Personal Demons 2 - Original Sin (15 page)

Taylor and Lili scrape back their chairs. Lili looks at me out from under her long, dark lashes as she flips her hand through the lore book; then they file out the door behind Rhenorian. I go to their table to reshelve their books and find the lore book open to the story of Adam and Lilith. I read through the story of Adam's first wife—how she left Eden in a huff and, after roaming the Earth for years seducing men, allied with Lucifer.

The first succubus.

Some things, the mortals got right.

“What the Hell are you two up to?” I say to myself as I close the book.

Frannie

Grandpa ambles out of the garage as I pull up to his house with the top down. I climb out of the car and he crushes me in a hug.

“We pulling that engine today?” I say, looking over the Shelby Cobra in the workspace.

Grandpa walks over to the car. “Got it set to go. You work the winch,” he says, gesturing to the control lever.

“Luc will be here in a minute,” I say, looking over the winch chains, bolted to the engine block. “We should wait.”

He scowls at me. “I've been doin' this all my life. I don't need some kid doin' it for me.”

“I love you, Grandpa, but you're not as young as you used to be. Just let us pull the engine.”

“It's a winch, Frannie—hydraulic. Nothin's gonna happen.”

I glare at him just as Luc's Shelby rolls into the driveway. He steps out of the car and walks through the open garage door, glancing between us. “So…”

“Tell Grandpa to back off.”

Luc laughs out loud and his eyes shift to Grandpa. “She thinks you're going to listen to me any better than she does? I can't imagine where she would have gotten such a ridiculous notion.”

A smile breaks across Grandpa's face. “You take the engine and I'll work the winch.”

Luc raises his eyebrows at me in apology before sliding in next to me, gently brushing me back from the car. “Ready,” he says.

Grandpa pumps the winch while Luc guides the engine block and transmission clear of the car.

I grab the engine stand and slide it into place, but Grandpa nudges me out of the way. “Luc, you know how to work the winch?”

Luc steps over to the control. “Yes, sir.”

Grandpa quirks a crooked smile, as if sharing a secret. “Call me Ed.”

Luc smiles back. “All right, Ed.” He steps to the winch and works the release. The engine eases into position on the stand, where Grandpa bolts it in place.

Luc glances at me with a raised eyebrow, clearly proud of himself for gaining Grandpa's trust, and I glare back.

I want to scream. Not only are they leaving me out, but they've even got this whole bonding thing happening. I know that should make me happy, but at the moment, all it does is piss me off.

“Well, I guess you guys don't need me,” I say. I spin and storm into the house, slamming the door behind me. I drop onto the couch, hating Grandpa for not realizing he's gonna get hurt if he keeps doing the strenuous stuff, and hating Luc more for going along.

Behind me, I hear the garage door open, and a second later, Luc sits next to me on the couch. He moves to hook an arm over my shoulders, but I shift away.

“Don't even think about it.”

He drops his hand, then leans forward, elbows on knees. “I had to choose which one of you to piss off, and I was pretty sure you'd let me make it up to you. Was I wrong?”

“Yes,” I huff, pressing back into the couch and folding my arms stiffly across my chest.

“Frannie…” He reaches for my hand, but I yank it away.

“He's gonna kill himself out there, and you're gonna help him!”

“He was only working the winch. I wouldn't have let him hurt himself.”

We both jump with the crash and yell from behind us. When we explode through the door into the garage, Grandpa's on the cement floor with his leg pinned under the transmission. He looks up at us and winces. “Goddamn bolt broke.”

We run to him and I kneel down. “Oh my god, Grandpa! Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he says. “Just stuck. Can ya pull this thing off a me?”

Luc and I rock the transmission back and Grandpa slides out from under it.

I leave Luc holding the transmission and kneel next to Grandpa. “There's blood on your pants, Grandpa. You're hurt.”

“It's nothin',” he says, trying to pull himself off the ground, but I yank his pant leg up to reveal a large bleeding gash across his shin.

“Stay here,” I say to him. Then I glare up at Luc, who's standing over us. “Don't let him move.”

I run into the house and rummage through the drawers in the bathroom till I have everything I need. When I slam back through the door, I find that Luc has followed instructions—for once. He has his hand on Grandpa's shoulder, keeping him down.

