by Ebony Olson
He hung up the phone and raised a daring brow at me.
“I would be honored to give you my wife in holy matrimony.”
Mercury swallowed his smile but nodded. “She was ready to give herself to me whole after he broke her heart too. I held her off because I wanted to make sure she knew the choice she was making.”
“I'm not that nice a guy,” I answered and walked to the driver's side door. “I'll see you at home with our wife.”
Spectra
To say that Bay’s note freaked me out would be putting it mildly. Death I could cope with. But not this.
He collects beautiful women. He will take you. Delay him as long as you can.
I felt a weight settle over my body just before my hands started to itch, and that's when I realized I was out of time. I wasn't ready yet; I still needed to tell Bay the number on the building, but then teeth were at my throat, and my scream swept through my head like talons to my ears. I slammed back into my body like I'd fallen from a roof. My body jerked under his and I felt his lips turn up where he suckled at my neck.
I instantly started trying to get him off me, but he'd positioned himself well to fend off any defense easily. After a few seconds, I gave up and sobbed as he drained me. I moved my hands across his shirtless back and felt him tense at that electricity that always passed between a sorcerer's bare skin and mine. He lifted his face away from my neck and hovered above me.
“Look at me.” Paul demanded. When my eyes stayed closed, he grabbed my jaw and shook my face gently. “Look at me!” I blinked my eyes open, fighting against the instinct to sleep. “Were you a Nephilim before you died?” I started to close my eyes. He shook my face again. “Spectra! Are you a half-cast celestial?”
“Yes,” I whispered, just wanting to sleep.
“Prove it!”
I struggled but moved my hands up his shoulders to his neck and face. I concentrated and felt joy and excitement. I siphoned off some of his excitement to re-energize myself. The adrenaline kicked in, and I was able to open my eyes and look at him. His face lit up. “Remarkable!”
“You have no idea.” I smiled and then moving quickly, I hooked my thumbs into the inside of his eyes. I pushed in hard and then scooped out to the sides. I felt the squish and burst of fluids around my fingers and over my face. Paul howled and leaned away from me. I shoved him and he fell, screaming in agony. I quickly rolled to the other side of the bed and dropped to the floor.
Paul was gaining his feet. “You bitch! Do you think that will stop me? I'll heal in a matter of minutes, and then I'm still going to take you, Spectra. That way I can make you pay for that for a lot longer.”
I slid under the bed while he yelled, using his noise to cover my movement. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound of my breathing, because for some reason I couldn't stop breathing. Paul became still. I saw his bare feet and trouser pants on the other side of the bed. He was waiting till he healed to find me.
I felt a small puddle forming under my shoulder and moved my hand to my neck. I was still bleeding. He didn't seal the wound when he stopped drinking from me. I sobbed before I could stop myself and Paul chuckled. “I can smell your blood, Spectra. Didn't you realize I didn't heal you?” His feet turned as he took a deep breath. “My eyes are nearly fully reformed. I have all the time in the world, but you, you might bleed out before I find you. Of course, now instead of fighting you, I just have to wait. Within minutes, you are going to be too weak to fight me anymore.”
I grabbed a handful of the sheet still wrapped around me and pressed it to my neck to try and slow the bleeding. I wasn't sure how long he was drinking from me before I came back to myself. I couldn't die here. He would take me, and I couldn't become one of them. I couldn't be a predator. So I pressed the sheet to my neck and willed myself to live.
“Just waiting for my vision to return now, Spectra. How are you going? Are you still conscious?”
I fought the pull into sleep, my eyes trying to close as that weight in my head became heavy, my blood pressure crashing through the floor.
“Ah, here we go. Still blurry and no color, but only a few more seconds to wait.” His feet moved towards the curtains and moved one back. “Tell me. If you're insubstantial when you pass out, do you return to corporeal again like a Changeur when it dies?” I tried to focus on his feet, but they started to become blurry.
“Of course you do. Your body would automatically breathe in.” Paul moved towards the base of the bed, and I lost sight of his feet. “Have you tried breathing out since you've been here?” I closed my eyes longer and forced them open with more energy than it should take. “This safe house is purpose-built. Everything in these holding rooms is controlled. The temperatures, the visibility, the oxygen levels.”
My eyes closed for the last time.
“I'm very good at observing people. When the Changeur went to attack you, you exhaled all your oxygen just before he launched, and that's what made you disappear. The wolf was rather helpful in that he then tracked you for me. It proved my theory when I hit you, and you sucked in air and returned to my vision.”
When Paul's voice came to me next, it wasn't muffled by the bed and I knew he'd found me. “So when I brought you here, I pushed up the oxygen levels so that you wouldn't have a choice in breathing.” I heard a noise next to me, like a scraping on the floor. “Just out of my reach there, Spectra. That is the problem with such large beds, but don't fret, I'll have you out from under there in a moment.”
There was a loud noise outside the door. Adrenaline kicked in again, and I was able to force my eyes open. Paul's feet were back beside the bed when the door burst open. “Who are you?”
