Brandon grabbed hold of the back of Sam’s shirt and caught Lucas by the hand. “We need to be smart. They obviously have somebody assigned to watch for any of our team that has a puzzle piece. If they can catch you, they’re going to try and incapacitate you.”
Sam pulled his shirt free of Brandon’s grasp and nodded his head, but Lucas didn’t move his fingers away from Brandon’s hold. Lizzie pursed her lips and pointed at Sam. “Take turns being the diversion. Sam, you draw their attention. Luc, try and look casual. Make it look like you're just scouting for pieces. Next time, Luc can be the diversion, and Sam can retrieve the piece. Watch your backs.”
Reluctantly, Lucas slipped away from us, and Brandon stared down at his fingers in surprise, as if he hadn’t realized they had been holding hands. I didn’t take my palms off the white metal, as I watched Sam streak through the quadrant like a hurricane.
Lucas climbed from windowsill to windowsill with the ease of a cat. I shuddered and blurted out the next hiding location. Brandon stroked my hair and nodded, repeating the directions to himself under his breath, while I tried to Seek out the next location.
I closed my eyes in relief when Lucas clicked the second piece into place under my fingertips, before burning across the grass like a man possessed, while Sam snatched the third piece of the puzzle from the branches above Emily’s head.
The next piece was tucked under the eaves, and Lucas blew a kiss to Emily as Sam swung onto the podium and pressed the fourth piece into place. I punched the air, and Sam grabbed me and hoisted me above his head with a triumphant bellow. My breath caught as I looked down into his face. His eyes drew me in, but the moment was shattered by the brunette, who had caught the first piece of the game, slamming their fourth black puzzle piece into place beside us.
I slithered out of Sam’s arms and whispered the location of the last piece into Brandon’s ear. Lizzie hissed, and I grimaced as I saw the final piece of the black globe hurtling toward us. Lucas raised his arms in the air. “Sam, you get it. I’ll hold them off.”
“No!” Brandon’s voice rang out, and Lucas flinched as the Angels began to attack the barrier he had created around the podium. Brandon stepped forward. “No, that won’t work, it will take two to hold them off, at least.”
“I’ll help Luc.” I lifted my hands and created my own barrier inside Lucas’s.
Brandon shook his head. “You’re already worn out from Seeking the pieces, and if Sam steps out of there, they will be on him in a heartbeat.”
“Then what? We let the smug turds win? After what they did to Megan?” Sam's voice was sharper than his blade. Another blast of energy battered against the force field Lucas had created and reverberated against mine. I cried out, and Sam ran to my side.
“Grace, you okay?” I shrugged off his concern and lifted my hands again, strengthening my barrier.
Lucas stared over his shoulder, and his eyes darted around the inside of the protected circle wildly. His face paled. “Guys, where’s Brandon?”
Lizzie’s eyes were focused on the towering monument, rising up over the rooftops, at the far end of the quadrant. My heart stopped beating as I narrowed my gaze on the figure scaling the rough walls, and heaving itself onto the flat roof. Lucas’s barrier vanished as he flung himself forward and began hurtling toward the monument.
Before I could drop my barrier and follow him, Lizzie was at my side. “Hold the barrier.”
I stared at her, horrified. “I don’t care about winning a stupid game. Brandon is Human—if they attack him, the way they attacked Megan, he won’t just be unconscious.”
Lizzie’s stare didn’t waver. She kept her eyes fixed on Brandon and reached out to grab hold of Sam with her other hand. Brandon raised his arm above his head, and in the distance, the afternoon sunlight sparkled on the piece of metal held between his fingers.
Emily’s shriek penetrated my barrier, and I felt the force from the other side lessen as she directed her team toward the monument. My lips were dry. “They’re going to get him.”
Lizzie looked from me to Sam with raised eyebrows and shook her head. “Niamh was right, we’ve been focusing on all the wrong things. The one person amongst us who understands the value of magical power, is the only person who has none.”
She stared back at the roof of the tower, where Brandon was standing stock still with his hand still raised above his head. A wild wind whipped through the quadrant and shrieked through the branches of the trees. Brandon stumbled and clung onto the side of the roof.
