by Weil, J. L.
I could have kissed Emma, I was that overjoyed to still be alive and in one piece.
We drove down a private road, crowded with towering oak trees, never slowing our speed. My stomach churned, cycling with a mixture of disbelief, anxiety, fear, and hope. We were smack dab in the middle of no-man’s-zone and I could taste the finish line.
At the end of the paved road, we hooked a right heading for the interstate.
Heading for home.
I took a few silent moments to savor my exhilaration. And then I looked at Emma’s profile, still in complete shock by what we had done. What she had done. Her strawberry-blonde hair was pulled back into a tight-no-fuss ponytail. It made her eyes look like two big emeralds. Much like her dad’s had been. She was dressed in all black.
“Spill,” I ordered, laying my head against the seat. “I don’t get it. Not that I am not eternally grateful, but why would you help me?”
She shrugged, keeping her eyes glued to the highway as we cruised along. “My plans differ from my father’s,” she said like it wasn’t a big deal, but I knew better. Then she added, “And your boyfriend is really freaking scary.”
Technically he wasn’t my boyfriend, but I didn’t correct her. It sounded too nice. “Chase,” I supplied just to be clear.
She snorted. “Obviously. Unless you are dating more than one half-breed.”
A small smile broke on my lips. “I don’t think Chase would let him live.”
She handled the SUV like a pro. “That we can agree on. He is a force to be reckoned with and he knows it.” Subtlety wasn’t exactly in Chase’s vocab. “When he figured out where you where stashed, he–”
“Chase found me?” I cut her off.
She glanced at me and grinned. “You bet your ass. That man is like a machine. He has been looking non-stop since you disappeared five days ago. And by non-stop, I mean all day, everyday. I don’t think he has slept.”
“It’s only been five days?” To me it had seemed so much longer. More like five months.
She nodded and for the first time I saw something else beside judgment in her green eyes. I saw understanding. “Once he narrowed your location last night, he went ballistic – ape shit crazy. He wanted to storm the building and go all demon nuts. Basically get us all killed, including you. It took Travis, Sierra, Craig, and Hayden to hold him back. I didn’t think they were going to be able to do it. If he hadn’t been playing with all of our lives, I would have been impressed. Never have I seen anyone with so much…power. It was frightening. Thank God I brought a tranq.”
“Wait. What?” I had to have heard her wrong. “You tranquilized him?” I gave her a have you lost your freaking mind stare.
Oh boy was he going to be pissed.
She got the message. “You don’t have to tell me. I know he is going to chop me to pieces the first chance he gets. It’s why I’m hoping that breaking you out will earn me some brownie points, or at least save my hide.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. “Why did you? Help me, besides to save your own neck?”
She didn’t answer right away, and it made me wonder if I’d hit a nerve or pushed her too far. Emma was as unpredictable as the half-demons. To my surprise she did. “Because I know what it is like to be locked up against your will. Let’s just say I’ve been in your shoes, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worse enemy, not even a mutant like you.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her to jump off a bridge. If she insulted me or called me one more ugly name, I might forget that she saved me and push her from the car.
Before I had the chance to do or say something I would regret, she surprised me yet again. “I also know what it is like to be separated from someone you love. It sucks.”
You could say that again.
She continued feeling in sharing mood, “Seeing Chase so distraught struck a cord in me that I’ve buried deep, deep inside. So Travis and I–”
“Travis and you?” I interrupted.
She gave me a glare. “So I was saying, Travis and I devised our own plan, and we knew it had to be done in secret because there was no way Chase’s was going to agree. That would involve trusting me, which would only happen if hell froze over.”
Couldn’t argue with that.
“We knew we had to get to you first. Chase might be a badass, but he is no shape to fight. Being away from you has taken a toll on him. We figured this was going to be our only chance while the drugs were still in effect. I have no idea how long they last on someone like him, so here we are.”
She left out some important details, like how Travis and she were conspiring together. When did that happen? Probably while I was busy falling in love. I fiddled with the silver bracelet at my wrist and my thoughts shifted to Chase. For someone who always had something to say, I found myself unsure how to show my gratitude to the most unlikely of person. “Thanks Emma.” Sometimes the simplest words were all that were needed.
She glanced at me. “See that wasn’t so hard. The earth is still standing.” We grinned at each other. Dare I say this might be the start of a friendship? A twisted friendship, but stranger things have happened.
The rest the ride home was like having my head in puffy marshmallow clouds. Eyes closed, I might have drifted off but not for long, because the closer we got to Spring Valley my body began to react to my bond to Chase.
“We’re almost home,” I said, breaking the comfortable silence.
“Can you feel him?” she asked, sensing that something was going on.
I nodded my head. “Yeah, but maybe not in the way you might think. The pressure in my chest is closing, and it is easier to breath. My lungs don’t feel like they are going to collapse anymore.” I left out that as we got closer and closer, the mark on my hip began to tingle. Each mile that brought me closer to home, the mark that was Chase’s grew in intensity.
She eyed me warily. “Which means if you can sense your pending arrival so will Chase.”