Another loud noise roared through the room, and Paul stumbled back until he hit the wall behind him. His knees buckled and he slid down the wall to sitting before collapsing to the side. There was a bloody wound at the neck where his head used to be attached. I groaned and closed my eyes, drifting, my hand at my neck relaxing and falling away.
“Spectra?” A woman's voice called from low and close to me. “Jesus! I'll get you help, honey, just hold on a little longer.” I heard buttons pressing on a phone, her voice muffled. “Two one seven Marshal Terrace. In the basement, room at the very end of the hall. Hurry! I can't help her. I haven't fed in days and her blood is too tempting.”
The footsteps moved away and back to the door and down the hall in a run. I lay there in the darkness under the giant bed, happy to go now. He couldn't take me. That's all that mattered. If I died here now, I'd stay dead. Thunder sounded in the distance, and I smiled when I found myself lying in a field of wildflowers as the storm blew in.
“Where is she?” Mercury's voice yelled across the field. “Spectra?”
“Merc!” Barely a whisper
More thunder, closer above me now, and then sunlight broke through the darkness of the storm.
“Spectra, fight for me,” Mercury whispered softly in my ear.
“How bad?” Calin's voice asked gently.
“She's nearly bled out,” Mercury advised, and then he placed his hands on me.
The field filled with bright sunlight, chasing away the thunderstorm. Noise, smell, sight disappeared. Nothing but the brightness of the sun and the heat of Mercury's hands on my body.
“Fight for me, Spectra,” Mercury demanded. “Fight, goddamn it, and I'll marry you the moment you open your eyes again.”
The sunlight turned to white light. Pure, radiant light poured over me, into me, filling me up. I welcomed that light, bathed in it, lived in it. All I wanted was to be in Mercury's arms and never leave them. I heard Mercury exhale dramatically. His hand swept through my hair and pressed my forehead to his. “I love you too,” he whispered before he kissed my mouth lightly.
“We're good to go.” I felt Mercury lift me into his arms and start walking with me. “Sleep, Spec. It's going to be an exciting week. We've got a wedding to plan, and we're moving house. You w
ait till you see where we'll be living.”
I pressed my face to his chest and smiled. As long as I was with Mercury, I didn't care where we lived.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Spectra
“Spec.” Someone poked me in the side. I grumbled and rolled over. Mercury chuckled. “Come on Spec, you'll be late for your interview.”
“Argh! I feel like I've been hit by a truck.” I threw back the blanket and started walking towards the... I stopped and looked around the room. Bay stood at the foot of the bed in his standard suit, mild humor on his face. Mercury was still on the bed shirtless, openly laughing as I looked at them, confused. Bay pointed to one of three doors leading from the room. “Thanks.”
I opened the door and turned on the hot water, stepping under it and sighing in relief. My suit was hung up in the beautiful stone and glass bathroom. The shower was next to a wall-to-ceiling window that was opaque, so it let in maximum light without exposure. After the shower, I dressed and went back into the bedroom. That's when I actually took in the size of the room and the luxurious furnishings. Mercury was still half naked, standing and talking to Bay in the large open space by the bed.
“Where are we?” I asked, buttoning the black silk blouse I'm pretty sure wasn't in my wardrobe before today. I took in my laptop on the breakfast for two table nestled in the far corner by a large round window that made it look like an adjoined tower room.
“Your new home,” Mercury smirked, standing back and crossing his arms to watch me.
I looked at him, unsure. “I've missed something or a couple of somethings by the sound of it.”
Mercury walked towards me, his eyes gentle. “It's not important right this minute, Spec. You need to get ready for your interview. Gina has offered to drive you over to it and back. When you get back, we can discuss the details of living here and everything else that goes with it.”
I met his eyes and he sighed. “Where are we? A converted monastery or something?”
“You're at my estate,” Bay butted in. “This wing has been relatively unused except for occasional guest accommodation. The rooms on this side and level are now your apartments. This is the master bedroom. You have two other bedrooms, a modest lounge room, and...” Mercury shook his head at Bay, “… another room that could be put to whatever use you desire. You will still need to share the kitchen and laundry, but my cleaners will clean your apartment for you unless you wish to do it yourself.”
“This place is too peaceful to be yours, Bay.”
“Father Mathew came and blessed Bay's house so we could be comfortable here.” Mercury touched my arm, gently bringing my attention to him.
“We?” I asked, my voice hesitating over the word.
Mercury smiled. “As husband and wife.”
I felt my heart flutter but looked at Bay before meeting Mercury's eyes. “Are you sure you want to live here?”
“Why? Because it's hideously spacious, opulent, and someone else will clean the toilet for me? Oh my lord, Spectra, you are right, what was I thinking to move into a hellhole like this?”
Bay hid his smile behind his hand. Mercury took my hand in his and pulled me closer. “The land is blessed so we will find it restful. It is guarded so that you will be safe. You will get this job at Galaxy, so it will be close to your work. I've been at Saint Benedict's too long now anyway and need to move on before the humans start asking why I haven't aged in ten years. There is a hospital twenty minutes from here that I can go work at. I've already called this morning and arranged an interview.”
“But...” My eyes flicked to Bay.