“Hold still, Grandpa,” I say, and lay the bandaging stuff on the cleanest spot of floor I can find. “This is gonna hurt.” I squirt Betadine into the cut and wipe it out with a clean face-cloth. Grandpa behaves and holds still while I bandage him up with gauze and tape.

Luc and I help him to his feet. “I told you that you were gonna kill yourself out here,” I say.

“The bolt broke, Frannie. That's got nothin' to do with me bein' old.”

We work our way into the house and I can see him trying not to limp. Finally, I wrap my arm around his waist to help him. At first he holds me at arm's length, but then he gives in and leans onto my shoulder.

I lower him into a chair at the kitchen table. “We need to take you to the hospital. That could be broken.”

“It ain't broke.”

Luc crouches next to him and lifts Grandpa's leg. He manipulates his ankle and squeezes his lower leg, watching Grandpa's face. When Grandpa doesn't wince, Luc releases it and looks up at me. “I think it's fine, Frannie.”

I look hard at Grandpa. “You got lucky this time, but I don't want you out there without me.”

Grandpa chuckles. “Yes, boss.”

“So, what's for dinner?” Luc says, opening the fridge and peering in. He comes out with a carton of eggs. “Omelets?”

“If you're cookin',” Grandpa says.

Luc smiles and starts digging through cupboards for a bowl and a pan.

When we're done eating, Grandpa stares at me where I sit across the table, scowling. “Ya can't still be mad at him after a meal like that.” His gaze shifts to Luc. “Where'd ya learn to do that?” he says, waving his fork over his empty plate.

“I pick things up here and there,” Luc says.

I blow out a frustrated sigh. Luc's hand slides across and squeezes my knee, and this time I don't slap it away. “Why won't either of you ever listen to me?” I say, exasperated.

They share a glance and both burst out laughing.

And as much as I want to smack them both, I find my mouth pulling into a smile at the sound of their laughter. I bite my lips till they hurt to stop myself from laughing and arrange my face back into a scowl. Luc drapes his arm over my shoulder and kisses my forehead. I shove him away, and when I look back at Grandpa, his expression is pensive.

“So, how's this all gonna work?” he says to Luc.

“What?”

“I'm still not really gettin' my head around your deal.”

“As far as I can tell, I'm as human as anyone,” Luc says.

Grandpa's brow furrows. “And she made you that way?” he says, inclining his head toward me.

“Her love for me,” Luc replies with a nod, his eyes shifting to mine.

“So, I may be jumpin' the gun, but you could stay together…get married and have kids and all that?”

My heart ticks up a notch. I've never really thought about the long term. With everything that's happened, thinking ahead to the next day has been a challenge. And Gabe seems to think Heaven has plans for me. Could Luc and I get married someday? Is that in my future—a normal life with a real family?

A gnawing sensation in my gut tells me the answer to that is no. Based on the last few months, I'm pretty sure nothing about my life is going to be normal.

Still, the glimmer of hope in Luc's eyes tells a different story. “Maybe,” he answers. “As far as I know, this is unprecedented. I know of no other demon-turned-humans, so I don't really have anything to go by.”

Grandpa nods appraisingly. “But you're goin' to L.A. with her.”

Luc's eyes lock on Grandpa's and he pulls me tighter to his shoulder. “I am.”

Grandpa nods and starts to clear his plate. I pull it out of his hand and carry the dishes to the sink. He settles back into his chair, and when Luc and I are done cleaning the kitchen, I turn and find Grandpa watching us with a wistful smile.

I smile back. “What?”

His smile remains, but his eyes drop. “Ya just remind me of somebody.”

I remember what Grandpa told me about him and Grandma getting engaged the summer after high school. They were our age.

I walk around the table and hug his shoulders from behind. “I miss her too,” I whisper in his ear.

He reaches up and squeezes my hand.

After we get the engine back on the stand, secured with new bolts, I watch Grandpa to make sure he's getting around okay and change the bandages now that the bleeding has stopped. Once he's promised to stay out of the garage, we head to Luc's.

“So, we're going to the Cove tonight with Taylor and this new dream guy she's seeing.”

He cracks a smile. “Where'd she find him?”

“He's in Reefer's band. Got Taylor all hot.”