It made me think that she was uneasy about my connection to Chase, and I could get that. Some days I still couldn’t believe what had gone down that night he brought me back from the other side. A bright smile crossed my lips. “That’s a given.”
“Great,” she said drily. “Maybe I should drop you off down the road and get a head start running.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him kill you.”
Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. “The funny thing is…I’m counting on it. You just might be the only person who could stop him.”
Chapter 24
I wasn’t sure what I expected to happen or feel when I saw Chase. The only thing I knew was that it was going to be monumental. Well at least for me. The feeling inside built to a point that I was glad to be buckled in, because I wanted to leap from the car. I never felt such an overwhelming and desperate need to see someone. Not even for my mom when I came back from that month long stint at summer camp. And that had been brutal for a ten year old. I never went to camp again.
This was a thousand times more potent.
This was insane.
There was most definitely going to be tears.
And I was pretty sure he would never let me out of his sight again.
“Here goes nothing,” I thought I heard Emma mumble, but it was hard to hear anything over the pounding of my heart.
It thundered in my chest as I spotted my house. The blood in my veins raced, and the tattoo radiated with a tingling energy. I had to force myself to wait until the car came to a complete stop, when what I wanted to do was jump out of the moving vehicle and run home. But that didn’t stop anyone else from doing something reckless and irrational.
I mean irrational was his middle name, so it was of no surprise that he reached me before I even had my fingers on the handle. I sensed him before I saw. Actually, I don’t think I ever saw him. One minute I was in the passenger seat and the next I was in his arms. The car door swung open with such speed, I heard Emma gasp beside me, and
I wouldn’t have been shocked to see that Chase had literally ripped the door right off the hinges to get to me.
I was crushed against him.
Burying my face into his neck, I inhaled the scent of him like it was my first breath of fresh air I’d had in years. His heart was racing in time with mine, mimicking each other in harmony. Bands of iron were secured around me, and I was so unbelievably happy that I didn’t care that he was squashing me to death.
“God, please tell me you’re real. That this is real.” The sound of his voice broke me into a gazillion pieces. He sounded shattered, nothing like the arrogant asshole I loved.
“Do I need to pinch you,” I whispered against his neck.
I felt him chuckle, winding his fingers through my hair. “Dammit Angel,” he rumbled.
I sighed contented. That was much better. Behind me Emma swore, Lexi squealed, and Travis laughed. They were all sounds that gave me comfort, sounds that warmed my heart. Holy mackerel, it was fabulous to be home. I wrapped my arms around Chase and squeezed for dear life. “Don’t let go,” I whimpered.
“Never,” he vowed, brushing his lips over my hair.
And just like that I was swept off my feet, moving in impossible speeds. I closed my eyes until the dizziness left. The commotion outside was gone, leaving only the dark and seductive scent of him everywhere. I didn’t need to see to know where he’d whisked me away.
His bedroom.
Hearing the tiny click of a lock brought a small smile to my lips. His hands framed my face, and I finally looked into his eyes, soaking up the sight of him. Radiating a beautiful blend of silver and gold, he stared at me like he hadn’t seen me in years. The sheer intense color of them knocked me off my feet. I could have gazed at him for hours. He leaned back against the closed door never taking his eyes from mine and ran unsteady hands through his black hair.
I groaned at the loss of his touch, my body protesting that it was too soon. I still wanted to be in the his protective confines, but I could see that what he had on his mind was important, so I was going to try to be patient before I threw myself at him. I prayed it wouldn’t take long because I missed him terribly already.
“I never got to tell before–” his voice broke, filled with such emotion, it tugged at my heart. “There is so much I want to say, that I’ve been longing to say, but I just couldn’t find the words. I never expected you.” He tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear and my heart leaped. “Never thought I deserved you and maybe I don’t. But it doesn’t really matter now, because the day you showed up outside my house looking like something from heaven, you were mine. Meeting you was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.” He smiled, a quirk of his lips. “You gave me hope when I had none. Somehow you tame the demon inside me, when I thought that was impossible. There is no one else in the world for me, but you.”
I was getting choked up, emotions clogging my throat.
He gave me a one-sided smile that made me want to slide back into his arms. “Not another girl can compare to you. When I walk into a room, I only see you. I don’t feel at ease until I see your sapphire eyes.” He leaned in, close enough that I could see my reflection in his silvery gaze. “And when we are apart, you aren’t the only one who feels the pangs in your chest. These feelings didn’t just appear because I saved you from Death, they have been there since the day you walked across my yard. The sooner you get that, the better. Because Angel Eyes, I’m never letting go, I can’t lose you. Never again.”
I couldn’t swallow.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t function.
My throat had closed up with raw, pure emotion. His striking eyes searched mine, waiting for a response.
Holy guacamole.
Tears of happiness streamed down my face and he kissed them away one by one. “I’m so sorry. So very sorry,” he kept repeating.
It was just like Chase to blame himself. I placed a hand on either side of his face, making him look at me. “This wasn’t your fault.”
