Exalted

by Ella James

  But it was the person missing from the daydream who brought her back to reality. Her heart clenched when Julia realized she didn’t even know if Meredith liked burgers.

  Snuggled in Cayne's strong, gentle arms, Julia replayed the airport scene, seeing Edan in his jeans and t-shirt, hearing herself ask if he could take only her. And hearing her friends say no. What had Meredith said? I don’t think so.

  She kept herself from sobbing, but cold tears slid down her cheeks. She remembered the night she'd walked over to Dirk and Dwight's, and she could see herself lacing up her pink All-Stars—pink All-Stars she didn't have, would probably never see again—and instead of crying over Suzanne and Harry, she was crying for some freakin' shoes.

  And, okay, then she was crying for Suzanne and Harry. For Suzanne's closet, stuffed with clothes and jewelry and bargain shoes in every color of the rainbow. For Harry's cologne and his silky ties, especially the ones she'd bought him, when she would go to the cashier on Father's Day and be able to nod when they said, “Getting a tie for your dad?”

  She'd had a dad and a mom and a best friend.

  She thought about Carlin and cried some more because she loved Carlin, too. But Meredith had been her first true girlfriend. The first person who'd ever called her bestie. She cried for Meredith's glittery fingernails, and for the times Meredith had been willing to hear her talk about what was wrong, but Julia hadn't because she was caught up in being The One.

  She'd told herself she wouldn't sob, but okay—she was sobbing. Cayne, holding her so tightly, whispered soft things into her ear. She couldn't hear them for the wind, but he was there, he was warm, and she knew he loved her.

  She'd finally calmed down and was wondering why he hadn't stopped—not that she cared; it just seemed out of character—when she glanced down, and below their feet she saw a freakin' jet.

  Not a passenger jet, a military jet! And not just one! Dozens!

  She looked up at Cayne, and he looked at her, and she looked back at the wispy clouds over silver-green metal, and she thought about what it meant. And she started thinking, really thinking, of how on Earth they would manage to kill The Adversary.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Someone was biting her ear.

  Julia swatted the ear biter and tried to roll over so she could go back to sleep already. Trouble was, someone had pinned her in place.

  “Urrghh.”

  Another bite, and she was up and— “Mmmmm.”

  The arms around her tightened, and the bite turned into something softer. Something warmer, continuing its journey down her neck until Julia's back arched, her stomach rolled, and finally she got the wherewithal to reach up and grab Cayne's short, dark hair.

  He chuckled, the kind of low, harsh sound that came from a villain—or the devil's son. Julia abandoned that line of thought (too scary to be sexy), relaxing and closing her eyes as his mouth worked its magic. She was sitting in his lap, and as she twisted around to face him, she noticed they were in a small cave, and it was cold. She wondered where they were, but then she saw his face, and she knew she didn't care. He was grinning, and he looked more like her Cayne. She rubbed her hand over his soft hair, and he leaned down to kiss her again, this time on the lips.

  “Mmm.” She deepened the kiss, and Cayne spread his crossed legs, pulling her against his chest and leaning against the rocky wall. His hands stroked her sides, her back, before moving down toward her butt, out over her hips, and around to more private territory.

  Julia pushed up his shirt and ran her hands along his hard, taut back. She could literally feel every one of his ripped muscles. She moved to his sides, and he growled, kissing her cheek, her nose, her eyes. She stroked his abs, and he sucked in his breath. “You might not want to keep that up...”

  He groaned as Julia moved a little lower, and half a second later, she was lying on her back on the cold cavern floor; Cayne was straddling her, one hand under the back of her head, his other caressing her cheek, his mouth covering hers.

  Julia grabbed his hip, and he wrenched his mouth off hers. “Good God, woman.”

  She grinned wickedly, then reached between their bodies, fingertips crawling up his pecs, until she found his—

  “Aaagh.”

  She giggled as she thumbed his nipple.

  He deepened the kisses, made them harder, longer, so she couldn't breathe. His chest pressed down on hers, and Julia closed her eyes, trying to lose herself in the sensation. But memory had a terrible way of taking advantage of an empty head.

