by J. E. Taylor
“Are you hurt?” I asked after I untied the last girl.
Their aimless gazes met mine and I sighed, slipping into the front seat and starting the vehicle. I drove to the emergency room parking lot of St. Luke’s Hospital and parked the van.
“You’re in the St. Luke’s parking lot,” I said and opened the driver’s side door.
“Wait, Mister,” one of the girls said.
I turned, meeting her teary green gaze.
“Thank you.”
I offered a nod and closed the door, walking away and into the shadows. All the anger and homicidal recklessness that ran rampant before burned off on the drive and now all I wanted was to find a decent snow suit for Naomi and get back.
Nothing was open at this time of night, which meant I’d have to break into the Sports Authority and steal what she needed. I took to the sky, landing on the dark roof a few minutes later. A white layer of rooftop snow met my scan and I sighed, putting my hands on my hips while the aggravation mounted. I walked the grid, looking for the entry and finally found the edging of the mechanical shaft. I had to dig to uncover the entry and with one yank, I nearly pulled it off its hinges. I dropped from the rafters to the top floor, glancing around in the darkness, blinking until my eyes adjusted.
My first procurement was a heavy duty duffel bag that I was sure would survive the bitter wind of flight and I tore the tab off, unzipping it and emptying the paper stuffing onto the floor. Another scan of the store and I honed in on the women’s section. Within minutes I had a pair of long underwear and a ski outfit that guaranteed against frostbite shoved into the duffel bag. I found gloves and boots that had a similar frost bite rating and those disappeared into the bag. The only thing left unprotected was her face. I found a sleek full-coverage helmet with goggles included, and between that and a ski mask, I thought that would be enough to protect her. As I passed the rack of boot warmers, I stopped, grabbing a handful and shoving them into the bag along with a thick pair of wool socks.
I crossed to the cash register and piled the tags from each item, pulling out enough cash to cover the bill and then some and slipped it into an envelope I found under the counter. Before sliding it into the cash register slot, I carefully scrawled, Thank You on the envelope and then slipped it into the slot.
With the roof door secured, I grasped the duffel bag and transformed, taking off to the north once again. The duffel bag made it without fraying in the wind and I dropped it at the doorway before escaping to my favorite peak.
I knew I shouldn’t leave Naomi alone for much longer, but I needed the peace of the night before I dealt with the crushing blow of not being able to touch her.
Chapter Five - Damian
The lightening sky was my cue and I dropped down to the cabin, picked up the bag and headed inside. I locked the door behind me and tossed the bag into what Naomi called the mud room before heading to the bedroom.
She slept and I put my palm close to her forehead, trying to determine if the fever still gripped her. No heat radiated from her and I wondered if it finally broke or if I was just cold enough to not feel it. With a sigh, I crouched next to the bed and crossed my arms on the edge, just watching her sleep.
Naomi was as beautiful now as she had been when I first laid eyes on her. An ache began in my chest and I dropped to my knees, resting my chin on my arms. Her analogy to kryptonite was very appropriate and the anger at the situation bloomed, turning the ache in my chest to a burning pit.
Her eyes blinked open and landed on mine. A small welcoming smile formed followed by the bite of her lower lip.
“Hi,” she whispered.
“Hi.” I couldn’t tear my gaze away and we stared at each other for a while. My thoughts drifted to the last time we made love. The heat and passion this woman could create in me was more than I ever believed I was capable of. Nothing in my existence matched it and I closed my eyes, putting my forehead down on my arms.
“I’m sorry I was such a mess yesterday,” she whispered and her fingertips ran through my hair, singeing my scalp before she pulled away.
I clenched my teeth and forced control over the emotional storm raging in my heart.
She shifted and I looked up at her, studying her rosy complexion for a moment.
“You look much better,” I said.
“I think the fever broke some time during the night.” She sat up and crossed her legs under the covers, patting the bed.
I climbed onto the mattress and took a seat, leaning my back against the post at the end of the bed. “I’ve got a snow suit and stuff for you in the mud room. We can head out tonight.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere you want to go.”
She smiled and glanced around the room, her internal conflict of leaving this place etched into the tight lines at the corners of her mouth. “What about New York?”
Somehow, I knew she was going to say that and I crossed my arms. It was too close to Lucifer’s home base. He liked the city. It provided him with a wealth of derelicts to pull into his demonic fold. But it also provided the invisibility of sheer numbers, the ability to hide in plain sight.
I tossed around the idea, and finally, the proximity to Lucifer clinched it. I couldn’t take that chance, especially since she was now at a disadvantage.
“I don’t know about that, honey,” I finally said after weighing the dangers. “We could look for something on the ocean, down south, if you’d like?” I shrugged. “Or we could go southwest into Arizona or southern California.”
She crossed her arms. “Just because I’m no longer a vampire, doesn’t mean I can’t hold my own. I want to go home, Damian. I want to go back to the city. It will be the last place he looks.”
I laughed at her logic and she swung her legs out from under the covers. For the last five years we talked about where we wanted to go after Colorado and we could never agree then, so I don’t know why I thought now would be any different.