“How can you say that? If it wasn’t for me, they never would have given you a second glance. This is my fault Angel, you and I both know. Now that you are tied to me, this kind of shit will happen all the time.” The self-condemnation in his tone was gut-retching. It was like a knife in the belly. “I should have stopped them. I should have protected you better.”
I wanted to argue, to make him see reason, but I knew a losing battle when I saw one. Nothing I could do or say would change or lessen his guilt. So the only way I knew how was to show him. Standing on my tiptoes, I wrapped my arms around his neck holding on like a monkey.
“I love you Angel,” he whispered against my wet cheek.
Wide-eyed, his declaration of love caused the air to puncture from my lungs. I’d expected to feel something when he finally got around to saying those three huge words, but it wasn’t this. The moment the words tumbled from his lips, the ground slipped out from under me. Thank God I was already in his embrace. He pulled me tighter against him, and the world spun around me in dizzy circles that left me weak. A rush of …
There were no words.
“Angel?”
I heard him say my name but it was drowned out by this painful pleasure that began to burn at my hip. Gasping, I looked to Chase who wasn’t the least bit surprised about my sudden reaction. Instinctually my hand covered the spot where I’d been marked, and my head dropped to his chest.
“Angel?” he called again filled with concern. His hands stroked up and down my arms as I leaned on him for support. “It will pass it a minute. Just breathe,” he whispered softly in my ear.
And it had, slowly and surely. “What the hell was that?” I asked when I was able to speak.
He looked into my shining eyes, dawned with understanding. “That…was my heart.”
Confusion clouded my expression. “I – I don’t understand.”
He took my hand and pulled me farther into his room, sitting me on the end of his bed. “Do you remember what Ives said about our connection, about other connections?”
I nodded my head. “He said that our souls were bound because of the deal you made for my life. He said that there are others who were linked like us but in different ways.”
Chase nodded. “It’s a binding triforce. You and I…we’ve just sealed two points of the triforce. Soul. Heart.”
I searched his face, looking doubtful. “How?”
“By admitting what we felt, what was in our hearts. There is power in words.”
I couldn’t help but think he wasn’t entirely happy about this. “Did you feel it when I told you…when I told you I loved you?” The words came out like a heady whisper.
The truth swam in his eyes, and it was all the confirmation I needed, but he spoke what I already knew. “Yeah, I tried to warn you.”
Wasn’t that just gnarly? I guess there really was power in words, at least in this case. I fiddled with the bracelet at my wrist. “What does it mean?”
He gave me a panty-dropping smile. “It means that our connection is a whole lot stronger, deeper. We’ve just kicked it up a notch. And I’ve potentially put you in whole shit-ton more danger. The usual.”
“Soulbond and heartbond,” I said out loud, testing how they sounded. “What is the third?” I asked.
“Bodybond.” His eyes clashed with mine, and I flushed as I realized what that meant.
If we did the deed, if we made love, we would fulfill the binding triforce.
The ideal of completing the triangle should have worried me, not excited me. I shouldn’t want to be tied to Chase anymore than we already were, but truthfully the last one thrilled me to my core. I was more eager than I wanted to admit. Being with him in the most intimate way possible was something that teased my dreams almost nightly. Now knowing what it could mean, only heighten its hotness.
Just as my head filled with steamy images of us wrapped together, he pulled up his shirt. It was like he read my thoughts.
I gulped. Sweet baby Jesus. My mouth watered at the sight of his tan rippled chest. “Are you trying to tell me something?” I stood up and took a step toward him. My fingers were itching to touch.
He backed up, holding out a hand. “Just stay there a moment. I wanted to show you this.” He looked down, bringing my gaze to his demon mark.
On sharp intake of air, I ignored his warning, reaching him in two quick strides, startled by the discovery that his demon art had an addition. I ran my fingers over the new markings. “Is this because I told you that I loved you?”
“You got it toots.”
I was captured under his gaze. “Should I assume mine has also expanded?”
He gave me a devilish grin. “What happens to me happens to you.”
“Lovely,” I said dryly.
“You like it.”
That was just it. I did.
A wicked glint filled his silver flint eyes. His finger traced my lower lip, and I suddenly realized I was still touching his bare skin. My hands roamed on their own over the solid planes of his chest, and I felt him shiver under my fingertips. “I could make you mine,” he said. “I know it now. I didn’t want to admit before, didn’t want to believe it, but it is useless to deny. It would only take once, and there would be no going back. I’m afraid to touch you. I won’t take away your freedom, the choice from you.”
I didn’t see another choice. I was already his.
Taking a step forward, I ran my hands up around his neck, diving into his hair as I brought his lips down on mine. I kissed him with everything I had so he wouldn’t doubt my choice. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation, not for me. My lips were on his, and I felt him shudder, but he was holding back.
If I was going to sink, so was he.
Sucking on his bottom lip, he made a sound in the back of his throat, half moan, half growl and final took the plunge with me. This was what I wanted, what I’d been waiting for, dreaming for. Deepening the kiss, I parted my lips, tumbling headfirst with the rush of sensations crawling across my body. Shivers of pleasure shot through as I pressed up against him.