Nexus

by C. L. Parker

  “Let me know what that feels like. Let me touch you, taste you. Give to me what he wants. We’re soul mates, destined to be with only each other. And for that reason, I can forgive you your weakness; after all, you wear mortal flesh. It’s only natural that you would succumb to mortal desires, but I can give you what he cannot.”

  The audacity of what he was suggesting irked Tori. She felt it only fair to put him in his place to squelch any asinine idea that she owed him what rightfully belonged to her.

  “I have never denied your touch, nor have I ever denied your kiss, but my virginity is mine to give to whomever I want and only if I choose to do so. You don’t own me.”

  He pressed his body to Tori’s, strong arms holding most of his weight. His breath was warm, his lips soft as he spoke against hers. “You were promised to me, made . . . for me.”

  “Oh, really? By who?”

  His teeth lightly grabbed her bottom lip, slowly raking against the tender skin until he released it only to press his mouth to hers, unforgiving and possessive. It felt nothing like Dante’s. This kiss was fueled by jealousy, a side of him she had never seen before. If he was trying to erase the memory of Dante’s kiss, he wasn’t succeeding. His hand slid down her side, over her hip, and under her ass, descending farther until he caught her behind the knee and lifted her thigh over his hip. When he pressed into her, Tori put her hand to his chest and forced space between them.

  The scorn for his actions was in her eyes, so was the question she knew he was trying to avoid answering. She’d had enough of his secrecy and wouldn’t be led off course by his latest tactic.

  “By who?”

  Exasperated by her insistence, he sat back. “You know I can’t tell you. There are rules—rules by which even I must abide. The decisions you make must be your own.”

  His eyes raked over her body before his hand began to stroke the inside of her thigh, dangerously close to where no man had ever gone before. Apparently, sexual coercion wasn’t against those rules.

  “You’re the most beautiful, most perfect creature ever created. You can’t blame me for being jealous. I would die a slow, torturous death if anyone ever came between us. Please don’t be angry with me. I don’t like it when we fight.”

  What woman could stay angry with a man after he said something like that? Weakened by his pretty words, Tori melted, but maybe she could use his desperation to her advantage.

  “Will you tell me your name?”

  “Will you tell me you love me?” he countered.

  Maybe not.

  “If I guess it, will you tell me I’m right?”

  Satisfied she was no longer angry with him, he reclined back against the footboard of the bed and propped himself up on one elbow lazily. “If you guess it, I’ll have no choice to do otherwise.”

  She squinted in thought. “Is it . . . Rumpelstiltskin?”

  His head dropped back with a full chuckle that shook his body. He was still wearing a smile when he looked at Tori again, but the evidence of his attraction to her was written all over the smoldering expression on his face. “I’ve always loved your sense of humor. In fact, I love everything about you.”

  Tori believed him. His adoration of her was unconditional. What kind of monster might Dante think her to be if he knew about her nightmares or about the abnormality that existed in her sanctuary? No one understood her like her friend, her near-constant companion, the man of her dreams—him.

  “I know you do. And I’m not mad at you anymore, but that doesn’t mean you don’t still frustrate me.”

  He smiled a devilish smirk. “I prefer to think of it as keeping things interesting. Wouldn’t want you to get bored with me.”

  Tori laughed. “No, we wouldn’t want that, would we? It’s a much better idea to drive me crazy instead.”

  He took her petite foot in hand and began to massage it. “You’re not crazy, Tor. If it makes you feel any better, you have a better grasp on true reality than any other person walking the Earth. I’d say that puts you a step ahead of the rest, which isn’t too shabby.”

  “I’m supposed to be their Guardian. How am I supposed to do my job if I don’t know what the hell is going on?”

  He stopped massaging her foot and looked up at her. “It pains me to see you so conflicted.”

  “I’m not conflicted. I know what I have to do. Well, sort of.” She thought of that while she worried her bottom lip. “Okay, so I don’t know what I have to do, but I know that I’m going to do it.”

