The carriage lurched forward and Jade nearly lost her balance. “I guess I better sit down properly,” she grumbled as her ass found the bottom of the carriage. Frankie laughed softly and held on to the side for support. The only one not affected was Michael. He lay there, as still as ever. “Hold on, Baby,” Jade said just for him. “We’re on our way.”
Just about the time the ride became nearly unbearably bumpy, Frankie started chanting a spell. As if by her will alone, the carriage filled with cool air. The heat was simply sucked out of the air and replaced with a cool, relaxing breeze. “Thank you,” Jade told her, sincerity ringing in her voice. She really didn’t know how far they had traveled, only that they were going the right direction. She had kept in constant mental contact with Antonio, telling him which way to go. She was following the direction her heart was leading her in. They traveled for what felt like hours. Finally, Jade felt it in her chest. They were there.
“Stop!” she shouted out loud. The carriage ground to a halt and Jade pushed through the curtains. The air was not as hot as it had been previously, and the sky was darkening. It would be night soon. “We’re here,” she said as she came to stand beside Antonio’s camel.
“I don’t see anything,” Serena announced.
“I don’t either,” Azerial told her, “But I can feel it.”
Antonio nodded. He could feel it too. “It feels like love.”
“Frankie!” Jade called out, “We need that spell to let us see what we can’t see.”
Frankie did as she asked from inside the carriage. It would be another twenty minutes or more before she could safely come outside.
Less than half a mile in front of them, in the dunes of the desert, the air began to shimmer. The heat from the sun was reflected on the hot sand in the waning light, and then, it was there. Beautiful trees and grass appeared out of thin air. Birds sang and the entire place was lit with light. They had found it. Eden.
“Well, here we go,” Antonio said. He clicked his tongue and his camel started moving. Jade leapt back into the carriage with Michael and Frankie as they moved forward into paradise.
Jade kept her head outside the carriage as they entered the oasis in the middle of the desert. She was amazed and awed by the sheer beauty that surrounded her. This was something she only read about in books. Never had she imagined that she would find the actual Garden of Eden, much less go there and search for the wings of a fallen angel. But she knew that she would move Heaven and earth for her mate, and that was essentially what she had accomplished.
No human had set foot in this garden for thousands of years. It was pure of pollutants, the air crisp and clean. There was no road to travel on, and soon she knew they were going to have to abandon their ride and continue on foot. The light from the sky had faded away, yet the area was still lit as if it were daytime. The sun was nowhere to be seen; it was lighted by an otherworldly light. The light of God. Jade could feel it in her bones. This was a divine place, a holy place. She felt bad just for breathing and polluting it with her carbon dioxide.
A chuckle from Antonio let her know that she was still connected with him and he had heard her thoughts. “Shut it,” she grumbled at him. How was she supposed to feel?
“Exactly the way you do,” he answered her unspoken question.
Suddenly, Jade felt a riot kick up in her chest. “Stop! It’s here!” she called out.
The brigade stopped and Jade leapt out of the carriage. She walked immediately and without hesitation to a large tree. She looked up at the branches and leaves that were greener than anything she had ever seen before. “This is it,” she said softly.
“Wow,” Frankie said from beside her. “Don’t worry, Michael isn’t going anywhere.”
“I know this tree,” Azerial said. “The tree of life.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised that this is real too, but I am,” Jade admitted.
“Look!” Serena said from the side of the massive tree. Jade moved around to see what she saw, and there, on the trunk of the tree, were the wings. Except they weren’t what Jade had expected. They were part of the bark, woven perfectly into the tree as if they had always been there.
“How are we supposed to get a feather from a set of petrified wings?” Jade asked.
