“You are perfect,” Zane says, cutting into my thoughts as he charges forward. I gasp, along with everyone else in the room, as he steps right up to me. His hands settle on my shoulders, and the blue flames jump from my skin and onto his before slowly soaking into our flesh. He doesn’t let go, even after the last flame leaves us.
“I have been waiting to meet you. I must say, you are even more stunning than I imagined,” he whispers out loud this time. He may as well have shouted it, because everyone in the room could hear a pin drop five miles away. Someone, probably Jaxon, if the murderous look he is throwing our way is any indication, clears their throat loudly. I jump away from Zane and his sweet words and his electric touch.
He chuckles darkly from beside me, but wisely says nothing. The brothers regard him cautiously. All except for Ryker, who is laughing so hard that his face is red.
“Well Maci. I see you have met my best friend Zane. Zane is a witch. Obviously...he doesn’t go to school here. They have their own school. Didn’t stop him from ditching to help out a.....how did you put it Zane?” he asks, turning to Zane with laughter. His voice takes on a swoony quality as he places a hand over his heart. “An angel that showed up in your dreams.”
Zane rolls his eyes, obviously used to Ryker and his troublemaking ways. Instead he holds out his hand to me. His amber eyes shining with a hint of challenge that dares me to take what he is offering.
“Zane Zelikos, and it was a pleasure.”
I am well aware that Jaxon’s eyes are cutting holes into my skull, but he lost the right to have an opinion when he traded me in for bitchy Bianca. I reach out, taking Zane’s hand.
“Maci Madison. Thank you for finding me.”
“How did you find her?” Jaxon cuts in, but I ignore him. I would like to know the answer to that as well, but there is something more important that we have to take care of first.
“That.....” I say, fixing him with the sternest look that I can manage. “Isn’t important right now. Talon is.”
At the mention of his name all eyes in the room fix on my vamp bestie. They don’t know what all we have been through in the last few days. They don’t even know that I have grown to think of him as a friend, but they are about to find out.
“Maci,” Talon says sadly, patting C.J.’s hand and stepping up to my side. “It cannot be changed. It just is. You must let it go. You must let me go.”
Tears well up in my eyes as anger blossoms in my core. “No! No! I will not let it go. I will not let you go! I would have been lost if not for you and Zane! So no! There has to be a way to break the blood bond!” I scream, burying my face into Talon’s shoulder as I begin to cry.
“Princess,” Jaxon starts. “I know you feel responsible for....”
“YOU KNOW NOTHING!” I boom, turning on him as the cage around my anger snaps.
“Do you know what it is like to have every bone in your body broken by your friend as your father and your best friend laugh? Do you have a clue what it feels like to have teeth sink into your neck as your soul is ripped from you? To be starved and shamed and laughed at? To call for the one person who swore to always protect you, and hear only silence? When you know a shred of that, then you can talk to me about how I feel.”
My chest heaves with anger, and Jaxon’s eyes shine with tears as he slowly looks at the ground. “I’m sorry. I never wanted this for you.”
“Not as sorry as I am,” I finish sadly, turning away from him. I meet the stunned faces of my friends, and I can see it. Their pain. Their shock. They knew that I was taken, but they had no clue what hell I went through. My eyes search out Zane, but unlike the others he doesn’t look at me with pity. He looks at me with pride.
In that moment I have a new respect for my mysterious savior. He could have told them. He could have shared every detail of my shame, but he didn’t. He kept it to himself. He protected me, in the only way that he knew how. For that...I will never be able to repay him.
“There might be a way,” Zane says, stepping up to Talon. “You won’t like it though. All magic has a price.”
“Anything. I will do anything to be free of Xavier,” Talon interjects, and I know that he means it. C.J. on the other hand, is not so sure.
“What kind of price are you talking about here pretty boy? Cause he has paid enough.” There is a finality in her voice. One that tells me that C.J. will not let Talon agree to anything that will cause him pain.
