Lost In Time: A Fallen Novel

by Palmer, Christie

  Celeste decided it was time to ignore the sainted Jessica because just hearing her voice made her want to kill her, or, at the very least, crack her stupid skull for hurting Marcus like she had.

  Marcus was pulling himself to his feet when she made it back into the exam room. He growled at her and grabbed her by the throat pushing her up against the wall.

  “Marcus?” Evelyn screeched, stepping forward she put her hands on his forearm.

  Celeste glared at him. “This is awful familiar,” she said, and he dropped her.

  “Are you done?” Celeste asked, not even blinking. Her eyes glowed violet.

  “That would depend on whether or not you plan on listening to me or just knocking the hell out of me,” he snapped.

  She actually laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “I think I’ll go with the latter. It’s more fun for us both.” Celeste narrowed her eyes. “Besides, you know what, Fallen? You have absolutely nothing to say I want to hear right now, so pick your sorry ass up off the floor and let’s get this shit over with.”

  “Why?” Marcus practically screamed and threw his hands in the air. “Why now?” he asked the ceiling.

  Celeste looked up at the ceiling before turning a quizzical eye back to Marcus. “How hard did I hit you?”

  He glared, pointing a finger at her. “You need to be quiet for five minutes or you’ll be the one on the floor.”

  Celeste crossed her arms over her chest and laughed. “Bring it on Fallen. Bigger men then you have tried and failed.”

  Marcus closed his eyes, and Celeste was betting he was counting trying to regain control of his temper. When he opened them he turned from her to look at Jessica.

  “Tell her the truth,” he snapped.

  “And what truth would that be?” Jessica asked with such nastiness it made Celeste gnash her teeth together.

  “That we are no longer married.” Marcus’s voice was so menacing it would have left even Celeste slightly scared. It should have scared Celeste, but it did nothing but turn her on which only pissed her off.

  The beautiful blonde leaned around Marcus glaring at Celeste. “Our farce of a marriage was considered voided after he betrayed me and sentenced me to a life of servitude to the Angels instead of leaving me at peace in death.”

  So that is what had happened. He cared enough about her to ask for her to become a Guardian, and she was ungrateful for that? Loved her enough to never want to be parted from her?

  “Was she this stupid when you were married to her?” Celeste asked Marcus.

  Marcus snorted, Jessica sucked in a breath. “You cross bred bitch.”

  Well that was just going too far. Pushing Marcus out of the way she stepped forward and was warmed when Victor and Christian appeared on either side of her.

  “Listen up, Jessica,” Celeste started as the woman finally took a step back. “That man behind me loved you so much he didn’t want to be parted from you and begged the very Angels that had turned their backs on him for your soul and made you what you are today. You should be kissing his feet. And I’d rather be a cross bred bitch any given day than an ungrateful stick up the ass bitch.”

  “You have no idea what you’re even talking about,” she snapped. “He is a Fallen.” She said it with such contempt and disgust that it startled Celeste.

  “So?” she barked.

  “They expelled him from the Elysian Fields because he was unworthy,” she said, standing tall, her shoulders back, as if she had just imparted the most important information in the world.

  Celeste was done talking with her. She turned and smiled to her brothers who gave her identical looks and then they Flashed out. She looked at Marcus, his green eyes filled with pain, and she hoped it wasn’t because he realized that Jessica was never going to love him back, the way he loved her.

  “Your vow was for that?” she thumbed over her shoulder. “I’m ready to go, you unworthy Fallen piece of shit.”

  Marcus snorted. “Well then, let’s get going, you half bred bitch.”

  He motioned for her to go ahead of him and she started back toward the car. “You know, I kind of like that “Half Breed Bitch.” I might get a t-shirt with that on it. What do you think?”

  “I’ll pay for it.” Marcus laughed.

  Celeste turned to him, narrowing her eyes. “I’ll hold you to that Fallen.”

  “Gods, its Marcus.” He leaned down so his nose touched hers. “Marcus.”

