The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (39 page)

“I didn’t realize you had the laser beam thing too. Thought it was just the others. Can I learn that? Guns are bulky.”

He laughed in spite of himself and said, “You’re crazy. How would I explain that to Sean? This is already going to piss him off. If I bring you back with killing powers, he’ll take my head off.”

“Oh, and speaking of Sean. We haven’t done anything wrong here. So don’t feel guilty about all those sexy thoughts you had about me and confess everything. Those feelings are beyond our control here. It’s the magic of this place.” He shrugged like it couldn’t be helped.

“I’m taking you back tonight though. It’s harder to resist the longer we’re here. If we stay much longer, I won’t be able to resist your pull, and we would spend day and night making love on every available surface.” He paused and smiled wickedly for a minute.

“Where was I? Oh, my point is I
didn’t
make love to you against a tree,
in
the ocean,
by
the ocean, on the floor,
near
the altar,
on
the altar or any other place the two us have fantasized about.”

“
On
the altar? Ewww!” I closed my eyes and pictured him standing naked and erect with the golden amulet hanging from his neck. My entire body clenched at the sight. I crossed my legs tightly.

“What? The altar’s too creepy for you?” He leaned forward and ran his fingers up the back of my neck until goose bumps broke out and chased after the shiver running down my spine.

Smiling as my eyes rolled back in my head, he lowered his voice to a velvety purr. ”You see? It’s part of the magic of this place. In the beginning, God created the Garden, but there were no humans to worship Him. So God created Adam and then Eve. Together, they created mankind…you know the story.” Completely serious, he added, “We’re on another plane here.”

“The Garden of Eden?” I giggled at such a crazy notion.

“Do you still want to repopulate the world from scratch?” He leaned in close and stroked my cheek with a fingertip.

I purred like a cat and rubbed my face against his hand.

“My point, exactly.”

“READY?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“It’s going to be okay. I promise.” He grinned down at me and actually winked. I was going to miss this relaxed version of Killian.

“Hold on,” he said and before I could blink twice, we were back at the penthouse.

He’d brought us to the rooftop garden instead of the foyer. Glancing around, I could tell it was very late. The sky was dark and most of the lights were off in the looming buildings. The streets below us were quiet. Thunder rumbled above me, and I caught a flash of lightning from the corner of my eye. The air smelled of rain and ozone. A storm was coming. Killian didn’t move towards the door as I expected he would. He was concentrating on something unseen. He frowned and stopped me from touching the door handle.

My hand froze just before I grabbed it and I realized something was wrong. I felt it too. My stomach tightened uneasily and I reached for my gun. No gun. Crap.

“What’s happened?” I whispered.

“Shh.” He pointed a finger at his temple.

What’s wrong?

There’s been a fight. I smell demon. Don’t touch the door. It’s been marked. Wait here for a minute.

He vanished into the night. Antsy, I paced around the garden. Something was wrong here. Large drops of rain plopped on my head and a gust of wind nearly knocked me over. I grabbed onto one of the chairs and swore under my breath. After what felt like eternity, Killian was back.

Take my hand.

As soon as I linked my fingers with his, we were in the kitchen. Whoa! The kitchen was a mess. Chairs were overturned and splintered. Some of the cabinets were hanging open with their doors blown off or hanging by a hinge. The marble top of the island was…melted? How’s that possible?

What the heck?
I gestured to the marble.
Can we talk now?

“Yeah, it’s okay. The house is empty.” He nodded towards the marble. “No idea, but it can’t be good.”

“Where is everybody? I don’t sense them at all. Was anybody hurt?”

He frowned and answered, “There’s blood in your bedroom. It’s one of ours, but I don’t know whose it is.”

He reached out and grabbed my wrist as I started for the hallway. “You don’t need to see that!” In a low voice, he added, “Don’t worry; it’s not enough to kill someone.”

“We need to find them.”

He leaned against the counter and said, “Let me think for a minute and we’ll go. It’s probably not safe to stay here since it’s been compromised.”

“Dec? Declan? Where are you, Dec? Can you hear me?” I looked at the ceiling as I called his name.

Killian snorted rudely. “You don’t have to look up for it to work. Why do humans always assume that helps?”

I scowled at him and said, “Oh, shut up!”

A new voice spoke from the hallway. “Well, well. Look who’s back.”

James.

Preternaturally alert, Killian peeled away from the counter. His shoulders swelled with barely leashed power. He would kill James at the first hint of violence. We’d had a long talk about James and Killian was itching to have a chat with him.

