The Space Between (The Book of Phoenix) (15 page)

“What about downstairs? Is there a reason you picked the unit with the deadly steps?”

“This one’s in the best shape, especially now that I spent five hours cleaning it. Those down there . . . just no way. I’d rather sleep in my Jeep.”

“Not exactly safe,” Micah muttered. He ran a gloved hand over the short hairs on the back of his head. “Look, I can come by later and bring Sammy up.”

“What? No! I can’t ask you to do that.”

“It’s no problem.” Micah made his way to the first rungs of the ladder, as if trying to escape any further argument from me. Then he muttered something I wasn’t sure he meant for me to hear: “I’d feel better checking on you anyway.”

I chose not to respond because in a way the words prickled me—I can take care of myself! I wanted to protest—but on the other hand, I was kind of glad he’d be coming back. Just in case the stalker-dude did, too.

After Micah left, I gathered some money and my keys, shut the door and made my way down the ladder. Sammy and I walked to the pizza parlor down the street. Although I’d bought a bunch of food, mentioning pizza to Micah had set off a craving I didn’t want to fight. Besides, I couldn’t bring myself to sit upstairs, eating, while Sammy was stuck on the ground by himself. He wouldn’t run away or even go exploring without me—he was a good dog and loved me. I wanted to show him I deserved his loyalty, so I spent the evening outside with him, sitting on the beach and watching the waves as the sky pulled its glittering blanket of night over the world.

Eventually, however, I had to return to the apartment to get a drink and use the bathroom, which meant leaving him for a few minutes. As luck would have it, that’s when all hell broke loose. I was still buttoning my jeans as I ran out of the bathroom at the sound of Sammy’s frantic barks and growls. I’d never heard my Sammy sound so vicious.

“Stay up there!” Micah’s shout boomed from the darkness below, followed by the sounds of some kind of fight. Sammy was still barking and growling, and I could see his light fur as he bounced around. They weren’t fighting each other. So who?

When Sammy let out a yelp of pain, I pulled my switchblade out of my pocket, turned in the doorway and set one foot on a rung. The whole ladder trembled. I looked down to find a shaved head already halfway up the ladder. Not Micah’s dark hair on that head. Rather, Micah and Billy Idol-dude came into a patch of light on the ground, throwing blows at each other. Even as he punched the other guy, Micah’s foot swung out and kicked the bottom of the ladder. The whole thing slid to the side, then tumbled to the ground, baldy on top of it. I hopped back inside just in time.

Stuck, I could only watch as Micah fought with both men down below. Sammy helped, biting baldy’s leg and yanking as hard as he could until his man went down. Then he went for the man’s face, but baldy’s fist plowed into Sammy’s head. I screamed as my dog flew to the side, but he shot right up and charged again. This time he went directly for the balls. The guy fell to his knees, screaming, trying to push Sammy away but unable. I couldn’t have been prouder of my baby. Micah’s guy, also severely beaten, twisted out of Micah’s grip and dove for the overgrown bushes at the side of the property. Sammy finally let go of baldy, who also jumped into the foliage. Then two black shadows rose from the shrubs and flew off. Very similar to those in the icy alley in Virginia.

Micah let out an angry yell.

In a split second, he had the ladder up and Sammy under one arm, and he was flying up the side of the house. We both dropped to our knees by my dog, checking him for injuries. Blood matted the fur by his shoulder—a cut made by a knife. It wasn’t bad and had already stopped bleeding. Thankfully, we found no other injuries. As we rose to our feet, I couldn’t help but inspect Micah.

When he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me against the wall, I figured he wasn’t hurt.

“Who the hell are they?” he barked. “Who are
you
?”

I shook my head, my eyes wide. “I don’t know! What do you mean?”

“Something’s going on here, and I want to know what.” He let go of my shoulders, only to grab the bandage on my wrist and yank. I gasped, half at the pain of the little hairs being ripped out and half at surprise. “What the fuck is this? Huh, Jacey? How do you explain it all?”

I pulled my arm across my body. “I told you. I scraped it going down the ladder.”

What was wrong with him?

He leaned closer to me, his face right in mine. “Don’t. Lie. To. Me. That’s not a scrape.”

“What do you—” I held my arm out, and my jaw fell open. He was right. The scrape—the scab I’d so painfully created—was gone. The flame was more defined and brighter than ever.

“Explain it,” Micah ordered. He held up his own arm. “Explain this!”

If my jaw could drop any farther, it’d be bruised from hitting the ground. A flame, identical to mine, marked Micah’s skin directly under his right wrist.

“I . . . I don’t . . .” I shook my head as my mouth stammered over the words. “I have no idea. Where did you get it?” More words began to fight their way out. “And what do you mean, ‘explain’?
You
explain. You tell me what’s going on, because I have no idea!”

Micah threw his arms up in the air. The open door must have caught his attention because he reached over and slammed it closed. Then he turned back to me and placed one hand against the wall on each side of my head and leaned even closer than before, forcing me to press my back against the wall.

“You give me flack for being here, but you showed up after me. You could have followed me here. Brought your screwed up henchmen with you, pretending to stalk you but it’s really me they’re after, huh? And this mark? It showed up this afternoon out of nowhere. Nowhere! And it won’t go away. What the hell is going on?”

My throat worked at a swallow while my lungs tried to draw in air at the same time. Both functions failed. I stared into Micah’s eyes, drowning in them, completely losing myself in their dark pools, in
him
. I fought the urge to close the gap separating us, to press into him, become
within
him. The word
dyad
tumbled around my head once again.

“Jacey!” His hands were on my shoulders again, shaking me. “Breathe.”