  “Of course it is,” she whispered back and then turned and headed toward the front door. Evelyn caught up with them there.

  “I apologize for the way I treated you. It was a surprise to have Marcus bring you here. That doesn’t explain my actions, but I am sorry.”

  People didn’t often apologize to Celeste. So when it happened, she always took a moment to asses why they were apologizing and what it would mean in the future for them both before accepting or rejecting it. It was the father in her. Nothing for nothing.

  “Thank you,” Celeste said for Marcus’s sake. He obviously had a relationship with this woman and as much as that rattled her cage, she wasn’t about to ruin that for him.

  “Evelyn, you know the Guardians in Boston?” Evelyn nodded at Marcus’s statement. “They are in danger.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jessica snapped.

  “Can’t she just go away?” Celeste asked to nobody in general.

  “What type of danger?” Evelyn asked.

  “A Reaper, one of the first, has escaped. It is searching for a way to get back into the Infernos. There is a Touched here in the city. I don’t know who it is, but their Guardian would know. Whoever it is needs to get their guard out of the city as soon as possible.”

  Celeste had been watching Jessica as Marcus explained what they were doing here, imagining ways to maim and kill her. But when Marcus mentioned a Touched, the woman perked up.

  “Fuck me sideways,” Celeste muttered.

  Marcus turned to her. “Excuse me?”

  She didn’t answer him and pushed past him to Jessica. “Who is your charge Jessica?”

  “None of your damn business, you bitch!” Celeste held up her hand, stopping her.

  “Yes, we have established exactly what you think of me, but that isn’t the question. Who is your charge?” Celeste practically bellowed the words. “Because if she is the Touched, she is in a great deal of trouble. Did you just return from New Orleans?”

  Celeste had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and turned to Marcus. “If Calliope can trace me, and he is close, he will know now.”

  “What have you done?” Jessica snapped and then disappeared.

  “Thank the Gods she is gone,” Celeste said with honesty.

  “I know who her charge is,” Evelyn said quietly.

  Marcus and Celeste both turned to the woman. “Marcus, if I give you the information, promise me it is because she is in mortal danger.”

  “Evelyn, I swear to you I wouldn’t do any of this if it wasn’t life or death.” Evelyn looked from him to Celeste and then back.

  She sighed and headed down the hall with Marcus and Celeste following. They followed her into an office, and Evelyn unlocked a hidden safe and pulled out some files.

  She wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Marcus. “If anyone finds out I have passed this information on to you, I will be murdered.”

  “I swear I will protect you,” Marcus said with a hand on his chest. Evelyn smiled, and Marcus leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you, Evelyn.”

  Celeste made a face behind him. He kissed the woman. Right in front of her, and she didn’t know exactly who she wanted to kill at the moment Marcus or Evelyn? But her heart was leaning toward Marcus, the big bastard.

  They walked side by side as they left the building. Evelyn stopped him at the entrance. “I’ll be right there,” Marcus said to Celeste’s back. Celeste lifted a hand and he had to be glad she hadn’t given him the one finger salute. With how a
ngry she currently was, he could have gotten much worse.

  “Marcus, are you sure you know what you are doing?” Evelyn asked, concern creasing fine lines in her beautiful face.

  Marcus looked at Evelyn and then back at the SUV. Celeste had climbed into the back seat and was muttering to herself, probably damning him to hell and back.

  “Believe it or not, I do know exactly what I am doing.” This felt right, and he didn’t know how to explain that to Evelyn, but when he looked at her, she had to see the emotion on his face.

  “Isn’t having your heart broken once enough?” she asked, tears slipping from her dark brown eyes.

  He laughed humorlessly. “I think this time it will kill me, considering what I feel for that half bred bitch eclipses what I had for Jessica tenfold.

  Evelyn shook her head. “I will kill her with my bare hands if she hurts you.”

  Evelyn rarely ever showed anger, and Marcus was touched she cared so much. “Believe me Evelyn, as much as we argue and fight, she is my one and only.”