  “No. Cayne.” Julia pulled away from their kiss, feeling shattered by her thoughts. Cayne's green eyes widened.

  “What's wrong?” His voice was deliciously low, and he was propped up on his hands in push-up position. For just a second, she contemplated kissing him again. Meredith would approve, she thought, but thinking her friend's name made tears sting her eyes.

  She ducked her head, wriggling out from under Cayne, almost gasping as her blue-jeaned butt hit an area of the stone floor that hadn't been warmed by their bodies. She folded her arms around herself and sat there, panting as she shivered—because although her mind was in tangles, her body was still very much focused on Cayne.

  He wrapped an arm around her, scooting closer. Still breathing hard, he asked, “You okay?”

  She shook her head as tears spilled down her cheeks, and he pulled her into his lap. He tucked her face between his neck and shoulder so gently, it amazed her when she remembered Cayne from Memphis. He could hardly even stand for her to touch him. But now was holding her tightly, pressing his cheek against her hair and rubbing her back.

  “You've gotten good at this,” she whispered.

  “What?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut as her throat constricted. “Hugs,” she said around a sob.

  “Not good enough.” His voice was soft and low with pain. He loosened his grip on her abruptly, leaning his head back and squeezing his eyes shut. “I'm sorry again, for what happened. If I had known...”

  Julia shook her head. “Cayne, this is not your fault.”

  “You keep saying that.” His mouth twisted, and he groaned. “Do you know I thought I outwitted him? What kind of idiot thinks he can trick the devil?”

  A sudden shudder ripped through his chest, and Julia leaned close to hug him. He swallowed hard once more, and when he spoke his voice was almost a growl. “I didn't know I was so stupid."

  “You're not,” she whispered.

  But he had pulled out: conversation over. He kissed her again, hard, and when he eased her to the ground, Julia didn't protest; she surrendered. All her movements, all her thoughts, seemed to come from a distant haze—someplace softer, warmer, better; someplace not quite real. Their breaths were pale clouds in the freezing air, and Julia's body jerked from cold, then began to melt from heat.

  “I love you,” he rasped, rolling over, shifting her on top of him. Her hair hung down her shoulders, framing his handsome face as it swung.

  “I love you more,” she murmured, clutching his shoulder. “Will we—” she gasped— “be okay?”

  “I'll...make sure of it.” He brought her palm to his mouth, breathing warm puffs into it. “No more mistakes.”

  When they were finished, he reached over behind him and pulled out a hunter green knapsack. Julia was jerking on her clothes, shivering and clumsy and tired, when Cayne spread out a huge fur blanket and she gasped.

  “What is that awesomeness and where'd it come from?!”

  “Pack of mine. I stashed it Albania a few years back—I used to stop there from time to time when I was in this part of the world. I stopped to get it on our way.” He shrugged. “You slept through it.”

  He sat on it and held out his arm, inviting her to snuggle under it. When she did, he pasted her close to him, sealed both of them inside the fur, and leaned his head against the bag; Julia leaned her cheek against his warm, hard bicep and looked around the cave.

  “Where are we?” she murmured.

>   His chest vibrated as he spoke. “St. Moritz.”

  “Wow. I slept that long?”

  He stroked her hair back off her face. “You needed the rest.”

  “What about you?” She answered her own question, glancing at his aura, and she was pleased to find that there were hardly any knots.

  “I heal fast.”

  She snuggled closer, lying on her side and wrapping her arm around his waist. “I'm glad we're together again.”

  He shut his eyes. “Me too."

  A long moment slid by, where it was just the two of them, and the frigid world around them felt too heavy, and Julia felt an awful sting deep in her chest. Then she took a deep breath, let it out. Promised herself she would find a way to deal with all the crap. Preferably a way that involved The Adversary's head on a stick.

  “Did you see any more jets?” she murmured.

  “Some.”

  “What countries did we fly over?”

