“Atticus, I can get it myself,” I told him.
“I’ve seen you naked, Evelyn,” he reminded me, his voice cold as his hands went to my pants. That’s it.
My hands stopped his again. He met my eyes. “You are not my Atticus,” I told him. He looked at me confused. “When my Atticus comes back, the one who can actually talk to me without the room dropping fifty degrees, then you can see me naked. Until then, out!” His eyes flashed as his hands dropped from my clothes. Then he was slamming the door behind him. I sighed, not knowing if I had just pushed him away more or not. I stripped down, grunting and groaning as I pulled off my leather armor.
When I was finally naked I pulled back the frosted curtain and slowly slipped into the water in the deep tub. I hissed as the herbs stung my bruises and cuts. But when I was finally up to my neck the stinging eased. I let out a deep breath and laid my head back.
Not ten minutes later someone knocked on the door.
“I’m in the tub. If you need to use the lavatory go use my apartment,” I called with my eyes still closed. The door opened. I quickly sat up and covered myself. “I’m in here!”
“I’m aware,” Atticus announced dryly. “The curtain isn’t transparent, you still have the privacy you wanted.” I looked and realized he was right. I relaxed again.
“An odd kind of privacy,” I pointed out. His footsteps moved across the tile. He moved the curtain a little to place a mug of hot chocolate on the edge of the tub then let it drop back. Surprised, it took me a few heartbeats to say anything.
“Thank you.” I picked up the mug and took a sip. It was sweet, rich and chocolatey. Everything I was looking for.
“We need to talk,” he said, his voice neutral.
I took a big drink. “Alright.”
“You went after the Succubus on your own,” he said carefully.
I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “Yes.”
“Why?” he asked, his voice strained. He was clearly trying not to yell.
I took another sip. “All of you are so worried about taking me out hunting that most of you don’t seem to remember that I’ve been doing this for years,” I said quietly, trying to be honest with him. “I’ve taken out Rakashas before on my own, and just about every type of demon you can name, yet you keep pushing me out of the fight like I’m a twelve-year-old.” I swallowed hard. “It bothers me, frustrates me and yes, one of the reasons I went out on my own today was because I was tired of being told to stay back.”
There were several heartbeats of silence.
“Then why did you come home bruised head to toe?” he asked.
I took another sip. “Because when you get two powerful energy users in a one-on-one fight we kind of… null each other out sometimes. There’s no point in trying to be clever, at least not with some demons. It becomes more about how many walls and floors you can slam the other one through.”
“How many walls and floors did you go through?” he asked quietly.
“I would prefer not to comment,” I said dryly.
He chuckled. I smiled to myself. It was a good laugh. I pulled the curtain back enough so I could see him. He was leaning against the wall at the other end of the shower, his arms crossed over his chest with his gaze on the tiled floor. His suit jacket was gone but his sleeves were rolled back showing his tattoos again.
“I know we’ve been forcing you back out of the fighting,” he said softly. “But it has nothing to do with your abilities, Evelyn. None of us have gotten used to you fighting with us, and during a fight your safety is the sole thing on my mind.” He looked up and met my eyes. “We know you are more than capable of holding your own. This is my weakness, not yours.”
I closed my eyes and prayed for patience. When I opened them, he was still waiting. “So, all of you had a meeting to discuss this and came to this conclusion? That I shouldn’t hunt with you.”
“Yes. Ranulf didn’t like it, but eventually he agreed as well,” he said.
I sighed as I met his gaze. “Atticus. Don’t you think I should have been there for that meeting?” He blinked. “My Mate and teammates got together and decided what I would be doing without me even being there.”
His gaze was on the floor again, his brow furrowed. There were several minutes of silence before he nodded. “I see your point.” He lifted his head and met my eyes. “I didn’t believe you would be open to the idea.”
“Whether you believed that or not, I should have been there,” I explained calmly. “To listen to what everyone thought, to say how I felt about it.” I looked up at the ceiling again. “I’m a reasonable person, Atticus. If I had been at that meeting, I would have listened and understood everyone’s reasoning.”
“Would you have agreed?” he asked quietly.
I met his shadowed eyes again. “Yes. I would also have asked that you let me take care of the Succubus, considering none of you could.”
He huffed. “So, we would have been on the same page.”
“Looks like it,” I said before taking another drink. A couple minutes of silence went by.
“You said I wasn’t ‘your Atticus.’ What did you mean?” he asked carefully.
I sighed deeply, my head falling back against the tub. “You keep changing,” I began. “You’re warm, then you’re cold. And I can’t take it.” My throat tightened. “Ever since the Rakasha you’ve been cold. You wouldn’t look at me in the car, you would barely talk to me.” I swirled the water with a fingertip. “You pushed me out. And when I tried to get you to talk, you might as well have given me frostbite.” I laid my head back as my throat tightened. “I can’t deal with that, Atticus. And I don’t want to.”
“That had nothing to do with you,” he assured me.
I sighed and stayed calm. “Whether it did or not isn’t the point.” I looked up at the ceiling again, trying to make him understand. “You slammed the door on me, Atticus. I was trying to help and you shut me out. And it hurts when you do that.” I put my mug on the bathroom floor.