  He leaned down and kissed her again before heading for the SUV.

  ****

  Celeste watched as Marcus and the beautiful Evelyn exchanged several words, and then he leaned down and kissed her again. Lightning green jealously streaked down her spine making her lower back stab with such intense pain it took her breath away. She grasped the door handle trying to not scream out in pain.

  Marcus climbed behind the wheel, completely unaware of the danger he was currently in. Everything in her wanted to claim him, mark him as hers.

  “Victor.” She moaned the name, and he instantly showed up in the back seat.

  “What?” Marcus turned to Celeste and to Victor.

  Celeste felt Victor’s eyes on her for a long moment. “Just drive away, Fallen.”

  Marcus started the vehicle and pulled out into the drive. “Celeste?”

  Celeste glared at him before leaning toward Victor. “I don’t understand why it hurts so much here. I need to go back to the Infernos,” she muttered.

  “Not going to happen,” Marcus said from the front seat. This had Celeste reaching for him in her need. Victor wrapped his arms around her, holding her, he rubbed her back. She had never hurt Victor, but she growled at him now.

  “Mine,” she whispered so only her brother could hear.

  “Damn it, Celeste. What have you done?” he asked. Celeste looked up into what were usually black eyes, but shown a bright blue at the moment.

  She felt tears slip down her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. I couldn’t help myself.”

  Celeste was almost dislodged from her place on Victor’s lap as Marcus slammed on the breaks, and the large vehicle screeched to a halt.

  Marcus climbed out and threw open the back door. Celeste looked up and smiled, but she wasn’t sure if it reached her eyes. Concern and anger was written all over his face. She knew, somewhere deep inside of him, he cared for her.

  “What’s wrong with her?” he demanded of Victor. “And why the hell aren’t you healing her?”

  Victor growled. “Because what is going on is not something I can heal for her. You did this to her, you will need to fix it. And may all the gods, Angels and anything else of light be on your side when Dante finds out.”

  Celeste clung to her brother, but he Flashed out leaving her sitting alone in the back seat.

  “Why Celeste?”

  “Why what, Marcus?” she asked between clenched teeth.

  “Why when anything happens, do you call for Victor?”

  “Are you hurt because I call for my brother rather than for you?” she asked, so shocked she couldn’t keep her mouth from falling slack.

  Marcus racked a hand through his hair. “Yes, dammit, and I don’t appreciate you throwing it in my face. Now just explain it to me.”

  “He can heal me Marcus, do you have that ability?” she said, shoving herself as far away from him as possible. The base of her back ached so badly she thought she was going to be sick.

  “No by all the gods, I don’t have that ability,” he said, climbing into the vehicle. Celeste pulled her legs up, and she wrapped her arms around her legs, curling into a ball, making herself as small as possible. If he touched her, she was done for, and she prayed to whatever Gods were feeling merciful he wouldn’t touch her.

  ”Celeste, what’s wrong?” he asked, his words so gentle she cried harder.

  “Marcus, if you care at all, you’ll get behind the wheel of the SUV and drive. Ignore me,” she begged, not sure who she hated more as each word came out. He reached out for her, and she flinched away. “Just drive, Marcus. I want to go home, and in order to do that we have to finish this mission.”

  This time it was Marcus that flinched. “Was it because of Jessica?”

  Celeste laughed. “Of course not. That insignificant piece doesn’t really deserve my time,” she said honestly. One day she was going to ask Marcus why he had cared for her for so long. But that would have to be after her lust died down just a little and she could think clearly.

  “Celeste, why is your skin turning a slight shade of red?” Celeste laid her head down on her knees.

  “You know why,” she whispered, wishing the world would stop so she could jump off.

  “Celeste, what has you so—” she looked up as he hesitated. Confusion was written all over his face. She would have laughed if he hadn’t reached over and brushed a tear from her face.”

  God Marcus, why?” she asked just before she lunged across the seat and slammed into him, driving him back against the seat. She pressed her mouth so hard against his she tasted blood, which only turned her on more.