I smile as I watch my bestie turn fierce. Everyone needs someone to love them like that.
“There is a spell. The only way to break a blood bond is through death, or to replace it with a stronger blood bond. Like say....a bond to someone that you love?” Zane says, cutting his eyes to C.J. in suggestion.
All of her fierceness melts away. A smile transforms her face into something beautiful.
Braxton laughs, the sound echoing across the room. “It is that simple? He just needs to mate with C.J. and preform the blood rite? All this time, and the power to free him was so close? You witches....I swear.”
“I didn’t say it was simple. The mating part yeah, but not the rest. Oh...and you must drain C.J. to the brink of death before infusing your own blood into her and repeating this spell:”
“Confundantur et nos sanguinem sanguini”
Zane quickly scribbles down the spell, handing it to Talon. It is C.J. who takes it. Her movements are steady, without an ounce of hesitation. Talon reaches for it, but she quickly tucks it into her back pocket.
“Love? Did you not hear the part where he said I had to drain you to the brink of death?” Talon says, trying to once again take the spell from her.
My BFF is quick, ducking his arm. Her stare is hard as she stares him down. “Talon Jacobs. I have loved you forever and you will let me do this. I ain’t asking. Now move your sexy ass, and let’s go make some love and swap some blood and magic before my dad shows up and takes you away from me again.”
I smile, totally loving this bossy side of my bestie. Talon must love it too, because all the fight leaves him as he takes her hand.
“Yes ma’am,” he laughs, still giggling as she pulls him away. I just hope that it works. If anyone in the world deserves happiness, it is him.
Once they are out of sight, a wave of tiredness slams into me. Before I can say anything, Jaxon is there. Which just pisses me off. Where was he when I needed him?
“You need to rest,” he says, holding up his hands in surrender. He is right. I do need rest. One problem though. I can’t sleep. Haven’t been able to since I was taken. The more of my soul they took, the more that the darkness tried to keep. I am terrified to close my eyes. Zane....the only time I have gotten any rest was with Zane.
I don’t think asking Ryker’s BFF to keep me company in bed tonight would go over too well. Even if it would be in a totally platonic way.
I might not be on the best terms with Jaxon, but I do still care about him. This is his house. Cuddling with dream Zane was one thing. Asking real life Zane to be my personal body pillow is quite another.
Time to put my big girl panties on. I’ve got this.
“You’re right. I am tired,” I say, my eyes darting to Zane’s worried expression before quickly looking away.
“Is the library still mine, or did Bianca turn it into her yoga studio?” I quip.
Jaxon’s eyes flash with pain, but he does a good job of sounding indifferent.
“Everything here still belongs to you Princess. It always has.”
“Not everything,” I whisper, before turning on my heel and walking away. I can hear footsteps as I make it to the base of the stairs, and I know that Jax is trying to follow me.
I can’t let him. I won’t. I can’t be broken anymore. There is nothing left to break.
“See you tomorrow Jax,” I say with finality as I make my way up to my room.
Alone.
∞
~ Chapter 5~
It takes hours, but I finally manage to drift off to sleep.
The minute my eyes close the nightmares start.
I am running, my bare feet bleeding. Little drops of crimson dotting the dry sand behind me as I try to escape him. The white dress I wore for the party ripped and covered with blood.
It isn’t my blood.
That is why I am crying.
The voices. The voices are back. They want me to kill him. They tried to make me, but I won’t listen to them. I can’t. I....I love him. I shouldn’t, but I do.
He is getting closer. The darkness closing in as I race down the beach and away from the monster. I finally see it. Why I can never escape it. It is me. The monster is me. How can you outrun the monsters that live inside of yourself?
He’s calling my name. He wants me to come back. I can’t....I won’t........
“Dammit Maci!” he shouts, and this time his warm hands slip under my trembling shoulders and shake me back to reality. Back awake.
My eyes are blurry, and my heart racing as I try to remember where I am. Who I am. It...It was a dream. Just a dream.
