Had they heard the news yet and already condemned her without a trial or jury?
The rumble of an engine caught her attention. She ran to the window and peeked through a part in the curtain. The sun had set a few hours ago. The Martins’ SUV was parked in their driveway. She spied the couple and their two kids sitting at the dinner table through their side window, otherwise, the cul-de-sac was empty. Quickly, she finished packing and jogged downstairs. Reign, bare-chested in the kitchen, was hunched over the remains of Mrs. Kelly’s chocolate cake.
“What in the name of the gods is this?” He shoveled in another mouthful.
She’d planned to be distant, but how could she when he was shirtless in her kitchen, licking chocolate from his fingers with the glee of a five-year-old? “It’s called chocolate cake. You like it?”
His eyes rolled back in his head. He nodded. Smudges of cake were on his lips and crumbs littered his chest. How could you not adore a man who loved chocolate?
“You have food.” She pointed to the corner of his lips. His tongue flicked out and licked the crumbs away.
Reign sighed, causing his pecs to heave and his six-pack to ripple. Alexis remembered his lips and tongue on her breasts. Him moving inside her body and her needing so much more of him. He filled her, completed the puzzle missing from her heart.
He’s leaving you.
But right now, he’s here.
She brushed the crumbs away and laid a hand on his chest. Sensual thoughts, filled with tenderness swirled between them. Warmth glazed over her, tightening her nipples and clenching her core.
His gaze traveled down her body and a wolfish grin crossed his face. Lost, she couldn’t resist when his mouth devoured her. He tasted decadent. His sinfully hard body felt like heaven. He picked her up and sat her on the kitchen island. Her legs draped around him. He released her hair, pulled her tresses to the side, and nuzzled her neck, tickling her with his whiskers before his tiny kisses trailed to her earlobe.
A palm cupped her breast through her shirt. She gripped his biceps and let her head drop back, exposing all of her to him.
He stilled. His hands dropped from her body.
“Reign?”
His lips had drawn back in a silent snarl, replacing his playful smile. In his hand, he clutched his blade. “They're here.”
Alexis slid off the island. She raced up the stairs with his heavy footsteps thudding behind her. She grabbed the duffel and peeked out of the window. A police cruiser had parked out front and two officers approached the house.
She was about to turn away when she glanced at her neighbor’s home. Mrs. Kelly stared out of a bedroom window, directly at Alexis.
The front door creaked. She whipped around.
Reign faced the bedroom door. His black blade clasped between both hands. The corded muscles in his back were tense, ready.
“Take us to Mrs. Kelly’s,” she whispered. He shook his head. She stepped in from of him and forced him to look at her. It took most of her strength to jerk his head down. His unfocused eyes wouldn’t meet hers. Cupping his face, she stared into their bottomless pits. His raging emotions cascaded into her, turning her thoughts toward death. For her sanity, she needed to let go. Instead, she clung to him.
Again, she registered nothing, no ghosts haunting him. Only an abiding anger.
She molded her body to his hard length. An arm banded around her waist and drew her even closer. “Please, Reign. We have to go.”
His eyes lost some of the distance as if he pulled back from the edge to hear her. He shuddered. For a brief second, his grip hurt, but he released her and shouldered her bag. Then he flashed them across the street into Mrs. Kelly’s living room.
“Get up here.” Mrs. Kelly ordered from the stairs.
They gathered with her in the master bedroom at the window. Police cars filled the cul-de-sac outside her grandmother’s house. Headlights turned the evening to day, which drew the Martin’s and the other neighbors from their homes. The police ushered them back inside.
“At least they're not sneaking around anymore.” Mrs. Kelly stepped away from the window.
“What?” Alexis moved toward the window.
“Alexis, you have untapped gifts that you must start utilizing.” Mrs. Kelly lectured and pulled her away. “I sensed their presence long before I saw them. Just as I sensed your presence in the house. I would’ve called but didn’t want to leave a record for them to harass me.” She glanced at Reign. “I’m surprised you didn’t sense them, but perhaps your attentions were otherwise occupied.” She pointed to Reign’s bare chest.
