by G. K. DeRosa
“Don’t,” said Declan, his voice so rough it incited another wave of heat over my skin. He zipped toward me, his lips capturing mine with the force of a runaway train.
I matched his enthusiasm, digging my fingers into his hair and angling his head to my liking. After the rush of adrenaline from the vampire attack, my nerves were all keyed up. I needed a release. Bad.
Declan’s lips glided over mine, nibbling and teasing. It felt like forever since we’d been alone without angels or vampires hovering over us.
I ran my hands across his smooth chest, over the indentations of each finely sculpted ab as his lips trailed down my neck. My wet t-shirt was not only sticky and uncomfortable, but also a barrier from his deliciously heated skin. I wanted to feel its warmth against me.
Stepping back, I tugged the shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor.
A sharp breath hissed from Declan’s parted lips. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured as his mouth lowered to mine once again.
The dull ache in my core intensified to epic proportions. I walked back toward the bed, pulling Declan along with me. I sank into the mattress as he braced himself over me, his strong arms caging me in and enclosing me in safety. As his lips worked their magic, I couldn’t help but think about how we’d almost died. Again.
Death’s blade constantly loomed over us, and it would only get worse now that the war resumed. I glanced up at piercing maroon eyes, and a sexy smile slid across his lips. I loved those eyes and that smile; I loved everything about Declan. The realization hit me hard, squeezing the air out of my lungs.
Declan brushed his thumb across my cheek, and my heart nearly burst. What was I waiting for? “I love you,” I murmured in a rushed whisper. I’d been stupid not to admit it a long time ago. Even with all the lies and betrayals that marred our relationship, I’d loved him from the start.
He stopped his gentle ministrations, fixing his deep maroon irises on mine as his face lit up. “I love you more than I ever thought possible, Liv. You have no idea what hearing those words means to me. You are the light to my darkness, and my very purpose for living. If I’d never met you, I would’ve been lost long ago.” He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed each knuckle. Then releasing it, he continued down my neck and the sensitive skin along my collarbone.
Impulsively, I reached for the button on his jeans, my fingers grazing below the waistband. Declan froze and lifted his head up.
Heat flooded my cheeks. Surely, I was as red as a tomato, but I forced the words out of my mouth. “I don’t want to wait anymore.”
His eyes widened, his perfectly sculpted jaw slack. “That’s not why I wanted you to fall in love with me,” he finally spluttered.
A small giggle tumbled out lessening the tension. “I know that, but I love you and I want to.” I snagged my lower lip between my teeth. There was nothing I wanted more.
His head spun to the makeshift door. “Our first time should be special. Not rushed like this. What if Trinity comes back?”
“She won’t.”
“How do you know?” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“I just do.” And it was the truth. Somehow the moment was right, and it wasn’t only my out of control hormones talking. I felt it in every shred of my being.
A flash of heat ignited over my heart, and I winced.
Declan’s eyes shot open as he stared at my heart birthmark. “Liv, do you see that?”
A light blue glow traced the outer rim of the mark. He ran his finger over the raised flesh, and the twinge of pain receded leaving only a soothing warmth coating my skin.
Wrapping my hand behind Declan’s neck, I pulled him down to me once again. “I told you it was right,” I whispered before erasing the distance between us. He hesitated for only a second before his lips yielded to mine.
Declan lowered the full length of his body over me, so I could feel every delicious inch of him. His warmth surrounded me like a cocoon of strength and love. The ache inside me grew more furious as my body sought to obliterate every millimeter of space between us.
With a gentle maneuver, our bodies became one. Brilliant blue light ignited between us as my pulse skyrocketed. The ethereal hue encircled our entangled forms, and I gasped as the intense bubble of warmth grew. Heat surged through my veins as Declan consumed me, his loving gaze never faltering.
Before long, my insides unraveled exploding into a million brilliant stars and Declan followed soon after. He lowered his forehead to mine, a huge smile highlighting his adorable dimple as he hovered over me. We remained silent as we bathed in the radiant glow.
