Key of Solomon: Relic Defender, Book 1 (17 page)

“You agreed to remain here.” His lips were drawn into a tight line, his eyebrows lowered.

“I know, but you didn’t expect me to not go back for any of my things? And what about my job? Or school? Am I supposed to give everything up?”

“Lexi, I will take care of all your needs. Your old life is no longer. Once you agreed to train, you agreed to give up your current life.”

Her mouth dropped open. She snapped it shut a second later. “I only agreed to train, and to stay with you while I did. I didn’t agree to give up everything I’ve worked for.” She lifted her chin. “What if you discover I’m not the person you think I am? Then what am I supposed to do?”

His tight expression eased, and a slight smile pulled at the corners of his lips. “You are the Defender.”

“Says you. Or can’t angels be wrong?” Lexi sighed. “I won’t give up my life.”

“You have to,” Mikos said. “You have no choice.”

She bristled, actually feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention. What an asinine comment.

“No choice? What a crock. Of course I have a choice, and right now, I’m choosing to walk out this door and go back to my apartment. When I’m done picking up some of my things, I’ll come back here to train as I promised. Then you’ll keep your promise.”

She started for the door, but before she got close, it slammed shut. On its freaking own. Spinning around, Lexi scowled. Eyes wide, palms spread, Mikos was the picture of innocence. If she ignored the cocky lift of his eyebrow and quirk of his lips.

“Open the door.”

“No.”

“Open the goddamned door!”

“You would go back on your word?” Mikos’s tone had changed from determined to a silky, smooth voice, tinged with the iron edge of anger.

“I’m not going back on my word.” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “But I’m not staying here without some of my things.”

“It is too dangerous.”

Lexi threw up her hands. “Now, it’s too dangerous? What happened in the last,” she looked at her watch, “hour that changed?”

“You hadn’t told me about Beliel.”

“For Pete’s sake! He didn’t harm me,” Lexi said. She could feel the heat rising in her chest and neck as anger short-circuited her system.

“You can’t trust him.”

“I don’t trust anyone. Him. You.”

“Mikos, perhaps you should…” Kat’s worried tone trailed off when both Lexi and Mikos turned to glare at her.

Damn. A Mexican standoff. Kat should have known her friend would not accept such a dictatorial approach. Lexi hadn’t as a young adult, and it looked like the past seven years had done little to change that. The problem was Mikos was used to being in control.

Ever since her death, Kat had lingered in the Spirit Realm. Despite her lack of body, she’d been, well, compelled to stay close to Lexi. The Angels, those closest to the Physical Realm, tried to convince Kat to pass on. She couldn’t. Or wouldn’t. Either way, over the past seven years, she’d watched. And agonized as her friend lost every last bit of faith. In people. In herself.

Had it been coincidence Kat found Mikos? Or had it been some kind of greater design that began their friendship? After meeting Mikos, he’d told her about his search for a mysterious, powerful woman who was supposed to save the world. Kat realized he meant Lexi.

Her best friend’s destiny made sense. Even during those dark times on the streets, Lexi protected the weak. It was how she and Lexi had hooked up. Kat’s own bad fortune, and decisions, had led her to fall in love with a dangerous man. Only, she hadn’t known it at the time. Death changed that.

She had loved Ash with everything she had.

Heart.

Soul.

Everything.

And, she still believed he’d loved her. None of that changed the irrefutable fact her beloved Ash was a demon. Not the fallen variety, but a full blood, black-souled demon. Even as a specter, Kat felt the betrayal. And the loss.

And even, at times, the love.

Pulling herself from the painful memories, Kat looked at Lexi and Mikos standing toe to toe. There was attraction there.

For both of them.

Kat frowned. Mikos was an angel. A fallen angel who’d seen the error of his ways and served the Light, but still fallen. He couldn’t get involved with Lexi for many reasons, least of all which it was forbidden.

Lexi, on the other hand, desperately needed someone. Kat had watched as each time her friend let someone near, which had been rare, something made her pull back. It would take the equivalent of a battering ram to break the barrier Lexi had around her heart.

A shiver swept through Kat’s spectral form. Beliel. While she’d never had the misfortune to cross his path, she’d certainly heard of him. Many, many times.