“I remember a scroll,” Azerial told her. “It said, The tree of life, surrounded by water, Beauty taken for granted, Blood of the martyr. Forever bound In bark and stone, The love of God, For he who stands alone. Only one pure of heart, May take what no one can get apart.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t really help,” Jade pointed out as her fingers ran along the outline of the feathers. “I wish I could just pluck one off.” No sooner than she had spoken the words, a piece of bark in the shape of a feather fell off the tree and into her hand. Jade watched in awe as it changed on its descent from bark to a silky white feather. It shimmered and glowed as it landed softly in her palm. “Holy,” she said, stopping herself from saying anything else. She really didn’t want to curse in such a holy place.
Azerial chuckled. “Let’s get Michael out here and get that spell going.”
“We gonna do it here?” Jade asked. “Is that wise? Doing magic here?” the last thing they needed was to commit some sort of sin.
“Of course,” Azerial said. “This place is full of goodness and love. I can’t think of a safer place.”
“Ok,” Jade agreed, and walked to the carriage to fetch her mate.
***
Michael was screaming. He screamed so hard that his voice left him and when all he could manage was a horse whisper, he kept right on screaming. It was the only thing he could do to keep from hearing voices that were not there. He was hearing them constantly now, and at least screaming drowned them out. He knew Jade was coming for him. She had to be.
As if on cue, he heard her voice. He felt the lightest of touches on his cheek, his forehead, and then his neck. He felt the feathering touch move over his entire body and it filled him with calm. He couldn’t hear what Jade was saying, but it was definitely her voice. He concentrated on that. It made him calm and shut out all the other voices.
Her voice became clearer and the feathering touch continued. It felt as if his body was being cleaned from the inside out and a heavy weight was slowly being lifted off his soul. He started to hear other voices and started to panic, but the longer he listened, the more he realized that he knew those voices. These were not voices in his head, but real voices. They were doing as they promised. His mate had come for him, and she brought reinforcements.
He listened harder, just in case he was supposed to do something to help.
“Evil that has taken hold, we compel you out of this soul. Remove what has been wrought in evil, remove the spell that stole a soul and tried to leave us. Bring him back, this mate of our sister, Michael Joseph Martin, come back to us.”
He heard many voices, but he could easily pick out Jade’s and Frankie’s. They were saying a spell, and even though he couldn’t hear all of it, he knew what was going on. They continued.
“Lost soul, find your light. Come back to us, come back to sight. Leave the dark and empty behind, come back to us, body and mind.”
He wanted to go. He just didn’t know how. Then the chanting got forceful.
“With the love of God, we compel you to return. The spell is no more. Return. With the love of God, we compel you. With the love of God, we compel you.”
Over and over again, they said the words; each time more forceful than the last. It was like an exorcism, only in reverse. Michael felt a pull on his body. It was gentle at first, but with each repeat of the chant, the pull got stronger. Michael smiled as he made an effort not to fight the pull. His smile turned into an all-out grin as he was pulled through a long tunnel, moving faster and faster. He was going home.
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
Michael was slung back into his body like a rubber band that had been stretched thin and then released–but he didn’t have time to be happy about it
. As soon as he was home, and he knew it in his soul, he was hit with a sledgehammer. Or at least, that’s what it felt like. His body was stiff and his wing was most definitely broken. His body took care of itself though, and he was jerked upright, every muscle he had screaming in protest.
His inner fire lit his wings and the flames consumed him. He couldn’t see who was there with him, but he could feel Jade.
She had come for him, just like she said.
As the flames rolled over his body, he could feel it mending itself. Someone had put a cast on his wing and the flames melted it. It dripped off his body and the bone began to heal. He could feel it as it knit itself back together. How long had been gone? And what did they do to his wing? Even his teeth hurt.
As the flames slowly died down, so did the pain of his injuries. He opened his eyes and saw the most beautiful creature ever created. Jade was standing in front of him, unafraid of his fire, smiling.
Michael didn’t miss a beat when his feet began to move. He took two steps toward her and threw his arms around her waist, lifting her to his lips. He kissed her like a man starved, trying to convey all the love and gratitude that he felt to her.