“How?” his voice was quiet.
I looked down at the water as my eyes burned. “It makes me feel like you don’t want me.” My voice was barely a whisper in the room. “That you don’t even like me.”
The silence was thick in the bathroom. Would he ever say anything? I was about to give up and get out when he finally spoke up.
“I’m sorry, Eve. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. “I didn’t mean to shut you out, it’s just… what I’ve always done. I truly didn’t mean to hurt you. I never would, not again, not on purpose.”
“Atticus, we need to not be afraid to talk to each other,” I said. I shifted, pressing the front of my body against the side of the tub, putting my arms on the side and rested my chin on them. He met my eyes. “I promise to talk to you about what’s on my mind or what I’m feeling and to listen with an open heart and open mind to what is on yours.”
“And if I upset you?” he asked.
“If you upset me, then I’ll walk away and calm down. Then I’ll come back to you when I can have a calm discussion on the topic. But don’t shut me out.”
His eyes were warm as he walked across the room and knelt next to the tub. His fingers held my jaw, his thumb running over my cheek. “I promise the same. And to always include you in our team discussions, especially anything regarding you or our lives.” He took a deep breath. “And I promise not to shut you out ever again.”
I smiled up at him. “Deal.”
He grinned down at me before lowering his head. His lips brushed mine softly, my body relaxed in the water. When he lifted his head he looked… oddly settled. Calm.
My left forearm began to burn. I hissed as I shifted in the water so I could look at it. He grunted as he raised his arm. I watched as a few more balls of raw, fluffy cotton appeared on the branches. I looked over to find several more cherry blossoms were now along his vines.
“How did I sleep through that the first time?” he
wondered.
“I don’t know, you’d think that would have woken us up,” I said as I looked back up at him.
He frowned in confusion. “What did you say?”
“You wondered how you slept through the burning the first time,” I told him, not understanding. His eyes grew wide.
“Evelyn, can you hear me?” he asked, though his lips didn’t move.
“Yes, I can,” I said, sitting up in the tub. I closed my eyes and felt around inside my mind. There! A fresh link had formed. I opened my eyes and met his. “It’s a telepathic link.”
“What? How…” He closed his eyes. “Our promises.”
“What was the exact wording?” I asked carefully.
“To listen with an open heart and open mind,” he repeated.
“Oh my God.” I dropped my face into my hands. “It created the link.”
“Seriously?” he growled “Are we ever going to get a vow right?” he sent.
I groaned and dropped my hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about the wording of what I was promising.”
He reached out and held my bruised face gently in his hand. “Neither did I.” He gave me a small smile. “We’ll manage. But right now we have work to do. I brought some of your clothes, they’re on the counter.” He tucked a stray hair behind my ear, making my body warm. “When you’re done with your bath, come out and we’ll have a meeting about this angel that’s summoning everything.”
“I doubt Zahur will be awake,” I pointed out.
“I’ll fill him in tomorrow morning,” he assured me.
I nodded. He leaned over me and kissed me gently. When he was done he got to his feet and headed for the door. “Brilliant idea Atticus, kiss her when she’s naked and then head out to the others when you’re hard as a rock.”
I giggled. He stopped, then turned around and looked at me.
“You’re the one who came into the bathroom while I was in the tub,” I pointed out.
“This link is going to have a learning curve, isn’t it?” he asked woefully.
“And probably a steep one at that,” I admitted. He cursed mentally. I raised an eyebrow.
He cursed out loud before he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
I laid back in the water, smiling as I ran over our conversation again in my head. We promised to talk to each other and be open minded. Maybe I should have added calmly? I instantly dismissed the idea. When I lost my temper I truly lost it. A lot like my Mate. I looked down at my arm. We were married. I ran my fingers over the thin brown branches. The white cotton balls were spaced along them. I didn’t know what to think about my Mate mark.
I soaked a little longer before pulling the plug and climbing out. I dried myself with a towel and looked at my body in the mirror. All of my bruises were darker, but they weren’t hurting so much anymore.
I looked at the clothes he brought me and smiled. I pulled on the pale pink, hip hugger panties and a white cami. The light blue jeans were comfy, as was the oversized lavender sweater. I pulled my hair back into a bun before bending to pick up my clothes. I made it halfway down before gasping as pain shot through me.
By the time I reached my armor the door opened and Atticus was walking towards me. He snatched up my clothes from the floor, then took my arm and helped me back to my feet.
“Next time, call,” he chided.
“Well, I thought I could get it,” I muttered as we left the bathroom.
“This link might come in handy,” he sent. “I can keep a better eye on you.”
“Oh, great.” Even my thought was dry.
He bit back a laugh as he tossed my armor into a bedroom I hadn’t been in yet. I was too tired to ask.
We joined Ranulf and Falk in the living room.
I sat in the middle of the sofa next to Ranulf. Falk took my other side.
Atticus stood across the coffee table with his arms crossed over his chest. “Alright, we have an angel in the city summoning demons,” he stated. “And he’s after my wife.” The anger coming from him was making my shoulders tight. I tried to block him and it helped, but it was more of a sheer curtain over a window rather than a wall.
