Temptation, Chronicles of the Fallen, Book 3 (19 page)

“Enough training for today,” he said again, implacable this time. His focus skated to Xander. “I need you or Niklas to stay with Maggie for a few hours.”

At first, Xander frowned, looking as though he intended to object. But then, with a meaningful glance from Gideon, he asked, “How long since you last—”

“Four weeks.” Gideon cut him off.

“Four weeks since what?” Maggie looked back and forth between them.

If Gideon hadn’t looked happy before, he looked downright thunderous now. Without a word of warning, the backyard shifted and fell away, only to be replaced by the bedroom they’d shared so intimately just last night.

As soon as they solidified, Maggie bent over at the waist and gagged. It took every ounce of her self-control not to vomit all over the floor. Or his boots. She should have. It would have served him right for pulling such an underhanded stunt.

With a stifled curse, Gideon conjured a trash can and thrust it under her face.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, sounding truly contrite as he held her hair back from her face.

When her stomach finally settled, she allowed him to guide her to the bed and help her lie down. The room spun around her, and she broke out in a cold sweat. He sat down next to her, and gingerly blotted a wet cloth against her cheeks and forehead.

“I’m sorry,” he said again. His face was pale, his expression pinched.

“No more shimmering,” she pleaded softly. “Please, Gideon. It was really bad this time. Worse than the first time. I…I think it might not be a good idea right now,” she said, slipping a hand protectively over her stomach.

He glanced down, swallowed and nodded. “No more. Unless it’s an emergency.” He smoothed her hair back. “Okay now?”

Maggie drew a testing breath. “I think so.” She made to rise, but he gently pushed her back against the pillows.

“Rest for a little while. You’re still white as a sheet.” He was a fine one to be talking, because
he
certainly didn’t appear to be in any better condition. Before she could object to his orders, he pressed a fingertip to her lips and offered her a rueful smile. “You can train again tomorrow. I won’t get in the way this time, I promise. Kyanna’s right. You need to be able to be able to protect yourself.”

She smiled weakly up at him.

He turned serious as he absently reached up and smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I have to—” He broke off abruptly, biting the edge of his lip. “I’m going to be busy for a little while. I’m going to have either Xander or Niklas stay with you till I get back. Just for a few hours.”

“Where are you going?”

He looked as though he wanted to crawl under a rock. Gideon licked his lips and glanced away.

“Gideon?”

He met her stare, his expression blanking right before her eyes. “I have to go.”

“But—”

He leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her lips, silencing her. His beautiful golden eyes were filled with remorse as they roamed her face. Without another word, he rose from the bed and strode toward the door.

“Gideon,” she called, pushing herself upright. “Wait! Where are you going?”

But he just kept walking, stopping only to draw the door closed gently behind him.

Chapter Seventeen

Gideon drew his phone from his pocket and thumbed in a speed dial number. The phone rang several times, just long enough for him to nearly give up hope. Just as he was preparing to disconnect the call, a deep voice answered.

“She is well?”

Well, that was disconcerting. Frowning, Gideon said, “Maggie’s fine.” Shaking his head over Maggie’s ability to bring out odd reactions in males, demon or otherwise, he raked a hand through his hair. “I need a favor.”

A beat of silence. “What?”

“I need you to look somebody up for me. A human,” he added, gritting his teeth as self-disgust boiled like acid in his guts. Gideon descended the grand staircase, making his way to the den.

After giving Mikhail the details, he disconnected the call, pushed the door to the study open and strode inside, unsurprised to find Niklas and Xander had made themselves at home in the matching wingback chairs flanking the cold fireplace. A can of Pepsi rested in Xander’s hand, a beer in Niklas’s. Gideon crossed the room and sank onto the padded leather chair behind his desk. He thought about conjuring himself his usual coffee, but doubted caffeine would help at this point. His gaze drifted to the ceiling. Heaving a sigh, he conjured a crystal tumbler filled nearly to the brim with the strongest rotgut he could think of. He let his shoulders slump, weary to the bone.

Taking a sip, Gideon sucked in a sharp breath at the burn. His voice was a little hoarse when he finally asked, “Where are Carly and Kyanna?”

