"We are pretty normal, I guess. Dominick works for the police department. I work from home while going to college." He stopped cooking and rinsed everything in a colander. He put it in a fancy bowl and started making a sauce.
"What are you studying?" Hanging out with Alec felt nice. Something about him made me comfortable like we'd known each other forever.
"Biology, with a focus on animals." He shrugged. "Last time I studied human behavior. It all helps towards analyzing the creatures and the data collected from the creatures. I've begun a small database to record them."
"Have you named the bug and fish things?"
"Kind of. I've been sorting them by characteristics. First being appearance. So mostly the colors they appear, or type of fish or insect."
"So, how many degrees do you have," I asked.
"Five," he said as he minced some fresh herbs.
I cleared my throat and said, "Thank you for the clothes."
Alec looked into my eyes. He looked much older than he had before. The childlike innocence was gone replaced by his desire. He didn't say anything but waited. The centers of his eyes were gold that spread out into the rest of his brown eyes.
The lust in his gaze made me blush.
One of his hands started to reach out but stopped. Instead, he nodded and went back to making the sauce.
What was that?
“So tell me about the Order,” I said. I fidgeted in the skin-tight jeans. Alec had said they were his summer crops, but I’d still had to roll up the ends. Long legged people do not understand the struggles of the vertically challenged.
At least he’d given me a long baggy sweater that went past my rear to cover the skin tight band tee he’d given loaned me. The wool socks were cozy. I waited for his answer.
He took a deep breath in and out. “Well, the Order has members. Seven of us were born and raised here in America. There are more in Europe and Asia. About a hundred in all.”
That didn’t sound like a lot of people. “Only seven in America? So are they all here in Fort Augustine?”
“No.” He added something that smelled like soy sauce to a bowl with the herbs.
Dominick came in wearing a fitted t-shirt and jeans with a belt. His right arm had a tattoo of an arrow with some electrical effect on it. Heavens but this man had muscles on muscles. He looked like he'd trained to be in a superhero flick.
Trying not to stare at his arms and chest, I chose to look at the stupid, yucky carrot I held.
Dominick moved a hand in a sweeping gesture. His pecks and arms flexed. He said, "Hendricks is here sometimes. This house is his. We stay here as a perk to friendship."
I looked back at the safe, boring carrot.
Snorting Alec said, "Right. Hendricks, your friend."
Still trying to concentrate on the orange piece of garbage in my hand became difficult. Dominick stayed in my peripheral vision and opened the fridge.
Giving up, I looked over at him. Admiring his body was okay right? Men did it to us women all the time. Fair is fair, right?
And oh my god, his muscles holding the fridge door flexed as he reached in to grab something. I wiggled on the stool, trying to get comfortable.
Dominick pulled a thick package wrapped in foil and asked me, "Steak?"
"Please." My saliva glands praised this revelation.
Alec frowned, "Not much of a veggie eater, huh?"
I shook my head, "Sorry, no."
"Does only meat heal you," Alec asked.
"It's what has worked so far."
Dominick put the steaks on a grill on their stove top. "Alec makes decent food."
Alec glared at him.
Dominick said, "Or so I hear."
Alec finished his sauce and moved on to chopping things for a garden salad. "I won't lecture you about the benefits for the entire planet by not eating meat constantly, but you should educate yourself. At least eat alternatives when if possible."
"So, your friend Hendricks rents you rooms? And is a member of this club you belong to called the order," I asked, ignoring Alec's remarks.
Alec said, "Well, it all has to do with the Knighthood." He put spices and chopped herbs on the things in the bowl.
Dominick watched me. His eyes locked on mine and I noticed the wrinkles around his eyes. "So, is the damsel in distress doing better?"
Damsel in distress? I bit back nasty words. I wanted to find out more about these two.
Dominick walked over and lifted my hair aside without asking. He made a noise and then touched the injured spot gently with his large hands. Satisfied it wasn't still bleeding, he let go. He moved to the side and raised his voice, "You are lucky we came along."
