Possession: Immortal Protectors, Book 3 ((Immortal Protectors))

by H. M. McQueen

  The walls, painted in a deep red struck her as odd for a bachelor's home. The bedding was plush, in reds and black, which gave the elegant room warmth. An abstract landscape in the same colors, on the wall over an understated fireplace drew her attention. Two large windows flanked the fireplace, a gold and red sash swept across the top of each, cascading down the side to pool on the floor. In the far corner next to one of the windows, a luxurious soft leather black chaise, beckoned a reader to lounge. Across it a thick crimson lap blanket was strewn.

  She returned her attention to Wendy, who didn’t seem in a hurry to leave. “Where is he?”

  “Its evening time, they’ve gone to work.” Wendy replied. “I’m going to go and get you something to eat. I’ll be right back.”

  Who were ‘they’?

  “Wait,” Tonia told her. “How long have I been here?”

  “You got here last night. It’s almost eight at night, so not quite twenty-four hours.”

  Panic seized her, she’d missed a day of work, and no doubt the police had already been to her apartment and torn it apart. Had she dripped blood everywhere? “I have to call in, I’m a US Marshal, and they are probably looking for me.”

  “Don’t worry,” Wendy told her. “Fallon went back to get your cell phone. He talked to a guy named Douglas, who’d called to ask about you. He pretended you were in the shower and told him you’d be taking time off to spend with him. At first your partner wasn’t too convinced, I guess you never take time off. But Fallon can be quite the charmer.” Wendy handed her the cell phone. “You should probably call Douglas and reassure him.”

  “Thanks,” Tonia replied, not quite sure she liked how easily her partner took a total stranger’s word on her whereabouts.

  “I’ll get you something to eat,” Wendy said leaving to give her privacy to make the phone call.

  She pushed the speed dial button for Douglas and he answered right away. “Hey Douglas,” Tonia said upon hearing his curt ‘hello’.

  “I’m sorry about today,” she began explaining only to be interrupted, by an overly cheery Douglas.

  “Hey Mohr, I was about to call you. I didn’t want to interrupt anything, but wanted to ensure you were really taking a week off.”

  “What? Is that what Fallon told you? A week?”

  “Yep, he told me he’d convinced you to spend a full week with him,” Douglas replied. “He seems like a great guy, we talked about all kinds of stuff.”

  “Really?” Tonia wrinkled her brow, not liking that her partner probably knew more about Fallon than she did. “I’m not sure I need an entire week.”

  “Chief said, take a month, he’s glad that you’re finally taking a vacation.”

  “I’m not taking a month, Douglas.” She sighed, knowing they’d all been worried about her since Alex’s death. “I’ll take a week though,” she grumbled.

  “Don’t sound so ecstatic. From what Fallon says, he plans to keep you pretty busy.” Hearing her partner bawdy laugh, she rolled her eyes. Men.

  “Right,” she replied. “Call me if anything comes up.” She hung up, not wanting to give Douglas the opportunity to start asking questions.

  Wendy returned with a tray, on it a fat sandwich and a sliced apple. “You look familiar, I think we work out at the same gym,” Wendy said placing the tray down on the side table. "I go to Fitness Fix."

  “I thought the same when seeing you. Yes, I go there,” Tonia replied, her stomach growling at the sight of the meal. Realizing Wendy seemed to live there, her stomach sunk, her appetite flew out the window. Is she his girlfriend? His wife?

  Spotting the wedding ring on her finger, nausea hit her.

  “Are you Fallon’s wife?” she croaked, sure her face revealed her distress.

  “No. Fallon is single.” Wendy told her, a knowing smile on her face. “I’m his partner, Kieran’s wife. We’re living here until our house is rebuilt. Damn demons burnt it down.” She slid the tray closer to the bed and motioned for her to sit up so she could push yet another pillow behind her back. “You’ll meet the others when they get home. It won’t be until dawn though.”

  “What exactly are they, Fallon and your husband?” Tonia asked reaching for the sandwich, her appetite restored. "Who are the Protectors?"

