Heaven and Hell (Beautiful Beings, #2) (12 page)

We turned to find only a splattering of blood where she’d lain.

Shayne had disappeared.

Chapter 12

T
he final count turned out to be scores of lacerations and contusions, a broken wrist, a cracked rib and a light concussion.

“We’re going to keep you overnight, keep an eye on you and if everything looks good, you can leave tomorrow morning. Then,” Dr. Sorensen said as he gave me a warning glance over my chart, “I recommend you take it easy for a few days.”

“Sure thing.”  I sank into the flimsy pillow of the hospital bed I’d been allotted and watched the young attractive doctor walk out.  The moment the door closed, I turned to Asher.  “What d’you tell them?  How did you explain all this?”

I held up the cast that had already been set over my wrist.

“I told them the truth.  I told them about Shayne.”

Chewing on my lip, I looked at him with a disappointed pout.  How would Moore take this new turn of events?  “I wish you hadn’t.  I don’t really want to get the authorities involved.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand.  “I’ve never been particularly good at making up stories.  I suspected you’d rather I not mention Shayne, but I just didn’t know what else to tell them.”

“Did you mention Shayne to the police or just the doctor?”

“It’s a nurse who asked about you, though she did mention that she would notify the police about the attack.”

“Good.  If and when I’m questioned… well, I’ll think of something to say.”

“I also contacted your parents.”

“Thank, that’s really sweet and thoughtful of you.”

“They should be here any minute.”

I closed my eyes, my head pounding as if Shayne still had me in her clutches, banging my skull to the floor.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”  I opened my eyes and was touched by the concern in his eyes.

“How did she manage to cause such damage?”

“Element of surprise.  I didn’t see her coming, not one bit.  Before I even knew it was her, she was all over me. And…”  I thought of the one brief moment when I could have had the upper hand.  “And she’s Moore’s sister.”

Asher pressed his lips into a disapproving line.  “Is that the real reason you don’t want the police involved?”

“I like taking care of business my way.”

“Playing vigilante?  Taking the law into your own hands?”

“Cops and robbers have nothing to do with the world of angels and demons.”

Nodding his understanding, he squeezed my hand.

“Lux, honey.”  Mom rushed in, her brow creased with worry and her eyes already brimming with tears.

“Mom.”  I reached out for her hand as she came around to the other side of the bed.  “Don’t cry.  I’m fine.”

“No, sweetie.  Fine is when I come home from work to find you safe and sound and you tell us about your day at school as we all sit down for dinner.  Coming here to find you bruised and battered…”

“And with a concussion,” Dad added as he came up behind her.

“It’s a mild concussion.” Setting my fingers a fraction of an inch apart, I held up my hand to show just how minor a concussion it was.

“It’s serious enough to keep you here overnight,” Mom argued.

“Speaking of which…” Dad leaned over to kiss my brow.  “There’s some paperwork that needs my John Hancock.”

“Sorry for all the hassle this is causing you.  I hate to see you guys miss out on work because of a stupid fight.”

“Don’t worry about that, pumpkin head.” Dad ruffled my hair, but stopped at the first sign of a pain filled grimace.  “I was in the midst of a very dull meeting when Asher called.”  He looked up at him with a grateful nod.

Still holding my hand, Asher said, “I’m just happy I was able to reach you both.  I’m sorry it took so long, but I had a bit of trouble finding the right number to call.”

With another kiss to my brow, Dad took a hold of Mom’s elbow and guided her to the door.  “We’ll get all the insurance stuff out of the way and be right back.”

“We’re going to stop at the cafeteria to pick up a bite.  You want anything special?”  Mom asked.

“Yeah, the food up here risks being unpalatable,” Dad added.

“Thanks, but I’m good.”

My parents walked out the door only slightly less worried and distraught as when they’d walked in.

“Cool parents,” Asher said.  “Hell, I just spent a month in prison and my parents couldn’t be bothered.  You're in here all of two hours and your parents are at your side.”

“Yeah, they are pretty cool.”  I squeezed his hand, hoping to alleviate the guilt I felt for his lame parents.  “I can see how they appreciate you.”

He was silent and pensive for a long moment.  “Good to see someone who doesn’t want to wring my neck because of the Kingsley thing.”

“My parents never believed you had anything to do with that.”

He sighed, his eyes gentle as he looked at me.  “Do they know about you?  About me?”

I nodded.  “They’ve known about me since the beginning, but I haven’t had a chance to tell them about you yet.  I wanted to wait until I was sure.”

“I think it’s safe to tell them now.” He grinned with pride.

I laughed.  “Yeah, you're right.  And I wish I could tell your parents, too.  They’d be so proud.”

He gave me a cynical eye.  “You don’t know my parents.”

“I’m sorry, Asher.  I didn’t mean to…”

“To what?  Mention how lousy and self-absorbed my parents are? I’ve been living with this for close to eighteen years now.  Do you really think I expected them to show up and bail me out?”

“Maybe they weren’t notified. Maybe they were unreachable.”

He inhaled deeply, bringing my hand to his lips.  “Don’t make excuses for them. They got notification a plenty, but business is business and a dollar is a dollar.  Dad tied up some loose ends and completed a business deal.  They should be back in town next week… not that it’ll help me any.”

Leaning in to kiss my cheek, he whispered. “You care more about me than they do. I wonder who benefits more from this guardian deal we have going; you or me?”  He waved his finger back and forth between us.

“I’m alive and happy, banged up, but happy.  I’d say I’m pretty lucky to have you on my side, Asher.”

My parents returned; Mom with a small plate with a piece of vanilla cake and Dad with a manila envelope.

“I’ll leave you to your parents,” Asher said.  He kissed my hand.  “Besides, I’ve missed enough school as it is.  It’s time I got back to my classes.”