“That’s not something I thought I’d ever hear,” Ranulf muttered, bringing my attention back to the conversation.
“At least that explains why we couldn’t figure out those symbols,” I offered, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “My mom and I never went over angels.”
“That does explain why there was every kind of symbol for every kind of demon known. Not to mention all the information on almost every species we know of,” Atticus said.
“I’m sorry, can you explain this to me,” I asked them. “Why are angels bad?”
Ranulf’s arm laid across the back of the couch. “It’s not that they’re bad, lass. It’s that they are psychopaths.” I raised an eyebrow at that.
“We don’t know if they are still working for God or not, but they’ve become twisted,” Atticus explained. “They have determined that humanity is worthless and should be eradicated. They are worse than demons at this point.”
“Demons do like hiding and staying on earth,” I shifted, trying to get comfortable. But between my bruises and Atticus’s anger, it wasn’t happening.
“Well, angels don’t,” Ranulf countered. “They only show up to destroy and kill.”
“I’m amazed that it’s managed to stay hidden this long,” Atticus stated. “They are usually all for exposing themselves to the world while trying to set it ablaze.”
“That is weird,” Ranulf said. “This one’s staying hidden while using demons to do the destroying.”
“Clever,” Atticus muttered before looking to me. “With an angel in the city… Evelyn, I would feel much better if you had someone with you at all times.”
I sighed. “I can handle-”
“Lass, this isn’t about what you can handle,” Ranulf stated. “No gargoyle can take an angel one on one.”
“So, this is just your usual ‘there’s an angel in town, pair up’ procedure?” I asked.
“Yes,” Atticus answered. Then he sent, “It would also help put your Mate at ease.” An urge to grab me and run came through the link. The feeling was edged with bone deep fear. It took my breath away for a moment. That was so not fair.
“Alright. I’ll buddy up,” I agreed. The relief that came through the link left me weak kneed, how was Atticus not showing it at all? I guess I really didn’t realize how much going off on my own bothered him.
“Thank you,” he said. I met his eyes.
“No fair using the link like that,” I sent. His lips twitched.
“Thanks for not fighting us on this,” Ranulf said.
“I’m not completely unreasonable,” I said before leaning forward. “So, what’s the plan for taking it down?”
Atticus took a breath and let it out. “We’re going to have to ignore the demons and hunt the angel.”
I went still. “Wait, we can’t do that. People will die.”
“We don’t like it but if we can cut off any more demons from coming through, then we can take them out,” Ranulf explained.
“We only have two left,” I pointed out. “If we leave with the sunrise, that should give us more than enough time to take them both out before they could hurt more people.”
“One, actually. We got the Wish demon this afternoon,” Atticus countered.
“She’s got a point, boss,” Ranulf said.
He looked at the coffee table, his eyes unfocused.
“The Wrath demon is still out there. Atticus, we can’t let it live much longer,” I sent to him. “The angel seems to have it under control now, but once it’s free of that…”
Atticus nodded, before lifting his head. “You’re right. We can take care of the last one within a few hours.”
“So, that’s the plan?” Ranulf asked.
Atticus nodded. “Yes, we’ll take the last demon out in the early morning, then start hunting the angel
.”
“Then I’m going back to my apartment,” I announced. “I’m exhausted.”
“Evelyn.” Atticus’s voice got my attention before I could stand up. “With an angel in the city, I would appreciate it if you stayed here.”
“But I’m just across the hall,” I pointed out. “Were you not going to…” The thought was sent before I realized it.
His eyes met mine. “Of course I was. But with the others this close it’s much safer. And it would help me sleep tonight.”
That’s true. Through the link I could feel his energy, he was like a live wire right now. Besides, with their description of angels, safer sounded good to me. “Alright.”
Ranulf looked between the two of us. “Okay, I expected a fight, or at the very least an argument. What’s with you two?”
I turned to him and shrugged. “Angels are new to me and I don’t know how to fight them or what magic would work.” Ranulf seemed to accept that.
“Falk, take her to get some things from her apartment,” Atticus ordered. Falk got to his feet and helped me to mine.
We left the males’ apartment and crossed the hall to mine. I pulled an overnight bag out of my closet.
“Better get a bigger bag,” Falk warned hoarsely.
“You think it will be that long?” I asked as I opened a drawer.
“Don’t know,” he rasped. I turned and walked over to him. I held his throat and soothed the irritation. It took a few moments and I was back.
“Thanks,” he said in a rough voice.
I winked at him as I got back to packing the duffle. “We’ll be across the hall, I can make trips back if I need something.”
“Good point,” he admitted as he leaned in the bedroom doorway. I packed enough clothes for a few days, then went into the bathroom and grabbed my make-up bag and other things. When I was done, Falk picked up my duffle bag and headed for the door. I stopped by my bookshelf and picked out a couple of books then followed.
When I walked into their living room Falk was there with no sign of my bag. They were deep in discussion about notifying the Elder Council. Atticus was against it.
Found (Books of Stone Book 1) Page 29
