“No,” he said, his voice low. “I mean, I don’t mind holding her longer.” He glanced at the machinery next to him. The baby was hooked to various cords, all of which had concerned Exavier when we’d first arrived.
“Then I’m going to go get her brother.”
“Brother?” Exavier cast me a worried glance.
Running the back of my hand over his cheek, I held his gaze. The connection I felt to the man before me was so intense, I found myself blinking back tears of sheer joy. Seeing him holding a child felt so right, so natural to me that before I even realized it, I was leaning into him, kissing his cheek and brushing his hair back from the side of his face. “She was a triplet.”
“Was?” he asked, not seeming to notice or care that I was treating him as if I’d known him all my life.
I closed my eyes slightly and drew in a deep breath. “They came too early. Way too early and, well, she and her brother survived.”
Nodding, his gaze flickered to the baby. “Does she have a name?”
“I’m sure she does, but the nurses here don’t tell me any of their names.”
His brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Because I asked them not to, Xavs. They’re fragile little humans. So precious. So new to this world that sometimes they don’t stay in it very long. I can deal with a lot. I can’t deal with that. I wish I could heal every last one of them. I wish I could make them stronger.” Tipping my head, I averted my gaze and stepped away from him.
“Why come here if it’s that hard on you?”
The tiny baby in his arms stretched, causing her little body to form a peanut-shape on him. She opened her mouth and inserted her fingers. The action left Exavier staring down at her with an expression so full of emotion that I thought it best to give him some privacy.
I backed out of the room quietly. Shutting the door, I turned to find a row of nurses standing there, each one looked more excited than the next. Jakki, a woman who had been working there since I’d been coming in, motioned towards the closed door. “Girl, you’ve got about two seconds to tell us why Exavier Kedmen is in our hospital, holding our babies, with our Lindsay?”
The rest of the line of miracle workers nodded in agreement. It had completely slipped my mind that Exavier was some hotshot famous front man. Apparently, that wasn’t the case with the rest of the world. I knew the women wouldn’t run to the tabloids and start vicious rumors. They were good people. I also respected Exavier’s privacy and thought it best to change the subject if at all possible.
“He’s an old friend of mine.”
What made me say that?
Jakki glanced at Karen. “I told you she knew him from her days of dancing professionally. I bet he took one look at Lindsay and knew if he wanted to win his way to her heart, he’d have to understand what’s in it.”
“Pfft, umm, no. We’re just old friends. I brought him down here with me because I missed the babies. Nothing more.”
Being a liar was becoming a habit with Exavier around.
Karen went toward the observation window to the room Exavier was in. Her jaw dropped. “Oh my gods, Lucy is lifting her head and I think she just smiled at him.” She rubbed her eyes. “I must be hallucinating.”
“You must,” I said, putting my arms out. I did my best to block the name Lucy from my head but it was impossible. “Brother, now. My arms ache.”
Jakki didn’t waste another second. “Go ahead back in with your boyfriend. I’ll bring the little one in.”
“He’s not my boyfriend. I told you already. He’s an old friend.” Knowing it was pointless, I cracked the door open and took a step in to find Exavier humming and rocking Lucy. Her color looked so much better than it had only minutes before that I, too, thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.
“Exavier, how are you doing?”
He grinned and it melted my heart. “Lucy and I have come to an agreement. I’ll stop being nervous holding her and she’ll give life her all.”
“You heard them talking about you?” I asked, shocked his hearing was that good.
“What?”
I pointed towards the door. “The nurses, they were shocked to see you here in their hospital so they gave me the third degree. They also slipped up and mentioned her name was Lucy.”
Something I couldn’t read passed over his face a second before he nodded. “Yep, the walls are thin here.”
As I watched the premature baby who had seemed so fragile only moments ago, seem to thrive, I shook my head. “You’ve got the magik touch, Xavs.”
“Umm, yeah, something like that.” He winked. “I’d like to hold her brother now, if possible and then we should get back. I believe that I’ve stood your friend up.”
