by W. J. May
Except he didn’t strike. He smiled instead.
“There they are!” He opened his arms wide, grabbing his children in a crushing embrace. “My pride and joy. My true legacy.”
Kraigan and Rae exchanged an incredulous look behind Simon’s back as he squeezed the life out of them, turning his head to kiss them both on the cheek.
“You know, I have to admit I didn’t think that I’d ever see the two of you standing in the same room. I’d planned on keeping you secret from each other forever.” His face cracked into a beaming smile, delighted to have been proven wrong. “Isn’t it strange how things work out?”
As Kraigan stared back at him in shock, Rae shut her eyes with a painful grimace.
Great, just great.
It looked like Samantha had given dear ol’ dad a bit of her magic truth serum as well…
* * *
The sleeping arrangements that night were like a game of musical chairs.
Molly slept in Rae’s room. Gabriel slept on the floor in Angel’s. Kraigan haunted his little cot up in the attic like usual, while Luke, Julian, and Devon passed out in the living room. For his part, Simon had been given a room at the far end of the hall. This was only after Rae had asked him point blank if he intended to either run, hurt them, or steal any of their powers. When he’d replied in the negative to all three with a supernaturally-persuaded smile, she unlocked the basement door.
The last thing she wanted to do was show him even an extra modicum of kindness but, to be frank, she didn’t see any other way to get out of that unexpected family hug. She was just thankful her mother wasn’t in the place to witness it.
The house went quiet the second the lights went out but, try as she might, Rae was unable to sleep. And it wasn’t the residual adrenaline from Samantha’s psychological attack. It wasn’t even the constant barrage of sharp little sleep kicks coming from Molly’s side of the bed.
It was the look on Devon’s face the second she’d said she was afraid.
To Samantha’s credit, Rae didn’t think there was a single worse question in the entire world for her to force Rae to answer. No deadlier weapon she could have used. There was no hope, determination, or life left on his face when it was done. It was a barb that went straight to his heart.
All from a little word…afraid.
Is it really true? Rae wondered as she dodged another of Molly’s midnight kicks. Am I really still afraid of him?
She certainly didn’t feel afraid of him. When she looked at his face she didn’t find herself worried, or uneasy, or uncertain as to what he might do. She didn’t automatically reposition herself whenever he walked into a room—making sure there was a protective distance, or barrier between them at all times. If anything, it was exactly the opposite.
She was the one who’d reached for him, still declaring her love, even as he walked towards her with the knife. She was the one who stopped him from leaving. The one who’d grabbed his hands and forced him to get over his own fears. Forced him to stay.
So how could I still be afraid of him?
If it wasn’t for the fact that Samantha’s command for honesty had triggered the answer, Rae wouldn’t have believed it herself. But ink like that wasn’t something you could get away from. Any more than Julian admitting he sometimes wondered if he’d made the right choice, saving his and his girlfriend’s life. Any more than Luke kissing Angel. Than Kraigan’s forced silence. Than all of them cemented to their chairs. The ink was sound, and that meant only one thing.
If Rae had said she was afraid…that meant it must be true.
Another fitful kick caught her right in the stomach, and she slipped out of bed with a quiet sigh. Sleep was impossible and she couldn’t stand to be in that room for another minute. The room that she and Devon were supposed to be sharing. The room they slept in together.
Quieter than a ghost, she padded down the hall and made her way to the kitchen. All the lights were out, and the sound of deep breathing whispered from the living room where the boys were sleeping. She cast them a quick glance before slipping into her fiancé’s tatù. The last thing she wanted to do was startle them awake. After the evening they’d had with Samantha, she was surprised they were able to fall asleep in the first place.
As it turned out, not everyone was so lucky…
Chapter 13
“Hey.”
Rae whipped around to see that she wasn’t the only one prowling around the house in the middle of the night. Devon was standing by the cupboards in his pajama bottoms and white top; a mug of hot chocolate in one hand, a bottle of peppermint schnapps in the other.
It had to be said, even after everything that had happened that night, he still looked utterly adorable. Hot, sexy, and everything that she fell in love with during her first year at Guilder. His dark hair was curly in some parts and pointy in others—like he’d been tossing and turning just as much as Rae. It was that delicious length that made her swoon, but his mother would surely insist he trim. His shirt was rumpled and clung to him like a second skin, discreetly hinting at the sculpted muscles hiding just beneath. And his eyes, while bright as ever, were dilated almost entirely black under the light of the full moon.
Rae pursed her lips, trying to stifle a smile. “Your shirt’s on backwards.”
He glanced down at his chest in surprise before flashing her a rueful grin. “I can’t believe I just fell for that.”
She grinned back. “It must be the schnapps.”
He waved the bottle in the air before adding a splash to his hot chocolate. It smelled festive and delicious, perking Rae up even across the room. “It’s the one good thing Angel brought with her when she moved in.” He gestured invitingly to the cupboard and Rae nodded. He got her a mug. “She said, ‘posh boys shouldn’t be so wound up.’ That we needed to relax a little. This helped.”