  “There’s still that part of you that wants to just forget it all and be a little selfish, though, right?”

  She nodded. “Sometimes. But I can’t just turn my back on my destiny.”

  “Who says you can’t? You have free will, right? You get to choose. In fact, you can choose to run away with me right now.”

  Tori shook her head. “Too many people are counting on me. I can’t let them down.”

  “But you can let me down?”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “You can’t have it both ways.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry. I haven’t quite given up trying to convince you. I still have a little time left to change your mind.”

  “What do you mean, a little time? What do you know?”

  That was a stupid question. He knew tons of stuff that she didn’t.

  He smirked. Nope, wasn’t going to answer that question either. Then he got up and pressed a kiss to her lips before walking to the window. When he pushed the panes of the casement window open and stepped up on the ledge, Tori lurched forward.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Out.” He perched precariously on the ledge, holding on with one hand as he leaned out. “I’ll see you sooner than you think. Oh, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do with whatshisface,” he said, nodding in the direction of Dante’s room.

  Before she could beg him to stay, he gave her a wink and then let go, falling out of sight.

  Tori jumped out of bed and ran to the window, the crisp night air shocking her senses as she peered down, prepared to see his body splattered on the ground below. There was nothing there, no trace of him whatsoever. He had simply vanished into thin air. Just to be sure, she looked out over the street, but what she saw there was far worse than a gruesome, mangled body.

  The shadows cast by the streetlamps came to life before her and began to move of their own accord. She narrowed her eyes, sure they were playing tricks on her, but there was no mistaking what she saw. Like spilled ink being magically sucked back into a pen, the shadows slinked along the pavement and rose from the ground to form three massive bodies of voided blackness. Tori’s heart leapt into her throat.

  “Shadow demons.” She whispered the words as if it would really matter whether they heard her or not. They were there because of her and would find her no matter where she hid.

  Shadow demons were the worst of the worst, not nearly as gruesome looking, but when it came to demons, looks could and usually were deceiving. These bastards didn’t need claws, sharp teeth, or brute strength to shred their victims; they shrouded themselves under the cover of darkness and turned a person inside out, literally. Their victims’ guts were worn like accessories to the blood-red suit of flesh left in the wake of their horrific torture.. But who would be the intended fatality of her latest nightmare?

  Tori backed away from the window when the shadows morphed and grew arms and legs to crawl up the side of the house. She never looked away as she continued her steps backward, clearing the door to the hall to give the demons a wide berth to pass by her. When they slithered in through the window and made their way across the wood floor toward her instead of toward the door, she looked around. There was nowhere for them to go but through the bathroom and into . . .

  She gasped. “Dante . . .”

  She ran for the door, determined to get to him before they could to shield him with her body. But the damn thing was locked and she couldn’t slo
w her frantic mind down enough to figure out how to unlock it.

  Who the hell had locked it in the first place? Him. She’d be angry about it later. Right now, Dante was in serious jeopardy, and she needed to get to him.

  Tori beat on the door with all her might. “Dante! Dante, wake up!”

  She screamed as loud as she could, but it wasn’t his dream. He wasn’t the one who needed to wake up. She was. And once the demons came, that was an impossible task. They were in control, and she would only wake once the demons were satisfied they had accomplished what they were there to do.

  Tori plastered herself against the door in hopes her presence there would keep them from passing, but they continued their advance. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to watch as they inevitably moved through her to get to Dante. Maybe they would be satisfied that she had sacrificed herself instead and not feel the need to continue on their expedition.

  When she felt nothing, she opened her eyes to take a peek, only to find the last of their inky forms slipping through the cracks of the door.

  “No! Dante!” She resumed her pounding, alternating with jerking the doorknob. It was no use, but she refused to give up. “Dante! Dante, please!”

  Something grabbed Tori and began to shake, her body pitching forward and back almost violently.

