by Weil, J. L.
He tucked the pillow under his arm and leaned on it. “Only a few others,” he said not elaborating. I had to assume he was protecting them. Probably I should let him, but my tongue just couldn’t hold back.
“Like Hayden and Craig?”
His eyes narrowed accusingly.
“Sierra?” I added her name to the list. That bitch had to be half-demon. There was just no other explanation for her heinous behavior.
“Are you sure you are not a hunter?” he asked, studying my face.
“Should I be offended by that remark?”
His shoulders slumped. “I just can’t decide how much to tell you. But yes, they are all Divisa.”
“I knew it,” I mumbled under my breath.
He uplifted his brow. “Don’t under estimate them,” he warned. “Especially Sierra, she is nothing like Lexi.”
“You don’t have to tell me. Lexi actually has a heart.”
He laughed. “I knew the moment I saw you that you were going to be trouble.”
I shot him daggers.
Ha. He was the cause of all my troubles…well most of them anyway.
His eyes sobered, and I knew his thoughts had turned in an ugly direction. “I just don’t know if I can take the chance. There is so much at stake, and not just for me. I have Lexi and Travis to think about too.”
I realized what he was contemplating, and I felt the blood drain from my face.
Compulsion.
He was going to use mind control to make me forget this ever happened, and I would go back to being blissful ignorant. I didn’t want that.
I’d be lying if I said that what Chase was didn’t scare me, but I knew him, and I honestly believed he would never hurt me. Every bone in my body knew it. I just needed him to trust me. “Please Chase, don’t do this. I don’t want to forget,” I pleaded, tears welled in my eyes. “I swear, you can trust me. I wouldn’t do anything to expose you or Lexi.” The appreciation I felt catapulted.
“Angel don’t you–” He was cut off as a tear rolled down my freckled cheek. “Shit,” he uttered.
Cautiously he lifted a hand toward me only to pull it away as if he was afraid to touch me. I wasn’t scared of him but of losing what I just beginning to understand. His eyes softened as he tried to figure out how to handle my fragile state. I doubted he had to deal with blubbering females often. If I hadn’t been so upset, I would have found it comical.
“Please don’t cry,” he whispered.
I almost hadn’t heard him as my chest heaved in a sob. He inched closer to me on the couch, his hand touching the small of my back. All the encouragement I needed. He was startled to find an armful of me soaking his shirt. Stunned, it took him a minute or two before he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer and encasing me in his exotic scent.
His patience was staggering considering. He didn’t open his mouth to complain, didn’t scold me on the uselessness of tears. Actually he murmured in my ear, brushing his lips over my hair. When I finally got myself under control every touch was like an electric shockwave to my system. He was driving me wild. My color came back in floods.
I risked a glance up. “Please don’t Chase. I don’t want to forget.”
He stared at me for a long time, the internal struggle clear behind his blustery eyes. I understood the responsibility he shouldered and the lives he protected, but I was only one girl. Surely letting me know couldn’t possibly destroy everything.
“Angel I–”
My bottom lip trembled, and I heard the regret in his voice.
“Okay, I won’t. I promise, just don’t…” At this point I think he would have agreed to give me the moon if I asked. He just didn’t want to see any more of my tears. His thumb brushed along my bottom lip, and they tingled from his touch. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
I couldn’t figure out if that was good or bad. My head was so absorbed with him that I couldn’t really think all that well at the moment. He was doing things to my body with those stormy eyes that no guy should be able to do.
Somehow during my crying jag he had pulled me into his lap. Now I found myself in a compromising position, but I wasn’t complaining. Biting my lip, I wondered if I should move. His hands spanned behind me, resting on places that I should be ashamed of, not turned on by, and his fingers scorched my skin even through my jeans.
It was suddenly extremely hot and got me thinking that the air conditioning must be on the fritz. Silence spanned between us as the air crackled. Why him? How could he make me lose my head with just a look – a touch? He was probably used to girls losing their heads over him. I didn’t want to be just another notch under his ho-belt.
If only my mind and body could communicate and come to a mutual understanding instead of this yo-yo-ing hot and cold…and hot again.
Shifting, my knee accidently rubbed up against him provocatively, as I tried to make our position less awkward.
Epic fail.
Oh. My. Gawd.
Did I just feel what I thought I felt?
My face flushed miserably. All I ended up doing was making the obvious known to both of us. My mortification could not be any grander.
His eyes flashed. I found myself underneath him on the length of the couch and that part of him was evidently pressed up against me in the most intimate way. I shut my eyes.
“You want to play with fire? Watch out Angel, or you’ll get burned.” His words rushed over my skin.
He was only doing this to teach you a lesson, a part of my brain insisted. I told it to shut the hell up. Right now burning didn’t sound so bad. Not if it involved him and what his lips could do to my skin. Tiny flames licked where his mouth skimmed along on my flesh. His lips nuzzled my neck not all that gentle, and I swear a blinding light broke out behind my eyes. Those full mouthwatering lips grazed the pulsing vein in my neck, nibbling a sensitive spot.
Everything inside me exploded like a nuclear bomb, and he hadn’t even kissed me.
Yet.