Rae laughed quietly as he mixed the ingredients and then slid the mug across the counter. “Posh boys?” she repeated.
Devon shook his head. “Her words, not mine. I guess it’s all relative, you know? Not all of us could grow up beneath a cemetery.”
Rae laughed again and took a sip. It was good. Better than good, in fact. She sensed a middle of the night tradition starting. “Do you ever miss that house?”
The question came out of nowhere, surprising them both. It was remarkably mundane, given the things they usually were forced to talk about, but was layered with implication nonetheless. Even so, the mundane helped. They needed a little normalcy after a day like this. The second he finished answering, she full intended to ask him about the weather.
Devon pulled in a deep breath and hopped lightly upon the counter, never spilling a drop. “Sure. It’s a great house.” He paused, thinking back with a faint grin. “Granted, it was never supposed to be me, Julian, and Angel living in it. It wasn’t even supposed to be me and Jules—not for much longer. It was always supposed to be me and you.”
Rae dropped her eyes and nodded. She remembered the night well. The night that Devon had bought the house and led her through the park to see it. At first, she hadn’t understood. It was absolutely lovely. Ivy climbing up the walls. Flowers planted in the front. Even the thick, double-paned windows. Every single thing about it was perfect.
Except…Devon bought a house?
That’s when he told her why he did it. That’s when he told her who the house was really for.
It had been the first time they’d talked so openly about their future. Not just whimsical hypotheticals and broad declarations of love. But in concrete, logistical terms. Terms that, while lacking the poetry of some of their speeches, still managed to sweep her off her feet.
He wanted to put down roots with her, he’d said. Wanted to build a life together. No matter how strange it might be. No matter if they were always reaching for ‘normal,’ that proverbial white unicorn dancing just out of sight. They would do it together. Every step—together.
Because they loved each other. Because they didn’t ne
ed anything more.
“I’ve always loved that robe on you.”
Rae looked up in surprise. She hadn’t heard him move, but he was suddenly standing right in front of her. The sound of his soft voice brought her out of her nostalgic trance.
“What—this?” She looked down in confusion, a little embarrassed at the same time. It wasn’t exactly what she’d call the sexiest thing in her wardrobe. Quite the contrary. The thick navy terrycloth and bright spattering of stars would have looked more at home at a junior high slumber party. Over the years, Molly had tried several times to ‘accidentally’ set it on fire, but Rae had rescued it every time. “That…doesn’t seem likely.” She glanced up doubtfully, but Devon was staring down with a tender smile.
His hands came up tentatively to slip under the belt loops, gently pulling her closer. “Well, I happen to have several fond memories…of taking it off you.”
Even in the dark, she could see his dimples.
An automatic blush colored her cheeks as she bit down on her lip with a smile. She was thrilled by the proximity, but even more, she was thrilled that he was the one initiating it. That he wasn’t so demoralized by what she’d been forced to admit that he was keeping his distance. “Devon, I—”
His lips came down over hers, stealing her breath as his hands wound back through her long hair. No matter how close he was, it was like he couldn’t get close enough. The mugs of schnapps were pushed aside and forgotten as his arms wrapped tentatively around her back, squeezing her against his chest as tightly as he dared.
Rae gasped just once in surprise, then closed her eyes and embraced it wholeheartedly. The second she’d seen him standing in the kitchen, she’d started gearing up for painful discussion. For an emotionally-dense heart-to-heart, one which would surely leave them both feeling more confused than ever by the time they walked away.
She hadn’t been expecting this.
“Dev,” she whispered again, smiling as he abandoned her lips and began trailing feather-light kisses down her neck, “anyone could just walk in—”
“We’d hear them coming,” he murmured. In an act of sheer recklessness his fingers slipped beneath her shirt, leaving a trail of goosebumps on everything they touched. “We’ll be fine.”
She let out a soft moan and, without thinking grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him closer so they could kiss once more. Things got more heated after that. In a blur of speed, he picked her up and set her down on the counter. Her legs wrapped around his waist of their own accord, and before she knew what was happening he peeled off his shirt and dropped it on the floor.
Um—WOW.
For a second, she allowed herself to simply stare. Unabashedly running her eyes up and down his flawless body. Unable to believe how this man was possibly hers.
This is a public kitchen.
“Dev,” she tried again, hyper-aware of the two boys still sleeping in the next room, “we should really—”
Another silencing kiss. Followed by a hundred more.
“It’s going to be fine.” His breath quickened as he started fiddling with the drawstring on her pants. “I promise.”
There was an urgency now to the way he moved. A strange kind of desperation that filled Rae with a quiet panic. Hands gripping manically around her own. Pounding, uneven pulse.
This wasn’t Devon. Devon wasn’t a sex-on-countertops kind of guy. At least, not when his best friend was a stone’s throw away. There was something else behind this. Something not good.
“Dev, I’m serious. Wait.”
He pulled back immediately, the second he registered the shift in her tone. A rush of cool air swept between them, and Rae’s mind raced as she struggled to think of what to say.
But as it turned out…the next line wasn’t hers.