It was only when someone cleared their throat that Michael grudgingly pulled his lips from his mate. He set her feet on the ground, but tucked her to his side as he finally noticed the others present. “Thank you,” he said to them all.
“No problem,” Antonio grinned.
“Where the hell am I?” Michael asked. He thought Jade was going to choke beside him. “What?” he asked.
“You’re in the Garden of Eden,” Azerial told him.
Michael wanted to process what that meant, but he couldn’t seem to take his attention off of Jade long enough. All he wanted to do was take her behind a tree and make love to her until she couldn’t see. Jade smacked him arm playfully. “Don’t think those thoughts here,” she warned him.
Michael grinned a toothy grin at her. “It seems to be all I can think about,” he told her.
Her face changed as she watched him smile. “Um,” she said cautiously.
“What?” Michael asked.
“Open your mouth, dude,” Rebel said on a chuckle.
Michael squished his eyebrows together but did as Rebel asked. Rebel stepped forward and inspected Michael’s mouth. “You better not kiss me,” Michael teased.
“Hell no,” Rebel smiled. “Not with those razors in there.”
“What?” Michael asked. “What are you talking about?”
Jade took his hand and then just his index finger. She brought it slowly to his mouth and touched his teeth with the pad of his finger. He was shocked by how sharp the tooth was. “You have fangs,” she told him. He inspected his mouth and found that sure enough, he had a set of chompers that would make any vamp proud.
“How?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but I like,” Jade said with a wag of her perfectly shaped brows. “Let’s go home.”
Michael looked at his surroundings for just a moment. The place was absolutely breathtaking, but not as much as his mate. He turned her so that her back was to him and wrapped his arms around her middle. “I got Jade. Anybody else need a ride?” he asked.
“No, you can’t fly her home,” Azerial warned him.
“And just why not?” he demanded.
“There is much we need to explain to you. For now, just know this. Stephan thinks you are still in Limbo. We need him to keep thinking that way. Antonio and I can get us home. And we are faster.” She took his, Jade’s, and Serena’s hand while Antonio took Rebel, Leigh, and Frankie.
With the power of her will, Azerial took them home. Just before the world slipped out from under her, Jade looked to the sky and said, “Thank you.”
***
Brea was pacing the library as was becoming a habit for her lately. She had never thought that she could worry so much over one individual. Jade was strong, powerful, and level headed, but she was still her baby. Her only child. Brea couldn’t help but worry over her.
“Kelly called again for Michael,” Angel told her as he entered the library and stepped in front of her, effectively stopping her from wearing a rut in the carpet.
“What did you tell her?” Brea asked. They had been avoiding Michael’s mother for several days and they knew eventually they were going to have to face her and tell her what had happened to her son. They were hoping to have him back, safe and sound, first.
“Nothing,” Angel admitted. “I think she is becoming suspicious. I told her he was working and that I would give him the message. She says it isn’t like him to not return her calls. I think if this situation doesn’t resolve itself soon, she may be on her way here.”
“She’ll have all of our heads,” Brea said.
Angel nodded in agreement. “I promised to take care of him,” he said. “I think I failed on that part.”
“You didn’t fail,” Brea reminded him. “Stephan snuck in, outside our perimeter and tricked him. It’s not your fault.”
“Would that be explanation enough for you?” he asked her with a knowing look.
Brea shook her head and looked at the floor. “No.”
At that moment, the air in the house shifted and Angel’s head jerked up. “They’re back,” he announced as he took his wife’s hand and pulled her to the main part of the house.
Azerial, Frankie, Antonio, Rebel, Leigh, and Serena were all gathered in the living room. Their mates had come to welcome then home and the room was filled with voices. “Excuse me!” Brea shouted over the noise. “Where are Jade and Michael?”
Antonio grinned at Brea and the worry she had felt lifted away from her. “I dropped them off in their room,” he grinned. “Michael is fine and Jade needs to feed.”