“Nice timing, James. I don’t suppose you can tell us what happened here?” His voice was dangerously even.

Sauntering into the room, James ignored me completely and shrugged. “I’ve got no idea. I just got here myself.” His expression was full of concern as he took in the destruction.

“Of course, if you would’ve been here, you would know what happened. How was your
vacation
?”

I didn’t see him move, but in the next instant, Killian had James up against the wall with one hand wrapped around his throat. James’ eyes bulged as he struggled to breathe while clawing at Killian’s hands. Killian held him in place effortlessly and I marveled at this. How powerful was he that he could subdue other Primani? I thought they were all equally strong. Well, I guess you learned something new every day.

James was turning an interesting shade of eggplant.

“Hey, you may want to let him breathe…unless you’re planning to kill him. That works for me, but you’ll have to explain it to Alex.” I shrugged and turned my back.

The sound of ragged breathing told me he let James go. Probably that was the best move for now. James was an asshole, but we didn’t have any proof he was dirty. Why would he be? After all, a Primani had the perfect life. It would be crazy to jeopardize that.

With a look of pure venom, James vanished.

Killian cracked his knuckles and commented lightly, “You’ve gotten so bloodthirsty, Princess. I’m proud of you!”

The whole incident with James had taken about a minute, and I barely had time to turn around when Dec appeared in the doorway. Sean was right beside him.

“Oh, thank God! You’re all right!” I started towards them and hesitated. They didn’t look especially happy to see me.

Dec’s face brightened but he said reproachfully, “Of course, we’re all right. No thanks to you.”

Ouch.

Sean’s eyes met mine and I stiffened. His eyes were hard as stone as they swept over me. His expression insolent as he raked his gaze over my body from head to toe.  His lips were pressed together in a hard line and anger radiated like the sun. The muscles in his arms corded with tension as he unclenched his fists. ‘Pissed’ was an understatement. He was furious and was about to explode. I wisely took a step back and he smiled. This was definitely not the smile I wanted to see. This was the feral smile they displayed just before they killed someone. It always reminded me of a predator with the canine teeth bared. Rarely did I see it on Sean, though Killian had perfected it.

Bravely, or maybe stupidly, I held up my hands and tried to talk to him. I started with, “Baby, I--” That’s all I said before he cut me off.

“Shut up, Mica.” There was no mercy in his voice.

I took an outraged step in his direction and he lifted his hand. I bounced off an invisible wall and fell onto my butt. No one moved. Dec was frozen with shock. It didn’t hurt anything but my pride and my own temper caught fire then. Who did he think he was? Since when did he get all physical with me? I stood up and snarled right back at him.

“You bully! I will
not
shut up. And don’t even
think
about cutting off my audio!” I advanced to the invisible shield and glared up at him from there.

“I’ve been through hell and back because of you and you will
not
be pissed off at me. Do you hear me?” I emphasized my words by jabbing my finger at his chest. He could throw me back to Plattsburgh if he wanted, but I wasn’t going to put up with this self-righteous attitude.

Suddenly, he snatched my hand and flipped it over. The scabbed outline of the rune stood out like a brand.

“No, it can’t be,” he whispered.

The raw fury in his eyes vanished and a look of wonder replaced it. Without a word, he closed his eyes and traced the rune over and over again. Each touch of his finger drew my blood like a magnet and the rune was soon outlined in pale gold. When he stopped, my hand tingled warmly. He lifted his eyes to Killian.

“
Sgaine Dutre
?”
His voice was hushed with awe.

Killian met his gaze gravely but didn’t speak. He didn’t actually move, but it felt like he was suddenly closer to me. The air itself shifted faintly and I felt a breath of air slip over my chest. After a minute, he lowered his gaze to my heart and closed his eyes. Looking a little dazed, Sean reached for my shirt and carefully pulled the shoulder down. He stared at the rune and back at Killian. Then, to my surprise, he bowed his head respectfully and said softly, “
Sgaine Dutre dio
, my brother.”

I woke up to the sound of people talking, or yelling from the sound of it. Maybe they need a referee? I stretched and reached for my clothes. It felt good to be back in the farmhouse. We’d left Manhattan immediately after Sean and Dec got there. I slept most of the drive back and crawled into our bed as soon as we pulled into the driveway. Sean slept on the couch, I think.