  “Wake up, Angel! I’ve got you. I’m here.”

  Dante’s voice finally breached her unconscious mind and she woke to find him in her bed, gripping her by the shoulders. Relief masked his fear when she blinked away the sleep and peered up at him. She imagined her expression must have matched his because he clutched her to his bare chest and began to stroke her hair. “Bloody hell, woman. You were screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Are you okay?”

  Tori shook her head, silently telling him she didn’t want to talk about it, but held onto his strong arms. He sat with her for a while, and her hold never eased up. When he shifted on the bed, she groaned in protest, but he held her even closer.

  “It’s okay. I’m just getting comfortable,” he said, slipping under the covers to lie with her. “You know, if you wanted me in bed with you, all you had to do was ask.”

  Tori might have laughed if it weren’t for the fact that her heart was still racing in fear. Instead, she snuggled even closer, wedging her knee between his and folding her arms against his chest until their bodies were tightly entangled and he had completely enveloped her.

  “Please don’t go. Promise you’ll stay here with me.”

  “Bad nightmare? Is that why you were calling my name?”

  Tori nodded.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Angel. I promise I’ll be right here for as long as you need me.”

  As safe as she felt by his presence, she could still feel herself trembling. Dante must have been able to as well because he meticulously tucked the heavy blanket in around her until the two of them were wrapped up like a cocoon. “It might help if I close the window.”

  Tori popped her head up to look over his shoulder, finding the window wide open, just as he had left it. Rain was pouring down in buckets even though the sky had been clear of clouds when she had looked out her window before retiring for the night. She was sure it had been closed when she went to bed.

  That was the first time she had ever seen physical evidence of her dreams and it sent another chill down her spine, but not from the cold night air or Dante’s close proximity. If the window had remained open even after she woke, what else might have remained the same if the shadow demons had gotten to Dante before he had managed to shake her from the nightmare? Something had most certainly changed through the course of the night, but the physical evidence wasn’t the only thing that had.

  Somehow, Dante had managed to pull her out of her nightmare before the worst of it had happened. But how had he done it?

  Dante and the rest of the house had still been asleep when dawn crested over the horizon. Tori had crept out of bed to tiptoe down the stairs for a fresh cup of coffee. True to his word, Dante had stayed with her all night. Despite her fear that the shadow demons would return to finish the job, she had managed to fall back to sleep with no further episodes. But her mind was still reeling with the possibilities of what the events that unfolded the night before could have meant. She grabbed her journal and went out to the garden where she could catalogue her thoughts without someone looking over her shoulder.

  Dante had come down as she had closed her journal, decked out in his training gear, but Tori had declined their normal morning session. Predictably, he wanted to talk about what had happened the night before, but she shrugged it off as no big deal, just a normal nightmare, even though hers were anything but. She could tell by the knowing look in his eyes that he wasn’t buying it, but he didn’t press the issue.

  Luckily, she’d had plenty of experience at keeping her secrets hidden from her parents over the past twenty-one years of her life. For some reason, she didn’t think it would be as easy to keep much of anything from Dante. He had this way about him that made her feel like nothing could touch her while in his presence, but she knew it for what it was: a false sense of security. If she let her guard down and he found out about the inner workings of her subconscious, he’d know she was a freak. And not only that, but he’d make sure her family knew as well, if nothing more than out of a sense of duty to his Guardian bloodline.

  See the freak, expose the freak, exorcise said freak’s demons before they end up hurting someone for real, and then lock the freak up in a padded cell for her own protection.

  No, thank you.

  Tori would figure out a solution on her own, but until then, avoidance seemed like the best tactic. In order to maintain what little bit of sanity she had left, she needed to act like everything was normal and she was perfectly fine.

  He had apparently sensed she needed to get away for a bit because before he reluctantly left her alone with her thoughts, Dante had suggested an outing after lunch. Tori was all over that. Anything to switch gears and think about something else for a change. She considered it a mental health day, a vacation for her mind, which seemed to be in a state of perpetual unrest. So, keeping with her new mantra of having fun, walking on the wild side, and living a little, she accepted his proposal with probably way too much enthusiasm.