  She rubbed against him, feeling his hesitation with her. Celeste felt like she was raping him, but couldn’t seem to stop herself. Her fingernails elongated into talons, and she ripped his t-shirt to shreds as she searched for hot skin.

  When she did find it, she pressed her hands flat against his warm chest soaking up his heat. “So warm,” she growled, taking her lips from his and running them down his neck.

  “Celeste?”

  She leaned back, and saw the surprise in his face. She had changed, she knew she had. “No talking. I need sex right now. I need you right now. If you want to heal me, make it better, I need you to have sex with me right now.”

  “What the hell happened?” he asked, but he was unbuckling his pants as he asked the question.

  Celeste tried to keep the words from tumbling out of her mouth, but she couldn’t. “Twice,” she growled and licked the column of his throat and moved to his bottom lip. She bit him, drawing blood with her elongated canines. When his warm hands slid into the back of her pants and cupped her ass, she threw her head back and moaned, letting the orgasm from just his touch roll through her.

  When it was done, she looked back and him. “Mine,” she growled, so low and menacing, it scared her a little. And then she was scrambling out of her own clothes.

  Once she had her pants off, she positioned herself, straddling him. She looked down into his face, cupping it with her hands, and she stared into his beautiful green eyes, knowing she would never turn from him of her own choice. Celeste kissed him as gently as she could and slid onto him, home deep inside of her.

  ****

  Marcus was never going to be able to figure her out. Tears fell, unbidden, down her cheeks as she rocked on him, her tight passage squeezing him to just this side of pain. She muttered words, mostly ‘mine,’ which he couldn’t argue with, but it seemed to upset her.

  He pushed her forward as he reached for the lever that would fold the driver seat forward. Finally in control and on top, he slowed their movements, feeling as if that little bit of control wasn’t costing him dearly.

  “Explain,” he growled, pulling out so just his head lay within her hot, wet passage. He leaned down and bit one turgid nipple.

  She tried to jackknife and pull him into her, but he was in control and rolled his hips away losing contact completely. Cele
ste growled and bellowed in rage.

  Marcus leaned up and looked down at her. Her skin was a dark red and her fingernails as well as her canines had elongated. Her eyes had changed and bleed red and black. She was a totally different creature, but with her fire red hair, he couldn’t help but think in either form she was the most beautiful thing he had ever had the pleasure of having contact with.

  “Explain,” he said again.

  “You kissed that bitch twice,” she growled, not trying to role away from him.

  “Kissed what bitch? What—” And then he remembered that he had kissed Evelyn on the cheek twice as they were leaving.

  He smiled, he couldn’t help it. “Are you jealous, Celeste?” he asked rolling his hips forward so that he pressed and circled the button at the apex of her legs, making her scream in pleasure.

  “I hate you,” she growled, scratching at him as she desperately tried to regain control.

  Marcus leaned forward and pressed slightly into her. “Celeste, are you jealous?” rotating his hips, he slid farther in.

  When she didn’t answer him, he started to withdraw, but she screamed and sank her claws into his buttock. “Yes, are you happy now, Fallen?”

  She looked anything but happy, but he couldn’t have been more pleased. If she was jealous, that meant she felt more for him then she wanted to admit. Sinking deep into her, he ripped her t-shirt down the center from the hole that was made by the plane shrapnel and pulled the bra away he sucked a nipple into his mouth thrilling in the wonderful taste of her. She arched up to meet every one of his thrusts her hot wet canal sucking him deeper with each thrust.

  Of all the women he had been with, all the time he had been without a woman, looking down at his beautiful Demon, he knew each second had been worth it. He felt her shudder and let out a low growl of a scream as she bit her bottom lip, drawing blood, he bent down and licked the trickle of blood away. The second it touched his tongue something tingled through his body, but he was too mindless to figure out what that was and then he was thrusting into her over and over again, each time getting closer to her feeling her contract around him, milking him.

  When he finally came, he gave into it, throwing his head back and growling her name.