CHAPTER 14
Alison stood by the granite island. She had heard the exchange between the woman and Kerrick, the woman he had called Havily, an unusual name, a very pretty name.
When the rapping on the door had sounded, Kerrick had gone into full warrior mode. As her adrenaline spiked, forgotten in a heartbeat was all the crushing need to throw herself at him. He’d ordered her to stay in the kitchen then contacted Central. Yes, the woman named Havily had been sent to them. He had said, She’s a Liaison Officer. Alison had waited.
Hearing their voices fall to normal levels, she moved into the doorway leading to the living room.
Havily. As the woman turned around, Alison had an instant impression of beauty and tremendous determination. She had a fount of glorious red hair flowing in waves past her shoulders and was an absolute angel, a visual work of art. Her features were delicate, her skin clear and smooth as though molded by a master’s hand, her eyes an exquisite light green. She wore professional clothes, a cream linen suit, nicely tailored. You’re lovely slid from her mind before she could stop the words.
And you are powerful, Havily returned, her eyes brightening. I’ve been told my shields have no equal, yet here you are, in my thoughts?
“I shouldn’t have gone inside your head. I apologize.”
The young woman looked up at Kerrick and blinked again. “She laid her thoughts over my mind.”
Kerrick nodded. “And your shields are like granite.” He smiled his crooked smile. “Welcome to my world. Liaison Officer Havily Morgan, may I present ascendiate Alison Wells.”
The next few minutes involved a general exchange of greetings, explanation of duties, then a sit-down at the adjacent round table, which began with an enormous sheaf of forms. “Is all this really necessary?” Alison asked. “I thought ascension meant everything was improved.”
Havily sighed. “Unfortunately, the same difficulties of entrenched bureaucracies are alive and well on Second Earth. I’m hoping to make a difference. After all, what is the purpose of one form that says ASCENDIATE APPLICATION and another, ASCENDIATE DATA, each presenting a list of identical questions with the exception of one or two? And what’s worse, it’s all done on paper as though the computer had never been invented.”
Alison heard the increase in both pitch and speed of the Liaison Officer’s speech. She glanced at both forms then at Havily. She saw the wrinkled brow and heard the quiet clucking of her tongue. Alison reached out once more and felt the young woman’s passion, her dedication. “You’d like to see many changes.”
“You have no idea.” Her cheeks grew pink and her eyes widened.
“What kind of changes?”
Havily turned toward her, shifted her knees, and met her gaze straight-on. She gestured with a sweep of her left hand. “At the very least, each entity should be led by a person of vision, of passion, who understands the concept of a mission-oriented plan. At the very least.”
Alison smiled as her own heart rate kicked up a notch to match Havily’s. She encouraged her to speak, to elaborate on her ideas, and the Liaison Officer opened up to the point that after a few minutes Havily rose to her feet and paced the room. She gesticulated with an ever-widening throw of her arms and covered subjects like competitive performance and empowering staff. Even Kerrick moved to sit on a stool, coffee cup in hand, his gaze fixed on the vibrant movements and gestures.
When at last Havily drew breath, Kerrick said, “I didn’t know you cared about these things. I mean, I know you’ve been working with an architect on a new military-admin complex. Jesus, Havily.”
She glanced at him then back at Alison. Her fine peachy-red brows rose over her delicate features. She pierced Alison with her vibrant stare. “You’re an empath.”
“I … suppose.”
Havily returned to her seat in her brisk movements. “You are. Of course you are.” She opened up a lavender folder. “Yes, of course, since you have all of Second’s abilities. That’s how you got me to talking.” Once more her passionate nature asserted itself and she laid a hand on Alison’s arm, her light green eyes blazing. “You must get to know Madame Endelle. You must find some way to help her, to get through to her about all the ways she’s misdirected. You see, she’s grossly overworked trying to hold our world together, and her administration is sunk in all the reports she receives from all over the world. We none of us really know her, or what makes up her day, since who among us comes near to having her powers? But you could. With all of Second’s abilities, you could.”