I stood up. Cranking up my neck, I looked Domnick in the eye, and my voice matched his. I yelled, "Screw you! I've been doing this for years. The injury will be gone after I eat."
Dominick had his usual I-am-a-grim-faced-dick-face on again. Maybe he had permanent RBF? Resting bitch face? Or would that instead be called resting-dick-face? RDF?
He shook his head and returned to cooking the steaks.
I swallowed angry words and sat down at the table.
While Dominick’s back was to Alec as he managed the food, Alec mouthed, “Sorry.”
I shrugged. Damsel in distress? I nibbled at the carrot and thought that muscles couldn’t make up for a crap personality.
Alec and Dominick helped each other out. Alec handed a bowl of chopped vegetables to Dominick. Dominick rinsed them in the sink and put them in a salad spinner. Then Dominick handed Alec a water bottle from the fridge. So in tune with what their brother needed, they didn't need to ask.
It made me ache for something long forgotten.
Dominick asked, "Dianna, how do you like your steak?"
"Rare."
Alec looked up from shredding cheese. His long dark-lashed lowered as he went back to food prep.
Dominick turned around and asked, "Bloody?" His eyes locked on mine again. He didn't move. A muscle in his jaw twitched.
I looked at his full bronze lips and imagined what they would taste like. I lifted my gaze, and Dominick's gaze was burning into mine.
He looked at my lips, and then he turned around to the steaks to take them off the small grill.
"Rare," he said putting a plate with a steak and a baked sweet potato on it.
Alec said, "Almost done." He put the cheese in a bowl and brought over a large salad. He set the bowls on the table.
Dominick left the table and returned with frosty mugs. Alec brought some beers from some local brewery. He doled out vegetables for each of us, both a serving of salad and stir-fry. Dominick popped the bottled caps with a cupid bottle opener.
I shrugged, "Sure." Normally, I don't drink beer.
Alec looked at me as he sat down. "So what do you do for work, Dianna?"
"Pushing numbers. Are you going to tell me about the order and the knighthood now?" I started cutting up the juicy steak.
Alec shrugged, "Yes." He put some veggies in his mouth and waited until he swallowed to say, "The Order goes back to St. Theresa. She was visited by a demon."
Dominick cleared his throat, took a drink and said, "And giving the knowledge of holy water to fend off the fiend.”
Alec said waving his fork of greens, "Yes. But she realized she wasn’t a warrior, so an angel answered her prayers. The angel found twelve worthy humans and blessed them to help in the cause. To eliminate demons from Earth. Our ancestor Mea Rosso, a holy knight, was one chosen."
"That's impressive," I said. “So, why aren’t there more of you if this happened so long ago?”
Alec looked up. His mask slipped, irritation showing through, "Because not everyone survives their first encounter. Or later encounters with the monsters or the tainted.”
“Okay, so the blessings are how you get your strength and speed,” I asked. I took a drink of the beer. It wasn’t awful, but still not my thing.
Dominick said, “Yes. And this.” He held his
hand out in a cupped motion.
His irises lit with a pale yellow fire as did his palm. "You are not the only one with abilities. Alec and I have been blessed by the Creator as well." The fire danced around his hand to his wrist but didn't harm him. "I believe you are a lost descendant of the Order."
My mouth was open, so I shut it.
Alec said, "You never showed me your fire, D." His eyes held a hurt before he turned away.
The fire from his hand was hypnotic. I stretched out my hand to touch it. At first, it embraced my fingers in a cocoon of warmth dancing around them as the flames reached out to me. Then it changed. The flames grew paler and began to hurt. Like a real fire, and not just a cool effect.
"Ye-ouch!" I pulled my hand back. "That is real fire!"
Dominick stopped the flame immediately. "Sorry."
I waved him off and lifted up my fingers. They watched the burn heal like children watching a magician perform for the first time. After the fingers healed completely, I said, "So, the Order? Is it a branch of a church then?"