It hit me then. “Jay.”
Nodding, he lifted Lucy up towards me. “Here. She wants you now.” The conviction with which he said it made me believe he was right, Lucy really did want me to hold her. It was ludicrous so I ignored it.
“Xavs.”
“Yes.”
“We’ve officially bonded now.”
Chapter Six
Gina stared at me with wide eyes as she artfully juggled several bags of Italian food. “You took Exavier Kedmen to the Neonatal Unit?”
“Yes.” I kept walking, carrying two pizzas. We’d decided to go for dinner together at the center since it was closed and we didn’t really feel like sitting in a stuffy restaurant or going home quite yet. Besides, I was still a little worried about Exavier. He and Jay had left for a beer mid-afternoon and I hadn’t seen or heard from him since.
Jay had called Gina to let her know that he still had “the rock star” and they were fine but wouldn’t be back until late. Since I didn’t own Exavier I had little say, but I was concerned about he and Jay getting into a physical fight. Jay was a were-wolf. Exavier was just a human. Serious damage could be inflicted.
Myra had spent the greater part of the evening trying to convince me that Jay would never hurt Exavier, especially since Gina told him who he was. I didn’t put much stock in that theory. Jay was the type of man who could give a shit about someone’s status.
“Myra, can you ever remember our girl dragging anyone other than Harly with her to the hospital?”
“Nope and I for one am happy. I hope Lindsay gives him a chance. She’s never going to settle down and find Mr. Right if she’s surrounding herself with Mr. Can’t Remember Their Names.”
I laughed. “Watch it, babes, or I’ll be knocking one of those bottles of wine you’ve got there over your head.”
Myra leaned forward, as if she was going to hand me a bottle. “I dare you.”
“It’s no fun threatening you. You aren’t scared of anything.”
“Yes, I am. I’m scared of bad hair days, leaving you in charge of your own schedule, finding out my mother will be visiting, watching movies of the week…”
Rolling my eyes, I snickered. My friends were so far from what people considered normal that I wasn’t exactly sure what the baseline for it was anymore. Not that it mattered. I loved them for them. For some freakish reason, they seemed to love me for me.
Misfits. There’s no other term for us.
“Oh, news on the Gina love front,” Myra said, lifting a well-defined brow. “I think she has someone serious in her life.”
There was no way I could hide my surprise, so I didn’t bother. “No way.”
Gina huffed. “Hey, don’t act so shocked. I’m lovable too.”
Myra and I exchanged looks and burst into laughter. “Oh, yes, extremely lovable. Snuggly even.”
“Mmmhmm, like a rabid teddy bear.” Myra snorted and we all began to laugh. She was always so proper. To see her letting herself go was a treat. It wasn’t that she was opposed to having a good time. No. Myra was just driven and businesslike in almost all aspects of her life.
We turned the corner towards the center and I bumped Gina with my hip. “Spill it. I want to hear all about him.”
“You’re joking, rig
ht?” She lifted a handful of bags and used them to point at me. It was cute. I didn’t bring that to her attention though or I’d end up wearing the contents of the bags. “I’m not letting you two anywhere near Paco.”
She froze.
I gave her a big grin. “Oh, we’ve got a name. Paco. Mmm, is he hot?”
“The better question would be,” Myra licked her lower lip, “is he hung?”
“Yeah because we’ve got a strict 'no guppies allowed' policy,” I added, doing my best to keep a straight face.
Gina shook her head. “Huh?”
Myra began wheezing and I knew she got my reference to her ex-boyfriend, “The Shark”. The memory of her walking around a party shouting “guppy” would be stuck in my head forever. It was a classic Myra response to an issue—attack with claws erect. I think it had something to do with the cat shifter in her. She was born to be a bitch.
“Hey, since when did the boys who hang here start leaving their stereo and stuff laying around the parking lot?” Gina asked, slowing her pace. “Aren’t they afraid that it’ll get stolen?”
