by Lisa Hughey
“There is a war coming,” Zach said abruptly. “Whether you believe me or not is inconsequential.”
Lovely.
“I am tasked with protecting the humans on Earth and I will do my duty,” Zach said patiently.
“Duty,” Shasa said. “Wow, you really know how to mount a persuasive argument.”
He shrugged. “Not my problem.”
Shasa rolled her eyes. But he stood there silently, as if he knew she couldn’t stand to not know what he was talking about. He didn’t elaborate.
Her impatience grew. “What do you mean, war?”
“Has your mother told you what your special abilities are?”
Wow, he was infuriating. He kept doling out bits of information, as if he planned to reel her in with small bites, rather than just explain. “What war?”
“It’s…complicated.”
“Life is complicated.” Her anger, never far from the surface, bubbled up.
As if he couldn’t help himself, he sighed and closed his eyes. His fingers brushed along her cheek and cupped the back of her head. “You used to have more joy.”
The gentleness in his touch was at complete odds with his severe features.
You used to. Dream boy. She wanted to ask but suddenly she was afraid of the answers. Better to focus on now rather than the completely insane thought that they had...what? Known each other in another life?
“War,” she reminded him softly when he just continued to stare at his rough pale fingers against her darker, smoother skin.
“Grigori, sworn enemies of the Archangels in the Realm, banished years ago, have now escaped and want to wreak havoc and destruction on the Earth.”
Her eyes widened as he continued his story in succinct words.
“They are in partnership with the Nephilim, a race of hybrid half human/ half angels who were supposedly wiped out of existence hundreds of years ago.”
“Grigori? Nephilim?” It was as if he’d invented a new language. These terms had no meaning. No context. Surely he couldn’t be serious. “And what does that have to do with me?”
“You will be needed for defense when they launch the second phase of their attack.”
She decided to indulge him. “What was the first phase?”
“We foiled a plot to disable the internet.”
“Oooh, people can’t check their Facebook. The Universe will be in chaos,” she mocked.
He flicked his fingers impatiently. “Although I do not profess to understand all the ramifications, my understanding is that anarchy would prevail if financial institutions and main systems of communication were to collapse for an indefinite period of time.”
Okay, that actually made sense. After all, her livelihood depended on a functioning internet. But still. “How could I possibly help—”
“The second phase of the plot is to unleash tsunamis on the coasts. That was supposed to happen while the masses were embroiled in confusion from the breakdown of the internet.”
“The internet didn’t collapse.” She’d bought her airline ticket on it this morning.
“True.” Zach conceded. “We believe they plan to continue with the next phase regardless.”
She laughed, the sound rough and low in her throat. Seriously? “You actually believe this.” He was gorgeous, possibly even more hot in person than in her dream. He had an edge that had been missing during her sleeping memories. But clearly he was one hue short of a full color wheel.
He ignored her question. “You have a natural talent for sensing water flow beneath the Earth’s surface. Have you ever had a reaction to the energy of the Earth?”
“Energy? Of the Earth?” She scoffed. “What are you talking about?”
“You must have the ability to suss out the most powerful ley lines.”
“Ley lines,” she said flatly. “More magic.”
“The only way you could have survived living in the desert is to be near the powerful magic of ley lines.”
She laughed. Survived. That’s what she’d been doing. She lived in the middle of nowhere. Most of her business was conducted on the internet, with a limited amount in small boutiques in nearby towns. She painted landscapes of her greatest fear, and sold them thru a virtual store. That brought her up short. If he was truthful about crashing the internet, it meant that her livelihood had been, was, in danger.
But what she seemed to be stuck on was his insistence that she had some magical power. She rarely left her house. She rarely dated. She was almost a recluse. She didn’t connect with anyone. And he somehow thought that she had some prescient ability to find ley lines.
“It’s time,” he said impatiently.
“For what?” Alice and the rabbit hole had nothing on him.
“I need to transition you.”
She didn’t know what that meant either. “What does that even mean?” It was then she knew she had finally tipped over that indistinct line between sanity and crazy, because the idea of being a savior, of helping him appealed to her. But she couldn’t, even if the opportunity existed, because she had to stay and help her mother.
She wasn’t even sure why she wasn’t kicking this guy to the curb and heading back inside. Except, he’d been right about the water. Every moment she stood in the rain, she felt better.
As if her body were blossoming like a rose, her petals opening and unfurling into glorious bloom.
She felt amazing.
Better than she’d felt in forever. The thought of walking away, of abandoning how good she felt, left her empty and bereft. Moreover, she didn’t want him to leave.
Even with his surly attitude and crazy claims, he brought an excitement and anticipation that had been lacking in her life.
She felt energized, buoyant, happy.
Jeez, her thoughts were all over the place. He couldn’t possibly be making her feel better and yet, she was loathe to step away from him.
“I must do the final transfer of power.”
He crowded closer.
Attraction pulsed beneath the surface, like the hidden pull of the current just waiting to drag her under.