“Oh, thank God,” Brea breathed on a sigh of relief.
***
“I have so much to tell you,” Jade told Michael as they appeared in his room. “But it’s gonna have to wait.” She narrowed her eyes on her mate. Her man, who was finally back in his body where he was supposed to be. Her lover, her heart, her everything. She had been so happy to have him by her side, and then she was forced to realize how much he really did mean to her when she could have lost him. She took one step in his direction, her eyes zeroing in on the pulse in his throat. Her fangs itched, not only to feed, but to mark her mate again, to reassure herself that he was here and he was well.
Michael’s eyebrow shot up and a wolfish grin crossed his face. His lovely mate was stalking him. He took an experimental step back from her and was rewarded with a growl from her chest as she took another step forward. She was predator and he was her prey. The idea sent a thrill down his spine and when she lifted her lip off her teeth, he could see that her fangs were fully descended in her mouth. God that was hot.
He knew he needed to feed her. It took all of his self-control not to bare his neck to her and give her what she wanted, what she needed, right away. But he never was one for making things easy. “I have questions, though,” he protested.
Jade narrowed her eyes at him, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she had lowered her head and back slightly; as if she was preparing to pounce like a cat. Yes, her stance was getting lower to the ground. He took a few more steps away and Jade smiled and followed. She moved back and forth in front of him, slowly, like a cobra preparing to strike.
Michael grinned at her again as an idea came to him. He wanted to have a little fun with her first. He unbuttoned his pants and shoved them down his hips. “Ugh, I feel like I have been wearing those for days,” he grumbled, pretending not to notice the fire in his mate’s eyes. As he kicked his pants off his ankles, he made sure to turn his back on her and bend over to pull off his socks. “Ah that’s better,” he sighed. His shirt followed, leaving him only in a pair of boxers. He turned to look back at her, only to see her eyes narrow and her tongue dart out to lick her lips.
Jade drank in the sight of her mate. Healed to perfection and all muscles and sinew. She let her eyes
move over him from the top of his dark hair, down his muscular back, across his colorful wings, to his tight ass and long legs. He was beautiful, and he was hers. She knew he was toying with her and she let him. But a vampire could only take so much punishment. When he stretched his arms over his head and his wings flared out slightly behind him, Jade couldn’t resist any longer.
She growled deep in her chest and pounced.
She barreled into Michael’s chest hard, knocking him to the bed. Jade used her considerable strength to force his back into the mattress with her hand. “Mine,” she grunted.
Michael knew Jade couldn’t wait any longer. As she sat on top of his stomach, he saw the glint in her eyes and the pale color of her cheeks. She needed him and he needed her. He turned his head to the side, offering her his neck.
Jade didn’t hesitate and struck hard. Her fangs slid easily into his skin and his whole body jerked. His hand found its way into her hair and the other went around her back to hold her close to him. They may have just been in the Garden of Eden, but this was home. This was paradise. Having his mate in his arms, providing her with life-giving blood, that was his happy place.
As she sucked hard at his throat, Michael’s whole body came alive. It was as if everything that had been dulled before in Limbo came rushing back with white hot intensity. He could feel every inch where her body touched his. Her hands had come up to hold his head where she wanted him. His scalp burned under her palms. Her breasts were pressed against his chest and even though her shirt still separated them, her nipples had grown hard and were searing his flesh. Her legs bracketed his hips and her knees dug into his sides. She dropped her weight and shifted one leg between his, putting pressure on his straining erection. He couldn’t help but to roll his hips upward to push against her.
He was rewarded with a moan of pleasure from his woman. As she drank greedily from him, her hips began to move back and forth as she rubbed herself shamelessly against him.
Jade had lost control of herself. Michael had made her stalk him and that woke the predator inside her. Her only thoughts were of marking him so that she would forever be imprinted on his soul. He was hers and she wanted, no she needed to make damn sure that he never forgot it.
Jaded Page 16