Damned

chapter 12

Lizzie

I was slipping into my boots when Darrton barged in the door. More than annoyed, I jumped up. “Where the hell have you been?”

Darrton froze. His pale, compelling eyes skimmed down my body, like snakes slowly wrapping around my thighs. I squirmed. When his eyes met mine they were heated. “I told you where I was going.” He grabbed my bag and changed from the shirt he had on.

“I tried to call you, like you told me to and you didn’t answer. I thought you were dead, Darrton. It scared me.”

He pulled the shirt over his head and retied his ponytail. “It would take a lot to kill me. I am Death, Lizzie.”

I blinked. He was Death. This made a shiver go down my spine. Even though I already knew this, hearing him say it again made me quake.

Placing a hand on my hip and taking a deep breath, I said, “Where are we going tonight? I’m ready to get out of this room. There is nothing on but news of the War. And a crazy lady thinks she is going to die so that she doesn’t have to endure the things that are coming. And I have millions of texts from people I would really like to talk to.”

He cocked an eyebrow and slipped on a leather jacket, which I didn’t know he had. “Are we finished? Are you ready?”

Shrugging, I gave him a once over from the corner of my eye. I knew I should be scared out of my mind, but I had a bubbly feeling in the depth of my stomach. Why was I nervous? Where were we going?

“Elizabeth, are you ready?” he asked again

I nodded my head and took another deep breath. “Yes, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

He didn’t tell me where we were going. Go figure. He just told me to hold on. We were on the bike for quite some time. I figured it to be over two hours. The green Seattle sign made me sigh. Seattle was where the Kings of Leon was playing. Hopefully Millie had gone. I hoped she had. There was no reason for her to worry about me and not go. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings. It just sucked that I couldn’t go. Trevor better not have gone with her, though. That ass better stay the hell away from my best friend.

“Are you all right?” Darrton asked as we stopped at a red light.

“Yeah, why?”

“You’re tense that’s all.” He revved the engine and sped along.

I guess I was kind of tense. I tried taking a breath. My lungs filled with cool crisp air. We rode for about three more miles before he pulled over behind what looked like a huge stadium. He jumped off and offered me his hand.

Pointing to the stadium, I asked, “What’s this? Are we going to a football game?”

“Do you like football, Elizabeth?”

“Well, not really.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Then why would I take you to one?”

The look in his pale eyes made me shiver. I took his hand and felt a warm impression in my palm. We walked around the stadium. The street light was out. We stopped where the traffic was scarce and the moon was hidden behind a building.

“Is this the part where you kill me?” I whispered, close to him.

He let out a slow chuckle. My body stopped moving when I felt his hand on my lower back. The other one wrapped around my hip bone. “Do you trust me, Elizabeth,” he whispered low into my ear, and the warmth spread deep inside of my stomach.

I nodded. “I know I shouldn’t, but I do.”

He let out a soft moan and pulled me tighter. “Do not let go. Hold on to me.”

Doing as he said, I held on. The wind wrapped around us. I heard his shirt rip and his wings spread from his back. My feet left the pavement, and I held tighter to him. We shot up, his wings taking us higher. When I felt my feet hit something solid, I kept my eyes closed. I could hear a crowd roaring in the background.

“Elizabeth, open your eyes.”

When I opened my eyes, my mouth dropped in awe. We were on the top of the stadium. I estimated that around a million people were below us, fists pumping.

I looked up and the sky it seemed so close. The stars danced out from around us and the air was so much cleaner up here. “Where are we?”

“I didn’t want you to miss your concert. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“How did you know about it?” I asked.

“I overheard you talking to Millie about it.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “So, in other words you were eavesdropping?”

Darrton smiled but ignored the question.

Grabbing Darrton, I hugged him. He seemed surprised at first, but then I noticed how firm his body was against mine. The heat was undeniable. When I pulled away, he was staring down at the crowd. Kings of Leon entered and everyone roared.