“In the kitchen having tea,” Niklas supplied. “They figured you needed a little man time.”

He should have guessed as much. Neither the Slayer, nor the Seer for that matter, often let their mates far from their sides.

Overprotective asses.

But that thought gave him pause, and he stilled, glass lifted halfway to his lips.

That was exactly what he was fast becoming.

If only things could have been different. If only the woman in question had chosen him, the way Carly had chosen Niklas. The way Kyanna had chosen Xander.

If Maggie had been given a choice, would she have chosen him? Willingly?

“See? Didn’t I tell you?” Niklas asked, drawing Gideon out of his musings. What were they talking about? He’d lost track of the conversation he’d walked in on.

Xander nodded sagely, taking a long draw of Pepsi.

“What?” Gideon asked.

“She’s got you twisted up in knots.” Niklas set his beer aside and laced his fingers over his middle, settling back in his chair more comfortably.

Gideon had watched Niklas twist in the wind over Carly. He’d seen the way Xander behaved around Kyanna. He’d even teased them about their predicaments. And here he was, in the same damned boat.

A boat that leaked like a sieve, smack in the middle of Shit Creek, and he with neither bucket nor paddle.

He wasn’t fool enough to even try to deny it.

“You know, Slayer,” Niklas remarked, a sly grin on his lips, his ice blue gaze dancing merrily. “I seem to recall some less-than-sympathetic comments someone made not that long ago about our own woman troubles.”

“True,” Xander said, nodding. He took another long gulp of Pepsi and vanished the can. “Demons of lesser restraint might be tempted to rub his nose in his current situation.”

“They might,” Niklas agreed. “It’s a good thing demons of our fine, upstanding stature would never stoop to such deplorable behavior.”

A deep chuckle rumbled through the room. “At least I don’t have to worry about Kyanna frying my ass with Angelfire the next time she gets pissed off at me.”

“No, you only have to worry about her locking you in your room and binding your abilities with angelic enchantments,” Niklas crowed, earning himself a narrow-eyed glower from the now sober Xander.

Gideon snorted aloud. He was just petty enough to take a moment’s enjoyment from his brothers’ banter despite his own less than ideal circumstances.

“I wouldn’t be laughing so hard over there. I didn’t get my woman knocked up with the Chosen One,” Xander snarked, shooting Gideon a gimlet stare.

“Only by sheer dumb luck,” Niklas jeered. “At least Kyanna’s friend had you, er, covered.”

Gideon chuckled. He’d overheard Kyanna telling Carly the story not so very long ago. Kyanna’s friend Summer had the finesse of a hammer. When Kyanna had captured a wounded Xander, his clothing had been in a sad, sad state, having just come from a demon battle. Once he was inside the enchantments that had surrounded her antique shop and apartment, he had been unable to conjure fresh duds.

So, being the gracious hostess that she was—
cough cough
—Kyanna had phoned a friend. Summer, upon hearing Kyanna’s request for replacement male attire, had promptly assumed Kyanna was having an out-of-character illicit affair and had sagely decided to look out for her best friend’s interests, slipping a rather large box of condoms in amongst the clothing she delivered. Kyanna had been so mortified, she’d snatched the box from the palm of his hand and thrust it into the first cabinet she could reach. Her version of out of sight, out of mind.

Red actually stole into Xander’s cheeks. “How did you find out about that?”

“Kyanna told Carly,” Niklas said.

“And I overheard the telling,” Gideon said, jumping in helpfully.

Xander harrumphed. “Yeah, well, you’re not any better, Seer. You’re rolling the dice here too.” Xander grinned. “I can already see five or six little Carlys running around, wrapping you around their tiny little fingers just as their mother already has.”

Expecting a snide comment, Gideon looked to Niklas. He was startled to find the Seer sitting there with a goofy grin plastered on his face and a faraway look of longing in his eyes.

And it got Gideon to thinking.

“I wonder what he’ll look like. Suppose he’ll have Maggie’s smile?” Where’d that come from? Great, now he was getting all gooey too.

“Won’t it be pleasant if he gets his mother’s termagant…excuse me”—Xander cleared his throat at Gideon’s warning growl—“determined attitude along with that pretty smile?”

Niklas snickered.