His voice sounded so far away although his eyes were still right there, pulling me in. Pinpricks of light flashed across my vision. My body softened, and I was okay with that because it was only a physical presence that mattered little. My soul was what mattered now. I
did
have one. We both did. And they were meant to be one. Our souls were two halves of one whole. I believed this with an absolute certainty.

“Jacey, please,” Micah pleaded, his voice coming closer, begging me now rather than yelling. “Just breathe.”

I realized his voice sounded so close now because his lips were against my ear. His muscular arms wrapped around my shoulders and cradled me against his hard chest. His breath caught, and now
he
seemed to be losing it. His body sagged into mine, and we barely held each other up. He wouldn’t let go of me, but held tightly, and we both fell against the wall, then slid down it. We settled into a heap on the floor, legs entangled, arms wrapped around each other, foreheads pressed together. His eyes still never left mine, but they widened and deepened, and somehow I knew he was experiencing the same thing I had. His hands came to my face, holding me still. We both panted, breathing each other’s air as something both magnificent and terrifying exchanged between us.

Something within me rose, more burning than physical desire, an overwhelming urge straight from the core of my existence. A primal, desperate compulsion to close the space between us until there was nothing, until we became one, indistinguishable mass. The need to bond.

“Jacey,” Micah whispered. His eyes broke away from mine and stared at my lips as his tongue swiped over his own. “I need to . . . Can I . . . ?”

I nodded infinitesimally, and his mouth pressed against mine.

Our eyes closed, but the connection didn’t break. It strengthened. He was gentle at first but only momentarily as the need for more exploded in both of us. His lips parted, and his tongue traced mine before pushing them open. Our tongues danced playfully, his darting in and out, barely brushing against mine, but then I opened my mouth more and let him in. And it was as if I let
all
of him in.

An intense rush flowed through me, filled me completely as though I’d been an empty vessel, made me feel whole although I’d never felt incomplete before. What I can only call our souls coming together.

I’m not the greatest writer. I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t even know if I could draw or paint what happened to us. Nobody would understand. Like the grief of a loved one’s death, maybe those feelings weren’t meant to be captured. All I can say is I’d never before believed in souls and spirits until then, but I can’t deny ours greeted each other and bonded,
melded
, became one like they were supposed to be.

The feeling shook me to the core, turning everything I believed in upside down, freaking me out some, but filling me with crazed wonder, too.
The dyads are whole again.
With this nonsensical thought, a sense of peace washed over me.

It didn’t last for long, though.

Chapter 12

  Our hands slid over each other’s faces, necks, shoulders, daring to go further in exploration. The need for each other became more physical than anything, and when this thought registered in my mind, I forced myself to pull away before we went too far. Micah’s eyes opened, and we stared at each other for a moment that lasted an eternity. In my peripheral vision, I saw Sammy sitting behind him, watching us, his head tilted to the side, his ears up, and his tail wagging. I blinked. Micah sucked in a breath. Our connection broke, and in an instant, he was on his feet.

“What the hell was that?” Micah breathed, staring at me like I was some kind of freak. As if I had attacked him or something. The accusation in both his tone and his eyes hurt, and I immediately became defensive.

“Most guys call it the best they’ve ever had,” I snapped. “Most” guys as in three of the four I’ve ever even kissed, but that was beside the point.

“You know what I mean,” he growled. His hands flew up and clasped together behind his head, and he began to pace. I slowly rose to my feet, hoping my noodle-like legs would hold me.

I did know what he meant, but I swallowed my pride. “Don’t get your panties in such a bunch. It was just a kiss,” I muttered.

My lips and chin felt swollen and rough, as if it was more than a simple kiss, though. His sexy stubble had done quite the number on my face for just a kiss. I glanced at the clock and couldn’t believe over two hours had passed.

He was suddenly in front of me, his hands on my face gently but firmly. “If it was just a kiss, I’d be begging you for more because that’s all I’ve wanted to do all day.
That
—what happened just now—was more than a kiss, and you know it.” He let go of me and began to pace again. I leaned against the wall, my legs too wobbly to hold myself up. “So what was it? What’s going on? First the mark . . . tattoo . . . whatever it is. Then those men. And now that . . . not just a kiss thing. You doing some kind of voodoo punk magic shit on me?”

I chuckled darkly. “As if such a thing existed.”

“Then what is it, Jacey?” he yelled.

Adrenaline shot through my veins. I pushed off the wall and stepped in front of him.

“I don’t know,” I said through clenched teeth as I glared up at his face. “But it’s not
me
doing this, so I’d appreciate it if you’d back the hell off me. This is wigging me out, too, you know.”

He studied my face for several moments, waiting for my expression to break and show my lie. But I wasn’t lying, and he eventually must have realized this. The sharp pierce of his mocha-brown eyes softened before he turned away from me. He walked over to the French doors and stared out into the blackness beyond. Or maybe he watched the bar’s parking lot.

“Why don’t we start with those men?” I suggested, hoping that talking this out would lead to some answers. “What happened?”

Micah heaved out a breath before turning around to face me. “I came over to bring Sammy up. When I came around the corner, he was at the bottom of the ladder, the hair on his back raised and his teeth bared at two men dressed all in black. When I asked who they were, the blond said he was a friend of yours. Sammy started barking like a mad-dog, startling them, and they went into attack mode. The blond came after me while the bald guy ran for the ladder. You know the rest.”

“They’re definitely no friends of mine,” I said. Micah’s eyes showed he wasn’t sure whether to believe me. “Look, the guy was behind me in line at the grocery store. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him, I swear. He creeped me out, so I left the line.”

“They said something about how they should have made the hit in Virginia.”

I threw my hands in the air with exasperation. “What do you want from me, Micah? I’ve never seen them before. I swear it! And why are you so paranoid? Maybe they meant a hit on
me
. They were at
my
place, after all.”