“Let’s have a seat. He gestured toward a blanket that was already laying there. I sat down next to him and I watched as the band started to play.

“Thank you, Darrton.”

He didn’t say anything at first but finally, he said, “You’re welcome, Elizabeth.”

We listened to the band play for hours. When a slow song hit, the crowd pulled out lighters and cell phones and waved them back in forth.

“I wonder if Millie is here.”

He shrugged. “Maybe, her and Trevor.”

“Ugh,” I groaned.

“You not too fond of him, now?”

“He basically tried to force himself on me.”

Darrton was quiet for a second. “I wanted to kill him.”

That thought had crossed my mind. The way his eyes had flared so intensely, I was afraid he actually would kill him. “Why?”

Darrton glanced over at me and his eyes flashed with hunger. “Because he was trying to talk you into something you didn’t want to do.”

My body was enflamed. I had to change the subject quick. I wasn’t supposed to feel like this. “Well, he wouldn’t be the first person to go missing this semester.”

Darrton sat back on his hands. “Oh yes, the boy who was trying to break into your house.”

I jerked my head back to him. “Excuse me?”

“The boy who was trying to break into your house.”

A lump formed in my throat and the cool air didn’t seem so cool or inviting anymore. “You took Lucas?”

“I didn’t take him. I killed him. He was trying to get to you, Elizabeth.” Darrton looked down. I knew that wasn’t the only reason but I was too close to crying to care.

He had killed Lucas. I tried not to think about his mother crying at The Picnic Basket and at school. What would have happened if he hadn’t killed him? Would Lucas have killed me?

I nodded and curled my knees up to my chest. Would he have raped me? Killed me? Cut me? A flood of unruly emotions dashed over my skin. Lucas had been trying to hurt me. Not that I expected any less from him but it still made me quiver. I let out a shiver and Darrton slowly wrapped his arm around my shoulder. Even though I should have been scared shitless of him, his warm arm smelled so good and felt so soft against my skin. He shhhed into my ear, and it was then that I realized he really wasn’t the same. He was comforting me. He kind of...cared.

The rhythm of the song changed and a slower song came on. I felt his lips brush up against my ear and I couldn’t think.

“Would you like to dance?” he asked.

He clasped my right hand and drew me up to my feet. My heart rate was picking up, and I couldn’t feel my legs. Darrton pulled me so close to his body that I thought I might melt into him. His left hand was on my lower back and the other clasp with mine out to the side. We just swayed back and forth for a little while before he took my hand and placed it onto the back of his neck. I held onto him. He gripped my hips as if he wanted to make us one. He wasn’t wearing any cologne, but he smelled so terrific. There wasn’t anything holding me back anymore...there couldn’t be. I leaned into him and he let out an “hmm.”

His body language and the way he moved, so sexy and smooth, reminded me of dancing from a different time era.

“Darrton,” I said into his chest.

“Yes,” he replied, his voice deep.

“Who were you before you were a Horseman?”

He body tensed as he swayed back and forth with me. “Jacob.”

Jacob. “What happened?”

He spun me out and twisted me around, dipping me and bringing me back up to him. “I was in the Spanish-American war in 1898. I was a solider for America.”

“You were killed?”

He nodded. “Yes, I was courting a girl. Her name was Elizabeth.”

Strange. His eyes glazed over and I felt uncomfortable even being there. “You don’t have to talk about it—”

He squeezed my side. We had stopped dancing. “No, I want to. You deserve to know.” His finger intertwined with my belt loop and he pulled me closer. “I was a killer back then, too. I was a great shot and it did not pain me to kill a Spaniard. That’s what my father had done when he fought and that was how I was raised. To fight. To kill. To win.