  “Mostly Greece, Albania, Italy. A lot of water.”

  She nodded, and he kissed her cheek, then shifted on his side to spoon her. He folded his heavy arms around her, Julia could feel it... How he needed that.

  She peeked over her shoulder at him. “Cayne.” She stroked her fingers over his rough knuckles. “Meredith would never hold anything against you—or me. She wouldn't blame us, that we were all in that position. She made her own choice, I think.”

  “I know.” She felt his chest expand as he inhaled. Felt it shrink as he exhaled in her hair. “I just want to make it right.”

  “We've got to kill The Adversary.”

  “If we can actually get an audience with The Alpha, as someone promised—” Cayne winked at the exaggeration Julia had told the Chosen. “If we can talk to him or any of his Authorities, maybe we can find out more. First, though...”

  He peeled the fur off himself and tucked it around Julia. She watched his every move, drinking in the sight of him, bare-chested in those sexy, tattered jeans. Her heart skipped a beat when he walked over to the bag, pulling out a ratty pair of black Vans. He grabbed something else, then turned slowly around.

  Julia shrieked when she saw the hot pink All-Stars.

  “Oh my gosh, how did you find them?!”

  She plopped back down on the fur, eager to get them on her freezing feet, and Cayne laughed, a low, rich sound she adored.

  “Car gave them to me when she gave me the sweatshirt. I stuffed them in my pocket when we were saying bye. Sorry I forgot them."

  “It's okay. I'm thrilled!” She got them on her feet and beamed, despite the lack of socks. "Where did he get them?"

  Cayne, zipping up his sweatshirt, shrugged.

  “Where'd you get your Vans?”

  “Got someone to give them to me once, a few years back.” He arched a brow as he pulled them on, then beckoned her to the mouth of the cave. Once there, Julia followed his outstretched finger to a white-washed brick shop with a navy awning, perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the city.

  “That's our spot,” he said, and Julia remembered eating there right before they reached the rock, before Cayne had been taken to hell.

  “You want to see if I've got anything left in my bag of tricks?” he asked her, nodding at the building, maybe one-hundred yards away. “I remember they sold some quiche as well as the ice cream.”

  Julia nodded, noting, based on the warm sunlight, that it seemed like late afternoon.

  He left her snuggled in the fur blanket, assuring her that Switzerland had looked entirely peaceful from the air. He returned with orange juice, hot chocolate, and sausage quiche, and they ate side by side, sitting on the fur, overlooking the snow-dusted Alps.

  Julia sipped her hot chocolate and raised her eyebrows. “I'm surprised to see you eating, manorexic.”

  Cayne frowned. “Huh?”

  “I'm saying you hardly ever eat. Why now?”

  He made a pssh noise and shook his head. “I've got a thing for quiche.”

  He ate another huge bit of it, and Julia couldn't help but laugh. “Remember when you fell through my roof?”

  Cayne nodded. “You hadn't bathed in days.”

  She smiled. “I didn't have a sugar daddy then.”

  “Sugar daddy?” He frowned again, and she giggled. “You really are pop-culture illiterate.”

  She took his hand, threading her fingers through his as she watched a cloud drift by, literally inches in front of them, blotting out much of the ground. She thought about her pop-culture comment, how it had been a while since she'd watched TV or seen a magazine cover. She was fast becoming just as cut off from the regular world as Cayne and Drew.

  Except now their world threatened to overtake the regular one.

  “Sometimes I still feel like this has been a dream. Like right now, we're in some castle in the clouds, because you flew us here. That's crazy.” Cayne looked at her quizzically, like he had no idea what she meant, and she waved at the clouds in front of them. “I can't believe everything that's happened.” She had meant her comment to be, if not positive, dreamy. She had a superhot boyfriend who could fly—what girl wouldn't want that? Unfortunately that's not where the story ended, and her thoughts went places she didn't want them to.

  “What was it like...in Hell?” She hadn't planned to ask; it was just the first thing that popped out.