Alison hardly knew what to say. As it was, the little she knew of Endelle made her feel sorry for anyone who might have to work so closely with her.
Kerrick moved from the island to stand next to Havily. He settled a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, O Passionate One, our ascendiate barely knows anything about our world. She’s just getting used to the fangs and having to battle for her life. Asking her to be of use to Endelle—it might be a little early in the process.”
Havily shifted her gaze to stare at the papers once more. “You’re right.” She nodded. “Yes, of course.” She then pulled forward the first sheet and began gathering Alison’s basic information, date of birth, height, weight, medical history, schooling. Alison found the interview soothing in an odd way. To be talking of such mundane things made her feel there was some normalcy to the process.
She sat back in her chair and sipped her coffee as Havily checked boxes and filled in spaces. When Havily jotted down Joy’s name, Alison asked, “So how does this work? Kerrick told me I will still be able to see my family. I can still visit them, be with them.”
Havily glanced at her and smiled but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. “Of course you can. However, we require counseling for ascenders who wish to continue to visit Mortal Earth. In the beginning everything will seem strange, awkward. You might even want to repress memories at some point or create new ones to explain your absences, that sort of thing.”
Alison sucked in a breath. “You mean tamper with the minds of family members.”
Havily nodded, frowning. “I know it seems invasive, even unkind. However, one of the goals must always be to keep Second Earth a secret from Mortal Earth. We even have departments worldwide that monitor eruptions about dimensional worlds, or the world of the vampire. Again, lots of memories are suppressed.”
Alison nodded, but she couldn’t imagine being anything but forthright with her family. “I’m very close to my sister. She’ll wonder where I am. As it is, I’ll be missing a family dinner.”
“Actually,” Havily said, “I’ve often found it helpful, just until this process works itself out, to pretend you decided to take a spontaneous holiday, like to Hawaii, or better yet, Mexico, for oh, say, three weeks.”
“Fake a vacation? A three-week vacation?”
Havily consulted her notes. “Well, you’re in between gigs at the moment, having given up your practice, and your grad program wouldn’t have started for another month.”
“I just don’t know if my family will buy it.” She shifted in her seat.
“I’m not fond of fabricating my way through life, either. In this situation, however, the truth won’t serve. Think of it as giving yourself a period of time to adjust to your new life here, to receive some counseling, to know what you can tell your family, to figure out how to move forward.” Alison didn’t know what to say. Havily pressed on. “Once you complete your rite of ascension, the first few weeks of ascended life will be rigorous. We are an industrious world and everyone plays a part. Pretending a three-week stay in Mexico or Hawaii will give you time to settle in before having to tackle the more delicate job of incorporating visits to Mortal Earth with your new life on Second.”
Alison held out both hands, palms up. “What do I do?”
Havily whipped out her iPhone. “Call your sister and start learning to elaborate on the truth.”
Alison blinked. She didn’t know which shocked her more, that she’d be lying to her family or that Havily held a Mortal Earth iPhone in her hand.
Havily laughed, a musical trill very much like Joy’s. “The import business on Second is enormous. We take advantage of all Mortal Earth technology.”
Alison once more had that strange underwater sensation, the one she had experienced earlier when Kerrick drove her to her home in Carefree. All the information he had blurred in her direction had made her feel like she’d dropped below the surface of a large body of water. She felt that way all over again.
Despite the sense of being overwhelmed, Alison took the phone and made her call—but when she heard her sister’s voice, tears started to her eyes. The reality of what would become in time a huge gulf between herself and her family threatened to overtake her.
“Where have you been?” Joy cried. “I’ve left you three messages and you’re just now calling?”
Joy’s peeved tone allowed air to rush into Alison’s lungs. She smiled. “Where have I been?” Alison suppressed a laugh thinking of her blown-up house in Carefree. She glanced at Kerrick. He shook his head back and forth, not as a negation but as a hell-if-I-know-what-to-say.
