Inception (The Reaping Chronicles, 1)

by Haviland, Teal

  Mara smiled as she looked at Cecily. “Don’t you think you should introduce us?”

  Javan watched the two females check each other out. This was not the scenario he was prepared for. Cecily was more put off by Mara’s presence than the other way around. Mara still seemed completely unaffected by what she had basically walked in on.

  Glancing back at Javan again, Mara rolled her eyes, then refocused her attention on Cecily. “I’m Mara. Javan’s other … friend. I won’t apologize for his lack of manners because, of course, he doesn’t have any.” She turned and winked at Javan.

  Unbelievable!

  He was stunned and surprised by Mara’s nonchalant attitude. She had always seemed so weak-minded, a sycophant. He was beginning to think he had underestimated her.

  Had she acted like a follower on purpose?

  Mentally returning to the scene playing out in front of him, Javan became a participant in his life again instead of a momentary observer.

  “Cecily stopped by with some news of her own, but we hadn’t gotten around to talking, yet,” Javan stated with definite implications. He almost wanted to sigh with the relief as his callousness returned—welcoming it like an old friend.

  “Really,” Mara said more as a question. “Well, I guess you’ll have a lot to chew on with Cecily after I leave.”

  Javan tried not to let her detached tone and demeanor pull him back into the awkwardness only he seemed to feel. “I guess we will.” Javan smiled at Cecily and tried to sound just as bored as Mara seemed to be. “What did you find that’s so interesting?”

  Mara turned her back to the counter and hoisted herself on it, as relaxed as you’d expect if they were actually all great friends, smiling cheerfully at them both once she was comfortably perched.

  “Well, I did the research you asked me to do on Emma and Lucas, going all the way back to the day you thought you took care of all your little problems. Turns out … you didn’t.”

  Javan felt his hands tighten into fists. This was exactly what he didn’t want to hear—and exactly what he’d suspected. His voice leveled into a stern, foreboding tone as he spoke through teeth clenched from irritation with himself. “Go on.”

  “If you had stuck around to be positive, you would’ve found out the baby you killed wasn’t the Watkins’s son—Mason Hunt’s grandson. It was the next-door neighbor’s child. They were babysitting him.” Mara snickered coarsely. “Apparently, Grandma Emma had Lucas at a doctor’s appointment. You didn’t take the time to check if it was even the right kid. All this time, he’s been growing into a fine young man—damn good-looking one, too, I might add.”

  Her sarcasm was grating on Javan. He was sure she meant it to. He walked to his earlier path and began to pace again. He had been hoping he was wrong about Lucas, that he was a different family member of that cow he wanted revenge on. Or maybe that she was his foster parent or just a family friend who took him in because no one else wanted him. But not this. Not one of the only people who, according to the prophecy, would have a role in whether or not the Destroyer rose to power.

  He noted Cecily was taking a deeper interest in what Mara was saying, narrowing her eyes and leaning slightly forward. They were subtle movements, but Javan caught them. Javan glanced at Mara. A smile was still teasing across her face. She wasn’t finished, and Javan felt a cold knot twist in his stomach.

  “Spit it out, Mara!” For once, his anger didn’t seem to bother her.

  She’s enjoying this.

  The evening had certainly taken a turn he hadn’t anticipated.

  She chuckled wryly. “Grandma, as you now know, isn’t any ordinary granny. She’s an angel, but not fallen. She asked permission to live as a human, and Yahuwah granted it to her. You want to know why she wanted to be human, Javan?”

  He shot her a look full of daggers, and she seemed to decide not to push her luck any further.

  “She fell in love with the boy she was ordered to protect. The one you killed twenty some-odd years later.” She paused for what Javan assumed was dramatic effect. “Mason Hunt.”

  She waited to see if he put the pieces together, but then, like a giddy school-girl who couldn’t wait to spread the latest gossip, she blurted out what he was realizing.

  “Emma … is Lucas’s biological grandmother! Lucas is one-quarter angel. He has Divine blood running through his veins! He’s Nephilim! Who woulda’ thunk it, huh?”

  She was having far too much fun with this, and it was time for her to go. Before he could say anything, she hopped off the counter, landing lightly on her feet, already in stride toward the door. With her hand raised in the air, she waved without turning around and spoke in a playful tone.

  “You kids have fun! See ya later, people haters!”

  Javan was seething—his pulse pumping so fast and hard he could feel the veins at his temples and neck pushing against the skin that held them in its confines.

  As the door closed behind Mara, Javan was already downing his first drink.

  Chapter Fifty-six

  Gabrielle ~ A Bruised Ego

  “You know,” Lucas whispered in Gabrielle’s ear as they sat on his sofa. The TV was on, but neither was paying attention to anything but the warm body next to them, “I knew when you were coming tonight. I can’t explain it, but I felt you approaching. That’s why I was outside waiting on you. The closer you got, the stronger the sensation. It’s happened a lot with you and sometimes with others … like Gran and Mara. Does that make any sense to you?”