She stood and stretched, the shirt lifting high enough for me to see her cute round butt cheeks and I closed my eyes, turning my head away and getting the sudden swell of lust under wraps.
“New York is not an option. Pick somewhere else,” I said, swinging my gaze back to hers. “And remember, wherever we go, if the trip is longer than twelve hours, the ride is going to be interesting.”
Her brow creased in that cute questioning way that got my blood going and I smiled.
“We have to find a vehicle that has somewhere for me to go during the day if you want to keep driving. Or hotels that offer black-out shades.”
Dimples appeared. “You mean I get to lock you in the trunk?”
The playful cock of her brow brought forth the first genuine smile I’ve displayed in the last seven days and I chuckled.
“If that’s what you want to do...” I stood, crossing the distance and towering over her.
Her smile faded. “I can’t do what I want anymore,” she whispered and her hand moved to my chest. The fabric buffered my skin from the sting of her flesh and I stared down into her brown eyes, debating on just how painful a kiss would be.
“So what did you eat last night?” she asked, stepping away and putting a damper on my desire.
My gaze dropped to the floor before returning to hers. I knew she wouldn’t approve of my meal choice and instead of answering, I turned away, crossing out of the room. “I’m not sure what you want for breakfast...”
“Damian?”
I glanced back at her, leveling my best leave-it-alone stare.
Her features transitioned into disappointment and my fists clenched against the denial poised on my lips. I turned away before the lie slipped between us.
“You didn’t,” she said and the muscles in my back stiffened. She knew me as well as anyone and my reaction was a dead giveaway.
“Yes, I did,” I said, my voice lowering into that feral quality that always scared her.
“Jesus, Damian.”
I turned, letting the frustrat
ion boil over. The anger loomed over the room and I crossed, grabbing her arms and pushing her against the wall, ignoring the scream of pain jolting up my arms from where my palms pressed against her skin.
“I needed to kill something, Naomi,” I said through my clenched teeth. “Because if I didn’t find an outlet, I would have walked out into the daylight and let the sun reduce me to ash.”
Her eyes widened.
I pulled my hands away trying to hide the wince, but blisters on my palms flared an angry red. “This,” I held them up for her to see, “this is going to drive me insane.” I stepped back, my chest moving up and down with each frustrated inhale and exhale.
The woman had no idea what being near her without the ability to touch her was doing to me and it had only been a week. I can only imagine the basket case I’m heading for after a month of this or what part of my sanity will be left after a year. Nothing in my twenty-five hundred years compared to this rawness scraping my nerves.
“Lucifer knew damn well what he was doing when he sent Lilith on this mission. He knew this would drive me over the edge.” I took another step back distancing myself.
Her lips thinned and her eyes narrowed.
“And you don’t think this whole situation doesn’t piss me off too?” Her hands flew to her waist and she glared at me. “I want to skin that bastard alive,” she snarled, her growl very similar to that of the feral tiger form she used to transform into. “We are going to New York,” she added and this time, there was no negotiation in her glare.
Chapter Six - Damian
I stood in the shadows, at least a foot away from the edge of the sun streak on the floor. Naomi stood in the doorway with her face tilted into the sun and a blanket wrapped around her to try to ward off the frigid wind. My gaze kept scanning what I could of the opening for any sign of danger; although I had no idea what I would do if a demon showed up and grabbed her off the threshold.
“Naomi?”
She turned and smiled, the sheer joy in her expression dug into my stomach like a bullet.
This was the closest to daylight I had been in years. Sure, I had seen the beginning of a sunrise before it hit the horizon, but that light was wrapped in a rainbow of colors. This whiteness beyond Naomi’s form actually stung my eyes and I squinted into it.
My heart throbbed in my throat every second the door was open with Naomi in the full view of the brutal mountainside. She finally shivered and stepped inside, closed the door and engaged the locks. Naomi nearly skipped across the distance and stopped in front of me with that sparkle in her eyes that she used to get whenever I walked into a room.
“As soon as the sun sets, we’ll head east.” I turned, escaping back to the depths of the cave I built. I sank onto the couch and leaned my head back on the headrest, running my hands through my hair.
Naomi took a seat next to me and put her hand on my thigh, the heat of it filtered through my jeans and she looked at me. “Damian, we’ll figure this out.”
I met her gaze. “How?”
She shrugged. “We’ll find a way.”
“Baby, what if there isn’t.” I had to know what was on her mind, even though deep down, I knew she would be my undoing one way or another.
Her hand withdrew and she sighed, glancing around the room and then back at me. “I married you for better or worse. Till death do us part, remember?”
I rolled my eyes and stood, crossing the room to the mural. I stared at the likeness of us on canvas, the painting that I created around the time Christ was born.
“You’d stay married to a man who can’t be with you in the sun and kills for sport when the sun sets?” I said, skirting the real issue that was digging a hole in my stomach.
“You do not kill for sport.”
I raised an eyebrow in her direction.
“You don’t, so don’t try to convince me otherwise.” Her no-bullshit tone made me smile. “So what exactly are you worried about?” she asked.