After a few moments, the heavenly light dimmed until it finally vanished completely. With it, the peaceful trance we were both under. Declan rolled over, pulling me into his side and kissed my hand.
I inhaled a quick breath. “What was that?”
He turned to me propping his head on his hand. “I have no idea. I knew I was good, but not that good.” He smirked. “I’ve never sparked lights before.”
I really wanted to punch him, but I settled for a good eye roll. “Okay, so you saw that too, and it wasn’t normal?” I squeaked. For a second I thought I was going crazy. Or that it was some weird nephilim power.
“Definitely not normal.” He peered at my heart birthmark, running his finger over the sensitive skin. “But then again, there’s nothing normal about you.” He softly brushed his lips over mine. “I’m pretty sure that was you—not me.”
Since this had been my first time, I had no basis for comparison, but I was fairly certain that light display wasn’t only my doing. “Maybe it was both of us, together?”
“Hmm.” He rubbed at his chin, the scruff scraping against his fingertips. He slipped his boxers back on under the covers and rushed over to his duffel bag.
“What are you doing?” I asked as I wrapped the sheet around my torso.
He jumped back on the bed with the Book of Salvation and a folder filled with Sammarah’s notes in hand. “I remember reading something about the divine blood...” He scanned the pages as he flipped.
Behind him, the sword of honor peeked out of the duffel bag. For some reason, I was filled with the strangest urge to touch it. “Can you hand me the sword?”
He dropped the page he was skimming and turned around reaching for the weapon. He handed it to me by the hilt, his palm wrapped around the blade. The moment my fingers made contact, the sword lit up in the same cobalt blue glow we’d been bathing in a second ago.
“What the…?”
Declan released the sword, and the light went out.
I turned it over in my palm, beyond confused. It had never done that before. Maybe it was Declan. “Here, you hold it.”
He took the weapon by the hilt, but it remained dark, only the neon light from above gleaming across the golden metal. His brows furrowed as he glanced from Sammarah’s notes to the sword and back. Again, he held the sword to me, hilt first, but this time he kept his hand on the blade.
The moment my fingers closed around the handle, it lit up. My eyes widened, my mouth forming a capital O. “It’s reacting to us together.” As the words left my mouth, a blue flame flickered to life. It crawled along the long blade engraving symbols across the glimmering metal.
“Don’t let go!” I shouted to Declan as the flame grew closer to his fingers.
Just before reaching his skin, the ethereal fire fizzled, as did the unearthly glow, leaving behind a carved message. We dropped the sword at the same time and hovered over it to scrutinize the writing that had appeared along the blade.
“This is it,” breathed Declan. “The last clue we’ve been waiting for.”
Chapter 23
Talk about a head rush. My brain swirled with thoughts of the sword, the shield and this new cryptic message. Meanwhile my heart still hadn’t stopped pounding after the incredible experience with Declan. My head lay in the crook of his shoulder, his warmth and familiar scent a soothing balm to the chaos within me.
Would the light show happen every time we did that? Which to be honest, I couldn’t wait to do again. It had been magical. Literally. I’d never felt so loved, so complete.
Based on my girlfriends’ experiences from before the world went to hell, ours had been unique—and I didn’t just mean the glowing part.
Declan’s hand found its way to my face, and he gently cupped my cheek. “I love you.” Something flashed across his dark eyes, something so profound it took my breath away.
“I love you, too. I’m sorry I waited so long to say it.” With the unexpected light show interrupting our special moment, we hadn’t had enough time to bask in its significance. Which was why I’d called a time out on the sword discussion. I wanted a minute to enjoy this. Declan was a part of me now, a piece of my heart would always belong to him.
The sword lay at the foot of the bed, far enough away where I could pretend something amazing hadn’t just happened. Somehow Declan and I together had unlocked the sword’s secret. But how? The mysterious message taunted me from the corner of my eye.