“Please…”
She looked up in shock, only to have that shock double when she saw the look on Devon’s face. Long gone was the cool confidence. Long gone was the winking sex appeal that had gotten her up on the counter in the first place. The man standing in front of her looked… scared.
“Devon?” she whispered, eyes widening in the dark. “What is it?”
Despite everything they’d been through, she could count on one hand the number of times she’d ever seen him scared. It didn’t come easy to him, and never once had it been for himself. Each time it had been for someone he loved. Most times, it was for her.
But he was scared now. So scared he could hardly speak.
“Please don’t be afraid of me.”
And just like that she suddenly understood. Understood the flood of emotions that had been coursing through her since the moment Samantha left. Understood the answer to that terrible question that had been tearing them both apart.
Without making a sound, she hopped off the counter and came to stand right in front of him. His entire body braced as she gazed up into his eyes, terrified to look. Terrified to look away.
“I am afraid,” she whispered. “Samantha was right. When I look at you, I’m afraid. But Devon…” she pressed her lips together a moment, “it’s not for the reason you think.” Her hand slipped into his, and he actually stopped breathing. “I’m afraid to lose you.”
The second she said the words, they were so obvious. Like they’d been there all along.
Of course she wasn’t actually frightened of Devon himself. The man was in love with her, had asked her to be his wife. Had jumped off a cliff just to save her life. There was no one she feared less. There was no one she trusted more. But she was frightened of what Devon could do to her. Of the power he held. Not over her body, but over her heart.
She was terrified of what would happen if she ever lost him.
“When we were first dating, you broke up with me to protect me from our laws. When we were battling Cromfield you almost killed yourself with a serum, trying to keep me safe.” Her voice was a low, practiced murmur. One that wouldn’t carry to anyone farther than him. “After you stabbed me, your first thought was to isolate yourself.” She pulled in a deep breath, forcing herself to finish. “And now Samantha…”
She couldn’t finish after all. But she didn’t need to. He understood what she couldn’t say.
For a moment, neither one of them said anything. His eyes were fixed on her, while hers were fixed on the floor. Then, when it could go on no longer, he cleared his throat. “Is that really true?” He was being cautious, not daring to let himself believe. “Is that it? The thing you’ve been afraid of? It’s not…it’s not me?”
Rae’s face melted into a warm smile, one that lit her from the inside. “Sweetheart, I hate to break it to you but you’re not all that scary.”
With a gasp of laughter he scooped her up into the air, hugging her against his chest with enough force to crush a regular person. Her body switched automatically into a strength tatù to protect itself as her arms wrapped around his neck.
“I love you, Devon Wardell.” She flicked back a lock of his messy hair, and kissed him softly on the lips. “Nothing will ever change that. For better or worse. Forever and ever.”
His heart quickened as his lips curved up in a breathtaking smile. “I’m going to hold you to that, you know.”
She leapt lightly from his arms, landing on the floor with a grin. “You do that. But in the meantime,” she reached out coyly and took his hand, “I’ve lost all interest in hot chocolate, and the entire house is still asleep.”
He cocked his head to the side, staring at her quizzically. “What does that—”
She pressed a finger over his lips with a little grin, and started leading him out of the kitchen. “There’s an empty room at the end of the hall…”
Chapter 14
As it turned out…there was not an empty room at the end of the hall.
The empty room had been given to Simon just a few hours earlier. It was a fact that Rae remembered just as she and Devon stumbled inside, lost in the process of tearing off what was left of each other’s clothes. It was a
close call, and if it wasn’t for the fact that the young couple was equipped with superpowers, it could have been an even closer call than it was.
That being said, it was only after Rae raced back upstairs, slumping in mortification against her bedroom door, that she remembered her father was equipped with the exact same power.
That was the thought looping through her head the next morning when she headed down the stairs to get some breakfast. Molly and Luke were already sitting at the kitchen table, foreheads touching as they carried on a murmured conversation with a smile. Gabriel was standing by the far wall, arms folded across his chest as he stared fixedly out the window. And Simon was standing on the other side of the room, sipping from a cup of coffee.
He looked up as Rae breezed inside, flashing her a wry smile. “Morning, sunshine. You sleep okay?”
There was a hitch in her breathing, and even equipped with Devon’s graceful tatù she still managed to spill boiling coffee all over her hands. “Ouch!” She leapt backwards, waving her scalded fingers in the air. “Uh…yeah, I slept fine. Me and Molly bunked together,” she added quickly.
For the last time, apparently.
Rae wasn’t sure when exactly it had happened, but it was obvious that Luke and Molly had gotten past the strange tension of the other night. Her legs were swung across his, and the two were laughing quietly as he absentmindedly buttered her toast. Every now and then, he would reach a hand down to touch her belly.
She did, however, look up when she heard her name.
“Kerrigan, you are the world’s biggest klutz.” Molly’s blue eyes twinkled with amusement as she gazed across the kitchen at her best friend’s scorched hands. “Bet you wish Alicia was here right now; she could take care of those burns.”
“Bet you wish Alicia was here right now, too,” Luke added slyly, glancing at Gabriel.
Gabriel flipped him off, but never took his eyes off the window.