I studied the patterns in the silk and then focused on the tiger in the snow, almost laughing at the hawk. Both animals carried the same amusement in their features, the same happiness—everything struck at once. We would never be those carefree creatures I painted.
Ever.
“Damian?”
“I’m worried I’m going to lose you.” There, I said it out loud and it hung over the room like a dark cloud.
Her silence just layered on the unease and when I turned to gauge her reaction, she was standing next to me, studying me just as acutely as I had been studying the portrait.
“Why?” she asked. It held no forcefulness, yet the strength of her soft inquisition made it impossible not to answer.
I laughed. “Because you’re as passionate as I am and without that piece of the puzzle, you may come to realize I’m not what you want.”
“Granted, our physical relationship has been as intense as everything else between us, but it isn’t the only reason I want to be with you. Besides, we can get creative and find a way to make that work. It might mean latex and clothing, but it isn’t the end of the world.”
“So if we never kissed again…”
She pressed her lips together in a thin line of contemplation. “I’d be heartbroken, but it’s because of what that does to me. What you do to me on every level. I’d find another way for you to create that same weak-kneed response.”
“And if you can’t, that’s when you’ll start looking elsewhere,” I replied.
“No,” she said.
I wasn’t convinced. I knew I’d never touch another soul, but she was human and not bound to me the way I was to her. The heat between us wasn’t something either of us could deny and, god help me, it might be just be the thing that finally kills me. The insanity of it all burned and I turned away from her, letting the bite of anger come back full force.
“This time, I’m taking Lucifer down,” I said and retreated to my computer, checking my various email accounts. I pulled up my oldest one and froze, staring at the most recent subject line.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen…
But it wasn’t the subject that turned my blood to liquid fury, it was the sender. Lucifer had the gall to bait me. My hands curled, my nails slicing through the flesh of my palm at the obvious mock.
“Mother fucker,” I whispered and kept my hands clenched so the flurry of responses couldn’t find their way onto the screen. I flexed and squeezed in slow increments until the insane urge to answer him with an equally infuriated response died.
When I was sure I wouldn’t do anything stupid, I opened the email and pushed the chair back, just in case my hands decided to act of their own accord.
I gather from the mess you made, that Lilith hit her mark. I’m looking forward to chatting with the two of you again. I have a feeling next time will have quite a different...and more satisfying outcome.
Until we meet again.
Lucifer
I shut the computer down and pressed my palms to my eyes. The urge to smash everything within reach settled in my skin and I let out a roar, planting my feet on the floor so I didn’t kick the table clear across the space.
When I pulled my hands away, Naomi stood waiting for an explanation.
I slammed my fist down onto the desk. The crack of wood splintered the stale air and I snarled, “Lucifer just fucked with the wrong person!”
Chapter Seven - Naomi
Damian growled and paced, curses in both English and Greek spilled from his lips, crowding the already charged air. If Lucifer showed up at our door at this moment, he wouldn’t make it two paces before Damian tore into him.
“Do you think Michael can help?”
Damian gaze stopped on mine. “With what?”
“Do you think he can make it so you’re not allergic to me?”
His bitter laugh filled the room. “I already tried that avenue. Michael can’t help.”
“You called Michael?”
“I thought you were dying, so yes, I calle
d Michael.”
I bit my lip and nodded, understanding how frightened he had to be to call on Michael. He still believed the archangel tolerated him because he was the protector of the bloodline. He had no clue what Michael really thought of him and I sighed, setting that secret aside. Instead, I decided to occupy his mind with conversation so he wouldn’t go into another tirade and destroy the place.
“Lilith created the shadow virus?”
Damian stopped pacing and turned to me, nodding.
“How?”
“Bacteria, herbs, blood and a demon curse,” he said. “At least that’s what the lore says. She did practice the dark arts and she was in search of immortality.” He shrugged and crossed his arms before sliding onto the couch. “She certainly found the right cocktail but it was her relentless pursuit that got Lucifer kicked out of heaven. For years, she tested her concoctions on unsuspecting victims and I guess the heavenly host got pissed.”
“Lilith and Lucifer?” I asked, my mind still locked on that tidbit.
“Yep. And she’s the reason Lucifer and Michael hate each other.”
He had my curiosity on hyper-drive and I slid into the chair across from him. “Love triangle?” I asked.
“No. More like a case of jealousy. Lucifer had taken an interest in Lilith around the same time Michael started courting Athena’s mother.” He shifted, stretching his legs out on the couch and leaned back with his head on the arm rest. “Lucifer never fully understood why he got hurled from heaven and Michael didn’t. What started as bitterness turned into all out hatred. Lilith was obsessed with finding immortality and his brother was busy popping out kids with a mere mortal. Lilith and Lucifer had a sort of falling out around the time Athena was born, so not only was he locked out of heaven, the woman for whom he had been exiled decided she didn’t want to be subservient to the likes of Lucifer.” He glanced over at me and sent a twist of a smile. “Michael had everything and Lucifer had nothing but a pit full of blood thirsty fiends from all of Lilith’s experiments.”