Alec said, “No. It was at first. Then the Order decided to work in secrecy for fear churchgoers would catch on. A person can deal with things. People can’t. If it had gotten out that there were monsters in people suits, how many innocents would have been slain by the chaos created?”
Dominick nodded. “Mob mentality. So the Order is only a few. We ask that you keep it secret.”
“Will do.”
Alec said, "Dominick hates the unexpected, and you are definitively not something he would ever expect." Alec smiled his boyish grin, "But me, I love surprises. So, how about you? Are there others you work with to hunt the monsters?”
Dominick snorted.
"Well, I've never met anyone else that fights what’s out there," I said. My head hurt. “Or knows what they are fighting.”
Alec asks, "Do you know anyone else who sees them?"
"Those aren't my secrets to tell," I said. I wouldn’t tell them about Whisper. Or Brad.
“You should trust us, Dianna,” said Dominick.
I ate some steak and felt refreshed as the sweet juices hit my tongue. The middle is always the best when it is actually rare, and not medium or medium rare.
“So, the knighthood is the order? Are they the same,” I asked. I shoved the greens around on my plate.
“The Knighthood is one section. I belong to it,” said Dominick. “We are the warriors of the Order.”
“So you are both knights,” I asked. I could feel my lips twitching. It all sounded so ludicrous.
“I’m not,” Alec said.
“Yet,” interjected Dominick.
The brothers nodded at each other.
“What are the tainted you mentioned,” I asked Alec.
“The Tainted are those with the mark of the beast,” replied Dominick. Alec nodded, his mouth full of greens.
“Have you never seen them,” Alec asked after he swallowed.
“No.”
“They are humans with the slashes over their right eye. You didn’t see it on the men in the alley?”
“No,” I said.
“Strange,” said Alec.
Dominick looked at me hard.
“Everyone in the Order can see the tainted. They are people who have sold their souls for power.” He closed his right eye and mimed a claw with his hand slashing his eye. “The mark usually goes from above the eyebrow to the cheek.” He opened his eyes. “You’ve never seen it on someone?”
“No.” I decided to see if they knew about nightmares. "So, have either of you ever seen a creature that everyone saw as a monster? Not as a human, but something so horrific it couldn't pass as human?" I waited.
They looked at each other. Dominick shrugged while Alec shook his head.
"No," said Alec.
Dominick shook his head, "No."
I asked on a whim, "So do you know if there is a market for music boxes?"
"Is this code?" Dominick asked perplexed.
"What? Music boxes?" Alec seemed lost.
"No. Just trying to figure something out. Thought you both might know with all this old-timey furniture and art."
Dominick said, "It may be a side effect from healing so rapidly. It impairs your thought process." His voice dripped with sarcasm.
Gone was the lust he had inspired, replaced with a desire to slap his face.
Dominick looked back to me and asked, "Who are you?"
"Dianna. And you are?"
"We saved your life, and you can't share your last name," Dominick said, raising an eyebrow.
"Grant," I replied. I fought the sneer but could feel my upper lip curl.
"Dominick Zachar. And my younger brother Aleczander."
That name was familiar. I started to get a headache. I rubbed my temples. "Why were you guys in that alley?"
Dominick said, "We were tracking the tainted."
"So, the men in suits were tainted?”
They both said, “Yes.”
“Is that why the one they called Dem was so strong? Dem was tainted?” The pain in my head started throbbing.
“Probably,” said Alec.
I stopped rubbing my temples as the pressure eased and shook my head while fighting off a yawn. Too many battles lately. My eyelids started to close.
"Are you alright?" Dominick asked.
"Do you need to sleep after healing," Alec wondered.
"No." I yawned. "Usually, I don't sleep." I stretched and yawned a bit. "It comes in cycles. I'll need to sleep at night for a couple weeks and then not again for a month or two."
"Not sleeping can cause major mental deterioration, you know?" Alec’s eyes narrowed. "Drive you to insanity."
"It can."
When I didn't add anything more to the comment, Dominick said, “When do you need to leave for class?”
Alec said, “Soon.”