His smile spreads. “Isn't Taylor always all hot?”

I laugh, remembering how she drooled over Luc when he first turned up at Haden High. “Well, we get to meet him tonight, so we'll see.”

Matt

As much as I would never admit it to his face, I think my sister's slimy demon is right. I've lost my focus. It's better if I just stay invisible. Frannie's shadow.

I've silently followed her around the last three days, since my screwup at the party. The dutiful guardian angel.

But I never dreamed being a guardian would be this hard. Gabriel told me there'd be temptations. He told me it would be challenging. But he also told me it's what I was meant for—why I was born. And I believed him.

But this is beyond challenging. It's torture.

There's the whole thing about being forced to watch as my sister ruins her life by hooking up with a demon. But that's not the worst of it.

The worst of it is how much I realize I'm missing.

Watching Frannie live her life…a life that could have been mine if things had worked out differently…I can't help wanting that: the pat on the back from Grandpa; a best friend to give me a hard time; my first kiss from my first girlfriend. But all those possibilities vanished that day ten years ago.

So, now this is my reality: sitting in the hall, trying to figure out what I'm going to say to Frannie when she asks me about going to that party with Lili and Taylor.

How did I think Frannie wasn't going to find out? But then I remember that throb in my groin and realize I was pretty much thinking with the wrong head—which I'm not about to explain to my sister.

As I wait in the hall for Frannie and Luc to finish whatever they're doing in Luc's apartment, Lili comes up the stairs. And she's crying.

My insides turn to cold stone as I watch her turn her key in the locks, and I know I just resolved to stick to the job, but I'm suddenly desperate to help her. I phase to the doorway from the stairs and fade in, visible, as I walk briskly up the hall, reaching Luc's door just as she's slipping inside her apartment.

“Lili? Are you okay?”

She looks up at me with big wounded eyes, and before I even know I've done it, I'm standing in her door with my arms wrapped around her.

“What happened?” I say into her hair.

She stiffens in my arms and pulls away, staring at the floor. “Nothing.”

I lift my hand and wipe the tears from her cheek. “This isn't ‘nothing,'” I say softly, holding my damp fingers up. Despite my rage at whoever has hurt her, sitting like a boulder on my chest, I feel myself being drawn into her eyes. I'm ultra-aware of her body against mine, and warmth spreads through me until it feels like we're melting into each other. Without really realizing I'm doing it, I lean down and nearly kiss her, but she pulls away.

“It's just…forget it.”

She starts to back into her apartment and close the door, but I stick my foot in the doorjamb. “Talk to me, Lili.”

She looks up at me again, her eyes welling. “It's nothing. I'm just being stupid.”

“Tell me.”

Her eyes drop to the floor. “It was just this guy. He was following me and I got scared.”

My insides twist into a painful knot. “What did he do?”

She just shakes her head, and the tears start to roll down her cheeks again.

“Did he hurt you?”

She shakes her head harder. “No…but…”

I pull her back into a hug and she doesn't resist this time. “You're okay now. I've got you.” What feels like electric sparks crackle between us as I hold her. “Who was it? Did you recognize him?”

“No,” she says into my shoulder. Then she lifts her head and looks at me, tears streaking her cheeks. “Wait…maybe. He might have been at that party.”

I hold her against me a moment longer. I can feel her heart thrum against my chest and I'm sure that, if I had one, mine would be doing the same. Finally, I peel myself away from her. I know what I need to do. “Stay here and lock up.”

Her eyes widen. “What are you going to do?”

“Just stay inside.” I cradle her face in my palms and wipe her tears away with my thumbs. She looks up at me, and when our eyes connect, something clicks into place inside me. A piece of my existence that had been missing somehow, like a key piece of a jigsaw puzzle.

Lili and I are meant to be together.

I don't feel scared or anxious at the revelation. It just feels right. And she knows it too. I see it clearly in her eyes. “I'll take care of it.”

She wraps her arms around me and pulls me close, and I hear myself moan.

“Be careful,” she says into my shoulder.

I gaze into her depths a moment more, then step back and pull the door closed, banging on it with my palm. “Lock up.”

The deadbolts click into place one by one. But just as I start to phase, Frannie and Luc come walking out of Luc's apartment.