  Wendy plopped down on the edge of the bed biting her bottom lip. “Oh gosh, I'm not sure how much I can tell you. Fallon, Kieran and Logan West, who also lives here, are Protectors. They are demon slayers. They protect humans and other innocents from them.”

  Tonia allowed the information to sink in. “Are they human?”

  “They were born human, from human parents, but predisposed to become immortal when reaching their twenties.”

  “How many Protectors are there?”

  A nervous giggle escaped Wendy as she shook her head, “Oh no, I’m not going to get in trouble by answering too many questions Lady Marshal. I’ll let Fallon do that.”

  “Are you human?” Tonia asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

  The petite woman pressed a finger to her chin in thought. “Pretty much.”

  “Oh?”

  “It’s a long story,” Wendy told her then lay on her side facing her. Tonia had to admit the woman was easy to like, she found herself relaxing for the first time in a long time.

  “Why do you fight demons?”

  Tonia knew Wendy changed the subject purposely. “I hate them. They killed someone I loved. It so happens I can see them.”

  Wendy didn’t speak allowing Tonia to gather her thoughts.

  “My husband, Alex and I, fought demons, as part of a group of underground slayers, formed by humans who like me, can see them. That is how I met him. We fought together. Well...until he was killed by one.”

  “Oh no!” Wendy exclaimed, “I’m so sorry.” Her eyes became teary. Her caring disposition endeared her to Tonia.

  “When someone joins the movement, it's evident we’re signing a death sentence,” Tonia told her, trying to shrug it off. The ache in her chest was always there when thinking about Alex.

  “Brave,” Wendy exclaimed in thought. “I don’t think I could do it.”

  “Either brave or stupid,” Tonia replied.

  “Why don’t you finish eating and get some rest? Go back to sleep,” Wendy told her, getting up. “I’ll be downstairs in the morning, if you want to venture down there and meet everyone when they get home.”

  After sleeping surprisingly well, Tonia sat at the kitchen table the following morning. Wendy buzzed around the kitchen cooking a large meal. It was five in the morning, yet the woman was playing music, cooking dinner and drinking wine while swaying to the music. Wendy raised her glass to her. “Sure you don't want a glass?" When Tonia shook her head, she shrugged. "Okay. Can you toss the salad please?”

  Tonia couldn’t help but wonder at the strange scene in the kitchen as she pulled the salad bowl toward her and began adding croutons and shredded cheese while Usher's Yeah played in the background.

  “Can I ask you why you’re cooking dinner at this hour?” she asked Wendy as she watched her open the oven and peek in.

  Wendy smiled at her. “Most people work nine to five, come home and have dinner waiting for them, relax, watch TV, then go to bed and hopefully do something fun before they go to sleep.” She wiggled her hips. "Know what I mean?"

  Tonia nodded and smirked.

  "The Protectors work nights. So I do it for Kieran." Wendy continued, "He gets dinner when he comes home after work and breakfast in the evening before going back out. I want to give him some sense of normalcy. He loves it. I've been doing this since we first got together.”

  It made sense. “Where are the plates?” Although moving slowly due to her injury, Tonia went to the cabinet that Wendy pointed to and began pulling plates out, setting the table, not sure if the other Protectors participated in the dinner ritual. But setting it for five just in case.

  When the door opened and Fallon walked in she froze. Butterflies tickled
her gut and she fought not to roll her eyes at her annoying response to the man.

  Wendy greeted him cheerfully, “Hey Brit, how are you?” He smiled at Wendy, who seemed to bounce with joy. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Hello Wendy, I’m well, thank you.” His deep timber vibrated through Tonia. When he lifted his violet eyes to her, it made her stupid stomach pitch again.

  “I’m glad to see you up and about Tonia,” he told her, eyes moving to her side then back to her face.

  “Hello,” she replied, feeling uneasy at his intense perusal.

  The awkward moment was broken when another man walked in behind Fallon and bumped a shoulder against his. “What the fuck Fallon? Were you tryin’ to run me off the road?” The male hesitated upon seeing her, his brow furrowing, then he returned his attention to Fallon. “Why did you cut me off back there?”

