Melkor & Purity: Book Two

by Kim Faulks

  It was enough then…and at the same time not nearly enough—it’d never be enough. Not of her, not of us. This, what we had, was immortal.

  I pulled away just a little, and moved in to kiss her gently once more.

  Her eyes opened, and love echoed deep.

  Her lips were flushed and pouting. Lucifer save me. I leaned in, taking one last moment, one last kiss, and her eyes closed once more. Her hand dropped from my cheek, mirroring the other as it slid around my back. She was pulling me closer, wanting more.

  Soon…

  But not right now. Not when we were reeling from everything. I eased away, and smiled at the crease in her forehead. She opened her eyes, unleashing a flare of annoyance.

  A chuckle rumbled in my chest and spilled from my lips, and for the millionth time I wondered which one of us was born from fire and flame…

  She was a Hellhound this woman…disguised as a mortal.

  But I knew her mask now.

  I knew everything about her.

  “You think this is funny?”

  Her breathless snarl only made me laugh harder. I shook my head and backed into the driver’s seat once more. “A little,” I murmured. “I’ve never in my life met anyone quite like you.”

  “And you never will…just remember that.”

  She shoved against the door and jumped free. I followed, taking a second before my boots hit the pavement to adjust my jeans. Not now…come on, not now.

  “You coming?”

  I lifted my gaze and found her through the windshield. I was trapped by her, sucked in by the feel of her lips against mine. My body fought me every step of the way, wanting to stay in this moment with the feel of her hair against my cheek and the scent of her in my soul.

  But any more than a kiss, and it’d be awkward.

  I didn’t want that…not right now.

  I sucked in a breath, willed my body to get with the program, and shoved the door closed behind me.

  “You came from out of nowhere, man, that’s some pretty impressive skills,” Jesse waited on the pavement, stepping closer to Purity as I neared.

  I gave him a nod. “Thanks.”

  We stepped up to the front door of the apartment as the sun sank behind the city sky-scrapers and disappeared from view.

  Our footsteps echoed, climbing the stairs. Purity waited outside the door as I shoved the key into the lock and opened the door, waiting for her to enter before I followed.

  “I need a shower, and about ten solid hours of sleep…on a real bed,” she reached up, massaging the tight muscle at the nape of her neck.

  “Sounds good to me,” I made for the kitchen, finding a light switch as Jesse locked the door behind him.

  “So, what do we do now?”

  I yanked cupboards open, and opened the refrigerator. “We wait for morning, and then go back there…but first we need to meet someone,” my stomach clenched at the thought of seeing the Unseelie again.

  There was something about our new mentor.

  A chilling unease whenever he looked my way.

  A liar on so many levels.

  “A friend of yours?” Jesse stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, watching as I pulled out plates and silverware.

  “No,” I murmured. “Not at all.”

  The hiss of the shower came from the room at the end of the hallway as I took out packets of steak with the plastic sealed tight.

  “It’s my job, you know,” Jesse muttered and then motioned his head toward the steaks on the counter. “I lost the race, and the bet.”

  I shook my head. There was no betting where Purity was concerned. “I cook for her.”

  “Sure, dude. Whatever,” he muttered.

  I lifted my gaze as he looked at the cabinets of weapons across the wall, and in that moment, I felt the divide between our kinds. “In my world, to feed the person you care about is an honor, one we take seriously. Everything about us is primal; we hunt, we eat, we protect.” He’s gone, Mel…Dad’s gone. Rykor’s words haunted me. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her, nothing I wouldn’t sacrifice. I’ll feed her…I’ll hunt for her…I’ll kill for her.”

  “Jesus dude, she’s really got under your skin, hasn’t she?” I pulled away from the desperation, and snapped back into the moment, meeting Jesse’s gaze.

  “Yes, she has.”

  I yanked out eggs from the open door of the refrigerator and a carton of juice before I turned to the stove and reached for a frying pan. This wasn’t a fire over the river of lava, but it was just the same.