“Well, I was shot by a man who, as I was dying, prayed that I went to Heaven. It sickened me that he was praying for his enemy. I did go to Heaven. I went and that is when I was given the title of Death. I would be one of the Horseman that brought God’s people home and destroyed the ones that were left. All the Horsemen are given their titles after death. God sees something in the person and they are given their title. And then God comes when it is time for The Apocalypse.” Darrton sighed. “That’s why we were damned, because we took matters into our own hands. We did not wait on The Rapture. We wanted to go now. We wanted to start The Apocalypse. God damned us to earth. We have to have the ritual to release Hell. We have to go through Satan to release it. If we would have waited, God would have given us all the power we needed without having to perform the ritual.”

“So did you all meet in Heaven? Is that where you met?”

He nodded. “Yes. We were all given our titles at different times as we died. God gave us each the separate titles. We were together in Heaven, waiting. We bonded like brothers during that time. Warren first brought up the idea of having The Apocalypse sooner. Ferdia and I were iffy at first. Caden was always going along with Warren. He looked up to him.” Darrton sighed and closed his eyes. “It’s just that we had been waiting for so long for The Rapture, and we started to crave it. God had given us these powers and these titles. We wanted to fulfill our purpose. We wanted to do what we were chosen to do. So we made our pact to do it. When we presented our plan to the Father, he cursed us for going against his will. He damned us to Earth and stripped us of our powers for starting The Apocalypse. That is why we have to go through Satan.”

“So if you were stripped of your powers how come you have wings and can heal? You did heal my cuts? Since you healed my cut, shouldn’t you be able to heal your own?”

“No, we can’t heal ourselves, only others, and we only lost our powers to start The Apocalypse alone. Hell will not follow me, because I do not have the power any longer. We had to make a deal with Satan for it to happen. And everyone in Heaven has wings. All the fallen angles keep them after their fall but they are turned black. That is a sign of their punishment from God, along with living forever.”

I felt something for Darrton that I had never experienced before. Pity. I had never thought to ask why and how he felt about anything. He had gone through so much. I could not imagine being taken away from someone I loved.

I cleared my throat. “Elizabeth was left alone. Did you miss her?”

He nodded. “Every moment of every day.”

“Do you still?”

His pale blue eyes danced in the moonlight. “No one will be able to replace her in my life, Elizabeth, but I’ve moved on. That was over a century ago.”

I nodded. “I’m so sorry that happened.”

“I’m not.”

The song ended and the crowd began to roar again. Kings of Leon went backstage for the intermission. It sounded like a stampede of people running toward the bathroom.

“I have an idea.”

“What?” I smiled.

He held out his hand and I grabbed it. “You better trust me.”

I shrugged. “It’s worked so far.”

He pulled me off the edge of the stadium roof, that opened into the stadium with no ceiling, and we fell toward the bleachers below. Gravity was pulling our bodies to the ground, the wind whirling around us. We landed. I was holding on to him so tight I was sure I was cutting off circulation to his brain.

“Let go, Lizzie. We’re fine,” he said and seemed to laugh.

When I opened my eyes we were in the back row of the bleachers. The couple in front of us were too busy sucking each other’s faces to see us. Darrton pulled me toward the aisle and we walked down to the bottom of the stands.

“Where are we going?”

He just turned back and smiled. The stairs leading up to the stage were protected by bodyguards and they didn’t look too friendly. The one on the left had a scar on his left cheek and the other one was so pale I thought I might be able to see through him. Darrton didn’t seem too fazed. He walked up to them and in unison they pulled together blocking the way with their big bodies. They had sunglasses on, even though it was night, and their leather jackets were tight around them.

“Where do you two think you are going?” the guard with the scar asked. Then he looked down at Darrton and saw he didn’t have a shirt. “And why don’t you have a shirt on? It’s September chilly.”

Stepping back down the stairs, I tried to pull Darrton away but he just looked down at me and shook his head.

“I think we are going backstage to see the band, sir.”

The one on the right, that really needed some sun, pulled down his glasses and cocked an eyebrow. “And what made you think you could do that?”