  “Making sure you stay sharp, cowboy,” Fallon replied, seeming not to be bothered at the male’s harsh tones. He turned to her. “This Cro-Magnon, who you may mistake for a cowboy, is Logan West. Logan, this is Tonia Mohr.”

  The handsome man's lips curved in a lazy smile, his startling hazel eyes met hers. She couldn’t help but be taken aback by the man’s attractiveness. Were all these men picked from some women’s dream catalog?

  Wendy scurried past Logan, pushing him and Fallon aside as a tall muscular blond male came to the door. The man opened his arms, seeming to know Wendy would throw herself into them. Their passionate kiss made Tonia look away. Oh to have that again, on a daily basis. Well not that she and Alex ever acted that happy to see each other. He’d always been reserved and rarely showed any public display of emotion.

  The scene unfolding in the kitchen reminded her of any family at the end of a workday. Fallon poured tea while Wendy's husband Kieran drank coffee and hovered over his wife as she pulled an enormous casserole dish out of the oven. Logan sat in a far corner and plucked at a guitar, stopping on occasion to pat the head of a large black Labrador that chewed on a rawhide bone at his feet.

  Finally Wendy was able to get them all to the table where they ate, the conversation flowing from sports, to vehicles and finally to movies. Only once did anyone ask her a question. Logan who'd been a sheriff during his long lifetime asked her a question regarding a traffic law in Georgia. He'd grumbled when she told him her specialty was elsewhere.

  Tonia turned to find Fallon leaning over her, their gazes met and for a moment she thought he might kiss her. Instead, he reached for her elbow. “Come with me,” His hands were gentle when helping her to stand and pulled her out of the room.

  “Aren’t you going to eat dessert?” she asked glancing about the room, only Kieran and Wendy remained. Logan must have slipped out without her noticing.

  “I’m not hungry for that right now.” Fallon's eyes slid to her mouth indicating what he’d prefer.

  She cleared her throat. It was not the time to be romantic. With the need to find out more about the Protectors, having so many questions, she allowed him to lead her from the room.

  They entered a small elevator and went back up to the third floor. Tonia noticed that Fallon kept his face turned away from her, he seemed deep in thought. Something was wrong. Her gut clenched. What now?

  His mannerisms made her think of older times as he took her elbow again and guided her straight through a set of double doors. Once inside another huge bedroom, they moved to chairs flanking yet another fireplace.

  Fallon didn’t sit. “Can you excuse me a minute?” he asked, moving toward what she assumed was his closet.

  While he was gone, she studied the bedroom. Much like the one she’d woken in, this one was as richly decorated, but in earth tones. By the size of the house and elegant furnishings, Fallon was very well off. His huge rumpled four-poster bed seemed a contradiction to the put-together man. She’d pinned him for a get up and make the bed type.

  He returned, no longer wearing the heavy leather jacket, or his sweater, still in dark jeans, he’d pulled on a simple grey t-shirt. Her eyes focused on his well-formed broad chest the material couldn’t quite disguise. Although she’d been intimate with Fallon, they’d never spent much time together outside of bed. At each encounter they’d attacked one another with passion and desperation, lovemaking overriding any conversation.

  He sat next to her on the love seat, his eyes studying her injured side. “How is your wound?”

  She started, realizing it hadn’t hurt very much in the last few minutes. “It’s healing rather quickly. Who treated me? I seem to remember a large blond man.”

  “Yes, Roderick, he is a Protector, as well as a licensed physician. His expertise is one of the reasons why you're healing so well.” Fallon looked toward the fireplace. “I must tell you something very important.”

  Unsettled by his lack of eye contact she swallowed. “Why won't you look at me? Something is wrong isn’t it? What happened?”

  He took a breath, and looked to her for only an instant. “By the time Kieran and I arrived at your house, you’d already lost a lot of blood. You were barely responsive. You needed blood, our options were limited.”

  He stopped at her intake of breath. His eyes met hers. “I gave you mine.”

  She studied him for a few minutes. “Okay, so what’s the bad news?”

  His lips pressed together, a worried gaze met hers. “I’m immortal. And we’re not sure how you will be affected by receiving my blood.”