A really awful dream.
“Z....Zane?” I stutter, running a shaky hand through my tangled hair as everything comes flooding back to me. I am safe. I am in the library. In my room. I was asleep.
“Hi,” he whispers, helping me to sit up. I do a quick mental scan, sighing to myself when I remember that I put on an old t-shirt and boxers before bed. The last thing I want is another boy accidently seeing me naked.
“How did you know?” I question, and I don’t clarify more than that. I don’t need to. He knows that I am talking about my dreams. I never pressed Zane for answers before. Truthfully, I was just glad to have someone to talk to. It is time to learn his truth. To see if the person I think he is matches who he really is.
So far, I am not doing great in the reading people department. I just hope Zane is different. I am not holding my breath though. People suck.
“I can’t read your mind like your boy Jaxon if that is what you are worried about,” he laughs, helping himself to my bed. He props his large body beside mine, careful to keep a respectable amount of space between us.
“Ok....so help me out,” I laugh softly.
“You heard Ry say that I am a witch right?” he asks, raising his brow. I nod, and he continues.
“Well....he was being a little vague. I am not just a witch. I am the witch equivalent of royalty. That makes me powerful. Like angels we have magic, but unlike angels, our magic is not limited to a few things. It is endless.”
“That is cool and all,” I say, meaning it. “But...it doesn’t explain how you found me, or how you always know when I need help.” I don’t do a very good job of keeping the impatience from my tone.
“Getting there,” he smiles. Lord help me. That smile is a power all of its own.
“Witches can posses light or dark magic. Let’s just say I enjoy being a bit of a bad boy, so even though my family expects me to practice white magic...I dabble a lot in the dark arts. The more a witch connects with darkness, the easier it is for them to navigate the spiritual plane. That is where I found you. Well....at least the first time.” He says with a shrug.
Wait a minute? Spiritual plane?
“Was I dead?” I gasp, sitting up so fast that my forehead slams into his. I grab my now sore head, embarrassed at my stupidity. The taste of blood filling my mouth as my teeth slice into my lip.
Smooth Maci. Just smooth.
Zane chuckles, not even bothering to rub his chin. He doesn’t even flinch, like taking a headbutt to the face is an everyday occurrence for him. His hand comes up, wiping a drop of blood from my lip. I stare at that hand, mesmerized that he is real. That he is here. That he is touching me.
Uhhh....I shouldn’t want him to touch me!
I turn my head slightly, and Zane drops his hand. Confusion plays across his face once again, and I have a very bad feeling that there is something that he isn’t telling me.
“No Angel,” he says softly. “You weren’t dead, but your soul was close. I healed as much of it as I could. I have been healing you ever since. As to how I heard you the first time? I don’t know,” he shrugs, looking just as confused about it as I am. Maybe more.
“We aren’t.....I mean... we can’t be?” I start, my cheeks tinting pink. I can’t even make myself finish the sentence.
“Jaxon is your mate Maci. We...I don’t know what we are. Not yet,” he says simply, and his voice rings with truth. I smile, finding some joy in the fact that I confuse Zane just as much as he confuses me.
“I never said thank you,” I whisper, reaching out and grabbing his arm. His skin is warm under mine, and a shiver works its way through me against my will. My mind flashes back to the blue flames that danced across our skin just hours ago. I quickly shake that image away.
“Not just for saving me, but for saving Talon as well. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
A pained look crosses his face. His expression changes, his light lines morphing into something serious as his amber eyes bore into mine. He leans down, so close to me that I can smell the hint of honey that drifts off of his hair.
“Never thank me,” he whispers as his voice takes on a lethal edge.
He pushes himself up, getting to his feet. My hand has a mind of its own, and it whips out. I grab Zane around the wrist, stopping him from leaving. He freezes, turning so that he can see me.
I push myself up, wrapping my arms around his neck before he can react. I bury my face against his solid chest as I hug him. I mean for it to be a simple sweet exchange, but the moment that his skin touches mine, every cell in my body lights on fire.