“All right, let’s just do it.” I sat straight up, gaze narrowed at the golden weapon.
“Are you sure? We could wait a little longer… till Trinity comes back?” Declan’s thumb ran circles across my back. “I’m sure we could think of something to keep us entertained until then.”
My insides clenched, desire filling my core. “Ugh. Don’t tempt me.”
I squirmed out from under his touch before my traitorous body gave in. Picking up the sword, I stared at the swirly foreign characters. “Do you recognize the language?”
Declan scooted beside me. “It looks the same as the one on the sword. Duta vani—the ancient angel language.”
I hoped my special translating power would work like it had before. Nervous butterflies fluttered in my belly. If it didn’t, we were screwed. We didn’t have Sammarah or Azazel to help us translate this time.
Declan’s fingers found mine, and he offered a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out together—like always.”
I bit my lower lip and ran my finger over the blade. Here goes nothing. Like last time, the characters flared to life, twisting and transforming until they combined into words I understood.
Though worthy the divine blood may be,
A final test is vital to set you free.
The shield of light, a great power to behold,
Shall bestow to the chosen all that is foretold.
Set upon the path of the divine, through trials of flood and crimson fire.
Together the twin souls shall succeed a journey far more dire.
Declan rocked back on his heels, and my stomach roiled. I was going to be sick. What the heck did that mean?
A slow hiss slipped from Declan’s lips reminding me of a leaky tire. His eyes grew serious, and he folded his arms across his chest.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t want to freak you out, but—”
I smacked my arm across his torso. “Then don’t start a sentence like that!”
He turned toward me and pressed both of my hands in his. “What happened before—when we were… you know…”
I nodded quickly as heat rose up my neck.
“It was incredible and beautiful… and weirdly familiar.” He paused to look down at our intertwined hands. “When I was young, my mom used to tell me stories about the anima gemelli—twin souls—a connection with another, one that was fated, predestined before the two were even born.”
My jaw dropped. “Are you trying to tell me we’re soul mates or something?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know exactly. I only remember bits and pieces from when I was a kid. I thought it was just an elaborate bedtime story. You know my mom… But it would explain a lot.”
My mind flashed back to all the times Sammarah had given me that look. That I-know-something-you-don’t-know look. That hint of mischief that sparkled in her eye when she watched Declan and me together.
He released my hand and picked up the hefty Book of Salvation. “There has to be something more in here. We just have to find it.”
I fixed my eyes on his, willing my lower lip not to tremble. “Do you really think this riddle is talking about us? That together we’ll find the shield and actually stop this war?”
“I do.” His dark eyes didn’t waver, his chiseled jaw firmly set. “The day I found you in the woods, I felt something. It was like I’d found my missing half. Somehow my soul knew yours.”
My heart reacted to his beautiful words, sending it in a fluttering frenzy. “Okay,” I breathed out. A part of me was relieved I had someone to share the burden with, but another part was scared out of my mind. Twin souls? What did that even mean?
Worse, I couldn’t shake Trinity’s vision of Declan dead on the battlefield. I couldn’t lose him. If he died, he’d take all of me with him—body and soul.
A quiet knock on the outside of the container turned our attentions to the flimsy drape.
“You guys decent in there?” Trinity’s voice seeped through the makeshift door.
“Very funny,” I shouted back. “Come on in.”
Trinity lingered at the entry for a second, her long braids resting on her shoulders leaving wet marks down her shirt. “Everything okay in here?”
I eyed the sword and suppressed the urge to hide it under the blanket. Telling Trinity would make it real, and I wasn’t ready for that. Declan arched a brow at me, and I surrendered. I knew we had to tell her.
“We’ve got news,” I finally said.
I recounted the entire story only leaving out the sexy times part. I didn’t think that was need-to-know information. When I finished, Trinity quirked a dark brow at me.
“What?” I met her skeptical glance head on.
“Are you sure you’re not skipping over anything?”