  Blackness swirled, threatening to engulf her, the room tilted and she lost her ability to breathe. She stood from the chair; eyes wide, hands clenched at her sides and stared down at him. Finally, she gulped in air and sputtered. “Does this Roderick have any idea what is going to happen to me?” Fallon stood and reached for her in an effort to steady her, but she recoiled from him.

  “He thinks that in all probability, your life will be prolonged,” he replied, dropping his hands, but keeping a protective eye on her. “Please sit down.”

  Fallon delved into her thoughts, his strong mind reading abilities helped him access Tonia’s emotions and thoughts. Questions fired one behind the other as she sat back down. She didn’t look at him, remained quiet, her face pale, and eyes straight ahead.

  Earlier, her thoughts were as always on having sex with him, his sentiments exactly. Not only was their attraction mutual, but also their chemistry was off the charts. Now she only registered fear and confusion towards him.

  Clearing his throat, he moved to sit next to her, careful to keep a distance. “I was born human. Both my parents were normal people. At twenty I began to change, I grew over half a foot and became bulkier. Julian, the Protector's commander, came to our home. He explained to my parents that I was one of those rare few predisposed for the Protector army. I’m not exactly sure why it happened to me.”

  “H-how old are you?” She finally looked at him, studying him, the beautiful emerald eyes taking him in as if for the first time.

  “I was born in 1806, I will be two hundred and seven this year.” He waited for her reaction. Other than her eyes widening, she didn’t say anything and so he continued, “I should have left my home to join the protector force at twenty-five, but I didn't want to be...different. At thirty, I reluctantly left home and went to train with Julian to become a demon slayer.”

  Tonia exhaled, her thoughts slowing, but a question kept repeating in her mind. When she verbalized it, he was prepared. “Did I lose my soul? Am I no longer human?”

  He stifled the involuntary flinch at her question. This was the second time in a few hours he’d been asked that question. How he hated the common belief that because he was immortal he was soulless. “If you are affected as expected, you will still be a human, but going to live longer, age very slowly, if at all. And no, you, like me, did not lose your soul.

  She sagged back into the chair, her hand reaching for the crucifix hanging around her neck. “Thank God.”

  “Do you have any other questions?” he asked, not wanting to let on that he could read he
r mind.

  “Am I different? What I mean is, am I stronger now? Are any of my abilities enhanced because of this?”

  “No, the only other person who received Protector’s blood, remained pretty much the same,” he told her thinking of Roderick’s wife, Rachel. “Nothing much will change, except maybe that you will not get sick. Any injuries you sustain will heal faster. But like me, you can still die Tonia,” he informed her, knowing she planned to continue fighting demons and hoped to be stronger because of his blood.

  “Oh,” her disappointment was obvious.

  “There is something else,” Fallon told her, getting her attention. “I have broken several Protector rules. Julian will not be happy learning what I did, not only that, but that you know about us. I’m not sure what the consequences will be. He will probably punish me. And you may have to remain here.”

  “Punish you? That’s not fair. How exactly does he punish you?” Her anger pleased him. “I can’t stay here. I have a job, my own place.” Tonia stood and began moving toward the door.

  “Of course you can return to work. However, after a few years, they will notice you don’t age. At that time you’ll have to decide what to do. As far as your home, you can’t return there, the demons know where you live.”

  She hesitated. The realization sending panicked thoughts, fury and desperation pulled at her. She felt helpless and began to wonder if she’d be kept there against her will.

  “I won’t force you to remain here, but your options right now are limited. Do you have a relative you can stay with temporarily?”

  “I can take care of myself,” she snapped. “I’m not bringing this mess to anyone’s doorstep.”

  Not speaking, he nodded. One thing he understood was the strength of her independent nature.

  “I’m sorry,” Tonia told him, moving closer. “You saved my life, thank you for that, I don’t mean to be so bitchy. It’s a lot to take in.” She pressed her lips into a tight line and her eyebrows drew together. Her eyes on the fireplace she moved toward it and stood stock-still. “I need some time to absorb all this.”