A long stretch of silence filled the room. In the stillness, he became aware of the soft approach of familiar power. So subtle, so familiar now, he almost didn’t pay any attention. Maggie was nearby. Just outside the den door, if he didn’t miss his mark.

“Part demon, part angel, part human. Can you imagine what those midnight craving runs are going to be like?” Xander hitched a thumb in Gideon’s direction. Niklas burst out laughing.

Hey! Wait a second.

“I’m sitting right here, you know?” Gideon growled.

But his mind shot ahead. He imagined Maggie, swollen with his child. He shifted in his chair to alleviate some of the tightness in his pants. Had it been the image that had shot lust straight to his gut? Or her mere presence, just on the other side of that mass of solid oak standing between them?

Or perhaps a stunning combination of the two?

Distracted by the growing erection steadily taking up more and more real estate in his pants, and the woman causing it, he lost track of the conversation once more until he heard Xander say, “That was a pretty smart move, by the way, Gideon.”

He frowned. “What was?”

“We can’t find the relic, so we—or rather, you specifically—go out and make one. Strategy-wise, that was brilliant.”

Gideon nearly groaned aloud when the soft pulse of Maggie’s power behind the door spiked to white hot throb.

He should have put an end to the conversation about the baby earlier. Should never have let it get that far out of hand. Now he was kicking himself for not calling an abrupt halt the moment he realized she was close enough to overhear.

“Maggie, come in,” he called.

Niklas and Xander exchanged guilty glances as the door slowly pushed open and a pale, rigid Maggie stepped inside the room. This time, when the silence stretched on, all three males cringed uncomfortably.

“Is that true?” she asked, her voice subdued, her posture ramrod stiff. “Did you get me…did you do this on purpose?”

Oh, Lucifer’s balls!

Shit Creek had just developed some rather nasty rapids.

“No,” Gideon said, hastily setting his drink aside and pushing to his feet. He, as well as Xander and Niklas, froze when she lifted a trembling hand, palm out, to stop him. Normally that wouldn’t have been enough to keep him from going to her. But the pulsing orb of blue-white energy emerging from her palm gave him some serious second thoughts. At length, she drew a visibly shuddering breath, and the orb dissolved as she lowered her hand.

“No, Maggie, I didn’t,” he tried again, keeping his voice calm. Conscious of his engrossed audience, he cleared his throat and worked to focus solely on her. “Touching you, kissing you—” He broke off, shaking his head. “I’ve dreamed of doing that, of being able to touch someone for so long, I guess I lost my head.”

“So you weren’t trying to get me pregnant on purpose?”

“No! I swear,” he vowed, putting as much earnest conviction in his voice as he could.

“You just lost your head?”

“Right.”

“Because you were overwhelmed by being able to actually touch someone else?
Anyone
else.”

“Yes.” He sighed, relieved she was finally getting it. He, and he alone, was responsible for the mess they were in. It was his fault he hadn’t exercised better restraint. His fault he’d let himself get swept away in the taste and scent and feel of her.

“And it had absolutely nothing to do with me?”

“Yes! That’s exactly right.”
Wait.
Um, why did that feel like it had been a trick question? He ran the conversation back in his head and cringed.
Oh, yeah. Big mistake. Huge.
But he didn’t quite realize just how huge until he saw the look on her face. “No! Damn it, Maggie, I didn’t mean it like that. That’s not—”

The cold stare she leveled him with froze the words in his throat. She turned without uttering another sound and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Too quietly. Gideon’s gaze shot to the Niklas and Xander. Now they chose to be silent? As one, they began shaking their heads at him in mute disappointment.

Gideon dropped like dead weight onto his chair. He stared at the door, unable to comprehend how his situation could have gotten any worse than it had already been. Apparently, it had been quite easy. Step one, open mouth. Step two, insert foot.

A defeated groan seeped from Gideon as he slowly leaned forward and dropped his forehead on the hardwood desk with a jarring thud.

His sinking boat had just capsized.

And Shit Creek was awfully damned deep.

Chapter Eighteen

After listening to Gideon basically tell her she’d been nothing more than a convenient outlet for his pent-up libido, Maggie had locked herself in her room. It was bad enough he’d admitted to the fact without showing the least little bit of remorse. But to tell her so in front of his friends?