A king of darkness said to have been created second only to Lucifer, yet equal in his desire to sow chaos and evil in the Earthly realm. Worse, she’d heard the rumors that Beliel was one of Lucifer’s sons.

Kat pushed away the gloomy thoughts and focused on her angry friend and the dark angel. With her hands fisted on her hips and her chin jutting forward, Lexi appeared the very essence of fury.

“Tell him.” She slanted a look at Kat, Lexi’s expression held frustration and an appeal for assistance. “Tell him I won’t stay here without some of my things.”

Kat wanted to side with Lexi, but this was between the fallen angel and her friend. She couldn’t interfere. Luckily, Mikos took the choice from her.

“Kat, I give you leave to depart.” His icy tone shimmered in the room. Kat could almost see the words crystallizing in the air. And the mounting fury in Lexi’s copper gaze. Uh, oh.

“Sorry, Lexi, gotta go. I’ll see you soon. I promise.” After a final glance at her headstrong friend, Kat faded into the Spirit Realm. God above, she hoped Mikos knew what he was doing.

Lexi stared, her nostrils flaring as her only ally faded from view. Damn it! What control did Mikos have over Kat?

Lexi turned back to him. A satisfied look tugged at the corners of his lips.

“Fine, send her away.” She puffed out a breath, feeling her gritted teeth slide together. “I don’t need her support, you coward.”

She started forward again, her hands rose to push him away. There was no chance in hell she was going to stay here with him and not have some of her own things. Her clothes. Her weapons.

Her parents’ picture.

She had to give him credit. He didn’t move or flinch away from her approach even though she was sure her eyes showed her contemplating kicking his ass. Angel or not.

“What about Devyn?”

She froze. Low blow. Bastard.

Her mouth opened and closed several times. Great, now she looked like a fish. “I haven’t forgotten about her.” Lexi lowered her chin slightly.

Time for some compromise.

“Listen, I only need a few of my personal things. You can allow,” she choked mentally on the word, “me to make myself comfortable with some of my items or we can keep fighting.” She gestured, her arm encompassing the room. “I know I promised, and I plan to keep it as long as you keep your side but I can’t stay here without my stuff.”

“Very well, I will go with you.”

For the second time, her mouth dropped open. This time, she left it there. What the hell had just happened? She’d thought for sure they’d be coming to blows again, but the damn angel had just capitulated without further argument.

Lexi didn’t want him anywhere near her apartment, but she had a sneaking suspicion she’d not win this battle. So, she lifted her shoulders. “Whatever. Let’s go.”

Mikos walked over to the weapon’s wall and pulled down a short blade. Bigger than a knife but smaller than a sword, the metal shone in the light. He tucked it into a scabbard, which he affixed to his hip.

“Is that necessary?” She tapped an impatient foot. “Do you expect to be attacked by a horde of knights?

“The demon could be waiting for you.”

She sighed. “Do whatever you want. One question. Where the hell are you going to hide that thing? Someone is going to notice it. I don’t think you want the police asking questions.”

Mikos nodded. Once the scabbard was buckled, he waved a hand over the weapon. Both blade and scabbard disappeared. He looked up and met her questioning eyes. “It is still there. Just invisible.”

Just invisible, huh? He said that as if was of no consequence. Maybe it wasn’t for him. For her, it was amazing. And bewildering.

While Mikos continued to choose and discard other items, Lexi thought about Beliel. The demon had offered her everything she’d always wanted if she’d give up something she didn’t have. She’d half thought his visit had been some kind of dream. But, if Mikos was real so was the demon.

That put a whole new perspective on the whole bargaining concept.

Chapter Twelve

“Circumstances rule men and not men rule circumstances.”

Euripedes

Lexi stared out the car window, her breath misting up the inside. Mikos’s car, which he’d insisted on taking instead of a taxi. Neither had said anything in the past ten minutes while his vehicle struggled to get through Chicago during rush hour. For herself, Lexi didn’t know what to say. Or ask.

There were so many things whirling through her head. After years of comfortable familiarity with the people and places around her, suddenly, everything and everyone was different. Like roaches when the lights go out, hidden agendas scampered out of the psyches of people she thought she knew.

“Lexi?”