“Well, you’re never going to believe this,” she began. Havily gasped and opened her mouth wide. She wagged her head briskly back and forth, clearly afraid Alison meant to spill the beans. But Alison said, “I’m in Mexico … Cancún, actually.”
“What?”
Alison pulled the phone away from her ear then back. “Hey, I have acute hearing, remember?”
Joy laughed then expressed a mountain of I can’t believe it, but the more Alison assured her she’d hopped on a plane, checked into a hotel, and was now by a pool sipping a margarita, the easier the lie became.
Silence. Alison closed her eyes. Would Joy buy it?
“I can’t believe you actually took a vacation.”
“I needed time to think. I’ve really started to question whether grad school is the answer for me. And do you realize that the last time I zoned out on a beach was over four years ago?”
“Lissy, I’m so glad. You’ve earned a break, but why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, I’m not sure. But after you and I talked on the phone, I just got to thinking about what you told me. The next thing I knew … well, the plans came together really fast.” She let the words hang.
Joy gasped. “Tell me you’re taking my advice … about … you know.”
Alison shifted her gaze to Kerrick, to his wonderful height, to the massive plane of his chest, the ripped shoulders and pecs, his sexy jeans and bare feet. “Actually, I think you might have given me the best advice ever and I’m going to do something about it.”
Joy squealed. “Go get ’em,” she cried. “But you’d better call me … a lot. I want updates.”
“Hey,” Alison cried, “if my plans work out I may be a little busy.”
“That would be so awesome, sister mine. Okay. You do whatever you have to do right now. If you need time to, well, relax”—she pretended to growl—“then you relax as long as you want.”
“I love you, Joy.”
“Love you more.”
Alison touched the screen to end the connection. She handed the phone back to Havily, who had already stuffed her papers back into her briefcase, preparing to leave.
For some reason Alison recalled her dream of flying over a lake. On impulse she said, “Before you go, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Yes, of course, anything.”
“Can you tell me about White Lake?”
“White Lake? You mean White Lake near the White Tank Mountains?”
“On the west side of the White Tanks?”
“Yes.”
“So it does exist,” Alison murmured.
“Why do you ask? What is it you want to know?”
“I’ve dreamed about the lake. I just wasn’t sure if it was real. There isn’t a lake here by that name.”
Havily’s lips parted and a frown furrowed her brow.
Kerrick returned to the table. He stared down at her, his emerald eyes flashing. “What kind of dream was it?”
“Earlier, when I woke up, I had been dreaming that I had wings—and it was so awesome to be flying. I was over a lake, and in the dream I knew the lake was called White Lake. I just wondered if it had any particular significance.”
Kerrick whistled.
Havily put a hand to her chest, her expressive fingers plucking at her ivory silk blouse. “What was the nature of the dream?” she asked. “I mean, what were you feeling in the dream?” Her voice had a hushed quality.
“Well, I guess I just felt very protective of the lake, like somehow this was my job, to protect White Lake. Also, I kept hearing the word guardian in my head.”
“Holy shit,” Kerrick murmured.
Havily glanced at Kerrick, but he just shrugged as though unable to give her direction on this one.
“The lake,” Havily said, “forms a Borderland between Second and Third Earth.”
“A dimensional Borderland?” Alison was shocked.
“Precisely. However, the Trough to Third is closed to us.”
“Like Second is closed to Mortals.”
“With the important difference that we know Third Earth exists.”
“Yet you have no contact with Third Earth or any of the Upper Dimensions. So how do you know any of them exist?”
“Because Third Earth wasn’t always closed,” Havily said. “Several millennia ago there was constant movement among all the dimensions. Then it was just shut down. No one here knows why. But that was a long time ago.”
“And you don’t have any idea what the significance of this dream might be? Why I might have experienced such protective feelings about the lake, the Borderland?”
Havily tilted her head. “Dreams are an important element of ascended life, and we never take them lightly. It sounds like you have a very real connection to the White Lake Borderland. The interpretation, however, shouldn’t be forced, and I’m absolutely certain you’ll discover the meaning in time.”