We finished eating in silence. There was an extra steak because Alec wouldn't eat it. Dominick put it on my plate.
I wolfed it down. My whole being felt better.
When we were done, they started to clean in a sequence. I offered to help, but the brothers firmly told me guests don’t do their dishes. Alec picked up plates and rinsed them in the sink, while Dominick put the rinsed ones in the dishwasher. Dominick started the dishwasher. If it wasn’t for his personality, he was pretty close to the perfect man.
“I have to get some stuff together for class,” said Alec wiping his hands on a kitchen towel. “I hope to see you again, Dianna.” He waved as he left to head upstairs.
Dominick leaned against the island. He asked, "So how is the wound?"
I felt the back of my head. I had damp hair, but no injury remained. "I wasn't sure it'd heal before midnight."
Dominick stood over me and touched where the wound had been. His fingers felt warm and large. "It is whole again."
He didn't remove his calloused hand. He kept it there, while his eyes dared me to ask him to move it. His eyes didn’t waver. Sitting perfectly still, I was certain he would hear my heartbeat. I breathed in his scent.
"Perfect. And smooth.” He shifted and put those full lips on the spot he had been touching.
My entire scalp tingled.
Dominick moved away, but his fingers remained to caress the nape of my neck.
I shivered.
Dominick nudged his leg between mine, standing between them. Forcing them apart. “You are reckless. It’s obvious you are untrained. An orphan of sorts."
"I am an orphan," I said.
Dominick stood even straighter. This guy must practice yoga. His posture was perfect. Along with all his visible parts. For some reason that was immensely irritating.
“You don’t even know it is the Destroyer who brings forth beings of evil, poison, and sickness. The monsters cross to our side and are born of pure destruction and chaos. Not hell.” He put his hands on either side of me on the chair. “One of the lost, not even knowing why she is blessed.”
Keeping si
lent seemed the wisest course. Me, a descendant of some holy order? If so was that why the Shadowed Man hadn't killed me. He had said something about a father to me.
He moved in, so his lips hovered over mine. “But I will help this lamb find her way.”
There was a feeling in my chest as my muscles relaxed. They were like me. I was like them. They could do things no one else could do. See things no one else could see. Crap. I was tired, and Whisper's taste in movies was influencing my thoughts.
"So, what do you think? Do you think you are one of us," asked Dominick. His hot breath brushed my face.
"Well, I've never made water holy, only boiled or frozen."
Dominick's hand caressed my cheek.
Without thinking, I leaned into it.
He said, "It is hard being a child, let alone a child with powers no adult can explain to you."
I frowned. I didn't have powers as I child.
Before I got the words out, his lips descended.
His full lips came down on mine softly, as if testing to see what I would do. The smell of his musk and the sandalwood filled me. Breathing him in filled me with warmth. His kiss grew deeper and more demanding. His tongue gently touched mine and began to stroke it.
He pulled me up, so he stood holding me. My legs locked around his waist, and my arms around his neck. Being much shorter than he was had definite disadvantages, but this wasn't one. His hands wrapped around my butt. My breasts pressed up against his hard muscles under his thin cotton tee.
He held me so that our bodies were touching our most intimate bits. I felt the hardening weight of him while we kissed. One of my hands explored the taut muscles of his abdomen. As my fingers explored over the thin cotton, he moaned deeply. Our lips parted. I let out in involuntary whine.
"Dianna, I want you."
Time blurred.
Dominick's chocolate eyes flickered in the firelight, slowly becoming Max's dark blue-green eyes. The fervency of that gaze burned me inside. I could barely move.
Max said, "I want you.”
I felt helpless again.
My muscles were loose from whatever had been put in my drink. This couldn't happen. I loved Max.
Max wouldn't do this to me!
Before his head came down on my lips, he said, "Finally, you are mine."
But now, I could push away. "No!" I shouted. My speed and strength were used without thinking. As I pushed Dominick with my arms and legs, I flung myself backward.
Dead Wrong Page 6