Darrton shrugged, his muscles moving with every minuscule move. He dug in his pocket and pulled out two slips of laminated paper. “We have these.”

Scar picked up the paper and examined them. He gave us the once over and nodded toward the other one. “Before you go—” He bent down, rummaged through a box that sat below the stage, pulled out a shirt, and tossed it to Darrton. “This isn’t the barn, son. Wear some clothes next time.”

Darrton smiled and slid the shirt on. “I’ll remember that.” Darrton pushed past the guards and pulled me up to his side. “Ready, Lizzie?”

I gulped. “I guess I’m as ready as I will ever be.”

The lights backstage were brighter than I’d imagined them to be. There were people, important people, running around acting as if they were on speed. You could tell the backstage fans from the people that worked there. For one thing, the workers didn’t have faces that were drooling over the band members, and two they weren’t wearing “We love you, Kings of Leon,” shirts. I wasn’t wearing one. I looked over at Darrton and the shirt, that was a tad bit snug, said “Kings of Leon, Rules,” on it.

Darrton looked and saw me looking at his shirt. He rolled his eyes. “Come on, or we will never meet them.”

Darrton pushed through a ton of people and stopped at the front. There was someone in my way. I couldn’t see but I could hear someone yelling, causing a scene. “Please! Just one more question. I’ll never get this chance again!”

The drummer Ivan said, “But there are so many other people who would like to ask a question.”

I heard the girl huff. “But you don’t understand! This is like a do or die kind of thing. I would even stop eating Cheez-Its for you just to answer one more.”

“Listen, what’s your name?”

“Millie,” she said.

I froze. Millie. I knew I recognized that voice. Annoying, yes, pushy, yes, my best friend yes! I pushed past another person and saw her standing there, hand on her hip, mouth in a hard straight line. It wasn’t until I noticed the drummer Ivan and the lead singer Caleb had given each other glances and pointed over in the distance, that I saw Trevor and Brett. I felt Darrton pull me closer to him, keeping an eye on me.

His breath was warm on my neck. “We need to go. They can’t see you.”

I was two steps ahead of him.

We pushed through the remainder of the crowd and were at the curtain when I heard, “Lizzie! Is that you?”

Brett was standing there, with his face squinted up, hitting Trevor on the shoulder, trying to get his attention. Trevor’s dark blue eyes darted to mine, and I swear I heard his sigh of relief from across the crowded stage.

“Hey! Over here!” Trevor shouted.

Darrton was pulling me along when I heard Millie scream, “Lizzie! Oh my God, it’s you! I was so scared...” Her voice trailed off as we took two steps at a time and pushed through the guards.

“Hey! No running!”

We were halfway through the crowd by the time they left the first step. We didn’t stop or look back, even to see if they were chasing us. The exit sign was red and shining above the door. Darrton was impatient with my speed so he swept me up and almost ran with me.

He rammed his shoulder into the door and we scampered to a stop in the alley beside the stadium. I was out of breath and my shirt clung to my body with perspiration.

My feet hit the pavement and I dropped to my knees. “Whew, I’m not ten anymore.”

Darrton moved quickly and pulled me up. “We have got to go Lizzie. They were trailing us.”

The exit door slung open and Brett and Trevor ran out into the alley. Millie came through only a second later holding her side. “Oh God, Lizzie,” she said limping her way to me. She gripped me in a tight hug. I was starting to get a little panicky.

“Where have you been?” she screamed. “We’ve had cops looking all over for you. And you just show up at the concert un-freaking harmed?” Her black shirt was glistening from the glitter she had put on it. It said I Love You, Ivan. Her mascara was running and her mouth was in a hard line.

I tried to think of some logical explanation as to why I had just vanished for the day. Trevor stepped forward and I cringed. His hat covered his eyes but I could still them underneath the shadow. “Lizzie, are you all right?” He glanced at Darrton, jabbed his finger at him, and tried to whisper, “Did this guy hurt you?”

Darrton snorted. “You’re a fine one to talk about that.”