Havily stood up, taking her briefcase in hand. “Be at peace, ascendiate,” she said.
Alison rose as well. Havily extended her hand and with a smile, Alison took it in hers and gave a firm shake. However, the moment she did, Havily froze in place, her brows high in the air. Her lips formed a silent O.
Then Alison felt it as well, a strange vibration flowing up her arm from the hand clasping Havily’s. She experienced a connection with this woman, an inexplicable bond. Alison closed her eyes and a heavy sensation flowed through her mind, a prescience, then a specific image of Havily flying next to her over White Lake, her expression hard, determined, focused.
Alison gasped then released her hand. “Did you see that as well?”
“A vision?” Havily’s brows rose higher.
“I guess that’s what it was.”
Havily shook her head, smiled, chuckled. “You are powerful. As for myself, no vision, though I did feel a tingling in my hand and all up my arm.” Once more she tilted her head. “Ascendiate, I wish you the very best in the coming days and weeks. If you need anything, do not hesitate to summon me. Should you require a place to stay until you get settled, my home is open to you. I’ve left my cell number with you.” She gestured, again with her elegant lively hands, toward the lavender folder on the table.
She offered one last smile, lifted her arm, then vanished.
Alison turned to Kerrick. “I’ve noticed ascenders often lift a hand or an arm before folding. What is that?”
Kerrick shrugged. “Just a warning, I guess, like hitting the turn signal in a car.”
Alison laughed. “That makes sense. I suppose it’s nice to have notice before someone disappears.”
* * *
Kerrick refilled his mug and tried to quiet the hammering of his heart. This was getting worse and worse. During the time Havily had conversed with Alison and performed her job, his gaze had been all for Alison. He’d been struck by her kindness toward Havily.
This was Alison’s true gift, and it had nothing to do with preternatural power. She listened and she cared. Goddamn that got to him, worked in his heart like a miner after a vein of gold. And for whatever biological reason, the same sensation drove straight into his groin demanding possession.
Why the f*ck couldn’t she have been selfish and small-minded? Instead, while she was in the middle of an experience that essentially meant she was battling for her life, she had culled from Havily a single stunning fact—Havily was passionate about making significant changes in hopes of altering the course of the war.
We need Alison, he thought. Hell, I need her.
Then there was the whole business about White Lake. He had lived too long on Second not to comprehend that the dream was significant, which meant her role on Second Earth would become increasingly important, another reason she shouldn’t be anywhere near a Warrior of the Blood. Christ, this whole thing kept getting more and more complicated. F*cking breh-hedden.
“You’re very quiet and you’ve been stirring a mug of coffee I happen to know has no sugar or milk in it.”
Even her voice worked over his body as though every part of her was designed to torment him. “Yeah,” he responded. “Just cooling it off.” A lie. He just didn’t know how to turn back to her without picking her up in his arms and carting her off to his bed. Like now.
“I’m smelling spice, lots of spice, sweet exotic Moroccan spice.”
He still didn’t turn around. He nodded and kept stirring.
“Did I do something wrong? I mean, I know I have a lot to learn. Do you think I offended Havily? Do you think talking about White Lake upset her?”
He let go of the spoon and the mug and turned to face her. “No, not at all. Havily looks delicate but she’s tough as nails, and no, you didn’t offend her.” He returned to the stool he’d inhabited earlier.
“So I didn’t do anything wrong?”
He refused to meet her gaze as he said, “Actually, you’ve done everything wrong. You’ve been kind and generous, tender, concerned. Shit, this has become a f*cking nightmare. I don’t want to do this, you know. From the first moment I saw you, I knew I was in trouble, and the longer I’m with you the worse it gets. I took vows, Alison. I won’t go back on them.”
* * *
Alison saw the set of his jaw and the way his green eyes darkened and shifted over the granite, his gaze hunting for a place to land. His fangs would emerge next because the room was so rich with his scent, she was sure if she took a deep enough breath she could taste it on her tongue.
