“Oh good, you two have met Devon. Devon,” Cam said, gesturing their way, as they joined the women in the booth, “this is Mindy and her friend Alexia.”
Alexia eyed Devon warily and pushed aside her initial attraction to the beast of a man, who stood at 6’2” and wore blue jeans and a black button down shirt that only emphasized his definitely-a-grown-man physique. As Devon slid into the end of the booth across from Alexia, he returned her wary look.
Most guys with an aura of protectiveness looked around to make sure their party was safe, but Devon stared at her as though she were the threat. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but Alexia already didn’t like him. It was really too bad since her libido didn’t feel the same way. Devon was exactly her kind of guy – dark, built, and sort of husky. And in any other situation, she would have wanted to take his strong, dark, and deadly look for more than a spin, but this jackass was getting nowhere near her.
“Not the red-eyed one, right?” Devon asked, glancing at his brother quickly before turning back to Alexia and glaring.
“Seriously, Cam,” Mindy interjected, looking across the table toward Cam who had finally sat down. “No one talks to my girl that way. Not even your twin.” Twin? How was that even possible?
“Gotta ask,” Alexia started, seriously perplexed, “but how in the hell are you two related? He’s obviously not your twin.” Both of them had pained looks, but it was Devon who answered.
“We’re mirror twins,” he said, giving Alexia a look that clearly said she should be afraid of the fact that they were mirror twins, but which really only caused Alexia to push herself further back into the booth. What the hell is wrong with this guy, she thought. Apparently Cam was just as confused because he didn’t let Devon continue with whatever he was saying.
“Look,” he said, “we really are twins. The genetic test we had when we were twelve proves it. Different colored twins happen. There are cases of twins all over the world who are born with different skin colors, eye colors, hair colors. We just happen to be exact opposites.” He paused. “Actually, I like that, Devon, mirror twins.” Cam gave Alexia an apologetic look. “Not that it’s any excuse, but Devon just had an eventful day and night after driving down from Dunham. I’m sure he doesn’t mean to be an ass,” Cam added, giving Devon a pointed look.
Alexia was a little surprised to hear the town Dunham come out of Cam’s mouth because that was where she’d lived with Mally. The connection to Mally, however, didn’t mean that she was interested enough to ask the asshole, Devon, if he knew any of Mally’s family.
“I’m truly sorry for misbehaving,” he said, not sounding at all sorry. No, he wasn’t sorry. Mindy wasn’t impressed. Alexia was furious.
“You’re much better behaved, Cam,” Mindy said, patting Cam’s hand and laying herself across the table to give him a kiss. Alexia looked away at the display and reached across the table to grab a napkin for something to do, and he reached across at the same time. Their hands touched briefly, and before she could stop it, images raced through her mind of fangs and hands and sexual experiences in a nightclub with a man named Midnight.
“Fuck,” Alexia said, feeling as if her hand and her mind had just been burned. She jumped out of the booth and stared at the dark man sitting at her table, and for the first time in a long time, she was terrified.
“Lex, what’s wrong?” Mindy asked, stepping out of the booth, and reaching for Alexia’s hand. She pulled away. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure what had just happened, but she was one hundred percent sure that the dark, beautiful asshole sitting in the booth was Midnight, and she really didn’t know what that meant. Alexia couldn’t have Mindy touching her when she was also one hundred percent sure she was probably crazy.
“Sorry, Mindy,” Alexia said, dragging her eyes away from the man she had come to know as Midnight in her dreams. How was this possible? Did he recognize her too? No. No, that was crazy. She looked steadily at her best friend, and Mindy’s soothing presence calmed her.
When Alexia had been a freshman in college, adjusting to the new expectations had been difficult, and she’d have these moments of fear and rage that would take over. But from the moment she had met Mindy, the anxiety attacks had faded. They’d joke that Mindy’s superpower was emotional control.
“It’s okay, sweetie. It’s okay,” she soothed. Alexia realized suddenly that freaking out in the middle of the restaurant probably looked strange. What a spectacle she must have made in her red dress, her red locks flowing around her in a cascade of eerie crimson, set off by eyes just as red.