Heat flooded my cheeks, and I averted my gaze to the floor. “Yes,” I muttered.
“Why are you asking?” Thankfully, Declan came to my rescue.
“It’s just odd. Why would the sword suddenly reveal its message when both you and Declan have touched it many times before?”
Dammit. Trinity was too smart.
Declan shot me a questioning glance. I mentally cringed, then sucked it up and nodded, giving him the okay to spill.
“We made love.” His voice was so rough and thick with emotion I couldn’t help but glance up. My insides melted into a lovesick puddle of goo. I didn’t think I’d ever heard a guy refer to sex like that.
“Ah ha!” Trinity raised her finger triumphantly. “I knew it.”
Mortification steam-rolled over me. “Did you hear us?”
Her lips twisted. “Oh gawd, no. I had a vision.”
“What? When?” Where was a closet when you needed one? There was nowhere for me to escape the embarrassment in this tiny room.
“Don’t worry. I couldn’t see anything specific. Anyway, it was the glowing part that got my attention.”
I snorted on a laugh. It was either that or cry. I guessed that’s what it meant to have supernatural friends with the gift of foresight—nothing was sacred anymore.
“Do you know anything about twin souls?” asked Declan.
I slid to the edge of the mattress waiting for her reply.
Her deep chocolate brown eyes lit up. “I knew it!” She stood up and began pacing the small space excitedly. “My visions were right. The two of you are going to save us.”
I bolted across the room and forced her back down in a chair. “Explain, please.”
“I read about it in the Book of Salvation. Those with divine blood running in their veins are also half of a twin soul, the anima gemelli. When the two of you made love your souls were reunited, and it triggered the sword.”
I stared at her like she’d grown a second head.
Trinity jumped up again and heaved the ancient tome to the small table. Declan and I followed her, crowding around the small furniture. She flip
ped through a bunch of yellowing pages before finding the passage. “Here. When the Creator chose the first human to be blessed with divine blood, he took their soul and split it in two. The second half was given to another human deemed worthy. If the two found each other, their purpose would be fulfilled. To create more divine blooded humans and ensure humanity’s survival in case of a catastrophic event.”
“I don’t have divine blood,” said Declan. I could hear him struggle against the sadness lacing his tone.
“But your mom did.” I shot him what I hoped was a reassuring smile.
“Honestly, you probably do, Declan, only it’s mixed with angel blood,” added Trinity.
“And vampire blood.” Declan’s gaze darkened.
“Right.” She shrugged. “But regardless, you and Liv are twin souls. You’re destined to find the shield and save mankind just like I saw in my visions.”
“You also saw me die in your visions.”
I gripped the table to steady myself. My greatest fear came to life with Declan’s muttered words. Invisible bands tightened around my lungs, and I sucked in a ragged breath forcing air into my chest.
Trinity’s lips puckered. “I told you what I see can change.”
“I don’t know, they seem pretty accurate to me.” Declan leaned against the table, his knuckles white from clenching the edge. “Everything you’ve prophesied thus far has happened.”
“This won’t.” I grabbed Declan’s arm and forcibly spun him toward me. I pierced him with my steeliest expression, trying to pour as much love and certainty into my gaze like he always did. “I refuse to lose you—not after everything we’ve been through.”
He forced a smile, and I knew it was only for my sake. “You’re right. We’ll do this together.” He spoke the words, but I could sense his resolve faltering.
I caressed his scruffy cheek, the prickly short hair tickling my palm. As crazy as this twin soul thing sounded, a part of me couldn’t deny the attraction I’d felt to Declan from the moment I saw him. He hadn’t been the only one that felt like a part of them was missing.
After all that we’d been through—the lies, the secrets…the adventure, I don’t know how I could’ve denied it for so long. Every single cell in my being knew I belonged with Declan, belonged to him. Maybe it was the twin soul thing or maybe it was something else entirely, but in that moment I vowed never to lose him.