  I yanked open drawers, hunting for utensils.

  “You know, she’s actually pretty damn cool. I didn’t really know her back then. Didn’t know she was all…” he lifted a hand. “This.”

  I dropped the steaks into the pan and listened for the slow sizzle. “Does it change anything? How is this better than someone who isn’t this?” I placed the fork onto the counter and turned. “I get the reward mentality. I get weeding out the weak. But what makes one person appear weak and the other strong? Is it body shape?” I lowered my gaze to hard muscles straining his shirt. “Or does it come from somewhere else, does it come from a place of understanding, of seeing those strengths in their purest and most complete form?”

  He just looked at me like I was speaking another language. “I don’t understand a word you’re saying, dude.”

  I stepped closer to the counter and gripped the edge, feeling the warmth of the wood against my fingers. “Do you think of yourself as strong?”

  He flinched, but the response was automatic. “Yeah, of course.”

  “And yet you’re here, following…like someone weaker. You see the world through one lens, whereas Purity, she lives in your world, and mine, she sees us all.”

  His cheeks flushed as he glanced toward the hallway.

  “If it was just about muscle, then life would be boring and pointless. Thank Lucifer for women like her…they’ll rule this world one day.”

  He was frozen, chest expanding with hard breaths. And for a second, I thought he got it…I thought he was one step closer to being a better person, until one corner of his lips curled and he shook his head. “She’s cool and all, but she’s still a girl, you know?”

  My stomach twisted, disappointment fell like a stone. I shook my head. People like him would never get it. He’d never been touched by sadness…never forced to step into a fight bigger than petty jealousy and the need to be the center of their small, insignificant world.

  I cracked eggs next to the meat and watched them as they changed.

  “That smells delicious.” Purity stepped around the corner, and my pulse sped.

  She rubbed a towel along damp strands of her hair and stepped closer. Her skin shone under the overhead lights, lips curled into a smile. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning toward her as she neared.

  I brushed my lips against hers. The kiss was so natural, like we’d always been this way, and then I pulled away. “Figured you’d be hungry. You’ve been pushing yourself hard.”

  She scanned the plates and dropped the sodden towel around her shoulders. “Anything I can do to help?”

  I shook my head and slipped a steak onto a plate. “Just eat, we have a big day tomorrow.”

  “This guy you’re meeting is scary, huh?” Jesse leaned over the counter.

  “No,” Purity murmured and grabbed a fork from the counter. “He’s downright terrifying.”

  She glanced my way. I caught the worry in her eyes. Training with Alma was one thing…but an Unseelie? That was a whole different level of Hell.

  Chapter Seven

  Purity

  There was one bed.

  One…goddamn…bed.

  “You know it’s not going to multiply, don’t you?” Melkor murmured behind me.

  I jumped at the sound of his voice and then turned. He leaned against the doorframe, watching me with interest. I didn’t understand why I was so damn nervous. It’s not like we didn’t spend most nights
curled against each other.

  But now it was different. It felt different…it felt awkward.

  He pushed off and took a step closer. “It’s okay, I’m just going to take the couch.”

  “No,” I shook my head. “This,” I motioned toward the bed, “this is no big deal.”

  My heart was racing. Inside I was screaming…THIS IS A VERY BIG FUCKING DEAL, PURITY…

  He held my gaze, drawing me into his words. “Then let’s just agree there’s nothing heavy involved here. I’m not ready. I don’t think you’re ready, either. I’m just tired. I just want to feel you next to me…I just want to sleep.”

  Relief washed through me.

  Our lives were complicated enough.

  “For now, we’re perfect the way we are,” he leaned close. “But it won’t stop me from wanting to kiss you.”

  My heart panicked and clenched. Thunder filled my ears as he slid his arm around my waist and kissed me.

  I closed my eyes and it was the moment in the truck all over again. My body faded, the world ceased to exist. It was just us. The touch of his lips on mine…his hand gripping my waist.