Sam jerked his head in Lizzie’s direction, with a sudden look of illumination blooming on his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, throwing back his head. Thunder boomed, and I screamed as the lightning split the sky and struck the tower. I could barely muster the courage to look and see if it had hit Brandon. “Oh my God, he’s gone. Shit. Lizzie, shit. He’s gone. Did he fall? Oh my God.”
I spun around to face her and found myself staring into Brandon’s deep brown eyes. He pressed the final piece of the white globe into place with a satisfied grin.
“How could any of us fall?” Brandon punched Sam on the shoulder. “We’ve got own magical retrieval system.”
“Yeah, I’m a natural. Would have totally forgotten to use my power if Lizzie hadn’t reminded me to.” Sam’s self-depreciating words couldn’t distract from the smile creeping out the corners of his full mouth. He caught my eye and gave me a flash of his right dimple. My stomach flipped, and I found myself unable to look away. I pulled at my bottom lip with my teeth, and Sam’s face broke into a broad grin.
“Congratulations to our guests on their success.” I broke eye contact with Sam and realized with surprise that a crowd had gathered at the podium. The High Guardian paused his speech and gestured for the teams to take up their positions in front of their respective globes.
Aza prodded Megan toward us, and she bounded up the steps with her chin raised as she eyeballed the red-haired Angel who had struck her with lightning. Only I could feel the way her body was trembling as she struggled to stay standing. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to my side to subtly support her weight.
The High Guardian gave Megan a warm smile and nodded his head. “Congratulations, once more, to our guests. As is customary, the person who is awarded the winning point may assign a forfeit to the losing team.” High Guardian Adam looked to Brandon. “Young man, the decision is yours. What do you choose?”
“A forfeit?” Brandon’s brow creased. “I didn’t read about this in any of the Angelic training manuals.”
My gut cramped as I watched the disapproving faces of the other members of the High Council. A Human reading Angelic textbooks. Emily looked like she might have swallowed some of her own vomit. The High Guardian tilted his head toward the University building. “It’s a college tradition. Sometimes the winners have the losers run laps backward, or carry their shoes on their heads—”
“We were going to make you shovel our shit.” The red-haired Angel who had injured Megan muttered loud enough for everyone to hear her, and her team started smirking and giving each other silent high-fives.
The High Guardian closed his eyes for a second before signaling something to Pierre, the gray-eyed Guardian. Pierre approached the red-head and whispered something into her ear. The blood draining from her face wiped away the last traces of her sneer, and she stared down at her feet as Adam turned back to Brandon. “Any forfeit at all, young man. You may choose. Feel free to consult with your team.”
Megan grabbed Brandon by the sleeve and dragged his ear to her mouth. I grinned as I overheard the words ‘urine’ and ‘toilet-brush.' Sam took a step away from Lucas, Brandon, and Megan. He beckoned me over with a tilt of his head, mouthing the word ‘please’ when I didn’t budge. I balled my hands into fists and shoved them into my pockets as I closed the space between us, aware of the small audience watching our every move.
“What do you want, Sam?” I kept my eyes on Brandon and the oth
ers.
He traced his fingertips over my wrist. The kiss of a butterfly’s wing. I fought against the shivering sensation, refusing to look into his eyes. “Grace, did you mean what you said earlier? Are you done with me?”
I screwed my face up and twisted to stare at him. “You’re the one who said we needed to talk!”
“We do need to talk. I need to explain why I haven’t been answering you calls or messages.” Sam flipped his palms upwards and shrugged his shoulders.
I took hold of his two wrists and pulled him closer so that nobody could overhear our conversation. Brandon and Megan were still deep in negotiations. The High Guardian started to tap his foot impatiently. I stared up at Sam with eyebrows drawn together tightly. “When you ignore somebody for weeks, and then say ‘We need to talk’—it means you don’t want to see that person anymore. Everyone knows that. It’s in every Hollywood romance that’s ever been filmed. Fact.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Ah, a Hollywood rule. Right. My mistake.”
“Don’t mock me!” I jerked his wrists to bring him close enough to disguise my hiss. Our bodies collided, flesh against flesh. My heart rate slowed to nothing.