She’d never been so humiliated. And she’d been humiliated plenty in her life.

The gall of the man.

And to add insult to injury, he’d left her here without another word. Without so much as a goodbye. He’d hopped on a big black motorcycle and ridden away without a backward glance. She should know. She’d stood at the window like some angst ridden heroine in a tragedy, watching him disappear round the bend at the end of the drive. He’d left her with virtual strangers. The very same strangers he’d humiliated her in front of.

Oh, they’d been kind. Kyanna and Carly had both come knocking softly at the door throughout the day, with pleading murmurs and offerings of food and tea. She’d refused to answer their inquires, let alone open the door. The men had avoided coming anywhere near her room. Their own version of kindness, she supposed. Well, she’d take what she could get at this point and be grateful for it.

Sitting on the side of the bed, she tugged uselessly at the hammered silver cuff. This mess had all started the moment she’d snapped this double-damned thing on her wrist. She should have taken her chances with those three demons. Physically, she might have been in more danger, but at least her heart wouldn’t have been torn from her chest and trampled on.

The most pitiful thing of all, however, was that she had no one to blame but herself. She’d broken her own rule. She’d let someone get close—truly close—and she knew better.

Oh, she had good friends, Gail and Molly and Cori. Even Cecelia, in her own selfish way. And she always made a point of helping those that needed helping. After all, she’d been in need once too. Only she’d not had anyone to help her. Not until Stonebridge. She was only paying it forward.

She flirted briefly with calling Cori or Gail. Maybe Molly. But she couldn’t draw her friends into the nightmare she now called life. She wouldn’t knowingly put them at risk.

She stilled, going cold all over. Would she be able to go back? How could she return to her life now? She’d been offered a teaching contract for next year. But could she, in all good faith, surround herself with a classroom full of helpless children when a demon prince and his—according to Gideon and his friends—
countless
minions were gunning for her? Her hand crept to her stomach, tentatively settling.

A baby.

She was pregnant. She had a child to support now. The very idea left her slightly panicked. She’d never imagined herself a single mother. She hadn’t planned this. Granted, she of all people knew life never went according to plan. But she felt vastly unprepared.

And at the same time, something kindled inside her. A flame that slowly began to burn, brighter and brighter. There was a baby growing in there. Her hand began to rub slow, gentle circles. Whether or not this child was the Chosen One, as everyone seemed to assume, they were overlooking one simple fact. This was a baby.

Her
baby.

“We’re going to be okay, kiddo,” she whispered. “You and me. We’re going to be okay. I’ll figure something out, and I’ll take really good care of you, don’t you worry.” Holding her free hand up, she concentrated very hard, then smiled wide as a pulsing blue-white orb of energy began to form. Slowly, she closed her fist, watching as the orb sizzled out. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

She sat on a window seat and stared out over the river for what felt like hours.

Maggie’s resistance finally crumbled when the scent of roasted vegetables and grilled chicken began to seep insidiously through the window. Her stomach grumbled, loudly. Standing, she made up her mind. No more hiding. She needed to eat, needed to keep up her strength. After all, she was eating for two now. She also needed to practice the incantations and see what other little surprises her powers were going to throw her way.

Maggie was halfway across the room when what sounded like a battering ram slammed against her bedroom door, cracking throughout the room like a gunshot. She nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Come out now or I come in and drag you out,” a harsh rasp ordered through the heavy oak door. “You are worrying Kyanna.” Xander’s tone implied he wouldn’t tolerate anyone or anything causing his woman worry.

Swallowing the squeak of surprise, she drew in a deep breath and willed her pulse to slow.

“Maggie,” Xander snapped, thumping the door again impatiently.

Maggie scurried forward, fearful he might actually break the door down before she could finish crossing the room. She wrenched the door open, but the sight of a furious Xander glaring at her made her forget whatever it was she’d been about to say.

“You will come down now,” Xander barked. “Eat and practice. No more pouting because Gideon’s too stupid to think before he speaks.” Without another word, Xander disappeared in a wave of distorted air.

Maggie stood in the doorway, mouth hanging open, blinking.