  I didn’t think about the bulge of my thighs when he touched me, didn’t think about how many times I’d missed the target. I only thought about him…And then he pulled away. “Sleep now,” he murmured. “We have a big day tomorrow.”

  I turned toward the bed as he closed the bedroom door. The flick of a switch darkened the bedroom. Soft white light spilled from the bathroom. Melkor moved toward the bed, and pulled the corner of the covers down low.

  I sat on the edge of the mattress and then slid my feet under the sheets. Cool cotton warmed against my body. The pillows sank under the weight of my head, just as I weakened under the weight of exhaustion.

  I closed my eyes as Mel pulled the covers high, and in an instant, it was like every other night we’d spent together, holding hands…us against the world.

  Footsteps resounded, moving into the bathroom. I closed my eyes as the door to the bathroom eased closed.

  And darkness rose up to meet me, taking my hand, and pulling me under.

  “Purity,” Melkor murmured and reached over, placing his hand on my knee.

  Still my leg jumped and jiggled. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop it. Not the wave of terror when I thought of the Unseelie warrior, or the thought of what he’d make me do.

  “Relax.”

  I jerked my gaze toward him, fear and anger exploding like a lit Molotov cocktail. “You relax.”

  His fear smothered me. Red flames tinged with blue flickered and danced against his midnight pupils. He jerked his gaze toward the empty parking lot of the Circle as the clock ticked over to eight.

  With a sigh, Melkor shoved open the door and stepped from the truck. Jesse waited in his car beside us, playing on his phone. He lifted his head, looked around the parking lot, and sniggered, shaking his head.

  Loser. I could almost hear his voice inside my head. “For someone desperate to find his mom, you sure are an asshole.”

  I grabbed the pack at my feet and shoved open my door. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I could feel Jesse watching me as I closed the door.

  The Unseelie wasn’t here.

  But in the whole five horrifying seconds I’d met the guy, he didn’t strike me as someone who was late to anything…especially an opportunity to terrify. “Maybe we should just go inside?”

  Mel glanced at me over the hood of the truck. A car door opened and closed behind me.

  “If you’re going in there, then I am, too,” Jesse muttered.

  Mel just shook his head. “It’s not somewhere mortals should go on their own.”

  “She’s going,” the asshole muttered.

  I clenched my jaw, feeling the pissed-off burn in my stomach once more as Mel answered. “She’s different.”

  Melkor stepped toward the rear door of the building. The front doors were closed, people still crowded the entrance, sleeping on rolled out mattress pads and eating out of opened cans. But their picket signs lay scattered on the ground. How many more weeks could they go on like this? Haunting and harrowing, standing in the way of the only people who could help us?

  The answer was simple…for as long as immortals existed.

  The early morning sun seemed to grow colder. I lifted my gaze as dark, ominous clouds moved in. There was a sweet smell of rain in the air. I inhaled deeply and then stilled. “Is it just me, or do you smell the forest?”

  “No,” Mel answered instantly. “It’s not just you. The scent’s been growing stronger in the last few moments.” He reached behind him, pointed the keyring toward the truck, and the indicator lights flashed as the locks engaged.

  “I’m not staying out here,” Jesse muttered and followed, locking his car. “Not with those crazies.”

  “You were one of those crazies yesterday,” Mel muttered and took a step toward the door. “Have a little damn respect.”

  I followed my Hellhound as he cut across the parking lot. A keypad waited, the tiny light flashing red. Mel looked at me, and I shrugged.

  The keys in his hand gave him no help this time. He glanced over his shoulder, his gaze stopped on the front of the truck, on the end of the license plate.

  He punched the number, a tiny high-pitched tone followed, but still the light stayed red. He tried again, all 0000…all 1111…nothing.

  “Maybe it’s your birthdate?” Jesse muttered.

  Melkor reached out, punched the first set of numbers, still the light stayed red. Then he tried the next set…and in an instant, the light turned green and the lock gave a click.