Alexis tried not to blush and failed while Reign magically created a shirt. She didn’t have time to question her neighbor on the untapped gifts at her disposal. “Thanks for all you’ve done, Mrs. Kelly, but we don’t want to put you in further danger.”
“I saw the news. I know why they’re here, ransacking your grandmother’s home. This room is shielded. They can’t see us from the street. I would ask if this is the right path for you, but I see you’ve already made your decision. So, how can I help?”
This woman, who only knew her by proxy through her grandmother, embraced her. She smelled of a mix of chocolate, vanilla, and coconut. An image of her grandmother’s homemade coconut macaroon came to Alexis’s mind. A sob tore through her with tears close on its heels.
“It’s okay, dear.” Mrs. Kelly hugged her. “You’ve been through a lot, but I’d say you're stronger for it.”
Stronger? She didn’t feel stronger. Her life was wrecked. There was nothing to salvage. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder. Alexis inhaled a slow breath.
Reign stood behind her. She leaned back and let him catch her, his strength was her fortress.
“We’re leaving.” Even though she had no idea where they were going, saying the words made it real. But there was one thing she had to do before she kissed it all goodbye.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Alexis stared at the front door to her parents’ McMansion, her finger centimeters away from the doorbell. She had no idea what she would say to them. How do you say goodbye to your family when you can’t explain why you have to leave?
She glanced over her shoulder at her entourage, Reign and Mrs. Kelly. Her neighbor insisted on tagging along. Reign hadn’t been certain he could transport both of them, but she assured him he could. He didn’t seem worse for wear after scattering their atoms and transporting them here. He looked exhausted from having to listen to Mrs. Kelly’s incessant chatter.
Alexis had never brought a man home and wasn’t about to break that pattern now. The argument with Gloria would be bad enough without having to deal with introducing a man to her father and brothers. Should she tell him to remain hidden or trust that he’d figure it out?
Leave a man to figure something out? Yep, that would not work. Besides, they wouldn’t be here long and as soon as they were out of here, it was back to the factory to start her new fugitive detective career.
“Why do we linger?” He scanned the area.
“I want you to remain invisible.”
His gaze landed on her. A muscle flexed in his jaw and his eyes seemed to darken in the porch lighting. She’d hurt him and didn’t mean to.
“As you wish.” He faded before she could explain.
She entered the house with her arctic front following close behind. A servant met her in the atrium. “Where is everyone?” she asked Louisa, the latest live in maid. Her mother went through servants like water to a colander.
“They’ve already left for the pavilion, ma’am,” Louisa answered.
Anger made her cheeks burn, until she glanced at herself in the hallway mirror. Wild hair, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket. She didn’t even have makeup on to give her some color and hide her freckles. There was no way she could whip herself together to attend a formal function and not embarrass her father. So much for saying goodbye. She’d come all this way for nothing.
Alexis sat in the living room. S
houlders slumped forward, chin buried in her chest. Any minute, she would figure out what to do next. She hid her trembling lips behind her hand.
“Ma’am, the hair stylist and make-up artist are still here. I can ask them to wait,” Louisa said.
If the party was tonight, there’s a good chance her family knew nothing about what happened. Alexis lifted her chin and her blurry vision met Mrs. Kelly. Her gray head bobbed once.
“Do you think they would?” Alexis asked Louisa.
“I’ll ask right now.” Louisa hurried away.
“Think they can make me pretty, too?” Mrs. Kelly smiled at her, then grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Shower, then the professionals will make us beautiful, though, you already are.”
It’s something her grandmother would’ve said. God, she missed her.
Reign materialized, his face brooding and pensive. She wanted to explain the complicated relationship she had with Gloria and her family, but they didn’t have time. Mrs. Kelly gave her a push toward the bathroom and she went, grateful to get away.