He stands motionless at first, but slowly his arms come up, and then he hugs me back. One of his hands tangles in my hair, and a shiver moves through me.
“I wanted to say it anyway. Thank you Zane. You are the only person in a long time who hasn’t lied to me.”
His breath stirs the hair at my temple, and I feel the slight catch in his breathing pattern. “You’re welcome Angel,” he whispers, squeezing me against him once more before pulling away.
“Sleep,” he insists, pointing to the bed. He walks to a chair in the corner of the room, taking off his shoes as he sits down. “I will keep the dreams away from you tonight.”
I smile, rolling my eyes at him as I climb under the covers.
And for the first time in what seems like forever I fall asleep and the nightmares do not find me.
∞
Zane leaves sometime in the middle of the night, but he must preform some spell because the nightmares stay away. Sleep comes easily after that, and I soak up every ounce of it. I am going to need it. Tomorrow is a new day, and as much as I want to hide in this room forever, I know that I need to talk to Jaxon.
That being mad at him is pointless. That we need to work out our crap and figure out where we stand. Almost dying made me realize that life and love are worth fighting for. I won’t be second choice anymore.
Jaxon has to decide between a life of unknowns with me, or his royal duty to Bianca. He can’t have both.
I am not afraid of the angelic council or Xavier. I am afraid of living a lie. I have lived in the shadow of lies for too long. No more.
Knowing that dealing with Jaxon will be like ripping off a three-day old band-aid, I decide to just get it over with. I shower and dress quickly, ignoring my hunger in favor of answers.
It is still early as I tiptoe down the hall toward Jaxon’s room. In my mind I have gone over every possible scenario of what might happen. I am resolved to just tell him that I love him. That he hurt me. That we can work through it. I stop outside of his door, taking a deep breath.
Before I can think about it anymore and totally chicken out, I throw open the door.
“Jaxon I.......”
Holy hell on steroids! Jaxon is naked. I am talking not a stitch of clothing. I swallow, my words and my thoughts forgotten as a stare at Jaxon Lux in all his glory.
And he is very glorious.
<
br /> His body is damp, probably from a recent shower if the towel slung haphazardly around his toned shoulders is any indication. I watch, licking my suddenly dry lips as a tiny bead of water travels down the line of his cut abs and much...much lower.
I quickly jerk my gaze upward, meeting the eyes of a very amused Jaxon. “Like what you see Princess? I thought we discerned a while ago that my eyes are up here.”
And just like that I remember how infuriatingly sexy and cocky he can be.
“I was just...” I start to lie, but I shake my head. I am done lying. “Ok. Fine. I was checking you out. It’s your fault. Do you always walk around naked?” I fume, stepping into the room and closing the door.
“In my room...after a shower....I am going to go with yes,” he laughs, backing into his closet without turning around.
I am a little disappointed. I would have loved a rear view. When he reemerges, he is wearing black workout shorts and nothing else. I wish that I could say the clothing helps all of the suddenly dirty images that are running through my head, but it doesn’t. Not really.
“Are you talking to me today? Was Zane busy?” he quips, walking to the bed and putting on his socks. He doesn’t look at me when he says it, but I can hear the accusation behind his words.
The hurt.
Good. Let it hurt. It still won’t come close to the amount of hurt that he caused me.
“That isn’t fair,” I defend, walking closer to where he sits. I need to woman up. I came here to say something, and I need to say it.
“I know,” he whispers, sounding defeated. His eyes find mine, and his face softens slightly. “I can tell that you came to say something. To ask something. You are practically screaming it at me through the bond. Whatever it is Princess...just ask.”
I open my mouth, prepared to ask him all the questions that I had ready. To list all of the demands that are on the tip of my tongue. I start to talk, but what leaves my mouth isn’t any of those things.
Avenge (Hillcrest Book 2) Page 4