Kyanna and Carly had spent the better part of the day cajoling and coddling her. And they’d only made her feel sorry for herself. But just like that, with a few unlikely words, Xander had managed to dispel her embarrassment, shifting the blame where it deserved to be.

On Gideon and his stupid mouth.

Huh? Who’da thunk it?
Xander was actually pretty good at this comforting stuff.

Bemused, Maggie made her way to the kitchen.

As she stepped inside the room, Maggie glanced uneasily around. Carly sat on Niklas’s lap, his arms snug around her as he nuzzled the side of her neck. Kyanna bustled near the counter, turning when she heard Maggie enter, a measuring cup in her hand. Xander sat at the table, balancing a lethal looking dagger as long as his forearm on the tip of his finger by the dagger’s point. She offered Xander a tight-lipped nod of appreciation.

Kyanna caught the exchange. Casting a suspicious gaze at Xander, she asked, “Is that where you went? Tell me you didn’t bully her into coming down if she wasn’t ready.”

“She was ready,” Xander said, deadpan.

“You yelled at her, didn’t you?” Kyanna crossed her arms and shook her head in obvious disappointment. Before Maggie could offer protest, Kyanna insisted, “Apologize.”

Maggie thrust a hand up, frantically shaking her head. “Oh, no—”

“It’s okay, Maggie,” Kyanna interrupted, watching Xander. Xander stared back, unmoving but for the tiny tic that had begun in his cheek. “Tell her you’re sorry for yelling at her, Xander. She’s had a…a rough day. If she’d rather not have to deal with us, then—”

“Kyanna!” Maggie snapped in exasperation, gaining a startled look from both women. Both demons, of course, remained unfazed. “Xander didn’t yell at me.” Technically, he hadn’t shouted. Just used a very…
ah
, very stern voice. “And I was ready to come down.” Her attention skated to Xander, just long enough to connect meaningfully before she glanced back to Kyanna. “I was pouting.” Somehow, she didn’t think Kyanna would take it at all well that Xander had been the one to helpfully point out that fact. “But I’m done now. I still have a lot of work ahead of me.” She offered the room at large a small smile. “And I’m hungry.”

“Oh. Oh! Well, then,” Kyanna said with a brilliant smile. She hurried to the oven, grabbed up a hot pad, and bent down to pull out a pan of dinner rolls. “We’re just getting ready to eat, and there’s food aplenty. Carly always cooks enough for a small army. Maggie, would you mind getting the lemonade from the refrigerator? Xander, the chicken should be done now. Would you mind?”

Maggie glanced at Xander one more time before she went to do as Kyanna asked. Xander met her glance and nodded his head ever so slightly. A slight crease formed in his cheek as the very edge of his mouth curled up a tiny bit. She hoped that was approval glinting in his eyes as he turned to head out the back door.

A short while later, as the small group sat around the table digging into the tasty food, Xander’s phone rang.

Maggie watched as he flipped his phone to his ear and barked, “Yeah?”

His brow knitted in a deep frown as he stared absently at the salt shaker. “When?” Silence. “No.”

More silence.

“Need backup?” Xander had transferred his attention to his plate. He listened for a moment more, then thumbed the phone off and shoved it into his pocket. He picked his fork up, took a bite of roasted potato, and chewed slowly.

“Well,” Kyanna finally demanded on behalf of the room at large, “who was that? Sebastian?”

“Yeah,” Xander said before scooping up another bite.

Kyanna growled, and the next thing Maggie knew, a wadded up linen napkin went sailing through the air to smack Xander in the face.

Xander looked up, his expression incredulous. “What happened to your precious table manners, Kyanna?”

“Stop making me pull teeth, demon,” Kyanna snapped, glaring at her mate. “Is he all right? Did he find the Guardian’s descendant? Does he need help?”

“Found her, and then lost her again.”

“I’m sorry, who is Sebastian?” Maggie asked. Hadn’t Kyanna mentioned him before? Had he been the blond in her vision? Everything was fast becoming a jumbled mess lately.

“Vengeance,” Niklas supplied.

“He’s really a very sweet guy,” Carly rushed to assure her. “You’ll love him. Great sense of humor. So considerate. Looks a lot like that guy who plays that Norse god in those Marvel movies.”