Fifteen minutes later, she marched downstairs wrapped in a plush robe to find her neighbor sitting under the dryer. Alexis looked around the room at the extensive set up and remembered why she avoided all this. Since the time she gave up diapers, she had a standing appointment at the best salon, in whatever town the military had shipped the family. All this primping never made her beautiful. Never helped her win a pageant. Never made Gloria look at her with love instead of a project to correct.
And in the short amount of time she had to say goodbye, she had no idea how to change it.
***
As long as the tether allowed, Reign wandered around the house, searching for any threat. He stayed away from Alexis. He shouldn’t be surprised she didn’t want her family to see him. What woman would? He had nothing to offer but his blade and a curse. Alexis deserved more. And he had nothing to give.
For a few minutes, he watched her flinch and wince while one woman attacked her hair. He was about to appear and order them away from her when she sighed and smiled dreamily.
“This is absolutely wonderful.” A woman soaped Alexis’s hair. Her eyelids slid closed and a look of ecstasy settled over her face.
“I used to hate all this stuff,” she murmured. “It’s been so long since I did this; I guess I can appreciate it now.”
He hardened and had to turn away. The gods knew how much he wanted her. Being tied to her was equal parts heaven and hell.
She seemed to care. When that silly old woman said his mother was a god, Alexis had pulled him back to her, wrapped her arms around him, and held him as if he mattered. He felt her. The curves of her body had molded to him. Nephythys never did that, touched him of her own free will. Never allowed him to touch her.
Two thousand years without the touch of another being and Alexis had stumbled across his path, into his arms. The slippery feel of her had surrounded him… His heart twisted viciously in his chest. It was good she didn’t want him to meet her family. They didn’t need to meet the man who had brought ruin to their daughter. Time was his adversary. God, he had to find a way to leave Alexis before Nephythys discovered her.
Mrs. Kelly blocked his path and glanced left and right at both entrances into the spacious living room. Could she see him?
“Come with me,” she whispered.
Curious, he followed her into a bedroom and materialized when she closed the door. The Vanquished whispered as the tether drew taut. An uneasy knot began in his stomach as she walked around him. Her shrewd eyes scanned from his head to his toes much like a buyer studying a slave.
“How may I help, Mrs. Kelly?”
“Oh, I don’t need your help. Alexis does. She needs an escort to this shindig, and you just volunteered.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Unseen, Khuket hovered near the ceiling of the bar. Below, four men slung back beers while playing pool. Intricate, colorful chaos bands pulsed around them. Each had their own personal demons clinging to their souls, making them exploitable. She’d learned their names: Thane, Quin, EJ, and delicious Avery. The disfigured one.
Nothing more than a wisp of smoke, she dropped from the corner of the ceiling of the bar and closed the distance between her and her prey. She didn’t need to touch him. Just being near to his latent and manifested turmoil stoked her appetite. His chaos was an unending banquet she could feed on forever.
“You are strong,” she whispered into his subconscious, bolstering his flagging will. Having him succumb too soon would not satisfy her purpose. As she supped, parts of the men’s conversations drifted to her. They were concerned about her army and Alamut. They needn’t have worried. Most of the canopic jars were secreted away in the factory. The rest were trapped within her cloak, present only when she desired. Until she released the souls within the jars, her army would remain dormant. Hopefully, Alamut would prove capable and lead her soldiers.
Her dinner trembled. He fought her control. It was odd watching such a large, formidable male become noticeably shaken, but she enjoyed his awareness of her presence. She molded herself to his body and slurped at the chaos bleeding off him in abundant waves until he fought the havoc gnawing at his senses. To her shock, the chaos within him calmed when it should’ve escalated in her presence. He controlled the chaos instead of succumbing.
“Hey, you okay?” EJ said to her prey.
Avery pushed EJ out of the way and stormed from the bar. She peeled away and allowed him to flee. After ingesting his succulent aura, he could never hide. She would never hunger again.