“Where is your mark?”
She didn’t know what he was talking about. “What mark?”
“It would be shaped like a target symbol.”
Shasa nodded slowly. “I have a birthmark.” But no way in hell was he getting near her birthmark. Her body flushed, and just the thought of showing him the mark caused to her ignite in a rush of heat. She was not baring that birthmark, low on her stomach nearly at the top of her curls to this guy. Oh, hells no.
***
Shasa was his destiny.
Even as he rejected the tantalizing idea, that sentiment burrowed into his mind and pulsed in his subconscious until he wanted to worry at it like a sore tooth. She couldn’t be his destiny. He had killed her once before. He wasn’t sure he could survive it if he hurt her again.
But, damn the Cosmos, he wanted her.
Frustration ate at him, even as he waited for her answer. They didn’t have time for her hesitation. There was still much to do to stop the Grigori.
She pursed her mouth, getting ready to deny him. Rejection was in every line of her stiff form. He imagined those lips skimming his flesh and tasting him. He knew that he had to stop these sexual thoughts.
He needed to get grip on his emotions and take care of her, protect her. From himself, from his forbidden desires, from any other threat.
His original instinct was to get rid of her.
Get her far away from him so that he could keep her safe. But as much as he had hoped that he could leave her and find another human Angel, he realized that he had no hope of leaving her now. He must ignore the electricity that arced between them.
“Your reaction to water is so extreme. I need your help.” Zach confessed.
She snorted.
She was still rejecting him and his assertions so he needed to convince her. “You have been really ill.” He eyed her skin, the dark circles underneath her beautifu
l violet eyes were slowly disappearing as she absorbed more of the energy restoring water. The proof of her reaction to water was in her reinvigorated appearance. “But you are starting to feel much better.”
She gave him a dark look. “That’s none of your business.”
But it was his calling to harness her power and train her to be of use to both the Realm and Earth. At this point as much as it pained him, it didn’t matter what she wanted. She was vital to their fight against the Grigori. “You are needed. The inhabitants of Earth are in danger. I need your abilities. You must embrace your power, embrace your purpose.”
“My purpose?” Her voice rose. She turned and walked away from him.
But Zach couldn’t let her leave.
“Wait.” He grabbed her wrist, curled his fingers around the delicate bones.
As if he’d been struck by lightning, he stood rooted to the ground. The overwhelming power of sexual need arced between them like water conducting electricity. She hadn’t moved since his skin touched hers.
Zach wanted to howl in frustration.
He forced himself to let go of her. To take a step back. To put distance between them when what he really wanted was to grab her close, hold her tight against him and savor her.
He shouldn’t still be here. He should have abandoned her. Found another angel. But just like he was inexplicably bound to her, he’d been unable to leave. Unable to do the smart thing which was to let her alone. He’d killed her once, destroyed her life. Her soul should be allowed to exist in peace.
But he was a glutton for punishment because he’d stayed. He was, even now, insisting she must help him. She still hadn’t moved. Like a terrified mouse waiting for the hawk to swoop down and steal his prey.
And just like that she brought it all back. Everyone who had died because of his ‘power’. Everyone he had killed. Including her. Because in order to cleanse the earth and encourage rebirth, there must first be destruction. Zach was the destroyer.
And he hated it.
But right now his job was to find the Grigori and stop them from unleashing deadly tsunamis. He was well versed in the power and rage of a tsunami. He still had nightmares and regrets about what had happened in Port Royal.
His thoughts wrenched back to that horrible day. He’d thought he would have more time. He had never planned for Shasa to perish. But once he’d given his report to the Realm, they decided to strike with might and fury. He would never get over the guilt from allowing her and her family to die.
Her death had haunted him for the last three hundred and twenty-three years.
He may want to stay as far away from her as possible, to avoid the pain and guilt that seeing her daily was going to bring him. But he couldn’t. No more than she could deny her gift.
Her skin glowed, her body had literally flourished from the healing power of the rain. She had been in a perpetual state of pain and misery. He understood those feelings better than most, he’d lived them for hundreds of years. The irony was not lost on him.
“Look at you. Your body is so sensitive. You truly need to be in an ocean or a river,” or a salt water pool in the Angelic Realm, he thought traitorously, envisioning her swimming naked in his pool, lying on her back, her beautiful breasts pointed at the ceiling and the thatch of curls at her legs playing peek a boo with the air. “At least once a day.”
“You have no idea what I need,” she snarled.
“But I do.” Her body reacted so astutely to the water in the atmosphere that she was a rare Angel. She would be able to sense ley lines with ease. He wondered how the Realm had gone so long without realizing her gift.
Then he knew the answer. He had been skating through his duties, pushing off as much as he could to his assistants and ignoring the rest because of his own pain.
He had neglected learning about the human Angels that served him. He didn’t want to get to know them. He didn’t want to connect with them. All he wanted was for them to do their job and for him to have some measure of peace.
