ives thought that Chase and I should be some kind of magical guinea pigs and attempt all three bindings.
Yeah, I am not so sure about that.
Chase came back before I could bombard Ives with a gazillion questions. “Come on Angel, let’s go. We’re done here.” There wasn’t any wiggle room for argument in his statement, and I really didn’t want to expel the energy to do so. Ives had given me much to think about, putting my pretty little head on the verge of information overload.
Chase thanked Ives and shook his hand goodbye, before ushering me out of the shack. “What we’re you talking about before we left?” Chase questioned as he started the car. It purred silently to life.
I flashed him a sassy grin. “How magnificent I am and how extremely lucky you are to have me in your life,” I replied smugly.
He snorted and put the car into gear. “What did he really say, because he most definitely did not spew that kind of nonsense?”
Crossing my arms, I glared straight ahead trying to pretend we weren’t flying down the road at the speed of light. “That you’re a dick and I should run now while I still have the chance.”
This time he flashed me a grin that was mouthwatering. “You can run Angel, but you can’t hide.”
Chapter 12
After that it was pretty quiet in the car. I seethed most of the way home ready to bolt from the close confinements of the car. Being in a small space with Chase, Chase’s ego, and my anger was becoming uncomfortably crowded.
“Are you done pouting Angel Eyes,” he asked when we were almost home.
“For your information I am not pouting. I’m pissed.”
“Either way it’s cute.”
He was the most insufferable, narcissistic, jackass on the planet. Somehow that got me thinking about Ives. “How does Ives know about this stuff?”
“It happened to him.”
“Seriously?”
“Dead serious.”
“Cute. Is he still bound to a human?”
Chase shrugged. “I don’t know. One of the conditions of him seeing us was that we didn’t ask him personal questions.”
&n
bsp; Debating whether or not I should press the fact that I was dying to know what happened between Ives and the human he was linked to. It was going to drive me insane. Were they still linked? How did it happen? Was it a soulbond like ours? Were they dead? All of these questions were reeling in my head when I heard Chase swear out of nowhere.
“What the hell?”
Without any warning, he whipped the car to the shoulder of the road. Gravel spit out from under the tires as he slammed on the brakes. I followed his gaze to the woods along the side of the road and just caught a glimmer of red shooting through the dense trees.
Then I heard the handle of his door pop open. When I looked back to him, he was already out of the car. “What are you doing?” I demanded, my heart picking up.
“Hunter. Stay put. You got that?” Chase ordered, like he was the highest Supreme Court.
I blinked.
“Angel, I mean it,” he added. Every muscle in his body was tense, and his eyes began to glow like shooting comets. It wasn’t yet dark but it wasn’t long before we lost all sunlight. There were just a few twinkling stars breaking out into the blue sky. It was one of the nights were you could see both the sun and the moon.
I sulked in the seat. “Fine,” I huffed, sinking into the leather upholstery with my arms crossed. I stared straight ahead even as my heart leaped into my throat. He was leaving me alone. By my lonesome, while he went after a hunter.
Yeah, I wasn’t a happy camper.
When the driver’s side door clicked closed, I turned in my seat just in time to see Chase’s image blur before my eyes into the barren forest. This time of year the trees were just a shell of bark, but the forest floor was blanketed in dried, crumpled leaves.
I despised the woods and all the spine-chilling, terrible things that seem to migrate there. And I wasn’t talking about bears, lions, or even wood elves. There were much, much worse things lurking in these woods.
Another minute passed, I waited just to make sure he didn’t circle around and check on me. I wouldn’t put it past him. He might have thought chasing a hunter alone was a good idea, but I on the other hand, had a different opinion. He could be such a damn prickly thorn in my side. The longer I sat in this car, the more certain I was that he was in trouble.
Digging for my phone, I punched in the only number I knew would help Chase’s stupid ass. He answered on the second ring.
“Travis, I think Chase is in danger.” I said so fast that I wasn’t sure he understood me.
“Where are you?” Travis’s calm voice asked. He was probably used to Chase doing senseless and stupid things.
I gave him a quick rundown of where I thought we were, and how dumbass had gone after a hunter alone. He dropped the f-bomb before informing me that he would be there in minute. And when one of them says minute, they literally mean minute.
But sitting in Chase’s car like a morsel for any hellish thing to snack on, made the seconds feel like hours. When I saw Travis’s car roll up next to Chase’s, my heart thumped wildly. In my mind, too much time had passed since he had gone in the woods. Alone. We needed to go after him now. I couldn’t explain the sense of hurry. It was just there, gnawing at my insides.
I jumped out of Chase’s car the same time Travis jumped out of his. If I knew Travis, he would order me about just as Chase did, and I was having none of it. Not this time.
“You are staying here,” Travis ordered.
As if. And so predictable. “I’m coming with you, or I’ll go on my own. You can’t stop me.”
He saw the set of determination in my face. “If anything happens to you Angel…” He let his words linger gravely in the air. “There is no saving you this time. Hell takes your soul. For good. No bartering. Do you understand that?” He didn’t wait for me to answer as he ranted on. “And I am pretty sure Chase will send me there after you if he finds out I let you come tracking in the woods.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Tough shit. Plus at least I won’t be in hell alone.”