Now I tried to do something with my hair, but it was impossible. It was so unevenly cut I couldn’t keep it pulled back. It lay in shiny brown chunky spikes all over the place. It accentuated my eyes though…Great, I looked like freakin’ Tinkerbell. There was no help for it, so I headed for the living room.

Sean and Killian were talking when I walked in. Both glanced in my direction but didn’t pause in their conversation. Dec waved at me from the table.

“So what’s all the yelling about?” I asked him.

“We got word from Alex that Jordan is still missing. It’s crazy. No one’s seen an angel just disappear like that. Nobody has seen him, and there’s not much we can do about it. No idea where to look.” He scooped up a bite of scrambled eggs and popped it into his mouth.

“There isn’t anything at all?”

He swallowed some milk and said, “Rumors here and there. Alexandyr and Dimitri swear they saw Jordan in LA a few weeks ago. They were down low in one of those swanky nightclubs stalking Sarin. They were ghost inside one of the private rooms when they saw a guy who looked like Jordan. He disappeared before they could question him.”

And who are these people? At my puzzled look, he elaborated with an irritated tone. “Sarin’s a pain in the ass. Part human, part demon. He’s been on our list for a hundred years. Sean’s probably pissed he wasn’t there. He’s got a personal issue with Sarin. Alex and Dimitri are Primani. You’ll meet them eventually, if you’re really lucky!”

“Ghost?” I prodded.

“Oh, sorry. Invisible, unnoticeable, blending in as an extreme sport…no one can see us. Etcetera, etcetera.”

Oh, that’s what they called it. Cool.

“So…the yelling?”

“Oh, that.” He waved a hand like it was no big deal. “Sean was thanking Killian for bringing you home…among other things.” He said the last part under his breath.

“Huh. I could swear I heard the f-bomb an awful lot. Funny that he’d add that to a simple ‘thank you.‘ But what do I know? Maybe that’s how you Primani talk.”

He blushed and stuffed more eggs into his mouth.

I helped myself to a bowl of cereal and munched a spoonful. Hmm. Jordan was still missing so that means I really did see him hurt on the kitchen floor. That means that wasn’t a dream or a trick of the demon. That’s bad since he was really hurt…I liked Jordan and I was really hoping he wasn’t dead.

“I still think James did it.”

Dec whipped around and said vehemently, “I wish we could prove that. He’s such an asshole! I would love to bring him down. But there’s no evidence at all and no motive.”

“Fingerprints? DNA? Did anyone check that stuff? It could’ve been humans for all we know. Maybe a robbery?”

He laughed, “Nah, not likely. They can’t get inside unless we let them in. The place was protected. Jordan wouldn’t let anyone in that he didn’t expect or know.”

“Protected? Cool. But how did I get in?”

“You’re one of us now. You have privileges. Though after last night’s attack…we’ll have to purge it of demonic tracers and add new protection to it. Good thing we’ve got this place.”

“All the more reason to wonder about James,” I said thoughtfully. Hmm. “Does James know about this place?” We
had
been attacked here once before.

“I don’t think he knows about it. He’s never been here. And Ramon was working for a run-of-the-mill human loser who was working for a lower-level demon. Ramon never heard the demon’s name, so we still don’t know who that was.” He finished a last bite of toast and swigged a glass of milk. I watched the strong muscles work in his neck as he chugged the milk. I had to smile at the sight. Dec was beautifully made. I was surrounded by eye-candy.

“Are you starving, Dec? You just killed about a dozen eggs and a half pound of bacon.” I started to laugh but then realized my mistake. “Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie. Killian told me you haven’t been eating. I feel like such a jerk.”

Unfazed, he patted my hand. “No worries, darlin’. You can’t help yourself. I get it.”

“Hey, I’m really sincere here! I didn’t realize how much you worried about me until the last few days. Killian helped me to see. I remember how it was when Sean…” I broke off my maudlin train of thought.

“Sooooo totally changing the subject since I’m not an emotional guy...where did you go when you guys left?”

Thankful for his understanding, I said, “Eden. How long were we gone?”

His eyebrows went straight up at that. “How long do you
think
you were gone? You don’t know?”

“I don’t know…maybe three days?” I really didn’t know. It was another plane for crying out loud. Who knew how time flowed there?

He burst out laughing and didn’t stop. Killian and Sean broke off their conversation and looked over with surprise. What’s so funny? Killian and Sean finally got up and wandered over to stare at us with concern. Maybe Dec had finally lost it?

Seeing Killian, Dec got himself under control and threw him a challenging look. “Uh, Killian, do you want to tell Mica how many days you two were gone?”