  Gabrielle laughed quietly, trying not to disturb Emma as she slept in the next room. “I know what you’re talking about. It’s something those with Divine blood can do. We can sense when another of our kind is near, even recognize if it’s someone we know. It even works with the Fallen. That’s why you could sometimes sense Mara. We all have our own vibration, our own signature. Kind of like the way I described to you that the Qalal give off a distinct energy.” She waited to see if he followed what she was saying. He nodded. “It doesn’t surprise me that you have that ability. It’s not stronger because you’re mostly human. You’ll possibly get better at discerning now that you’re becoming aware of what you’re feeling. You may even have other abilities that are hidden because they’re so light in you and have never been developed.”

  Lucas shifted his body to face her. “Like what kind of things?”

  “Well, you may have precognitive abilities or some telepathic talent. You may have already discovered you’re faster, and stronger, than a human should be.”

  A slight smile played around the corners of his mouth.

  “You may heal much quicker than normal, and you may have retained a greater capacity for compassion, love, and general kindness than most humans.”

  Lucas seemed to be pondering what Gabrielle told him, searching his memory for things he’d done that would corroborate what she said. If he found anything, he didn’t share them with her. He kissed her hand and looked back at the TV, drifting deeper into thought. Gabrielle wondered what he was thinking about though she didn’t want to pry. But after several more minutes of silence, she had to ask.

  “Lucas,” she put her hand lightly under his chin and guided his face to look at hers, “what’s on your mind?”

  Lucas smiled apprehensively and shrugged his shoulders, diverting his eyes and head away from hers. She turned him toward her again.

  “Lucas, you can talk to me about anything. You know that, don’t you?”

  He rested his hand on her cheek, stroking her skin with only his thumb. He seemed to be searching her thoughts with his eyes as though he was willing them to tell him the information he was after without having to ask. After several long moments, he leaned in and kissed her forehead, speaking quietly when he pulled away.

  “I know I can talk to you about anything.” He sighed heav
ily. “I just don’t know if I really want to know the answer to my question.”

  Gabrielle wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but she was beginning to feel like she didn’t want him to ask the question any more than he wanted to let it pass his lips.

  “What I want to know, I also don’t want to know.” He sighed again, then let his thoughts spill out like a freight train. “I want to know how many vampires you found tonight. How many creatures live, basically, right in my backyard that could come after me and my family? But at the same time, I don’t want to know, because—well—up until four days ago, ignorance was bliss. Now I’m afraid I know too much to ever be blissful again. And now that I know what I know, I really have to know everything because ignorance will cost me my life. To make matters worse—as if that’s possible—my girlfriend’s my bodyguard.” He finally paused to look deep into her eyes again, his brow furrowed from the intensity of his stress. “Do you have any idea how shitty that makes me feel? I should be protecting you.”

  Gabrielle was quiet after he finished, her eyes wide at his fervor. It was theatrical, and she was having a difficult time not laughing. She didn’t want to make things worse for him, but regardless of how it pained her to let her amusement escape, she felt the corners of her mouth begin to curve. The more she tried to stop it, the more insistent it became. Before it escaped, she managed to get two words to sprint ahead of the laughter.

  “I’m sorry …” Then the uncontrollable laughing began.

  For the first several seconds, Lucas stared at her, stunned, not understanding how she could find humor in what he’d said. He must have played over the prior spilling of his guts in his head and realized how he must have sounded because he seemed to begin to find the humor in it, as well.

  When Gabrielle began to regain her composure, wiping the tears that had run down her face and catching her breath, she managed to get more words out of her mouth.

  “Oh, Lucas. I’m not laughing because you’re concerned, but when you have all these issues and fears about the Damned coming after you, and then you throw in your ego being bruised because I can protect you—at least to some extent—well …”

  She took a breath to make sure she could continue without letting straggling giggles creep out—waiting for their opportunity to flee her body. “In Heaven, we all protect each other. It doesn’t matter who is masculine or feminine, older or younger, lower or higher rank. We take care of each other because we love each other. Try not to waste your time and energy concerning yourself over something you’re fortunate to have. Let’s look at the alternative. What if I were merely human with no powers or extraordinary abilities and you found yourself in the same predicament? What chance of survival would you have? Would you trade my protection to feel better?”

  Lucas chuckled.

  “You know—you’re breathtakingly beautiful, deliciously sexy, fast, strong, kind, loving, and powerful beyond my wildest imagination. Do you have to be so damn logical, too?”

  A smile moved easily across his face, and he leaned in to give her a long kiss. Gabrielle could tell it came from a sincere, grateful, overwhelmed place deep inside him, not purely passionate. Her eyes filled with tears from her own feelings of love. When he pulled away and looked into her eyes, she was sure his were shinier than usual, too.

  “And,” he continued, “how did I get so astonishingly lucky?”

  Gabrielle smiled at him and whispered back, “I was just wondering the same thing about me.”

  They held each other for a while longer before she spoke again. “So, do you want to know or not?”

  He kissed her on the top of her head. “Yeah. Go ahead. It’d probably drive me even crazier not to know than to know.”

  “I found two hundred and forty-two here in Tennessee, but it’s the only state I covered. I’ll go to the others individually, devoting a night to each of them in the coming days.”