Sam bent his neck so that our faces were an inch apart. “Grace. We need to talk. I need to talk. And I can’t talk to anyone else. And I couldn’t do it over the phone because I missed your beautiful face so much that I couldn’t breathe. We need to talk.” My chest rose and fell, pressing against the wall of muscle that was Sam’s body. He rested his forehead against mine. “Can we talk?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, and my lips stretched so wide that my cheeks ached. I traced Sam’s smile with my fingertips. It was as broad as my own. Broader. Brandon’s voice cut through the moment, and I swiveled in Sam’s arms to watch my friend announce his forfeit. Sam slid his arms around my waist from behind and I felt an overwhelming urge to weep as the aching hole inside my skin was filled with his energy. The empty hunger finally satisfied. I pressed my lips together and focused on Brandon.
Brandon tipped his head respectfully. “Thank you, High Guardian Adam, students, fellow Shadow Children, esteemed members of the High Council—we are honored to have been offered this opportunity to assign a forfeit to the losing team. We came up with many interesting ideas. Spend a day holding hands with a Human. Clean the toilet after each of our team members for the day. So many ideas, it was hard to choose just one…”
The team of Angels shuffled uncomfortably, and Emily’s lip curled in disgust. The High Guardian raised his eyebrows. “I trust you settled on one preferred option?”
“We have,” Brandon said. “We have decided we don’t want to use your forfeit.” He leveled his sharp brown stare at Emily and her team. “We don’t need it. We’ve come here and beaten your best team at a trial you’ve been practicing for years, and one we’ve never even watched in action before today. That has to sting. I mean, bad enough being beaten on a level playing field, but when all the odds were stacked in your favor, and you still bombed? Ouch. No need for a forfeit, High Guardian. I think they’ve been embarrassed enough.”
The look on Emily’s face as he walked away was almost enough to make the whole crazy mission worthwhile.
Chapter Fifteen
“I still can’t believe the council refused to meet us. Why the hell did they insist on keeping us waiting so long if they don’t want to see us until tomorrow morning?” I shouted through the closed the bathroom door, hoping that my irritation at the Council’s decision to make us spend the night in the Shadow City would disguise my nervousness.
Sam’s reply was muffled. “Aza’s right, they’re punishing us for beating their precious students at their own game. Maybe they won’t even want to see us after talking to Gabriel, Emmanuel, and Niamh tonight.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it. Emily nearly choked on her big horsey teeth when she realized you had used your power to transport Brandon. The High Council can’t ignore that.” My fingers yanked at the hem of the thin, white cotton nightdress. It might have fallen to the knee on Niamh’s petite frame, but it only came halfway down my thighs. Aza had refused to let me slip back to Grandfather Mountain to get my own nightclothes. She’d also assumed that Sam and I would be sharing a room.
I unwrapped the towel from my head, letting damp waves tumble over the thin straps of the nightdress, and dabbed my burning cheeks with the wet towel. I should have just said something to Aza, but I hadn’t been brave enough to tell her I wanted to share with Megan instead of Sam. Or maybe that’s not what I wanted.
My fingers itched to pull out the cosmetics case Cat had packed in my bag, but I resisted and yanked the door of the bathroom open before I could give in to my nerves and cover every inch of my face in a thick layer of make-up.
Sam was standing in front of the open closet, still naked from his shower except for the towel wrapped around his waist. A pile of discarded clothes lay on the large bed. He spun around to face me at the sound of the bathroom door opening, turning his scarred back to the wall. I tried not to let my eyes wander down the defined lines of his stomach or linger on the deep V of his hip bones. I hugged my backpack against my chest and scurried across the room with my eyes trained on the polished floorboards. The sheets felt incredible against my tired skin. I pulled the bedspread right up under my armpits and began to examine the photographs on the bedside table.
“Sorry. There’s nothing in this house that’s going to fit Cain or me. Lizzie threw our clothes in the laundry so we’d have something to wear tomorrow, but until then…” I could tell by the tone of his voice that Sam knew exactly the effect his bare torso was having on me.