Lost in thought, she vaguely heard Mikos call her name. Twice.

Her mind shifted gears, returning to the moment. “Yeah?”

“I understand your confusion.”

“Do you?” She deliberately kept her inflection mild, yet tipped with sarcasm.

“It was never meant for you to learn about your heritage as an adult. Your training should have begun while you were a child.”

Lexi faced him. Or, at least his profile as he kept a vigil on the bumper-to-bumper cars ahead of him. “So, why now? Why even bother?”

Lines furrowed his brow. “Do you know the significance of October thirty-first?”

“Is there anyone in America who doesn’t? It’s Halloween.”

A hint of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. Hmm. She studied his face. Mikos had a stubborn, arrogant profile, highlighted by a patrician nose and assertive chin. The shadow of a beard accented his square jaw line. She had to admit. God, if she believed, had put together quite an attractive package when he made this angel.

Her gaze roved over the rest of him. Dark hair curled about his ear, the midnight strands teasing the top of his collar. The longer she stared, the more she realized what drew her to him. Not his powerful profile or the muscular, compact shape of his form barely hinted at under his clothing. None of that left her insides aching for his touch.

It was his lips.

Full and sensual, they begged to be caressed. She wondered how his lips would feel against her own. Would they be soft or firm? Gentle or punishing?

Once upon a time, she might have found out. Lexi tilted her head slightly. Maybe she still would. But not now.

Somehow, the whole dark and dangerous package fit. He didn’t look like the blond-haired, blue-eyed, almost feminine-featured figures so frequently portrayed as the angelic stereotype. No shining innocence for Mikos.

Enigmatic. Mysterious. Deliciously appealing.

“Hmm?” Lexi dragged her gaze away from ogling over Mikos’s appearance. While she’d been cataloguing his features, he’d apparently been talking.
Get your head together, Lexi
. “I’m sorry. What?”

“October thirty-first is much more than a night children dress up and get candy. The Celts called it Samhain, which means summer’s end. The end of their year.”

“And this relates to me how?”

“Because Samhain is one of the most liminal times of the year. The threshold, or veil, that separates the physical world, your realm, from the Otherworld, is at it thinnest.”

“Blah, blah, blah, Mikos. Speak English. I only took a couple of classes in magical studies. We didn’t cover that much detail.”

He opened his mouth to respond, then paused as a taxicab, horn blaring, swerved in front of him about a foot from Mikos’s bumper. Lexi would have blown her horn and flipped the driver off.

Mikos did neither. He simply jerked his wheel to avoid the collision. Other than the slight smile that tipped the corners of his lips, no other expression crossed his face. He didn’t even appear to be angry with the rush hour drivers.

Lexi didn’t drive much. The antics of her co-occupants of the road tended to leave her with a very sour stomach. Everyone was out for himself or herself which seemed to become more apparent on the road. Proof positive the human race sucked. And she was supposed to protect them?

Turning off her morose thoughts, she concentrated on Mikos’s words, not his chiseled jaw and sensual lips.

“Samhain is also the most magical night of the year. Beliel will use both Samhain’s power and the thinness of the veil to release seventy-two demons from their prison.”

“And this, uh, book he thinks I have? What does it do?”

“The book, the Key, contains the summons and invocations to release the demons. And to control them.”

Terrific. She’s supposed to have a book to bring more demons into the world? Didn’t the world have enough human demons without bringing supernatural demons into the mix?

Didn’t matter. Lexi snorted. “Beliel is barking up the wrong tree. I don’t have such a book.”

Mikos cocked his head, his eyes leaving the busy road for a brief moment. Long enough for her to recognize the question in his dark eyes. “Barking up the wrong tree. I do not recognize that phrase.”

“Basically it means looking for something in the wrong place.” Lexi shrugged. “I can’t help him.”

“You know where the book is, Lexi.”

“Aren’t you listening? I said I don’t. I’d think I’d remember something like that. Besides, my parents didn’t leave me anything except my name.”

“The location of the book is something each protector is born with. It’s in your blood. Figuratively and metaphorically.”

“Yuck. He needs my blood?” Lexi felt her nose wrinkle. Again, the theme from
The Twilight Zone
rang through her mind. “What is he? Some type of vampire?”