“I’m okay,” Alexia said, looking over at Devon and Cam. Cam appeared concerned, and he gave his twin an angry frown, as though he blamed him for Alexia’s sudden freak out. She supposed Cam wasn’t too far off base, and yet she also didn’t want to ruin their relationship even if Devon did think she was evil, which was the impression she was getting. It had been a while since someone had taken one look at her eyes and disliked her. But she understood. She was different. People didn’t like different. It scared them. She sighed, though, because she’d thought, as an adult, that pattern of rejection would have changed. Weren’t adults supposed to be more mature? She was Mindy’s opposite, in that Alexia made people uncomfortable. To be fair, Devon now looked confused, even somewhat contrite, and it was nice to see he wasn’t a complete jerk.
“I’m okay,” Alexia said again, stronger now. She gave Mindy a hug. “Look, I’m going to head out. I’m not feeling well. I think I’m just upset about Professor Anderson. He was a good man.” She was reaching, and she hated using her dead mentor as an excuse, but Alexia told herself it wasn’t really lying.
“You sure?” Cam asked from the booth, moving to get up. “Maybe you just need to eat.” He was such a nice guy, and Alexia was happy Mindy had found such happiness. Mindy had found a good one, and not just a good one, but a man she felt was her soul mate. Alexia knew that was rare. Her life had taught her that love, in general, was a rare gift, but a fated love with such trust, beauty, and hope was something she longed for. She just knew she’d never have it.
“Don’t worry, Cam.” Alexia smiled and motioned for him to sit back down. He didn’t, of course. He’d wait until she left. That’s the type of guy he was. “I just need some rest. Plus, the walk back to the apartment will do me good.” She grabbed her bag from the booth, gave Mindy and Cam a hug, and headed out. She’d known it, but this night had confirmed it. The color red was bad luck. Damn little red dress, Alexia thought, as she raced home before the night got any worse.
Damn little red dress, Devon thought as he followed the red-eyed woman. He shouldn’t have felt attracted to her, but he did. She was exactly his type. Her long red, curly hair, pale skin and a fuck-me body with curves he wanted to touch had Devon aching with a need he knew he couldn’t quench. But despite the fact that the animalistic part of him wanted to go to her, apologize, and then seduce her up against the nearest wall, she was evil. The red hair, but especially the red eyes, gave away the fact that this woman was a Skröm.
According to legend, the Skröm, although still Clan and still able to hold a seat on the Clan Council, had turned their backs on the other four Clans. Thousands of years earlier, the Skröm had succumbed to a life of gluttony, and although some were said to remain true to the Light, it was rare, and Devon himself had not met many Skröm who were able to reject the Darkness that called to them.
Devon even wondered if he’d been lucky enough to find the Skröm who had killed the Anderson family and contracted the Shadows to kill the youngest, Kayla.
He might be frustrated by his sexual response, but he was more frustrated by her innocent act back at the restaurant. When he’d first walked in, he had only seen the flowing, curly red hair and her profile. From the side, she’d looked tantalizing. When he’d heard one of them say ‘Mindy’, he’d hoped that the redhead wasn’t his brother’s girlfriend.
But all that was irrelevant. A goddamned Skröm in his brother’s backya
rd. Son of bitch, Devon thought.
After his reaction, the redhead had left, and Devon had felt the need to follow her and confront the demon. Ironically, his bad mood had given him the perfect excuse to leave, and Mindy didn’t protest in the least. He promised his brother they’d have dinner again another time, and Devon would be better behaved.
Devon didn’t have a clue how long Cam had known this woman, but he wished Cam had knowledge of his gifts and heritage, because if he had, he would have recognized Alexia for what she was, and taken care of the problem. Instead, Devon had looked like an asshole back at the restaurant. Now, he looked like a stalker. The Skröm woman stopped suddenly and looked around. Devon tried to back up, but he’d been too slow – which wasn’t like him at all. Normally, he was a ghost.
“Are you kidding me?” she yelled and walked back Devon’s way. Her eyes flared, and her skin began to silver in the moonlight, not at all like a Skröm. In fact, her skin reminded him of the Luna Clan.
The Luna were shapeshifters, but their shifting abilities were unique, in that their body’s mass determined the size of the animal they transformed into. If an adolescent girl changed into a polar bear, a rather large animal, she would not match her animal kingdom counterpart. She’d be her usual tiny self, while an adult male who turned into a spider would be much larger than it really should be.
But the redhead who was now walking his way wasn’t a Luna. She was a Skröm. Despite what she was, Devon couldn’t help his initial attraction. She was beautiful in a rage, and again he found himself wanting her. But you didn’t have your way with a Skröm, and he couldn’t have a Skröm in the same town as his brother. The fact that she was in his state, probably killing the innocents in town, and still alive, meant she’d managed to stay under the radar. Possibly for years, which made no sense.
Devon was prepared to fight. He was always prepared. But the fight never came. As the redhead walked toward him, she suddenly dropped to the ground and a Shadow loomed over her. Her instinct to live kicked in as she tried to crawl away.
Why won’t she get up and fight? And why are her own contracted Shadows attacking her? Devon thought. Another Shadow rounded the corner, his or her darkness also surrounding the redhead. Two more Shadows followed, joining the other two, and there were now four Shadows surrounding the captivating Skröm Devon had just met – the person Devon had just assigned the title of enemy.
Except, Devon couldn’t help his instincts, and his instincts were screaming that he needed to help the Skröm woman. He justified his next move by saying he wanted to know what she was doing in Montville, to gain Intel on the extent of her knowledge in regards to the murders, and also to catch the Shadows who he knew were the same Shadows he had seen outside of the Anderson house.
Devon grounded himself, connecting to the Earth, and reached inside for his power. A tingle worked its way up from his spine, and he pulled on his gifts, honing his focus and centering his heart and his mind. His brownish-green tendrils flowed and reached downward as he pulled small amounts of power from the earth around him. He gathered that energy, and focused it at the group of Shadows surrounding the redhead. He hoped he wouldn’t regret saving her.
As one, the Shadows started screeching. The Skröm put her hands over her ears, but blood had already started flowing out of them because of the unearthly sound emanating from the creatures trying to harm her. He had to clean the area, and that meant tethering, or connecting to another Clan member to increase one’s power. He could normally use his own the energy from grounding, but four Shadows were three too many for a Clan member to handle alone, and he needed to pull on the nearest Clan member. Any Clan member.
Except, he wasn’t supposed to be able to pull on a Skröm. He’d thought he’d be pulling on his brother, Cam, two blocks back. Even Dormants, Clan members who had not yet come into their power, had latent gifts that could help in providing enough power to tether and push light energy at the Others or at Shadows and cleanse the area of their presence. The light energy could destroy the Shadows, but really only slowed down the Others and the Skröm. The power was more metaphysical than physical in nature. But it wasn’t Cam he felt at the end of his power. Instead, he felt an incredibly powerful tug of recognition and kinship followed by a feminine flutter of consciousness coming from the red-eyed female he’d been ready to kill just moments ago. He froze. He knew what the tug of recognition and kinship meant, but he couldn’t think about that now. Damn it, what is this woman, Devon thought, before refocusing.
The Skröm Clan had separated themselves from the Light Clans thousands of years earlier, and although they had similar powers to the other Clans, their powers had taken on a different edge that wasn’t tuned to the same level as the remaining Clans. Devon shouldn’t have been able to link to the redhead, but he was quickly realizing she was not at all what she seemed to be.
He was afraid to touch her mind, to delve more fully into her powerful and welcoming presence because he knew, just as he knew his own power, that he would experience a deeper connection with the woman in front of him. A connection that was even stronger when a Taryn Clan member – his mother’s Clan – linked with the mind of another Clan member.
Devon didn’t want to know his connection to the redhead. The connection that lingered at the other end already hinted at something that terrified him down to his very marrow. He wanted to step back. But Devon wasn’t a coward, and as much as he was afraid, a very large part of him didn’t want her to die. In fact, he was pretty sure her death would bring about more questions and heartache than actual relief. He felt the feminine flutter again, pulling him in, stronger than any connection he had ever attempted. That thought scared him, and yet he always did what needed to be done, and he wasn’t going to let the Shadows win.
Devon reached inside of himself and found the place where he would connect to the woman. He really didn’t like that this particular connection was tethered to his heart chakra, and he ignored what that might mean as he delved into her mind. In his mind’s eye, Devon saw the woman’s body bow as her ears stopped bleeding, and he felt her shock at his intrusion into such a private place. The shock didn’t last.
Lust hit him full force, and he saw himself in a room with marble floors. Stalking her. Moving toward her. Except he didn’t seek violence; he sought pleasure, and in his mind’s eye, the female Skröm was the only one who could satisfy his need.
He wanted to get lost in that need.
Instead, he reeled himself back from the scene, concentrating on the power of the Skröm’s mind. That was the point. He was in there to save them, not to have an intimate encounter with her psyche. He’d worry later about why she’d even had that scene in her mind.
He pulled on her power, but what he pulled – a small amount really – was too much. Her power was overwhelming, and the force of her mind was as strong as, if not stronger, than what he’d sensed in Cam earlier. Devon worried what such a strong Skröm mind could do, but his animal prodded him and gave him peace that he didn’t need to worry about her degree of power. His bear had never led him astray, so he pushed thoughts of the Skröm to the side, took charge of the power surge he had connected to, and pushed some of it back – gently, so as not to hurt her. He then grabbed onto what was left and directed it at the Shadows.
The power, what the Clans called light energy, hit the Shadows just as he opened his eyes. Only about thirty seconds had passed since he’d entered her mind, but the Shadows had closed in, and one was even moving Devon’s way. There was a loud bang, and suddenly the Shadows writhed and moaned, their pleas for mercy filling the air. Devon spat on the ground. The Shadows didn’t deserve mercy. They never gave such concessions. He watched them, delighted as they slowly faded, their souls being eaten up by the power he had sent their way. Shadows could not survive such clean, good power.
The redheaded Skröm looked up at him with a mix of fear and confusion on her face. Devon understood the fear – he was experiencing a healthy dose of it h
imself at the moment. Here he was, connected to a Skröm in a way that just did not happen in the Clans. He’d also saved her life, and used her own unique energy to help get rid of Shadows.
Devon collapsed to the ground in front of her, exhausted and yet energized, and he was sure his own face reflected the same confusion and fear hers held. Only, he also looked at the miracle in front of him with awe and respect. This woman, in her little red dress, was his destiny. Add to that, she was a Skröm whose mind energy was so pure that it could help defeat Shadows. Damn. Just damn.
Mindy and Cam had decided to walk back to his place after dinner had gone south. When Damon himself had come over to the table and asked if they wanted to order, the two had turned down the offer. Damon had stayed a moment longer, given Cam a strange look, and left. He wasn’t much of a talker, and all they’d ordered were drinks. Instead of spending the money, they decided to have the leftover meatloaf at Cam’s place, and Mindy knew he absolutely loved her meatloaf.
Even though it was still chilly, Mindy didn’t feel the bite of the late winter thaw. Being near Cam was enough to keep her warm, and that wasn’t lovey-dovey, mushy shit either. Cam ran hot, which was good because Mindy was the woman who always had a blanket nearby. Being near Cam was enough to keep her warm, and his presence distracted her from the strange evening with his brother as well. They walked companionably down the nearly deserted sidewalk, the tension in their hands signifying that they might not get to the meatloaf as soon as they got to his trailer. In fact, as Cam grabbed Mindy, and pulled her into an alleyway, she didn’t think they’d even make it to his place.
“Cam?” Mindy questioned with a giggle. She’d never been one to giggle, but damn it, Cam brought out that side of her just as she brought out that side in him. The excited, in love, share your feelings because you just can’t help it side.
The Devil's Pride (Wild Beasts Series) Page 6