“The days and nights I'm here, you're mine. When I'm working or engaging in my other interests, you are free to be with your lover.” Mercury swallowed. “Though once we have children, he will probably need to come to our bed to be with you.”
Mercury saw the look on my face and grabbed my elbows before I could pull away. “You do want children, don't you?”
“I don't know, Merc.” I sighed and stepped into him. Mercury wrapped me in his arms, and I felt instantly more at ease. “Is that a bad thing?”
Mercury kissed my forehead. “It's absolutely your choice, Spectra. We can be careful till you think you're ready, or we can just let nature take its course.” Mercury stepped back from me and dropped down on one knee. “Let's take this one step at a time. Spectra Michaels, I would be honored if you would be my wife, in this life and life ever after.”
I felt butterflies take flight in my stomach and tears started falling down my face. I'd always imagined I'd marry Alexander, but I understood now, holding part of my soul didn't mean he held my heart, nor I his.
“Yes,” I whispered.
Mercury stood and pulled me into the most wonderful kiss. I started rubbing my hands over his back as I pressed myself to him. Mercury sighed into my mouth then stepped back, laughing. “No. You have an interview to go to and I have a wedding to organize. Tonight when I take you to bed, you'll be my wife.”
“Tonight?” I queried, shocked. “I don't have a dress.”
“You will.” Bay smiled. “I'll organize the dress and your dinner at my expense. My gift to the happy couple.”
“You've already let us move into your place, Bay, and we aren't poor.” I sighed.
“To have you close to me, Spectra, and to keep you safe, it is an easy price.” Bay took a step towards us. “I've arranged for other guards to patrol the estate unseen from now on. We will never be surprised like that again.”
“You don't get to touch her today,” Mercury stated firmly, stopping Bay's approach. “She has to wait till we are married to get any now, just as I will.”
Bay smiled broadly. “Can I at least escort Spectra downstairs so she and Gina can leave?”
Mercury gave an amused huff. “Sure.” He pulled me in for one last kiss. “I'll see you at the church this afternoon.”
Bay held out his arm. I put mine through it, and he led me through the apartment to the main staircase, down two levels to the main foyer and then out to the garage. “Are you happy?” Bay asked gently.
“Did last night happen?”
Bay's face became unreadable. “I don't ever want to be in the position of not knowing if you are safe ever again.”
“If you guard me like I'm precious, Essence will use me against you, just like they tried last night.”
Bay turned and gave me a hard look. “Paul would not have told you about them. How do you know, Spectra?”
I met Bay's eyes and let the hidden knowledge shine in my eyes. I noted Bay's hesitation, but I took no pleasure in it. “While the men in my life seem to prefer me naive, there are those who want to keep me safe and therefore also keep me informed. I know Essence is the reason Alexander hid me initially, but then he grew to like the life he lived, and I became secondary to it. It took meeting you to realize, if he truly loved me, he would have managed it differently.”
Bay cleared his throat. “Do you understand our connection?”
I smiled, understanding what he was asking, and started walking to the garage. “I was already paranoid about unprotected sex. My friend warned me what it would mean to let Alexander have me entirely, and while I don't understand the entire concept, I understand our bodies are wedded.”
“You did it to punish him for the way he treated you?” Bay queried.
“No, Bay. I did it because we are connected somehow, because it felt right for me to be tied to you in a way I wasn't to anyone else.” I turned to face him and lowered my voice as I saw Gina crossing the foyer to come to the garage. “I love Mercury, and he has my heart. He will be the father of my children when we choose to go there. My soul is intertwined with Alexander's, and because of that, separation over long periods is hard on us. I've been working at staying away from him as long as I can.” I touched his face tenderly. “I'm still working out exactly why I need to be near you, Bay, but it is a need.”
“Ready to go?” Gina
bounced past. She didn't stop. Just gave me a smile and kept on to the garage.
Bay waited for Gina to enter the garage. “You are my wife now. When you marry Mercury tonight, you will take two husbands. Mercury and I have already talked, and we hope to make this work for all three of us. When Alexander finds out about this, he will try to have both Mercury and I killed.”
I smiled. “I guess you're lucky then.” I stepped towards him and put my mouth to his ear. “That the people he'd hire to kill you love me more than him.” I kissed his cheek and turned, walking into the garage and climbing into the Wrangler next to Gina.
Bay stood at the door, hands in his pocket, a mix of worry and surprise on his face as we drove out. I grabbed onto the dash bar as Gina sped up the driveway and swerved onto the road with barely a look for traffic.
“How are you feeling this morning?” Gina asked.
“I was fine till we left the garage,” I answered, a little wide-eyed with panic.
“Relax, I've been driving these roads for years now.” Gina sped down the road, and I did as suggested and relaxed. “Are you hoping to get this job today?”
“I am. Though I'm still a little nervous about moving into Bay's.”
Gina nodded. “I'm sort of glad though, it'll make my job a little easier.” Gina tucked her hair behind her ear, flashing her tattoo purposefully this time before she turned to meet my eyes and we smiled at each other. “Miranda asked me to say goodbye.”
Hi, this is Ebony Olson - Thank you so much for reading Spectra, I truly hope you enjoyed it and would love to read your thoughts in an Amazon review.