“I certainly do hope everything turns out well for you, Asher,” Dad offered, still beaming with gratitude.

With a solemn salute and a quick wink back at me, Asher left the room.

“That’s quite a young man.”

“I’m glad you think so, Dad.”

“I brought you a piece of cake, honey.” Mom handed me the plate.

Chuckling, I accepted her maternal offerings.  “Thanks, Mom.”

“We can’t stay long,” Dad said, holding up his envelope.  “We managed to get your x-rays, nice break by the way, but they said the doctor should be back in his office in a few minutes.”

“All of this because of a little headache.”

“You got lucky.  At least you wrist didn’t require surgery.”

Yeah, I thought, but setting it back into place had hurt more than all of Shayne’s poundings.

Dad glanced at his watch just as Brax walked in.

“Looks like we’re on tag duty.” Dad snorted his amusement as he clapped Brax’s hand on the way to the door.

“We’ll be back to check on you a little later, honey,” Mom called back as she followed my dad.

“Take your time.” Smiling, Brax waved them goodbye and came to my side, his smile quickly fading.  “I could kick myself for what she did to you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Shayne.  I’m the one who introduced you to her.  The lunatic almost killed you. I ran into Asher on the way in and he told me what happened. Damn it. If I had any doubts about getting him out of jail, they’re gone now.  The guy really isn’t as bad as everyone thinks he is.”

“You mean as bad as you thought he was,” I corrected with a teasing grin.

“All right, I admit it.  I wasn’t too keen on the guy.”

“That’s okay. I’m just glad you finally came around.”

With heartfelt affection, he took my hand in his and ran his fingers over my skin. “If I’d lost you, lost you to her… she’s such a spiteful and shallow person. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to…”

“Brax, stop beating yourself up.  I would have run into Shayne one day, no matter what you did.”

He shook his head. “She saw us together. She knew how much I liked you. Shayne is unbelievably jealous.  She just can’t stand the fact that you outshined her.  You stole her thunder.”

“Brax, St. James is full of beautiful girls…”

“You're different.  The others are beautiful, yes, but they all fit the same mold.  You're from a whole other mold altogether, one that Shayne didn’t appreciate.  And seeing my appreciation of you only made matters worse.”

“You're exaggerating.”

He grinned, wicked and wild, licked his lips and arched his brow. “Damn, Lux, you're the hottest thing to hit St. James since its inception, and Shayne fell out of the limelight and into your shadow.”

Tickled by his flattery, I laughed, which quickly brought on a headache.

“Keep it calm,” Brax said softly, suddenly aware of the pain I was in.  “You know, I think all this jealousy and this rivalry between you and Shayne, it brought out the darkness in her, quicker, fiercer, more urgent, and it breaks my heart to see you like this, to see what she did to you, all in order to maintain her view of the order of things.”

I didn’t have the heart to mention Moore’s role in this, how outraged she’d been to learn of Moore’s love for me. Wincing, I brought my fingers to my temple and closed my eyes.

“Honey, keep your eyes closed and relax. I’m going to go get the doctor and be right back.”

I was vaguely aware of him closing the blinds, rendering the room dim and peaceful. The room was quiet and the pain of my head diminished.

I opened my eyes, happy to see the glaring lights overhead had also been turned off.

“It’s about time you open your eyes.”

I turned to see Moore sitting in the corner. Shaking my head I tried to make sense of his presence.  “Moore.  When did you get here?  How long have you been…?”

In an instant he was at my side.  “Not long enough.  I wish I could have been here earlier, but I’ve had a hard day and was held up.  I came as soon as I could.” His fingers traced over the bandage that held my ribs in place. “I’ll kill her. Sister or not, I’ll kill her for doing this to you.”

“The demon is winning.  She had little control over her actions.”

“I’m fighting it, and she’s just as strong as I am.  She could fight it if she chose to.”  He gripped my fingers, his hold strong and pained. “She knows how I feel about you. This isn’t only an attack on you. It’s an attack on me.”

As he came closer, I looked into his eyes, seeing the depth of pain and determination in the darkened orbs.  Despite his anger, his kiss was gentle and sweet, conscious of the pain my body already struggled with.

“You're off limits and she knows it. Damn it. I’m so sorry I let this happen. I promised to keep an eye on her. I should have known she’d go after you.”

“Moore,” I whispered, eager to assuage his guilt.  “She was probably out of the house before you even woke.”

He shook his head and brought his hand to my swollen cheek. “There’s no excuse,” he muttered in a hoarse voice. Tears spilled from his eyes as he scanned my face, taking in every scratch and bruise. “Therev>

My fingers gently tugged at his hand, urging him closer, urging his kiss. Soft and sweet, his kiss was a careful brush of his lips against mine. Snaking my good hand around his neck I pulled him closer, kissing him with all the passion my lips could tolerate.

Staying close, he touched his nose to mine, his eyes heavy with sorrow as he held my gaze. 

I sought the words that could erase the guilt and sorrow, that would make him see I was okay, despite appearances. “Moore.”

He ran his fingers through the tangled tresses that flowed over my pillow.  “Just know how much I love you.”

Startled and filled with a sudden wave of panic, I watched, wide eyed as he backed away and walked out.

“Moore?” My breath caught in my throat, strangling me and intensifying every painful ache in my body.  What had just happened?  His words were filled with such finality.

I struggled to sit up, but a wave of nauseating dizziness quickly reminded me of the impossibility of getting up so fast.

“Braxton, where are you?” I muttered into the quiet room.  Reaching for the buzzer, I pressed repeatedly on the button that would bring a nurse’s assistance.  Instead the room remained still and quiet.