  He waited a minute before he answered, “Like being angry. As angry as you've ever been. And having your hands tied.” When she nodded, he continued in a gravelly voice. “Everything is...better now. As long as I'm not there, I can try to forget I ever was.”

  Julia nodded. “I so want things to be normal. Or our version of normal. So we can be happy, you know? Or if not happy, at least have a shot at a regular life. What do you think The Adversary will do? Why hasn't The Alpha shown up to like...stop him, or put the net back up? What are Demons like? I don't know what to expect, and I don't like that.”

  “Demons are like Edan,” he said. “Well, mostly. They adopt some of The Adversary's traits and lose some of their autonomy. In return they get...abilities. For a little while. Then they become The Adversary's minions.”

  “How come you're not like that?” Julia asked hesitantly. “You don't seem to share his traits.”

  Cayne froze, and for a long moment, he just sat there, still as a stone. Finally, just when Julia was really starting to regret bringing the subject up, he spoke, in a too-neutral voice. “I like chaos. I like fighting. I just try not to.” He smiled at her, but it was a sad smile that hurt her heart. “I did have a human mother.”

  Julia was chewing the last bite of her quiche when Cayne stood up. “I'd like to go ahead. Fly over the place.”

  “And I...what? Wait for you here?”

  He nodded once, and Julia folded the fur back over herself. “I guess. But only if you promise to come back. Don't get too close to that rock. I really don't like this plan. It makes me nervous.”

  He nodded again, kissed her lips. As she watched him soar away on gorgeous charcoal wings, she tried to pretend she wasn't scared.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  After a long time spent picking at sparkly nail polish and wondering just how she would get down from her lofty perch if Cayne never returned, she heard a sound like a kite catching in the breeze, the clouds in front of the cave's mouth whirled, and Cayne touched down.

  As soon as his wings disappeared, Julia noticed the frown on his face, and her stomach dipped. From her spot hunkered near the back of the small cave, she scanned his aura, relieved to find it pretty much as it had been when he left. Still nervous, she jumped up and dashed to him.

  He caught her and spun her around, but as he lowered her to the ground and held onto one of her hands, he still looked too serious.

  “What's wrong?”

  He shook his head; his cheeks were red with windburn. “Occupied. Looks like your old friend Jacquie and a small group of her Swosen, plus a few Authorities.”

  “You're kidding. Wow.”
/>   “Yep.”

  Julia nodded, trying not to feel too nervous. The whole One business was obviously over; plus, she'd kicked Jacquie's ass before she'd inherited a good chunk of Celestial power.

  “Jacquie or not, we need to go down there,” Julia said. “She might have info we don't have. Maybe they've already talked to The Alpha. It's possible if they have Authorities with them.”

  Cayne's brows arched. “You do remember they tried to kill you?”

  “Yeah, but that was before I became…you know.” She was going to say Super Julia, but levity was not her friend.

  He pressed his lips into a disapproving line, and his brows got that infuriating crease that always meant he was going to be stubborn. He released her hand and folded his arms, and Julia knew she was in for an uphill battle. “I think I should try to talk to them alone.”

  “Pssh. You do remember your daddy’s the devil?”

  “They don’t know that.”

  “Cayne, c'mon. There's no way the Authorities would help you get in touch with The Alpha. They tried to kick your butt at the resort, remember?” He opened his mouth, but she held up her hand. “I'm going. I think our odds are better with me there.”

  Cayne pulled her into his arms and tightened his grasp on her. A glance at his aura showed her how torn he felt about it. How responsible he felt for her safety. She pressed her face against his chest, loving him for it.

  After a few seconds holding her, Cayne flicked her nose. “I'm strong enough now to protect you, if you behave.”

  “Ditto.” She snuggled into his arms, the wings returned with a whoosh of frigid air, and within seconds, Cayne was pushing off the cave's floor, soaring into the fluffy clouds. He tipped his left wing down as they passed over the little ice cream-breakfast parlor, and Julia shut her eyes as he circled the snow-covered peaks that stood between them and the one where Jacquie and her crew waited.