I entangled our legs and ran my hands through his hair. He couldn’t possibly be a part of hell because this felt beyond heaven.
Did heaven vibrate?
Slowly the smokiness drifted, and I heard Chase let out a frustrated purr. Then I felt the vibration again against my leg.
His phone. Heaven hadn’t called after all.
On the downside, the buzzing of his phone jerked us out of letting things go too far. Fast. I was surprised to find my clothes mostly intact and not already on the floor. Opening my eyes, a smoldering blend of shimmering silver and topaz bewitched me.
Not just anger, I thought.
He sat up, running a hand through his tousled hair before answering the call. My head lay on the couch, and I stayed as still as I could be.
“Lex,” he answered. “I’m fine. Actually I’m next door.” He glanced over at me, snapping the phone shut. “She’s coming over.”
Her timing sucked. Royally sucked.
Chapter 13
He stood up, putting the phone back in his pocket.
“Are you leaving?” I asked, probably sounding clingy.
“Yeah, I have to get home and talk to Devin before he shits a brick. Lexi’s already here.”
Just then she came through the front door like she was walking on glass, waiting for a nuclear explosion. Her eyes bounced from Chase to me. I fussed with my ratted hair and tugged on my shirt.
“What were you guys doing?” She was grinning.
“Nothing,” Chase grounded out. “Look Lex, she knows. Talk to her.”
Her eyes got as big as a saucer. “She knows? What? Wait how?”
“I don’t have time for a rundown. Just stay with her. And no compulsion,” he added.
I watched him stroll out the door with a weird, sad, and disappointed feeling I couldn’t understand.
Lexi bounded into the room and sat down next to me like an energizer bunny. Was she always this excitable?
“Did you guys…” she raised a perf
ectly arched brow.
“What? No. Definitely not,” I said outraged.
It didn’t faze her. “Did you kiss him at least?” she asked noticing my messy hair and disarrayed clothes.
I could still feel his lips on my neck.
“Lexi!” I exclaimed. “No, I didn’t kiss him. We can hardly even stand each other.”
She totally didn’t buy that, and her glinting eyes laughed at my denial. “But you want to.”
Ugh. This was highly embarrassing.
Her eyes turned serious. “You aren’t freaking out,” she commented like she just realized.
“Why would I freak out?” I asked happy to be on a new topic.
“I did hear him right? You know?” she asked, warily taking a seat beside me and tucking her feet under.
I nodded my head. “Yeah. He told me about you being Divisa.” The word still sounded foreign on my tongue.
“You aren’t…scared of me,” she asked under her thick lashes, almost afraid of my answer.
“No, I don’t think so. I just still can’t believe my best friend is half-demon. It doesn’t seem real.”
“Oh it’s real. I’m so glad you know. It was so hard keeping it a secret from you,” she said with uber glee.
I grinned at her. “Me too.” Maybe some of her giddiness was rubbing off on me.
“I’ve never had a human friend before,” she admitted.
Well I’ve never had a supernatural friend before. So it looked like we were both in for a few surprises. “Why?” I asked.
She shrugged like it was no big deal, but I could tell that it hurt. “People are put off by us. They somehow feel the evil under the surface, and it keeps them from getting too close. It’s like a signal of caution, lonely for me, but protection for them. They just don’t know it.” She looked up at me, her turquoise eyes bright. “Except you. You don’t shrink away or treat me any different.”
Odd. Why didn’t I feel what everyone else did?
“That’s not normal is it?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve only ever met one other person who didn’t have that instinctual alarm and…” her voice trailed off.
“And what?” I prompted on edge. You can’t leave a girl hangin’ like that.
“Chase won’t like if I tell.”
I rolled my eyes. “Screw Chase. He doesn’t like anything.”
She giggled. “You’re right. Chase is a pain in the ass.”
I couldn’t agree more.
“She and Travis were very close. Of course that worried Chase.” She sighed. “Emma was her name, Emma Deen. And she disappeared nine months ago.”
“Like milk carton missing?”
“Yep. Travis went nuts – demon nuts. She was his girlfriend.”
I tried to think what that would have looked like. Images of overturn furniture, walls with fist holes, complete chaos.
“Chase thinks she’s dead,” she said flatly.
Talk about a conversation downer. I leaned back against the sofa, slouching. Chase would be a Debbie downer.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Her eyes looked lost. “I don’t know, but she was the only person other than you, that didn’t treat us like outcasts.”
“I’m sorry Lexi. I’m glad that I don’t feel what everyone else’s feels.”
“Me too,” she replied with a sad smile.
I couldn’t imagine how lonely her life had been. It seemed so unfair.
“So Chase told me about the hellhound,” she said bringing up the nightmare I was still trying to forget.
“He seems to be constantly saving me,” I admitted not all together happy about it.
She smiled. “Chase is more than capable of handling one hellhound. That’s like child’s play for him.”
That got me thinking. “How strong is he?” I asked with curiosity.
Her eyes lit up. “Chase is the strongest Divisa that I know of. From what little I understand, his father was some badass powerful demon. Like Chuck Norris of the underworld. But I think Chase is a little afraid to find who his father is. Afraid of what he might have inherited. His strength comes with a price. He has serious anger issues.”