“Cute Angel. Real cute. Well I am not ready to die, so you are staying put. This isn’t a joke. He left you behind for a good reason.” He stalked off toward the bare trees assuming the subject was finished.
Little did he know. Plus who the heck was laughing? I followed right on his heels before he decided to go all warp speed and leave me on my own. “Travis, please,” I tugged on the sleeve of his arm. “I need to see that he is okay. I can’t explain it, I just need to.”
He let out a long sigh. The setting sun was at his back, haloing him in a soft glow. A gentle crisp breeze played with the ends of his blond hair. “You are only going to slow me down. I can find him faster on my own.”
True. Tears of frustration and worry started to well in the corner of my eyes.
He relented like a true guy, uncomfortable with a woman’s tears. It was a low card to play, but it was effective. “Try to keep up,” he grumbled unhappily.
We weaved in and around the trees as soundlessly as possible. It was much harder for me, and he kept the speed more to my pace, but I could tell he was itching to take off.
“Stay close,” he whispered, turning his head over his shoulder.
We traveled deeper into the thick forest, cutting off some of our moonlight. I don’t know how Travis knew where to go, but I just assumed it was one of his half-demon traits.
“I hear voices,” I said quietly to his back.
He looked over his shoulder and gave me a strange look.
“What?”
He shook his gloriously blonde head. “Nothing, it’s just that you picked up the voices the same time I did.”
Odd. “Well, I can’t tell what they are saying.”
Travis grinned. “Chase is giving somebody hell.”
Of course he was.
“Come on, we can’t let him have all the fun.”
Travis’s idea of fun was subjective. I swear he thought his real life was a video game.
I stuck to him like bees to honey, so of course when he halted in his tracks, I rammed into his back. Travis’s reflexes were faster than a jackrabbit and he avoided tripping. I wasn’t so lucky.
Pushing the hair out of my face, I glared at Travis’s back. “What the he–” A flash of red caught my eye cutting off my wicked tongue. It was the same shade of red that I had seen on the side of the road. A girl about my age stood a few feet in front of us. Her hair contrasted against her black clothing, a pretty blend of red and blonde, not bold like the hoodrat Sierra’s. I was so stumped at first, I couldn’t figure out what this girl was doing in the middle of the woods by herself, or what the weird contraption she had poised in her hands.
Then it hit me like a kick to gut.
It was a bow.
Following the line of her crossbow, I let out a ghastly gasp. Her arrow was pulled back tight and taut and centered on…
Chase.
My stomach dropped off earth. Oh, for freak’s sake.
Travis and I had come into the small clearing to the right of the hunter and Chase was maybe twenty feet away, looking downright pissed the hell off. My eyes met his extremely displeased glare. Someone wasn’t happy to see me. Well, screw him.
Unable to take Chase’s murderous stare, I peeked over at Travis. He was zapped frozen beside me.
What the shit. Why wasn’t Travis doing something? Why hadn’t he gone all demon-berserk and taken down this girl? I didn’t get it. He was like a statue with his mouth wide opened, staring at the red-headed girl like he’d just seen a ghost.
I elbowed him in the side.
No response.
Travis picked a hell of a time to check out.
I glanced back at Chase, hoping he had a plan.
“Angel,” he rumbled. “I told you to stay put. Will you never just do what I ask?”
Can you believe this guy? Here I am, worried about him, trying to rescue him and he is scalding me. “Well it looks like you need me,” I said, stating the obvious.
He was t
alking to me, but he kept his eyes on the so-called hunter. “Do you honestly think I couldn’t have handled one little hunter? Your lack of faith in me is heartbreaking.”
“As touching as this is, will you both shut up before I decide to shoot one of you,” the petite hunter threatened, still poised to kill.
I shut my trap for once and chewed on my lip, trying to devise a plan to get us all out of here without an arrow sticking out of someone’s flesh. Formulating a plan on the spot was hard stuff. I don’t know how the hell Chase did this. He was definitely a more spur-of-the-moment kind of guy.
To make matters worse, my deep thought process was interrupted by the redheaded Pocahontas. “So you are the girl Chase Winters would do anything for…kill for even.”
I didn’t like her tone, or the way she spoke Chase’s name, like she knew him. The tip of my tongue was burning with insults, all of which would probably get him shot, though I was pretty sure he was faster than the arrow.
She pursed her lips eyeballing me. “You are not at all what I expected.”
Chase flinched, drawing her attention back to her mark. He had done so deliberately. Every bone marrow in my body told me so – to take her attention off me. “What does it matter to you?” Chase asked. His eyes were starting to change colors.
This girl had balls, I’ll give her that. “It’s my business to know everything about Divisa’s, including their weaknesses.”
That was it. She’d done it now. I have to say, she wasn’t the brightest hunter in the woods.
“You touch a hair on her head,” he roared. “And I’ll make you wish you had never stepped foot in this town again.”
Again? What did he mean again? He knew her? How was that possible?
“I didn’t believe the rumors. Chase Winters’ Achilles heel…a girl. Never in a thousand years would I have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself. Does your girlfriend here know the truth about you? Does she know what you truly are, mutt?”