She returned to the factory moments before Alamut materialized in his human form. Wet and badly bruised, he collapsed on the floor. Unimpressed, she glanced behind him. “Where is my army?”
“Dead.”
Her essence bristled and roiled, and her true state threatened to break free. She couldn’t allow that destructive force to conquer the reasoning and control she had gained after millennia of solitude. “I sent you to feed my minions, not get them slaughtered. How did this happen?”
“Reign.”
Rage swept through her. Her army dead at the hands of the man she needed to kill to ensure her freedom. An opportunity wasted by a worthless hybrid. Now she understood SET’s contempt for Anubis. Bands of chaos unfurled from her body. Layers peeled away, revealing the pure chaos that lay beneath. They stretched, and filled the space.
“You should not kill me.” His mouth stretched into a bloody grin.
“Why?” She leaned closer, enjoying the fear on his face.
“Because I can track him.” He held up his hand. Blood coated his palm. A smile curled the corners of his lips.
Khuket swept a finger across his palm and rubbed the vital liquid between her thumb and forefinger. Tinged with chaos, the acrid aroma wafted in the air and pointed her in the direction of her enemy.
She lifted her gaze to Alamut and mimicked his smile. “You have done well, my slave.”
***
What was it about that woman? Reign groused. In his faded state, he sat in the passenger seat of the car while his tormentor hummed in the back.
It must have been the look in her eye, a parental glare that compelled a grown man to comply regardless of his inclination to run. He should have run, but then she added Alexis to the equation. So he let the old woman have her way with him, but that didn’t mean he had to appear like an obedient child. He could protect Alexis just as well faded. He glanced at her seated next to him as she drove the car.
A velvet cloak completely shielded her body and hair from the fine rain that had started moments before their departure. All he could see were her kohl-lined coppery eyes framed by long lashes that were no longer reddish, but now black, making them even more alluring. Her pink lips were tinted red and parted as she breathed. Her tongue flicked out and swept across her top lip, leaving it glistening—and so damn tempting. He wanted to taste her, pull her into his arms, and lose himself in her eyes, her lips, her b
ody. He would never get enough of her.
She didn’t want him, had made that clear when she asked him to fade rather than meet her family. She was right to do so. Alexis wasn’t safe with him. Not only because of Nephythys. Something was wrong.
His control was slipping. He couldn’t blame it on the souls of the dead quimaera. It started before the battle under the bridge. And this time, the Vanquished weren’t involved. Whether they raged or remained silent, his thoughts were not his own. Even with Alexis in close proximity, chaotic impulses pressed him. Never one to have a hair trigger, now nothing would please part of him more than to kill everything.
After tonight, he had to leave Alexis before he hurt her.
The car stopped and a young man opened her door. Faint strains of music swelling over muffled voices reached him. Alexis’s breath hitched. Instead of leaving the car, she paused. Her hands nervously clutched the steering wheel. A bead of sweat trickled from her hairline down the side of her face.
“It’s going to be all right, dear.” Mrs. Kelly handed her a handkerchief. “We’ll both be with you.”
Her eyes widened, she glanced in his general direction. Then her eyebrows drew together. “Oh, yeah…Reign, I think it’d be best if you stayed invisible. This won't take long." She slipped out of the car and walked up the stairs alone.
Her words stabbed his heart. He couldn’t blame her. He brought misery since he entered her life. And he would bring much more when he left her alone to face this world’s justice.
“You don’t listen to her. She doesn’t mean it. You listen to me! That girl has no idea what she’s walking into. She needs you by her side tonight.” Mrs. Kelly insisted as she exited the car. A couple paused to stare at the elderly lady chattering to herself. She gave them that same parental glare until they continued on their way.
“Reign Nicolis, you appear right now,” she whispered furiously through pursed lips. When he didn’t do as she commanded, she huffed and marched up the stairs. “She didn’t mean what she said, Reign. The girl is stressed, under pressure. Between the discovery of her true nature and that mother of hers—”
Everlasting (Descendants of Ra: Book 2) Page 25