  “Wow. Two hundred and forty-two, huh?” He was staring past her, letting the number sink in. “Did you expect more, or less?”

  “It was more than I’d anticipated. But it doesn’t really matter. You’ll have to take the same precautions regardless of how many I find.” She didn’t want to tell him that when word got out about him being fair game, the local Qalal population would likely inflate to truly menacing numbers.

  He seemed to be handling the information fairly well, at least from what he was showing outwardly. She wouldn’t know for sure until she got through a few days with him.

  Gabrielle looked at the clock on the mantle; it showed a quarter to eleven.

  “Hey, we’ve had a really long couple of days. I think we both could use some rest, especially you.”

  She left out the fact that she was going to have to leave him to speak with Amaziah. He would think she was sleeping soundly next to him, and that was all he needed to know. Maybe with her here, he would be able to rest. The stress and lack of sleep showed with dark circles under his eyes, and Gabrielle didn’t want him to feel even worse tomorrow.

  He nodded his head in agreement and led her to his room.

  Neither Gabrielle nor Lucas did more to get ready for bed than brush their teeth, take off their shoes, and fall into each other’s arms on top of the covers. And both, as far as Lucas would be able to tell, fell swiftly to sleep.

  Chapter Fifty-seven

  Javan ~ An Unexpected Partner

  Javan and Cecily remained silent long after Mara left. Cecily seemed to understand that she shouldn’t push him too hard after he learned that he failed in killing off the Watkins’ bloodline. He was reeling from the information, enraged with himself for being so reckless years ago. Now he would have to eliminate Lucas just when he needed to be concentrating solely on finding the Book. It would mean precious time wasted. He’d have to go around, or through, Gabrielle to get to him—and that would be difficult. He was headed to the kitchen when Cecily spoke; her tone conveyed her boredom and agitation.

  “Would you like to talk about our arrangement this evening, or would you rather I come back another time? Quite honestly, there are other things I can be doing. And they don’t include watching you brood. Besides, I’m in no real hurry. It’s not like I’m getting any older—well … not in mortal terms, anyway. Your call.”

  Javan gazed at the auburn beauty sitting on his couch, one long leg crossed over the other. Her already short dress was pulled high on her thighs, exposing almost every amazing inch of her legs—legs that had been wrapped around his body just a couple of hours ago—legs he would have wrapped around him again right now if he didn’t need to focus on getting the Book.

  He didn’t want to think about how a confrontation with Gabrielle could end, and he was glad to have a conversation for distraction. It would be difficult to kill Gabrielle, but he’d do it if he had to.

  Would she struggle with the thought of killing me?

  He took a sip of bourbon, sucking his lips to his teeth after he swallowed.

  “Let’s get down to business.” He walked to Cecily and sat on the opposite end of the couch. With only a few feet between them, he found his desire prodding his mind and body again. He took a sip of his drink and placed it on the coffee table. Breaking her gaze seemed to help, so he decided to keep his eyes closed, squeezing the top of his nose between his middle finger and his thumb.

  “I’ll make this easy, Cecily. If you can get the Book into my hands, and I can keep it in my control long enough to do what I need to do, I’ll honor my end of the deal and place you in the position of power you want. But that means you need to do what you can to help me maintain my possession of it. You’ll need to help me do unpleasant things, and you’ll need to spend a significant amount of time in my company. If you can do all of that, then I’ll make you one hell of a powerful woman.”

  Cecily didn’t respond right away, and Javan finally ope
ned his eyes to read her expression. He saw her stunning face with a mischievous smile staring back at him. He knew she didn’t really need to spend so much time with him, but he figured he may as well get any perk he could.

  “I can absolutely get the Book into your hands, and I’m willing to do whatever I need to do to keep it there regardless of how unsavory you think it might be. You never know … I might think it quite savory. And as far as spending time with you,” Cecily’s smile and expression became more flirtatious, “I think I can keep you from feeling like it’s complete drudgery. As a matter of fact, I happen to know the loft below you is about to become available, and that would make being here when you need me all that much easier. At least in the daytime.”

  Javan felt a devilish smile take over his expression. “And how exactly do you know it’s coming available?”

  “Well, it seems the young man who lives there will meet someone he can’t, well … resist, I guess you can say. This woman will be moving in with him right away. He won’t want to be without her; she’ll make sure of that. Then, he’ll be called away to work in another country a couple of weeks later, leaving the woman to take care of his loft and affairs while he’s gone. The job will be extended, repeatedly, until it becomes a permanent move.” Her smile grew. “Leaving the woman free to live there as long as is needed.”

  “It would seem that this is something the woman has done before,” Javan responded, amused again by how similar they were.

  “Yes, she’s accustomed to getting exactly what she wants. So far, without fail. She’s resourceful.”

  “Sounds like it.”

  They looked at each other, smiling wicked smiles. Cecily was drawing closer to what she said she wanted, and Javan was getting what he needed with an unexpected and pleasurable partner. He made himself break their gaze again, not wanting to be distracted by her body just yet.