“You should probably get a dry towel if that’s what you’re sleeping in for the night, you’ll get a chill from the damp cotton otherwise.” I didn’t lift my eyes from the faded image that I was pretending to examine as he crossed the room and replaced the wet towel with a dry one, but what I could see out of the corner of my eye was enough to make me blush.
Sam took a spare blanket and draped it over his back like a cape before coming to sit on the end of the bed. I turned the photo frame so that he could see it. “I wonder when this was taken? Niamh looks so happy.” I looked up and met Sam’s gaze. “It’s strange, isn’t it? To be sleeping in her bed.”
“In her negligee.” The dimple in Sam’s right cheek winked at me, and my face began to burn.
“It’s not a negligee! And I just meant because she could be home any minute. Maybe we should tell Aza we’ll sleep on the couches downstairs? It’s too awkward, with Niamh, I mean.” I went to roll out of bed, and Sam grabbed my hand.
“Aza said this is what Niamh wanted, Grace. She wants us to be rested and relaxed for tomorrow…” Sam’s voice trailed off. I had never felt less relaxed in my life. I thought my heart was going to burst through my ribcage.
I grabbed another frame off the locker. “Hey, have you seen these? I didn’t realize Niamh had done all this stuff. I thought Demons were just money hungry, at least the really powerful ones.” I ran my thumb over the glass to remove a layer of dust. Niamh’s face smiled up at me. Her skinned was tanned, and she had her arms wrapped around a group of grinning children. A red cross was emblazoned on the truck in the background, and a guy stood behind Niamh’s shoulder. His eyes were fixed on her face. “Who do you think this is? He’s is nearly all Niamh’s photos. I saw him in pictures downstairs too.”
Sam scooted further up the bed and leaned over to examine the image. I made a conscious effort not to hold my breath when his bare stomach pressed against my arm. “I guess it must be that Demon she was with. The one with the diary—Jonah.”
“Jonah?” I stared down at his face in the photograph. His image was watching Niamh as if he couldn’t get enough of her. “Niamh and Jonah were…”
“Lovers?” Sam cocked an eyebrow, and I rolled my eyes.
“I thought he was missing for hundreds of years. Isn’t that why Gabriel thought the diary was going to help us
?” I took a sip of water from the glass beside the bed, gulping it down.
“Nah, he only went missing about forty years ago, but his diary had been stolen decades before that. Jabol told me that the Demons say he was always a bit of a loose cannon—King of the conspiracy theories. Jabol said when Jonah’s library was raided, it sent him spinning into an obsessive hunt for some hidden enemy. He was fixated on some ancient evil. Apparently, it broke Niamh when he vanished. There were only four of the Original Demons left. Guess it’s just three now—Lizzie, Mathas, and Niamh.” Sam lay back on the comforter with his hands tucked behind his head.
I reached down and pulled my rucksack onto my lap, averting my eyes completely from the display of toned flesh. I unearthed the leather-bound tome from the bottom of the bag, where I had hidden it. In retrospect, leaving behind my pajamas so I could fit a book might not have been my smartest idea. I pulled open the journal and glanced at the guy in the photograph, hoping for inspiration. Sam nudged the book with his knuckles. “Seeing anything new?”
The neat, sloping script swam in front of my eyes as I tried to create a film of my magic over the words—a charmed lens to reveal the secrets Gabriel was convinced were hidden in its pages, but it was useless. Any concealed truths scurried away from me like a beetle retreating under its rock. I slammed the book closed and shoved it down to the end of the bed with my foot. “Nothing. As usual.”
Sam’s gaze ran over my bare leg and slid up to my face. I pulled the comforter so that it covered my thigh and threw a pillow at his head. Sam grinned and lay back onto the bed and stretched his arms. The towel wrapped around his waist dropped a little lower as his body extended. I shivered and a burst of heat exploded through my body.
“Did you miss us, Grace? When the cell was split.” Sam pulled himself into a seated position, every muscle in his abdomen rippling as he moved.
“Did you miss me?” I was still too raw to answer first.
The Demon-Born Trilogy: (Complete Paranormal Fantasy Series) Page 38