Trevor looked at Darrton with narrowed eyes. “What the hell is that supposed to mean, a*shole?”

Darrton took a step forward and I felt myself take a step toward him. I was begging and pleading in my mind for him to stop. Please! Do not kill him.

Brett stepped behind Trevor and crossed his arms over his wide chest. Oh yeah, two against one. Sorry to say both of you are going to get your asses kicked tonight.

“That means you are the only one trying to take advantage of Elizabeth and we both know it.”

Trevor threw his head back and laughed. “Says the old ass ‘cousin’ that shows up and takes her away for the day?”

“You’re the one who tried to harm her.”

Trevor looked puzzled. It was then I remembered Trevor did not remember anything about trying to talk me into sleeping with him. I coughed and stepped toward Darrton. “Maybe we should go.”

“Go?” Millie screamed. “You just got here. Why would you go? Your mother is throwing-up-sick, worried about you.”

Brett slid around Trevor and grabbed my arm. “I think this guy has you brainwashed.”

Darrton stepped closer. “Let go of her arm and leave us now.”

Brett gripped my arm tighter. “Hell no, Brother. She is going with us and you are going to go back to molesting children or whatever it is you do.”

Darrton snarled. I think I might have pissed in my pants. Millie became awfully, and uncharacteristically, quiet.

Trevor stepped forward and I could tell he was about to do something stupid. He turned his black cap on backwards and took a swing at Darrton. He had barely moved when Darrton reached out and grabbed Trevor’s fist.

If I had ever heard a cry of hurt, it would have been then. Trevor cried out the most dreadfully agonized cry ever and fell to the ground holding his hand. I tried not to look but I could see his knuckle bone through his skin. He scrambled to his feet and put up his left hand, his good hand, and tried to swing again. This time Darrton moved and Trevor hit the air.

Brett’s feet made a loud, crunching sound on the pavement as he stepped toward Darrton. In the same moment, Darrton picked Brett up and slammed him onto the pavement. Brett let out a murderous scream.

Millie, who’d never moved during this whole entire scene, whispered to herself, “Please be dreaming. Let me wake up in Ivan’s arms and let this all be a dream.”

I bit my lip as she looked at Brett on the ground. The emotion on her face changed to anger and confusion. She clenched her fists and looked up at Darrton who was standing without an ounce of emotion on his face. Millie stepped forward and took a big long kick at Darrton’s shin. “Take that, freak!”

Then she dashed back behind me and looked over my shoulder at him. His eyebrow was raised as he bent down and whispered into Trevor and Brett’s ears.

“Millie,” I said.

She didn’t answer.

“Millie, are you okay?”

She didn’t answer.

“Damn it, Millie,” I said, turning and shaking her, “are you okay?”

She looked dumbfounded at me and screamed, “Hell no. Greek God over here just beat some ass, and you’ve been missing with him for the last 18 hours! I am not okay!”

Darrton and I both looked at each other and he sighed. “Millie, I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Don’t come near me! I will mess you up, guy!”

“He isn’t going to hurt you!”

“Horse shit!’ she screamed. “He is going to kill me! You’ve killed them.” She pointed to Trevor and Brett’s limp bodies.

“They’re not dead, Millie.”

She raised her fists and looked over them at the bodies. “No?”

Darrton shook his head. “No.”

“Wake them up!” she shouted.

“I will.” He stepped toward her. She turned, screaming, and tried to run the other way. Darrton caught her, whispered into her ear, and laid her body close to Brett’s.


Darrton didn’t say one word to me the entire way home. He didn’t even tell me he was leaving. He just began to walk down the alley that was getting darker by the minute. I was struggling to keep up. I had to basically jump onto the back of the bike just to get a freaking ride home.

Darrton walked swiftly to the room with me behind him. The ride in the elevator was quiet and all I could here was the clicking of the floors and the soft sound of jazz in the background.