I stared at the portable stereo sitting on the ground and glanced around the parking lot. It was covered in a blanket of darkness and hard for me to see too far out. It didn’t matter that my night vision was nowhere near as sharp as Myra’s. There was no way the boys would leave their things lying around unless something happened.
“I don’t smell blood,” Myra whispered, moving in close to me. “You head into the center. We’ll check it out.”
The idea of any of my kids being hurt ignited my already short fuse. “No. I’ll help.”
“Lindsay.” Gina shook her head. “This isn’t up for debate. Take the food in and we’ll be in as soon as we know they’re safe. Call Jay’s cell phone. Let him know what we found. He knows these kids as well as any of us.”
My protests would only waste time. Nodding, I turned, allowing Gina to pile her bags of food onto the boxes of pizza I held. She did and I made my way towards the front entrance. I was just about to call upon my power to assist with opening the door when I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. Unsure if it was supernatural or not, I didn’t want to risk exposure so I made sure to turn my body enough that they couldn’t see if my hand actually touched the door before using my magik.
I made my way in and headed straight for Myra’s office. Setting the food on the counter, just outside of her door, I freed my arms and lunged for the phone. The last thing I wanted to do was call a no doubt drunk Jay and drag him away from whatever he was doing, unless he was beating up Exavier, but I didn’t have a choice. The kids in the neighborhood meant too much to me to risk them.
When Jay’s voice mail picked up, I sighed. “Jay, Gina wanted me to call. Something’s up at the center. Could be nothing though.”
The second I hung the phone up, music began to play. It sounded like it was coming from the back of the rec center, near one of my dance rooms. It was dark, haunting and nothing I could remember using in any of my routines.
“What the…?”
Confused as to why anyone would be back there, I headed in that direction. I didn’t sense evil so I wasn’t concerned about that. I was more worried the kids might have made their way into the center and gotten into things they shouldn’t have. The last thing I wanted was for one of them to get hurt.
Pushing open the door to the room I used for pole dancing classes, I froze as the music seemed to surround me. “Hello?”
No one answered.
Uneasy, but unwilling to lose my mind over the fact that music was playing, I kept a careful watch on my surroundings as I walked to the stereo. A man began singing and I instantly recognized the voice. It was the one that always seemed to call to me on some bizarre level. It didn’t disappoint. No. His deep voice seemed to enter my body, carefully caressing me from the inside out. Before I knew it, I was swaying to the music.
“I thought you’d like this, my love.”
My blood ran cold as a hand fell upon my shoulder. “S-Stan?”
He pressed his mouth to my ear and his body to mine. “You missed me, didn’t you? I knew he was lying. I knew he wasn’t your boyfriend. You were too scared of him to speak out, weren’t you?”
“Stan?” My mind seemed be having issues wrapping around the idea that he’d not only gotten into a locked building but was directly behind me. “You’re wrong. He is who he said he was.”
Stan seized hold of my hair and tipped my head back. “Lies. I’ve been watching you. He just entered your life today. He means nothing to you. Nothing!”
“You’re hurting me.”
He wasn’t but he seemed to be all about making me want him. Maybe he’d actually be concerned if he hurt me or not.
“You’ve left me no choice.” A cold steely blade pressed against my throat.
So much for my theory that he wouldn’t want to hurt me.
“Why are you lying to me, Lindsay? Don’t you want me too? Can’t you feel our connection? How we’re destined to be together?”
Think.
“Yes. I feel it and it scares me, Stan. The feelings are too intense,” I said, almost gagging on my own words.
He eased his grip on me and pulled the knife away from my throat. “I knew it.”
I turned to face him. He stood there, dressed in black from head to toe. His light brown hair was barely there. For some reason, he thought going the way of the buzz cut worked for him. It didn’t.
I let my gaze casually flicker over the twelve-inch bowie knife in his hand. The only vibe I got from Stan was that he wasn’t stable. At this point, I didn’t really care. The man had pushed me too far.
“I can get rid of him, Lindsay.” Stan’s eyes were glossy and his face paler than I remembered it being. “I can make it so that he never scares you again.”