No shit.
I was at the edge of the couch hanging on her every word.
“He struggles with controlling his demon-half the most and because of that he is the hardest on himself. Always pushing further than any human or half-human should.”
“Is that why he didn’t want us to be friends, because you might lose control?”
She nodded her head, sending her blonde ponytail swishing. “During the day it’s fairly easy to control, even he does it without much effort. As the sun falls the things that go bump in the night trickle out, and that connection we have with the underworld brims closer to the surface. It thins the line between human and demon.”
Well that explained a lot. “You are here with me now and seem fine.”
She gave me a half smile. “It’s not without effort, but I have the most control out of the three of us. Still doesn’t stop Chase from being a bully. He is always sheltering us and is fiercely protective. I think because he is so much stronger, he thinks that he needs to take care of us. Even though I have way more control than he does.”
“Chase mentioned something about hunters?”
“You are the first person outside of us who Chase has ever opened up to.” She sounded amazed. “The hunters, as we call them, are a group of people who have somehow found out that Divisa exist. It’s almost impossible to hide ourselves from everyone, even as hard as we try. But I have to admit with you we could have tried a lot harder. I know a part of me wanted you to know so I wouldn’t have to hide it anymore or lie. I can’t really say why on Chase’s behalf, but he has been just as careless with you, regardless of all his threatening. The hunters have only one purpose. To kill us.”
“Why would they want to kill you?” I got that they could be dangerous, but killing just seemed extreme.
“They believe that we are abomination, a threat to the human race. In reality they are right, we are.”
I hated to her hear being so degrading. “I don’t buy it. I have never seen any of you hurt anyone. How can you be a threat?”
She shrugged shoulders. “Not all Divisa’s are like us. Many never learn how to handle their demon. Or they were cast aside by family who didn’t want them. Travis, Chase and I got lucky.”
“What about the other Divisa’s at school?” I asked, thinking about Sierra.
“Well Hayden is cool. Sierra has issues, as you know.”
Did I ever.
She continued, “And Craig is a loose cannon. Chase would not want you anywhere near him. He is constantly on Craig. I even watch myself around him.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“Don’t worry. Chase won’t let anything happen to you,” she assured in utmost confidence.
“Why do you say that?” He more or less despised me on most days.
“Just a hunch,” she said, grinning secretly.
“What’s their deal?” I asked, quickly changing the subject.
She pulled out her legs and sat Indian style facing me. “Sierra lives with her parents, they are both Divisa. Her dad and mine kind of powwow together and find ways to keep us from being discovered. Without them I am not sure how we would survive.”
I rested my head in my hand. “Does that happen often? Divisia’s marrying Divisa’s?”
Lexi grinned. “More and more. Hayden and Craig are like Chase, but they have it rough. Neither of them have parents. Whereas Chase has us and Devin, the two of them live with human relatives. It’s extremely rare that more than one person in a family would have demon interaction. My dad and Chase’s mom were brother and sister.”
Okay, that was weird. It made me wonder if Devin and Chase butted heads because he was such a reminder of what Devin had lost – his sister. I wasn’t claiming to be Dr. Phil, but maybe I was onto something.
> “Hayden lives with his Grandma, who is so old that she isn’t really in tune with the whole danger vibe. But Craig lives with his aunt and from what I gather, she can’t stand him. She collects her monthly check from the government and pretty much leaves Craig to raise himself.”
Damn. The last thing I wanted was to feel sympathy for Craig.
I stifled a yawn. It was getting late, and I think my brain was fried.
She noticed my drooping eyes. “Do you want me to stay?” she asked.
“No it’s okay. I think I’ll be all right. My mom should be home in a few hours anyway.” I glimpsed at the clock on the DVR, it was after midnight. I was going to be a zombie for school Monday.
~*~*~*~
The following morning, my mom padded her way downstairs in her fuzzy slippers, with bedhead and gave me a long hug. I needed it.
“I miss you honey. It feels like forever since I’ve seen you. Has school gotten better?” she asked concerned about how I was adjusting.
We sat curled on the couch, and I laid my head on her shoulder, trying everything in my power to not think about being sprawled underneath Chase on this very same couch just hours ago. I felt my cheeks flushed a little.
“It’s better, nothing like the first day. I met a few really nice girls, and I already knew Chase and Lexi, so I think I’ll survive the year.”
“How are things going with Chase and Lexi?”
Somehow I thought this question had a double meaning. “Fine, I guess.”
“Do you have any classes with them?”
“Actually, I have gym with Lexi and chemistry with Chase.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Oh, nothing,” I barked.
“I didn’t say anything,” she grinned.
She didn’t have to. It was written all over her face. I swear sometimes she acted more like my sister than my mom.
Chapter 14
It was one of those lazy Sundays. My mom was at the station, and I was in my room catching up on some school work when I heard the doorbell chime. I could only imagine who it was. It’s not like we got a lot of solicitors in the middle of nowhere.
Rushing down the stairs, I caught a horrifying glance at myself. Why hadn’t I showered today? Quickly tossing my hair into a ponytail I opened the door, expecting to see Lexi.