Beside her, Niklas growled, and his eyes narrowed. “A Norse god?”

“Well, he kind of does look like one, actually,” Kyanna agreed with a helpless shrug.

That earned a fierce scowl from Xander. “And you’ve seen so many of those, have you?”

“I don’t think I’ll be leaving you with Sebastian anymore,” Niklas snapped in Carly’s direction. “He doesn’t need any more women in his harem.”

Carly shot Maggie a mischievous grin. “Oh, I don’t know. What do you think, Kyanna? If there was ever a harem to join, that would be the one to—”

She wasn’t given the chance to finish. Niklas snatched her from her seat and dragged her across his lap. Holding tight to the squirming, protesting woman in his arms, he kissed her into submission. Kissed her senseless. By the time he was finished staking his claim, they were both breathing heavily and the room held a new kind of tension.

With one last searing look, Niklas deposited Carly unceremoniously back onto her own seat. Color rode high on her cheeks. She looked slightly dazed as she searched the table for something.

Niklas didn’t even try to stifle his iniquitous smirk. He reached over and lifted Carly’s hand—which was already clutching the fork in question—so she would finally notice it.

“In all fairness, Sebastian does actually look—” Kyanna gasped as she, too, was abruptly snatched up and found herself perched firmly on Xander’s lap.

Maggie’s mouth dropped open, only to snap closed as Xander gripped the back of Kyanna’s neck in what looked like an inescapable hold. He dragged his wife closer, his gaze locked on hers. A wealth of meaning seemed to pass silently between the couple, and then Xander’s mouth claimed Kyanna’s. Not as Maggie had expected of the fierce warrior, all heat and force. Instead, Xander seduced Kyanna with an ever-lingering series of slow nibbles and nips. Gently, leisurely deepening each sweep until Kyanna moaned softly and wrapped her arms around his neck in submission, yielding all. Only then did he angle his head and sweep her into the fire.

When Xander eventually released Kyanna, she leaned back with a little whoosh of air and a disgruntled half frown, half smile. She sighed, shaking her head as she returned to her own seat.

Feeling like a voyeur, Maggie cleared her throat.

“So…ah, where was it that Gideon went again? He didn’t exactly say.” She forked up a piece of juicy herbed chicken, hoping to look nonchalant.

A death pall descended over the room. She frowned, glancing around at her companions. Had she just committed some terrible sin? She’d only asked a simple question.

Kyanna and Carly stared at each other, wide-eyed. Seemingly by mutual agreement, they both bent to their plates and shoved enormous heaps of food into their mouths.

Niklas shifted in his seat, toying with his fork.

“What?” Maggie glanced around the table. “Is it a national secret or something?”

A thought occurred to her, and she set her spoon down on the edge of her plate, the food in her stomach turning into a rock. What if Gideon had gone out to see how many other women he could touch?

“He left to feed,” Xander rasped, calmly scooping up a heaping bite as though discussing the weather.

“Xander!” Kyanna mumbled around a mouthful of food.

Carly began choking. Niklas reached over to helpfully pound her on the back.

Maggie looked down at the small mountain of food on the table, frowning in confusion. Feed?

“She should know,” Xander said to Niklas.

Niklas stared at him in silent contemplation. Then, “It’s Gideon’s place to decide if she needs to know.”

“Know what?” Maggie asked, her focus bouncing between the two males as Kyanna and Carly fell silent. The strain around the table was thick enough to cut with a knife.

“His head isn’t screwed on straight right now,” Xander reminded Niklas, ignoring Maggie’s question. “And what of the babe? What if it takes after its father?” he added. “She needs to know.”

“He’s right, Niklas,” Carly said softly, reaching out to lay her hand over his on the table.

Niklas turned his hand over and laced their fingers together. He drew a deep breath and shot one last glance at Xander, who nodded.

“Maggie,” Niklas began, and she braced herself, for the tone he used was not at all something one would associate with butterflies and puppy dogs, “demons don’t feed like humans do.”

She glanced at the half-empty plates in front of Xander and Niklas and frowned. What was he talking about? She’d been sitting there, watching both of them shoveling in food like there was no tomorrow.