She saw his struggle, and she appreciated he’d taken some kind of vow, which was now directed against her, yet in this moment everything shifted for her.
The past caught up: how he’d protected her from the death vamp at the medical complex, the kiss in her Nova, how she’d awakened to his fangs on her neck and let him drink, how he’d used his hand to give her such wonderful release, how she had only to look at him and desire tightened her internal muscles and sent shivers over her skin.
She touched her fingers to her neck. From his peripheral vision he must have seen the movement because he turned and his gaze followed. He growled softly and his eyelids fell to half-mast. She couldn’t feel the puncture marks, but she remembered the sublime sensation.
She didn’t fully understand what was happening between them. Part of it made no sense. He had lived for centuries, he had fought as a warrior for over a millennia. He had transformed into a vampire when he ascended. She, on the other hand, had grown up in her cloistered world, protecting everyone else from her powers. Though she’d gotten a master’s degree and had set up a practice, she had lived a bare thirty-plus years of an isolated life, of tight self-command and no relationships to speak of except with her family. How did being with an ancient winged vampire warrior therefore make any kind of sense?
She moved to stand next to him. The height of the stool allowed her to meet his gaze straight-on. His lips parted and his nostrils flared. His scent tormented her. She could barely draw breath.
She put her hand on his bicep, savoring the feel, as she had before, of the sculpted muscle. When she shifted to look at him, her gaze fell to his mouth. He had the most sensual lips she had ever seen, and she already knew exactly what they felt like. The tips of his fangs showed again. This time, instead of being afraid or overwhelmed as she had been in the car, and because he’d already taken her blood, desire flowed. The same growl, throaty and possessive, rumbled in his throat.
You’re throwing lavender, he sent.
That sound you’re making is getting to me.
Good.
He growled a little more, only louder this time. The vibration hit her chest and shivers slid down her abdomen.
I want in, she sent.
Funny how she knew he meant her mind. While he remained seated, she drew a little closer to him. He moved his right leg wider. He slid his arm around the small of her back and pulled her deeper between his legs. She put her hands on his shoulders then opened wide, letting down all her mental shields.
He held her gaze and dipped heavily into her mind, an experience well beyond simple telepathy. He was inside her head, deep inside her head. She gasped. It was like being surrounded, comforted, and taken all at once by an enormous wave of warm tropical waters. Pleasure cascaded through her body all over again. He growled as he swam through her thoughts and memories.
To be possessed in this way, his mind penetrating hers, moving over her, was a sensation she had never imagined before, yet it made sense. If telepathic communication was possible, why not this kind of deep penetration, even possession, of the mind?
She opened her mouth to breathe better and he took the opportunity to pull her against him fully and kiss her, his sensual lips warm and soft against her mouth. He drove his tongue deep, all the while remaining inside her mind. She moaned as his tongue pleasured and teased the sensitive recesses of her mouth.
Yes, she could really be with this man. It scared her yet it explained so much, the how and why of everything. Now she understood. What she needed was a powerful warrior, even a vampire, who could command her mouth while he moved an ocean around in her mind, who apparently didn’t get blasted against a wall when she orgasmed.
A little more of her tightly held self gave way.
Kerrick, I want you inside me. We have some time, don’t we?
He shifted, slid off the stool, and gathered her into his arms, his lips still molded to her mouth, his tongue thrusting hard.
His presence in her mind worked her body into a sudden outrageous frenzy. Her muscles ached everywhere. She drove her hands into his hair, her fingers tingling from the sensation.
Your thoughts are so beautiful, Alison. I love being in here. I want to stay forever but I can’t. Tell me you understand.
I do. You’ve lost too much, haven’t you?
Yes.
Kerrick, please take me.
Are you sure? Even if this is temporary?
Yes.
He caught her buttocks with one hand and pressed her against him. She writhed against the hard ridge of his sex. A long string of moans left her throat, the sound trumped by a powerful growl that passed from his chest to hers and reverberated like a steadily blowing breeze.