  Whatever. He had laughed, and making people laugh was supposed to be a good thing, right? Unless they’re laughing at you, which he was, but at least he wasn’t holding his fingers in the shape of a cross and running away. If he were half as smart as he was gorgeous, he probably would’ve done exactly that.

  Hmm, maybe she should see a priest or a nun or something to see if they thought an exorcism would help with the demon bit. Okay, she wasn’t exactly spewing pea soup, and her head wasn’t spinning on her shoulders, and as best she could tell, she still sounded like herself, but whatever was going on with her just wasn’t right, so it couldn’t hurt to have a prayer or two said while being doused in holy water. She might have to look into that, but for now, Sinclair’s Holy Cow Cake was definitely possessing her taste buds. Holy cow was right. That woman could cook her ass off.

  “A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips,” Gabe said in his singsong voice when he sashayed into the kitchen. “It’s called Holy Cow for a reason, Mini-Me.”

  “Who cares? Have you tasted this yet? Wow!”

  Gabe leaned in conspiratorially. “Girl, don’t tell anyone, but I stole a slice and took it up to our bedroom for later. Devil’s food, caramel, cream cheese, whipped cream, and butt finger? If that ain’t a recipe for a gay man’s soiree, I don’t know what is.”

  Tori laughed. “Butterfinger, not butt finger,” she corrected him.

  Gabe giggled. “I know, but my way is so much more fun.”

  “You just ruined this cake for me. You know that, right?”

  “Aw, you’re welcome, sweetie. Now you don’t have to worry about the big, fat cow part.” He poured himself a glass of iced tea from the refrigerator. “So, whatcha up to tod
ay?”

  Tori shrugged. “I don’t know. What are you guys going to do?”

  Gabe looked at her like it was a stupid question. “I don’t know about everyone else, but me and my Daddy Warbucks are going to shop ’til we motherfucking drop.”

  “You mean you’re going to shop and Uncle Colton is going to be the one dropping . . . his credit card on the counter until it’s completely maxed.”

  “That’s the idea.” Gabe patted her on the head. “You know me too well. Wanna come with?”

  “Nah. Dante’s supposed to be taking me somewhere. I just don’t know where that is.”

  “Aw, how cute. Your very first date.” He batted his lashes.

  “It’s not a date. We’re just hanging out. Jesus! Why is everyone making such a big deal out of it?”

  “Okay, no need to get testy.” He stopped and looked toward the ceiling with his finger to his chin. “On second thought, you really should try to get testes, or at least a good look at them. Make sure he’s virile enough to be able to keep up with you once you finally do decide to put out. Is now a good time to have the talk? ’Cause I know you don’t want to be having that with Kerr. She’ll leave out all the fun stuff.”

  “Oh, God. Kill me now,” Tori said, dropping her head to the counter.

  “Is that a no?”

  “Yes!”

  “Oh, it’s a yes then. Okay, so when two people love each other . . .” He stopped. “Let me start over. When two people look at each other and suddenly feel the urge to rip each other’s clothes off and fuck the shit out of each other—”

  “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!” Tori cut him off, waving her hands in the air. “I meant, yes that’s a no. We don’t need to have the talk, if that’s what you want to call the little X-rated advice you were about to give. We’re not dating, and we’re not having sex.”

  Gabe put his hand on his hip. “Honey, have you not learned anything from Auntie Gabe over the years? There’s nothing wrong with being a little adventurous. I’m not saying you have to give up the V-card, but it doesn’t hurt to have a little fun. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Your parents have you wound so tight you’re going to die an old woman who’s never known the exquisite joy of an orgasm. Your mom almost did, too, before the Dominatrix came along. And once he did, he just kept coming and coming and coming.”