Embarrassment at his neglect bubbled inside him. He was going to need to transition her. He needed her help in locating the Grigori, and possibly even Uri. With a sense of fatalism, he realized that he was going to have to use Shasa.
Though he might use her, he would not let any harm befall her.
“I must have your help,” he said abruptly. He put his fingers underneath her chin and tilted her face up to his. The clear violet of her gaze bathed him with regrets.
She immediately rejected his request. “Sorry but I’ve got to help my mother.”
Her reaction was curious, provoked him. She immediately tried to shut him down, not even asking what he wanted from her. “You haven’t even heard what I need.”
“I don’t care.” She dismissed him brutally. “Look. I don’t know you. I don’t want to know you. And I don’t want to help you.”
The old Shasa would have been dying to know what he wanted and how she could help.
Her spirit had been generous and her personality bubbling. This woman was closed off and almost bitter.
The difference threw him. Saddened him. Had his actions somehow precipitated this fundamental change in her? How could she not be in the slightest curious?
Then he realized, she was not his Shasa. She only held remnants of his love’s beautiful soul. If his time on Earth had taught him anything it was that he never wanted to be responsible for mass human destruction again. And in order to keep that promise to himself, he would use anyone and anything at his disposal. “Aren’t you the slightest bit curious?”
“Nope. I don’t want to know.”
“Humans.” He curled his lip. The sentiments that had haunted him for several hundred years and his automatic response came naturally. He didn’t have time to coddle her. Now she needed the brutal truth. Because if she had changed, so had he. “I really don’t care what you want.”
She inhaled sharply. “So much for forgiveness and tolerance.”
He ignored her biting comment. Ignored the pain of forcing her to his will. “You have the ability to dowse. Not only that, I need your help in controlling the coming attack.”
“And you think I’m going to be able to help you?” she laughed bitterly. “I can barely even look at that.” She gestured to the river rushing wildly behind her. “Let alone get near it.”
“Your mother is correct. You will need some training,” Zach countered calmly. “I will have to transition you. Immediately.”
She just stared at him.
Impatience made his voice sharp. “Where is the mark? We must get this done and move forward.”
She took several steps back, her face a mask of trepidation. “You can’t force me.”
“I am conscripting you.” Zach bulked his shoulders and scoured her face waiting for her capitulation. He made his tone hard, uncompromising. Enough of this sensitive bullshit. He’d forgotten himself. Forgotten who he’d become. There was no room in him for gentleness, for compromise. “You must help me.”
“You….” she faltered. But didn’t fall back, instead she stepped right into his personal space and jabbed her finger into his chest. “You have no right.”
He couldn’t show her any compassion. He must be hard because he had to save the humans with everything he had in him. His soul couldn’t bear it if humans died again and he’d had the power to save them.
For years he had hidden his pain behind a mask of anger and a false hatred of humans. He’d only been half faking. The larceny and depravity of the citizens of Port Royal had also been complicit in Shasa’s death.
He wanted to grasp her shoulders and shake her. He had no time to finesse her. Brutal insistence had been his method of choice and he’d employ it now. Zach said harshly, “Do you really want to be responsible for the deaths of innocents?”
“You really believe that this will make a difference.” It was a statement, not a question. But he sensed a softening in her. She stared intently into his eyes. He wanted to mask hi
s desperation, but he suddenly understood that she needed to see his fear more than he needed to protect his feelings.
“You are needed.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
“This is the last place on Earth I’d like to be,” he said honestly. “It’s necessary.” The desire to push her away was overwhelmed by the even stronger craving to pull her close. Keep her safe. As he thought about the tasks in front of him, he knew he couldn’t favor one human over the others. That was what got him into trouble the last time. The ache in his chest intensified. He wanted so badly to wrap her in cotton and protect her from the evils that roamed the earth and searched for ways to hurt the fragile humans.
She blanched, clearly hearing the truth in his words. He would rather be anywhere than here.
“I’m not showing you that mark.”
“This is bigger than your minor fears.” Zach rebutted.
She was shaking her head, but that one sentence had turned the tide. He knew she would relent and still he pushed, “Your shyness is more important than the safety of all humans?”
“It’s private,” she whispered.
Zach swallowed. Suddenly realizing that perhaps there was more to this piece of resistance.
“Your mark.” His voice was like talking through ground glass, it grated in his throat as he forced the words out.
“Fine.” Her face had flushed a deep, dark red and he saw the reluctant acceptance in her violet gaze. She didn’t want to help him, but she would.
“Do you,” she swallowed. “Do you have to touch it?”
Relief thundered through him and he released the tension he wasn’t even aware he’d bottled inside. He nodded.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. She raised her face to the pouring rain and let the water flow over her body. Like the figurehead on the bow of an ancient ship, she worshipped the elements. Her pulse beat a rapid tattoo in the hollow of her throat. She touched her fingertips to her belly, the spot between the top of her jeans and where the white blouse dipped below her belly button.
Zach’s head went light as he realized the significance of that small gesture.
Seven