As his words sank in, my hands clenched. He would not harm one hair on Exavier’s head. My power crackled around me, not giving a damn if I wanted to let it out or not. Good thing I didn’t care.
Stan looked around. “What’s that?”
“Don’t you know? You seem to know everything else about me.” I let more power out, mentally directing it to coat him. It did and he gasped.
“Lindsay?” The fear in his eyes spurred me on. I released more magik and let it move in on him, suffocating him slowly. Stan went to his knees and the strangest thing happened—I laughed.
I’m not a monster.
The thought jerked me out of the moment, giving Stan a reprieve from my magik. He lunged at me, knife in hand. I let instincts take over. I pivoted my entire body and jerked my arm out of the way while twisting. Time seemed to still as I watched his knife hand move in slow motion. I caught hold of his wrist with my right hand and brought my left arm up quickly, elbowing Stan in the face.
I felt it then. Evil moving in on us.
Stan’s entire body convulsed. The minute I realized that the evil had centered on him, it all made sense—the pale face, glossy eyes, erratic behavior. Demonic possession. I took control of the knife, and Stan, or whatever was in charge of him, rushed out the door.
I ran after him, knife still in hand.
Suddenly, it sounded like the music was coming from every direction. It should have scared me. It didn’t. It was oddly comforting. It made me feel safe.
I caught sight of Stan turning at the end of the hallway, into the lobby. Picking up my pace, I kept going. As I came around the corner, Myra and Gina were walking in. “Get down!” I shouted, sensing the highly charged buzz of demonic power in the air.
They did, just in time. A blast of negative power flared over their heads and bounced off the wall. It came hurdling back towards me. Jay picked that moment to come rushing through the door, followed close by Exavier. I did the only thing I could think of. I screamed. It worked. They both stopped and the power just missed hitting them. Instead, it kept coming at me.
The last thing I wanted to do was take a direct hit from the dark evil thin
g zipping at me so I dropped into the splits and pressed my upper body to the floor. It came so close to hitting me it moved my hair.
“Lindsay?” Jay asked, staring down at me with a questioning look on his face. “Uhh, what are you doing? And why did you scream? Why the hell do you have a knife like that?”
Talking bad. Fighting good.
Looking at Myra and Gina for assistance, I drew a blank. Jay was a were-wolf. He understood creepy things. Exavier didn’t. Telling Jay would mean telling Exavier. Not good.
Gina got to her feet. “Uhh, didn’t you see that huge rat?”
“A rat?”
I wasn’t sure I heard that right but since something had just tried to kill me I wasn’t really all that focused at the moment.
She glared at me. “Yeah, a rat.”
My lips pursed as I realized she was doing her best to keep Exavier from knowing the truth. Forcing a smile to my face, I did my best to ignore the presence of evil all around us and appear normal. “Oh, right. It was big. Huge. Mongo. Uh, you should go with Myra and Gina to find it. Now!”
Jay’s brow furrowed. “Why in the hell would you get down closer to it? Were you hoping to stab it with your Rambo knife?”
As much as I wanted to invent some creative reason for being on the floor, I came up blank. It didn’t matter. The buzz of negative energy increased again. I locked gazes with Myra. “Return of the rat.”
Her gaze darted around as she shook her head. “I don’t sense anything.”
Gina nudged her. “You know that she senses shit way before we do.”
“You’re sensing rats now?” Jay asked, putting his hand out to me.
I gave him a droll look and made a mental note to slap him for being too stupid to figure out I wouldn’t just drop into the splits for no reason in the middle of the lobby. He’d probably like the abuse and start begging me to spank him. It would be a very “Jay” thing to do.
Exavier moved up next to him and swallowed hard as his gaze raked over me. “You’re very limber.”
“What’s with the music? Loud enough for you?” Jay grabbed my hand and lifted me to my feet with ease, still oblivious to the fact bad things wanted us dead. Some detective. Geesh. I kept the knife close to me. “Hey did you know that this song is one of—”
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