This wouldn’t take long. This would be quick, hard, and fast. She wanted nothing more. She began tugging his shirt out of his jeans. His hands slid under her top and all her movement stilled as he found her breasts, then with one large hand fondled them both at the same time.
Kerrick … so good.
Yes.
His kiss deepened and the pressure on her nipples reached a place of pleasurable pain, which buckled her knees. He caught her waist with his free arm and held her close.
He lifted her up and planted her on the granite. He spread her legs and moved between them, reestablishing the connection. “Pants off,” she whispered as she dragged a breath into her lungs.
“So impatient,” he murmured. He pushed her onto the granite until she lay flat against the cool stone, one hand still kneading her breasts. She closed her eyes and let go of the burning need to having him inside her. Clearly he had other plans and as he stripped her pants off her, then her thong, she let go of a long lusty cry.
I’m here, he whispered deep in her mind, a sensation that sent ripples of desire … everywhere.
I love you in my head.
He growled then kissed her breasts, the fabric shoved up high, the bra as well. He suckled. Oh, how he suckled. She writhed against the granite, her body on fire, the cool stone below, his callused warrior hands working over her thighs, her abdomen, her ribs, her shoulders. One finger found her mouth and she took him inside and sucked hard.
He nipped at her breast then pulled hard.
She arched off the granite and because he was present in her mind she almost came. Kerrick … No words followed, just a series of whimpers as he released her breast and started a burning trail of kisses down her body. Her skin and muscles jumped, her hips rocked. He kept moving down and down. He drew his finger from her mouth and grabbed her waist with both hands. He pushed her farther up the granite until her feet found purchase and almost at the same moment, his lips met the soft curls then the flesh of her labia. He nuzzled and kissed, nipped and sucked, all in tender little flurries. Yet he avoided reaching the sweet spot.
She moaned and her fingers found his hair, digging deep and guiding.
So impatient, he sent.
Kerrick. Such torture. Oh, your mind inside me … your lips … oh, God, your tongue. He pressed her apart and blew a stream of air over her until tears tracked down her cheeks.
Please.
Please, what?
Lick me.
He obeyed the command and raked his tongue in one long sweep up her aching flesh. She cried out. He licked again. Her hands became reckless over his long hair, diving, tugging, as her hips rocked hard into his face. He settled in and licked in quick purposeful swipes.
Her cries echoed around the kitchen.
Come for me, Alison. Let it all go.
Power gathered. She could feel it. It’s coming. She tried to warn him, but her thoughts were scrambled, her mind fixed on the intense pleasure, building, building.
Let it come. I’m ready.
His deep voice, so present inside her head, his mind still connected to hers, made her come apart, pleasure streaking over her sensitive flesh as her internal muscles pulsed over and over. She cried out again and again. Power gathered and released from her abdomen, pushing him away, but he only laughed and returned to tending to her with his tongue. He kept the sensations rolling again and again, spinning out another orgasm then another, until she lay slack against the granite.
Her hands fell away from his head. He didn’t rise. Instead his tongue stroked the insides of her thighs. He kissed his way to her opening. “Lavender,” he breathed against her core. “I must taste it.” With his hands on her waist, he dragged her to the edge of the island this time so he could reach her in just the way he wanted. Her legs lay over his back. He was so powerful. Her mind felt heavy and decadent with the weight of his mind in her. His thoughts expressed his intense pleasure, which fired her own.
His tongue stroked over her opening in heavy laps, taking the nectar into his mouth. She cried out as new pleasure began to build, the walls of her core pulling at him as he licked into her.
You’re so beautiful, he laid over her mind.
Kerrick was all she could manage.
The strokes went deeper each time until his tongue worked her in a strong steady purposeful rhythm. He grunted, his hands on her buttocks now, his thumbs pressed into her hips. He pulled her toward him with each thrust of his tongue. She’d never been taken like this before. She’d never dared let a man get so close. She felt her power gathering again, as well as the grip of another orgasm.