  “It’s your birth date,” Melkor murmured, and yanked open the door.

  Faint light spilled from the emergency lights overhead, but the rest of the hallway was in darkness. I reached out, grasping Mel’s hand. “Just in case you scream.”

  “In case I scream?” he muttered, and cut me a look.

  He was a screamer…I swear.

  I forced a smile and squeezed his hand a little harder. Hinges squealed before the door closed behind us with a bang.

  “Jesus, it’s cold here, do you feel that?” Jesse muttered.

  I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. Shove back, dude. I wanted to snap, but the truth was…I felt it, too…that unnatural cold.

  Melkor’s hand tightened around mine as a low, throaty rumble echoed in his chest.

  “What is it?” I murmured, and kept on walking.

  My heart jerked in my chest, punching my ribs. He wasn’t answering…my fingers slipped against his, slick with sweat. “Mel?”

  “Do you feel it?” He kept on walking, leading us further into the dark. “Like something’s there.”

  I reached out, fingers probing the dark, but I couldn’t feel the walls now. I couldn’t feel anything at all.

  Cold licked the tips of my fingers before I jerked them back to my chest and stared into the darkness. Footsteps melted away, and what replaced them was the rustling of leaves.

  And in front of us, the darkness seemed to form shapes. Towering trees crowded us from either side. We’d stepped through a portal to an unknown realm without realizing it.

  “Mel, what the fuck is going on?” I whimpered.

  His fingers clenched, slipped, and then grasped mine once more. “Purity, get behind me.”

  Gone was the Circle’s walls and floor. Damp leaves clung to my boots as I followed close behind. I bumped into him, pushing Mel forward with the swell of my breast.

  “Any other time, I’d be stoked to feel your boobs on my back, but please…babe…not so close,” he murmured, staring around as shadows moved amongst the trees.

  “Sorry,” I whispered.

  “Guys,” Jesse whimpered behind me. “What the hell is this?”

  It wasn’t Hell, that’s one thing I knew.

  “It’s the Forbidden Forest,” words mingled with a snarl. “In the Unseelie realm.”

  I tried to
swallow as something snaked along the ground to my right. Unseelie forest…we were in the Unseelie forest.

  Red eyes glinted from behind the dark trunk of a tree. “Jesus!” I screamed, and pointed in the dark. “There’s something over there.”

  Something grasped my ankle, tearing a scream free. I jumped and scurried, tearing my hold from Melkor’s.

  “What the fuck…what the fuck…what the fuck,” hysteria leaked into Jesse’s tone.

  He scurried after me, wrenching his gaze left and then right as he followed movement. But it was all around us. Blinking red eyes, shadowed branches, reaching out like a hand.

  My heart lunged as the thing with glowing red eyes stepped around the mammoth trunk. Black on black moved as the beast straightened. I lifted my gaze, higher…and then higher.

  My knees shook, terror a rock in the middle of my stomach, and behind me, Jesse’s body betrayed him. A squeak echoed…and I was sure it wasn’t from his mouth.

  But Melkor was already shifting, slipping from the sheath of a man…to turn into a Hound.

  The warning growl deepened as the forest behind the creature came alive. Faint voices whispered words I couldn’t understand, but the hairs rose along my arms.

  Death was calling…

  Death and darkness…and pain.

  I understood now…why no one spoke of the Unseelie, why even the Lord of Hell refused to say their name.

  Unblessed…

  Night comers.

  Unsanctified Dead.

  They were the words written in Alma’s books. And they were here now…here in the belly of the Circle…a portal to the Forbidden.

  Melkor lifted his hands, pink nails had given way to tapered claws. I could feel the tension climbing, dancing like a whisper across my soul.

  This is it…this is the end.

  No one will ever find us.

  Not even the Lord of Hell.

  The straps of my pack cut into my shoulders as raised my fists, ready to fight. Until a thought slipped free…something so damn simple.

  I reached around, slipped my fingers into the side pocket of my pack, and touched the patterned grip and cold metal.