Having to catch the room door as he opened and shut it, I was boiling mad.

“Darrton!” I said, slamming the door and looking at him.

He ignored me, walked toward the bed, and started taking off his shirt and shoes.

“Damn it, Darrton! Talk to me!”

He turned on his heel and I could see the dark pit of hate in his eyes. His jaw was set in a hard line and his fist was clenched. “We have nothing to talk about.”

I scoffed. “The hell we don’t. You whoop my friend’s asses and you storm off and try to leave me.”

He shook his head. “And you call Trevor your friend?”

I stopped for a moment. “Is that what this is about? Trevor? I want nothing to do with him, Darrton. I can’t help that he was there tonight. I can’t help that we ran into them. I can’t help that he swung at you. Is that why you are mad? Because they tried to fight you?”

He let out a slow and uneasy laugh, without humor, as if he was trying to control his temper. “This has nothing to do with him trying to fight me. I couldn’t care less about their pathetic attempts.”

“Then what is it, Darrton? Are you mad because we were found by them?”

Darrton let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his long hair. His bare chest rose and fell with each heavy intake of breath. “Never mind, Elizabeth. It’s nothing important.” He turned back around and reached for his clothes.

“Damn it,” I said, walking toward him and giving him a shove. “You’re going to tell me, so help me God! What is it?”

The movement was so quick, I almost stumbled backwards. He grabbed my wrists and held them tight along my side. “I said it was nothing, Elizabeth.” He lips were tight and his eyes were ravenous.

“Tell me, now,” I said, biting off each and every word. “Tell me now or I will leave, Darrton. I’ll leave and tell everyone.”

He gripped my wrist tighter and let out a long breath.

“Tell me!” I screamed.

“I can’t stand the way he looks at you!” he yelled, letting go of my wrists.

Darrton backed away from me and up against the bed. The pale blue of his eyes was wild and hungry. I felt my breath catch in my throat. I let out a deep sigh. Those words set off a fire deep down in my core.

“Why?” I asked, barley above a whisper.

His shadow loomed over me and I was too aware of his body so close to mine. “Why, Darrton?”

His full lips opened and I watched as my name rolled off his tongue.

“Elizabeth.”

“Why, Darrton?”

“Because I want you for myself.” His words were velvet running along my body.

I didn’t even have time to respond. His lips found mine. In the middle of all the madness going on in my head, I relaxed and let my body fall against his. He gripped my lower back, brought his other hand up, and twined it into my hair.

The way his lips moved was...heavenly—aggressive and ravening. He pulled away and let out a moan. It sent shivers down to my toes. He backed me up against the wall, pinning my hands above my head. His lips were soft and his body hard against mine. When he let my arms down, I found myself wrapping my hands in his hair, letting it flow through my fingers. He lifted me off the floor and placed me on the bed. His warm body hovered over mine as he let his lips travel along my jawline. My head was spinning, my eyes dazed. The warmth of his lips on my neck made my back arch in pleasure. I’d never been kissed like that. His tongue slipped into my mouth and I tasted the sweetness of his mouth on mine. Every hollow part of me filled up with a bright heat that was begging to swallow me whole. It was a red hot, dangerous heat that was begging to be released.

“Elizabeth,” he whispered into my ear.

“Hmm.”

He let his fingers dance across my arm and up to my neck where he held my head so tenderly, as if it might break. “I’ve wanted to do that way too long, Iofiel.”

I smiled as he traced the curve of my side. “What does that mean?”

The corner of his lip pulled up into a smile. “Angel of Beauty.”

I blinked trying to make sure all of this was real. Darrton placed his hand on my chest where my butterfly necklace lay sprawled out in slumber. When he lifted his hand a butterfly was flapping slowly and rhythmically along my chest.

It flew off and when I looked up Darrton he was staring at me, his eyes brilliant, inviting, and beautiful. “What are you thinking?” he asked, pushing my hair from my cheek.

“I...I’m not sure I’m thinking of anything. I can’t really think straight, right now.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Is that good or bad?”

Smiling, I rolled over on my side. “Extremely good.”

“Thought I might have lost my touch after all of these years.”

I imagined his touch, all over me. Oh he has definitely not lost his touch. I shrugged. “Ah, you’re okay.”

Darrton let out a laugh, an honest, raw, earthy laugh that seemed angelic at the same time. His eyes turned serious all of the sudden. “Elizabeth, I have to keep you safe.”

My stomach churned. “Ah, the dark light in every conversation. Reality.”

He nodded and pulled me onto his chest. “Reality is, Iofiel, that they are coming after you now. They know you now. They have to have me, Death, to perform the ritual. They won’t stop until I’m there. They will try to take you, to use you to force me do the ritual. They won’t stop unless they are killed. I will have to do it. I have to kill them before they kill you.”

I rested my head and, I’m not sure exactly how, relaxed into his chest. “Will they hurt my family, too?”

He shrugged. “Not sure. Probably not. They might use them as a trap to get you home.”

“Will you protect my family?”

Darrton was quiet for a moment. I felt his finger lift my chin. A tear escaped my eyes and he smiled. “I wouldn’t let anyone harm your family. We will deal with that, if and, when that time comes.”

“What is the plan then? What is our next move?”

He pulled me close to him and I felt his warmth over me. “I’m leaving tomorrow with Ian. You’ll be safe at his house until we return.”

“You’re leaving me here alone again?” I gasped.

“Not alone. Ian has guards that will protect you at all cost. You won’t be harmed.”

“Where are you going?”

“To California.”

I almost laughed. “On vaca?”

“Yes, because a vacation is exactly what I need right now.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Ah!” I sat up and looked at him. “You understood our lingo! Someone is rising on the popularity scale.”

“A dream come true.”

I sighed, pulling my legs up to my chest. “Why are you going?”

“We have to find Ferdia.”

I wiggled my toes, trying to keep myself calm. “Which one is he?”

“Famine. I haven’t heard from him, I’m not sure why. I normally can reach all of my brothers but Famine seems to be blocked.”

I pointed to the ring. “Have you tried to use that? It seemed to help you earlier. Well, it shocked the hell out of you at least.”

He shook his head. “No luck. All the activity through the ring has been from Caden and Warren.”

“What normal names.”

“They were taken later in life than me. Famine was first and I was second. Famine welcomed me into Heaven and showed me how to leave my life behind. He became like a true brother to me. He has always been there with me, always, through every turmoil I have ever had.”

“Yeah, hence the name Ferdia. I would have pinned him to be the first. No offense, his name sounds like a girl’s name. Just saying.”

Darrton looked over at me. “Yes, we know. But if you ever get the lovely chance to meet him, don’t mention it. He doesn’t take to kindly to it.”

“No wonder.”

We were quiet for a minute before Darrton stood up. “We better get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. You need sleep.”

“Yeah, a long vaca for you and a long day of being babysat for me.” I rolled over and started to work my way under the covers.

“I have to keep you safe, Elizabeth.”

I nodded and looked up at him. His shirt was off; the dark faded jeans were hanging low on his chiseled hips. He even had the V. I think I’m going to faint. I just kissed him! “I know, Darrton, and I appreciate it.”

He didn’t reply. He walked over to the light switch and turned it off before going to lie down on the couch. “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”

I held the covers tight around me. “Darrton.”

“Ummm.”

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“Yes.”

“Can you sleep over here?” As soon as I said it, I was embarrassed that I had. A heat spread along my cheeks.

“Would you like me to?”

Flame engulfed my body. “I think I would.”

I didn’t hear him get up from the couch, but the bed moved I stiffened. Darrton reached over me and pulled me into his chest. He spooned me and slid his fingers through my hair. “Goodnight, Iofiel. We will keep you safe,” he whispered, and knowing that it was true I closed my eyes and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.