This one barreled down, the power releasing. When she came and the power hit, he held her firmly in order to sustain the fast driving rhythm of his tongue. She came over and over as he possessed her with his mouth. He was pushing hard into her, determined. She felt blissfully used as another wave of power and another orgasm hit her. She screamed and gripped his head, holding him against her.
She panted.
Slowly, he decreased the speed.
Her own pulses faded in strength and intensity until once more she released his head and fell against the granite.
She was breathing hard, struggling to catch her breath. “That was amazing.”
You’re amazing. His deep voice flowed within her head, still joined heavily in her mind, possessively. She lifted up on her elbows to look at him. He cradled her, his arms beneath her knees. He placed kisses over her blond triangle of hair, her thighs, her abdomen.
“Take me,” she whispered. “I need you inside me.” Tears threatened. She was overcome by a strange combination of intense satisfaction and burning need to be joined to him, a great paradox.
He shook his head, the expression in his eyes pained. In a slow movement within her mind, he began to withdraw. She held him fast with a thought, Stop. Don’t go. Don’t leave yet. I want you … now. And I love that you’re here in my mind with me.
He withdrew anyway, leaving her dizzy and strangely bereft, close to tears as, with a final jerk, his mind separated from hers.
He smiled crookedly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t have a choice. My f*cking phone has been buzzing for the last ten minutes. Given our circumstances, I have to take this call, and I already know it’s Thorne and it won’t be good.”
She folded her hands over her stomach and stared up at the ceiling. Her breath hitched a couple of times. She felt fabric fall onto her hips. Oh. He had bent down to retrieve her pants. However, she didn’t move to put anything on. She hoped maybe he was mistaken and with just a little effort, he could still complete what they’d started.
“Give,” he barked.
After a good long minute, he thumbed his phone, then a long curse, impossibly joined together, left his mouth. “Goddamsonofabitchmother…”
He slipped his phone into the pocket of his jeans. He turned to face her.
She had seen that look before, when he’d told her to fold them both to her Hummer.
She sat up, pulling her bra and shirt down. “We’re in danger, aren’t we? Is the house surrounded again?”
She started to unravel her rolled-up thong, but he caught her hands.
He shook his head. “We’re not in any immediate danger. I’m sorry, Alison. I’ve just had word from Thorne. I’ve been ordered to train you for battle. Tonight. And it’s going to hurt like hell.”
* * *
Marcus woke up slowly. He was curled up on one of the ratty leather barges, facing the back cushions. As sleep went, not bad. He’d been asleep for hours and had an erection that he was just about to shift around and make more comfortable when he realized he wasn’t alone. He reached out with his senses and felt the presence of six large pissed-off warriors, not a difficult deduction when there was a taint to the air, like someone had lit a box of matches.
“Looks like Sleeping Beauty is never going to wake up. Aw. He must have had a hard night of fighting. He’s not used to the sword and dagger. Pobrecito … we should just let him sleep.” Santiago, the bastard. Marcus lifted a hand and expressed his feelings with his middle finger.
“You were so wrong,” Zach said. “Looks like Sleeping Beauty is up after all.”
Marcus felt his wing-locks thrum and his biceps flex. As his cock settled down, his aggression wound up. He smiled, rolled over, then sat up. “So what the f*ck do you a*sholes want?”
When Zacharius went for him, Marcus jumped to his feet, but Thorne moved like lightning and slid between them.
“Settle down, boys. Don’t waste all this precious juice on each other.” He turned to Marcus and shoved him back. “You can go to my digs, shave and shower. Don’t even think about folding back to Mortal Earth. Endelle would have me by the short hairs if you left Second, even to freshen up. She wants everyone tight.
“Kerrick has ascendiate duty until tomorrow night, at which time we expect all hell to break loose when Her Supremeness releases her mind-shield. And if you think Greaves won’t have something spectacular planned while we wait, you’re wrong.” He then delivered the assignments. “Luken to New River. Santiago, White Tanks. Zach take Awatukee. Jean-Pierre, you’ll be with me in the Superstitions, and Medichi, I want you with Sleeping Beauty downtown.”
“F*ck that,” Medichi said. “Can’t someone else babysit?”
Thorne got in his face, tight, hard. “You’ll do as I say.”
Marcus felt the heat off Thorne’s back. After a long tense moment, Medichi murmured, “Whatever you say, boss.”
Marcus scoffed, just a little snort off his left nostril. He only realized he’d f*cked up when Thorne’s fist landed on his face and broke his nose. Goddamn, he didn’t even see Thorne move.
“Shit,” he cried. Fortunately, the couch was behind him so he had a soft landing.
Blood poured down his face. Thorne bent over him and grabbed the hair at the top of his head. “That’s for taking off for two f*cking centuries, you worthless piece of shit.”
Thorne pulled back, cradling his hand in the crook of his arm. Bending over at the waist, with his free hand he dipped into the deep pocket of his kilt then palmed his phone. After a moment, he said, “Yeah, Horace. I need you at the Cave. One of the warriors walked into a door.” He grimaced as he put his phone back in his pocket.
“F*ck you,” Marcus cried. Rage pounded through him now, a series of heavy waves pulsing against the inside of his skull. “I never asked to come back. I never would have come back.” He pulled up his tee and caught the blood flowing over his mouth.
Thorne stood over him, his hazel eyes red-rimmed, his mouth grim. “You’re not welcome here. Unfortunately, I have my orders just like you. I serve Endelle and will do whatever she asks of me, but I don’t have to f*cking like it. And while you’re here, you’ll respect the warriors who have fought on while you were playing with your balls on Mortal Earth.” He put his hand on Marcus’s forehead then relayed the location of his home. “Go there now, before I really lose my temper. I’ll send Horace to you after he repairs the bones I just broke in my hand.”
Marcus didn’t wait. He felt like twelve kinds of shit. Thorne was right. He shouldn’t have left all those decades ago, yet if he’d stayed, he would have killed Kerrick. Those weren’t just words he’d said. The fury he had experienced when his sister and her kids died had demanded only one outlet—Kerrick’s blood—so he had left, without a word, without a good-bye to any of his brothers, only a message via Jeannie that he had exiled himself to Mortal Earth. The only conversation he’d had was with Endelle, a promise that if she ever truly needed him he’d come back—though only once, as a favor. So here the f*ck he was and he hated every goddamn minute of it.
He dematerialized into the foyer of Thorne’s house, his shirt still pressed to his nose. He felt cool Mexican tile under his bare feet. The house had a warm feel and one helluva view of the Sedona cliffs, the massive two-thousand-foot Mogollon Rim.
So this was where Thorne had chosen to build his home. The colors were desert shades—sand, terra-cotta, a deep turquoise, purple, representative of the land, of the dusty sunsets, of a sun-drenched world, a dry world, the opposite of Marcus’s wet, cold Pacific Northwest environment. The change was oddly … soothing.
He waited where he was. His nose still bled freely and hurt like a bitch. His shirt wouldn’t do the job much longer. He needed Horace’s healing power before he took one more step into the house. So he’d stay put.
The rooms radiated off the entry in several directions, a sprawling maze ending in glass walls, which let in all that Arizona light. Doorways were arched from room to room and the texture had a hand-troweled look. Still, the place had a weird feel, an empty feel, even though the pillows on the various sofas and chairs were crushed like they’d been well used.
“Huh.”
He recognized the weird feel. It was just like his primary residence on Bainbridge Island. Well designed, architecturally pleasing, and goddamn solitary.
Shit. Didn’t that define them all? A bunch of lonely fighting bastards. He may not have brandished sword and dagger for the last twenty decades, but he’d run his corporations with same single-minded zeal, never leaving a single minute open for living a normal life.
Learning occurs,
When the body remembers.
—Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth